It had been over a year since Louise De La Vallière felt this many stares of this magnitude directed at her all at once. It almost rivaled her aching head at the moment… well, not really, because the headache was painful enough to make one consider bashing their head against a brick wall in the hopes of knocking themselves out and only have to deal with the headache resulting from that. Really, the stares might have been the only thing keeping her from doing just that. Everyone from Pete, to Trudy, to Kelly and Chet looked at her with wide disbelieving eyes. Luke had a 'oh crap' look plastered on his face as his eyes wandered over everybody observing their reactions. Sunny meanwhile, was the only one actually tending to the wounded Kenny and Otis, applying healing powder to their wounds. She brought her head up, a greatly annoyed look on her face.
"HEY! In case you all forgot, we got wounded here! Pete, get Mitchell and tell him to get the antivenom here now! The rest of you keep watch in case anything else comes crawling here." Sunny ordered, her eyes flicking towards Louise.
Aside from a sideways glance at her, the elderly man complied, moving as fast as he could to Mitchell's house, the dcotor's house lights already on, and the door open. He disappeared inside, though the mage could see the outlines of them as they talked and moved around inside.
That left her with the rest of the town. The shocked looks they were giving her were illuminated in the light of the Saloons lights, not even having the veil of the night to help shield her from them. She ran her eyes over all of them, waiting for someone to speak, Trudy in particular she kept an eye on. Given the events between them, if something where to happen, she had a feeling it would be from her first.
Though she was proven wrong not long after the thought crossed her min, Kenny, as always it seemed, had something to say. "Alright… So I guess I'm gonna have to be the first to ask… what in the ever loving fuck are you and how do you shoot fire out a stick?" He said in pained bursts from his position on the ground.
"Not now Kenny. There's enough pain between you and Otis. We don't need your voice adding to that." She deadpanned, applying more healing powder to his leg.
"We? You mean you knew?" Kenny demanded, scowling at her.
"Yeah. She told us about three weeks ago. Look, I don't think right now is the best time to get into this. When you two are inside, then we can talk about it." The blonde said, trying to take at least some fo the attention off of Louise. She shot the pink haired girl a look that held sympathy for her unenviable position. Luke had moved closer to her, standing right beside her now.
The town, while some did indeed go to keep watch, the remainder continued to stare at the pinkette, unsure of how to processes what had just happened. All Louise could do at the moment was stare back, equally unsure how to respond, her headache pounding away inside her head, and her stomach starting to catch up to it in uneasiness.
...
It wasn't too difficult getting Kenny and Otis moved to Mitchell's infirmary room. Kenny limped, helped along by Pete, and Otis, after he was administered the antivenom, was able to be supported to a bed waiting for him as well.
Through it all, Louise simply sat on the couch in the living room. Her headache wasn't going away, if anything it was getting worse. She knew the ramifications of the events and how serious they were, but it was impossible to focus fully on them. Her throbbing pain felt like it was trying to become literal in the sense. She heard the pained groans coming from the infirmary not far from them as Mitchell went to work on the two men.
Didn't take the stares off her though. Even with two of their own injured, the pink haired girl was finding herself once again the center of attention for her explosions. Luke hadn't left her side thankfully. She must have been in shock earlier if she took it as well as she did. True, there wasn't much to be done but stare back, but now the reality of the situation was hitting her just as hard as her headache.
Everybody knew now. Her secret was out, and the fallout from that was coming. She knew it was inevitable if she wanted to stay here. Having that secret House could leverage over her was asking for trouble, and Kenny seemed determined to find out her story, and cause her no end of grief for doing so. And she knew that, realistically, there were worse ways for her magic to come out. Helping to defend from those horrid abominations hopefully would help her case.
Luke sat beside her, sighing. She was thankful he was beside her. Really, she felt closer to falling over than she liked...
"Well… this is it Louise. Your big reveal. Had to happen sooner or later right?" He asked rhetorically. Louise numbly nodded, rubbing her temples. Founder, this headache felt like it had access to a cheese grater. She sniffled, the motion irritating her pain even more.
"Don't worry, I'll still stand by ya. And so will Sunny, and Mitchell. Your not alone here."
She said nothing, continuing to hold her head in her hands. Her aching head was getting worse it felt like, and now the stress of this was making her stomach start to spin. She idly peeked through her fingers for a bucket in case she needed to throw up.
