by Al K. Line
"I think I'm just going to go see Levick and try to get some answers."
"I wouldn't confront him, that's not wise."
"You got that right. No, I'll just go see him and suss him out, nothing too heavy. But I need to look into his eyes, get a proper feel for the man. I've known him so long and this just seems crazy. He's a creep, for sure, but killing kids, in league with the elves, it's serious conspiracy stuff and I never thought he would turn on us."
"You want company?"
"No thanks, it's best I go alone."
Mack left me to it and headed into the city, saying he wanted to catch up on old friends now he was back in his normal form and was remembering the language.
With nothing else to do, and trying not to think about Pumi being left alone with Robin back at the church, I made my way through the streets as my mind raced. I could see nothing good coming out of anything I uncovered.
To calm my nerves, I smoked a cigar, hiding my unease behind a cloud of smoke.
All Business
Levick has always had a head for business, it's like he was born to be in charge. He's all about efficiency, getting the job done, and he does not do chit-chat. He does work, and not a lot else. I've always thought of him as the one that really keeps human Strange in order, keeping us on our toes here, his influence spreading out across the country through a series of loosely connected networks that all lead back to him, and to the Queen.
Ours isn't any kind of official government, we are way too different and too full of individuals for that to ever be possible. But for as far back as pretty much anyone can remember, and since we have known about each other, there have been certain rules you abide by and there have been those that are in charge if there are issues to be dealt with.
For the longest time this was all just background to our everyday lives, keeping us together in a kind of secret family that mostly never got on and didn't talk to each other, but it changed as acceptance became the norm, and when Strange showed themselves to the world, things inevitably became a little more organized.
Because the world now knew there were those that could harness the Pool, or those with magic-born gifts, or curses, along with those changed by a warped magic virus such as zombies or vampires, we had to keep control of our own kind more closely, ensuring the slow acceptance continued.
What was once a loose network of Justices around the city, the country and the world, took on a rather more formal organization, although us being us it has never quite become official. It's not like we clock in or out, go to the office every day, fill out paperwork or any of that stuff, that's not how most of us function and nobody would do the job if that was what it involved. We are, after all, human beings that can warp reality and use magic. Who's going to spend their life in an office when you can summon magic and get the boring stuff done by an immortal faery in exchange for some gossip?
But Levick, he's different, and I have never doubted that it is down to him that our kind have thrived under the new world order we finally found ourselves a part of. He loves the mundane, the detail, keeping us in line, giving orders and ensuring nobody uses their gifts in ways that will hurt the rest of us or the world at large.
Justice, that's what I am, that's what I give. We don't have trials or long-winded proceedings and interviews getting to the heart of the crime, if you mess up and abuse your gifts, get on the radar when ripples in the Pool are detected and you are found to be the one guilty, then you get dealt with.
Punishments vary, none of them involve a slap on the wrist.
Levick has always been fair, sending out a Justice to deal with the culprit, his orders purportedly coming from our figurehead, our true leader, the imitable, the stoic, the enduring Queen.
We have always had such a figurehead, a long line of kings and queens that are there to deal with issues that arise, to give us a sense of order, of belonging, of family. We all live under her care and protection, and her decision is final. Levick is her arm of our law, and he takes the job very seriously.
So how could this man, this upholder of our way of life, our very way of being, be corrupt and sending me to exact punishment on a man that was innocent, and do it knowing full well this was the case? How could he be the one involved in the death of an innocent, or enter elf HQ?
It made no sense. I had to see for myself, and I had to hope I wasn't making a bad move by walking right into the lion's den.
As the door closed behind me and I walked down the quiet corridor of the large building that housed the Queen's aides, the numerous people that managed our world and its subtleties, I got the urge to turn around and run the hell away. But that wouldn't lead to answers and above all else I needed those answers.
I had to find a way to help Pumi, to uncover the truth, and understand what was going on. Our world was in danger, and Levick was the key. There was no choice.
I was nervous, and I don't get nervous, but I put it aside, knowing I had to be the person I had always been, otherwise he'd see through me in a heartbeat.
I pushed open the door and breezed into his office. I never knock, so doing it now would be out of character.
"Levick, what in the Queen's name is all this shit with Pumi? You better have answers for me or I'll rip off that mop you like to pretend is real hair and turn it into a cat before I use your bald bonce as a ball and kick the living shit out of you?" That was all right, wasn't it?
Levick finished what he was doing on the computer, looked up, and smiled his utterly cold smile. "Ah, Swift, I wondered how long it would take you to come see me. Have a nice shower, did he?"
Aw, shit, is there anything this man doesn't know?
"Are you spying on me?"
"No, I am spying on everyone, and you, and him, happen to be included in that. You haven't forgotten who I am, have you?"
"You're a sneaky son of a bitch. You are playing games and I don't like it. So, no, I haven't forgotten who you are. Spill it, or I'll spill you, right here, right now." Okay, look, it didn't go according to plan. I couldn't help it, it's not in my nature to pussyfoot around. And anyway, one look at his face and I knew there was no way he was working against us.
