Thursday, April 18th, 2069
“It appears we came understaffed,” Ms. Stovall commented, her voice cold. I could tell there was a threat of something in those words, but I couldn’t have said what.
“Not to worry Ms. Stovall, these two here are a Clerk and Reporter that Judge Dench sent over. The two there are Ashley Laurent, and Jasmine Bell, my co-counsels.” Mr. Varnish went around the table introducing people.
I will admit that I had dismissed the Court Clerk and Reporter, simply due to the lack of polished dress, when compared to the other individuals around the table. I gave them a brief glance now but moved on to Ashley and Jasmine. The former was a red-headed woman in a very white blouse, and the latter, a mulatto skinned woman with beautiful curls and a matching white blouse.
Smegma also followed the introductions. “I’m pretty sure that’s some type of Portal Spider silk.”
I ignored him as Mr. Varnish moved on. “This is Mr. Jacob, he’s here on behalf of Morgan Hallsbrad’s business.” Mr. Varnish pointed out a man who was getting on in years but clearly still had a great deal of wealth, based on his deep blue suit. Mr. Jacob appeared bored to be there, which was odd if he had any sort of positive relationship with Morgan Hallsbrad.
“Why? Cause you killed him?” Smegma asked, without a hint of tact.
[You know damn well it was self-defense.]
“These two are Aurome and Seleff, two active Hunters from the Larvae Guild, which Morgan was a member of.” Mr. Varnish finished his introductions with the only two men in the room that seemed to give off a more intense aura than the A-ranked Hunter-Lawyer himself did.
Aurome was in a t-shirt and jeans which should have been even more out of place than the Reporter and Clerk, but instead only served to make him fit in even more with the wealth and power on display. He had long black hair that was pulled into a bun atop his head, and while his features were oriental in origin, his eyes blazed a feral blue. Whether that was an effect of the Mana Glass or just his natural eye color, I couldn’t tell. The reason I considered the gaze feral could also be due to the man’s massive frame. Simply put, he was huge.
Seleff, on the other hand, wore a robe. I would have called it a bathrobe, without a sash, but for the metallic rainbow glint that ran over the purple material every time I shifted my gaze. After looking closer, I was forced to mentally call the thing armor, and with the funny matching Beret and glasses, I thought he might be attempting to look the part of a wizard. I didn’t think I’d ever seen a man as pale-skinned as he was, that wasn’t an albino.
Since I lived in Canada where the sun took a six-month vacations, that was saying something.
“The way the wannabe wizard is looking at you makes me uncomfortable,” Smegma said. I turned my head back to the man in question at the Demon’s comment, and saw him give a small head shake to Aurome beside him. Clearly that was meant to convey something, but I couldn’t tell what.
“—as you can see, Ms. Stovall, everyone here is involved in this case in one way or another.” Mr. Varnish finished. I realized then that the Court Reporter and Clerk were the only two seated ‘neutrally’ at the foot of the table. So, at least we were only outmanned by two more people.
“It’s not like you can complain,” Smegma said. “If you had the money, I’m sure you’d also have a whole team of lawyers.”
[That’s just it, though. Who’s paying the bill for this? The Larvae Guild? Mr. Jacobs?] I mentally thought. [Something is off.]
“I could have told you that right after this guy showed up in the pre-trial. Still, you’re right. Why is he showing you these connections and hidden cards? Although, the man in charge doesn’t have to be in the room. In fact, they are nearly unequivocally not. Whoever’s behind this, they’re clearly comfortable pulling strings from the darkness.”
“I’ll grant you that everyone can be said to have some stake in things here, but it does seem slightly improper, Mr. Varnish,” Ms. Stovall said, still not moving to take a seat. “Especially since I’m yet to receive an offer to go over.”
We’d discussed this a bit on the drive over. According to Ms. Stovall, it was much more common to send an offer to someone first so they could come in with an idea of what they wanted in order to settle a given dispute. At Ms. Stovall’s best guess, this should be a lowball offer from Morgan Hallsbrad’s estate to try to keep hold of more wealth. Still, I could tell from her tone when she explained that piece of information, that something was off. I could even infer what.