Mitchell had emerged from the room, closing the door behind him, leaving both of the injured men still lying on the bed."I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I'm gonna have to ask you all to leave." He said politely.
Chet seemed incredulous to the idea. "You can't be serious doc. She goes around slinging explosions, which she could have done this entire time? You expect us to just let this sit?"
"Yes I do." Mitchell said, his tone lowering considerably.
His sudden tone made the shopkeeper flinch, and step back. Despite his kindly nature, it was easy to forget that he had spent a life traveling the wastes before helping people in need. Said travel meant a lot of trouble along the way. Which he managed to overcome.
He sighed, his tone softening, but unyielding all the same. "I know you all have questions about Louise, and Sunny and Luke can answer them. It's getting too late for her already, and you all still have a night to get through. Not to mention the work of getting those bodies cleared out of the way. You better just save your energy for tomorrow. She ain't going anywhere, and I can assure you all at least this: she's not a threat. Now get." He said, his arms crossed.
The remaining adults, Trudy, Chet, and Kelly, the first of which made Louise nervous just thinking about what was going on her head, were forced to admit defeat. It was true. The second shift was just thrown out of whack, and they needed to get back on it. Sunny Pete, and Luke were likely going to be forced to take up another round. Louise doubted they would want her with them out there now anyway.
She felt a hand on her shoulder, and she turned her head slightly to see Luke smiling softly at her despite the tiredness in his eyes."Don't worry. Me and Sunny will try and get them smoothed out for ya. I got a feeling they got a lot of questions."
With one final look he got up and followed the rest out the door, eventually leaving Louise, Mitchell, Otis and Kenny in the house. Mitchell had closed the door behind them walking back to her."Well, very first watch and this happens. Can't believe you have this sorta luck. Don't go using my vigor testing machine now. I only got the one." He said, chuckling at his own joke trying to lighten the mood.
She didn't chuckle. Her head and stomach wouldn't allow it. Between two of the pains, there existed one thoroughly miserable girl.
"Ah, well. We got some explaining to do tomorrow." Mitchell said, another grating voice offering its own opine after he said that from withing the infirmary.
"You can count on that! I fucking knew there was something-"
"Kenny, unless you want your mouth sewed shut as well, you'd do well to keep that language to zero while you're under my care!" Mitchell yelled back, and when there was no response Mitchell smirked, before turning back to the girl.
"Now… wait a minute... Louise you look a bit red. You feeling alright?" He asked, even as he put his hand to Louise's forehead, before it recoiled, a worried expression forming.
"Oh my, you're burning up. Louise what did you… Oh Mitchell, you old dumb son of a gun!" He half yelled to himself, quickly hobbling over to the infirmary, before coming back out, with a familiar looking plastic bag in hand.
"You used your magic so close to the weekly limit, how did I forget that with the damn things rocking my house?" He absently mindedly said, rolling up her sleeve, but as he did, Louise brought a hand to her mouth, swearing she felt something already in there.
"I… I don't feel good…" Louise barely got that out through the bile getting ready to spring from her mouth. She quickly got up and rounded the corner to the kitchen, finding the sink, and letting out a retch as the contents of her stomach were soon splattered inside the kitchen taste lingered, the smell was already making another round of vomit seem likely. She spat out the lingering offending substance, backing out of the kitchen, before she felt a pair of and grasp her by the shoulders and begin to drag her back to the couch.
"We don't have time to wait Louise, we need to get this Radaway applied right quick. And then-" He stopped his explanation as he fed the tube from the bag into her arm. His eyes were staring into hers, a fearful expression, more so than he already had passing in them.
"What?" She croaked out through the pain.
He hesitated before answering. "…nothing. Or not now. Just... we need to get this done."
She said nothing, her head pain grinding on. She just wanted this to end. She leaned her head on the arm rest of the couch, her eyelids weighed down.
...
She was crying, head in her hands, droplets of water stinging her cheeks and eyes.
She heard a scream. She crawled forward, dimly noting she was in a small hole with rocky. She stuck her head out
The beast was large. Larger than anything else she had seen on this world yet. It stood on two legs, it's tail behind it
So focused on the creature, she was utterly oblivious to the screaming coming from its massive hands with equally massive claws. It raised its hand over its head, and she could see it was holding a man wearing a green uniform it looked like. With one swift motion, it pulled with disturbingly little difficulty, it's hand in opposite directions, tearing the screaming man in half. It wasn't an aggressive pull either, just enough to make his torso and legs two different objects, his insides sliding onto the beasts tongue as it held it out and began lapping it up as a dog would do to water.
