“I’m telling you, they’ve shifted eight degrees that way!”

The Elementalist gritted his teeth, reaching out with his aura once more to confirm. After a moment, he turned back with a smug expression that wasn’t entirely unwarranted—Bloodhound had been pestering him for the better part of an hour.

“Sir, I understand you have powers beyond me. I’m under no delusions on that front. But I know stone and this is the path they took—”

“Enough!”

Lady released her grip on his shoulder and the man shuddered as the wellspring of power was withdrawn. He looked toward her, just barely managing to keep the pleading expression off his face.

Everything about her was intoxicating, her hair the color of sunlight, her clothes skintight yet elegant—even though he preferred the other sex, even he could appreciate her refined beauty.

But what drew him in more than anything, was the power she imparted. When she touched him, amplified his power with her Skills, he felt like a god of the earth. The stone spoke to him, revealed its secrets like pillow talk among spent lovers. When she pulled away, he had to resist the urge to physically grab her hand—just for another glimpse into divinity.

Then, she snapped her fingers imperiously and the spell was broken. Now, all he saw was a spoiled brat, used to getting her way with her looks and haughty attitude. The allure cracked, faded, then drained away entirely.

“Do another scrying,” she whined. “I’m sick of your bickering.”

Bloodhound furled his nose, as if catching a bad smell. Then he closed his eyes. The Elementalist felt aura shift around the man. He didn’t have the skill or perception to trace the flow, but it was obvious the man was doing another scrying—or whatever Seers did.

The Elementalist released his grip on the surrounding stone—now that Lady wasn’t amplifying him, he didn’t have the power to shift it—and took the moment to himself.

He’d been going nonstop for hours and even with a high-ranking Amplifier juicing him up, it was mentally exhausting work.

Across the small tunnel they were perched in, Tinker stirred inside his power armor. He hadn’t spoken or moved in two hours, presumably working on some project internally—or just taking a nap.

But he rose to his feet with a mechanical whir, his fury somehow obvious in the lilt of his posture despite the blank-faced power armor hiding his face.

“Frank, why have we stopped!”

The Elementalist flinched, then cast a pleading look toward Lady.

You explain it, princess.

She sighed, striding toward Tinker with a swaying of hips. Somehow, Frank didn’t imagine the sashay had much effect on the Artificer. Boys and their toys seemed to sum up the Council super quite accurately. If her feminine charm did have any grip on the man, his power armor hid it.

“Tink, darling, our compatriots are feuding.” She looked over to Frank and narrowed her eyes, obviously at a loss for a moment. On a hunch, he activated his System tag, flashing his name for a brief moment. Her surprise registered for only a glimpse before she continued on seamlessly, as if she had never needed the reminder. “Frank here is following the trail their Elementalist took. While our dear Bloodhound senses them in a slightly different direction.”

Tinker eyed the two of them for a moment, his blank metal face turning to Frank, then back to Bloodhound.

“What do you see, Ryan?”

Bloodhound held up a finger, his eyes closed. Frank tried to open his senses wider to get a glimpse at what the man was doing, but he was only a D-ranker and had never truly applied himself, if he were being honest. Had no interest in being a…superhero. Only reason he was here was the Council paid well and on time.

A couple seconds passed and Frank shifted awkwardly. Why had he even bothered arguing with the man? What did he care?

When Bloodhound finally opened his eyes, red fire swirled in his eyes. Those red eyes turned toward Frank and he felt his heart clench involuntarily, like he was staring into the mouth of a tiger. But they shifted away a moment later and he sucked in a deep breath.

“Frank is correct, they took this path on their way down.” Lady’s eyebrows rose in surprise and Frank couldn’t help but feel his own thoughts echoing that expression. An A-ranker willing to eat crow? That was a first. “I’d wager they’re on their way back to the surface, taking a slightly altered path,” Bloodhound continued. “If we divert, we should intercept in a couple hours.”

Tinker nodded, his armor shifting back into a dormant stance.

His mechanical voice echoed out. “Do it.”

Frank shrugged, realizing he didn’t care one way or the other.

Just collect that paycheck and get home to Collin. Leave the specifics to the S- and A-rankers.

A few seconds passed before he realized Bloodhound, Lady, and the fireteam idly playing cards in the corner were all staring toward him. He flinched under their collective gazes, turning back to his task.

As he stirred his aura, he realized what he was missing. He cast a pleading glance over his shoulder.

“Uh…would you mind?”

Lady sighed dramatically, rolling her eyes as she strode over. She placed a hand on his shoulder—almost reluctantly, as if touching him would lessen her in some way.

Turning back so that none of them could see him, he did his own eye roll, then stirred his magic.

I need a vacation…

----------------------------------------

The evacuees settled into a placid sort of panic. There was palpable tension in the air, reflected in the quiet but insistent murmurs infecting the large group. But everyone kept their voices low, almost as if Qui Shen himself might hear them.

Sol ranged amongst the group numbering in the thousands, radiating a soft glow—perhaps unconsciously. Like moths to the flame, he drew attention wherever he roamed, speaking soft but confident words wherever he was met with panic.

