The Fifth Life: Rising Gale
Yay! I got it out in time!
Welcome back, welcome back! This is the penultimate chapter of the Fifth Life arc, following more closely on Peter and Ned, and how Peter came to be Priscilla…if you haven't already figured out how that happened.
And please check out my book! Link is on my profile.
Disclaimer: I don't own PJO or AC
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Inspired by historical events and an over-active imagination, this work of fiction was designed, developed, and produced by a single-cultural team of one religious faith and belief, sexual orientation, and gender identity
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Following the Spring-Heeled Jack incident, the twins had grown wary of Peter. They were far less keen to belittle him and bemoan his presence as they had in the past, but were now more inclined to find some way to hastily excuse themselves from Peter.
You track down a demonic entity, fight him, and tear his mask off to reveal the face of the little brother you emotionally, mentally, and sometimes even physically, abused your whole life, and not be rattled to the core.
To put it shortly, the twins had become scared of Peter.
They weren't at all sure what Jack had been.
A real demon from hell with the face of Peter? A man who used chemicals in his smoke bombs to make them hallucinate? A really intense fever dream? Had it really been Peter himself, whatever his mental illness was manifesting as a whole new personality?
Jacob and Evie didn't know, and Mr. Dickens' words still tormented them. "One might surmise that the spirits that haunt us are our deepest fears, manifested as apparitions."
Spring-Heeled Jack had kicked their asses and could've easily killed them if he wanted. Assuming any of that had been real, of course.
Bottom line was that the twins avoided Peter, and Peter…well, maybe he was maturing.
At the very least, he no longer seemed like the lost little boy that was always seeking everyone's approval, especially that of his siblings'. Peter hadn't made anymore coats for Jacob or Evie, nor had he made Evie any more capes. Peter also didn't want to glue himself to either of their hips, instead finding himself to be much happier in the presence of those who showed him some positive reinforcement, such as Henry, Clara, and of course, Ned Wynert.
In fact, Peter's time these last two weeks following the seeming end of Spring-Heeled Jack was spent almost exclusively with Ned.
While Jacob went after Starrick's underlings and Evie pursued the Piece of Eden, Peter was tackling pretty much everything else with Ned's help. Everything else, like all the gang strongholds, the child labor factories, and the Templar hunts. Peter had also been going after Starrick's smuggling operations, stealing the carts in the streets, robbing the trains around the city, and blowing up the boats along the Thames.
If the British Rite was to be compared to the fabled hydra, then where Jacob was cutting off the heads, where Evie was looking for the hidden treasure, then Peter was hacking away at every other part of the hydra's body while also fending off the little hydras.
Peter practically had London freed from the Templars by his and Ned's efforts, backed by the Rooks. Jacob and Evie had only pitched in for the gang wars to take the burrows.
And the Rooks knew it, too.
While most of them were just bodies with guns and knives, just happy to be there on the winning side, a good number of them had this thing called "intelligence," and they could add two and two together to see that Jacob and Evie, when it came to Peter, were a couple of unwashed assholes.
Of course, there was more going on in London than just the Templars, and Peter and Ned were on top of that as well. Perhaps their strongest moments of bonding came from those little adventures.
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Peter was clad in his leather poncho and tricorn hat, the light drizzle unaffecting him thanks to the waterproof nature of his poncho. Ned was with him, but gone was his three-piece suit.
Ned was wearing something much more functional for field work. A leather coat split in two at the waist, trousers and tough boots, and gloves. Ned still had his bowler hat and glasses, though. Under his left shoulder was a revolver, and sheathed at the small of his back, hidden by his coat, was a dagger.
Peter was practically glowing being with Ned, and Ned had a happy smile on his face.
They managed to find a rather distressed Charles Darwin outside of Charing Cross station, muttering the scientific names of various plants.
"Hey, it's the monkey guy," Peter said.
Ned snorted. "The monkey guy?"
"You've never heard of Charles Darwin?"
"Can't say I have."
"Oh. Well, basically, his scientific explanation for humans is that we are descended from apes."
Ned stared down at Peter, waiting for the punchline of the joke. After a few seconds, he realized there wasn't one. "You're serious."