Who went to all this trouble for a bit more wealth to be held from a victim?
“Please, have a seat,” Mr. Varnish said, clearly ignoring Ms. Stovall in favor of directing his words toward my mother and I. Neither of us moved. “Suit yourselves,” Mr. Varnish said as he moved to take an empty chair in the very center of the metal table, right between his two co-counsels. “Ashley, why don’t you tell them the offer?”
Ashley theatrically pulled a piece of paper from one of her many overly large manilla folders. I would have rolled my eyes if I wasn’t so interested in what she was going to say. “If Brodie Flacarada pleads Guilty to Second Degree Manslaughter, we’re willing to commute his sentence to one year of Guild Arrest, that means—”
My mother’s gasp was the first thing that cut into the offer.
“Now hold on a second,” Ms. Stovall stated, cutting over my mother’s slight squeal and Ashley’s ‘settlement’ offer. “This is a cut and dry case of self-defense. You might have managed to get this through the pre-trial, but you have no evidence that can prove this wasn’t an accidental killing or justifiable homicide in self-defense.”
“I’m clearly missing something here,” Smegma frowned. “Is a year of ‘Guild Arrest’ really that big of a deal?”
[It’s something generally reserved for the most dangerous Awakened criminals.] I glared across the table. [Think about it. You’ve got a weapon in the form of a very dangerous person. Do you destroy the weapon?]
“Ah,” Smegma nodded, seeming to understand. “No. You put the weapon in the hands of your warriors and point it at some Portal or other. I take it that the survival rate of ‘Guild Arrest’ is rather low? You were worried about years of this—prison. So, to be immediately against a year under some ‘Guild,’ I’m guessing…”
[No.] I frowned. [You nailed it. The survival rate is terrible. Generally not at the beginning of an Awakened’s ‘arrest’, but the closer to the end of the term, mysteriously, the higher the rate of death.]
“Makes a morbid kind of sense, I suppose.” Smegma shrugged. “Do you release the dangerous criminal, or ‘take care’ of them before they can be released back into the civilian population?”
It did make a terrifyingly efficient type of sense, one that I had no desire to submit myself to.
The whole table, except my mother, who was breathing heavily, stayed silent after Ms. Stovall’s statements. So, she continued, “If this is what you had us drive out here for, we’ll be leaving immediately. I want this on record that the opposing counsel called us here to make spurious offers. Good day.”
Mr. Varnish simply smiled and stood up. “As you wish, Ms. Stovall. I’ll see you out, but remember this offer is only good for twenty-four hours. After that, we will begin digging deeply into every facet of Brodie’s life.”
Ms. Stovall looked toward my mother and me. I was staring at Seleff and Aurome. Something was nagging at me about their presence and the subtle exchange between them. I couldn’t shake the feeling that they were why this settlement offer was made. Had they simply wanted to get me in a room with them? That didn’t fit, since they hadn’t really done anything since I’d arrived… Except the ‘wizard’ looked at me through those glasses of his, and then… what did him shaking his head at Aurome signify?
[Can you tell if there’s anything special about the wizard’s glasses? Or maybe if he’s cast some sort of spell? I get the feeling that they’re here to look for something, but the only thing I have with me is…]
“Me.” The Demon finished thoughtfully. “They could be magical. Not that magical if they’re supposed to spot me and can’t. It could be possibly looking for some kind of energy signal, or maybe even be some sort of advanced tool for telling them a person’s Ranking.”
[What?] My eyes widened. [You think something like that exists?]
“Pfft. Do you think that the best, most state-of-the-art technologies are the ones out in the public for everyone to use? Of course it’s possible.”
[So, what do you think it means that he shook his head at his scary hulking buddy over there?]
The Demon shrugged. “No clue. You’re right about one thing, though,” Smegma said, adding to my thoughts. “As soon as you get out of here, find out what this Larvae Guild is.”
I nodded to Ms. Stovall in answer to her unspoken question, telling her that I was ready to leave. I was somewhat surprised my mother hadn’t already done so, but quickly realized how pale and shaken up by the ‘offer’ or perhaps more accurately—at the veiled threat than she already was. I put a hand on her back to get her attention and then motioned to the door with a jerk of my neck.
