It was a nice night to be alive, Ruby had decided. Drinking from tea she had managed to prepare with what little was in Gloria’s safehouse, she looked out one of the few windows which wasn’t permanently rendered unusable. To the city streets. It seemed so quiet out there, all considered.
Of course, it helped that her niece and her fiancé were off doing recon, and had surely gotten off track by now, given how late in the night it had gotten. Gloria would return from shopping momentarily, so for now, she just enjoyed the quiet atmosphere. That, and she couldn’t exactly go to her offered room. Her chair didn’t help her with stairs in the slightest, and Maisy had good arms for moving it. Though it was only just after sundown, and laying down wouldn’t do her any good, when she needed to be thinking of a plan.
It wasn’t often she was left alone with her thoughts. Even when not out on dispatch with Maisy and Nico, she spent time with some of her less empowered family (the ones she was related to via her late husband), in Europe. And generally, she stayed connected with others enough to fill her time with them. So a night like this was a bit odd. It wasn’t bad, by any means, it just meant she had to think.
Her visions around the next few days, if you could call them that, had been somewhat distorted. She had seen the broad strokes, of course. She had known about Gloria, and her estranged brother. She had known some about the monstrous creature which had caused her to flee, and what was to come if they were not stopped. The city that they were in would not survive.
There had been other figments as well. Ones which would guide her actions going forward, such as what she would request of Gloria when she returned. But she wasn’t a clairvoyant. Her glimpses of the Seraph’s dream were just that-glimpses. She couldn’t rely on them in full.
She of course, had other consolidated abilities. Being one of two people bearing the power of her bloodline left in this world had that as a benefit. Transposition, the Angel’s tongue, a bit of the armor. All things that served her well, and rarely failed her. But even then, she was still just an old woman. She had thought about retiring a few times, living the last of her days in peace but dismissed the thought. Hestia would try to keep her somewhere away from her family, and the thought of Maisy wielding everything felt wrong. Until that girl had children of her own, she would remain, doing this, until she was struck down, or until it was over.
Based on her visions, the former seemed more likely. She had seen allusion to her own death a dozen times, and this time had been no different. A figure had haunted the ones she had been having recently, however.
Tall, with a jaguar for a face, he seemed to radiate death whenever she was shown him. He was the true objective of this hunt, though she hadn’t informed the other two of that yet. She needed to be sure of his nature first. She didn’t want to cause undo worry…or worse, make the two get more serious. Ever since that incident years ago, the two of them had a bad habit of stopping holding back if they felt at risk. She couldn’t and wouldn’t blame them, but it was a habit she worked around.
If all went well, they could deal with this before any supernatural’s got involved. She was convinced that all they would need to do is deal with Gloria’s brother-either talk him down or incapacitate him, and they’d have an easier time of it. All of the visions she’d seen seemed to indicate him as a lynchpin-one of her glimpses had been of him, wreathed in the same radiation as the jaguar faced one, having sprouted many arms to forcibly keep the others together.
That would be the hope, at least. Still, there was definitely something wrong in this country, even strange figures aside. She’d heard word of the strange happenings in Guatemala for a few years now, through contacts in Hestia. She was surprised her group or another hadn’t been dispatched to the country sooner. An insurgency on the backfoot at the turn of the decade, suddenly resurged when their movements became far, far too fast to be normal. The example of Otto wasn’t the only time it had happened. No one in the government knew why, chalking it up to maybe some kind of secret path or larger numbers then expected. Anyone who knew better knew better, though. Something was at play. And when the insurgents were able to win more battles, get more arms? Establish safe houses with those resources, like the one she was in? Seize other advantages?The conflict stretched on. A few times, cities had been threatened. And attempts to quash them grew more and more bloody for the civilian population, which only galvanized them more.