And then, it paused. Then, slowly, it turned it's head in her direction. It stopped, it's milky white eyes looking right at her.
...
Louise shot up in a panic, her head instantly reminding her why that was a bad idea as the pain returned to her now awake mind. She grit her teeth, sniffing as she did, shifting to a more upright position. Realization began to manifest, as she picked herself up from her sprawled position from the couch. She caught site of Mitchell not far from her, observing her as she came to.
"Ugh… how long was I out?" She groaned out, putting a single hand to her forehead.
"Only about ten minutes. I'd hazard a guess and say the Radaway is ready to complete it's process. Figured it wouldn't hurt to let you get at least some shut eye." Explained the doctor.
She hazily looked at him, before feeling the call of nature again, signaling the more unpleasant part of de-radifaction. Realizing that, she quickly went and did her business, and came back to the living room, sitting down once more
"Well, that was cutting it a bit close wasn't it? You were going on about 250 rads there. Not good for such a rad sensitive person such as yourself." He explained.
She nodded in agreement, the unpleasant sensations still having a phantom effect. A thought occurred to her."Doctor, was something wrong with me? I mean, you looked rather frightened when you looked at me."
He hesitated before answering. "Well… I don't want to alarm you but… there was something off about your eyes. They seemed… I dunno how to describe it exactly. Darker I suppose, and I got a shivers just looking at them. I think it was your magic acting weird."
She nodded, softly. The memories of that rather vivid dream."It must be. We never had to deal with radiation in Tristain, or any country. There's no records of what will happen when these two interact."
"If I had to guess, I'd say it might be some sort of… mutation." He said slowly and cautiously, worried that it might spook the girl badly with each word spoken."There are plenty of them, some subtle, some pretty obvious, and it's the only explanation I can think of as to why your magic is acting so off." He explained.
Louise bit her lip, hugging herself as gave his thoughts. It had occurred to her more than once. After seeing the ghoul corpse and knowing how far this radiation could affect some people, she couldn't deny that thoughts of her magic slowly changing weren't that outlandish. Didn't comfort her in the slightest about it though. "That… truly does seem the most likely scenario. When I first arrived her, my magic didn't change colors and I didn't get headaches when I used it. But, that was only a day and half before I got here."
"Might be because you used it a lot. You said you had to deal with some bugs, and we know that caused your rads to shoot up. And, did you say you attempted the spell that brought you here? That spells sounds far more more powerful."
"Yes… yes actually. That was when I first noticed the change. The Summoning Ritual is a sacred spell, one that is required for any mage. It was one I tried multiple times before I actually got here.. and that was my most successful spell..." She muttered.
"Hmm. Still feeling reluctant to go to House?" The doctor asked.
She wasted no time in responding. "Yes."
"Well, in any case, Otis wanted to talk to you. Said he just wanted to know what was up with you. He didn't sound all that mad or even offended, he just wanted to be filled in. Kenny on the other hand… well, we both knew this had to come sooner or later Louise. Might as well get started."
She sighed, all of the evenings sufferings carried on it. Otis, she was cautiously optimistic about. He had just confessed to having respect for her, so there was that. Kenny though, well an entire month of his declarations were just about to be proven true in some respects adding to an already near insufferable problem.
Nevertheless, she conceded to Mitchell's point. If she put off doing this now, then it would just be waiting for her tomorrow. Grunting in agitation at having to put up with Kenny again, she got up from the couch, and walked to the infirmary door.
…
She entered the infirmary, the faint smell of blood hanging on the air from the two injured men in the room. Their gazes both snapped to her as she entered and approached
"I just wanna say before you start spouting anything: I told you so!" He declared, a smug tone lining it. "I knew there was something off about you! I-" Kenny tried to continue, but Otis cut him off.
"Yes Kenny, I got that after the fifth time. And the sixth. And… well I tuned out the seventh and the rest after at." He deadpanned, rolling his eyes in the process. "But she saved our lives during the attack in case you forgot."
Kenny chuckled humorlessly. "Yeah, after letting the both of us get chomped! I saw you freeze up. So much for protecting us, got us injured because she couldn't act more like."
"You know, Mitchell offered to show me how to stitch up unfortunate accidents Kenny. Want me to add another one to your mouth?" She lied of course, but the look her gave was worth it.
He frowned, making to get out of bed despite his still wounded leg."Now you listen here-" He began, but once again, the man beside him interrupted.
