ULTRAMagic Babel - Chapter 16
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“What are you looking through, Blood?” Mal wondered as she stepped over to the dining table.
“Oh, just some reports on shady organizations trying to or who have tried to infiltrate The Unlight,” he answered as he sifted a document aside. “Theobold said I should check them out yesterday before we went to see Lia, given my trips to Universe-23.”
Auda mosied on over, fixing her red hair a little. “Jeez, Mr. Fire, working on a Saturday morning?” She then glanced over to his food. “Are you going to finish your toast?”
“Yes,” he replied as he ate some.
“Okay,” she said with a satisfied tone of voice and a smile.
“I see the usual culprits are here,” Mal noted as she picked up one of the papers. “What’s ‘Herba-Witch?’”
“An MLM with ties to The Eternal Order,” Blood-Wraith answered.
“M…L…M?” Auda tried to rationalize. “What’s that?”
Blood-Wraith took a sip of his orange juice and cleared his throat. “Multi Level Marketing. They’re pyramid schemes that sell garbage products, making money by financially strong-arming their employees to upsell people so that the top makes as much money as possible. Imagine if Milosh tried to charge you to join The Eternal Church, then kept charging you more and more to climb the ranks…”
“Actually he did try that at one point, Blood,” Mal pointed out with a chuckle.
“Oh… well my point still stands. Apparently MLMs are fully legal where Will comes from…”
Auda looked incredibly confused. “I’m sorry, what?”
“It’s some nonsense about how since they are selling a ‘product’ they’re not technically a pyramid scheme… even though they are functionally a pyramid scheme in every sense of the concept. Funnily enough, Herba-Witch is not only barred from setting up shop in the Market District, they are outright forbidden from even entering it.”
Mal was stunned by that fact. “Goodness, you’d have to truly anger King Isenhard to pull that one off…”
“I have no idea even how Will even puts up with all of this nonsense,” Blood-Wraith admitted. “He really wanted to stay in the past with us, something he made clear before we went to the train station to send the Future Squad back home…”
That broke Mal’s heart, as she could sense the pain and anguish Will felt from Blood-Wraith’s tone of voice. “Aw… well perhaps we can convince him to move to The Iron City or Shadowland when it’s his time to properly join the guild?”
“Or he could even live in the forest!” Auda eagerly suggested.
Blood-Wraith chuckled. “Well remember he had some issues to work through…”
“True, but obviously we were able to help him with those,” Mal pointed out.
“Good point, given that I was at the forefront of the issue, ha,” Blood-Wraith replied as the doorbell went off. “Oh? Now who could that be?”
“I’ll get it!” Auda said as she hurried over to the door. She was surprised when she opened it. “Blood, it’s for you!”
“Hey, Blood!” A man with dirty blonde hair and soft golden eyes called out. “May we come in?”
“Hey, Gummi, come on in!” he said as he got up and walked over with Mal. “Also Lia, hey! What brings you two here?”
“We’re heading over to Shadowland to crack open Omicron and want to use your tunnel over to Andelin’s house just to be safe…”
“Tusk also recommended your skills to us for this mission,” Lia added.
Blood-Wraith exhaled with a smile. “Gee, thanks, Tusk… Then again, I have been curious to explore one of those warehouses… hum…”
“Mom will also be there,” Gummi clarified. “She went ahead, no doubt to shoot the breeze with Andelin.”
“Alright then…” Blood-Wraith said, thinking about all of it real quickly. “Can Mal come along?”
“I don’t see why not, the more the merrier I suppose.”
Mal chuckled at the thought of working alongside Lia. “I don’t mind in the slightest.”
Auda nodded, knowing she was not going to be allowed to go along. “And I guess I’ll hold down the fort then, Mr. Fire,” she lamented as she wandered over to the couch.
Lia caught that nickname and giggled. “Pardon me, but ‘Mr. Fire?’ I don’t recall that from the intel reports…”
“Yup. It’s what I call Blood given that he’s made of fire that doesn’t burn.”