"Yep. He came up with this thing called natural selection that basically says that nature picks and chooses what lives and what dies, and nature chose to slowly and steadily turn monkeys into humans over the course of millions of years. Along with there being this unknown common ancestor to all life on earth that nature slowly molded into billions of different species."
Ned was able to keep himself together for all of three seconds before he burst into laughter. "Does he realize how utterly ridiculous that all sounds?"
"Obviously not because he keeps insisting on natural selection to this day."
Of course, Peter and Ned had it in their own minds as to how Darwin was utterly wrong. Peter knew that all life on earth originated with the Precursors. They created humans to be a slave labor force, and populated the planet with animals, fish, birds, and plants. Ned was part of a different world that a massively different explanation for the universe.
Well, slightly.
Darwin's idea of nature being an intelligent agent that had ultimate power over life and death wasn't too far from some of the marks that Ned knew to be true based on the syndicate he threatened Jacob and Evie with the night Jacob had abandoned Peter in the asylum.
"We should help him," Peter said. "He looks like he needs help."
Ned crossed his arms. "Are we going to teach him the error of his ways?"
"Pfft, nah."
Peter went up to Darwin. "Hey."
The scientist turned and his eyes lit up. "Oh, Peter! Good to see you again! Er, pardon me, but who is your…ah…friend?"
Peter and Ned were standing rather close, and Darwin honestly could not tell if Ned was a man or woman with those soft features and baggy clothes that hid his frame.
"This is Ned," Peter introduced proudly.
"A pleasure, sir," Ned said as he extended his hand, his voice lower than what it had been last month.
"Indeed," Darwin shook Ned's hand and noted the strength in the grip.
"So…what's up?" Peter asked.
"What is up, my young friend, is that a colleague of mine is due to arrive today—well, any minute now, actually—from Berlin. Dr. Schwarz. He carries a very important fossil with him. The problem is that my ideas have led to, ah, attacks against me. Threats of violence, but just against me, but my colleagues as well."
"You're worried about your friend," Peter surmised.
Darwin nodded. "I am."
"Okay," Peter chirped. "We'll make sure Dr. Schwarz gets to you safely with the fossil."
Darwin smiled brighter than a lamp in the dark. "Oh, splendid! Wonderful! But…do be careful, hm? Your brother would tear my head off if anything happened to you while you were helping me."
Peter's eyes dimmed a little at the mention of Jacob. "Totally. I have Ned, though. He'll keep me safe."
"Without question," Ned firmly stated.
Darwin's eyes darted between the two, having to slide at an angle due to the height disparity between them. "Good. Such a strong bond between you two. Good luck."
Darwin stepped back, and Peter and Ned made their way into Charring Cross.
"When did you meet Darwin?" Ned asked.
"Jacob and I ran into him when we were tracking down Starrick's Soothing Syrup. Darwin was also tracking down the Syrup, and he helped us in destroying the distillery."
"Ah."
"He also thinks the two of us are sodomites."
"Yes, I picked up on that as well."
Ned unceremoniously reached under Peter's poncho and squeezed his butt.
Peter blushed. "Ned!"
"Yes, darling?"
Peter's blush deepened. "I told you not me call me that," he mumbled.
"Of course, pumpkin."
"Or that!"
Ned snickered, both of them ignoring the looks they received from the civilized Londoners for what was shameless public flirting.
Of course, Peter never refused any of Ned's physical advances, and honestly quite liked it when Ned got handsy. It made a bunch of happy butterflies dance around in his tummy whenever Ned got handsy…
They ascended the stairs into the station's atrium, where they immediately saw the red-clad blighters.
They sobered up.
Peter activated his Eagle Vision, and about a dozen men and women glowed red to his eyes. He tagged them, and was able to see them through the crowds and other obstacles. He also saw Dr. Schwarz, glowing gold. "There."
Ned looked where Peter was pointing with his chin. "I don't see anyone that looks any different than anyone else."
"Just follow my lead."
"Okay."
Peter was not at all known to the Blighters like Jacob and Evie were, and so he was able to move around with ease, just like Ned. Peter got behind the German doctor and grabbed his wrist. Tightly.
"If you want to live, you'll do as I say," Peter said.
"Y-Yes, of course. Whatever price you want, I'll gladly give it to you!"
"I'm not here for your money. I'm here because your colleague Darwin wanted to ensure your safety. See those blokes in red? They're here to kill you. Do as I say, and I'll get you of here."
