“Yes.” Jade found herself unable to look into her partner’s face. His eyes had a way of getting into the back of your mind and looking out through your own eyes.
“I know something’s up. With you and Rake and some of the others. With what’s going on in the city.”
She expected anything but the response she got.
“Yes. Yes, we are, Jade”
Jade blinked. HuanJen was not exactly secretive, he just tended to strategically not mention things. This was unexpected.
“I, um, see.” Jade swallowed a spoonfull of muselix. “I figured that. The apprentices are talking that some of the more ‘powered’ members of Guild Esoteric are having meetings, or had. You guys are up to something.”
The cleric thought for a moment, weighing his response. “I think many are. As for us, we’re preparing, ensuring. The vote on the Communicants being put under the other Guilds’ control is in twenty days. We’ve had incidents supernatural and otherwise to be concerned about”
“I want in. I’m curious, HuanJen, have been since I saw you exorcise that Haunt at the Nax. I … hell, I want in, no more secrets. Aprrentice or not this is you and me.”
The Magician-Priest nodded, looking both pained and happy, a rare case of him appearing conflicted.
“Dear …” Jade began, afraid she’d said something wrong.
“Sorry, it’s rather difficult. I am torn between what you can learn and what may cause problems. Or danger.”
“Screw danger, I know better now. I got you and I’ve got the Lakkom. Danger can lick me.”
“You have no idea.” HuanJen gave Jade one of the most serious looks she’d ever seen from the mystic. His words were like iron chains.
“Sorry. Look, I’m not in the best mood at this time of month, I don’t want to fight, I just … you know.”
HuanJen stood up, and gave Jade a firm kiss on the lips, then nuzzled her cheek affectionately. “I know love. I’ll consider. Just remember, the Way of things is sometime overwhelming.”
“No kidding. And … Huan?”
“Yes?”
“There’s a Yorkie crawling onto my lap trying to look miserable and hungy.” Jade sighed. ” Let’s …”
“Drop the subject until later. Excellent idea,” HuanJen acknowledged reluctantly.
“But I do mean later.”
“I know,” HuanJen reassured. I know.
She believed him - she couldn’t bring herself to doubt him if she’d wanted to. He’d do whatever was important, whatever he thought was best, and he cared deeply enough you could feel it, like gravity.
Caring, however, didn’t always result in what she wanted.
February 23rd, 2000 AD, Xaian Standard Calendar
Guild Esoteric, the Guild of clerics, mystics, and more, promised an exciting and fulfilling life to its members. They were counselors and social workers, exorcists and alchemists, the ground between here and the Elsewhere, the maintainers of balance.
Joining required two things - a pre-existing training or talent, or serving an apprenticeship. The later tended to dampen the excitement of many people when they discovered that, no matter what you called it, doing the work of the gods was still work.
Jade however, took the long view. She’d learned, over time, you had to wait, to grow. She was settling into her role, learning and watching, finding herself, seeking the mystical. She was taking her time.
She was also doing the incredibly boring job of making deliveries. HuanJen had spent years on Sanctum, learning alchemical and herbal arts, adsorbing spiritual wisdom, and in general doing what anyone would do raised in a religious order since birth.
This meant that as a Zone Cleric he fulfilled a variety of duties, which filled the coffers, but also meant someone had to deliver pamphlets, books, medicines (cleared with Guild Medical of course), herbal brews, and more. This meant Jade, taking trolleys, walking down this street and that, following a chaotic itinerary of deliveries and visits. This was not always an entertaining way to pass the time.
“Good evening, miss Shalesdaughter.”
“Hey, looking well,” Jade responded, wondering just who the woman was who had just greeted her on the street. The woman did look in good health, but who was she.
Jade was getting to know people, but there were hundreds of people in Huan’s Zone, including some additions from when he’d done extra work for the late Old Man Green months ago. Everyone knew her, she didn’t know them, but they assumed she would.
It was worse considering how things were these days. She could feel the tension, the worry. The Communicant vote coming up. Mistrust. Confusion. Recall of the Guildwar of decades ago.
