Becoming Monsters: I'm Blue Ch. 30

Becoming Monsters is the creation of AiLovesToGrow, setting used with permission.

The idea for this story comes from Amethyst Dragonfly. Returning in cameo are both Rough Draft (the character of David Silver) and Vyrlokar (the character of… well, Vyrlokar).

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Chapter 30: Who Comes After

One restful day would have to be enough. The next morning was Monday, and the world did not want to wait. Breakfast, coffee, shower, dress, and out the Portals. Justin had to get to Camp for his introduction to actually working for Quiverbow, something he was unbelievably excited for and terrified in equal parts. Then class in the afternoon, which he was feeling much less of both about. Abbey would be going to hopefully finish up at the bank, and if that went smoothly then they’d be able to meet for lunch before she got to work herself.

If. Seattle had ways of making that uncertain, a fact that neither of them voiced but both were keenly aware of.

Justin stepped out into the sun at the Hall, blinked a couple of times, then got himself oriented. Quiverbow wasn’t expecting him for about fifteen minutes, so that meant he had a moment or two to take care of other business. He was cash-poor at the moment given that he’d spent down for both school project supplies and groceries. And a date, which was more than worth it. Since he couldn’t just sharpen knives for spare cash forever and he did love his art, the best use of what he had between now and whatever his paycheck from Quiverbow looked like would be to get stuff he could craft with. Whether it went into a display of some kind or directly for sale, what was important was to get started. And that meant the other end of Crafter’s Row from where Quiverbow set up shop.

“Justin! How’s it going?” A familiar man’s voice called out. It was enough to get Justin out of his own head and back into reality. The voice belonged to a horse. Of course.

“Cantering on, Rough Draft.” Justin grinned wildly.

The inky gray horse-like Equuleus grinned right back, an expression his own lips were not quite suited to making but which worked anyway. “And taking the reins. Good. How’s the girlfriend? The one you moved into that rather interesting mansion with?”

Justin smiled more warmly. “She’s my fiancee, now, if that tells you anything.”

“Excellent! Glad to hear you have a stable relationship going.”

Justin nodded. “So, uh, I was about to go grab some things for a personal project now that I finished my Apprentice piece for Quiverbow. Anyone you recommend?”

“Congratulations on that, too! I see you’ve been busy. Now, supplies. That would be Dawn’s stall, to the west, which makes it the first time dawn happened in that direction.” There was a sudden explosive sound, and Rough Draft’s head snapped towards it. “That direction. Hop on, we need to move!”

Without a second thought, Justin did as the horse bid. Rough Draft squatted down a bit to let him on, and Justin’s own personal fitness was improving at a remarkable rate, so this was easier than it might otherwise have been. Even with the glass sword on his belt. As soon as he was mounted up, Justin found that he stuck to the horse’s back like glue. Which was good, since when Rough Draft took off at a gallop the pace felt like it should have left a sonic boom behind it. Maybe some rainbows. The trip to the source of the sound took seconds, not minutes, and they were there well before others had truly started reacting. It was obvious when they got to the site. Just… not so much what had happened.

There was a section of cleared ground, bare of grass, and in the center of it was a section of blackened earth several feet across. Looked like the source of the explosion, even if there wasn’t any wreckage there that could be an obvious cause. To one side knelt a Lich, his skeletal body glowing with purple flame. Justin remembered Abbey mentioning him, Vyrlokar. Working on preparations for the Expo. He was kneeling over the mangled body of what looked like a mostly-human Zombie, his hands glowing with more purple flame as he cast magics on it, and next to him stood an orange Cat Beastfolk with a broad hat on his head and a rapier at his side. Guild Leader Sabeto of Caballeros.

Funny thing about Spanish. One doesn’t really need to know the language to get the gist of the emotions when a native speaker is feeling it. In the Lich’s case, Justin was pretty certain the words coming out of his skeletal mouth were not remotely appropriate for children. Or most adults, for that matter. Justin dismounted and walked up. “What happened? Is everyone alright?”

Vyrlokar kept up his tirade, sounding like there were at least two languages involved now. Sabeto glanced over. “Nothing that cannot be fixed, but one of Vyrlokar’s servants took the blast. If he had been alive in the first place, he might not be any longer. Vyr…” one of the cat’s ears flicked. “He believes this was a Class Ability, but not one from any of ours.”

A chill ran down Justin’s spine. “How… does he know?”

The Catfolk shrugged. “I wasn’t looking in the right direction to see it, but I trust his judgement. Vyr has been around a lot of Status fighting, he was in Valencia during the Year Zero chaos.”

“I see.” Justin smelled a rat. “If that’s the case, that means a saboteur.”

