Solomon feels like she has yet to grasp the full extent of the situation she’s in, having just signed up to eradicate a cult.
“Show her around, please.” Ludwig says after calling in Shaquia. “Follow standard procedure.”
The lynx nods.
“One more thing.” Solomon says as she stands up. “My colleagues. They need to know I’m safe… Mostly. I request to tell them-”
“Request denied.” Sas the silver wolf, shaking his head. “We will handle that for you. Very soon.”
Solomon nods, but she decides that she will find out what that message is by herself if she needs to.
With one more toothy grin from Ludwig, she follows Shaquia outside the office. The lynx then takes her around the facility.
She learns that the ground floor indeed serves as a central area, connecting other parts of the even larger building. “Where even is this building? Am I still in Britain?” Other than that, the main building itself serves two more purposes. The first three floors are for experimentation and research, the next three floors are the sleeping quarters “and else” as it is described by the lynx. The ground floor connects into a training area for both magic and physical training, the cafeteria, the warehouse, a waiting room and main entrance, an electrical room and others that Solomon is told not to enter for now. Those doors are unmarked. Them and the warehouse look especially well-guarded.
“There’s a bathroom on every floor, complete with a shower.” Shaquia says in a neutral tone. “We want our employees to work comfortably.”
Solomon already has the day planned out with this new information.
As she walks with Shaquia, various employees give her looks of fear, admiration, and even envy.
“So, how exactly do you plan on finding out my power’s true potential?” Solomon inquires.
“We’ll get there in time.” The lynx begins to say. “You just-”
“Give me an actual answer!” The cat cuts her off in an indignant voice. “Since you need me so much apparently, don’t you think I should at least know beforehand?”
Shaquia shakes her head in response. Sure, Solomon was told that they’re secretive, but why to this extent if they need her?
She asks about where her phone might be held and, as she expected, gets no answer. “They really don’t want me contacting the outside world.”
And that’s her tour around the edifice. She wasn’t shown much explicitly, but she knows enough not to get lost. She begins walking over to the cafeteria, practically starving, only to see Ludwig with a letter in his hand. She wants to follow and see where he could be going, but the lynx is still with her. She sees him go out to the waiting room where the main entrance is. She takes a mental note. “I’ll get my message out. Eventually.”
“Let me guess, this is part of this so-called standard procedure?” Solomon asks with a frown as Shaquia follows her wherever she goes.
The lynx nods. She wants to ask about what her power is, but she feels like she might explode if she gets told that it’s a secret again. She’s in the one place where she could get all the answers, it frustrates to no end her that she is denied them so tantalisingly. “In time, you say… We’ll see about that.”
Solomon then goes to have a much-needed meal at the cafeteria, Shaquia never leaving her side even there. She almost feels bad for the lynx having to do that.
“You said you have a bathroom and showers on every floor, right?” She asks.
“That is correct.” Shaquia responds, looking bored.
Solomon nods and after finishing eating a fillet fish, she heads to the nearest shower, being met with several gazes along the way, all looking at her hands in specific. To her relief, the lynx simply stands outside and waits for her. Sure, having an entourage may be for their safety, but she doesn’t know how to level buildings yet. “To be fair, I’d rather not know how to do that at all.”
Feeling properly clean, Solomon then goes back to the room that was designated to her.
“That concludes your tour, Acid One.” Says the lynx while they’re still outside the room.
“I have a name, you know…” Solomon mutters, her ears drooping.
“We trust that you’ll be able to lend us your services when the time comes.” Shaquia goes on, ignoring her statement, albeit with a look of… Pity? “I will come to take you to training tomorrow.”
“Understood.” Solomon nods, goes inside the room, and lies down on the bed. She then remembers that she still doesn’t have a clock in her room and sighs in exasperation. She guesses that it must be getting late. Why aren’t there any windows in the room anyway?
She doesn’t feel tired, but she also has no way to entertain herself, and anything sounds better than being left alone with her thoughts. She really wishes she could talk to someone... Preferably one of her friends, but that’s not happening for who knows how long. She could really use one of Yaroslav’s stories, Durazo’s prayers or Lisa’s… Eccentric behaviour or general company. She misses the wolf oh so much already. She can’t even begin to imagine what Adelar thinks of her going missing. Maybe he had people mobilised to look for her already. Maybe, just maybe.