A sudden thought struck me. I leaned over to Ms. Stovall and whispered quickly into her ear. She leaned back a moment, studying my face. I nodded.
She cleared her throat. The people around the table turned to look at her. “You said my client had twenty-four hours to decide to either accept or reject the Settlement offer?”
Mr. Varnish raised a not unpleased eyebrow. “Why yes. Of course. Would you like to take a copy with you?”
“We would, thank you,” she caught eyes with me once more, and I nodded again. “We would like to step outside to personally deliberate over the details. It’s a bit… rather crowded in here.”
Mr Varnish chuckled smoothly. “By all means. Take as much time as you like. I assure you, all of the chairs are beyond comfortable and I’ll have our staff come by to offer refreshments in a moment.”
The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
I felt bad that my actions only seemed to make my mother seem more unsteady on her feet, but I had a reason for asking for this.
[Smegma, stay behind in this room as long as you can. See if they talk about anything once we leave. Mainly those two.]
Mr. Varnish politely led Ms. Stovall, my mother, and me out of the room.
* * *
Smegma watched for long minutes as the people around the table cleaned up pages, and put them inside non magical leather bags. He wasn’t sure why they each looked so different and ‘stylish’ when they clearly were mundane. Still, it wasn’t the ‘lawyers’ and court reporters he was interested in. He hovered right behind and watched the two Hunters from the Larvae Guild.
Even their Aura’s were leagues above the Hunters he’d seen from the Lynx and Snow Bird Guilds. Only once most of the people around the table had left did the two look at eachother.
“So, he didn’t inherit Demonic Vault?” Seleff asked Aurome in a whisper meant only to carry to his Guildmaster. It was in a different language as well, but through the magic of the System it was easily translated for Greb-shak.
Aurome licked his lips before a half smile came onto his face. Greb-shak could tell that the man was both excited and delighted by something. That was the type of smile he’d seen on numerous people’s faces when they manipulated events, results, or others to get their way.
“He may not be a Cannibal at all, but seeing him,” Aurome responded, his voice deep and guttural in a way that conveyed power to Greb-Shak. The man didn’t bother whispering. “I’m starting to see why Morgan went after him. He has the aura of a monster. It’s small right now, but even I felt twinges of bloodlust from it when he looked at us at the end. What was the boy’s highest known Skill?”
“Mental Fortitude was his highest.”
“Do we have any information on what Brodie originally Awakened with?” Aurome asked in English, and the few people remaining around the table practically jumped out of their seats in their hurry to find papers.
A tug at Greb-shak’s naval was all the warning he got before he popped into existence halfway from the building to the SUV Ms. Stovall had driven them here in. Smegma was furious. Information was power in conflicts like this, and these idiots had gone to the car?
“What in the hell, go back you imbecile,” Smegma shouted at Brodie. Brodie gave a small controlled wince and glanced behind Smegma. Smegma turned and found Mr. Varnish escorting the group to the car. He was chatting with Mrs. Stovall, and between them was Clara, Brodie’s mother. She looked light headed, and Smegma couldn’t tell if she was acting or not.
[We stalled as long as we could. All of us used the bathroom, and my mom even sat down for a bit–saying she felt faint. But Mr. Varnish offered to call an ambulance and when we declined he offered to escort us to the car. It was strangely insistent on his part. Do you think he knows?]
“No,” Smegma responded, still wanting to shout at the kid for pulling him away. However, if it went the way Brodie said it did, they had little choice. Other than faking a more serious dilemma that may arouse suspicions if caught. Thinking he might know what was happening, Smegma asked,“Is there Skills that you’ve heard of to listen in on rooms like that?”
[Not really. Since people usually don’t have more than one Skill. And no Mana Bank is going to be working with someone. However, we do have technology like the computers and cameras that can…]
“That’s less likely to be the cause, but I think Varnish may have suspected something when you all stalled for time.”
[Okay. Did you get anything?] Brodie asked as soon as he had an explanation. Greb-shak studied this guileless somewhat simple-minded human. The aura of a monster?