“That is correct. Monsters don’t act like this, even those that could have escaped.” Sabeto surveyed the area. “Thankfully nobody was permanently hurt, and this will only slow him down by a day.” Vyrlokar spit out a few sulfurous words, still in Spanish. “Pardon me, it will slow him down by an hour or two. This was… amateurish. Inelegant. Someone who is not used to how we do things set this. If they had interrupted something at the Dungeon Gate, even if nobody there had been hurt, the entire Camp would have shut down until the Marshal figured it out.”

“Either not a Delver or at least not someone who does this a lot.”

“Exactly. Now, unless the rumor mill lied, which admittedly would not be the first time, your new boss is waiting for you.” Sabeto grinned. He knew darned well that the rumor mill was perfectly accurate this time.

“Yikes! Uh, Rough Draft, can I catch a ride?” Justin looked over with a pleading look on his face.

The horse grinned wickedly as he shook his head. “You’re running this time. I suggest a full gallop.”

Justin didn’t waste any more of his breath. He turned and sprinted up Crafter’s Row like his life depended on it. Others walking there calmly stepped aside as he passed. They were more than used to such sprints actually being life-or-death. He made it to Quiverbow’s almost exactly ten seconds before 9:30, getting in the door and reaching for one of the leather aprons on the rack. He had almost managed to finish a sigh of relief before a woman’s voice saying “About time” caused him to stiffen up. Quiverbow had him in her sights, and he’d been at work for less than a minute.

He spun to face his new boss. “Ma’am! Uh, I apologize. Ready to work!”

She shook her head. “Don’t say that until your apron and gloves are both on, and safety glasses. I usually require more punctuality from my apprentices, but given the explosion earlier and how hard you’re sweating there is more to the tale. Tell me and I will not hold this slip against you.”

“Yes, ma’am.” As he finished getting his safety equipment on, Justin detailed what happened earlier.

She did not say a word until he finished. She did not nod, her expression did not change. “I see. And you say that Sabeto is reporting this?”

“He didn’t say, ma’am. I was about to be late so I took off running to get to work.” Justin’s heart had not slowed down. He resolutely blamed the sprint in his head.

“Alright, I will speak to him about this later. But for now, we have work to do.” She took a few steps into the busy workroom and grabbed something off a wall rack. It looked like it was trying to be a rifle, but one that was both diabolically vicious and also presently in a half-exploded state. “This weapon is one that I am trying to bring together. As you can see, that is in progress. However, in order for my apprentices to be able to test it fully, that needs to be accelerated. I will not have my people going to assignments without a proper armament.”

Justin gulped. “Yes, ma’am.”

“Your first assignments are to strip one quarter of a millimeter off of these five fittings. Exactly. Any more and they will be too loose. You will then inlay this thread on the optic, since you can do so without scratching the surface. We will see what is needed from there.”

Miles away, Abbey had arrived at her own job and jumped in with a will. She was there to finish clearing out so that she could be employed by the Guild Hall full time. The customers, of course, had different ideas. The place was absolutely packed, and the lines were only getting longer even as she first entered. There was no question of finishing her paperwork, there was real work to do. Open till, name plate out, and in an instant she had a line a mile long as many of her regulars stepped into her lane and several others who realized their line was still longer a moment later.

The people came and went in a blur. A redheaded Yeti, behind him an insect with blades for arms. Three Humans, the last of whom kept trying to rest his hand on a sword hilt that wasn’t there. A Wizard who seemed to be keeping something in his mouth and trying to talk around it. More and more people until the tide stemmed and Abbey had a chance to breathe. It was then that she noticed something. The familiar counter had markings on it from one fateful day several weeks ago. This was the one she had hidden behind when the skeletons attacked. This was the one Justin had magically reinforced to protect her.

“Abbey? You good?” Her manager was standing behind her, snapping her out of her reverie.

“I am. Just had a long line and some tough memories.” She was unconsciously running her hands along the counter.

“Good. I need you to close this line down and let me close the till, we’ve sent a request up for someone to come and analyze what was done to this one so that we can reinforce the rest, but because of that we are only opening this when we have to.” Her manager was a tall man, often given to pensive worry when not occupied with other things.

Abbey couldn’t hide her grin, though. “I have some advanced knowledge on that, and things come full circle. As it turns out, the person who did this originally is the one who is going to be sent here, and in my role at the Guild Hall I can help schedule things.”

“Really? In that case, I would rather we not wait any longer than we have to. Does next week sound good for a large project to reinforce things?” He seemed genuinely excited. It would take a load off his mind to know that if the worst should happen again, his team had some additional defenses.

“It actually sounds perfect. That should let him save his Mana up for this, it is quite a scale. Unless you have potions for him to use, it will take some time.”

