by P. S. Power
The vexing portion was that she simply had no clue what the issue was. That part was hidden from her, and Tarsus hadn't been useful there. Oh, these three might well end up in a war or major blow-up over it, but she wasn't allowed to know what it was, so that she could walk into the meeting room prepared. No, that would make sense, or possibly allow her to actually fix the problem, instead of just making her look young and inept. Not that the whole point wasn't that. It was just a thing to distract the others from what she was really doing.
The Rage was male, and filled with anger at all times. He was so bad that it leaked from him telepathically into various other parts of the world. He lived in a war zone, constantly, since everywhere he went the world devolved into that state, just for him. On the good side he wasn't all that brilliant. Most of the Greater Demons were decent that way, but The Rage couldn't let himself think that much, because it angered him to do so, which gave her a possible edge. On the bad side, he would try to kill her, if they ever met. Even if she didn't give him a reason to.
The Chaotic was pretty much what he or she sounded like. That part was strange, but as a being, it was hard for anyone to know what sex it really was. It didn't have a favorite form either, so it could show up as anything. Leaving disorder in its wake. On purpose, however. Just being near the area of influence was enough to pretty much ensure that everything would go wrong, which was going to make dealing with him, or her, a very interesting task. The very nature of the Demon would seek to block her powers and make certain she messed everything up. Really, it was too dangerous to even think about, so she stopped. Even here, far away from wherever the being lived and worked, it might accidently influence her, if she focused on it too much. She could feel the sinking of the universe around her, tugging in that direction, skewing away from her, for as long as she reviewed the nature of the being. So whatever she did would have to be precise, fast and done well away from it.
She had to move on, and knew the most about Helmsman, who was, as Tarsus had told her, a lady. It was her ability to guide and steer those around her that earned the name. She'd need to be taken at a distance too. Really, they all would, if possible.
That left The Void, who was a male, maybe, but otherwise an unknown. Even as to what he did, or how it happened, there was very little data. She kind of suspected that it might not be that great of a problem really, and wasn't destructive, just the opposite of The Librarian, which made it unpopular and scary to the man. At least he didn't have a big laundry list of wrongs done by the being. If he did, then Tarsus hadn't bothered sharing that with her, at any rate.
It was oddly comforting, she realized. Oh, in a strange and possibly insane way, but still, that counted too.
The first three, the ones for her Crucible, were all older and more powerful than she was, but only one was insane on a level that she couldn't understand, and even that one was noted for mainly being unpleasant, not impossible to deal with. Contrasting them with her real objective allowed her to see it as far more possible, no matter how hard it would really be. These three weren't getting along for a reason, whatever that was. If that was the case, she probably wasn't going to easily fix it for them. Which, naturally, was what the test would have really been about, if it had been honest. Her working with them in a fashion that allowed peace to happen. One way or another. Thankfully, it just didn't matter that much, and she could simply be reasonable and pleasant to them, and let them go their own ways if they wouldn't try to fix things.
The last four, well they were different, weren't they? Three of them were functionally insane and probably amongst the worst that such beings could be. Dangerous and lethal, while not caring to play by any rules but their own, most of the time. The Void... Well, Tarsus had so little information there that the being could be anyone. Even a person she knew, and she might not understand that to be the case at all. He rarely interacted with anyone, and while there was a small chance that he tended to erase himself from history, even that wasn't something anyone knew for certain.
She didn't even have a clue as to how to contact most of them. Especially that last one. It would have to start the next day however, or the one after that, so she could get her new home set up. Invitations would be needed to be sent out. Or at least some kind of reason for her to be in contact with any of these beings. That would take thought. The simple people would also be the ones she didn't really care about. The three that needed to have a problem resolved, whatever it was.
The rest...
Well, Tarsus hadn't been wrong there. The trick really would be locating and taking out The Rage first. The rest of them would be harder. Not more dangerous, but looking at a map she already knew where he had to be living. In Kiev. It was the only place to have a sudden war break out in the last months. Chances were that he was still right there too. At least no one had suddenly come to their senses and tried to deescalate anything.
Opening her eyes, she remembered what it felt like to be very awake, and then got on the computer, since she had a lot of work to do, and didn't know if she had much time left for it.
Chapter six
It took nearly two full days and nights to get her new home ready to live in. That didn't mean professionally decorated and ready for guests. No, she found herself being pleased that she had a little house, with power, water and computer access. It was remote, too, being just on the edge of where she could get real cable internet, instead of paying more for less, by going with satellite.
Even at that she'd had to pay extra to get the workers in without her being there. For some reason each of the companies seemed to think it was perfectly fine for her to camp in her own living room for two weeks before bothering to even think about sending someone out. That didn't work for her, since she needed a base of operations that didn't have all her friends and their families living just down the street. In that way, where she was, just outside of Sparks, was perfect. The location itself sat on roughly three thousand acres of land. It had been put together by purchasing twenty large properties next to each other, though there was a gap in it on the northern edge, where someone else owned things. That didn't matter too much, as far as she was concerned. This was her territory, so if a Greater Demon came along, she could tell them to take a hike.
