by Charley Case
“Really? Just keep on keeping on?” Finn asked. “Is that why you showed up? To tell me to not do anything differently?”
Rolf laughed. “Be pretty funny if I did.” When Finn gave him a furrowed brow, Rolf continued, “Actually, I have a favor to ask you.”
“Okay. I do owe you. What can I do?”
Rolf squinted one eye and readjusted himself in on the stool, putting his thoughts together. “I’m not exactly sure, to tell the truth, but I figured you were the best shot at an answer.” He looked from Finn to Penny and back. “Have either of you noticed magic acting up?”
Finn frowned. “Acting up? Like how?”
“Well, like when you cast a spell it tries to, like, I don't know, man…like it tries to do something else. Just a little. It’s subtle, but I think its getting worse.” Rolf seemed uncomfortable thinking about it, rubbing at the back of his neck and grimacing.
Finn shook his head and opened his mouth, but Penny spoke first.
“Shiri squee. Chi chi shir.” Her eye ridges furrowed as she looked up at Finn.
“Really? You noticed it too? Why didn't you say anything?” Finn asked, surprised. He hadn't felt any change whatsoever. Then again, he tended to use magic more like a hammer than a delicate tool the way Penny did.
She shrugged. “Shir?”
“What did she say?” Rolf asked, leaning in.
“She said it only happened a couple of times, and it was so subtle she didn't think much of it, blaming it on a lack of concentration,” Finn translated.
Rolf looked confused, glancing from Finn to Penny. “You got all of that from one word?”
Finn chuckled. “Dragon language is not like natural languages. It’s magical, the sounds having a slight impact on what is being said.”
“Far out, man,” Rolf said, a new appreciation for the small dragon on his face.
“Why do you think I could help with this, though?” Finn was still unsure what Rolf was asking of him.
Rolf sat back and shrugged. “Because you fix all sorts of weird shit. Plus, it started a few days after you put the beat down on the Dark Star.”
“You think it’s connected to her?”
“Probably, man. That woman has been fuckin shit up all over the place for a while now. I wouldn't put it past her to try and fuck up magic too.” Rolf gave a lazy shrug. “That woman is insane. Dark magic makes people do weird shit.”
“I still don't really see how I can help.”
Rolf finished off his seltzer. “I was hoping you could ask your Huldu friends. They seem to know what's up most of the time.”
Finn cocked his head and regarded Rolf. “Can’t you ask them?”
“Me and the gnomes…well, let’s say we don't get along too well.” He looked past Finn and pointed. “You should probably help her.”
Finn turned and saw Mila struggling to get all the drinks off the bar. Finn hopped off the stool and, in two long steps, was at her side.
“Let me get some of these.” He said, picking up four of the drinks in his large hands.
“Thanks.” Mila grabbed the bottle of beer and her drink along with a fresh bowl of peanuts.
They turned back, and Finn leaned in to be heard over the music. “There’s someone I want you…” he trailed off when he saw Penny sitting at the table alone watching them. She saw his look and turned around, seeming surprised that Rolf was gone as well.
“What?” Mila asked, leaning in to hear better.
“Never mind,” Finn said, rolling his eyes.
Chapter Four
Finn and Mila arrived at the table at the same time as Danica, but when Finn set down the drinks, Danica passed them by, heading for the door.
“Hey, your drink is over here,” Finn said to the elf’s retreating back, then he saw what had grabbed her attention.
Phil, the lanky, odd man from the morgue they had met a while back, had come in the door and was looking around nervously as he removed a thick yellow scarf. When he laid eyes on Danica, he brightened and moved to meet her, waving a floppy hand at her while grinning ear to ear.
“Huh,” Mila grunted, climbing onto her stool and watching the odd man. “He’s more handsome than I remember.”
“Probably the fact that he’s not being washed out by fluorescent lights,” Finn said, then added, “And not surrounded by dead bodies.”
She gave Finn a sly grin. “I don't know. You’re still handsome when surrounded by dead bodies.”