She’s already thinking way too much about this for her liking. She tries to go to sleep…
It may have haunted her for months, but the familiarity of this barren, ruined landscape feels, in a morbid way, almost comforting. At least it’s a place she knows. She once again sits down by a building and hears footsteps and dripping very soon after. From the left, the figure approaches.
“Come on then, let’s just get it over with.” She says, more annoyed than scared now. Maybe it isn’t the best idea to give such sass to the being that has been chasing her for so long… But she’s tried just about everything else.
“We both know how it always ends, you reach out, I wake up, and then it repeats the next night. I am so tired of this…” The figure doesn’t seem to listen to her. “Can it even hear? Can it understand me?” She just waits for it to walk to her. It reaches out to grab her and she wakes up. Without even sitting up, she just goes right back to sleep after a couple minutes, right back to where she was. Same building, figure walking away, only to turn around a few seconds after she arrives.
“Told you.” She says with a shrug.
The figure then starts walking towards her, albeit slower this time. It reaches out, she wakes up.
“This is getting tiresome…” The same repeats three more times, each time, the figure appears to be walking slower and slower. It all ends the same way, her waking up. One more time, she goes back to sleep…
She sits still by a building, the figure goes to stand above her, and to her surprise, stops. It then sits down in front of her. “Okay, that’s new. Maybe it finally sees that it’s pointless.”
She really gets a close look at the figure now. Its body is pitch black, not a single feature is visible on it. It’s like she’s looking at a shadow… Like how Thalia looked in that house in the darkness. Except it has no ears, at least not any that Solomon can see. She notices something she didn’t before… It has a tail. It’s rather thin and just as black as the rest of its body. Its hands drip with the liquid, but the sand doesn’t sizzle where it touches it. And of course, the eyes. Those glowing, piercing green eyes… Coming face to face with the thing that has been the subject of her nightmares for so long, it’s quite a surreal experience.
“Finally got tired of this too, huh?” She asks. There is no answer. “Do you understand me?” After a good few seconds, she can see its eyes move up and down slightly, slowly.
“Woah…” She can’t help but say out loud. “Can… Can you understand me?” She asks, a little more confident in communicating with it somehow.
The figure then stops what Solomon thinks is nodding.
They sit there in complete silence. Solomon would certainly take this over running, but it still just feels weird…
“Why are you doing this?” Solomon asks after a while. “Who are you?”
She can see its eyes move again, a lot more subtle and she may just be imagining it, but she feels like its eyes look down, then back up once.
“Just why do you chase me every single-” She begins to say, but is interrupted. All of a sudden, the figure lifts its right hand slowly and reaches out… But not to grab her. More as if expecting a handshake. The green liquid drips down to the ground and seeps into the sand as Solomon looks at the figure’s hand in specific. She reaches for it tentatively, but pulls back before touching its hand.
“Yeah, sorry. That’s not happen-” The figure then slowly reaches to grab her, but she wakes up before it can touch her. Solomon feels rather startled by the experience.
“Okay… I think I can call that progress.”
She lies in bed for about ten minutes before there is a knock on the door followed by Shaquia opening it.
“Hope you slept well, Acid One.” Solomon frowns at her statement, stands up, and walks to the door, already feeling irritated. The lynx hands her a stack of brand new, folded clothes.
“Put this on. If you’ll be working with us, you should look like one of us.” She looks to the side, muttering. “Or so says Ludwig, anyway.” She sighs. “Make it quick, we don’t want to keep your instructor waiting.” She says and closes the door.
Looking through the clothes, she was apparently handed two identical sets of clothing, each including a white dress shirt, a black suit jacket, black trousers, a black tie, a set of plain, white underwear and black shoes. “There’s no way I’m putting on a tie.”