"Kenny, you're really not helping right now. All I want to know right now is her side of the story. Now look, I respect you, you know that, but earned her keep here, in case the charred corpses of the Night Stalkers slipped your mind. She's earned the right to speak for herself, so let her." Otis said, glaring at the wounded man in the bed next to him.
He looked back at her, nodding for her to let herself speak. "Well, where you like to begin?" She asked.
"To start, what exactly did you do?"
She sighed, wringing her hands in anticipation for the explanation. "Magic. Yes, I know, I know 'Magic doesn't exist' believe me. I've gone through that hoopla before with Sunny and Luke. But you both saw it. And I'm done lying about myself now. So there it is: Magic." She finished letting the information sink in.
Both men's eyes widened. Whatever they were expecting, clearly this was far from it.
"Well… then where are you from?" The balding man asked after a prolonged silence.
"I am from another world." She explained, the awkwardness of that statement still bothering her.
Kenny shook his head. "Bullshit. Magic, another world? You really expect us to believe this?"
"Would you care to come up with another explanation as to why I am so vulnerable to radiation then? I didn't come from a Vault remember?" She pointedly asked, and with a slightly smug tone, threw his own victory back in his face.
He scowled, but failed to come up with a point to counter hers."… fuck…" He said deflating.
Otis had been quiet, the revelations making for some funny reactions on "Okay, not gonna lie: I didn't see that one coming. But… I don't see any other explanation for the rad sensitivity either..."
"She could be a mutant. God knows there's stranger looking mutations in the wastes." He tried coming up with an alternative explanation.
"And that vulnerable to rads? Nah. Jeez, I see why you gave cover stories. That does sound pretty damn out there." He said, giving her a look of sympathy.
She bit her lip, not liking what she was about to say. "Well… there's more to it than that, and as much as it pains me to say it, you were right Kenny. There is someone after me. Mr. House."
Otis blinked in confusion. "Wait, House? How in the hell is he involved in all this?"
"When I showed Mitchell my magic, Victor saw it too. It didn't take much explanation from him to see why House likely knew about me as well given his connections to them."
"But why would this affect him? He's all the way in Vegas." The balding man asked.
"Clean world Otis? A green world untouched by nuclear war? What could he possibly see in that?" Kenny explained, his voice low and his eyes narrowed.
"…Oh shit." Otis said, realization coming over his face, and Kenny s as well.
"You little shit! You call me paranoid when mother fucking House has his eyes on you? You should have told us that far FUCKING sooner!"
She glared at him, feeling a months worth of irritation with his man leak into her words. "I would have, If some loud mouthed imbecile hadn't gone around saying that I should be thrown out! I wanted to tell you, I did! But I was nervous about revealing it too soon alright?"
"She has a point Kenny. You did come off a little aggressive towards her." Otis pointed out.
The man scowled. "I had concerns for this town, for the people in it! And I was right! She had the head of New Vegas after her and didn't tell us."
"She's telling us now. She could have kept a lid on that for a good while longer, but she didn't. Look, I get your concerns Kenny I really do, but honestly, I think you're overreacting. The girl has done nothing to hurt us so far, and she stuck her neck on the line for us. Why shouldn't we do the same for her?"
"And what's gonna happen when House decides to make a move? Why should we stick our necks out for her?"
"We don't even know that he will, and she's one of us Kenny. We look out for each other."
"One of us? She goes on a few hunting trips, and one night watch, and now she's one of us?"
"Don't know if you noticed Kenny, but that's about as much as we do. She earns her keep, she buys her own medicine, and he just proved she's willing to truly put her neck on the line for us. Asking for more than that is unfair. As far as I'm concerned, she is one of us. And I'll stick by her." He said, turning his head towards her for the very last part.
Kenny threw his one good arm up in the air in exasperation."Great… any more surprises we should be expecting from you? Any more like this one, and I'll boot your ass out all by my lonesome if I have to."
"No. Everything else I said about myself was true. Two sisters, parents, taken from my home, all of it. That really is it." She said. Neither men really seemed to question that thankfully. There wasn't much of a response other than glares from Kenny. "So… is that it then?"
"For now. Not much we can do now but sleep on it I guess. I think all of us would like nothing more than that right now." Otis said, yawning as he did, which soon spread to the other two present.
"I agree, but before we do, Kenny I want to make something perfectly clear: I have no ill intent for this town. I have no plans to attack, sabotage or otherwise harm the town or the people in it. Please, just understand that." She pleaded.