He smiled to himself even as he responded, “Normally, I’d charge for this kind of information.” Brodie rolled his eyes discreetly, trying not to draw Mr. Varnish’s attention. Smegma chuckled, seeing Brodie exasperation. Then continued, “That Seleff guy can somehow read one of your Skills. From context, I think it’s your most powerful Skill. They were specifically looking for Demonic Vault, I think, but Mental Fortitude is higher because of,” he shrugged. Those memories, if they existed, hadn’t come back to him yet.
[So, they wanted an excuse to get me in a room and read my Skills? Why wouldn’t they just wait for the trial? Or bump into me accidentally?]
“No clue, dumb-dumb. Did you figure out where this Larvae Guild is from?”
[No. They don’t have a website or listing I can find in the UNMH database. There’s some chatter about them on Readit but the threads were locked with minimal activity. One post claimed they’re from Europe, but that wouldn’t make sense.]
Greb-shak considered telling him about the absurdity of the last thing he heard but chose to leave it. Brodie, thinking that this Aurome man thought of him as a monstrous potential or ‘monster’, period wouldn’t help anything immediately anyway.
[Should we drive back to the front and pretend we forgot something inside?] Brodie asked, and Smegma shook his head. He doubted they’d still be talking at that point, and it would only draw more suspicion from Varnish, if they did. It wasn’t worth it.
* * *
Dave moved his food around his plate with his fork as the table continued to discuss what was going on in the case. I watched him doing it, trying to put myself in his shoes. I could tell he was not happy with something but what exactly that was, I couldn’t say.
He’d probably tell me in time once he collected his thoughts. I tuned back in just as Ms. Stovall finished saying, “—a threat for sure.”
I mentally replayed the conversation and realized she was talking about Mr. Varnish’s final words to us as he moved to escort us out. My dad picked up the thread she left hanging. “So you’re thinking it’s going to get worse?”
“I would be prepared for it to, yes. That offer to commute Brodie’s ‘sentence’ wasn’t completely fabricated—but for them to make it, shows some of their intentions in this case. Since the trial date isn’t set yet, my offices can’t start looking through what they have—but I think their goal is to make life so bad that you might be willing to plead out to make them stop. That or I’m missing something…”
“You’re missing something,” Smegma said with his usual lack of decorum. “Those two from the Larvae Guild just wanted Brodie in the room for some reason. I was able to stay behind and listen in for just a few moments. We discussed it on the drive back from your office. We have to assume that Seleff can see people Skills in certain contrived circumstances. I figure it's either those weird-ass glasses he was wearing or maybe he has a Skill with circumstantial activation?”
“Do those exist?” Ms. Stovall asked. Smegma blinked at her and then around at the table before face palming.
“Yes, they exist. For example, he could have something like a Diplomacy Skill, which would trigger only if two parties are sitting down to discuss the terms of a deal. Then he might get extra information on the other side of negotiations or something. The fact that you all aren’t aware of how to even see your Skill Cards is unreal.”
“Wait—Skill Cards? Does he mean; see our Skills without going to the UNMH and spending outrageous amounts of money?" Dave exclaimed, as he perked up.
I started to nod but then realized I had a Spent Mana Crystal in my Necklace of Holding. With everything that had happened since I stole it—I’d forgotten. I continued my nod, with a small stutter, one that Dave didn’t miss. I shrugged to my friend and then said, “I don’t think discussing this more without a trial date is going to do much. I’m going to head upstairs with Dave and fill him in on some of the… other stuff.”
I could tell that my parents weren’t thrilled that I was excusing myself from further speculations, but Ms. Stovall stood up and said, “Brodie has a point. I’ll make sure to get your accounts unfrozen tomorrow, or at least get a proper monthly amount allocated for living expenses. I’ll look into the Larvae Guild through legal channels and figure out why they aren’t registered with UNMH, as well. Brodie, it’s even more important that we get some videos uploaded to SwiftGram—so tomorrow, make sure you wear your camera.”
Nodding, I motioned for Dave to stand up as I did so. Together we headed up to my bedroom. Dave snaked his way into my office chair when I was holding the door open for him. I gave him a look before sitting on the floor with my back leaning against the footboard on my bed. “You seemed distracted after Smegma showed himself to you.”