"Please, spare me the weak one-liners. I have never been amused by them and I am not about to start laughing at your inept attempts at humor now. If you want an adult conversation then fine, if not..." He waved a limp hand at the door. Ugh, this man, he's too damn clever for his own good.
Without being invited, I took a chair, actually feeling better than I had since I got the job, knowing in my heart that whatever else Levick was he wasn't a traitor.
"What's going on, Levick? Why are you having me running around like an idiot almost getting myself killed, or killing innocents, when you know damn well what the truth is and are making me look bad?"
"My, my, you really should have had a longer shower."
Damn this man, did he have eyes everywhere? I took a deep breath, and said, "Just get on with it. The offer of a cracked head still stands."
"Do not presume to try my patience too much, Swift. You forget yourself. You forget who I am. What I am."
Then it hit me, I really didn't know who he was or what he was. He has always just been Fester, Levick, the boss in the Queen's stead. Yet I knew next to nothing about this man, nobody did, and that was why we mostly did as we were told—nobody ever wanted to find out.
You can feel it just being close to him, something deep and dark and powerful all around him, perplexing and strange like no other Strange are.
Magic.
Conspiracies
"I'm being watched," he said, matter-of-fact.
I couldn't help glancing around the room, as if surveillance equipment would be in plain sight, monitoring us.
"Come on. Nobody watches you, you do the watching."
Levick leaned forward and sideways around his monitor. "By the elves," he whispered.
"What!? How? Why? What's this all about?"
"I can't tell you anyt
hing else, not now and not—" Levick gasped and visibly shook as he glanced in shock at the open doorway.
I turned and a moment later my chair was pushed back. The air tingled as magic shot through my system like I'd been jabbed with epinephrine, and I was already blasting.
The stab of white light I shot from my outstretched hand went right through the creature and I adjusted my magic, the attack reflex useless against an elf wraith. It was the first I'd seen for months, and to be honest I'd hoped the previous was the last.
The wall across the corridor took the hit—plasterboard blew apart and the guts of the stud wall splintered. Someone screeched inside the room but I could see I hadn't hurt the poor woman.
The wraith, dark and trailing ancient elven clothes like spectral rags, wisps of smoke billowing as if in the midst of a hurricane, screeched and came not at me but at Levick.
His eyes widened and he pushed back on his chair, mumbling incoherently as the wraith drifted closer as fast as a vampire in a blood donor room. As my magic regained focus, essence adjusted to do the creature serious harm, Levick screamed, "No," and the thing's long neck stretched back tight as it howled like hell itself was paying a visit. Levick practically flew at it, arms burning dark, as corporeal as the wraith itself.
Spectral hands reached the screaming wraith and moved to grip tight around the exposed neck. Somehow, Levick's transformed hands connected with the long dead creature and squeezed. What was black became silver, tiny cracks appearing that spread as Levick's face hardened and his jaw clenched so tight I could hear his teeth grind above the scream of the wraith.
The fracture lines spread and moments later the wraith was criss-crossed with the cleansing energy Levick poured in through fingers he had made as dead as the wraith. And then it kind of burst apart, fractal fragments of a tortured soul vanishing as they blew to nothingness.
Levick sank back into his chair, face pale, slick with sickly sweat. I ran over to him but dared not touch him. His eyes were wild and his arms were still nightmarish. He grunted and they took solid form again but they were horribly raw looking, a mass of burst capillaries just beneath the surface. He was gonna pay for that for a long time.
"There's... more... of them," he panted, and in a panic I turned again to the door, then ran to it and saw death flying down the hall, half a dozen elf wraiths heading straight for us.
"Let's go, now," I shouted at him and ran back in and grabbed his arm at the elbow. He screamed in pain, but it was better than being dead so I dragged him out the door and down the hall, away from the angry creatures intent on revenge for the destruction of one of their own.
"You've got some serious explaining to do, Levick, and it better be the best explanation you have ever given. Just what have you got us involved in here?"
"I'll tell you, if we survive."
"We'll survive, you just have to know how to deal with them properly." I put out a mental call to Mack and with a clear image of what I had in mind he was there, inches behind us, body fitting to accommodate the small space then growing as he morphed to regular size, walls pushed aside, ceiling raining down on us as the upper story broke and beams fractured.
As we made it to the end of the corridor and the wraiths howled in frustration, giving us a few seconds grace as Mack disrupted the flow of their matter by his presence, we got to a door and kept on running as office furniture crashed down from above.
Mack wouldn't be able to fight them, demons can't interfere in human affairs like that, but Mack was becoming more human so the call had worked—it may have been the difference between life and death so it was better than nothing.
I sent a mental apology to Mack as I knew this would take more from him than I had the right to ask, but all our lives were at risk unless I got answers from Levick. I needed him alive. For now.
"My hands really hurt. I haven't had to use magic like that for... Since I don't know when."
"What are you caught up in, Levick? How is this possible?" I felt like I was asking the same damn questions over and over, and not once getting an answer.