He didn't respond at first but when he did, there wasn't any anger or disgust, just a weary sigh."…. It was never what you meant to do kid. It was what was following you." Was all he said, laying his head facing away from Otis and one final look between them, she left the infirmary.
...
She found sleeping that night difficult, despite her more tired than usual self. The nervousness of tomorrow haunted her just as bad as the images and sounds of those Night Stalkers did. Honestly, she wasn't sure how to take having those images and sounds being relegated to nightmares. More than once did the phantom pain of those fangs sinking into her flesh, and the ear splitting howling feel like it was to rupture her ears. She awoke with a start and sweat each time, before the weight of the next day weighed on her in her conscience moments before sleep. Finally, she managed to get an uninterrupted stretch before she found herself waking to the glow of morning.
Groaning at the less than ideal sleep, she got up from the couch. She checked up n Kenny and Otis before she made for breakfast. Not much new to report there. Both of them
It was when she started to dig in to some gecko meat that she heard the front door open, and soon found Sunny and Luke walking inside and soon sitting down next to her.
"Well, good news is, we got them smoothed out for you. We told them almost everything, except for House. Figured that would be best if you told them that. Don't worry, we'll be there with you when you do. I'd hazard a guess and say during the noon, when there are no more travelers about. Don't think we want anybody else getting on this, now do we?"
"As well as it could I suppose. Otis at least is on my side. Kenny isn't, though I hardly expected anything different." She said.
"Yeah figured he would. He's always had a stubborn jackass streak in him with certain things, and well, you did prove him right about being worried about you." He admitted.
Louise sighed at the echoed words from last night.
"Well, we know Mitchell, Luke and I will stick up for you. Otis sounds like a good inclusions to that list, and Kelly sounds like she's the most willing to hear your out of the remaining three. So if it comes down to a vote, I think your chances are pretty good of staying. Just be honest when the time comes Louise. It's not as hopeless or even as bad as you might think." Sunny said,
Louise could only hope that was true. There were reassuring looks on both of their faces, but still, worry still tumbled in her gut.
"And hey, those Night Stalker corpses are all mostly yours, well the ones intact enough are. We get to work cleaning them, and draining their blood for antivenom, your gonna be looking at some pretty good caps Louise. So there's something at least!" Luke said, trying to get at least something good out of this situation.
She tilted her head in thought. Well, the caps did sound nice...
…
The morning job in the Saloon was the most unnerving since she could remember starting it. Trudy, and Chet, and Pete and Kelly, were inside, all of them looking like they had gotten even less sleep than she did. They all looked at her, clearly eager for answers from her own mouth. The only thing keeping that from happening was the fact that patrons had shown up surprisingly early today. While she didn't really question it too deeply at first, after all, it delayed the uncomfortable talk that was heading her way, she did idly wonder why they changed their patterns like this. She got her answer as she worked however, doing her best to keep her sniffling to a minimum, lest she irritate the patrons. She had flipped on her radio for another distractions, Harvey and Dani once again not present. She made a note to ask some travelers for them, when Mr. New Vegas begun to talk about a not too far removed event from last night.
"A series of explosions were heard coming from Goodsprings during the night, sources from Primm say. It is unknown at the time of the local gang known as Powder Gangers made another attack on the settlement, or if it was just some spooked townsfolk letting loose on some iguana."
Louise blinked in surprise. Already? She had no idea how Mr. New Vegas had heard about last night in Goodpsrings so soon. It was just barely half a day after the fact!She flicked off the radio on her Pip Boy, the report of the town, being the only thing she cared for at the moment.
"Yeah, we heard about that from another radio. I think Night Stalkers are a better reason than iguana. Jeez, what is up with the dangerous shit moving into this area? People always told us this area was a bit more tame, but between those wasps, Deathclaws and now Night Stalkers? At this rate, that shithole Nipton is gonna outpace Primm in growth. And that's even with the NCR annexing it." The traveler said.
"Annexing it? Really?" She asked, honestly surprised at this information. Last she heard they doing sweet FA, as Sunny put it, outside of Primm.
"Yeah well, things are finally moving around that town. Some guy, dark skin, scar on his forehead, apparently he walked all the way to the Mojave Outpost, and, well I don't know the details, but he did something that got the NCR off their asses at least. Though personally, I think ole Morrigan might have some other reason for going there."
