A/N: So I guess at this point, any pretense of schedule has pretty much gone out the window, so I'm just gonna roll with it right now and just try to do better where I can. Also, you may or may not have noticed that the title has in fact remained due to lack of demand for a change, which is fine with me. As long as you all are alright with it, it's alright with me. Anyway, review time!
clown2107: That's an interesting premise for a story, and definitely something I would check out.
amerdism: Thanks! Also, sorry I couldn't answer your question, but I'm writing these as I go, and so far, I've not been able to keep a consistent release schedule.
Imouto's mad house: You definitely hit the nail on the head. I've never really cared about socializing or relationships in general when it came to my own life, I just like reading them. And yeah, I'm probably not going to include explicit detail if I ever do write any lemons; the reader's imagination can be a helpful tool for a writer struggling with their weak points. But either way, anything like that is still a long way from having a place in this story, so there's a chance this answer could get a few tweaks by then.
X
A feeling of intense nervousness came over James as he swiftly moved toward his goal, muddying the almost giddy sensation he'd been riding for the last few hours. He looked at his hands; sweat coated his palms, and the hairs on the back were stood straight up. Shoving them in his pockets, he slowed his pace, attempting to forcibly relax himself. It seemed to work, as fewer people were throwing their gazes in his direction. Not as few as he'd like, but that was just par for the course for metahumans.
At least the night was pleasant; the sky was devoid of cloud cover, and traffic was especially sparse. He took a few calming breaths to steady his heartbeat, though it failed to actually accomplish anything as he could still hear it pounding away in his ears.
The route he traveled was one he had long since memorized, and making sure he wasn't being followed was less him being legitimately paranoid and more along the lines of just going through the motions. As long as there were no obvious signs of a tail, that was good enough for him.
All appeared to be well, and before he even got to the end of the alley, he was already fumbling the key out of his pocket, nearly dropping it twice on the way. He took a minute or so to compose himself, and opened the entrance.
The familiar dark hallway stretched out before him, its gothic architecture, many branching paths, and nondescript doors now burned into his memory. Not many people were in the building this late, and the few that were paid him no mind. He had no problem answering in kind; these grunts were of no consequence to his goals.
Taking his time, Cryo made the, in his opinion, unnecessarily long journey to the specific door he had in mind. Sitting at the top of a flight of stairs spanning at least three floors and marked simply with the initials "MK", it was well regarded as the most imposing area in the entire complex. There was no doorknob, and it allowed him entrance as soon as he approached, leaving him no time to stall as he would have preferred.
The room beyond stood in stark contrast to everything outside it. It was, for all intents and purposes, an apartment, looking like the sort of thing you'd get just outside of the business district.
"Hello James." Sitting on a dark red sofa in the living room was an olive-skinned woman in her thirties. She was wearing a bathrobe and painting her toenails gold to match her fingers while the tv across from her silently played an episode from a cartoon that ended a few years after he was born. Her hair hung loose behind her, the same shade of gold as her nail polish along with her eyes, which were bisected by a vertical pupil. She swept her hand over the space. "Have a seat."
He complied hesitantly, selecting one of the living chairs next to the couch, and saying nothing as he waited for her to speak. Although, she didn't seem entirely eager to start, as she merely put a hand to her chin, staring at him for a prolonged period in which he tried to both avoid eye contact and not look like he was avoiding eye contact.
"Have you been deliberately trying to stay away from me?" There was no sign of hostility in her tone, but her eyes told a different story. In that moment, they much more closely resembled the predator that was usually brought to mind on meeting their golden gaze, ready to pounce at a moment's notice.
"What, um," he attempted to swallow the lump in his throat. "what would make you think that?"
"You've been skirting my presence for quite some time, now." She placed the cap back on the small cosmetic bottle and leaned forward, while Cryo shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "They say you come in, you report your progress, and then immediately leave; you wouldn't even talk to me until I scheduled this appointment personally. Now, why might that be?"
"I, er, didn't want to waste anyone's time. It didn't seem worth bothering you over something as trivial as a sitrep."
"Oh, believe me, there's nothing trivial to what we're doing, no matter how small. Every action we take bears relevance for this operation, and you," she pointed at him, circling the finger through the air. "are a keystone figure, my boy. So, tell me, how did your little 'date' go?"
"Well, we, um," he gulped again. "we talked over dinner, shared some things about ourselves and our respective pasts, and ended the evening on a considerably positive note."