Blood-Wraith gave a nostalgic chuckle. “Yeah, you should have seen it when we first met… Oh, Lia, this is Auda, Tusk’s niece.”
“Oh, well hello, sweetie,” Lia said as she went over and shook her hand. “Goodness, you are such an adorable little thing.”
“Thanks,” she replied. “You’re not going to turn Uncle Tusk into a rocking chair, are you?”
“Oh heavens no, dear,” Lia answered, shocked she had brought that up. “I promise you that was purely an intimidation tactic… I’m never going to live that down…”
“Baby steps, Lia,” Gummi reassured her with a pat on the shoulder. “Baby steps.”
“Let me know how it all goes,” Auda said as she took the remote and turned on the television, a hint of disappointment in her voice.
“Well actually, Auda, it would be great if you could tell Vex and Drusa what’s going on when they get back,” Blood-Wraith suggested.
That was fair enough and Auda nodded in agreement. “Sure thing, Blood.”
Heading down to Blood-Wraith’s basement, Lia was impressed with how organized all of it was. Shelves and bookcases lined the stone walls, and there were tables loaded with various wood and metal projects in the center. Gummi took pride in telling Lia how he helped Blood-Wraith optimize the space he had, and even detailed a fake-out prank he pulled on him, to Blood-Wraith’s chagrin. The door to the secret room surprised Lia as it was just a normal-looking door now. Blood-Wraith had long since removed the angel language mechanism, as it had become too cumbersome to justify keeping around. This room, which once held some of Milosh’s most secret experiments within The Iron City, now merely held chests and crates.
Making their way through to another doorway, the four entered a chilly chamber that was clearly Andelin’s work that led to an impossibly long tunnel lit by magical torch light. Parked on the rails at a buffer was a reasonably-sized minecart. Blood-Wraith went about quickly checking the wheels and mechanisms while the others waited and looked around. Again, Lia was utterly impressed, wondering just how Andelin dug out the tunnel in the first place, especially right under her and Milosh’s noses. Truthfully it was a bit unsettling knowing that Andelin was scheming behind their backs the entire time, and she could not immediately discern why Andelin performed such actions in the first place.
“Alright, everyone aboard,” Blood-Wraith said as he hopped into the minecart.
Gummi helped Lia in, with her realizing an issue. “Um, Blood? What about Mal? I don’t think she would be able to fit…”
“That’s okay, I’ll run,” she stated.
Lia was confused by that notion, given how long the tunnel appeared to be, even for someone such as a marathon runner. “You’ll run?”
“Yeah. I’m a good runner, remember?”
“Don’t push yourself too hard, okay?” Blood-Wraith said as he adjusted some final mechanisms.
“Don’t worry, I won’t. See you guys at Andelin’s!” Mal then assumed a ready stance and took off like a bullet, bolting down the tunnel as her slender legs quickly carried her out of sight.
Gummi exhaled after a tinge of adrenaline wore off. “Nothing against Mal, but it’s always surreal seeing her run like that…”
Blood-Wraith pulled a lever, causing the minecart to lurch forward and begin moving. “She’s faster than Indigo Wolf. We’ve tested it.”
As the three sped down the rails, the noise of the wheels on the tracks filling their ears, Gummi wanted to sate some of his curiosity. “Hey, Lia?” he spoke over the noise. “What in Abaddon is even in Omicron? Lord knows I certainly wasn’t allowed in…”
She hesitated, but knew she would have to answer eventually. “The Homunculus Project. We were working on making stronger shadow constructs, but I’ll save the rest of the details for when I don’t have to shout over the tracks.”
“Stronger constructs?” Blood-Wraith questioned. “Was it that big of a deal?”
“Oh absolutely,” she answered. “They were going to be our ace in the hole against Shadowland and The Iron City.”