However, the endless cycle of violence here didn’t seem to make all that much of a splash outside of it’s borders. The UN had bigger problems. The Wizards didn’t seem to care about things outside themselves. Monster hunters didn’t want to involve themselves in human squabbles. So it was just another oddity that went unsolved. But now, something had made them care. According to Esa, the director of the OAA was hospitalized, and the supernatural director of this country was dead. The source was a ruin that hadn’t been there a few months ago. And they seemed to think that this would end up a powder keg for something larger. Their job was to defuse it before it detonated, and they had the cover of the Hearth to get it done.
Still, she wanted to do more. Her heart hadn’t frozen over yet. And she understood what it was like to be crushed underfoot, and to fight against a foe you couldn’t truly defeat. If she could ensure an upper hand to the insurgents, while disarming the veritable bomb they were threatening to use in some capacity, she would. That much she knew, in her own resolve. Or what was left of it.
An hour after sunset, the door opened. Gloria Miranda stepped back into the safehouse. She wore a large hat which covered her eyes, and a jacket, despite the weather. She would have looked suspicious, but hard to identify. And given she was here, the tradeoff seem to have worked. She had various plastic bags wrapped around her arms, placing them on the table, with little regard to Ruby at the moment. She started sorting the mostly foodstuffs she’d bought into the cabinets of the kitchen.
After finishing the task, she looked over to Ruby with a slightly confused expression. Speaking in a language her tongue identified as Chʼorti. A native tongue here.
“Where did the rest of your family go?“
Ruby turned her chair around somewhat, placing the now drained teacup on the table.
“Out, for a little bit.” She said, reactivating the tongue so that Gloria heard perfect Chʼorti. “I needed them to gather information. I stayed here, so you would know we didn’t run off.” The woman had asked them to remain here, but not with enough conviction for Ruby to presume the tongue couldn’t talk her down from any annoyance spawned from it. And sure enough, Gloria only looked slightly irritated, nodding.
“Are you sure you can help him? Talk him out of it? Kinil, I mean.”
Kinil Miranda would be the brother in question. She sounded hopeful whenever he was brought up. Like it would be a simple thing, but she was still unsure.
“I can do my best, dear. I can be quite persuasive. Your brother seems like a smart boy, just caught up in the fire of his surroundings. A good talking to may just be all he needs to understand that what he’s doing is unreasonable.”
She knew she would likely be too late to prevent more people from becoming these monsters, based on the visions she had seen, and how prevalent multiple animal figures had been. But perhaps not too late to stop any catastrophe from happening in the first place.
“How did you find out about me and him, anyways? You most definitely aren’t with the government, yes?” On a dime, back to suspicion. Even with the tongue. This girl was sharp.
She shook her head. “No, no. We’re here to help stop more lives from being lost. That’s all.”
A squint, but she seemed to again accept the answer, turning away, likely intending to go upstairs. She called over to her instead.
“Dear, would you mind doing me a favor before you go?”
Gloria stopped, and looked over to Ruby, pausing.
“Would you care to push me for a walk? I’ve been dying for some fresh air, and it seems like the other two are taking their sweet time.”
This was half true, she did want to get out of the house before sleeping. However, she also knew that something was in the streets of this city, something which would help. That had been a glimpse she had narrowed down. And she didn’t trust Maisy and Nico to find it, at this rate.
Gloria took a long pause, hesitating…before nodding. Grabbing her hat once again, and moving over to the back of the chair. With a bit of trepidation, she began to push Ruby out of the house.
Ruby enjoyed cities. She couldn’t stand rural areas, ever since she was a little girl, growing up in the streets of Prague. The countryside had scared her, and she had always feared terrible things to be lurking in darkness.
It was only when she was older, and had awakened to her powers, that she had learned how correct that fear had been.
The further you got from human eyes, the further you got from the protection of many. The supernatural was best cloaked where no one would believe it, and the entities which slithered in the dark found it most comfortable. That isn’t to say you couldn’t find the occasional spirit or monster hiding within bigger cities. Hell, most of the wizards lived in those places. But those sorts of things found those places harder to stomach. As if a permanent reminder of how the world has moved past them.