"R-Right. Um…Lovely weather we're having, no? Good to see you're doing well, niece-"
"I'm a boy."
"With that voice—ack!"
Peter squeezed the doctor's wrist a little tighter.
"He's got a point," Ned muttered under his breath, and Peter shot him a look.
Despite that look, however, why did Peter feel so…blegh…referring to himself as a boy? Peter shook his head to clear the extra thoughts. He needed to focus on getting Dr. Schwarz and the fossil to Darwin.
The three made it through the station undetected. When they reached the exit, Dr. Schwarz suddenly broke free of Peter's grasp and ran a few paces.
Peter raised a brow. "Dr. Schwarz-?"
"-never got on the train!" the imposter boasted, dropping his accent. Darwin's fate is sealed. It was nice meeting you, though, niece!"
The imposter ran up to an unoccupied carriage and climbed into the seat. He got halfway up when searing pain erupted in his back, right in the middle of his spine, and suddenly he could no longer feel his legs. He fell to the ground, shock overwhelming him.
Peter crouched next to him. "That was stupid," he said, referring to the fact that the imposter had foolishly turned his back on them. "Why are you trying to kill Darwin?"
Blood was pooling around the imposter from the Phantom Blade in his spine. The man's eyes were wide and unfocused, and he answered truthfully. "Darwin's theories are dangerous, and will destroy the very fabric of the society we have built. His words will instigate chaos and disorder, and he must be silenced before he destabilizes the fragile peace we are trying to maintain. The Templars…cannot…we…cannot…"
He died.
Peter frowned a little. He started patting the body and poking around in the pockets until he found the fossil. "Ah, here it is."
Peter looked up at Ned. "Shall we be off?"
"Um, sure."
The two returned to Darwin, and Peter handed over the fossil.
"Oh, thank the both of you! But, Dr. Schwarz?"
"He never left Germany," Peter answered. "The imposter said he never made it to the train."
Darwin blanched. "Oh, dear…" He hesitated and then spoke again, "I should tell you I was recently approached by men who sought to purchase all my research, on the condition I work only for them. Obviously, I refused. Scientific knowledge cannot be bought, it belongs to everyone! Let these villains do their worst!"
Darwin marched off in high spirits.
Peter tilted his head. "They will torture you in ways you can't imagine, utterly destroy any shred of a reputation you may have so that you can never show your face—how much of it isn't covered by that ugly beard, anyway—in public again, they'll go after your family and torture them in ways you've never imagined, and then may let you live in misery for the rest of your life or finally kill you."
"Wow, Peter," Ned blinked.
"I mean, he said let them do their worst, and that's probably their worst."
"I know, but wow. Come with all of that on the spot, did you?"
"In that very moment," Peter said proudly.
"You have a very colorful mind."
"Yep. You've told me that precisely seventeen times since we first met."
The fact that Peter was keeping count spoke volumes of just how colorful that mind of his really was.
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It was only two days after the Charring Cross encounter that Peter and Ned found Darwin at a park in Westminster. In the distance, about a hundred or so meters away, was a noxious pink cloud.
"I don't think that's supposed to be there," Peter said academically.
"I concur," nodded Ned.
"And it's the monkey guy."
"Convenient. Let's go talk to him."
Peter and Ned walked up to Darwin, and when the old man saw them, his eyes once again lit up with excitement.
"My young friends! So good to see once more! And most fortunate as well. A highly toxic plant has suddenly appeared in this very park mere hours ago, and has the effect of leaving one quite delirious. However, as far as I can recall from my studies, there is no such plant known to science that has such effects on a person. At least, not just sitting as it is. I fear that if this planet spreads across London, then untold dangers could befall the city. Could you-"
"We're on it," Peter said.
"Ah, splendid!"
With a little skip in his step, Peter headed off with Ned towards the nearest cloud. All around, people were giggling and shamelessly flirting with each other, all highly inebriated from the cloud's fumes.
"How should we go about this?" Ned asked, not at all fancying the idea of ending up basically drunk in public.
In private, on the other hand…
Peter hummed and activated his Eagle Vision. Seeing through the noxious cloud, he saw the golden-glowing potted plant in the center of the fumes. However, he didn't have a clear enough shot with all the people in the way.
"I bet I can handle it," Peter said firmly.