"Morrigan?" Louise asked, interest in at least some idle conversation, even it was with a stranger.
"Commander Hank Morrigan. The Jackal Hunter. He was the man who lead the push eastward, and the one who saw the most action against this gang called the Jackals."
What was it with the people of this land naming themselves after animals? Louise thought.
"He saw a lot of action during the push eastward, and even turned down promotions for high ranks so he could keep fighting on the front lines. He's not on Hanlon's level of legendary but he's done enough to earn a bit of a name for himself. More than that leg pisser Lee…" The first man grumbled, taking a swig of his drink.
"He was a sole survivor of a forward position during the push eastward against the Jackals. A whole bunch of them massacred an entire platoon, and he survived an hour and a half on his own before more soldiers arrived. Maybe the pieces about him are exaggerated, but still, holding your own against raiders for even half that time is impressive. And he was just a run of the mill trooper at the time. Still is actually, didn't want to become a ranger for some reason." He explained.
"You'd think they'd want someone like him here already. From what I understand, the NCR is having difficulties in this region, and any help would be welcome." She pointed out. Really, this competent of an individual in the NCR? Ridiculous.
The man snorted. "Yeah well, there's been rumors that the NCR higher ups don't want everyone to know just how bad things are here. This was supposed to be a simple mop up operation against the Legion, but between House stonewalling us, and the damn idiocy of 'Wait and See', we've sunk a lot more resources into this campaign then what was intended. I suppose sending a fairly well known figure like Morrigan out into the battle would be pushing it more than they would like. But if it's just to mop up The Lost, then I can see him getting at least this area to work with. Not that far in so they can spin it."
Her ears perked at the name, and she felt an urge to gulp.
"The Lost? They are a gang as well, are they not?" She asked, feigning ignorance.
"Yeah, a bunch of ingrates who didn't like what we did for them, got pissy over some taxes and a bit more rules probably. At least they ain't killed any civvies, I'll give em that much."
"Better than the Khans at least. Still, between killing our soldiers and stealing some motor bikes, they definitely deserve Morrigans ass kicking." The man said, the conversations moving more between them than her at this point.
Louise said nothing. The derision for Lorcan and his gang was obvious, not even worthy of radio reports from what she had heard. Still, having met the man himself, Louise wasn't sure that his reasons were so trivial. He sounded like he was personally wronged by the NCR, but not the extent that he was targeting civilians, just soldiers. Not exactly a decent person by that standard even, but still. And she had heard plenty of bad about the NCR to understand frustration with them, and doing something so idiotic to the point of inducing the rage she saw on him also wasn't that far fetched. She found herself a lot more willing to give Lorcan a chance than the NCR.
She kept quiet about that fact though. She had another person to worry about after all.
"By the way, have you seen a trader with a child by his side? Goes by the name of Harvey." She explained, hoping for an answer that had good news.
"Mmm. Can't say that I have. I did know that a caravan went missing by the hills by Primm. I did hear of a prospector settlement out that way, though I can't verify that."
She felt her spirits drop at the news.
She thanked them regardless, the rest of her shift marred by the nervousness she'd been feeling since midnight.
...
It was time. The last of the travelers had left the town, and sun continued to rise into the no more ears to listen on the matter of Loiuise Valliere, the pink haired mage soon found herself watching the towns people trickle into the Saloon. Sunny and Luke were the first, greeting her, a few more words of comfort. Next came in Otis, Kenny and Mitchell. Pete held the door open for the two, Otis walking in largely unhelped, while Kenny as being helped along by Mitchell. Trudy and Kelly were already inside, and the second to last to enter was Chet. Pete was the last one inside, joining the rest of them in the bar area as he closed the door behind him.
Louise felt her hands precipitate more at the sight of the entire town in front of her. This was it. She exhaled deeply in resignation."How much did Sunny and Luke tell you?" She knew the answer already, but she just wanted to start somewhere.
"That you're from another world, that was *magic* you were shooting." Oh how simple it sounded...
"Yes, that is the, mostly true story." The pink haired girl said.
"Mostly?" Trudy questioned, making a visible expression of distrust.
"I will explain that. I just want to know were we stand right now. What you think of this, and me." She said.
Chet shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know what to think. I mean magic? Seriously? This isn't a Grognak comic, there has to be another explanation for last night."
Pete seemed to shake his head. "Unless she's got grenades the size of pinheads coming out of that stick, I didn't see anything else she could have used to make those explosions. And even that doesn't explain the light show that went along with it."