Finn snorted a laugh, then his jaw dropped when he saw Danica wrap her arms around Phil’s neck and kiss him passionately. Even Phil seemed taken aback by her aggressive manner.
“Did you know about that?” Finn asked, turning to the table and getting rolled eyes from both Penny and Mila. “So just me then?”
“Just you.” Mila patted his hand.
Finn sat, then stood again when Danica and Phil approached. Finn extended a steady hand. “Phil. Good to see you again.”
Phil shook the offered hand, his shoulders bouncing when Finn pumped their arms up and down vigorously. “Good to see you too, Finn. Mila, how are you?”
“I’m pretty goo—”
“Holy shit!” Phil shouted, jumping back from the table and pointing. “There’s a lizard in the peanuts!”
“That’s just Penny,” Danica assured him. “She’s a, uh, pet?”
Penny gave her a hard stare before tossing a peanut into her mouth and chewing it while keeping eye contact.
“More like a friend, really,” Danica amended, giving Penny an apologetic shrug.
“Sit,” Finn decided they should move on before Penny said something she would regret, “Danica got you an old fashioned. How are things at the morgue? Business been lively?”
Everyone groaned at the pathetic joke until they saw the confused look on Finn's face. “What’s so funny?” Then everyone laughed for real.
Mila took pity on him and explained the ‘lively’ joke.
“Oh, right. Puns, or whatever. I don't really do that.”
Mila chuckled. “Not on purpose, anyway.”
Finn rolled his eyes, bringing on more laughter.
Phil judiciously approached the table, his stare locked on Penny. The tiny dragon gave him a grin, and he flinched. “I don't think I’ve ever seen anything like her.”
“I got her on a trip to…” Finn wasn't good enough with Earth geography to come up with something off the top of his head.
Mila, however, was. “Peru. He found her in darkest Peru.”
Phil laughed.
“What’s so funny?” Mila asked.
“Darkest Peru?” Phil asked. “Like Paddington Bear?”
Mila’s face turned red. “Yup. Just like Paddington Bear.”
Phil stuck a finger out to presumably scratch Penny's chin, but a quick clack of teeth from her made him think better. “She’s a sweetheart, isn’t she?”
Mila chuckled. “Actually, she’s kind of an asshole.”
Penny gave her an aggrieved look.
“But, she’s our asshole, and we love her.”
Penny relaxed in the bowl of nuts and puffed out a smoke ring of agreement.
“Is that smoke?” Phil said wide-eyed.
Finn, thinking fast, scooted Phil’s drink closer to him. “So, you’re Danica’s boyfriend now?”
Danica, who happened to be taking a sip, snorted and shot G&T from her nose.
Phil quickly found her some napkins and helped her clean up.
Mila leaned in and whispered to Finn. “Way to be subtle, knuckles.” She winced. “Never mind the knuckles part. I don't know why I thought that would work as a nickname.”
Finn chuckled at her horrible choice of pet name for him. “It may not have been subtle, but he stopped asking questions about Penny.”
For the next couple of hours, they all chatted and enjoyed the music. Danica and Phil kept their canoodling to a minimum, but it was still a little uncomfortable when they would have their heads close together, whisp
ering god knew what to one another.
Finn did notice that Danica kept her prosthetic away from Phil for the most part, not letting his finger linger on it for more than a second. Despite her desire to be close, she was wary.
Finn drained his beer and thought about his conversation with Rolf. If magic was twisting, then something was doing the twisting. His money was on the Dark Star. Hellena was a magic-user and a potent one at that, so messing with magic seemed like it would hurt her more than help.
Finn's eyes widened. “What if she’s trying to trigger peabrains into waking up?”
The conversation at the table stopped. Everyone looked at the dwarf as if he had sprouted an arm from his forehead. He glanced at their reactions, realizing he had said that out loud.
