“We’re almost there Darlin, just a bit more of these souls need to be collected and then we can be together again.” Levi said as he took a long drink from his glass.
◆◆◆
“How many…..? And they all have the same effects.....? Dear gods… No, thank you Henry… Yes, you too.” I was saying into my phone before hanging up. Looking up from the table in front of me, I spoke to Az and Cory. “There are around three hundred and fifty bodies flooding all the morgues in the city. Only about twenty have the normal red blood. It seems that we’re losing a battle here that we had no idea we were even fighting. And even worse, we still have no idea why their blood is green. There isn’t any poison in them, no foreign substances can be found. And the bullet you gave me doesn’t bring anything up aside from a chunk of very clear crystal Az.”
“They couldn’t even get any type of residue for what the spell is that’s attached to those?” Az asked me, setting his coffee down and grabbing a piece of bread from the basket in the center of the table.
“Nothing. It’s almost as if someone just smoothed down a piece of crystal to resemble the shape of a bullet, but that’s it.” I said. “We’ll have to see if we can find someone else to crack it. Maybe someone proficient, or even a master in alchemy. With it technically being a stone, they should be able to feel out how it can hold any amount of magic.”
“Let me grab that journal, maybe it has more information on the bullets or something.” Az said, getting up and walking over to the coffee table. “I had only really scanned that section at first because I was reading more on Leviathan than anything else to see if he’s the one that we’re dealing with.”
“Az, I really don’t think that journal is going to help.” I told him. “We need real people to help us now.”
“I know that for some reason you two can’t read what this book holds. But I really do think that it has everything we need to figure this out.” Az replied, setting the book down in front of him and opening it to the page he said was for Araminta. “I don’t remember exactly what it said, but it was something about a projectile… Ah, here it is. She uses her projectiles to collect the souls of people she shoots. It doesn’t say anything specific about the gun, just that she used an object not from her time to use the projectiles.”
“Az, please stop with the journal.” I said defeated. “I really need you to stop.”
“But Pappy, it has everything we need in it. Explaining who we’re dealing with and how to stop them.” Az said.
“I know, but these types of books only come around for specific reasons. Either you’re possessed or using black magic.” I said to him. “I honestly don’t think you’re possessed, and I would like to think that you’ve been raised properly to not use black magic.”
“Pappy, of course I’m not using black magic. I wouldn’t even know where to find the beginnings of stuff like that.” Az said with a quizzical expression. “And If I was possessed, I don’t think I would know myself. But I don’t think I am either. I just really feel like this book will help us a ton with what we’re facing.”
This boy better be ready for what he’s going to face. Hopefully, he’s strong enough for it. I thought. I looked at Az for a long time, then finally over at Cory.
“What do you think?” I asked her.
“Well, I know that he can be a troll sometimes. Stubborn headed, jumping before he thinks, and downright annoying.” She said while looking at Az. “But I think he knows what he’s talking about. Or at least, I need to give him the same amount of trust that I wanted when I was trying to figure out my trial.”
“I’m sorry, Cory. I just wanted to make sure you knew the risks and everything.” Az told her. “But thank you. I promise, if for some reason it seems like the book is wrong about something, I will let you both know immediately.”
“Alright, well now that that is settled, I need to make a call to the council and set up a meeting. We need to bring all evidence to them for a final vote.” I said, standing up and pulling out my phone again. “You both will need to be there as well, so make sure to put something professional on.”
“Oh, hell no!” Cory exclaimed. “I’m going to wear my jeans and t-shirt that I already have on. I’m comfortable and will not conform to what they want.”
“Cory, your brother is already wearing a nice button-up shirt and a vest. All he needs is a tie. You wouldn’t want to be the odd one out, would you?” I asked her. “It’s just polite.”
“I am not wearing a tie.” Az said, standing up. “I will never wear a tie. Those things are too horrible. I swear they were invented just to choke the life out of people. And I didn’t dress like this for anyone else. I like dressing this way. It’s comfortable.”
“Good gods, when you two agree on something, it’s like pulling teeth from a tiger to try and go against it.” I said, rolling my eyes and chuckling. “Alright, fine. Go as you are.”
I hit a button on my phone and held it up to my ear.
“Mikey, hello. How’s the wife and kids?” I asked. “Good to hear, I trust the little ones are over their cold by now…? Good. Listen, I need to call an emergency meeting. Will you gather the others and have them meet at the clearing on my island? It’s very urgent, so do whatever you need to in order to get them all. We’ll be there ourselves in about an hour… Perfect, we’ll see you then.”
I disconnected and put the phone back in my pocket, then turned back to Az and Cory.
“We have a little while for you both to finish breakfast. But we’ll need to hurry if we’re going to try to beat any of the other council members there.” I said. “I’ll call Chris and have him ready to go.”
