Sell you a Bridge chapter 52

The Clock Tower July 19th 2010 10:00 PM EDT

So  my dead girlfriend wasn't dead. I hadn't even considered the  possibility, which in retrospect felt stupid of me. Little details about  my interaction with Staunton and comments he'd made when we fought  started adding up. Annabel was a Talon. I didn't know the exact  procedure for becoming one but I did know that it involved dying. The  question was how the hell had she become one?

Given  her dismissal of the Talons humanity it didn't seem like something she  would have been interested in, but then again having a backup plan was  very like her, or at least like the her I thought I'd known. Her parents  didn't seem like they would have wanted her to become a zombie from  what she'd said, but then again I never actually met the crazy bastards  so who knew. All I could say for sure is that she was alive (in a manner  of speaking) and she had the thread now. She also apparently had  Morgana's ritual and planned to use it.

Artemis  and Reggie were sitting across from me at the table in our dining room  looking almost as shocked as I was, but with a side order of pity aimed  in my direction. Artemis, being the most outspoken of us all, cleared  her throat. "So. I'm not really sure what to say. It sucked that she  died and all but, forgive me for being a bitch here, Annabel not being  around was kind of best for everyone. Now she's alive, and still crazy  if not even crazier from whatever mad science bullshit brought her back,  and she's planning to become a god."

Reggie  rolled his eyes "Thank you Walter Cronkite, for that excellent  summation. If you're done nutshelling our friend's agonizing situation  do you maybe have any solutions?" He winced and glanced guiltily over at  me "Sorry if that was a bit blunt man, but my point stands. We need to  figure out what the hell to do about this. We can't just sit around and  wait for her to open the Labyrinth." He seemed to be panicking a bit  just talking about, and I felt for him there, I was panicking too. About  a whole bunch of shit. The burning number fifty behind my eyelids was  calling out to me, urging me to solve my problems.

Jim's  voice interject from behind us as he walked in with the other older  magic users "That's exactly what you're going to do." We all turned to  stare incredulously at our mentor, who was back in his human face. He  sighed when he caught our expressions of outrage "This next part isn't  something you can help with. We need to track down the thread before the  twenty fourth to prevent the Labyrinth from opening. Annabel Powers is a  dangerous and unstable girl at best, and should she attain the divinity  she seeks there is little to suggest she will be any less dangerous or  unstable as a goddess."

Reggie,  who was usually the calmest of all of us, slammed his fist down on the  table. "So you expect us to just sit around and wait while you all run  around tracking down leads and trying to prevent the rise of the Yandere  goddess? You've been training us for over a month, and we're already  cleared for our own jobs. If you didn't think we were any good why  bother letting us off the leash in the first place?" I winced at the  rage in his tone. Poor Reggie blamed himself for this more than any of  us. If the Labyrinth was unleashed he was going to hold himself  personally responsible.

Jim,  being Jim, actually got that. And walked over to put a hand on Reggie's  shoulder. "It's not that lad. We don't have any leads. Nimue was able  to track her sister because they're blood related, but we have no method  to scry Annabel. If she is indeed a Talon now she doesn't even really  have blood, just that strange mercurial liquid." He sighed heavily "We  need to go out and rattle some cages, talk to some of our more unsavory  contacts, and while we do we need to know that you all aren't out  running amok. Most of the Court of Owls weren't at the estate, and I  somehow doubt that was their entire stock of undead lackeys."

I  hadn't even had time to consider that. I'd been so focused on Annabel I  hadn't even taken into consideration that our issue with the Court  wasn't solved yet. That said, I was pretty convinced the uppity bastards  would take any actions against me a bit more seriously after we wiped  out more than fifty of their elite operatives. They were megalomaniacal  assholes but they were also businessmen, at a certain point the sunk  cost fallacy was going to be too much for them to ignore even for the  sake of pride.

Until  that point however, I needed to find a way to up my combat potential. I  was pretty sure it was about time for me to get a legitimate martial  art. My ninja skills were invaluable but they weren't designed for up  front combat. If I'd had actual combat capabilities combined with my  reflexes and Madame Xanadu's magic that fight with the Talon's would  have been over much more quickly. I made a mental note to look through  my email and find something to supplement my lagging martial arts.

Reggie  had nothing else to say after he heard Jim's explanation, he just  jerked away from our mentors hand and stalked out of the room. Artemis  and I shared a look and we both sighed. I turned to Jim, whose  expression looked pained. "It's ok boss. He just blames himself for all  this. He thinks that because his family were the ones the Court used to  leverage us anything that happens is on him. I think we all feel  responsible in one way or another but Reggie is feeling it most of all."  I turned to regard the other magic users "So, Madame Xanadu, Mr. Blood,  what brings you to our humble lair?"

