Chapter 1-32: A Talk with Master Fred

I waved my hand and closed the door. He considered me curiously as I sat down on the pew on the other side of the aisle from him, facing him.

“I would like to make a request of you, Master Fred. Mmm, probably several requests. It may or may not impact what you are planning to do next.”

GO ON, the flaming words gestured patiently.

“I am going to put this in context for you. I would like your word that you will not repeat what I am about to say to you to another without my permission.”

IF IT DOES NOT INVOLVE WITHHOLDING DANGEROUS INFORMATION FROM THOSE WHO CAN BE AFFECTED BY IT, YOU HAVE IT, he agreed patiently.

As expected. “Well, let me first say that I am not the girl you see in front of you, or at least, I was not her several days ago. I am a shard of the soul of a very powerful Heavenbound Theurge of another world, an alternate reality of this one, and I only arrived on this world five days ago...”

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He didn’t actually display all that much emotion as he listened, to the point where I was fairly certain he had scars on his soul and had lost some emotional range. Nevertheless, he didn’t interrupt as I went through my severing, my forced Reincarnation, the circumstances thereof, my trip out of the Shroudzone, and eventually ending up here.

THAT IS QUITE A TALE, he admitted, keeping my eyes easily. IT EXPLAINS YOUR APTITUDE WITH THAT ATTACK SPELL, IF NOTHING ELSE.

“Yes.” He wasn’t dismissing it as a flight of fancy, which was good. “If you extended your Wrath into me, you could probably feel the echoes of the Heavenbound Pact upon the remnant I am, but given the circumstances, I don’t think it is possible for me to be Heavenbound, or even swear any Pact but to the Shroud... and I have absolutely no desire to do so.”

He nodded, getting up and stepping forward, pure golden flame burning on his hand. He put his hand on my shirt, just below my throat, and extended it in.

I could feel my Shroudborn-link roiling at the contact with the holy flame, and the familiar feel of the Light rippling through me made me sigh despite myself. He was watching my eyes carefully, but then his triple-colored eyes with the square pupils looked at my neck and face, seeing things I could not.

RESIDUAL TRACES OF AN UNBROKEN HEAVENBOUND PACT. I HAD NOT IMAGINED SUCH A THING POSSIBLE. He took his hand back, stepped back, and sat back down. THIS IS AN UNUSUAL SITUATION, AND GIVEN MY SITUATION, I DON’T THINK I AM HERE JUST TO SHOOT SOME HELLBOUND, AFTER ALL, he mused. GIVEN HOW POWERFUL YOU ARE ALREADY, AND YOU ARE COMING FROM SOMEPLACE WITH A LONG-ESTABLISHED MAGICAL TRADITION, I CAN ONLY IMAGINE HOW STRONG YOU WILL BE WHEN YOU RECOVER A PORTION OF YOUR STRENGTH.

HOW CAN I HELP?

I sighed. “My main problem seems to be that the Bloodline I inherited is forcing me down some roads I would not have chosen, so instead of building to a level of strength where I could adequately defend myself, I am being forced sideways. I am still a One, I am extremely aware of how squishy I am, and I can’t do anything about it.”

THAT IS A MAJOR PROBLEM IN OUR LINE OF WORK, he agreed calmly.

I flicked up my Darts, burning with vivic fire. He gazed at them with interest. “This is Vivic Fire. It can permanently kill the undead under the Shroud.”

His eyes opened only slightly. THAT... IS A VERY DANGEROUS FACT, the words scrolled past slowly. THERE ARE POWERFUL VESTED INTERESTS THAT DEARLY WANT OUR ATTENTION FOCUSED ON THE SHROUD AND NOT ON THEM. PERMANENT REMOVAL OF THE UNDEAD THREAT MIGHT WELL PLACE THEIR OWN LIVES IN JEOPARDY.