Her manager got a cross look on his face. “That’s a shame, but I suppose you can’t rush perfection. It’s important for the reinforcements to be discreet. You have the scheduling manager’s phone number, coordinate project times and we will just have to work around it.”

“Yes, sir. Now, since the customers have eased off, can I get my final papers?”

For once, the answer was yes. Over the course of the next two hours, Abbey finished the last things that the Central Bank of Seattle would ever ask of her. And incidentally made sure her account there would persist, no need to abandon that just because she wasn’t working on the counter. She had her exit interview with her old boss and HR. No hard feelings, just better opportunities followed a denied promotion. It was quick and fairly painless, but then it was time. With a shake of the hand and one last signature on the page, she was no longer an employee of the bank. Sure, she was still on the books for a few more days, but there would be no more hours on the sheet for her. No more tills, no more customers, and though her friends promised to keep checking on her she would never gossip in the coffee room with them again.

She stood, heart pounding as a chapter of her life closed. With shaking steps, Abbey walked out to the lobby. Every one she took, her stride smoothed. She got control of herself. She was walking, not away from one chapter of her life, but towards one. The hallway opened out into the open room in which she’d worked for the last three years, and a sound pierced her introspection.

Claps. Applause. Brittany started it, but soon every bank worker there joined, and so did many of the customers. They were cheering for her. For taking the step forward. And up. Abbey didn’t turn around. She didn’t make a speech. Close observers might notice, however, that a single glittering tear made its way down her face.

She held it together on her bus ride, and through her casual walk through the college dorms to get to the portal home. She even got through the door. As soon as it clicked closed behind her, though, the strength left her. She leaned her back against the door, but even so couldn’t quite keep herself standing. She slid down the closed door until she was seated, tears flowing in contrast to the smile on her face. She was feeling the emotions. All of them. Joy and pain. Stressed uncertainty alongside crystal-clear direction. The chaotic storm raged in her soul, finding no escape but her tears and shuddering breaths.

Some minutes later, Abbey opened her eyes again. Her breathing was more steady, her emotions not quite settled but much more in check. Floating in front of her was a tissue.

It took her brain a moment to catch up with what her eyes were seeing. There was a tissue. Just hovering there, about three feet off the ground and within arm’s reach. It gave the impression of patiently waiting, but not one of being attached to anything in particular. Abbey knew she hadn’t conjured it. Mostly because she’d thought of doing so but hadn’t gotten around to it. Now that she was looking at it, the tissue floated towards her a couple of times. It was as if someone was offering it to her. Someone that just happened to not be there.

Abbey reached out to accept it, but overbalanced herself and fell forward. Her hand passed behind the tissue, and in the air there she felt a tiny kind of resistance. Like if the air was twice as thick there for some reason. She recovered quickly, getting her hands on the tissue then scrambling to her feet. “What… are you?”

There was no answer but an expectant silence.

“Okay, so something saw I needed a tissue and decided to bring one to me. Something invisible, apparently mute, and that my hand passed through. Ghost? No, doesn’t seem right. Maybe a construct? The House is magical, that could be the source. But it seems… odd. Feels like that’s in the right ballpark, but not a home run. Maybe a summoned creature of some kind? I don’t know.” She looked up at the ceiling of the hall she was in. “Thank you for the help!”

There was no response, but she thought the silence felt happier.

It was a hair early, but Abbey was hungry all of a sudden. There were leftovers in the fridge, which made taking care of that part easy. As she munched on the burger, she made up her mind. She wanted to swing by the Guild hall anyway to tell the administrators she was officially free, and Justin wasn’t going to head to school until the afternoon, but checking in on him would both be great while also snapping him out of any rabbit holes he found himself in. One last swallow, one quick text to Justin, and she was off to the Camp Portal. One blinking step into the sun there, and it was time to get her business done. It definitely helped that she came out the back of the building she needed to go to, anyway, and the staff was buzzing with their normal activity. They cheered almost as hard as the workers at the bank when she told them she was now available, a fact that Abbey found both encouraging and terrifying. They promised she’d have plenty to do… soon, not today.

“For now, just walk around the Camp and familiarize yourself with everything. Tomorrow, you’ll need it.” The speaker was an elegant Fox woman of some indeterminate type. Beastkin? Kitsune? Native American Spirit Guide? Something else entirely? It was impossible to tell, and that was the point. One could make no assumptions when speaking to the kinds of people who worked here. Thankfully, Abbey of all people had that experience to both know more than most lay people and also acknowledge that there was a lot she didn’t know.