And even though Guatemala City was by all accounts, one of the worst places for her to be right now, she couldn’t help but take it in, as Gloria pushed her down mostly empty streets.
They had made some small talk, but none of it really went anywhere, and Ruby could stand to give the tongue a break after all of the use she’d been getting. She wouldn’t want to risk not having the energy to transposition if she needed.
That said, she did want to know more about Gloria. She would be joining them tomorrow, when they went to the Highlands, and no amount of use of the tongue could get her to stay behind. The extra hands would be useful, but it would be better to know the mind behind them. In a very worse case scenario, her brother could convince her to join him again, and that would be far from ideal.
That said, she couldn’t help but identify with the mistrust. She was a woman from, for as far as Gloria was concerned, a world which had abandoned her, and everyone she knew. Showing up now, and offering that help would be jarring at best, and paranoia inducing at worst. She sympathized with that notion, of being abandoned. Though it most certainly wasn’t in the same way, it never could be. No two experiences like these could be the same, but she couldn’t help but draw the comparison between Prague all those years ago and the city she now was wheeled down.
Eventually, the two of them came to a crossroads. Gloria made a silent gesture of left, then right, as if asking which way. Ruby nodded, reactivating the tongue to respond.
“Right, if you would, dear.”
Gloria turned that way, before replying.
“We shouldn’t go too far this way. We don’t want to hit a checkpoint.” She had a twinge of nervousness, she had the entire time the pair had been out here. Once again, Ruby couldn’t blame her.
“Of course not, I wouldn’t put you at risk like that. Just a little bit further, then we can turn back.”
They fell back into silence after that. Passing by a few pedestrians who gave a few odd looks to the old European woman being pushed down the street by a local. They didn’t seem to care enough to intervene, however. Eventually, after another minute or so, Ruby could see the lights of a distant military chokepoint. In a few moments, she planned to indicate to Gloria that she should turn around. But that was when she heard the noise, down a nearby alley. At first, it sounded like the scampering of any dumpster scavenging rodent, but she quickly realized the sound was much too loud. She held a hand aloft, and Gloria stopped. Ruby pivoted the chair to face down the alleyway. She felt a familiar presence. Her blood came with a particular tuning to forces beyond natural that were nearby her, and all of her remaining nerves were put on high alert.
“Is something wrong?” Gloria asked, her voice clearly demonstrating that she was on guard. Her hand, in the silence, had reached into the inside of her jacket, where a pistol was stowed.
Ruby’s tone moved to a harsh whisper. It sounded worse then she meant it.
“Don’t shoot. Stay still. Do not speak unless I tell you too.”
The way she spoke, with the tongue added for effect, ensured Gloria lowered her hand, and instead gripped the handles of the chair. Ruby pointed her gaze forward, down the alley, towards the rustling sound. It wasn’t going through something, like perhaps she had thought initially, but instead approaching. The rustling and scraping was just apart of whatever this things movement was. The feeling of alarm, the instinct, only amplified as it stepped into the limited streetlight.
The creature was humanoid, at least. Two legs, two arms, a torso, and a head. It was a little under five feet tall, and was seemingly wreathed in trash and refuse. Long forgotten papers, plastic bags, aluminum cans, sheets of cardboard, all things which were plastered on and around it. Some areas it condensed and shaped into something resembling armor, if you squinted at it. It’s eyes were black as coal, poking out between parts of it’s face, and the teeth in it’s mouth were made of rough metal. It seemed to smile, upon seeing people. It’s stubby hands held no weapons, but the stench it gave off could be considered one in it’s own right. It spoke first.
“Well! Seems I found ya first.” It seemed almost…proud of this. The smile seemed to indicate such. It’s voice sounded like a man who had smoked for two centuries straight.