"That's all? You two said your goodbyes, and went your separate ways? She didn't even give you a kiss goodnight?"
"No, ma'am." He answered quickly.
"Well, I suppose she gets her lack of manners from her father." She raised a glowing gold hand in the direction of a small wooden cupboard near where the tv sat, encasing it in the same magic, and Cryo watched in silence as it opened, letting a neon green crystalline bottle and a matching glass make their way to her waiting fingers of their own accord, and she poured herself a fair amount of the expensive looking beverage. "You're so… nervous, tonight, James. Uncharacteristically so. Is there a problem?"
"No, not, um, not any that I can think of."
"Are you sure? Because in my experience, when someone is nervous, the driving factor is fear in some form or another. Fear of consequences, of retribution. Or, as is often the case with mortals, fear may be a force much more… instinctual." The end of her sentence was accentuated by a brief flash of aureate light from her eyes. "Do you fear me, James?"
He cleared his throat, responding in an even tone. "I think, anyone with a proper sense of self-preservation would fear you, Miss Kane."
"You may be right." She said, sitting back. "I suppose I can give you the benefit of the doubt for now. After all, you've given me no reason to suspect you of any sort of dissidence, have you?" She swirled her drink a few times before downing what was left. "But do be sure to keep it that way; I'd hate to have to dispose of one of my most valuable assets, understand?"
Cryo nodded, not entirely trusting himself to speak just then.
"Good, then that will be all. I have another visitor stopping by soon."
"Yes ma'am." He said, silently thankful he'd been able to keep his voice steady. He was more than ready to get out of there, wasting no time in travelling swiftly back down the stairs and through the labyrinthine hallways to the entrance once again. Absently, he wondered who that next "visitor" might have been, as he'd seen no one heading in the direction he'd just come from, but discarded the thought, as the building was decently large, and converging paths were common enough.
Finally outside once again, he took several deep breaths, letting his heart settle back to a more normal rhythm before walking back to the school.
A few miles away, Raven dropped out of her meditative state, vision returning to her own eyes and settling on the expectant faces of her friends.
"So do we know what he's plannin' or what?" Gizmo asked.
Raven shook her head. "There was… frustratingly little information revealed." She recounted everything she'd seen. "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, though. There wasn't any real reason for them to lay out the details of whatever they're planning with just the two of them there."
"There's always next time, right?" Mammoth suggested.
"Unfortunately, no. The longer I leave the spell active, the more likely it is to be discovered, especially if he's spending time around that woman."
"Could you feel how powerful she was?" Jinx asked.
"Not as well as if I'd been there myself, but I could tell it wouldn't take her very long, even if she's not actively looking for it. For the sake of staying under her radar, it would be better to dispel it… unless you believe it's better to take that risk?" Raven looked to Jinx.
"No, I agree. If we're found out, it would make things way more complicated than I'm willing to deal with right now." Raven nodded and quickly released her magic. "Anyway, I consider this mission a semi-success; we might not have gotten all that we wanted, but we did learn that Cryo is not the mastermind here, and we know something about the person he works for. Giz, I want you to start researching this 'Kane' lady asap."
"Hey Rae." Jinx said from her place on the bed. "How's that plan to get me past your dad goin'? Any progress?"
Raven looked up from the cellphone they'd finally gotten around to getting her. "Hm? Oh, well, it's really more of a process I would perform than a strategic plan, and the aftereffects won't exactly be pleasant. I was actually hoping to think of something else, but I've been continuously coming up short."
"Okay, see, I wanna ask 'how bad can it be?' but at this point, that sounds more like a challenge than a question."
"I'm inclined to agree with that sentiment, but it will largely depend on how you feel about letting me in your head."
"How far in are we talkin'?"
"Enough to familiarize myself with the integral parts of your being."
"Uh, isn't that kinda dangerous? I mean, the last time we did something like this…"
"This will turn out differently." Raven assured her. "This isn't possession; our souls won't be interacting. And anyway, I was severely weakened then. This will be more of an… alternate entrance for me to find what I'm looking for."
"Which is?"
"I'm going to try to locate the spark of your magic."
"Is that…? I mean, would I even have one? My magic comes from my meta-gene."
"That would be rather unprecedented. As far as I'm aware, any non-demon with innate magical abilities has a spark, though your genes may have been the thing to ignite it."