"Yeah, you only ever see Glowing Ones do shit like that, and she doesn't look like she has see through skin." Kelly added.
Trudy said nothing the entire time, despite looking at the mage with utmost intensity.
"Trudy, thoughts?" Mitchell asked, getting her attention for a brief moment.
"Nothing right now." She bluntly said.
Kenny raised his good hand. "I would like it on record that I fucking called it. Knew there was something off about her." Kenny said, repeating his victory, causing more than a few visible eye rolls.
"Yes Kenny, we fucking know!" Sunny yelled.
"Kid, why didn't you just tell us this before? I mean, you have proof, why hide this? It's fucking weird don't get me wrong, but it's not exactly nothing people wouldn't adapt to. Trust me, I've seen people put up with some weird shit in my time." The woman, Kelly asked. Louise felt a smile tug at her lips for a moment. She rather enjoyed saying this particular information again.
"You all have Kenny to thank for that. I wanted to tell you, but then he goes around saying that I'm a threat that needs to be thrown out." She said, shooting a glare his direction.
He returned one of his own, snarling at her. Yeah yeah, I'm the big bad asshole calling out her brhamin shit! Why don't you tell them the real reason you didn't open your mouth?!"
She paused, taking a breath before she spoke. "Victor knows about this as well. And that likely means that House knows as well."
"House? That House? Oh damn." Chet scowled, a worried look coming over him.
"But why would he be interested in her? Magic or no, Between the NCR and Legion at his borders, I'd think he'd have bigger things to worry about." Pete pointed out.
"You mean the possibility of getting access to a green world wouldn't be inciting?" She asked.
That got everybody silent. Looks of worry spread like fire throughout the group, even the ones who knew about her beforehand couldn't help but share similar sentiments.
"Yeah… that would something worth pursuing."
"So what the hell are standing here for? Let's just boot her out and be done with it!" Kenny demanded, taking a step forward.
"That isn't happening Kenny." Said Sunny, stepping forward slightly as well
"Who gave you the right to decide that?" The wounded man shot back.
"And who gave it to you? Look, I think she should stay. We did the same thing for Ringo when he needed help, and that Courier."
"This isn't isn't some group of thugs we're talking about here, it's House. You know, the man with a fucking army of robots? We don;t stand a chance against that. Best thing to do is to get rid of her, so we don't get involved with her troubles." He stated, garnering thoughtful looks.
Mitchell however, brought up a point of his own. "Has anyone considered the fact that it might be too late for that?"I hate to bring it up, but like it or not, we're too involved with her for just walking away to be an option right now."
"What? What are talking about?" Kenny demanded.
"What I mean is, we all know House has a ruthless streak. Who's to say he won't just hold us at gunpoint until Louise turns herself in to him?" Mitchell asked, his calm tone being more eerie than anything.
The idea sent uneasy looks throughout the group. Sensing a chance, Louise spoke up."He is right. Where I come from, taking Nobles hostage is a good way to get the family members to do what you want. Even If I leave, who's to say he won't try something like that with Goodsprings?" She weighed in with her own personal knowledge.
Kenny huffed in disbelief. "Even if he does, how can be be sure you would even care enough to come back?"
"Because I do!" She yelled "I'm not some heartless cretin who's just going to sit by while people get threatened by me. I would come back." She stated, staring down the man, before speaking again. "And if you wish to look at it pragmatically, Goodpsrings is my best option. There's nowhere else for me to go that could suit my needs better." She huffed.
"What about Primm? I hear the problems over there have been sorted out. Even the NCR is gonna be watching over that town." Kelly inquired.
"That's my point. I don't want to get the NCR's attention either. They sound like a nation of meddlers, and a green world would be just as enticing to them as to House. I still need to work on my magic and how could I do that with them watching that town? I think they would eventually get suspicious of the explosions. My world doesn't have the guns and lasers yours does. If they get to it, I'm worried about will happen. Same thing with House and his robots." Louise explained, a surprising number of understanding looks passing through everyone.
It was Pete who nodded in agreement fully. "That is a good point. They see what she's capable of she could very well find herself 'volunteered' to join them. Something like this could warrant such actions, and we know they aren't above dirty deeds." Pete said, making Louise grimace. Only an idiot would let themselves be conscripted when there were other options available. She felt a sense of shame for some reason, but shrugged it off. She wasn't fighting on their damn front!
