Oddity Specialist: Manifestor

by James Courneya

  She flips it.

  “Negative, fourth cup suit, major arcana.”

  “Alright.”

  “That’s probably the one.”

  Lucifer states.

  “We don’t know that yet.”

  Quinn says, with his focus on the remaining cards.

  “Health.”

  She flips the card. Immediately everyone besides Quinn tenses up. Quinn himself takes a moment longer to recognize the cards meaning, then simply accepts it.

  “The devil, negative, major arcana.”

  Molly takes a moment, then starts to become slightly more chipper.

  “That should be fine. This will be your misfortune sure, but it mostly is focused on emotional problems and...”

  Quinn raises his hand to stop her.

  “This has meaning beyond that.”

  “You can feel it as well?”

  “I can see it.”

  Quinn says, looking up to the demonic specter wrapping around him.

  “y-You can?”

  “You can’t?”

  “No...”

  The specter looks like a demonic serpent. Halfway up the snake’s body, it has begun to shed, but not its skin, it’s flesh. From flesh, to guts, to bone, they fall from the snake, more and more up to the skull head. Horns coming out of that skull. Razor sharp wings run out of its back. It’s eyes pupils are red, floating pentagrams. The snakes grip, tightens around Quinn.

  “Should I continue?”

  “No need.”

  “Then, it’s my turn!”

  Neri states. Quinn relays the snakes appearance to the girl. She begins quickly thinking over this information, from every direction possible. Lucifer begins talking to Quinn.

  “Do you know what this means for you?”

  “Not really, but it’s clearly bad.”

  “This thing resembles a demon in a lot of ways.”

  “Yeah.”

  “You can tell that as well?”

  “At this point, yes.”

  “Perhaps then, you know as well, the type of destruction that our kind brings.”

  Quinn thinks about the games of life and death, that have had these types of energy.

  “Of course.”

  He tightens up.

  “Okay, first I could give you a message, lessen the tension you have. Perhaps, acupuncture as well. Just anything that can make you feel physically healthier.”

  Neri begins listing things off. Lucifer is currently examining, something unseen. It’s Molly, who sees the first problem.

  “Uh! Are you okay!?”

  The girl asks worried. Quinn feels a sense of paralysis stretch over his body. Neri looks at the boys face, seeing his left eye turn red. The left side of his body begins to twitch. Neri listens to his heart beat.

  “He’s having a stroke.”

  Her eyes dart around.

  “Come on, you need to lie down.”

  “Okay...”

  Neri helps Quinn lie down on his side, on the floor.

  “Where do you feel it?”

  “My chest.”

  “An Embolic stroke.”

  Neri’s eyes dilate as she goes over options.

  “He’s dying you know?”

  Lucifer states.

  “Yes.”

  “Medication needs to be given four hours after-”

  “He doesn’t have four hours.”

  “Then what?”

  “Hm.”

  Lucifer pulls one of his hairs out, then flicks it at the girl.

  “What’s this?”

  She holds the sharp, straight strand in her hands.

  “Break up the clots.”

  “We can’t just-”

  She stops.

  “Can he heal from this?”

  “Of course.”

  “This is sterile?”

  “Uh-huh.”

  Neri begins going over the list of symptoms that come from blood clots. She then analyses the visible veins and tries to mentally reconstruct their pathing. For a moment, quick enough that no one notices, a flash of purple leaves her eyes.

  “Quinn, you’ll be fine, in fact, better than before.”

  “Okay.”

  He looks up to the specter and sees it wince back. Neri messes with the hair for a moment, noticing what happens on one side, is mimicked on the other. “I see.”

  She stabs the thin strand into Quinn, then uses it to cut ahead of where she thinks the clouts are. After four of these, Quinn begins to scrunch up his face. “I can feel the tension lesson. Healing back from this has already started.”

  Lucifer just simply keeps examining nothing in particular within the air. Looking around, as if to spot something.

  “Quinn, the fact you can heal from this, means you probably can heal from just about anything.”