"Okay, so, say you do find this thing; what happens next?"
"Ideally, I'm hoping to temporarily suppress it, and cover its presence with my own magic."
"Now when you say suppress…"
"It will effectively cut you off from your power. It will still be there; you just won't be able to access it. More importantly, though, it will be undetectable from the outside."
"Even from a demon god?" Jinx raised an eyebrow.
"I'm certain of it. Even if my father were to inspect you deeper than surface level ability, all he would find is influence of my own magic."
"And the fact that we have a contract won't affect this?"
"I see no reason it would; our binding only covers what we offer the other as part of the deal. And anyway, individual demonic contracts are a private business, and my father respects this."
"Alright, so where do these 'unpleasant side effects' come in?"
"You'll have a pronounced feeling of emptiness inside you, a constant nagging sensation telling you something is missing. It won't be debilitating, but I can't imagine feeling that level of having lost a part of yourself will be fun. Of course, this is all only if you agree to do this. If you're not okay with it, I'll think of something else."
"I'm sure I can handle it. What do we need to do?"
"First, I need to ensure we're not disturbed." Raven turned to the door and extended a hand, letting her power flow over its surface. When she was done, there wasn't any visible change to it, but Jinx could feel the magic now coating it.
"Distractor spell?" Jinx asked, scooting to the edge of the bed.
Raven nodded. "It should be sufficient to deter most beings here. Next, I need you to relax, and drop your mental guard; I can't force my way in, and I don't want to try. Are you ready?"
"Yeah, what's next?"
"Nothing on your part; just keep yourself mostly placid, and don't fight me off. This will be much the same as when I watched Cryo earlier."
Jinx nodded, closing her eyes and settling herself in anticipation. It didn't take long to feel something prodding at her psyche, and she quickly allowed the intrusion. When she opened her eyes again, Raven was floating motionless in front of her, and her eyes were solid black. Jinx could feel her friend's presence and, not having much else to do, she decided to lie back down and scroll through social media while she waited for Raven to reemerge.
Even knowing Jinx as well as she did, Raven still wasn't quite sure what to expect from a physical representation of her mind. A predominance of the color pink felt like a given, but other than that, she was going in blind.
After getting her bearings, the first thing that came to mind was that this world seemed oddly tranquil, serene, even. She was currently in a clearing, surrounded by trees that looked like they had cotton candy for leaves, under a sky that was thankfully a more muted shade. The ground, as far as she could see, was of a normal coloration, if a bit brighter than it should have been, ironically looking much more out of place than everything else here.
She attempted to get an aerial view to try and find a discernable path, but that idea was shot down as her feet refused to leave the ground. Likewise, none of her other magical abilities were functioning, though she still had her claws, and she knew her strength hadn't diminished. She couldn't remember the last time she'd actually had to rely on her physical senses for navigation, and was having a difficult time deciding which way to go. With nothing telling her she should do otherwise, she picked a random direction and started walking.
It felt like more than an hour had passed before she saw anything other than more forest. Moving through a markedly thick cluster of trees, a campsite came into view. It was well furnished and looked comfortably livable, but still very much kept the spirit of living outdoors, albeit with an oversaturated colour palette. A ring of violet stones roughly thirty feet in diameter surrounded a sizable tent, the softly glowing remains of a campfire, complete with a spit roast, along with a number of other amenities. The whole thing sat near the bank of an extremely slow-moving river, which was a shade of pink so brilliantly deep, Raven was at a loss for a proper comparison.
Taking her eyes off of the nauseating body of definitely-not-water, she decided to investigate the campsite, but only made it a few steps before her attention was dragged back to the river by a familiar voice calling to her.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Poking her head just above the surface, Jinx met Raven's questioning gaze. "There's a metric fuckload of wards and traps around my camp. Gimme a sec; I'll come let you through."
Raven followed her advice, watching as her friend, or some part of her, at least, swam to the river's edge and climbed out, but quickly turned away as soon as Jinx stood up.
"I apologize, I didn't realize you were, um..." Raven's face felt unusually warm; she and the real Jinx gave each other plenty of privacy when needed, so she wasn't quite sure how she should react to seeing her so nonchalantly exposing herself.
"Huh?" Jinx looked puzzled for a moment, before looking down and laughing. "Right, my bad. Most of the time, I don't gotta worry about that sort of thing, with just me and the other aspects. Visitors are pretty rare here, as I'm sure you can guess... Oh, you can look now."