Without waiting for Ned, Peter took a deep breath and ran into the pink cloud. Immediately, he was hit with vertigo and stumbled a few paces. He suddenly felt really warm, really happy, and really…something else. But his pants had gotten tight in the front.
With a slight giggle, Peter found the potted plant and stomped on it. With the destruction of the pot, the noxious gas cleared out, but not the effect.
Ned came up to Peter. "Are you alright?" his voice was heavily laced with concern.
Peter turned to him with a blush and a smile. "Never felt better…handsome," he slurred.
Ned went rigid. "Oh, dear. You're high."
"High on love…!" Peter pitched forward into Ned's arms. "Oh, thank you, sir. You have such big muscles…oh! Is that a stick of dynamite in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?"
Ned pulled a stick of dynamite out of his pocket. "Yes. And that's my thigh."
"Thick thighs save lives," Peter said sagely.
Ned could honestly say that holding Peter in his arms while the younger boy felt him up was something he'd fantasized about, but never in this context. Peter was intoxicated and not thinking clearly, and doing things he would never normally do. Reciprocating any of Peter's advances was tantamount to rape in Ned's eyes, and he was both very uncomfortable and embarrassed right now.
"Hey~," Peter slurred. "Can we-"
"No."
"But-"
"No."
"You don't even-"
"I don't need to know what you're trying to suggest. Whatever it is, with how you are right now, it's not happening."
"I was trying to suggest we get some more of that stuff," Peter pointed at the other two clouds of drug-laced air.
Ned frowned. None of the adults were as shameless as Peter, but that's because they were all taller than five feet. They had bigger bodies, which was a legitimate factor when it came to such things like intoxication. Peter was a horny mess as it was, and did not need anymore exposure to whatever these fumes were, but Ned couldn't leave Peter by himself.
He might go flirt with someone else, or just wander off entirely.
The absolute last thing Ned needed or wanted right now was for Peter to be alone. Call him paranoid, but for some reason, Ned kept picturing Peter getting frisky with some burly guy, that burly guy thinking a cute girl was trying to get it on with him, that burly guy taking Peter to an alleyway and turning him around to get it on, and then upon realizing that Peter was not a cute girl, flying into a rage and either seriously harming Peter, or killing him.
Ned saw red as he stomped into the toxic cloud of the second plant, finding it and destroying it as he yanked Peter along.
"That was hot," Peter grinned, his eyes unfocused and watery. Not from tears, just from the effects of the drugs.
"Thank you."
"You're really hot."
Ned honestly fell slightly dejected hearing that, because Peter was only saying that while high. He didn't really mean it.
The third plant met the same fate as the previous two, only this time there were a handful of Blighters stuck in the fumes. Ned gunned them down before they had a chance to gain any sense of cognition.
"Hey, look," Peter pointed at the ground, "footprints. Maybe they'll lead us somewhere private."
"Oh my gods, it's like having to look after a child," Ned lamented.
"Wha-? Child? I am six…uh…teen."
"Good job," Ned said flatly.
Following the trail of muddy footprints, Ned looked up and saw a cart carrying wrapped crates, crates that were exuding the same pink clouds.
"Charge!" Peter cried, and he went running, tearing his arm out of Ned's grasp.
The driver of cart, another Blighter, heard Peter's battle cry and cracked the reigns. The horses took three steps before a gunshot rang out and the Blighter lurched to the side, a good chunk of his skull missing from the bullet that killed him.
Ned and Peter had to catch up to the horses after they stopped.
"I'm really good at shooting my loads, eh?" Peter boasted, swaying side to side on the bench as Ned drove the cart back to Darwin for his analysis. Peter made a pair of finger guns. "Bam! Bam!"
Ned blushed. "Y-Yep. Really good job there, young man."
"Young man?" Peter turned his nose up. "I am a young lady. I can prove it, too. See?" Peter flipped his poncho out of the way and pulled out the front of his pants and underwear, showing his erection. "Wait, that's not mine."
Ned was mortified. "Peter Frye! You put that away right now!"
"Did I steal your dick?" Peter slurred. In order to verify this, Peter unceremoniously grabbed Ned's crotch.
"PETER!"
Peter jumped back. "I did steal your dick. I'm sorry."
Ned palmed his face.
"Do you want it back?"