The pulse of Metris, of the Zone HuanJen tended, ran through her. It ran fast, frantic, sparks of panic beneath it. It filled your head if you knew how to listen to it, and she had learned to do so over time.
Jade turned into Brenner’s Funeral Home, a welcome change. Brenner was a familiar customer - always in need of a referral or some herbal medicines, always polite. Besides, the dignified building had a peaceful, quiet feel to it, as if even Metris’ constant noise was toned down for the dead who passed through the establishment.
“Jade, welcome!” Mrs. Brenner appeared out of nowhere. The Brenners both had a strangely Victorian mode of dress to Jade’s eyes; Mrs. Brenner wore a bustling skirt and top that made her look plumper than she was. Jade always felt she should be in and old pub serving drinks.
“Hello, Magrat” Jade fumbled through her satchel. “I got some of Henry’s usual here. How are you doing?”
“Oh, fine. Well, as can be expected, business is light. You?”
“Guess.”
“I know dear.” Magrat Brenner patted Jade’s arm reassuringly. “It’ll all calm down soon enough, you’ll see. I do have some good news for you though.”
“Really?” Jade pressed a few vials of esoteric elixirs into Magrats hand. “I could use some.”
“Well, there’s a bit of a job someone needed. Nice couple over in Martin Hooper’s Zone …”
“Martina. He’s having issues, trust me.”
“Oh, yes. Anyway, around there I think, or a bit beyond. They moved here and they have a haunt. It came with the house, but …”
“Hooper can’t handle it, I bet. Let me guess, they moved here from their Earth site unseen?”
Jade could tell the story already. Some people moved to Xai without fully understanding the culture and what they’d encounter, drawn by the promise of a more interesting life, by freedom, by curiosity. Sadly, most were not able to cope with the stranger aspects of Xai, especially the supernatural - on Xai the Otherworld didn’t hide in corners and psychics and holy men openly discussed the divine.
“Yes, I’m afraid so. Moved right into a haunt’s territory.”
“Counseling job, Watching Dead?” Jade asked.
“I would assume. Apparently it came with the house.”
Jade nodded. The Watching Dead, the conscious haunts of Xai, were a known phenomena - they haunted, they kept, they maintained, they were sort of their own loose Guild in a way. Only most immigrants, at least from Nexial Earths were startled to discover they existed.
“Well, you have the …” The Vulpine began.
“Right here.” Magrat produced a slip of paper and handed it to Jade. “You can’t stay for some tea? I have cakes too.”
“Well, I …”
There was a buzzing from Jade’s belt. She quickly her much-hated cellular phone out of its holder.
“Jade. Hey Huan. OK. Sure. Yeah. Gotcha.”
“Busy as usual, isn’t he?” Magrat asked rhetorically. “Run along, I hope all is well.”
“I …” Jade grimaced. “it may not be. Take care, give that to your husband as soon as possible. We all need some way to relax - oh, and are those your honey cakes?”
“Yes?”
The Vulpine smiled. “Send up a couple if you get a chance. Oh, and anything chocolate is appreciated.”
; Busses, bicycles, some electric cars. A lot of walking. Some dodging.
Transpiration in Metris, capital city of Xai.
It had taken Jade some time to master getting around. There was a very logical way for getting from point A to point B in Metris, it merely wasn’t a kind of logic that most humans used. One had to develop a kind of intuition, a meta-logic, to navigate the city. Another year and she’d actually know what the hell she was doing.
Despite having grabbed the sort-of-wrong-trolley, Jade managed to find where HuanJen had wanted her to go; something a good mile or so from his Zone. A craftsman’s area, a place where shops were homes and specialists combined their professions and their lifestyles.
In Jade’s opinion, it wasn’t the kind of place you’d expect to find the supernatural crawling about and drooling. It definitely wasn’t the place morose New England writers populated with nameless horrors from beyond time and space. Somehow, that made it more creepy.
She navigated among the homes and businesses, following the directions HuanJen had given her, eventually ending up at the occultly-named location known as “Hayris’ New and Used Musical Instruments.” A true cauldron of unspeakable terror if ever there was one.