“So that’s what Milosh was so fixated on before the beast blood nonsense…” Gummi remarked. “Lia, do you still have your beast blood?”
“Yes, I held on to it… not sure why.”
“Good thing you didn’t take it then, as the poison Claudius and I created was intended to trigger strokes and shut down the nervous system in a violent reaction with Gudrun’s modifications. If I could do it again, we’d add more of Chemical X-2-5 to speed up the process, as I nearly got pummeled by Milosh…”
Lia grabbed her neck and cringed. “And you snuck all of that past Gudrun?”
“Barely…”
“Well either way, something deep down told me Milosh’s plan was going to go up in smoke, so I held off.”
“Ha, no doubt you angered some lackeys?”
“Indeed, but I threatened to have them excommunicated.”
Gummi smiled, proud of her. “Hey, even you turned on Milosh once he lost his marbles…”
She sighed, recalling what she had thought back then. “I’d dare say you’re right, Gummi. And to think I had become infatuated with that man…”
“Well shoot, Lia, no one can really fault you there. You were at a low point and we all know Milosh was a slick talker. He had me brainwashed for the longest time, so don’t beat yourself up…”
“Hey, I thought you guys wanted to wait until the ride was over to talk,” Blood-Wraith interjected with a laugh.
The two also laughed. “Well, I guess it just got away from us,” Gummi conceded.
“No worries, as we’re here anyways,” Blood-Wraith said as the minecart slowed to a stop.
Unlike Blood-Wraith’s house, Andelin had a staircase leading straight into her fancy, luxurious home. A pleasing chime went off as they opened a door into the hallway. Andelin promptly went to greet the three, smoothing out the top of her brown hair and straightening out her cherry red tuxedo (not that it was necessary). “Blood, Gummi! There you are!”
“Hey, Andelin,” Blood-Wraith replied as they hugged.
“Andelin,” Gummi said as he shook her hand. “Ha, you weren’t at the tower yesterday…”
She gave a guilty smile. “My apologies, I was helping Sten’s knights with the obvious… Lia, it’s good to see you again.”
Lia chuckled and shook her hand. “Even after the unpleasant words we exchanged last time we saw each other?”
Andelin in the cleanest move held out a card between her fingers. “I don’t hold grudges unless it’s Gudrun.”
“What’s this?” she asked as she took it. Notably it had a picture of a treasure chest on it.
“The rest of your money. I held on to it, figuring you’d need it if you were going to join us. You know how adamant Torunn can get at times.”
Lia was honored and flattered, not sure what to say. “You didn’t have to do this…”
Andelin put her hands on hers. “I insist. And keep the card as a wildcard. You’ll never know when it will come in handy.”
“A good call too, as she apparently ran out of funds by the time she arrived at the Tower of Babel,” Gummi stated.
“And I spent it all on keeping Odo and Buster safe, something I will never regret,” Lia said with a parental-sounding pride.
Andelin had to laugh, with a mix of sympathy and her own pride. “I talked to Yvette yesterday and you’re consistently proving her right, that you were never truly a bad person, Lia.”
“Oh my, is she here now?”
“No, she’s at Castle Haugen, as she’s become good friends with Queen Yngvild. We’ll head to the castle once Omicron is all cleaned up. She’s incredibly eager to see you again, and Angus.”
“He’ll be here once we’re all done, just in case things go south,” said Gummi. “Er, here’s hoping it doesn’t…”
“Very good,” Andelin replied with a clap. “Before we head out, let’s have a spot of tea,” she declared as she began to lead them to the parlor.
“Oh, Andelin?” Blood-Wraith interrupted. “Did Mal make it here okay?”
“Indeed she did. We were a little surprised, but I have enough tea and biscuits to go around.”
“Awesome, because I know the tunnel can be a bit treacherous at times…”
Next:
ULTRAMagic Alternate © 2022 William Ford II (ChaoticTempleKnight)
Master Post - Patreon
“What are you looking through, Blood?” Mal wondered as she stepped over to the dining table.