Ned pressed his palm harder against his face.
"Hey, it's the monkey guy!"
"Praise Ares," Ned muttered.
Ned pulled on the reigns and the horses stopped in front of Darwin, who climbed aboard.
"You're a very ugly monkey," Peter said, totally out of it.
Darwin slowly turned to face Ned, who refused to look anymore but the road. "He is not quite himself, is he?"
"What was your first clue?"
Darwin yelped when Peter snagged his hat from his head.
"Ooh, shiny! But there's no monkey in the hat!" Peter sounded very disappointed by this fact.
"I should hope not!" Darwin grunted, wresting his hat back to place it upon his head. "Young man-"
"I'm a lady!"
"Er…"
"It's the fumes," Ned supplied.
"Right. Young lady, I know it must be very trying for you giving the chemicals ravaging your body right now, but you must control yourself."
Peter blinked. "Okay. Hey, look, target practice!"
Darwin and Ned looked behind them to see five Blighter-controlled carriages racing after them.
Peter stood up with both guns in his hands, and started shooting, punctuating each shot with a noise. Amazingly, despite being loopier than a pretzel, Peter didn't miss a single shot and wiped out the pursuers.
Ned and Darwin were both honestly astonished.
Peter sat back down and started to reload. "Oh, sorry. Did you guys want to shoot any of them?"
"Uh, no. Can't say I did." Darwin decided to change gears and looked at Ned. "Turn here. There is a supply of dynamite we can use to destroy this cart."
Ned turned and parked. He found the dynamite and let the horses loose before rigging the dynamite. He and Darwin stepped back, and that's when Ned saw Peter, eyes fixed on the sparking fuse. He took one step towards it and Ned yanked him back just before the explosives went off. The shockwave knocked them to the ground.
"My goodness!" Darwin cried. "Are you both alright?"
Ned huffed. "Dynamite goes off in my face and you ask if I'm alright? Yeah, actually. Thanks for asking."
Peter groaned. "It feels like my sinuses and my eyeballs switched places, and…"
Peter jumped off of Ned, a look of horror on his face.
Ned got up. "Peter?"
"I am so sorry…"
Humiliated and completely horrified by his intoxicated behavior, Peter took off.
"If you'll excuse me," Ned said to Darwin, and he bolted after Peter without waiting for a response.
"Odd couple," Darwin said to himself.
It wasn't hard for Ned to catch up to Peter on account of the fact that Peter's asthma kicked in and he had to stumble into an alley, unable to breathe. He fumbled with his supplies, but Ned got there and helped him. Ned uncorked Peter's alcohol and tilted his head back so he could drink, and then he lit Peter's herbs so the smoke could clear the mucus in his lungs.
"Thank you," Peter gasped, and then he looked away, ashamed.
Ned grabbed him and pulled him close. "Hey, it's okay. That was some wild stuff back there. You were saying things you didn't mean."
Peter was quiet for a long time before finally saying, "Not…really…"
Ned felt his pulse quicken. "Um, which parts?"
"…can we…go up? I don't want to talk about this here on the ground."
"Okay."
Peter fired his zipline and Ned climbed, then they got cozy against the roof, the London sun warming them. Ned could feel that this was probably going to be heaviest conversation of his life since he ran away from his parents in America after they didn't accept him as their son instead of their daughter.
"Take your time," Ned gently advised. "Whenever you're ready."
It was somewhere between ten and fifteen minutes before finally started talking.
"Whenever I'm with you, I…I feel different. Even a year ago, when we first met, and you told me how you're a man that was born a woman, that…that always…I always felt…like that. Back when Jacob and Evie first put a dress on me and Jacob started introducing me as Priscilla, that felt so right. I felt like that's how it always should have been. I should've always been Priscilla. I always should've been a girl. But…"
Peter trailed off, and when the silence took too long, Ned gave a gentle prompt, "Go on. You're doing great."
"But I don't know how Jacob and Evie would react to that. I don't know how Henry would react to that, or the Brotherhood…"
"That being…?"
"That…I want them to start calling me Priscilla. I want them to start thinking of me as a girl, Jacob and Evie's little sister. I want them to start using she and her."
Ned beamed. "Done."
Peter blinked. "Done?"
"Done. If that's what you really want, of course. Is that what you really want? You want to be a girl, and your name is Priscilla?"