To be fair, she’s glad to have fresh clothing, even if it definitely isn’t her style. She figures she’ll be working with her acid for the majority of her stay, she’d rather not damage the clothing, so she begins infusing them with her power. She’s halfway through the first set when Shaquia knocks on her door.
“Hurry up.” She says, but clearly doesn’t mean it, in a disinterested tone. Despite the lynx’s wishes, Solomon finishes infusing one set, not including the tie, before changing. Instead of the tie, she puts on her scarf. The trousers feel slightly tight, the jacket ever so slightly too big. Nothing noticeable from just looking at her, but she certainly feels the disparity. She opens the door to see Shaquia leaning on the wall.
“Make it snappy next time.” She remarks, not mentioning the scarf.
“Can we go to the laundry room first?” Solomon asks, which makes the lynx raise an eyebrow.
“Seriously?” Shaquia asks, looking genuinely peeved by her admittedly ridiculous request. Solomon exhales deeply before responding.
“Fine, fine… Take me to this instructor then.” She was hoping she could have her preferred clothes washed while she was at training, but that’ll have to wait.
“Keep the preening to a minimum.” The lynx sighs. “Higher-ups would much prefer you to be on time. Just a friendly advice, Acid One.”
“Would it hurt you to call me by my name?” Solomon asks, being called an epithet beginning to really get to her.
“It’s just standard procedure. Get used to it.” The lynx responds with a hint of pity in her voice.
Less than happy with her answer, she follows closely behind the lynx.
Solomon is then escorted to the instructor. On the way there, by the way she looks, she guesses that Shaquia must be having a week that’s either eventful or terrible. Or possibly both. The training hall reminds her of the room under the station, but much larger and more professional. She can see other Mystic Ones hone their skills. Most of them are fire or frost with the odd Electric Ones here and there. Solomon is bewildered by the sheer number of Mystic Ones here.
Shaquia takes her to a rather aged otter with jagged, blue markings all over his hands. The markings look so different from Lisa’s, she would think they were entirely different if she didn’t know better. The otter looks at her with anticipation.
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“Instructor Stefano, your newest apprentice is here.” Says the lynx. “Acid One, this is our finest Electric One, he will attempt to draw out your power to the best of his ability.”
Solomon frowns and waves unenthusiastically.
“Well met, Acid One.” Says the otter.
“It’s Solomon!” She exclaims. “Roxanne Solomon! Can you please just call me by my name?” She finally says, tired of being called not just a name, but one she dislikes, no less. The people around give her curious looks. Stefano looks a little taken aback by her sudden outburst and gives Shaquia a quick glance, who shrugs.
“Certainly, Roxanne Solomon.” He reaches forward, Solomon shakes his hand. “That wasn’t so hard, now was it?”
“I’ll leave you to it. Let me know if you run into any complications.” Shaquia says and gives Stefano a radio. She then looks at Solomon. “We don’t know how long it will take. Days, weeks, months… Be patient.”
The lynx then leaves the training hall.
“So, Roxanne Solomon-” Says the otter.
“Just Solomon is enough.” Says the cat, feeling like this otter is a little too old to do this.
“So, Solomon. Research shows that the closest magic type to acid is likely a combination of two others.”
Solomon raises an eyebrow at that.
“Unfortunately, we are no longer in possession of that combination, and lack the means to make it. So I had to suffice.”
“Combination? How does that work?” Solomon inquires, suddenly interested, having Shaquia in mind.
Stefano scratches his head and talks into the radio.
“Ludwig, the Aci-” He clears his throat, looking at a disgruntled Solomon. “Solomon requests knowledge on splicing. I request permission to tell.” He says nervously.
“Given how it’s impossible for her to abuse it apparently, permission granted.” Says Ludwig through the radio. Solomon’s ears perk up.
“We call it splicing.” Stefano begins to say. “I was told that it doesn’t work on you for some reason. Normally, the magic is transferred from one person to another. One body allows two different types at most, any more than that is deadly.”
Solomon nods. “So that’s what they tried to do with me. But why didn’t it work?” Stafano then puts a hand on Solomon’s shoulder and starts leading her to a portion of the hall that has the floor covered with glass.