“Oh, just some reports on shady organizations trying to or who have tried to infiltrate The Unlight,” he answered as he sifted a document aside. “Theobold said I should check them out yesterday before we went to see Lia, given my trips to Universe-23.”
Auda mosied on over, fixing her red hair a little. “Jeez, Mr. Fire, working on a Saturday morning?” She then glanced over to his food. “Are you going to finish your toast?”
“Yes,” he replied as he ate some.
“Okay,” she said with a satisfied tone of voice and a smile.
“I see the usual culprits are here,” Mal noted as she picked up one of the papers. “What’s ‘Herba-Witch?’”
“An MLM with ties to The Eternal Order,” Blood-Wraith answered.
“M…L…M?” Auda tried to rationalize. “What’s that?”
Blood-Wraith took a sip of his orange juice and cleared his throat. “Multi Level Marketing. They’re pyramid schemes that sell garbage products, making money by financially strong-arming their employees to upsell people so that the top makes as much money as possible. Imagine if Milosh tried to charge you to join The Eternal Church, then kept charging you more and more to climb the ranks…”
“Actually he did try that at one point, Blood,” Mal pointed out with a chuckle.
“Oh… well my point still stands. Apparently MLMs are fully legal where Will comes from…”
Auda looked incredibly confused. “I’m sorry, what?”
“It’s some nonsense about how since they are selling a ‘product’ they’re not technically a pyramid scheme… even though they are functionally a pyramid scheme in every sense of the concept. Funnily enough, Herba-Witch is not only barred from setting up shop in the Market District, they are outright forbidden from even entering it.”
Mal was stunned by that fact. “Goodness, you’d have to truly anger King Isenhard to pull that one off…”
“I have no idea even how Will even puts up with all of this nonsense,” Blood-Wraith admitted. “He really wanted to stay in the past with us, something he made clear before we went to the train station to send the Future Squad back home…”
That broke Mal’s heart, as she could sense the pain and anguish Will felt from Blood-Wraith’s tone of voice. “Aw… well perhaps we can convince him to move to The Iron City or Shadowland when it’s his time to properly join the guild?”
“Or he could even live in the forest!” Auda eagerly suggested.
Blood-Wraith chuckled. “Well remember he had some issues to work through…”
“True, but obviously we were able to help him with those,” Mal pointed out.
“Good point, given that I was at the forefront of the issue, ha,” Blood-Wraith replied as the doorbell went off. “Oh? Now who could that be?”
“I’ll get it!” Auda said as she hurried over to the door. She was surprised when she opened it. “Blood, it’s for you!”
“Hey, Blood!” A man with dirty blonde hair and soft golden eyes called out. “May we come in?”
“Hey, Gummi, come on in!” he said as he got up and walked over with Mal. “Also Lia, hey! What brings you two here?”
“We’re heading over to Shadowland to crack open Omicron and want to use your tunnel over to Andelin’s house just to be safe…”
“Tusk also recommended your skills to us for this mission,” Lia added.
Blood-Wraith exhaled with a smile. “Gee, thanks, Tusk… Then again, I have been curious to explore one of those warehouses… hum…”
“Mom will also be there,” Gummi clarified. “She went ahead, no doubt to shoot the breeze with Andelin.”
“Alright then…” Blood-Wraith said, thinking about all of it real quickly. “Can Mal come along?”
“I don’t see why not, the more the merrier I suppose.”
Mal chuckled at the thought of working alongside Lia. “I don’t mind in the slightest.”
Auda nodded, knowing she was not going to be allowed to go along. “And I guess I’ll hold down the fort then, Mr. Fire,” she lamented as she wandered over to the couch.
Lia caught that nickname and giggled. “Pardon me, but ‘Mr. Fire?’ I don’t recall that from the intel reports…”
“Yup. It’s what I call Blood given that he’s made of fire that doesn’t burn.”