As Terraform’s group of apprentices ferried the large stone platform through the earth, the realization began to settle in that there was nothing to be done but hurry up and wait. Terry had given up on trying to corral Marlon’s cats and instead turned his attention to the aura snapshot he had taken of Marmalade.

It was the first time he was truly utilizing a snapshot and the difference between it and a living being’s aura were subtle but noticeable.

Or maybe the difference was that this was a cat’s aura…

Either way, he dove into the snapshot, working to catalog it as if it were a living aura.

At first, it appeared relatively mundane. There was nothing specific about the snapshot that drew his eye and it had significantly less complexity than an E-ranked Skill’s mold, let alone a D-ranked mold.

But after staring at it—with both his eyes and his senses—long enough to go cross-eyed, he recognized something that pulled at his intuition. Unlike when he was cataloging a person’s aura while they engaged a Skill, the snapshot seemed dormant—almost inert.

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And that’s exactly what it was!

The snapshot was inert, because Marmalade hadn’t been actively engaging in a Skill when he’d taken the snapshot. He needed an active example…and he knew exactly how to get that.

Climbing to his feet, he began scanning around the crowd for a specific four-legged specimen. The cats had initially scattered upon their arrival and Terry’s rough attempts to capture them had only spread them out wider. But as it became clear there was nowhere for them to flee, they’d slowly began to congregate together in the same general vicinity.

As he spotted the diffuse gathering of cats, he activated Master of Light and went nearly invisible—only his eyes were unaffected so that he could still see.

A small child audibly gasped as he disappeared, pulling on her mother’s clothes insistently. But her cries of alarm were quickly shushed and the poor girl resigned herself to being dismissed, even as her gaze tracked wide to find the invisible man.

He chuckled quietly to himself, stepping lightly as he approached. Cats were strange in what they seemed to pick up on. Sometimes, they had a preternatural sense of danger in their surroundings. Other times, they were shocked by their own reflection.

So Terry pulled his aura in, tiptoeing his way into range of Marmalade, who lounged near the middle of the pack like a king lion among his pride. Slowly, carefully, he stepped between the outer circle of cats, his shoes crunching ever so lightly against the loose stone of the platform.

He was only a few steps from Marmalade, when a nearby cat perked up, then began hissing in his direction. Marmalade also shot up and Terry frantically readied his Skill. As he released his invisibility, the entire herd of cats burst into frenzied panic, launching in every direction of the compass in a scramble so coordinated in its chaos that it almost seemed preplanned.

But only one of the cats had the ability to teleport.

As Marmalade’s aura activated, tracing back to Marlon deep through the earth, Terry also activated his aura, timing it perfectly.

The cat disappeared in a flash, but Terry didn’t mind. He’d gotten what he needed. He let Master of Light go and pulled up the aura snapshots.

As he sat down in place to begin studying, he noticed a couple dirty looks from the nearby folks who had been startled by the cat stampede. His shoulders shot up to his ears as he cringed.

“Sorry,” he mouthed, holding a hand up.

When it seemed he had mostly shed the heat of what must have appeared to be a juvenile prank, he turned his attention back to the molds.

He was able to summon them from his mind, as if projecting them before him holographically. They shifted and turned with mental cues, allowing him to match them up based on orientation.

Right away, he recognized a noticeable difference between the two and he smiled, pleased that his hunch had been rewarded.

But the two molds alone didn’t give him much to go off, unless he started manipulating his own aura from scratch until he found the triggers. So he pulled up a third mold—that of his portal ability, the very Skill he had learned from Marlon. It stood to reason that if Marlon had injected a portal Skill into Marmalade’s aura, then it was the same Skill he had taught Terry.

Wielding the three separate molds in his mind, he began the tedious work of comparing them until he could map out all the anomalies.

----------------------------------------

It was another hour before Marlon sensed Skipper within his reach. Another hour of constant attacks and intrusions into Market space. He wasn’t drained per se—he still had the spatial advantage over Skipper given their relative proximities. But there was aura drain and then there was mental drain.

And as much as he hated to admit it, he hadn’t exercised that specific trait in many years.

Still, it was a matter of pride—perhaps pure stubbornness—that pushed him onward.

I ain’t letting that talentless hack beat me.

When he finally felt Skipper close enough to strike back, he felt a renewed vigor take hold of him.

“They’re in range,” he grunted, rolling his shoulders to loosen the tightening muscles. “Tell me when.”

The group had been engaged in quiet discussion out of earshot so as not to distract him. But at his words, all discussion cut off as the enormity of the situation took hold of them.

Terraform stood up a bit straighter, his eyes as steady as the earth that he controlled.

“It’s not too late for a change of heart.” Those eyes swept across the group, seeming to bore into each of them and all of them at the same time. “Marlon can still send you ahead to join the evacuation group.”

Louisa scoffed derisively, lifting her chin as if to look down upon the suggestion. Marcus simply straightened his posture, stirring his aura in preparation. Juliette took a step closer to her mentor, their auras mingling comfortably. Hunter didn’t react at all, his eyes never leaving Terraform for a moment.