“It is possible to splice the same type many times…” The instructor explains. “But it has some rather adverse effects on the psyche.”
“Do you know why?” Solomon asks, now wanting to know more.
“Well…” Stefano tugs on his collar. “We don’t know why it’s all like this, but we know that it is.”
She is then instructed to demonstrate her power. Her markings light up, acid drips from her hands onto the glass where it becomes a harmless, black liquid.
“Try it on this.” Stefano gives her a stick of wood. She holds it in her hand, it dissolves into black muck. Stefano takes notes. “I just wanted to see it for myself.”
Solomon then smirks.
“That’s nothing. Watch this.” She then touches her suit. The acid rolls off of it and eventually drips onto the glass. Stefano watches in bewilderment.
“How did you do that?” People look over to the scene as a result of his reaction.
“Blessing.” Solomon states. “That’s what I call it anyway. Surely, you know of it.”
Stefano goes to touch the suit. Not a stain or spot on it, definitely no burn marks.
“So this is acid infusion…” Stefano steps back, taking more notes. “It protects from the acid. Ha! Who would have guessed!”
“They call it infusion, then.” Solomon almost feels proud by the remarks. At least she isn’t looked at as an instrument of destruction, not entirely anyway.
“Does it work on people?” Stefano asks rather abruptly.
“I haven’t tried and after what happened yesterday, I’d much prefer not to try for a while.” She says in response, flicking her tail.
“No matter. From now on, we’ll try to figure out how exactly your power works. I want you to reach out your hand, and preferably your index finger.”
Solomon does as instructed.
“I want you to power up your magic now, and try to focus it into the tip of your finger.”
She remembers Lisa doing that in Harbertville. She made it look so easy… But that was after she absorbed energy from a generator. If magic gets more powerful in the presence of its type, then what would make hers more powerful?
She powers up her magic and tries to focus it into her fingertip. She tries for about five minutes, but nothing happens other than acid dripping from her hand.
“It’s perfectly normal to have such complications, since the markings are only on your hands. But don’t worry, the part that matters is that you’re with us and not with another party.” Stefano’s commentary really doesn’t make it easier for Solomon. “For now.”
“How should I try to concentrate it into my finger?” She asks with an inquisitive look.
“Well… Let me demonstrate. You there! Out of the way!” Stefano says and shoos a pair of birds away from a metal training dummy. He then rolls up his sleeves. His arms look like a picture that was taken during the most intense thunderstorm Solomon has ever seen. Jagged, blue lines that originate from one point in each of his shoulders.
“The more your body is covered in markings, the easier it is to master your magic. You’d also be considered more powerful.” He stretches out his right arm and points at the dummy. “We are testing if you can fire a projectile like Electric Ones and Blazing Ones can.” His markings light up, arcs of electricity jump across his arms. “With Electric Ones, the magic itself normally does what it pleases… But it can be controlled.” The electricity slowly starts to amass at his hand, then finger. ”It takes practice, but the results…” A bolt of electricity discharges from his finger and hits the dummy. Being more conductive than the tree Solomon first saw this happen with, it leaves no mark as the electricity rushes to the ground. “..speak for themselves.” The otter then turns back to look at the cat.
“We can’t know for sure what you can do, but certain types have some overlapping elements. Like Bright Ones and Electric Ones. If you have light train electricity, you can usually have good results. We will try to find out if acid has any overlaps.” Stefano explains. “But at the end of the day, it’s up to you to find out for certain. You need to find the right feel for it. You are ultimately in control, you are the source of this magic. Remind yourself of that, practice diligently, get creative if things don’t work at first and eventually, the acid will bend to your will.”
Solomon nods with a smile. The first time she talked to an actual, proper expert, and she feels like it’ll certainly help.
“I’ll need some help with that.” She admits.
“I see. I will try to help, but since it’s the first time we’ve dealt with an Acid One, I can’t promise much for sure.” Stefano steps closer to her, still a safe distance away. “You already know about infusion. That’s usually what people have trouble understanding the most. How did you learn it, by the way?”
Solomon looks around, as if deep in thought. She definitely isn’t going to tell the actual way she got to know it.