“Yes,” I agreed. “But, the difference in Karma between popping off the undead for sport and killing them permanently is immense. We’re talking twenty to one, or higher. I don’t want something noticing I’m using vivic fire on something, so I have to pull off the Wall, much as I hate it, and find my Karma elsewhere.” I made a sweeping gesture, and pointed to him. “A four Pact Warlock has literally endless amounts of stuff to do. What I need is enough Karma every day to feed my Ring and my Staff, and if I get a lot more on the side, that’s fine.

“At the same time, I’ve a Sinbound to find, and everything points to the fact that it’s going to be a long time before I can do so myself. I’m hoping you have information channels that can search for him. That child probably has a Bloodline strong enough to warrant pissing off some powerful people by stealing him.

“Also,” and I had to sigh, “I have no idea who this girl I am actually is.” I fished out her driver’s license and showed it to him.

ELRII. NO LAST NAME. UNUSUAL, ESPECIALLY FOR THE HALVYR, WHO TEND TO WAX POETIC ON THEIR NAMES...

“Yes. So, I’d like to find out more about her before I get blindsided by her family and have to dive headlong into something I really don’t want to.”

DEALING WITH FAMILY YOU DON’T CONSIDER YOUR OWN MIGHT BE DIFFICULT, he agreed. He took out his phone, snapped a picture of the license, and passed it back to me. I HAVE TWO SOURCES FOR MANY OF MY MISSIONS. THE FIRST IS NATURALLY ENOUGH MY PACT PATRONS, SAVE HELL, AND EVEN THEN, THEY SOMETIMES CALL ME TO GO COLLECT A RECALCITRANT SOUL FOR THEM... OR ELIMINATE OTHER DARKBOUND. He actually heaved a sigh at that. THE WORST IS WHEN THEY WANT ME TO SERVE AS A MEDIATOR, BECAUSE I AM ACTUALLY TRUSTWORTHY.

I had to smile at that. “And the Heavenbound have organized somewhat and reached out to other allies to help them find stuff to do?” I cajoled him, having an excellent idea of how Heavenbound tended to operate.

They looked for stuff to fight. If there was nothing to fight, they looked for stuff to do, and if that wasn’t around, they started making stuff and preparing until there was something to do. Busybodies of the highest order, that was Heavenbound. Even Paladins weren’t looking for trouble as much as Heavenbound were.

YES. HEAVENBOUND HALL IN DETROIT IS A RESOURCE FOR ALL ACKNOWLEDGED HEAVENBOUND. OF COURSE, IT IS ALWAYS UNDER ATTACK IN ONE FORM OR ANOTHER BY VARIOUS PARTIES. THE LAWSUITS ARE ENDLESS.

“I imagine they’re always trying to photograph any new recruits and find out everything they can so they can kill them faster, too,” I sighed knowingly. He seemed impressed I’d think that way. “But if they can track down this asshole, I will definitely be grateful.”

MUTUAL FAVORS GO A VERY LONG WAY AMONG GOOD PEOPLE, he acknowledged. WHAT DO YOU NEED TO DO FIRST?

“One, I need actual clothes that aren’t something I took off a dead man. I was going to do that today, but I got drafted into popping some rats and Darkbound instead.” His smile was faint, but there. “Then I need to get a replacement phone, and I’m going to buy some basic history books so I at least have the foundational knowledge of an eight-year-old.” He smiled faintly again. “Once I get that done, I need to go to her home address and make sure something like a cat isn’t starving to death there.”

I CAN PROBABLY HELP YOU DEAL WITH A LOT OF THAT. THE INTERNET PROBABLY HAS ALL THE KNOWLEDGE YOU NEED... he trailed off when I clutched my head and waved him off.

“You have no idea how much I would absolutely love to dive into the internet and inhale all that data, but the Shroud is preventing me from retaining knowledge that I don’t have associated Ranks in, or affinity to my past. I couldn’t remember how to turn on the radio in a van, and while I could remember how to shut it down by taking the keys out, it took me a good thirty seconds to figure out where to insert them if I wanted to start it up again.