Dave’s smile fell and he scanned the room for the Demon. When he located him, he shuddered for a moment but then cleared his throat. “I’m sorry. I know I shouldn’t be jealous but—”
He cut off mid-sentence and stared at the carpet, clearly looking for words. When he looked back up, he gave a shrug that said he hadn’t found the right words but he was going to try. “I just wish it had happened to me, is all.” At my frown, he hurried to explain. “Sure, there’s a lot of bad shit going on in your life, but to have a Skill like that. Husk, Brodie—you could become a world-renowned Hunter—probably even a Ranker.”
“Yeah, that’s not how it's worked so far,” I said flatly, letting some of what I was feeling from the last few days enter my voice. Even to my own ears my voice sounded weary—tired.
“Well, it could,” Smegma said. At my sigh he continued. “What Brodie didn’t explain is just how expensive Skills are. So, while it could work like that—he would need astronomical amounts of money. But, Mr. Mopey there has another rather big possibility he also didn’t mention.”
“What’s that?” Dave asked, still sounding a bit hurt and jealous, but responding to Smegma’s prompting due to the friendly ribbing in it.
“He may be able to purchase Skills for others as well!”
“We’re not sure on that!” I shouted, cutting off Dave’s excitement before it could mount. I only half-succeeded, so, I changed the subject as well, “Smegma and I actually have a couple things to go over. Wanna help?”
Dave nodded a bit too vigorously. It made me smile, even as I motioned for Dave to pass me my school laptop from where it rested on the bookshelf. As soon as he looked away and stood up I snaked the chair back from him. He made a small, annoyed grunt of protest but then pulled over a bedside table to sit on. He had been in my room enough to feel at home, and we’d used this exact setup for a few projects in first year.
“Which option did we finish with?” Smegma said lazily, which caused both Dave and I to look over. The Demon had chosen to lie on my bed—which was a pointless gesture, sure, but just seeing Smegma on my covers made my skin crawl for some reason. I couldn’t even have honestly told you why I was adverse to the Demon’s choice of locations to hover, but maybe it was the way he lay on his side with his hand resting against the side of his head as if to say ‘paint me like one of your french girls’. Goosebumps raised on my skin unbidden.
I froze for long enough that Smegma glanced at me, just as I realized what else was disturbing about the view. I had never really taken a closer look at Smegma’s feet before. Now, I was aware of another deadly weapon the creature possessed.
And this was a race that failed to Ascend?
I shivered before shaking myself out of the moment and glancing at my screen.
“You had just given me the information on Finder, but give me one sec as I catch Dave up with the options.” I spent the next twenty minutes going through the twelve sub-Skill options Smegma already conveyed to me and giving Dave the brief description Smegma had relayed. Dave’s excitement had returned once he realized what exactly he was helping with. I could tell he was still disappointed, and slightly jealous—but an inner focus I’d come to know in first year overrode those emotions, either channeling them into something productive or truly countering their energies.
Dave asked questions—that’s just who he was. It was why I liked him so much. The proto-typical skeptic, he was never a hundred percent sold on anything. Just as an example, there was a contingent of people that believed the monster invasion was a government conspiracy but had no real facts to support it. I’d seen Dave have a totally rational conversation with a man about it, where he just asked pointed questions that continually poked holes in the wild theory.
In the end, the man hadn’t changed his views on the topic but I could tell he was flustered.
Simply put, Dave had a great mind for things like this. A thought process that looked at the presented information and dissected it in ways mine didn’t. We spent another forty minutes, bringing the time spent up to an hour total with him doing just that. By the end of it, I was smiling, because I had needed this.
Smegma of course was annoyed. Whether it was because he hadn’t thought of possibilities Dave brought up, or because he wasn’t being relied upon by me as heavily for speculations about each sub-skill, I couldn’t say. But I did know at least one thing.
Dave had started by asking questions of Smegma, and eventually stopped.
Why?
Well, Smegma was only given a sub-Skill and a paragraph of a description. He didn’t have more information. After five answers to that effect, Dave had started speculating without including the Demon.
On second thought, I guess I knew the reason Smegma was unhappy.