"Still, we wouldn't have to worry about any of that if we just kick her out." Kenny continued pushing his position.
"And that's still not happening Kenny. She's right. This place is her best hope, so she has incentive to fight for it, which she just proved she will. I'm throwing her out bases an what could happen." Luke shot back at his mentor.
"Louise… what exactly did Jodie sense about you?" She asked suddenly getting everyone elses attention.
Louise looked at her with surprise at the question. "What?"
"What did she say? She looked downright horrified when I saw her last."
"I… I don't know. I really don't. Maybe my magic startled her, and she wasn't expecting to find another. All mages have at least some mental powers. It's how we communicate with our familiars after all. The best theory I have that it might be mutating, because my magic has been acting off for a while now." She listed off, before being interrupted by Kelly.
"Wait, familiars, mental connections what?!" She heard Kelly ask before Trudy waved her off.
"Later. What did she say about you?" She asked, her eyes boring into Louise.
Louise felt her mouth a little at this. She still remembered what she said. All of it. She knew very well of her reputation for accurately predicting thing and, if she were serious about about gaining their trust, then telling them that would very well spell be the right move to make.
And yet, Louise found herself hesitating a great deal over telling them. If she did, just how badly would that affect her chances of staying, potentially even leading to her expulsion from the town? And she thought back to that dream she had... she wasn't in the town. She was out in the wastes, the wild. If that woman could see into the future... she couldn't deny the doubts she had from it. Her desire to tell the truth in full was strong, and yet, the fear was stronger if it went sour. She felt herself freeze for just a second before telling, at least a half truth, almost as if something else made her speak.
"She said, that I would be 'thrown into the wild' alright? After you said that whatever she predicated came true..." She trailed off, not meeting the older womans gaze. though she did hear a faint 'oh' from her, but she felt another question coming from her before a certain man interrupted again.
"Well, maybe we should…" Kenny suggested.
At that, Otis spoke up, moving to stand closer to Louise. "Kenny, stop. If you wanna throw her out, you'll be doing alone, cause I ain't gonna help with that. Yeah, she lied, but what she supposed to do with you harassing her? She told us now, and in case you all forgot, she fended off Night Stalkers! She probably prevented anything worse than happening than what did, and I'm not gonna be the one who tosses her out. I'm giving her a chance." He finished
She saw her chance. She needed to make her intentions clear right this moment. "That's all I'm asking for: A chance. I truly do not know what will come, and I understand that my, origins may cause trouble. What I want you to know is that I will stand with you. Think me doing for it selfless or selfish reasons, but understand that I will stand beside you. That is all I can promise, but it's one I will fulfill."
The silence afterwords Louise judge whether it was good or bad, but at least she made an impact regardless. "I say we vote." Mitchell said, breaking the silence. There was look shared between the group before they all nodded. "All in favor of letting her stay?" At once, she saw Sunny, Luke, Mitchell, and Otis raised their hands. Pete, after a moment of looking at her, raised his as well, and after a few more tense moments thought, Trudy did as well. That just left, Kenny, Kelly, Chet in the minority, well before Kelly raised her hand, leaving just the two alone. Louise let out a breath that she didn't know she was holding as she saw the results.
"Looks like that's that. She's staying." Mitchell stated, a grin obvious on his features.
Her eyes locked onto Kenny for his reaction, surprisingly finding one not of anger, but of a tired resignation, defeat."…fine. But if anything happens because of her, I'll climb up everyone's house every morning, and shout 'I told you so' like a fucking rooster."With that, Kenny began hobbling away best he could, presumably off to fume somewhere.
Louise could scarcely believe it. An entire month of agonizing over this, her reveal had for the most part been resolved! She felt a daze come over her slightly, and anger begin to well in her chest. This entire time, it could have been resolved so much easier if that man hadn't been such a pompous ass, she could have ended this far sooner!It was through a combination of relief, lingering fear, and irritation over the events and thought of the past minute that made the pinkette to utter her first swear word. "...Fuck off Kenny…" She instantly put a hand to her mouth in mortification, hoping that it was just her that heard it. The laughter from Sunny, a few giggles from Otis, and the hobbling man looking back at her told her it wasn't soft enough.
...
Ugh. This chapter was an absolute pain to write! And to top it all off, I'm delaying the finale for about one more chapter. I feel I need to expand on Louise's magic and the effect it could have and generally have the people really come to terms with it the next chapter. That, and I wanted to get something out.