And Marlon had turned away, ignoring the suggestion entirely. Not like he had anything better to do.

A smile touched Terraform’s lips at their reactions and a moment later, he chuckled dryly.

“Well, can’t fault me for trying.”

“Sure I can,” Louisa groused. “Ain’t gettin’ any younger over here. Let’s go poke this bastard in the eye before I die of old age.”

For once, Marlon agreed with the old grouch.

Terraform nodded, then strode over to where Marlon sat.

“You ready, old friend?” he asked softly.

Marlon sighed, feeling the weight suddenly intensify on his shoulders. With a grunt, he rose from the chair, the wicker groaning as if in relief.

“Been twenty years to prepare, I suppose,” he growled, though he couldn’t muster the accompanying heat to his voice. “Now’s good a time as any.”

Terraform met his eye, a deep power resting there, dormant, but slowly awakening, like a dragon stirred from slumber.

“Then let’s begin.”

Marlon split space quietly, returning his six wicker chairs to the closet, then crunched across the broken pottery toward the front of the shop.

He lingered at the doorway, staring out at the alley that had been his constant view for twenty years.

A notification pinged in his vision and he growled in annoyance.

Midmark Quest Given: [Leave the Shop]

Simply leave your shop.

Reward: C-rank

“Yeah, yeah,” he muttered, waving away the message.

Taking a steadying breath, he closed his eyes and stepped onto the cobblestone. Power engulfed him, wrapped him in a mother’s embrace. He fought it at first on pure instinct. It simply held him tight, understanding, grace transmitted through that connection.

After a moment, he let go, releasing his anger and bitterness and resistance.

When he opened his eyes, he wasn’t in his alley anymore.

Tears pushed their way through as he took in the familiar living room. The coffee table they’d picked out together, the rug Lily had stained the first day they’d laid it out, the dining table tucked against the wall, the high chair beside it.

And at the table, sat Marissa, a spoon airplaning its way toward Lily’s mouth.

He knew logically that this wasn’t his family—they were long dead and no level of magic or eldritch fuckery could bring them back. But the animal side of his brain didn’t care. Decades of repressed love—emotions he thought he’d killed but had apparently just buried deep—fought past all his carefully constructed defenses.

Time passed and he didn’t dare move a muscle, infect the beautiful memory with his slovenly presence. Shame filled him then, knowing exactly what Marissa would have said if she’d seen how he looked, how he lived.

But then, she glanced up and her smile lit up the room, her eyes finding him, wrinkling at the edges with a love so pure he couldn’t bear it.

The image froze, a magical tableau locked in a single, beautiful moment. He cried ugly tears, feeling the weight of twenty years slough off his back like old skin.

He wasn’t aware how long he stood there, sobbing like a fool. But eventually, the heaviness of that past flowed beyond him, leaving him raw, but also healed.

The thing behind him was like a beacon to his senses, but he was grateful it hadn’t intruded upon the moment. Now, though, he finally turned to address it.

“Thank you for that.”

He was surprised to find he meant it. It had been so long since he’d felt gratitude that the feeling was almost as alien to him as the creature standing before him.

“I’m just sorry I couldn’t give you that sooner,” it replied.

He nodded, turning his attention away from the family he’d lost, focusing fully on his Waker.

It assumed a blank, humanoid body—it knew better than to pervert Marissa’s memory by trying to mimic her. In contrast to its bland appearance though, was its towering presence. He remembered being in awe when he’d Awakened, but had possessed no context. Its aura was big, that was all he knew.

But he’d grown up since then, witnessed titans of the earthly realm, seen power that could crater major cities. Terraform himself was a man closer to a god than a mortal.

And yet, the Waker’s presence was like a fixture of nature itself in comparison. Comparing it to Terraform was like comparing the sun to a light bulb. Even in his memories, he hadn’t remembered it being so incomprehensibly vast.

“You’re bigger than I remember,” he eventually said, a slight note of complaint in his voice.

The Waker chuckled lightly, shrugging in a very human way.

“You too,” it replied wryly.

Marlon gaped, his eyes widening in surprise.

“A fat joke…seriously?”

“Just trying to lighten the mood.”

Its blank expression and deadpan delivery was so incongruous that he couldn’t help but see the comedy in it all. He snorted humorously, shaking his head.

“What the hell are you?”

The line of questioning might have seemed tangential to the creature, but if it was surprised, it didn’t show it.

“I’m the Weaver, Marlon. And I’m one of the powers holding back the chaos that threatens this universe.”

He might have scoffed at the grandiose declaration, but he felt its aura like a physical sensation, a gust of wind imparted with pure emotion and power. And its sincerity was impossible to dismiss.

It took a step closer now, reaching out a hand for his shoulder.

“It’s time you rejoined the fight, Marlon. Your world needs you.”

Power infused his body and mind, sharp waves of pain and pleasure intermingling into a heady cocktail that made him woozy and disoriented.

When it passed some unknown amount of time later, he opened his eyes, finding himself back in his alleyway.

Notifications danced across his vision.

Quest Complete: [Leave your Shop]

C-rank achieved! Status Sheet updated!