Council
They stepped out of the portal onto a stage-like area in a brightly lit field full of columns supporting draping vines and climbing rose bushes. A u-shaped table sat in the middle, the only seating in sight being a couple rows of logs at the open end. Going through an archway towards the logs, Az, Cory and Chris took seats on the logs to wait for the council to show up.
“I’ve never seen this part of the island before.” Cory said in awe as she looked around. “This must be on the opposite side of your house.”
“Yes, the house is on the other side of the island.” Pappy replied, checking his watch. “We don’t allow visitors here unless it’s a council matter and all members will be present. Even council meetings with only some of us do not come here. Not for any specific reason but for respect of the rest of the council.”
“Are there any other secret areas to the island that we don’t know about Pappy?” Az asked.
“None that you need to worry about.” Pappy said distractedly. “Now, where are they? I told Mike an hour, and it’s almost-.”
He cut off when there was a flash of 4 different portals opening in different spots behind the tables, and groups of four people started walking out of them and shuffling to different spots at the table. One person from each portal came to sit with Chris behind Az and Cory, all wearing the same black pants and maroon colored button-up shirt. The other twelve people that came through the portals began to sit at the table and waited for everyone to sit. Pappy walked to the head of the u-shaped table and sat down as well.
“Thank you all for coming today. Mike, thank you for getting everyone together.” He said to the man on his right. “I’m afraid I don’t have much time, but I needed to bring this to everyone’s attention. As we all well know, there are historical weapons of great power that have been stored away for safekeeping and further study for generations. One such weapon has been stolen from the Smithsonian recently. It is something that we believe is creating much havoc and chaos in Las Vegas currently.”
He went over the details of everything that they had learned since they arrived in Vegas. Even going over the drug issue and new crime lord.
“We have some reason to believe that this gun was used in its creation for a very powerful individual centuries ago. And right now we think that the gun has been stole
n to replicate her killings, either that or she has been resurrected.”
The council members around him started muttering amongst themselves before a woman with very pale skin and hair stood.
“Why do you think that this is the same person that had used the weapon in the beginning?” She asked him. “If it really was centuries, she would be long dead by now.”
“Because, Ethel, we believe the individual creating this havoc is one of the seven demon princes of hell, Leviathan. Who in turn, is trying to release his wife, the demon of Envy called Araminta.” Pappy told her.
“That’s preposterous.” Ethel exclaimed. “Demons do not live that long. Demonology has attempted to continue examination of demons for hundreds of years. The last demon we had died of old age. The longest they live, by our estimation, has only been around three hundred years.”
“My dear Ethel, you do realize that they all stay looking as if they are in their late twenties, right?” An old man said across the table from her. “For all we know, he could have already been a thousand years old when we captured him.”
“Look here, Carson, I’ve been the head of demonology since before you even thought of playing with yourself in the middle of the night.” Ethel told him. “I think I would know more about demons than a child like you.”
“Oh, calm down you old bat.” Carson told her. “I’m just saying, that when I read the report you gave us for that meeting, it said the demon was captured only two hundred years before he died. He very well could have been older than you know.”
“That is irrelevant to my point.” Ethel stated. “My point is that they are not able to live this long. That gun, from my understanding, is at least five hundred years old.”
“What Carson is saying, Ethel, is that no matter what you think you know of demons, we still have a lot of missing knowledge.” Another woman said, “You say that the demon in your custody was only three hundred when he died. And he was caught two hundred years before. Do you think a demon would really tell you their real age, just because you asked them?”
“Of course I do.” Ethel replied. “Just because you have men lying to you all day, Marrion, doesn’t mean that they will lie to me. Especially when they are bound in a summoning circle.”
“Men only lie to me on a daily basis to hide the reasons that they are injured and needing healing.” Marrion replied with a smirk. “Perhaps, if you weren’t such a prude, you would be able to have men not lie to you as much.”
“Ladies, please. Keep the cat fights to yourselves and outside of council matters.” Another man said, holding the bridge of his nose. “Jimmer, I must ask, what makes you think that what is happening now is the same thing that happened when the gun was created in the first place?”
“Thank you, Harrold.” Pappy said to the man. “The reason we believe it is the same thing is because we have found newspaper articles of various different places and time frames that had the same issues happening. In every case, people are acting differently. Different in a way that everyone that knows them would never think possible of them. And it has always ended in that person’s death. Each case has been that the area the people live in, has had mass murders and suicides in a one week time frame. This time, we’ve seen the deaths spread out over a course of almost two weeks. And they are slower, so I’m thinking that for some reason, they are trying to go slower and get something complete in a different way. Or they are trying to go unnoticed.”
“You’re basing the council meeting on a few news articles?” Ethel asked. “What are we supposed to do with that? Just because they may seem similar, doesn’t mean that they actually are anywhere near the same.”
“I think we may need to hear more on this matter.” Harrold said. “Elias, you have the records of the most significant deaths or mass deaths. What do you think?”