Peter nodded, heart beating a hundred miles an hour in his chest.
Ned's smile got bigger. "Then it's a pleasure to meet you, Priscilla Frye, little sister of Jacob and Evie."
Priscilla held in in for all of three seconds before she screamed and tackled Ned in a hug. "Thank you!" she cried. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"
"For what?" Ned laughed.
"For not rejecting me or thinking I was some kind of freak."
"That's literally impossible for someone like me."
Priscilla couldn't argue that. Ned was a man that was born a woman, and she was a girl that had been born a boy. Obviously, Ned couldn't refute Priscilla's identity without crushing his own.
Priscilla helped Ned to his feet, still giddy and bubbly, her form practically glowing in the descending sun. Her hands were excitedly drumming at her sides, and Ned grabbed them.
"Easy now, Priscilla. You're going to vibrate enough to cause an earthquake."
Priscilla giggled again and bounced on her feet. "That just sounds so right. Ned, thank you for listening to me."
"Always."
"There's just one more thing…"
"Yeah?"
Priscilla, emboldened by the acceptance of her identity, turned her hands in Ned's to where she was holding them in her own, and she pulled Ned down while rising on her tiptoes.
She kissed him full on the mouth, and Ned kissed her right back.
The sun seemed to grow a tad brighter, as if excited by what it was seeing, so Ned pulled his hat down to cover the profile his face and that of his new girlfriend as they kissed.
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Henrietta Mary Wynn.
Otherwise known as Ned Wynert.
Born into the "polite society" of America in 1840, Henrietta hated her prim and proper lifestyle, and took to crime at a young age, sneaking out at night in the guise of a wily boy called Ned. Amongst the thieves and other criminals, Ned found his true calling, not just as an outlaw, but also as a boy.
With particular skill in stealing jewels, Ned quickly amassed a respectable amount of money. So much so, that he left his family behind in the middle of the night. Didn't even leave a note, and hasn't ever checked in on his previous Wynn family.
Henrietta died for good that night, and Ned took her place forever.
Ned's exploits elsewhere in the country got him noticed by Adam Worth, the Napoleon of Crime, and the man approached Ned with a business opportunity: set up a syndicate in the Heart of the British Empire. Ned agreed, and travelled to London, finding himself in Southwark to start his new operations.
His business flourished as much as it could with the Templars in the way.
A few years later, a cute English-Indian girl arrived, and things changed in Ned's favor.
As it turned out, that cute girl was actually a cute boy that got handed the genetic short stick when it came to masculinity, and Ned had never felt more enamored with anyone in his life. That's because, however right or wrong this sentiment might've been, Ned saw himself in Peter.
He saw a young person held back from their full potential by others, and most strikingly, he saw someone like him.
A person born into the wrong body.
As the year passed and Peter told Ned more and more about his childhood, particularly the part about the dress and how Peter had become a seamster to make even more dresses over the years, Ned had become more and more convinced that Peter was like him, and as such, had made it something of his personal project to help Peter find his identity. The stories about his elder siblings only served to fuel Ned's ambition, and also added a new objective: get Peter out of the abusive household he was stuck in.
Priscilla truly was an innocent girl. Despite how good she was at killing people, she really was pure. In Ned's mind, anyway. The Frye twins didn't deserve a sister like her, and Priscilla deserved better than them.
Now, a year later, Ned considered himself successful, at least in the first part. Peter had come into his own identity, Priscilla, and it was he that made the realization all on his own. Ned had never actually pushed Peter one way or the other, unless you counted him being totally supportive of Peter's dressmaking, and completely without negative judgement whenever he was dressed up. Peter always looked cute in a dress, and he always smiled bigger, his eyes always sparkled more, and it was clear he enjoyed dressing up a lot more than just about anything else in life.
As for getting Peter beyond the abusive grasp of the Frye twins, well…
Ned seemed to be well on his way to accomplishing that, too, given that Priscilla had just kissed him right on the lips.
Ned was completely okay with this.
Even if he was twelve years older than Priscilla.
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Henry blinked after he was told the news about Priscilla. "It's about time."
"Huh?" was Priscilla's intelligent response.
Henry shrugged. "You've always been different. I've never met any boy in my life that enjoys making dresses and wearing them, and you always looked much happier when you were wearing one of your dresses. Now, you finally look complete. Like the real you."