  “I see.”

  The snake hisses, while Neri continues the incisions.

  “What should we call this thing?”

  Quinn asks.

  “Huh?”

  Neri locks eyes with him for the first time, since starting.

  “w-Why?”

  “What was that funny word you said? Emba- something?”

  “Embolic.”

  “Yeah, makes me think of embryo and emblem. Something like Death Embryo, or Blood Serpent.”

  “...I like Blood Serpent more.”

  “Yeah, the first one sounded off.”

  “Okay, let’s call it the Bloodshed Serpent then.”

  “Ah, because it’s shedding. I like it.”

  Neri continues the incisions while talking.

  “He’s going to be fine, right?”

  Molly asks, worried.

  “Of course.”

  Neri responds with instantly.

  “Like you said, I have abilities, that are something along the lines of psychic.”

  “Really? You said that you had a demonic snake thing around you? Are you fighting it off with your psychic abilities?!”

  Molly askes excited.

  “Something like that.”

  Quinn thinks upon this strange misunderstanding of his abilities. “If I could call Lucifer out, maybe I do have some way of affecting this stake as well. They are both demon type oddities, attached to my body.”

  “I’m going to blow this snake away, right now.”

  Quinn states, with a clear tone and resolute eyes.

  “Amazing!”

  Molly states. Neri simply gives the boy a surprised look. “Is he trying to manifest a new power, right now? Or maybe, this is actually something he has done before... Either way, I’ll believe in him.”

  With all his determination, Quinn attempts to jet the snake off of him. Lucifer looks back, seeing the energy forming around the individuals. “You know, I can feel you attempt to do that, like I would feel a muscle get flexed. You don’t have the capacity to force me out, but you can knock on the door... Maybe, if I use my energy... No, I wouldn’t waste the little I have left to save him from this.”

  Lucifer looks out towards the open air once more. “But perhaps.”

  He reaches out towards Quinn. A surge of energy pops the snake off of Quinn. This moment of freedom, is enough for Quinn, even if it’s just momentarily, believe that he has overcome his misfortune. The Bloodshed Serpent dissipates, as a red string glows. The glow travels down the string, pass Lucifer, onwards to the corner of the room. Lucifer locks eyes with this spot and doesn’t for a moment look away. Quinn thinks to himself. “I did it...”

  Then the pieces snap into place and he realizes what exactly happened. Quinn sits up.

  “We did it. The snakes gone.”

  Neri gets a big smile and leaps up into the air. She lands onto her knees. Now being on an equal eyeline to Quinn.

  “And you’re okay?”

  “Yep.”

  Quinn feels pain course through his body. “It’ll take a bit to heal from this, but it’s best to say I’m already completely fine.”

  Neri has a
look of relief. She gives Quinn a hug. The boy, stunned by this, takes a moment to tap the girls back. Neri then immediately gets up.

  “Okay, how are you feeling?”

  She says looking at Molly.

  “Fine.”

  Quinn looks up at the girl, now seeing a specter attached to her.

  “Her specter is laying dormant. I think that means that this counted.”

  “Wait, I have a specter on me?”

  “Well, that seems to be what happens to the people who get their fortunes read.”

  “Ah, right. What does it look like?”

  “...A long hood, like a series of cut up pieces of black fabric fashioned together. There’s a skull at the opening of the hood, with a sun symbol carved into its forehead.”

  “Cool!”

  The medium says.

  “I mean, bad...”

  She says, conflicted.

  “We have a way to counter them now though, so it should be fine. As long as...”

  Neri stops.

  “Don’t worry, that was an abnormally strong one.”

  Lucifer says, still looking at the corner.

  “I had a hunch.”

  “...So what’s going on?”

  Quinn says, standing up.

  “You might as well come out now.”

  Lucifer states.

  “Very well.”

  A clear melancholic voice rings out.

