Bent World: Chapter 31 Keys And Locks (Part I)

Chapter 31

Keys And Locks (Part I)

After the abduction of Prince Jaupry, there were several issues that needed to be dealt with. First and foremost was that I nearly had a wardrobe malfunction.

Yes, all my clothes got tighter due to a sudden two-inch growth spurt, along with what I estimate to be a few pounds of muscles. While we had tailors on hand that might be able to deal with such a change, the real issue came with the fact that I nearly castrated myself on the form fitting designs that were clearly meant for a female. Apparently before this had not been too much of an issue as there were breathable pockets, pockets that soon filled up with muscles that pushed metal guard plates closer to sensitive areas, creating what I mentally noted as a self-inflicted guillotine.

Had it not been for Auntie being on sight, I might have officially become a female, without the benefit of being able to awaken a system. That said, fortunately Auntie was there, and due to the strain on my as yet not receiving my Profiling Ceremony, we were allowed to bow out without much fanfare.

That gave me two weeks to get back, live with Sarina in our villa away from the mansion. On our way back, I realized a few things. First, our family vehicle was apparently considered a hybrid, due to its ability to run on either Flames, or Electricity.

I learned this when I couldn’t help but stare at the driver who was clearly using Electricity within my presence. Only then did I realize that the steering wheel had metal plates right where the hands would rest, implying that the driver would be both supplying a steady stream of power to propel us forward, while also driving. For a moment I thought that might be a bit much for one person, but then realized it was far from the most awkward thing this world had to offer.

Seeing me staring at mother’s driver, Auntie tilted her head and then spoke.

“You can now feel it can’t you?” Auntie asked.

I paused, trying to understand what she was talking about, but then signed “lightning?”

At my question, she smiled brightly, before nodding her head.

“Very good, yes this is likely a manifestation of your newly acquired Lightning affinity. We will have to work with you to build up this sensitivity, but the fact that you can feel its use from that distance is a good sign of your blossoming abilities.”

I nodded, still wearing the mask, as we had no doubt that many people would try to use scrying powers on us, even now.

Like that the ride went by mostly in silence. That or long bouts of Auntie and Mother both strategizing for the future.

Finally, by the end of the ride, at the part where Sarina and I would need to exit together, Auntie finally turned back to me. Her eyes locked onto mine and I realized this was my chance to talk to her. Well not talk to her, but set up a meeting to talk with her.

“We need to talk,” I signed.

“Aye, I believe we do at that, how about we plan to have a formal meeting in two weeks’ time?”

I nodded.

“Very well then, it is decided,” Auntie stated just as the vehicle rolled to a complete stop. Always showing her flare for the dramatics, but it is still no less impressive. I nodded, and then made my way out of the vehicle, Sarina tightly on my toes.

We made our way around the back way to the minor manor. Only to find out that our house had been ransacked.

Well ransacked might be a bit much, the door was open, just slightly and the locks clearly showed signs of being tampered with. Sarina and I looked but we did not find that anything was actually missing, though we made sure to write down all the details.

Nothing can truly say how vulnerable you feel, when you find out your house has been violated by people, while you were gone. Worse, it was like I could almost feel them, their presence.

“Everything okay?” Sarina asked as I looked through my clothing drawers. Everything was still set up for me, as the only things linking me to the role of the Pathfinder were to be hidden in a safe space under my bed. Fortunately, that was both empty and unmolested.

Yet, I couldn’t help but notice slight ripples left in the wake of my under clothes. Almost as if someone came in, moved them and then tried to replace them.

I of course hid nothing in my underclothes drawer, I’m not a deviant, but still.

“I think someone rummaged through my underclothes,” I mentioned.

Blush.

At that, Sarina, proud warrior and destroyer of my home world blushed from the idea of having to look at my underclothes. But she stoically gathered herself and then came over to see what I was talking about.

There in the drawer were twenty-three underclothes, but only twenty of which were in my precise military rolling, while three clearly looked like they had been picked up, inspected and then put down. Worse, one was clearly missing.

“You sure you didn’t leave them like that?” Sarina asked.

At that I just turned to glare at her.

“Right, right, stupid question. But seriously, what do you think happened?”

“Do I need to spell it out for you? I have one drawer with four rows containing six columns, of which three were tampered with, and one is clearly missing.” I stated, pointing directly to the empty spot.

I didn’t want to make a big deal out of this, but it was slowly creeping me out the more I thought about this. The implications were sickening, as seemingly someone broke into our house and the only thing they actually took was a pair of underclothes.