The  two other magic users who had come in behind Jim gave us a nod, but  Blood pretty much ignored us after that, the bastard. I could see why  Jim didn't like him. Madame Xanadu, however, wasn't an asshole and  favored us with a smile and a reply "As James said, we'll be going out  to search for Ms. Powers together, but I wanted to reach out and offer  my ear. I more than anyone know the havoc my sister can wreak on even  sturdiest of wills. If any of you need to talk my door is always open to  you. You're all talented and dependable practitioners and I would love  nothing more than to speak to you more often even if it's just to vent."

I  was more than aware the ancient sorceress had noticed something about  me and was trying to build bridges, but it was still kind of her to  think of us, and she was an extremely experienced magic user we could  learn a lot from. As she mentioned it however one specific thing struck  me. "I may take you up on that, but before you go I actually had a  question. I came across a rather unpleasant object. It shouldn't have  any active magical effects but it's sort of infamous and it might be  cursed, would any of you guys be willing to check it out?"

Jim  raised en eyebrow "I hadn't heard anything about this? What artifact  did you pick up?" I had actually completely forgotten to mention it to  my mentor when I'd agreed to carry my Uncle's gun but he didn't seem  upset about it, just mildly interested. I reached into my coat  wordlessly and pulled out my Uncle's gun before handing it to my mentor.  He picked the thing up an weighed it in his hand. "This weapon has  killed a great many living beings, and been feared by a great deal more.  How odd. This would be your Uncle's famous Holiday pistol?"

I  nodded and Jim made a hmm sound. He seemed almost oblivious to what was  going on as he stared at it. "This thing has taken on a hint of  conceptual nature. That's rare." I just stared blankly at him and he  shook his head ruefully "Conceptual objects that have as the name may  imply become somewhat the embodiment or a concept. It usually takes  millennia and millions of people concentrating belief on an artifact  before it can even have a possibility of happening. Nimue, what do you  think?"

He  passed the weapon to the sorceress, who furrowed her brow. Her voice was  a bit dreamy as she answered "It isn't a conceptual weapon, but it's  started down that path. I suspect the extreme violence and fear mixed  with the current environment of Gotham allowed this to happen. When  Holiday came onto the scene his brand of murder was something of a  novelty, the gun seems to have acted as a focus for his legend when  magnified by Gotham's nature." She sounded fascinated, and I was briefly  worried she wouldn't want to give it back. It was creepy and possibly  evil but it was still mine.

I  shook the thought off though, Madame Xanadu was a legend, she didn't  need my weapon. She continued her analysis "I wouldn't expect to see  anything like this again, not only has Gotham become the source of many  legends that would prevent that kind of belief inside the city from  converging on a single person but the chances of something like that  happening are astronomical even if one person managed it." She chuckled  "To put in context, someone would be more likely to win the lottery  while getting struck by lightning that to spark a conceptual confluence.  This weapon just happened to be at the right place in the right time  and be perfectly compatible with the magic in Gotham."

I  raised an eyebrow in concern. My voice was a little shaky as I managed  to croak out "So I've been carrying around some sort of evil murder  totem? Is it going to do something to me?" Had my Uncle known about  this? Was it all some kind of plot? Did he create this weapon on purpose  and was going to use it possess me or something? Why the hell hadn't I  shown this thing to Jim before? It was super shady that my serial killer  Uncle made me swear to carry around his murder weapon.

Jim  saw my face and burst out laughing "Don't hyperventilate lad, it's not  going to eat your soul. I can tell what you're worried about but your  Uncle would have had no idea about this. The gun would have been normal  all those years ago, it only gained its nature after sitting in the  filth of fear and death and Gotham magic. Like I said, making something  like this is a one in a trillion chance. I'm a walking personification  of death and even I couldn't manage to instill a death concept into a  weapon."

I  breathed a sigh of relief "Right. Sorry. Been a bit paranoid lately,  what with my crazy ex coming back from the dead. I need to calm down.  Maybe go visit Zee or something." I frowned "Although Annabel warned me  away from her. I should be fine if I stick to stealth when I visit." No  way in hell the Court could see inside Shadowcrest, and I'd rather avoid  Zee's overprotective helicopter dad than risk her getting shivved in  the kidney by my psychotic Talon megalomaniac ex.

Jim  laughed at that and ruffled my hair "Sounds like a plan lad. But try  not to get caught by her old man. I doubt he's too fond of you after our  last visit. Zatara wouldn't kill you, but he can be a bit  overprotective of his little girl, I don't need to waste time trying to  track my disciple through some hell dimension because the magician  caught you shagging his baby girl." I sputtered a bit, trying to tell  him Zee and I weren't like that, but he just laughed and walked out of  the room. He could be such a dick sometimes.