  The person walks out into the center of the room. The black veil that was covering them becomes visible, as they step out of it. Lucifers eyes still transfixed onto them. Blue hair flows down the woman’s back. A black cloth is wrapped around her eyes. The dress she has on, has a long slit along her left leg. The silky fabric forms to her figure in an almost unnatural way. Each bicep has golden, four-leaf clover, circlets around them. Her left arm has a tattoo on the side of the shoulder, a circle with a cross in it, that has what looks to be four hooks coming in, two from the right, two from the left. She has on two earrings, that are shallow golden bowls, hanging down from their respective ears on three chains. Sitting atop her head, is a leaf crown, that seems to be both gold, while still being living leaves.

  “Fortuna, I presume?”

  Neri asks.

  “That is correct, daughter of Minerva.”

  Neri’s eyes narrow. Fortuna looks over to Lucifer, then over to Molly. She points at the specter on her shoulders.

  “It seems you think the problem is solved, but may I ask, what you are going to do about that?”

  Neri is ready to instantly reply, but stops herself.

  “I see you understand. How can you do the opposite of death? Especially, given the circumstances you must work under.”

  “That’s-”

  “Moreover, you can’t starve it, you can’t unattach it, and you most certainly cannot let it run its course, if you want the girl to live.”

  “We will figure something out.”

  “No, you will not.”

  “You don’t know that.”

  “But I do, because I left a failsafe in place.”

  “What?”

  “You probably thought about draining the deck of specters, but if that happens, she will die with the last one.”

  “That’s...”

  “And as you can see, I can force a specter to become stronger. Meaning, I could make it so anyone who gets a reading, dies.”

  “That goes against your plan to grow stronger.”

  “Yes, but it would allow for you two to stop getting in that plans way, if that option is on the table.”

  Neri begins thinking over her options. “Their has to be another piece missing.”

  “That’s fine. If we stopped one, we can stop the rest.”

  Molly says. Fortuna frowns at the girl.

  “What?”

  Neri asks.

  “I said it’s fine.”

  “Molly, you know what you’re saying, right?”

  Quinn asks.

  “Of course. However, if this deck is destroyed with me, then it is my responsibility as a fortune teller, as a medium, to do so.”

  “Ho? That certainly would put a wrinkle in your plan? How long did it take to craft that deck? Not a drop in the bucket, I assume. A rock and a hard place. What now?”

  “I can always make another.”

  “By then, would this area still have energy getting accumulated into it?”

  Lucifer asks.

  “...”

  “Ah, hit it on the head it seems.”

  “What of it?”

  “Ho?”

  “I said, what of it. I still am the one who controls the specters themselves. I can release them all right now.”

  Neri’s focus sharpens, as she goes onto the offensive.

  “If you did so, then you couldn’t impower them. Your attention and power would be split between them. More then that, if we started taking them down, while they are attached to you, wouldn’t that continue to deal damage to you, like the last one?”

  “How did you... Never mind, the answer is obvious.”

  She looks over to Lucifer. Fortuna then goes into thought. While thinking, she gets progressively more perturbed.

  “Fhefefefe, oh yes, that could work. Daughter, what is your name?”

  “Neri.”

  “Then Neri, do you know what is thirteen days from now?”

  “Friday the thirteenth.”

  “Exactly. I hereby challenge you to a duel. On this Friday the thirteenth, I shall unleash my Misfortune Specters onto this town. You will face off against them, if you wish to change this girl’s destiny, by protecting her and this town. What do you say, do you accept this unlucky challenge?”

  Neri blinks her eyes, then with an enthusiastic response, she says.

  “I accept your challenge!”

  “Fhefefefe, very well, I shall see you on the dawn of the thirteenth day.”

  Fortuna slides backwards, into her veil and disappears from sight. After a few moments, Lucifer turns back to the group.

  “Do you have any idea what you just did?”

  “Did I accepted a fight against a god?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then I do have a pretty good idea.”

  Quinn’s stomach begins to feel unease.

  “Uhh, I don’t like any of this.”