When Raven turned around again, Jinx was wearing a camouflage version of her usual outfit. Her hair was noticeably shorter than in the real world and ended just below her ears, and she had more visible muscle tone. She quickly jogged up from the river bank and started leading Raven through the apparent magical defenses, waving a hand here and there along the way. The walk was quiet, and Raven was thankful for that, as it gave her time to try and get her mind off of what she had just seen and get back to the task at hand. She waited until they'd actually entered the tent, which was bigger inside than it logically should have been, to break the silence.
"You said you were an aspect?"
"Yep!" Jinx smiled. "I represent her more primal tendencies; stuff like her attunement to nature and her willingness to throwdown with pretty much anyone."
"She has quite a lot of self-control, then, if that's the case. I assume you already know why I'm here?"
"Yeah, but I don't know how you plan to do that with no magic."
"Well, it certainly wasn't part of the plan at the start. I'll simply have to cross that bridge when I get to it."
"Speaking of bridges," Jinx said. "you're gonna need one to get where you're goin'."
"You know where the spark is?"
"I can't give you a map, or even an exact location, if that's what you're hoping for. All I can tell you is that she's on the other side of the river, and I think it goes without saying that trying to swim wouldn't end well for you."
"'She'? The spark is sentient?"
"Maybe." Jinx shrugged. "She's as aware as any of the rest of us in here, though she's definitely different, too. You'll see what I mean when you meet her."
"I suppose asking for a guide is out of the question?"
"Sorry, I don't really get along with the others; they don't appreciate my lifestyle."
"Fair enough. Could you give me an approximate direction, or at least tell me what I'm supposed to be looking for? A lot of this is already not making sense; I hadn't expected to find an entire landscape in here."
"Hmm." Jinx tapped her chin in thought. "Well, North and South and all that don't really exist here. Honestly, the best I can give you is just to follow the river to find a way across, then you're looking for this big ass castle, and that's where she lives."
"It's a step up from wandering blind, at least." Raven said. "I should get moving; I'd like to get back to the outside world as quickly as possible."
"Well good luck with that." Jinx smiled as she watched Raven leave. "Oh, and watch out for jaguars!"
Once again, Raven ended up walking for far longer than was convenient before she saw any indication that she was making progress.
"Then again," she thought. "I have no idea if my sense of time is even accurate in this place."
What she saw ahead was equal parts relieving and suspicious: a stone bridge began assembling itself across the river, while a sign-post sprouted from the ground on the other side, just before a fork in a now-existent path. Not waiting for the autonomous construction to fully finish, Raven deftly cleared the remaining gaps in the masonry to hopefully get a concrete sense of direction.
The sign had two arrows, pointing either direction. One of them read: Path of Memories, which led through another forest, though this one was comprised of overgrown dandelions. The other way was marked: Path of Emotions, going through a grove of enormous sunflowers.
It seemed she had a dilemma; she wasn't here to invade the private areas of Jinx's mind, but a choice had to be made. She debated with herself for a few moments, trying to decide which was more intrusive, eventually deciding that the emotional route would be the lesser of two evils.
Her first step into the thick of the flowers had an interesting effect. A wave of blue emanated from the spot where her boot made contact with the ground, washing over the environment and staining everything in a rich aqua hue that enveloped Raven in a sense of calm. She took a few more steps in, and the same thing happened again, but with red, now. This was a much harsher shift in tone, especially compared to the serenity inspired by the previous palette. She could feel herself getting more agitated by the second, her natural destructive tendencies rising to the surface unbidden, but she reigned them in for Jinx's sake; it wouldn't do to go on a rampage in here.
So it went on for several more rotations, switching back and forth between red and blue, rage and peace. It was giving her a headache, and she was beginning to wonder whether she should have chosen the other path. Her musings were cut short when she noticed something disturbing the flora up ahead. She approached the moving section of stems, wary of the Jinx-copy's warning. Whatever it was, it was getting closer, and Raven readied herself for an attack. However, what actually appeared, while certainly sharing characteristics, was not, in fact, an apex predator.
This version of Jinx, though clearly still a lookalike, had a decidedly different approach to her style than the previous one she'd met. She was fully dressed, much to Raven's relief, but she also had an additional article of clothing of particular interest: a cloak that looked very much like her own. The rest of her appearance was identical to the real Jinx, with the exception of her hair and eyes, which matched the current red around them.