Ruby turned up her nose slightly. Gloria had her hand on the gun again, before Ruby reached up, and lowered the arm gently. If bullets killed this creature, best case scenario, the authorities came down on them. Worst case, they made it mad, and the pair of them were in a situation they couldn’t win. Best to speak, for now, which Ruby did, in her standard authoritative tone.
“Were you sent looking for me, or Miss Miranda here?” The creature was speaking English, so she returned it. It wasn’t her native tongue, but speaking with Maisy gave her plenty of practice. Nico, in the same fashion, had helped her with Spanish.
“Tsk. Don’t care about some dyke with a peashooter and a ‘one to pick.” Gloria seemed to only pick out half the words. It didn’t matter, though, she still looked mad. “I do care about U-N trashheaps, though. Was told to ‘ind people like ya.”
That put Ruby on guard. Sometimes, supernatural creatures, like this one, were simply attracted to others like it, and Ruby, in an abstract way, could count. She presumed it a coincidental thing, but upon hearing that, her concern ramped up. This thing knew what she was here for. And the fact that it was told to do so made it even more concerning. She suspected this creature to be a spirit of some kind, or some other form of relatively minor form of empowered life. They could be bossed around by others of their kind. Her mind raced with possibilities, as she moved to respond.
“And who told you to find me? And why?”
The grin grew wider, to the point where Ruby thought the metal which made it up might begin to bend in on itself.
“Ever hear of the Council of Eight? One of it’s own wanted me to find who else was here, under the ole ‘earth. Dun worry, not here to kill ya, I have manners, don’t pick fights with old ‘adies. Plus, my skills me nose, not me fists. Do have a message to pass on tya, though”
That made her blood run cold. She’d heard of the Council of Eight, from Esa and other members of Hestia she’d worked with. The people who for the most part, ran the organization of wizards which had exposed themselves to the world about a decade ago. They only deferred to one, the so called High Arcane, but he stayed out of the day to day, or he did if Orion’s intelligence was to be believed. They were the best in the world. If one of them were here? That was very, very bad. But why? Why come here, why now?
“Which of the council do you serve? I know of many of their sort. And what message do you want to pass along?”
In truth, she didn’t know of a single member’s name, but the veneer of confidence could get her quite far. Despite knowing how bad this could be, she still looked confident and authoritative, like she always had. At the very least, Gloria looked lost, which meant she could mostly speak freely without saying something which might frighten her ally.
The creature seemed to chuckle, a dreadful and drawn out sound that she would have liked to not have heard. Holding it’s head back a moment before speaking next.
“He goes by a lot of names. The Broker. The Chainmaster. The Trickster. But I don’t think he’d want me telling you his real one. And I ‘ike being alive and able to stab him in the back ‘hen I get a chance.”
So this thing was bound, interesting. Though it still maintained enough thought to openly consider giving this Broker harm. A weakness to be exploited, if he had others under his command.
“And who exactly are you, to be saying such about someone so powerful?” I diverted it away from it’s ‘message’ to try and fish for a bit more information. It could prove useful.
“Heh. I’m what you throw ‘way. Toss aside and never think about again. The councilman calls ‘e Mathias, though. He gave me the name awhile back. ‘nd I think ‘s funny, so I stick with it. What’s yours?”
It said, almost cleverly trying to get information for itself. Based on it’s description, though, it seemed like she was dealing with a manifested form-a creature which was given shape by enough people believing, even subconsciously, in something. They believed their trash was gone, and indirectly, that gave birth to a creature which quite literally walked away with it. Belief was a strong force. Her own powers came from an abstract form of it, in a way.
“I’m afraid unless you tell me your masters name, I cannot tell you mine.” She said, stiffly.
“Bah. Yer no fun. Anyways, the message. Councilman says that anyone not with him, is ‘gainst him. Even not-so-sweet old ladies. He wants you to know the ‘ituation is under his control, and ya can go home.”
