“The hell happened?” Miranda growled.
The angel shook her head slightly, her eyes unfocused as she stared at Nameless.
“An experiment, I suspect. Aegis Booker, it is as you feared, Jonathan did this to them. Once he forced them into the darkness, he bound them together. Likely he pulled them both into his mind, and forced their memories together, making them confused as to where one began and the other ended. We fixed that first, but when we did...”
“Like a rubber band snapping?” Sadie observed as she came to understand what happened.
“Just so. We were simultaneously together, and yet I was in one mind, he was in another, something had to give, and when it did it was… jarring.”
Erica licked her lips anxiously.
“Are you sure you’re alright now?”
Volka smiled reassuringly.
“We are. It was a shock but I took the worst of it and he recovered quickly. He has been in the Lapine’s mind ever since, whatever Jonathan did, my husband is finding it easy to undo, they should be-”
A gasp came from Nameless and the Lapine on the rug and their eyes fluttered open as they sat up.
Nina hauled her charge to her feet, though she kept one hand on the Lapine’s wrist just in case.
Everyone was quick to notice that the bunny girl’s eyes were dusky brown once more as she looked to all the faces in the room.
And focused on Nameless with a look of utter adoration.
“Master…” She whispered.
The room drew in a collective breath.
And then exploded.
“You greedy little peckerwood!” Paul shook his head.
“Come on!” Erica whined.
“I’m going to strangle you!” Miranda glared at him.
Nameless rolled his eyes and gave the Lapine a stern look.
“Not funny Chelsea.”
She giggled as she wiped at her eyes and gloated at the shocked and angry expressions around her.
“Kinda funny.”
But her amusement ended when she saw the Lambda held tight in the Dragon’s grip next to her.
She looked back to him while gnawing her lip anxiously.
“You’re going to help her too, right? Please? In our mind, well, she had it way worse than I did!”
He nodded.
“Yeah. Volka? You okay?”
The angel’s eyes held a glint of amusement at the Lapine’s joke.
“Wow, are you really a Valkyrie?” The bunny wondered while Nameless and his angel turned to the second girl.
“A story for another time. Husband, this time we go together.”
They dove into the Lambda’s mind.
__________
Nameless was in another farmhouse, though this one was shrouded in darkness, and he could feel Volka’s arms around him and the light of his anchors glowing in his mind.
A woman and her children were crying and it broke his heart; at their feet was a man, a good man, who had died to protect them, an axe lay broken at his side.
No, that wasn’t right; he died to protect someone else, someone who was hiding from them. He looked around the house and spotted her crouching behind a big beam in the front room, watching her family greave.
You can come out, I won’t hurt you. I’m here to help.
She clutched the beam tighter and hid her face from him.
It’s my fault.
It was the same thing he had heard from every Tenebrae that he had ever dealt with and so he knew how to deal with it.
I’ve been down that road before, so I’ll just say: nope.
His mental body crossed his arms in front of himself in a big ‘x’ while he shook his head.
Walnuts, she came with walnuts. I hate walnuts.
The huddled figure sobbed in desperate fear.
Who did? Show me, please?
I… I can’t, this is my fault! He’s dead because of me, all my fault. She loved him, she loved him so much and now he’s gone! She’ll never forgive me for this!
Husband, this is a real memory, if somewhat skewed, Evadne killed this man.
Yeah, I can practically feel her in here.
The sudden crack of a walnut shell resounded throughout the house, the Lambda flinched and Nameless gave a mental shudder.
She is but a shadow within a memory. No harm can come from her. Focus on the Lambda.
Right, um, what’s your name?
I did this. My fault.
He sighed and reflected on the similar situation he had faced in Chelsea’s mind, misplaced guilt amplified beyond reason.
This time he opted for a more aggressive tactic.
You killed that man?
Finally she came out from behind the beam, her eyes wide in shock as she met his gaze.
What?! No! I loved him… I think, didn’t I?
If you loved him, then why did you murder him in front of his family?
Shut up! I didn’t do that! You… you don’t know what you’re talking about!
So you’re saying you didn’t kill him?
Yes- I mean no! No, I didn’t kill him!
He nodded with an audible ‘ah’ as if a great mystery had been solved.
I think I understand now, but if you didn’t kill him, why are you feeling such guilt over it?
Be-because it was my fault! I think?
You tell me, I wasn’t there.
It was… no, I was telling Jordan a story. And we were all happy, and then… she came. She came, and, and she…
The overwhelming shame subsided but it was still a terrifying memory, so Nameless tried a different tact.
He used the light of Nina’s anchor to bolster the sheep’s wavering resolve so that she could face the dreadful memory unafraid.
It worked, perhaps a little too well.
The Lambda made an aggressive bleat and tilted her head down as she looked around for someone to ram with her spiral horns.
She took my mistress’s husband from her! She took Steve away from his children! And then she dared to take me from my Mel! I will ram her to the ground and trample her face into the dirt! I will crush her skull and stomp on her spine! I will wear her bones as I-
Volka’s dry voice broke into the angry sheep’s tirade.