We twisted and turned through the corridors, making it to the front and out the door, heat hitting hard after the cool interior.
Levick looked worse in the light but he stopped for a moment, knowing as well as I did that the wraiths didn't stand a chance outside in broad daylight. At least I hoped they didn't.
"The elves are everywhere, Swift, and I knew whatever orders I gave you they would follow and intercept. They're monitoring everything and there is no way to stop that. So I sent you after Pumi hoping you would figure things out and you did."
"I saw you turn into an elf."
He looked puzzled for a moment, then understood. "Ah, well, two can play at their game. I had to get inside, not that it did me any good. I couldn't hold the Pool steady enough to stay looking like one of them, so I had to leave. They're getting ready. There's something coming, and I've been trying to find out what. I have failed, but this is important, so I teamed you up with Pumi."
"You risked both our lives so we would meet? Are you out of your mind?"
"There was no choice. If I'd arranged it openly then it would arouse suspicion. We don't talk, we email, text, that's how it is."
"We're talking now," I pointed out.
"Yes, I know, that's why they are here." Pumi nodded down the steps and at the street.
"Hell!"
"Now do you believe me? They've come for both of us. We have to stop them."
"Stop them, I don't even know what they're doing. Who killed the girl? It wasn't Pumi, I know that much."
"They did, of course. She was an annoyance to one of them, a little bit of sport, so they killed her. You know they don't care, don't like us, and her innocence, her purity, it really riles them up. I think she saw something they did that caught their attention, maybe just going to ground zero like I have, but I'm not certain and it's too late now anyway. I used it to get you involved, I'm sorry."
"You bloody well should be. What now?"
"Now we do what we have to do. We run."
"Wait!" It was too late, Levick was down the steps and heading away. Elves tore after him, long bodies eating up the distance easily as they gained on him. Not all of them, though, some were coming for me.
I did the only sensible thing and ran too, in the other direction, back home.
"Wait for me," came the unmistakable voice of Mack, barging through the door, a few wraiths shoved out ahead of him, breaking apart and vanishing as they hit daylight, too slow to move back inside.
"Hurry. Things are about to get dangerous."
Mack caught me up. He was covered in dust and there was a chair impaled on one of his horns. "Let's get medieval on their asses," he said, grinning.
"Mack, not now, please. And you can't interfere anyway, not enough to fight them off."
"Fine, but at least I got to say it. I've always wanted to. Did you know..."
I ran faster, wondering what would happen when a gang of very angry dark elves caught us. And Levick, what about him? He was old enough, and ugly enough, to look after himself.
The die was cast. Things were getting real.
Quick Stop-off
Mack visibly shrank as we ran, magic leaving him as though he had a leak. If we kept going much further he'd disappear entirely. Coming to my aid had cost him dearly and I knew he was hurting bad but what choice was there?
Through the front door, I slammed it shut after us and with no time to lose said, "Elves, coming here. Now!"
Pumi jumped up, clothes shredding as he morphed into something despicable. Robin uncrossed her legs gracefully, her eyes fixed at groin height, round as saucers, then tore them away and stood, slim arms tensing and body brimming with potent magic so strong it was hard to watch.
Zeno, knowing what this would mean for us all, nonetheless came to my side and said, "We will fight."
I nodded. "Everyone ready?" Stupid question, I know.
Nobody spoke, we k
new what needed to be done. If the elves are after you you have two choices—run and hope you get away, or fight and make certain you win.
We went to fight.
To the Streets
Back out the door, Mack now useless and already asleep on the floor, half his true size, we ran down into the middle of the road and stood in a line, watching as the elves came for us.
"Sis, this will get nasty unless I can think of something. You up for this?" I didn't want her to get hurt. This was my fight, mine and Pumi's, and this really wasn't her thing.
"If they're after you, they're after me." She pulled more magic in, face hardening. She was ready.
Pumi, or the monster that was Pumi at any rate, was breathing hard, utterly lost to the anticipation of battle. I could tell just by looking at him that nothing else mattered, nothing was as important or as exciting. This creature was born to fight and it didn't look like a lot would stop it. But that's the problem. It was still just a creature, not something that could wield magic in such a state and stop dark elves intent on destruction.
The elves slowed as they approached, cautious and wanting to ensure they could deal with us. Closer, they fanned out across the street, too many of them to beat unless we got lucky or they were weak as kittens really and just looked like homicidal creatures brimming with magic from another realm.
So, we were screwed.
"Here goes nothing," I said, and let myself be taken over by something that is me but not me, a thing inside that thankfully usually stays hidden. That inhabits me, my darkness, my cruelty, my vengeful nature and my ruthlessness. My true, terrible Justice.
I ran, we all ran, and I feared for my friends, my family, for myself, but then I was lost to the rage and bloodlust of battle.
Thick corkscrews of unstoppable magic fractured the air as I sent them to eradicate the elves. One managed to deflect it with a sudden shield and two more were hit head on. As I ran, I saw the magic twist deep through their abdomens, the fatter end pushing more magic inside until they were history.