“I think we could see about bringing up some scrolls on the matter.” A man spoke up, waving one of the men over that had sat down with Chris. “Benny, will you please connect to the basement vault in my house? That’s where the records I’ll need are at.”
“Yes, sir.” Benny replied, going to the landing behind the man and standing with his head bowed and arms crossed. After a moment there was a slash of light, and a swirling circle of light opened beside him. Elias got up from the table and walked through it.
“While he is getting the records, what other information do you have on these deaths?” Another woman asked. “Is this something the full council is going to need to step in on?”
“Not as of yet, Grace.” Pappy replied. “We have limited information, but what we do have isn’t exactly helping us solve the mystery either. The morticians in and around the city have all verified that although the people have all died in different ways, they all share one common factor that is worrisome. They all have green blood.”
“Green blood?” Grace asked. “Is there some spore that is infecting them?”
“No, it is not a spore or an infection that is able to spread as far as we know.” Pappy told her. “What we do know is that we have found a bullet that, once in contact with blood, turns the bullet from a green color to almost a clear-looking crystal. The blood it connects with will also turn green.”
“Lance, will you research this information? I want more information on the green blood itself and what could cause that.” Another woman said. “If we can possibly find out what is causing this, we might be able to figure out a way to stop it.”
“I’ll get right on it, Ruby.” Lance replied. “If I am able to find anything, I will send it out to everyone in an email.”
“Can you call this time?” Another man called out. “I don’t like having to try and figure out how to pull up my emails.”
“Look, Kade, if you can’t catch up with the current times to figure something like emails out, then you’ll need to figure something else out. I’m not going all medieval and calling everyone individually and telling you all the same exact information twelve different times. One email for everyone is a better solution for my time. Have Tom help you with it if you don’t want to.” Lance told him while pointing to one of the men sitting behind Az and Cory.
Before Kade could reply, Elias returned through the portal and took his seat again, allowing Benny to return to his seat by Chris.
“I have the records here. While I was gathering them, I couldn’t see anything that would suggest what is happening now is a repeat of anything in the last three hundred years.” Elias said as he sat down. “I made copies for everyone if you want to look over them later on.”
He waved his hand over the stack of papers in front of him and each page transformed into a bird once his purple mist settled, then they all flew over to different council members and settled in front of them, a new purple mist covering them for a moment and flattening down to leave just a paper again.
“Elias!” Pappy shouted at him. “How many times have we told you? You are not allowed to use any form of magic while in the council meetings. It’s not fair to any witnesses or guests that we have with us since their powers are temporarily suspended.”
“Come on, Jimmer, I don’t want to have to walk around to everyone and give them each a copy of the report. I’m 88 years old, my knees aren’t what they used to be.” Elias told him.
“I’m 107 years old, that’s no excuse.” Pappy told him sternly. “We have other members of the council that are older than both of us as well, and they follow the same rules the rest of us are supposed to.”
“It’s an old rule. We should just get rid of it.” Elias said.
“We’re not going to get rid of it. We need to be sure and set a proper example for those we allow into our meetings.” Ethel said. “We can’t have an uprising simply because the newest member of the council cannot follow the rules.”
“Alright, fine. Let’s just move on. I have other things I want to do today.” Elias said moping.
“I think we have all the information we need from here.” Ethel said. “I vote that
we allow the local MICAW agents in Vegas to continue what they need to do on their own without any additional help.”
“I vote that we do send help.” Randall said, “We need to make sure if this green blood is something that we need to worry about or not. Shall we vote now? Or did you have something else, Jimmer?”
Pappy set the report from Elias back on the table in front of him, then looked up toward Az and Cory, sighing.
“Corsanna, if you could please come to the middle?” He called out.
Cory stood and walked carefully to the middle of the tables where all the council members could see her and stopped.
“Council members, this is Corsanna, my granddaughter.” Pappy explained. “She has some news for us all. Go ahead, Cory.”
“Hi everyone.” She said. “I’m sure you all know the history of our family and how normally we follow in the footsteps of our ancestors on what type of magic we are able to perform in a more proficient manner. Well, I wasn’t happy with how my training was going at camp while trying to follow my grandmother's steps with alchemy. So I instead went into mental magic.”
“It’s a rare thing that someone is able to perform better in anything aside from where they come from with their ancestors.” Carson said. “Are you sure you didn’t try hard enough with alchemy? It’s actually very easy once you know what you’re doing.”
“Yes, I am sure that I did everything within my power to do my best. I wanted to follow my grandmother and become an architect. But that’s apparently not what I was meant to do.” Cory replied. “I wasn’t able to get the proficient mark that I wanted, so I chose a different path. Mental magic sounded like it might be a better fit for my nature, so I took that class for the remainder of my training. Once I was there, I found out that mental magic comes a lot more easily to me than anything else. So I decided to continue on with it and did get my proficient mark. I was even able to get my anima.”
Stone Cold NV: World of Sin, Book 1 Page 17