  “We have a lot of time to prepare.”

  “Still... This feels like a big leap up.”

  “Who’s stronger, her or Samuel?”

  Neri asks Lucifer.

  “That is, slightly complicated. The amount of people that believe in Fortuna, must be exceedingly low. So she must be tapping into the raw concept of luck, along with making these small plays with mortals, in order to survive.”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “Her power thusly must be limited, but given my presence causing a spike in energy and the date causing people to be on edge anyways, she’ll be exceedingly powered up.”

  “That is certainly not good news.”

  “No, it isn’t.”

  “But it was good news, that we have a way to fight back.”

  “If you want to call that good news, then fine, so be it.”

  “Umm, so what exactly does this mean for me?”

  Molly asks.

  “You’ll be fine for a while.”

  Lucifer states.

  “...Oh yeah, tell her.”

  Lucifer follows up with.

  “You’ll be fine, at least up to the challenge. The specter looks to be lying dormant for now.”

  Lucifer’s ears perk up, at Quinn’s correct explanation. “His eyes are getting sharper.”

  “We will still need your help, going into the challenge.”

  Neri states.

  “Anything I can do to help, I will.”

  “Thanks.”

  “...I should be thanking you. You’re doing so much to try and save me...”

  “Of course, that’s what we do. Supernatural Detectives foremost important job
, is to protect their client. Even ones who haven’t filed an official job listing.”

  “Thank you so much.”

  “Any time.”

  Neri turns her attention to Quinn.

  “So, it seems we’ve got some work to do.”

  Chapter 3: Friday The Thirteenth

  The day is Friday the thirteenth. Three people sit within the office of the detective agency. In an instant, the light leaves the room. When the light comes back on, there is a figured, draped in a dark veil, standing in the center of the room.

  “Dawn is nearly upon us.”

  “Yep.”

  “You seem confident?”

  “Sure, I know we will beat you.”

  “Interesting, let’s see how long that lasts.”

  Without looking, the goddess raises her hand out towards Molly. Exploding out from her deck, is seventy-six different Misfortune Specters, that fly out into the world. The sun peaks over the horizon in the distance.

  “The game is on-”

  Fortuna immediately kneels over, grasping her chest.

  “w-What did you do?!”

  She snarls at Neri. Behind the girls fingers, a smile cracks.

  “We had plenty of time to prepare. How many specters did you lose, exactly?”

  “...Fifty-six.”

  Neri glances away, lost in thought.

  “Only the minor arcana.”

  Fortuna straightens up.

  “I don’t know what you did, but the last twenty specters won’t go down as easily.”

  “I know, but they will go down.”

  Neri states, determined.

  “Kh!”

  Fortuna throws her arm out, having her veil spin around consuming her fully. She disappears.

  “Okay.”

  Neri stands up, when she does, she lets out a deep breath. A visible weight leaves her.

  “Okay...”

  She repeats to herself.

  “It worked!”

  Molly exclaims.

  “What worked?”

  She follows up with.

  “It has to do with luck. If people feel unlucky today, then the specters will be stronger. However, the inverse is true. If everyone got a good fortune today, or saw something on the news that made them feel extra lucky, then the specters couldn’t gain a footing when attaching to them.”

  “You got something on the news?”

  “It’s not that hard, if you’re not limited by having to work strictly in reality.”

  “...What?”

  “Lying.”

  Quinn states.

  “Oh.”

  “Fibbing.”

  Neri corrects him. Quinn thinks over the run around Neri had them do, leading up to today. “She’s downplaying it. I guess, she normally does. Checking over everyone who lives in town and making files on each of them, was only the start. Setting up message to go out yesterday or today, tailored to the particular groups, which the recipients of would appreciate in such a way, that they would feel lucky. A news story on a fake study done on the town, which makes it appear to be one of the best to live in and stating that the amount of luck people seem to have is higher than anywhere else. I honestly thought that all she did, would be enough to solve the problem, before it even began.”