“It just happened, really. It isn’t that interesting of a story.” She states.
“Well then.” Stefano nods.
“Back to another topic, what combination is similar to acid?” She asks, remembering what he said earlier. “And what do you mean by “no longer in our possession”?” She tries her best to concentrate the acid, but to no avail.
“Oh, right…” He then sheepishly talks into the radio. “Ludwig, may I tell her about…” He pauses for a second. “Rufina…?” He says in no more than a whisper.
“NO!” The wolf yells into the radio. “Under NO circumstances are you allowed to talk about that EVER. Especially not to her! DO. YOU. UNDERSTAND?!”
The sound of cracking can then be heard. The unbridled rage in his voice tells Solomon that it is a rather sensitive topic. Judging by the lack of reaction from the people around, this likely isn’t the first time he’s done that.
“Yes, sir. I apologise for asking.” Says the otter, Solomon isn’t confident that he can be heard on the other end.
“Damnit Stefano, I thought you knew better than to ask him so bluntly.” Says the voice of Shaquia coming from the radio.
“Someone get him a new one. That definitely sounded like he broke it.” Says another male voice with a pronounced British accent, which sounds somewhat familiar to Solomon.
“I’ll do that, sire.” Yet another voice comes through the radio. Stefano sighs deeply.
“I’ll take that as a no.” Says Solomon, feeling slightly concerned for the otter. “Let’s just get back to it then…”
Solomon spends the day trying to conjure an acid projectile, taking very few breaks. There is no progress in it whatsoever, despite her and Stefano’s efforts. As time passes, a puddle of black liquid grows and grows where the droplets hit the floor. She tries other techniques, like the throwing motion of Blazing Ones. It only results in droplets of harmless, black liquid dripping down a wall. She did hear more conversations through the radio, including Ludwig getting a new one and two unfamiliar voices discussing matters in the medical room.
“Curious…” Stefano says after what feels like the thousandth failed attempt. “We do this for a few days, if you don’t feel any, and I mean any change at all, we just move on. Maybe this type just can’t do that.” Solomon nods, feeling exhausted. Acid projectile… That sounds terrifying just by itself.
“So, can I leave?” She asks.
“Shaquia. Please come over and take her to her room.” The otter says into the radio.
Solomon feels slightly patronised.
“I’ll be there in a second.” Her voice sounds sleepy.
“Show us some more enthusiasm, Shaquia.” Another voice says with a laugh, Solomon can tell that she heard it before.
“Shut up Benedict, I’ve been up all day and I know you just woke up for the night shift.” The lynx says in response.
“Would you two just cut it out? This line is for important matters.” Says the voice of Ludwig, followed only by silence. Solomon chuckles softly at their antics, briefly forgetting that they are supposed to be her higher-up, even captors if she thinks about it.
Shaquia soon arrives, looking drained.
“How’d it go?” She asks the otter.
“You know that one day isn’t too long for mastering magic. But even then…” Stefano responds with a pensive look. “There is a strict lack of progress. I’m sure we’ll figure it out eventually, but I can’t say for sure when…”
“I’d say take all the time you need, but that’s up to Ludwig to decide.” The lynx looks towards Solomon. “Unfortunately.” She mutters under her breath. “Let’s go then.”
Solomon waves Stafano goodbye and is then escorted to her room. She feels like the lynx isn’t exactly fond of her boss.
“Listen, I know we can be hard on you…” Shaquia says with a sigh. “But you’re extremely important for our cause.”
Solomon wonders if Shaquia’s talking about her or her power.
“It may not look like it, but you’re doing well. This is a great start, I’m sure we could achieve a lot together.” For once, Solomon sees the lynx smile.
Solomon nods and opens the door.
“Oh!” She says, remembering something she wanted to ask. “Can I at least get a clock?” With a curious look, Shaquia steps into her room and looks around. Indeed, there is no clock anywhere in the room.
“I swear…” Says Shaquia, looking irritated. “I told that IDIOT not to forget this… My apologies, I’ll have someone deliver you a clock soon. Stay here.” She leaves and closes the door behind her.