“If I try to start going around on the internet to find stuff, I’m first going to develop a nosebleed, then my eyes will probably start bleeding, and that’s if I concentrate past the instant migraine that pops up.

“I’ll have to learn the old-fashioned way, by reading it in a book.”

He nodded. IT SEEMS YOU’LL BE SPENDING TIME IN A LIBRARY. THE MAGAZINE ARCHIVES FOR TIME, MANA, AND PEOPLE SHOULD PROVE USEFUL.

“Mana?” I had to ask. That was a new one.

IT’S THE PRIMARY MAGAZINE COVERING MAGICAL SOCIETY. IT’S NOT AS INTELLECTUAL AS THE CODEX , BUT IT DOES A BETTER JOB IDENTIFYING AND FOLLOWING THE MOVERS AND PLAYERS.

“Sounds like I’ll need to read them both, figure out what works, what does not.” Ah, well, it was what it was...

STAND UP. I did so. He lifted his phone and took a snapshot of me. YOU CAN LISTEN IN, IF YOU LIKE.

“Sure.” His thumbs crackled with voltage on his phone, and I was a bit surprised to see the screen leap up into a basic hologram in front of him.

An icon of a garden gnome popped up, lifting my eyebrow. “Hey Fred,” a genial, higher-pitched voice that nonetheless sounded quite mature rose from the speaker. “What can I do for you today?”

His response was being flamed over his shoulder to the camera on the phone. RUN THE LICENSE IN MY PHOTO DIRECTORY AND TELL ME EVERYTHING YOU CAN ABOUT THE OWNER. SHE’S A NEW SORCERESS I STUMBLED ACROSS WHO JUST ENCOUNTERED SINBOUND, WHO GUTTED HER AND STOLE THE BABY SHE WAS PREGNANT WITH.

OH, AND SHE NEEDS SOME NEW CLOTHES SUITABLE FOR A COMBAT CASTER.

There was a whistle from the other end of the phone, sharp and short. “You Heavenbound, running into all this shit...” The image of my license, and then the face of the Sinbound arsehole I’d shown him, swirled up on the holo and were sucked away to the gnome.

“You heading up to Boston? I can have a basic kit waiting for you there.”

BALTIMORE. GOING TO CHECK HER HOME BEFORE WE GO HUNTING PURPLE.

“Ah, gotcha. Yeah, the Church to Aru will work with us. Let me figure the measurements on her and – Holy Diamonds and Sapphires! Is that Traveler?”

Both my eyebrows went up at his squeal of glee. Fred looked totally unmoved. THAT IS HER CASTER NAME, YES.

“How did you run into a celebrity like her? Damn!” I blinked despite myself. “That video of her teaching the Human language is exploding across the entire world. It’s breaking every download count anybody has ever seen!”

SOUNDS LIKE A LOT OF PEOPLE ARE GOING TO WANT TO KNOW WHO SHE IS, Fred prodded thoughtfully.

“On it! Elrii, is it? No last name... that’s weird for a halvyri. Let me start searching, and filter out that video... damn! Very impressive, Fred!”

He didn’t bat an eye. RANDOM COINCIDENCE. RAN INTO HER AT THE TEMPLE HERE. HELPED ME WITH THE HELLBOUND.

“Really? Well, tell her she’s famous, and probably needs to change her look if she doesn’t want to be mobbed. Everyone who learns how to speak the Human language is probably going to know her face and voice now!”

Okay, he was waxing enthusiastic, and I certainly hadn’t intended to garner that level of fame. Just wasn’t thinking about it...

“Wow, she has next to no electronic footprint whatsoever. That’s her first driver’s license... no last name, still, and no one vouching for her, standard approval of driver’s training. I’m going to have to break into some secure data files concerning her birthday and stuff. There aren’t a lot of halvyr born, so it should be quick.”

I didn’t know whether to be impressed, relieved, or discomfited by that...