“Sorry, thinking about the Dark…uh, Hellena.” He gave Phil, the only unawakened person there a sidelong glance. “Hey, Phil, would you mind getting another round? Just have Danny put it on my tab.”
“Uh, sure.” Phil got up, collected the empty glasses, and headed for the bar.
Danica leaned in, her brow furrowed in anger. “What the hell, Finn? He’s going to think you don't like him.”
“Sorry.” Finn smiled apologetically. “I had a thought, but first, have you noticed your magic acting funny?”
Danica raised an eyebrow. “Funny how?”
“Chir shee,” Penny said, having been the only other person who had been present for Rolf’s talk.
“Yeah, like it’s fighting you. Trying to do something else,” Finn said, nodding to Penny.
Danica thought about it. “I mean, it’s been a little sluggish lately, but I figured it was from me having to power this all the time.” She held up the artificial hand.
“What’s going on?” Mila cut in, not having any clue where any of this was coming from.
“Rolf stopped by and asked us to look into something. He said magic has been acting weird for him, and it started a few days after we fought Hellena at the lake.” Finn pointed to Penny. “She said she noticed it a few times, but it wasn't anything she was alarmed about. As far as I can tell, from what they are saying, magic still works, but it’s like listening to a radio slightly out of tune.”
“What does that have to do with triggering peabrains?” Mila asked.
“I was trying to think of why she would do something that would mess with her own power. Sometimes, if there is a big release of magic, or something happens to destabilize it, it can, in theory, wake people up that don't know they are magical. Maybe she’s trying to force magic out into the open by waking a bunch of people. Like enough of them, the Huldu can’t cover it up.”
“Like how many people?” Mila asked.
Finn shrugged and looked at Penny, who gave a shrug as well. “A couple hundred? The whole city? I don't know.”
Danica blinked a few times, trying to imagine the whole city waking up at once. “That would be a disaster. It would change the world as we know it. I mean, governments aren’t trustworthy as it is, but you show them a whole city of magical beings, and I’m pretty sure most of us would disappear overnight, locked up in some lab somewhere.”
Finn saw the look of horror on her face. “Well, it’s just a theory. If that’s what she’s doing, she’d have to ramp up the power. As it stands, I didn't even notice it was happening. If I had to guess, we have some time before peabrains start randomly waking. But, that means we really need to find her, and soon.”
Phil returned with a tray full of drinks, and everyone leaned back from the huddle they had formed while talking.
“Did I miss anything?” he asked, passing out drinks.
“Nothing important,” Danica assured him, smiling and taking the drink he offered.
Phil smiled back and held up the tray. “Be right back.” He turned and jogged off to return the tray to the bar.
Danica’s sweet smile fell, and she gave Finn a hard look. “You need to find that crazy bitch, and end this. I don't want to have to go hunting for another boyfriend because this one is locked up in some government lab.”
Finn smiled. “So he is your boyfriend.”
Penny, Mila, and Danica all groaned.
Chapter Five
Finn, Mila, and Penny decided to leave Danica and Phil alone and headed home early. On the walk, Mila held onto his arm, and hummed a nameless tune, a smile on her face as she kept her thoughts to herself, and Penny curled around her neck like a scarf.
Finn was happy. It had been a long time since he could say it. Sure, an insane woman was trying to rip the world apart, and Finn was the tip of the spear to stop her, but it was another thing on his to-do list. He had come here to find treasure and wealth, and instead found something far more valuable.
This old ship he walked on had become so much more than its creators intended. It was now his home. A warm beacon in the galaxy where the races lived together. Well, maybe not together, exactly, but pretty close.
Finn frowned. That was what bothered him most about Hellena. She saw the same thing he did, the inequality and willingness to overlook those who were not the norm to keep up the facade of a nonmagical world. He wanted to do something about that inequality, but he didn't know what. Hellena, on the other hand, had made a plan and was enacting it. He gave her credit for that.
Hellena’s plan was horrible and would cost millions, if not billions of lives, but at least she was doing something.