"Hey! What the hell are you doing? Are you the one that's been fuckin' up the flow around here?!" Her outburst surprised Raven; she'd never seen her friend looking this genuinely infuriated, and she involuntarily took a step backwards before getting control of herself.
"If you're referring to these... emotional waves being produced, then yes, that was me, but it was not my intention when coming here." Raven stood up straight as she defended herself, but it didn't have quite the effect she was going for without her demonic abilities. She was painfully aware that she was somewhat lacking in the height department, but it wasn't a problem when she could easily float at eye level or higher and command living darkness to do her bidding.
Right now, though, Jinx was very obviously not intimidated. She stared at Raven for a few more seconds before her expression did a one-eighty, and she was suddenly grinning. At the same time, her color scheme shifted to her normal pink, with their surroundings quick to follow.
"Well, as long as it was an accident, I guess it's okay. So, where are you headed? No, wait, I already know the answer to that. How ya doin' today?"
"I'm fine, I suppose. May I ask why you're wearing that?"
"Huh? Oh, you mean the cloak." She spread the piece of apparel like wings. "We all got one, like, a month after we met you. The only one who doesn't wear it is Nature Girl back there. You know, this thing is suuuper comfortable, what's it made of?"
"Mine was a gift from Arachne for my thirteenth birthday; she spun it from her own silk."
"Magic spider silk? So does that mean it's bulletproof?"
"Among other things." Raven affirmed. "Could you tell me if I'm going the right way?"
"To the castle? Uh, let me think..." She took on a contemplative look, and all the pink turned to white. "Oh, right, right, right; she moves her place around, like, all the time, so it's largely a matter of chance if you wanna meet her."
"So you're saying there's no telling how long I might have to spend in here?"
"Not necessarily. We can usually feel it when she moves, and she hasn't done it once since you got here, not to mention, she called all her pets back to her as well."
"Her pets? The jaguars I was told about?"
"Yeah, those. Normally they'd be all over the place, but I haven't seen one all day."
"I assume she also knows why I'm here, just as the rest of you do?"
"I don't see why she wouldn't. She's more powerful than any aspect, and I don't think Jinx is the only thing she has in her, either."
"What do you mean by that? Is she a product of some outside influence?"
"I don't know, I don't think she was always the way she is, but I can't... really... …"
"Are you alright?" Raven asked when Jinx remained silent after trailing off.
"Huh? Oh, sorry." She laughed and shook her head, the world once again turning pink. "Things get kinda... weird, if I try to remember too far back."
"Is that so? I should speak with Jinx about that when I leave."
"Probably. Anyway, I'm sure she's already expecting you, so just keep going and you should get there soon enough."
"I suppose that will have to do." Raven sighed. "Thank you. You've been helpful, and have given me some unexpected information."
"Bye." Jinx waved.
The next, (and hopefully final), stretch of her journey, as expected, was uneventful, but it didn't feel as lengthy or tedious as before, now that she knew it was only a matter of time before she reached her goal. The exit of the "forest" opened up into an empty field, and she was treated to a similar sight looking back, as everything she'd just gone through had disappeared. Turning ahead once more, a new landmark had made itself visible.
A skyscraper-esque column of stone now jutted from the ground a few hundred feet in front of her. From where she stood, she saw no sign of any conventional way of getting to the top, and the cliff face looked fairly sheer, even from a distance.
She examined the tower, trying to roughly gauge its height. It looked to be around a thousand feet or so as far as she could tell, and she looked at her hands. This climb surely wouldn't be good for her claws, especially if she had to dig her own handholds, but at least any superficial damage would be gone as soon as she left this place.
This had turned out to be a far more demanding task than she'd assumed it would be, but it would be worth it for the end result. Speaking to her parents was going to be unavoidably uncomfortable after being gone for months, but hopefully she could smooth over their worries and get a more permanent pass to this plane of reality. Or, failing that, Raven was confident she could, at the very least, buy herself some time to get to that point, and maybe even get them to be okay with her spending the majority of her time on Earth with Jinx.
And if not... Well, Raven would worry about that when the time came.
A/N: kotomi101: Sorry, both for making you wait until the bottom to get your review answered, to avoid spoiling the chapter, and also because I know this probably was not as much progression in their relationship as you were hoping for, but I promise we'll be getting there soon.