Husband, too much Nina, I think.
He quickly agreed and drew back the light of his giant’s anchor.
Way too much. Danna? It is Danna right?
Yes?
She was a bit dazed now that he had pulled Nina’s rage out of her. But the shadows had fled from her eyes, and colour returned to her mind and its memories, though the sight of the weeping woman remained.
You want to see your mistress? You want to see Mel and her children?
Her lip trembled and she gave a mournful bleat.
More than a-a-a-anything!
Okay, then it’s time to wake up.
__________
With Danna awake she sat near Chelsea on Paul’s couch, the two swapping shy glances, though Nameless noticed the sheep girl was squinting a great deal.
“Aside from the weirdness at the beginning, that seemed… way easier then when you saved me.” Nina observed quietly.
“It was.” Volka agreed before turning to Nameless; “And that was a very clever trick you did with Nina’s anchor. Something I never thought of. Though I am curious, Nina? Did you feel anything a few moments ago?”
The Gigas shrugged.
“Horny. Still pissed at Evadne. Same as before. What the fuck is an anchor?”
The Valkyrie was staring at her intently.
“But did you feel… more, ah, ‘pissed’ than normal?”
“Hard to say. Why?”
“Empathic magic, as used by humans anyways, is a relatively new branch of magic. And it is important to watch out for any pitfalls. Our husband used your strength to bolster Danna so that she wouldn’t be afraid. If either of you feel anything unusual please let us know!”
Nina shrugged, while the squint
ing Lambda swallowed.
“Is my… wool going to turn red or something?”
“A distinct possibility.” Volka nodded gravely.
Nameless quickly reassured her otherwise and soon the conversation turned serious again.
“It was easier than before. The emotions they felt, they weren’t real, or at least, not the way they were feeling them. Danna felt somewhat responsible for the death of her bond-mate’s husband. So Jonathan took the guilt from that memory and he blew it wildly out of proportion, to the point that it was all that she could feel.”
The Lambda shuddered, and Chelsea put an arm over her shoulders and rested her hand on hers.
Sadie’s eyes narrowed.
“Such a thing, I see how it would work, but you are right, it wouldn’t take another Empath long to undo it.”
“Yeah, if he wanted to invest the time though, he could mess up a monster girl really badly. I think, with you two at least, he was trying something new.”
“The whole mind swap thing?” Erica asked.
“Yeah. Though what he hoped to gain from it, I have no idea.”
“Do either of them know why they were in that warehouse?”
Miranda asked him, her look intent.
Surprised, and realizing that the whole room was hanging on his every word, Nameless chuckled and deliberately nodded his head towards the two former Tenebrae.
“Miranda, wouldn’t it be better to ask them?”
She opened her mouth to snap at him, but then her cheeks turned a bit pink and she clamped it back shut.
He wasn’t wrong.
__________
Brandon had decided that a life of adventure wasn’t for him.
The Amazons and the grouchy Wolfen frightened him to be sure, but a fucking Dragon was something else entirely.
He genuinely believed the green scaled woman was going to kill him with just that one look.
So he sat quietly on the porch, waiting for the Aegis woman to finish with whatever she was doing in Paul’s Fletcher’s house, and for her to finally seal his fate.
Fortunately his fate had nothing to do with the Dragon, as an hour later he was standing in front of his dad’s smithy with Miranda and the smaller of the two Wolfen.
“Rory Dixon?”
“That’s me.”
Rory rubbed at the stubble on his chin as he considered the sorry sight of his son, bedraggled, filthy, barefoot, and wrapped in a blanket.
“My name is Miranda Holt, with the Aegis. Your son has gotten himself into some serious trouble.”
Brandon’s head hung low as she spoke.
Rory sighed.
“So I see, he wanted to make his own way in the world. And now look at him.”
To his surprise the Wolfen standing behind his son winked at him with a smirk.
Rory spent the next few minutes hearing of his son’s activities, as well as the charges against him, though he raised an eyebrow at the harshness of them.
“What happens now?” He asked slowly.
“I can authorize leaving him in your custody if you want, even though he’s over fifteen, I can make an exception, I don’t see him as being a flight risk.”
This time the Wolfen snickered and the woman had to elbow her in the ribs.
Rory was beginning to cotton on to what was happening and gave a slow nod at her raised eyebrow.
“Well I don’t know. You see, he stormed out of here in a huff, talking about being a man now. Seems to me he can handle this on his own.”
“Dad… please.”
The pleading expression on his son’s face was difficult to see, even for a gruff man like Rory, so instead of beating around the bush he nodded at the Aegis women.
“How does this work then? I sign some form or something?”
“Yes, you sign a form, and guarantee your son’s good behaviour, if this case goes to trial then it will be his recent behaviour that can tip the scales in his favour, maybe even keep him out of the dig-sites.”
Brandon’s ears perked up at that little scrap of hope.
Rory rubbed at his chin some more.
“And what does that entail? Good behaviour I mean?”
The grey haired woman shifted her weight to one leg.