If the person that had the rights to that portion was annoying to her, well, she'd either deal with it, like everyone else, or she could get them to sell. It shouldn't be that hard, really, if she applied herself. It was the third day, in the morning, that she loaded up Misty and drove to her new place. She'd been to it before, so wasn't shocked at the end of the twelve hour trip. It wasn't a mansion, by any means.
In fact, as she pulled into the long gravel driveway, it looked a bit dowdy and run down. The house hadn't been loved in a long time, and was a dusty white, with peeling yellow trim on it, the paint flaking off in several places. This region didn't get a lot of rain, but it was enough, if it were used correctly. The fact was though that whoever had once lived here hadn't bothered with anything like that. There was no garden, just a flat expanse of dirt that had long grass on it, only part of it being green, even this time of year, in the early summer.
The inside was no nicer, having holes in the walls in several places, where portions had been removed, looking for drugs, most likely. That whoever had lived here wasn't into the whole idea of responsible... anything, was simply apparent. She wasn't whining about it, however, since that was why she'd gotten a really good deal on the place. The septic system worked, and the well was producing potable water. It would pay to put in some solar and wind energy collection units, but that could wait a few weeks, while she handled the other things, she decided.
Like getting a bed, and fixing the walls.
That was the first course of action, naturally. She wanted to fix and paint the place, inside and out, and then redo the flooring, and get some furniture in. It wouldn't be enough to impress any of her own kind, but that wasn't the point. She just wanted the place to look real. Like she
planned to live there for a long while. Since she did, getting things in order would be a good starting place.
That meant, since it was still early evening, only about six-thirty, she needed to get into Sparks, and see about the materials she wanted. Which, since she wasn't a moron, meant unloading everything she'd brought with her first. There was a lot that was needed, since she didn't actually own some things that would help. Like... anything for the kitchen. She'd need a new stove. A fridge too and... Pretty much everything else. According to the internet there was a Home Depot around, so that would have to be her first stop. Plasterboard, something to cut it with, hammers, nails, paint, gear for that...
She planned it all out as she drove, wondering how exactly she was going to get it all back in Misty, who was a good car, but small, as far as hauling things like eight by four feet wide materials went. Rather than fret over the idea, she just located the correct place, and parked, walking inside and stopping at the first cashier she saw, who was in a nice orange vest, but looked to be a bit tired.
The lady was Hispanic, had on far too much makeup for her current job, and still managed to smile at her when she walked up.
"Hello! How are you today? Do you need help finding anything?"
Keeley nodded, not in agreement, but because most people would instantly feel more helpful if they saw a person appearing to do that. It would work even if she were telling the woman to go and screw herself in the drill department. In this case, it worked better though, since she wasn't being an unreasonable harpy about anything.
"I could use some help, to tell the truth. I just bought a house, but it needs some work. I can do that part, but I need a lot of things, and can't get it there. Do you have delivery here?" She didn't know if that was even a real thing, but the woman looked at her funny, for about half a second and then nodded back.
"Sure do! I... Let me get the Assistant Manager over here, he can help you with that..." If she were troubled about anything, the lady, Claudia, if her tag wasn't lying about that, didn't let it show past the first funny glance her way.
That would be her looks, of course. She didn't just look like a high school girl, but a pretty and rather helpless one. The skinny kind that had always been handed everything, so didn't know how the world worked. The man that came when called seemed to think that same thing, and kept asking her if she knew what she wanted. In a patronizing way, even as she got him to help her load up several carts and get things underway. What he didn't do was ask if she had the funds to pay for things, which...
Well, she understood the reasoning there, didn't she? Either she did, in which case trying to call her on it would be a very poor plan, or she didn't which meant he and a few other people would waste an hour or two following her around. She got new appliances too, and set up a delivery of composite stone countertop material. She knew the size she wanted off the top of her head, and could, she assured Glen, the Assistant Manager, install it all herself. It took a while to get it all ready, but the truck that came for the delivery was actually there in time to help her offload everything when she got back. They even offered to help her get it inside, since she was tiny and appeared to be alone.
That got her to smile, and lie, since she didn't really want the men thinking that coming back for a rape party was a good plan. They were hers to guard, after all, and while none of them felt that creepy, they were all young and drank often enough that it showed on their bodies. Two were lean still, but just starting to fade into that early thirties plumping around the middle. Except that they looked to be in their mid-twenties, which meant they didn't exercise outside of work a lot. The last man was a bit older, and had nice stocky shoulders, but a gut on him that matched the growing double chin. That didn't mean physically weak, or even that he didn't think that the attractive young girl wouldn't find him to be the same way. At least subconsciously. He'd used to be good looking enough, and it took time for people to let those old ideas fade, even after their bodies started to change on them.