Blood-Wraith gave a nostalgic chuckle. “Yeah, you should have seen it when we first met… Oh, Lia, this is Auda, Tusk’s niece.”
“Oh, well hello, sweetie,” Lia said as she went over and shook her hand. “Goodness, you are such an adorable little thing.”
“Thanks,” she replied. “You’re not going to turn Uncle Tusk into a rocking chair, are you?”
“Oh heavens no, dear,” Lia answered, shocked she had brought that up. “I promise you that was purely an intimidation tactic… I’m never going to live that down…”
“Baby steps, Lia,” Gummi reassured her with a pat on the shoulder. “Baby steps.”
“Let me know how it all goes,” Auda said as she took the remote and turned on the television, a hint of disappointment in her voice.
“Well actually, Auda, it would be great if you could tell Vex and Drusa what’s going on when they get back,” Blood-Wraith suggested.
That was fair enough and Auda nodded in agreement. “Sure thing, Blood.”
Heading down to Blood-Wraith’s basement, Lia was impressed with how organized all of it was. Shelves and bookcases lined the stone walls, and there were tables loaded with various wood and metal projects in the center. Gummi took pride in telling Lia how he helped Blood-Wraith optimize the space he had, and even detailed a fake-out prank he pulled on him, to Blood-Wraith’s chagrin. The door to the secret room surprised Lia as it was just a normal-looking door now. Blood-Wraith had long since removed the angel language mechanism, as it had become too cumbersome to justify keeping around. This room, which once held some of Milosh’s most secret experiments within The Iron City, now merely held chests and crates.
Making their way through to another doorway, the four entered a chilly chamber that was clearly Andelin’s work that led to an impossibly long tunnel lit by magical torch light. Parked on the rails at a buffer was a reasonably-sized minecart. Blood-Wraith went about quickly checking the wheels and mechanisms while the others waited and looked around. Again, Lia was utterly impressed, wondering just how Andelin dug out the tunnel in the first place, especially right under her and Milosh’s noses. Truthfully it was a bit unsettling knowing that Andelin was scheming behind their backs the entire time, and she could not immediately discern why Andelin performed such actions in the first place.
“Alright, everyone aboard,” Blood-Wraith said as he hopped into the minecart.
Gummi helped Lia in, with her realizing an issue. “Um, Blood? What about Mal? I don’t think she would be able to fit…”
“That’s okay, I’ll run,” she stated.
Lia was confused by that notion, given how long the tunnel appeared to be, even for someone such as a marathon runner. “You’ll run?”
“Yeah. I’m a good runner, remember?”
“Don’t push yourself too hard, okay?” Blood-Wraith said as he adjusted some final mechanisms.
“Don’t worry, I won’t. See you guys at Andelin’s!” Mal then assumed a ready stance and took off like a bullet, bolting down the tunnel as her slender legs quickly carried her out of sight.
Gummi exhaled after a tinge of adrenaline wore off. “Nothing against Mal, but it’s always surreal seeing her run like that…”
Blood-Wraith pulled a lever, causing the minecart to lurch forward and begin moving. “She’s faster than Indigo Wolf. We’ve tested it.”
As the three sped down the rails, the noise of the wheels on the tracks filling their ears, Gummi wanted to sate some of his curiosity. “Hey, Lia?” he spoke over the noise. “What in Abaddon is even in Omicron? Lord knows I certainly wasn’t allowed in…”
She hesitated, but knew she would have to answer eventually. “The Homunculus Project. We were working on making stronger shadow constructs, but I’ll save the rest of the details for when I don’t have to shout over the tracks.”
“Stronger constructs?” Blood-Wraith questioned. “Was it that big of a deal?”
“Oh absolutely,” she answered. “They were going to be our ace in the hole against Shadowland and The Iron City.”