“Hello?” Jade opened the door and looked around. The shot was typical of some of the specialty shops on Xai - a mixture of used items, new items, and supplies. You may not find what you were looking for, but you could find close and maybe get some repairs done.
“Hello.” A young native boy with black braids slid off the chair behind the cash register and walked up to her. “You here about the incident?”
“Yeah.” Jade felt like she was being sized up. “I’m with HuanJen.”
“Sure. He and two others are out back, I’ll take you there.”
A quick trip through the workroom in the back of the shop/house and Jade found herself in a small, parklike backyard. HuanJen and two Esotericists she didn’t recognize, a rotund Magdelinic Nun and a native Shamaness, stood with him.
“Hello, Jade.” HuanJen took her hand in his own. “This is Sister Bridgette and Shamaness Yorvilla. This is Yorvilla’s Zone, and … Esotercisits have been coming by to examine the evidence.”
“Yeah, what … well damn.”
Scrawled on the brick back of the house was a half-finished drawing. Jade squinted. It had an almost “written” look, like the picture was a letter, all straight lines and angles. It was, apparently, a man in a trenchcoat, with a kind of mask over his head.
It was also very familiar. Pictures from the Compendium Esoterica soared in her memories.
” … fuck, Zigguart Jack.”
There was a legend Jade had been following since certain incidents had made her think about the supernatural more. A killer who stalked Metris every few years, who kept appearing more and more. A killer due to return, but for some reason, no one expected him any more.
“Eh, no different than two years go.” Yorvilla grimaced. She was a woman of indeterminate age, but she looked cheerless, even in the jesters-motley-and-talismans of a Xaian shamaness. Strangely, she wore the symbols of Shaliba Lee and Maldonto, indicating he usually practice healing, counseling, and childbirthing.
“Are you sure, Yorvilla?” Bridgette asked cautiously. “There were manifestations …”
“Well, yes, but …”
HuanJen carefully steered his lover away from the bickering clerics and over to a small picnic table. He sat down, gesturing for Jade to sit next to him, which she did.
“So, more shit hitting the fan?” Jade half-asked. She knew the answer - right now Xai had a lot of fan and even more shit.
HuanJen’s voice was distant, echoing among years and memories. “Maybe. He didn’t show up the last two times he was supposed to. Two years ago we had manifestations like this, only his name appeared randomly in various media. Four years before that, people had outbreaks of self-mutilation. Eight years before that he actually showed up. It is assumed now that he is gone.”
“Rewind, HuanJen.” Jade waved her hands. “Remember, I’m kinda struggling along with all the shit like, say apprenticeship, political crap, ghosts, and you.”
“Yes, I …”
“This is what’s been going on behind my back,” Jade said slowly. “Look, I know stuffs going on. And I know something’s been going on. I know I asked earlier …”
The Magician-Priest was staring at the drawing. Yorvilla and Bridgette had been joined by someone else, a robed man Jade figured was from the lose-knit Buddhist society in Xai. Huan’s eyes, however, were on the figure, sucking in every detail.
“Honey?” Jade asked, any pretension of apprenticeship or her usual attitude gone.
“I will let you in on what is going on Jade. I have to talk to some people.”
The drawing on the wall seemed to stand out to Jade’s eyes. Like the chalk was above the brick - or it was trying to leave. There were no eyes on the figure, but Jade felt something was looking back and smiling with a mouth of sharp teeth.
“Huan …”
The Vulpine felt her lovers strong hand in hers. She looked down, and then at HuanJen’s open, concerned face.
“I’m doing it because you should know. And because I am involved. And because I love you. Do you understand? It is very important that you understand.”
“Yes,” Jade said thickly. “And Huan, I’m not going to let the supernatural sneak up and scare me. I promise.”
“I trust you,” HuanJen said, “more than you may know.”
February 25th, 2000 AD, Xaian Standard Calendar
“Hmmmm. How much does she know, HuanJen?”