Either way, after picking up a few things (including her new name tag, which she put on to help others recognize her), she got moving once again. This time her target was set. Crafter’s Row, to the stall and workshop of Quiverbow’s Ranged Weaponry. She didn’t need a map to know the way to this one, not this time. The problem came about halfway there, as Abbey was walking along a stretch of path adjacent to the forest.

A man was walking in the opposite direction, a Human, and as he approached her his eyes widened for the barest fraction of a second. Abbey didn’t like that much, but given her skin tone she was kind of used to it. What she was less used to was what he did next. As the man pulled up alongside her, one of his hands shot out to block her path. He spoke in a deep, gruff voice. “I know what you are. There is nobody to witness us. Give me your lamp, or I will put a bullet through your brain in ten seconds.”

He started counting down, and Abbey had to think very fast. She didn’t have a Lamp, for one, but for two she didn’t know what would happen if the man figured out that her soul was bound to her ring… and that the other ring on Justin’s hand was also a part of it. That wasn’t even counting what granting a Wish or three would do to her, and by extension Justin and the House. Her eyes closed, she took one breath. There was nothing for it. She would have to respond.

As the man’s count crossed five, she called her power. Blue smoke suddenly manifested in a raging column, opaquely thick. As it concealed Abbey she moved to the side. A shot suddenly rang out, she saw the trail of it in the smoke but it went out into the trees. That would be the only chance he got. The smoke vanished and revealed Abbey… but not the version of her he’d just attempted to steal Wishes from. Abbey was back in her full, natural form, over thirty feet tall and inhumanly strong.

Nor was that his only problem. As the smoke cleared and Abbey regained visibility, she saw that they were no longer alone. Justin was there, glass sword drawn and point touching the man’s back, left hand grabbing his collar. The offending pistol, still smoking, was on the ground to his side. Abbey nodded, then leaned down to look the man in the eye with a face nearly as large as his torso. “Thank you, Justin. Now, as for you. You have attempted to do something very, very stupid.” She reached one huge hand to grab him around the torso, Justin backing his sword off as she did. “We are two of the least dangerous people at this Guild Hall. That’s kind of like being the least attractive model on stage at a fashion show. The words only technically have meaning.”

She picked him up off the ground without appreciable effort. He wisely did not resist. Justin looked down at the weapon. “Love, do you mind manifesting a bag or something for me? I don’t want to put my fingerprints on it.” Abbey nodded, and a clear plastic bag appeared in a puff of blue smoke. Almost like a grocery bag, but Justin got the idea. He carefully made sure to not touch the thing with his bare skin as he picked it up. “Thanks. Where to?”

“Back to Admin, I’m afraid. Break time is going to be short.”

It was easy to forget after so long just how long her legs were. Justin, thankfully, had been doing a lot of running recently. He could jog long enough to keep up. At that pace it only took a couple of minutes to get back to where her walk had started. As they approached, a man walked out. One wearing a kippah and a Guild badge depicting a white star with a golden pomegranate on it, trimmed in blue. Guild Leader Marshal Shapiro. He looked ready to do something with his powers, but as he saw Abbey approach (and to be fair, that was easy) his eyes narrowed.

“Why do I suspect that the report of a gunshot and your sudden appearance in full form are related, Abbey?” He had to raise his voice to make sure he could be heard at her height.

She looked down to make sure she was in the right spot, knelt down, and dropped the man at the Marshal’s feet. “Because they are. This man tried to threaten me to take my Soul Object for the Wishes I can grant. He failed, thankfully, I’m apparently easy to underestimate and Justin came to my rescue while I was at it. Justin, please give the weapon to the Marshal.”

Justin stepped forward and held the bag out. Marshal Shapiro took it with a serious look. “Thank you, Justin. Now, as for you.” He turned to the man who was still cowering on the ground. “Abigail Williams is the newest member of my team. MY team. You have threatened her, and that reflects on me. You have a choice to make. Either duel me, right now, or flee. If you are found within fifty miles, rest assured I will not give you a warning shot. Either way, I will notify Guild Longshot that they have lost a Gunslinger.”

The man on the ground, and Abbey realized she had never gotten the man’s name, took three agonizing seconds to decide. Before he was all the way on his feet, he was running for the exit from Camp at a pace that would have made him an Olympian in other circumstances. He did not slow down in any appreciable way as he turned left and kept running away from the Hall, past the unloading shuttle bus, until he was out of sight. He looked like he had no plans to ever stop.

Marshal Shapiro looked on dispassionately. “I would not have killed him, incidentally, though perhaps the man doesn’t have it in him to believe that. I’m sure that James told you my job gets entertaining sometimes. This, unfortunately, is what he meant. Welcome to the team, Abbey, and well resolved. Hopefully, the rest of your time with me will not be quite so eventful.”