It spoke with smugness that it most certainly didn’t deserve. She considered giving a retort or similar…but better for Mathias’s council master to presume she had gotten the memo.
“I’m not a fighter. I’m here for information. If your master claims he has things handled, I will trust him and his expertise, as a member of the Council. I’ll leave as soon as the Hearth has been lifted, but will take no steps to interfere with him.”
A blatant lie, but Mathias didn’t seem like a particularly astute creature. It seemed to stiffly nod.
“Gud. t’s for yer own good, anyways.” It said, starting to turn to walk away, back down the alley. She was starting to move, to gesture to Gloria to get out of the alley, and back to the open street, when Mathias seemed to stop. Slowly turning back around.
“Oh. One mer thing. Don’t ‘ack out of this. Cause if ya do…” It held out one hand. Jutting out of all…seven…of it’s stubby fingers, was a rusted aluminum edge. Still sharp enough to stab into flesh, she was sure.
“I’ll gut ya like a ‘ish.”
And with that, it finally turned around the corner of the alley, out of sight, the faint rustling and crumbling sound following it the whole way. Once the sound was gone, Ruby made the gesture, and a muted Gloria began to wheel Ruby towards home. Once closer there, far away from where they had encountered Mathias, Gloria finally spoke up.
“What was that? Was that one of the-?”
“No, that wasn’t one of your compatriots. That was a foul creature who we may see again. If you see it again, I encourage you to shoot it this time. I got what I needed from it.” She cut her off and activated the tongue. Gloria seemed to nod.
“…I never thought that sort of thing was real. Wizards, flying women…I think I’d rather live in a world without, then risk running into that in my own city.”
She paused for a moment.
“If we can do things well, then we can be one step closer to that safety. I promise. For now, we should likely both get some rest. Given that we just got quite a scare.”
She tried to be as soothing as possible to Gloria. She recalled how she’d first reacted seeing a creature like that, much less one could talk. It was probably different from your first exposure being a friend, she reasoned.
Gloria, for her part, seemed to accept her answer, and wheeled her the rest of the way back in silence.
Once back within, Gloria managed to help Ruby up the stairs. It was an awkward thing, and she wasn’t as strong as Maisy. But her niece was still nowhere to be seen. Once at the top, she gave a thankful nod to Gloria, wished her good night in Chʼorti via the tongue, and headed into the room offered to her. She closed the door before she looked around the room, which proved to be a mistake when it’s contents nearly gave her a heart attack.
A pair of strange stone idols sat on the floor, between her current position and the dust covered bed in the corner. Carved from grey stone, and big enough to have to be carried in two hands, they each seemed to depict jaguars, with emeralds for eyes. Outside of individualized wear and tear, they seemed nearly identical. Except one of them had a note pinned to it’s head.
She wheeled over, to get a closer look, and read the note. It was written in familiar handwriting.
“Orion team 08 managed to recover these from oddity site. According to on site viewer, command word is “Poseidio” and they should animate and obey the commands of who animates them. Likely best utilized with your tongue. I’m sure you can get use out of them. Other then this, command is scaling back support. Orion 08 will be in borders, but posing no help. This is your OP. Get the same results as always, and it’ll be fine.
-Esa”
Ruby sighed, folding up the note again. Placing it on a bedside table as she mulled it over. While she appreciated the aid…this was all concerning. Normally for things this big, they had help.
With some effort, she got out of the chair, and into the bed. She could put pressure on her legs for a few seconds at most, long enough to get laying down. With a wave of her hand, and accessing a minor gift, she was in nightcloths.
She wouldn’t slip into sleep until a few hours later, when she heard the downstairs door open, and the sound of Nico and Maisy’s hushed voices heading into the basement. She released a tension in her chest she didn’t know she had.
All she wanted from this was her family to get out alive. Hestia, Insurgents, or Council of Eight be damned.
Kindling And Miscellany 