“What’s wrong?” Mila asked, feeling his change in mood.
Finn frowned. “Are we doing the right thing?”
Mila’s brows rose. “About the Dark Star? Yes. We are absolutely doing the right thing. If she has her way, the world will be at war. Trust me, we don't need another one of those. What made you ask that?”
Finn shook his head. “I don't know. I guess when you really think about it, she and I want the same thing, the only difference is that I have no idea how to make it happen. Her plan is bad and will cost a lot of lives, but it will get the job done in the end.”
Mila stopped and turned to face him. “That’s not true.”
“I’m pretty sure that if a magical army tries to take enough land to build a nation, then magicals will be out in the open no matter how much anyone tries to cover it up,” Finn said with a sad grin.
“No, I mean the part where you and she want the same things. Hellena wants magicals to be in the open with a nation of their own. She wants to be able to use political power to shape the world. She wants to be in control. You don't want any of those things.” Mila put a small hand on his chest. “You want people to have a better life. You want them to have a chance to move ahead in the world. You don't want power or influence, you just want people to be safe and happy. It’s what makes you a leader, despite not wanting to lead. Maybe you two started out with the same desires, but her dark magic has twisted her.”
“That doesn't mean she’s wrong about magicals not needing to hide. They should be free to be themselves,” Finn said.
Mila sighed. “Sometimes being right and doing the right thing isn’t compatible.”
Finn thought on that, then nodded. “The greater good argument.”
Mila shook her head. “No. The least harm argument. Neither one of us knows why the magicals went into hiding when the peabrains lost magic, but I have to believe it was for a good reason. We can't let Hellena make the decision to expose them without knowing the whole truth.”
“You’re right.” Finn agreed, taking her hand and continuing towards the condo. “We will stop her. Then we can look into how to help those who need it.” He was silent for a few steps. “Speaking of helping those who need it, have you thought about asking your old professor Hoffensteffer if he knows anything about Valkyries?”
Mila peered at him in confusion. “Why would he know anything?”
Finn shrugged. “I don't know. He studies history and is in the know about magic. I figured it was a good place to start.”
Mila stopped in her tracks. “I forgot about him knowing about
magic. I think of him as the doddering old man that taught me to love history.”
Finn glanced to see if she was joking. “You cut a Kashgar’s hand off in his office. How did you forget about that?”
Mila snorted. “Oh, yeah. That was my first hand-chop.”
Finn chuckled. “Good times.”
“I’ll send him a text,” she said, pulling out her phone.
They had walked another block by the time she hit the send button. “There, that should give him a nice shock.”
“What did you say?”
Mila shrugged. “The truth. I’m a Valkyrie, and I don't know what that means, and if he knows anything, he should give me a call.” Her eyes twinkled with mischief. “The mystery will drive him nuts.”
“How long—” Finn started, but was cut off when her phone dinged.
She looked at the screen. “Well, that was fast.” She read the reply, and her eyes went wide. “Holy shit. He says he’s on his way.”
Finn, remembering their flight to Toronto, did a little quick math. “Well, it’s only seven, and the flight we took was…” he trailed off, counting the hours on his fingers, “so he should be here sometime in the morning, assuming he leaves for the airport right now.”
Mila shook her head. “He sent a second message. He says he’ll be here in twenty minutes.”
Finn raised an eyebrow. “Well, I guess he knows some people who can teleport. Makes sense. Come on, we need to hurry if we’re going to get there before him.”
Finn tossed his jacket on the hook when they entered the condo ten minutes later, only stopping to grab the box of Charleston Chews from the inside pocket. Mila made a beeline for her room, tossing her jacket on the counter as she passed. Penny took off before she was thrown by Mila’s fast movements.
“Can you hang my coat up, hon?” She shouted over her bare shoulder as she disappeared through her door.
Finn chuckled. “Sure. I didn't think you would be so nervous about seeing your old professor.” He picked up her jacket and hung it beside his own.