What made matters worse was the fact that I could feel the energy signature of the person who rummaged through my things. In fact, their residual energy signature was the only thing that led me to the drawer, where I found the discrepancy to begin with.

“Okay, I’ll make sure to inform the Master of this, anything else?” Sarina asked.

With that, I found myself finding the residual stream of my intruder. This was the remaining energy that they had left, while still faint, I found myself walking through its path, that’s when I realized while they got in from the front door, they seemed to have escaped through the window.

Following the trail, I looked out and saw what I could only swear were footprints made in the grass around our dwelling that led to the woods. That’s when the ultimate chill ran down my back, as I realized they could be watching me at this very moment.

Rustle.

To almost add to my paranoia, I swore I heard rustling deep within the woods. For a moment I thought about opening the window and providing chase, but ultimately decided against this act. Pulling the shades shut, I paused and took a deep breath, suddenly feeling very insecure in the walls of my own sanctuary.

Seeing my clear discomfort, Sarina asked, “everything okay?”

I wanted to express how dumb of a question that was, our house had been ransacked while we were gone, and all the pervert took was a pair of my underclothes before running out the window. A window that was clearly visible from the nearby tree line, and one where anyone could apparently stare at me from while I slept, of course I wasn’t okay.

“I’m fine,” I reply.

With that Sarina just stared at me, tilting her head as if trying to coax me into saying more, but finally she gave up.

“Okay,” she replied. Then after a long pause she added, “did you want to switch rooms?”

I thought about it for a moment, the offer was tempting, for right now I was tempted to draw the curtains and never let in sunlight again. While switching rooms would offer the illusion of safety, but ultimately I didn’t want to live in illusions, nor fear.

“No, I should be good here, but I do need to talk to Auntie,” I noted.

“Aun?” Sarina began, only pausing as she realized I was still, and likely the only one who could use such a nickname for Doctor Andry. “Of course, I will inform her of your request, and of the incident here as well. Would you like to come?”

I thought about it, but then shook my head, “no, it would look too suspicious. We get back at the same time as the Pathfinder to find out our house was ransacked. No, it is best that you go alone and appear to look for supplies, while also passing along the details of what happened.”

Sarina looked like she wanted to argue, but then just nodded her head. “Okay, I’ll be right back.”

And with that she was gone.

***

(Pandaline)

Phew, that was too close.

Panting.

Pandaline held her hand against her chest, only then did she feel the soft furls of cotton and silk still clutched tightly in her hands.

Originally her looking for her brother started off as a mere fascination. All she really wanted to do was go out and check to see if he was okay. Truth be told, she missed his running and constant antics around the house. That and his muscles that were so unlike any of the other boys.

That was why she was confused by him, he seemed so distant and yet, Pandaline couldn’t help but feel a deeper connection every time she looked at him. As if something supernatural was drawing them together and forever linking their paths together.

That was why she had spent the first day scouting the area.

At first, just going out to the side manor was a thrill, something to pass the time away. She was alone after all.

Her mother went to the Pathfinder tournaments, without her.

For her part Pandaline understood the reason why she was not allowed to go, as she was too young. At her age, despite her already high exposure level to rift energy, there were apparently concerns on her age. Thus, she was held back while the rest of her team went forth and got to play hero. Well not play, as they were heroes, weren’t they? She was a Wayfarer now, still unsure of what that marking meant, but she was one.

Still, it was boring to be left alone by herself. Only after the first week did she start to realize what type of life her cloistered brother must be subjected to. Thus, she took to watching. While she realized what she eventually evolved to, what her actions had become were closer to stalking, versus the gentle checking in, she couldn’t help herself.

Her brother was just too intriguing. Confident without exception. As tall and as muscular as the girls of his class, and maybe taller still.

Then there was the other part to him, the part that drove Pandaline nearly crazy, it was his scent. His scent was different, like sandalwood and vanilla, and something else. Something deeper, something primal, more so than the other boys of her class. While there were only a handful to compare to, his scent was definitely different, and more commanding.

That was why she now found the garment with the thickest residue of his scent in her hand. Only now that she was out of the house, away from her brother and his caretaker who had both returned after being gone for a week did she realize what she had done.

In her haste to exit before she was found, she closed the drawer, exited through the window, carefully closing it behind her as she left and then sprinted to the woods. Only once she got here did her racing heart begin to calm down.

In her hands she held the one undeniable proof that she had done the unthinkable. Honestly, she didn’t even remember picking the lock to the house, other than wondering if the skills would be useful in the future. But with the evidence of her crime in hand, it was clear that she had now become a cat burglar.