“He’ll need to get a job, and he’ll need to keep that job. He’ll need to toe the line and stay out of trouble with the local lawkeeper. I saw that he had a couple of property infringement emoluments in his record, so he’ll definitely need to avoid another one of those.”
Desperation was written across Brandon’s face as his eyes begged his father to sign the papers.
But Rory wasn’t about to let him off the hook so easily.
“I don’t know, he screws around a lot, this sounds like way too much work for him.”
Miranda nodded her understanding.
“I understand. Come on then Jan, we’ll take him back to the compound in Wayfelt to await his arraignment. Thank you for your time, Mister Dixon.”
Brandon gaped in despair at his father who was still stroking his chin.
“Well, I suppose I could sign for him. But just so we’re clear though, if he doesn’t get a job, doesn’t toe the line, the charges come back and the Aegis comes to take him away?”
Miranda’s look was almost comically grave.
“With a vengeance.”
He nodded.
“Fair enough, where do I sign?”
Miranda held out a clipboard with a blank sheet of paper on it and had Rory sign and initial it in several random places while keeping it from Brandon’s view.
“Alright then, Rory Dixon, I leave your son in your capable hands. And Brandon…”
He gulped but met her severe glare.
“I don’t want to have to come back here, understand?”
Her threat was clear and the cowed teen nodded vigorously.
Rory gripped his son by the scruff of his neck, though somewhat gentler than the last time he had done so, and led him inside with a final nod to the two operatives.
“Thank you Aegis, come on boy, you need a bath. And apparently we need to have another talk.”
As Miranda and Jan turned to leave, her Wolfen gave her behind an affectionate squeeze.
“We should look into working with the truancy board Mistress, because that was fun!”
__________
Nameless walked quietly down the hallway as Milly drifted off again.
The Minotaur had barely slept the previous night, and they were loath to move her to the cottage unnecessarily, as Paul wanted to monitor her condition, so she was napping in his guestroom.
She was going to be fine, but to see all of the various injuries she had suffered in the last day or so caused her master’s chest to tighten.
It was early evening, and in the kitchen Xalanth stood behind Sadie, who was sipping at a cup of tea that Paul had just handed her. Booker had Juni erect a water column in the bathtub so that he could speak with the other councilors with her magic while the Saenga Amazons had gone back to the cottage with his other girls.
“She is well?” The Dragon rumbled.
He nodded, unable to speak around the lump in his throat.
“I am glad. She is a kindly soul, and she fought valiantly against a creature far beyond her. The world needs more like your Milly.” The Dragon sighed, smoke drifting from between her lips; “Would that we had arrived sooner, I could perhaps have ended this nightmare.”
Sadie reached up and patted at Xalanth’s clawed hand on her shoulder.
“What was it you said to me once? Don’t dwell on would-haves or could-haves, deal with what is.”
The Dragon quirked an eyebrow.
“I said that?”
Sadie smiled and tilted her head as she sipped her tea.
Xalanth leaned down and kissed her lady on top of her head.
“I am very wise, then.”
Paul propped himself against the kitchen counter and crossed his arms.
“In all the
excitement I forgot to ask what brings you out here? So much going on these days a simple visit seems unlikely.”
Sadie set her cup down and gestured for Nameless to take a seat across from her.
“Forgive me Paul, I know it chafes at you to be ordered about in your own home, but I would like some privacy to speak with Nameless if I may.”
But as Paul leaned away from the counter the orphan shook his head.
“Anything you have to say to me.” He said simply.
Sadie measured the young man’s words for a few seconds.
“Very well, then. Nameless, with what Ophelia told me when you were brought to her orphanage, and from what you learned from Jonathan’s memory Xalanth and I have been looking for your family.”
His head shifted back on his neck in surprise.
“But… my parents are dead.”
She smiled kindly.
“Yes, but you had other family, my friend. Not to mention a right to know where you came from.”
His jaw dropped but Paul didn’t miss a thing.
“You said ‘had’?”
The older Empath let out a mournful sigh.
“I am so sorry, but it seems that the last of your family, your father’s parents, your grandparents, died last winter. They were both in their eighties and from what we were told they went peacefully.”
He was in shock.
“Last winter?”
Unbeknownst to him, tears began to flow down his cheeks.
Wordlessly Paul handed him a napkin and placed one gnarled hand on his shoulder as the young man wiped the unexpected moisture away from his face, confused at his own reaction.
Sadie quietly nodded, waiting for him to compose himself.
“Who- I mean, what-” He swallowed and closed his eyes as he ordered his thoughts; “What were their names?”
“Your grandfather’s name was Gregor Armstrong, your grandmother’s Joleen Levesque. They had two sons, your uncle David who died a few years prior, some kind of accident. And… your father.”
She watched his face as his eyes opened at the mention of his sire.
He took a few breaths as his emotions got the better of him for a moment.
“And h-his?”
Her voice was steady as she answered.
“Your father’s name was William.”
He let out a shuddering gasp as the name hit home.
“William?”
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