Between Love and Blood Chapter 9
Similar to before I began wandering around again. Unlike the other time where I was listening in on their conversation I really did take a closer look at everything. During this time where I'm carefully looking around for anything at all referring to the future journey to Thorn Valley. Jenner would be very pleased if I brought some good news back for him and far more importantly for him to take it easier on me since I came outside the safety of the rosebush. Even if it is small it would have to do for the time being. After only a few seconds I located an object being remotely close if not what I was searching for.
Lying adjacent on a wooden table mixed up with a ton of other materials was a map. On a wider scale inspection of the geographical layout my eyes widened at the realization of where it led. Thorn Valley was the main subject on the chart which the direction would take us. Judging by how carefully the details were put on the parchment all the coordinates were so completely exact. It soon came to mind if this map was severely damaged in any sort of way it can put a huge dampener and delay in the plans of Nicodemous. I didn't see any other copies lying around so this had to be the only set up.
From the corner of my eyes I looked to check if either Justin or Mr. Ages were paying attention to my actions. Fortunately neither is sparing a second glance in this very direction, too absorbed in their own dealings. If this were going to be done correctly it would have to be made as convincing as ever possible. A plan quickly came to mind on what to do next.
As if I was attempting to get a closer examination of what was written and marked I held it close to a nearby flame to get better lighting. In reality I was hoping for it to catch fire. I didn't wish them to get an inch suspicious of these actions so I needed to play it out.
Mr. Ages must've seen what I was doing for I heard his irritated chatter turned into an extremely nervous outburst.
"No," he shouted, "keep that away from the…!"
But it was already far too late to keep it from occurring at this point. It moved far too fast for it to be halted. Before either Justin or Mr. ages could act the parchment, the entire map, was drawn on caught fire destroying all the information on it.
Releasing a startled yelp I immediately let go of the map throwing it as far away as possible as I jumped back. Luckily it landed on a part of the floor that had nothing flammable on it so not to catch fire.
"No," yelled Mr. Ages, hands pulling at the fur on his head as he ran over to the map. Honestly it's beyond saving. He began to try and beat the flames away with his hands in panic even as more and more of the map was being eaten with each second. While Mr. Ages was the smartest amongst us in the Colony he completely forgot the obvious way to handle this whole situation.
Unlike that uncouth approach of Mr. Ages our Captain of the Guard had no such problems figuring it out. Thinking quickly he grabbed the nearest container of water within reach instantly dumping it on the charred parchment. The fire was put out with the only remaining evidence being the smoke rising from the burnt areas, but not soon enough. The damage had truly been done. Almost the entire map had been destroyed with the only piece remaining is a single corner near the top. Unfortunately none of the data there would be of any use to anyone else now without the rest of it.
Shaking his head, Justin sighed "Was this the only copy?"
Nodding with his head buried in his hands, Mr. Ages said "Yes, with it being so close to that time the thought never came about making a backup for later use."
"How long will it be until another one can actually be drawn up for us," inquired Justin. "The plan mustn't be delayed. Too much is at stake here."
"Well a delay is what certainly is going to occur after this," retorted Mr. Ages, snapping his head toward Justin. "Do you have any idea how long it took me to make tis map? All the work I put into it…wasted! It'll take me ages to create another one!"
"Is there no other way around it," said Justin, rubbing his eyes in exhaustion.
Grim, Mr. Ages said "No, there is not."
Justin appeared to be thinking quite hard considering all options potentially taken here. Finally he could see just like Mr. Ages there is no other alternative. The choice is stolen from him.
Shaking his head while rubbing the back of the neck, Justin said "Then I guess we have no choice. I know you still have the drug to work on, but please work on the construction of a new map as soon as possible."
"I can't guarantee anything, but I'll be doing my best," assured Mr. Ages.
Mr. Age's acceptance was transformed to annoyance as he turned his attention on to my nervously trembling form.
"You have some explaining to do, Joanna," he said, scowling.
Shifting from foot to foot, I stammered "I-I'm so s-sorry. I didn't mean to-."
"What were you doing with that map," demanded Mr. Ages, furious. "I warned you not to touch anything here!"
Defensively, I said "I thought you were only talking about your experiments. I didn't realize you meant everything else along with them!"
"Well then what were you doing looking at it in the first place," asked Justin, calmer. "That map wasn't out in the open."
"I saw part of it hanging out and I got curious. So I took it out to look closer at it. I didn't mean for the parchment to catch on fire in order to read it better. There wasn't enough light where I was already standing, it was purely accidental here," I explained, apologetic. "I didn't mean to cause any further trouble bringing more work onto you."
"That's all right, Joanna," said Justin. "We know you didn't do any of this on purpose. It's a thing that can be easily fixed up only after a little time."
Exhaling a breath of relief, nodding in consent, I said "Good I'm glad to hear that."
Although inside I was torn in between both happy in these turn of events and upset the time the damage would be fixed couldn't be far longer than only a handful of days. Well it would have to satisfy Jenner one way or another for the results this day is to be better than nothing at present.
Suddenly I felt restless in this home of Mr. Ages wanting to return immediately to the rosebush.
Going over to Justin, placing a soft hand on his arm, I asked "Justin, may we please be on our way. There are things that I need to take care of back home."
Patting my hand, Justin said "Of course I did not realize the amount of time that has passed while we've been here."
"Ha! The sooner the better," exclaimed Mr. Ages, going over to a nearby table beginning to go through his papers. "I don't want anymore of my things destroyed. Such madness will be less likely if you two were gone from my sight!"
I flinched from the onslaught of Mr. Ages words, but smiled in amused humor while Justin laughed outright. He was well used to this kind of behavior from Mr. Ages already.
Justin chuckled "Don't worry, Ages. We'll be taking our leave now. I'll be stopping by again soon to check on progress."
"Next time make sure you do so alone," shouted Mr. Ages, not even bothering to show us his face.
Justin burst out laughing at that one while steering us out the way we came in from.
Authors Note:
Hope you guys like this one! ;D
Another thing here is that I'm in desperate need your shared opinion over a new story idea that I came up with recently while watching two of my favorite franchises.
I'm considering doing a Venom story for the 2001-2003 Justice League Series. Do you guys think I should make it a crossover or just put it in the Justice League Universe? Another thing is about an idea of the symbiote completely taking over the host or if the relationship is a lot like Eddie and Venom's in the 2018 movie? Another thing is I'm having trouble with figuring out a title and a name for my character. If anyone has suggestions I'm more than willing to hear them.
As per usual with stuff like this the person/readers that offer the winning suggestions gets a question answered for the story in mind. In this case it's the Justice League 2001-2003 and Venom 2018 story.
I really want to get this idea up and running soon, but I'm kind of all over the place.