“So that’s what Milosh was so fixated on before the beast blood nonsense…” Gummi remarked. “Lia, do you still have your beast blood?”
“Yes, I held on to it… not sure why.”
“Good thing you didn’t take it then, as the poison Claudius and I created was intended to trigger strokes and shut down the nervous system in a violent reaction with Gudrun’s modifications. If I could do it again, we’d add more of Chemical X-2-5 to speed up the process, as I nearly got pummeled by Milosh…”
Lia grabbed her neck and cringed. “And you snuck all of that past Gudrun?”
“Barely…”
“Well either way, something deep down told me Milosh’s plan was going to go up in smoke, so I held off.”
“Ha, no doubt you angered some lackeys?”
“Indeed, but I threatened to have them excommunicated.”
Gummi smiled, proud of her. “Hey, even you turned on Milosh once he lost his marbles…”
She sighed, recalling what she had thought back then. “I’d dare say you’re right, Gummi. And to think I had become infatuated with that man…”
“Well shoot, Lia, no one can really fault you there. You were at a low point and we all know Milosh was a slick talker. He had me brainwashed for the longest time, so don’t beat yourself up…”
“Hey, I thought you guys wanted to wait until the ride was over to talk,” Blood-Wraith interjected with a laugh.
The two also laughed. “Well, I guess it just got away from us,” Gummi conceded.
“No worries, as we’re here anyways,” Blood-Wraith said as the minecart slowed to a stop.
Unlike Blood-Wraith’s house, Andelin had a staircase leading straight into her fancy, luxurious home. A pleasing chime went off as they opened a door into the hallway. Andelin promptly went to greet the three, smoothing out the top of her brown hair and straightening out her cherry red tuxedo (not that it was necessary). “Blood, Gummi! There you are!”
“Hey, Andelin,” Blood-Wraith replied as they hugged.
“Andelin,” Gummi said as he shook her hand. “Ha, you weren’t at the tower yesterday…”
She gave a guilty smile. “My apologies, I was helping Sten’s knights with the obvious… Lia, it’s good to see you again.”
Lia chuckled and shook her hand. “Even after the unpleasant words we exchanged last time we saw each other?”
Andelin in the cleanest move held out a card between her fingers. “I don’t hold grudges unless it’s Gudrun.”
“What’s this?” she asked as she took it. Notably it had a picture of a treasure chest on it.
“The rest of your money. I held on to it, figuring you’d need it if you were going to join us. You know how adamant Torunn can get at times.”
Lia was honored and flattered, not sure what to say. “You didn’t have to do this…”
Andelin put her hands on hers. “I insist. And keep the card as a wildcard. You’ll never know when it will come in handy.”
“A good call too, as she apparently ran out of funds by the time she arrived at the Tower of Babel,” Gummi stated.
“And I spent it all on keeping Odo and Buster safe, something I will never regret,” Lia said with a parental-sounding pride.
Andelin had to laugh, with a mix of sympathy and her own pride. “I talked to Yvette yesterday and you’re consistently proving her right, that you were never truly a bad person, Lia.”
“Oh my, is she here now?”
“No, she’s at Castle Haugen, as she’s become good friends with Queen Yngvild. We’ll head to the castle once Omicron is all cleaned up. She’s incredibly eager to see you again, and Angus.”
“He’ll be here once we’re all done, just in case things go south,” said Gummi. “Er, here’s hoping it doesn’t…”
“Very good,” Andelin replied with a clap. “Before we head out, let’s have a spot of tea,” she declared as she began to lead them to the parlor.
“Oh, Andelin?” Blood-Wraith interrupted. “Did Mal make it here okay?”
“Indeed she did. We were a little surprised, but I have enough tea and biscuits to go around.”
“Awesome, because I know the tunnel can be a bit treacherous at times…”
Next:
ULTRAMagic Alternate © 2022 William Ford II (ChaoticTempleKnight)
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