It was there in his body language. He oriented toward her, his hips thrust out, sucking his middle in at the same time. His thumbs were in his belt loops, and his fingers pointed toward his crotch, making a little triangle that practically screamed 'look at how sexy I am!' to anyone watching. That wasn't unusual at all, but he also seemed to understand that cute teen girls didn't normally want slightly thick looking older men, outside of movies. To that end he was polite, rather than trying to flirt with her, and acted concerned about leaving things outside, rather than like he really wanted to get on her good side.
She passed out a twenty dollar tip to each of them, and got a number to call, from each of them, since the older man decided that her tipping them that much meant she was loaded, house and car aside, and the other two just wanted to have sex with her. They looked pretty average, but she decided to keep that in mind. Not for the sex, but for future people to work with in the area. The older man was about average in intelligence, but that could be enough, for some things. They took off a few minutes later, which meant she could get back into town herself, and do a full shopping trip. Food was going to be mainly out of packages for a while, but she'd make do.
It all took time, but by midnight she had most of the major internal damage fixed, and started in on getting the place ready for painting. That meant stopping to eat every two or three hours, but the entire place looked all right, having the first coat on it, by six.
By noon she needed more supplies, and food, so made another trip into her new area. She'd need to drive it all and get a good feel for what she had to work with, she knew. Not that she had the time for that yet.
So, by going back and forth the five miles into town, over and again, and working fast, using magic to slow time around her and speed her motions up by several times, she was decently ready to bury her head and just get things done. It took all of the week that she'd projected it would, even going at it constantly, without rest or taking time off for distractions.
That meant that on Thursday evening, a full week and a half after she'd gotten out of school, she was ready enough for Darla and Zack to visit. She didn't get that however, since the people that came, unannounced, were unknown to her.
Or, she realized, as she felt them on the lines, heading toward her position, not so much beings that she didn't recognize, but ones that she'd simply never met before.
Smiling, she waited outside for the first to step out, about fifty feet from her front door, at the end of the walkway. It was very polite of the man, who held a small piece of leather in his left hand, and didn't look at her for a long time, making notations on it in ink.
"Cartographer." She said the words softly, but he nodded, working the whole time. When he finally reoriented on her, his face lit up a bit. Smiling.
"Ah! The Mistress of Souls? Good, I did find the right place. The others should be right behind me then. I provided directions for them. Call me William, please." He didn't approach, just tucking the leather bit away, after blowing on it.
His face was a bit round, and smooth, making him look about twenty-five or so. He had body fat, or the appearance of it, but didn't let any of it hang off too much, which meant that, given his real bulk, a whole lot of it was muscle. There was a sense of power to him, disguised by his doughy form. That was a good idea, since people always underestimated the chubby. The ugly too, which was what she was thinking when the next man walked out of a temporary node. It glowed in a single pulse, making a less than pretty red rent in the air. Like a tear in space, not a smooth iris opening up like she used.
This one, The Vile, was doing everything he could to live up to his name, it was clear. Or nearly everything. He glanced at William, and smiled, or at least seemed to be doing that with the half of his lips that were still there, the others seeming to have rotted off. His face was pocked, and had open sores all over it, and a reek came from his direction that made her eyes start to water, even as she killed off her sense of smell to avoid retching openly.
It was a thing that the new man seemed to not have a problem with either, since he just gave her a look that seemed apprising, not combative. Insane or not. It was something to keep in mind, she knew. Just being insane didn't mean that the being in front of her was wrong, no matter what anyone said. In fact, he seemed to be able to get along with the Cartographer well enough.
"Mistress of Souls. Thank you for agreeing to see to this for me. I hope that it isn't too great an inconvenience for you? I'm certain that we can work something out. We should have already, but... Well, you'll see. Shortly." He looked behind him, as a lovely woman seemed to step out of the lines. It was done smoothly, but with a flare of magical energy that showed most of it was being done just to make things look good. If it had been Zack coming, it would have seemed very much the same way, Keeley knew. At least on the surface. He wouldn't have wasted anything though. In that way Zachary, the Baby Demon, was simply a thousand times better than the woman that came through the lines just then.
She was nice enough looking, in a Mediterranean peasant looking way. Her face was a bit square, and her hips were wide, which was done to make sex easier, as well as signal what her goal was, no doubt. Her nipples were erect, and very dark. The see through white top she wore allowed that to be seen instantly enough. Her skin was an even and dark color, and she had brown eyes that were nearly black, also meant to suggest interest to anyone seeing her. It was as if her entire being was focused on one task, gaining amorous attention. Even the size of her breasts were nearly perfect for that. A double D cup. Big enough to attract constant attention, and small enough not to be in the way too much when doing something about it.
Her black hair was loose and flowing, and she wore a white skirt, with sandals. Those were nice, but seemed like something that could be bought at a shoe shop anywhere in the world. Nothing about the woman spoke of wealth, or even power. Just availability.