“She suspects enough, I think. She and I work very closely …”
“Ah, intimately, ah, I’d say.”
“… not funny. and if I am involved, she will be, one way or another. In or out, she is part of it. Better with us, to ensure Balance.”
“Fourteen, ah, days until the Communicant vote. And the best, ah, projections indicate manifestation two days, ah, before that. The political projections, ah, indicate the Communicants will, ah, loose, and be put under control of, ah, the other Guilds.”
“We have limited time … and limited talent.”
“Yes. Hmmm. HuanJen, I think …”
Shard tower stabbed out of the heart of Metris. Itwas perhaps the oldest building in the city, certainly the most expanded and most modified. It was where the Guild Council meets to discuss business, to vote, and to interact. It was the pivot of Metris and Xai.
Security was tighter, subtly so. A few extra people on watch, a few more cmaeras. No use telegraphing ones security, no use inviting intervention, but it was there if you wanted to find it.
You just had to look.
February 26rd, 2000 AD, Xaian Standard Calendar
Jade awoke with a half-remembered dream in her head and the smell of a Yorkshire terrier’s breath in her nose.
She was halfway to the living room for her usual request to have HuanJen take Buster to the roof gardens to do his business when she remembered he had to leave early. More business, the usual business, whatever. It meant she had to slip into some clothes, get the leash and scoop, and get Buster upstairs before his colon exploded.
Of course once she was outside, Buster then decided to take his own sweet time wandering around the garden on the roof. At least it was easier than taking him down nine flights and watching passerbys declare how cute he was while Jade tried to vainly wake up.
While Buster sniffed around, Jade looked out over Metris. You could see a good deal from the Crosspoint apartments, it was a decently tall building at ten stories. You could see a lot …
… the city …
HuanJen …
“Go and asess the Hamilton’s situation. It’s probably a standard counseling job and the Watching Dead are all registered with the Guild and University and the Undertakers.”
… herself …
“Sure. I … you know, it’s weird, I feel right doing this.”
Ther
e was a bark. Jade focused on the present, and the present contained a brown-furred face, soulful eyes, and a personality like a rubber ball in a washing machine.
“Hey, Buster, I …”
Buster flung himself into the air and landed in Jade’s arms. She staggered, getting a grip on the terrier as best she could.
“Why is it you have to latch onto me?” Jade asked Buster. “I’m a Vulpine. Fox genes. Grrr.”
Buster retaliated with an affectionate lick of Jade’s nose, and a burst of volcanic breath. The Vulpine just shook her head.
“Come on, I have to go talk to something less material and less smelly than you …”
“Mrs. Hamilton?”
Anita Hamilton looked at the visitor, a black-furred Vulpine in a green top and jeans. Anita was a newcomer to Xai, and she’d never seen a Vulpine before setting in - and now she lived on a world where one out of every hundred people at least was a genetic variant of regular humans. She was a kind woman, but it was hard to deal with people who had fur.
“Yes, Jade Shaleslaughter?”
“Shalesdaughter. That’s me.” The Vulpine slid into the living room. “Glad to come over. The whole family is here?”
“Yes, in the living room, follow me.” Aninta adjusted her dark hair and business clothes. Strange as Jade was, she was a visitor, a professional, and she wanted to look appropriate.
As Mrs. Hamilton led her visitor to the living room, Anita glanced back at her a few times. There was something very self-confident about the fox-woman, and something strange too - a stafflike object holstered on her back. Mrs. Hamilton felt that the device somehow it was watching her.
Jade tried sizing up the Hamiltons as she walked into the living room. Anita looked nervous, and too businesslike. Her husband was a few years older than her, looking more serious than anything else. A son, a brown-haired boy of about ten, looked lost. They looked like their clothes were from offworld, definitely a nexial-earth - most clothing on Metris was practical and hard-wearing.
“Well, glad to see you. I figure I’ll do a quick interview, show you what I have on file, and we can work out a plan.”
“Work out a plan?” Mr. Hamilton seemed concerned. “The house is haunted, we wanted you to get rid of it.”
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