At that revelation, an even darker thought hit her, as she realized if this got out, she would ruin the reputation of the Pathfinder’s party. She thought about dropping the garment right there, as she did not want it, in fact it was only an odd set of circumstances that led her to still having the garment now.

For a moment she thought about discarding the garment right now, but then opted not. No, she would take it back to the manor, wait until the maids began washing his clothes again and would pass it off as a random item. No harm, no foul. At least that was what she decided upon as she began to leave.

Crack-crunch.

Of course, the first step she took would be a loud one on what had to be the dryest thicket of branches possible.

Still she continued running through the woods, not wanting to be caught, especially not with the stolen item of perversion clearly in her grasp.

With deft movements, she quickened her pace, while trying to remain cognizant of the world around her, she had to escape.

***

(Two Weeks Later)

After that incident, things went relatively smoothly. While I soon fell back into my daily routine of exercising, I found that a crew of wood cutters had come to clear out even more of the nearby forest that had served as protection for my escapes to ultimately join Auntie in the summer.

By the time summer came around the grass would be grown enough to provide some degree of anonymity while I made my way out to the new edge of the forest.

Still, this was no time for thinking about summer, as I already had bigger problems to attend to. For within a week the Pathfinder’s Faire will be over, meaning we would go back to school and then have a week before I would have to be profiled before everyone.

That was part of what this meeting with Auntie was about, we would discuss among other things my Profiling Ceremony, protection at my humble villa away, only after which would I be able to finally ask a few questions that have been bothering me about this world.

At least, that was what I had expected this meeting to be about when we first agreed to this one-on-one meeting.

As soon as I entered the room, I saw that a tray of foods had been set out, tea available, which Auntie’s attendant poured for me. Then with a quick dismissive gesture, Auntie waved her hand and everyone left.

Clutter-boom.

Large metal doors closed, before I could feel something that almost seemed to make my teeth feel like they were floating.

Auntie just stared at me for a moment, gauging my reaction.

“Anything wrong?” she asked.

I paused, then nodded, “yeah, I can feel magic, but I don’t know where?” I stated as I looked around.

At that Auntie just smiled coyly, “very good, you are improving. Those are the anti-monitoring and anti-scrying enchantments coming to life that you feel.”

Hearing her explanation, I looked around trying to see if I could find the sources, but I only found a few glowing blue dots, nothing that would explain the whole three-hundred-and-sixty-degree coverage that I was now experiencing.

“I will walk you through it at a later time, who knows, perhaps you can set up a side task as being an Enchanter.”

“An Enchanter?”

“Yes, they say the hardest part is being able to feel the energy, but if I am not mistaken not only can you feel the energy, but you can see its sources as well?” She asked.

I nodded, and then proceeded to point out the now glowing blue balls that are seemingly connected all around the room.

“Interesting, very good, but you missed one,” Auntie stated as she pointed over her shoulder at another spot.

Only after she pointed it out did I see the gray area she was talking about, but it was not the same. I stared at it for a moment, only afterwards realizing the issue with it, as this last one looked dead.

Shaking my head, “that one has no power.”

At that comment, Auntie stared at me, then turned back to the clearly non-glowing stone. At which point she went over to her desk, opened a drawer in the middle, at which time she grabbed some type of calibration tool and went over to the noted stone.

After staring at the stone for a moment, Auntie turned back to me with a look of amazement at first. Then proceeded to nod to herself as if this was somehow to be expected. That’s when she came back, placing the calibration tool on her desk.

“Well, it seems that you are correct and providing even more proof of your usefulness as days go on,” Auntie noted.

With that I nodded, not knowing what else to say. Hearing her comments, I couldn’t help but think of me being seen as little more than a piece of property to be bartered for favorable family unions. Ones that Auntie would no doubt execute if I did not prove my utility.

Finally, after a long awkward moment, Auntie nodded to herself, somehow signaling that this conversation would soon begin.

“All right, while you are correct that there is a gap in my protections, it shouldn’t impact this conversation we are about to have for the moment. Still, something to be aware of going forward.”

With that Auntie clasped her gloved hands in front of her, “now then, I know you have a number of questions that you wished to ask, and I promise you I will give you time to ask any and all questions. But first we must get to the main topic. Or at least a topic you are no doubt just as concerned about as me.”

I paused, not wanting to assume in knew which topic Auntie meant at this exact moment, for her mind would and could be anywhere. So, I just nodded.

“As you are no doubt aware, in just under two weeks’ time you will be expected to take the Profiling ceremony?”

I nod.

“Well, that is what I would like to talk to you about, you see you will not be undergoing the profiling ceremony. . .”