“Right.” She says to herself and lies down on the bed. She still has so many questions that she knows they will not answer. Where do they get their money from? She figures it might be the government that truly runs this place. It’ll be worth a shot to ask. She can’t even begin to imagine how much the electricity bill could be.
After a few minutes, there is a knock at her door. She gets up and opens it, a crow stands in front of her with a wrist watch in his hand. She recognises the crow as the one who is also on that painting.
“Good evening.” He says. “It’s that late already?” She’ll at least have a way to tell now. “Your watch, sire.” He hands it over and turns to leave.
“Sire? Really?” Solomon figures it’s still better than being called “Acid One”.
“Oh, thank you. I really needed one of these.” She asked for a clock, sure, but a watch may just be better. She inspects the watch, it isn’t fancy by any means, but as long as it tells the time, it’ll be good enough for her.
She then sees that the crow is standing on the railing. “This is the fourth floor, what is he doing?” He then lifts one leg to step forward. Solomon is about to go stop him when she sees that now both of his feet are in the air… And he is not falling. In fact, he is walking, up and up as if he’s using stairs. Upon taking a closer look, she sees that small, grey, platform-like… Objects? Form under his feet as he steps. Solomon is left in awe at what she sees.
“Pretty freaky, huh?” Says a voice from behind her. She instinctively puts her hands in her pockets and turns around to see a black and yellow salamander, watching the crow disappear to the floor above.
“They pulled the same thing with me. In retrospect, it’s kind of funny.” He says, turning to look at her. “So you’re the new girl? The fabled Acid One…” Solomon feels rather down, liking that epithet less and less. “What’s your name?” That question, however, immediately makes her like the salamander a little.
“Solomon.” She answers with an unexpectedly happy tone.
“I’m Sal. Good to meet you.” With a smile, he offers her a handshake, which she returns. “Sal the salamander… Well then.”
“That’s our Andreas.” Sal explains. “He has wind in his feet, and he can apparently just walk on air. Crazy, eh?”
Solomon looks at the salamander in surprise.
“And you’re allowed to just tell me that?”
Her question is met with a laugh.
“Not like it’s that much of a secret.” He remarks. “The place isn’t bugged. They can’t hear everything.”
Solomon is glad to learn that information.
“How long have you been here?” Sal asks.
“I arrived yesterday… We could say.” She guesses that he just wasn’t here the day before to hear the announcement or see the scene that transpired.
“Then you could use some extra help. Like who the higher-ups are exactly.”
Solomon perks her ears at Sal saying that. It’s exactly what she wants to know!
“There’s Benedict, Andreas, and Shaquia. They’re way high up on the ladder. You know what they can do. I’m sure you could hit it off with Vanessa too!”
Solomon shakes her head and inquires about them, the thought that she just found someone who could answer her questions properly makes her feel downright ecstatic. She may not show it, but the feeling is there nonetheless.
“Benedict…” Sal chuckles. “I like him, he’s pretty fun to be around. Not the stone-cold boss like Ludwig or Shaquia.” He leans closer to her. “And he can create pure water with his hands!” He says excitedly, which Solomon also finds interesting.
“As for Shaquia…” The salamander goes on. “Try to stay on her good side. Trust me, you REALLY don’t want to get blasted with-”
“Salvador!” She hears someone call out. They both look to where the sound came from and see a doe with her arms crossed. “Are you slacking again?” Sal chuckles softly. “It was nice talking to you, but I have to go now. Same time tomorrow?”
Solomon nods with enthusiasm, albeit upset that she couldn’t learn what the lynx’s power is exactly.
“That sounds good, yes. Tomorrow then!” She says, happy to have met him.
“Until then!” Sal says and turns to leave with the doe.
Solomon goes back into her room and checks the time. 21:03. She then infuses the watch she got. It reads 21:04. “It’s still working, apparently. That’s good.”
She then goes to bed, feeling like she’s gotten to know a lot more about this organisation already. Once she gets out of here, she will likely have many stories of her own to tell. This place needs her more than she needs it, and as long as they believe the opposite, that gives her a big advantage.