Priscilla didn't know what to say, but she felt really happy. "Thank you, Henry."
"Of course," he beamed.
Priscilla hugged him, and now that she couldn't see his face, Henry leveled a very icy stare at Ned, who had the decency to shuffle nervously.
"How are you going to tell Jacob and Evie?" Henry asked.
"I'll…I'm working on that," Priscilla admitted.
"We'll be right there with you," Ned asserted.
Priscilla smiled. "Thank you, both of you."
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"You are both in remarkably high spirits today," Darwin said.
That was certainly true. Ned and Priscilla were both practically glowing with the euphoria that came with a new relationship. Priscilla had altered her appearance a bit, redoing her hair into twin braids instead of just the one, she'd added some black eyeliner, and her poncho was now a solid black item of sleek leather.
"Yep!" Priscilla chirped. "I've gotta say sorry, though. We've kinda been lying to you. My name's Priscilla. I'm a girl."
"Oh, I see!" Darwin said, sounding relieved. "Well, I wish I could be as high-spirited as you two, but these are popping up all over the burrow!"
The new couple looked at the caricature that depicted Darwin's head drawn on the body of a monkey.
"We are not apes," Priscilla read the title. "I mean, I've met some people that make me question that."
Darwin snorted. "As have I. However, jokes aside, whoever it is printing these things is a fool if they believe they can stop progress by printing leaflets and killing newsboys! We must find out who is behind this propaganda before more innocents are harmed. I should very much like it if you could find and remove these awful things. Perhaps you can catch one of the billposters red-handed?"
"Sure. Ned?"
"After you, darling."
Unlike last time, Priscilla really loved being called that.
It felt really good.
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The two tore down the monkey posters as they found them, eventually catching the billposter in action. They gave chase after the billposter was spooked, and they ran him down, Priscilla wheezing slightly.
After a short interrogation, Ned helped Priscilla with her asthma stuff, and they went down into the sewers where they found the printing presses and a handful of Blighters. The couple killed them all, and found a number of crates full of dynamite and bullets.
"I have an idea," Priscilla grinned.
Together, they arranged all the boxes of explosives in such a way that when Priscilla lit one of the dynamite's fuses, the resulting explosion triggered and instant chain of destruction that destroyed all the presses in one go.
"That was fun," Priscilla giggled.
"I think of something a lot more fun," Ned suggested, reaching under Priscilla's poncho to grab her butt. A nice, firm globe with an even mix of solid and jiggly.
Priscilla crossed her arms. "Down here in a sewer? What a gentleman."
"Well, not down here, but elsewhere."
"Elsewhere being…?"
"You'll just have to come along to find out, darling." Ned's eyes gleamed above his glasses.
Priscilla bit the inside of her lip with excited anticipation.
They hadn't hit the homerun yet, as she was nervous about penetrating sex, but she knew how good Ned was with his mouth, and Ned knew how naturally skilled Priscilla was with her's.
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They saw Charles Darwin for the last time in their lives after they learned he was kidnapped by Blighters for his refusal to cease promotion of his evolutionary theory. They rescued him with help from Florence Nightingale, the woman that Evie helped saved Lambeth after Jacob killed Dr. Elliotson and single-handedly crippled the healthcare system in the whole burrow.
Priscilla and Ned waved at Darwin's carriage as he drove off, and they took their leave after saying goodbye to Ms. Nightingale.
"Do you really think his theory will take off?" Ned asked Priscilla, making conversation as they headed back for the train.
"I mean, the Romans and Jews never thought Jesus would take off like he did, and now here we are."
"What do you think of evolutionary theory?"
Priscilla hummed in thought, looking up at the sky, and then she shrugged. "I mean, it sounds good, but it's also really stupid. Darwin makes all these claims about common ancestors, but he has nothing to back himself up with. He's running on pure speculation, and that's not how science works. Science works on provable, observable facts, and there's nothing provable about evolution. Yet, anyway. Sure, we can observe that monkeys and humans have five-fingered hands, similar bone structures, etc., but none of that proves any actual genetic relationship between humans and monkeys. As far as the scientific perspective goes, evolution is just a theory without a lot to support it, and anyone who insists that evolution is real is not a real scientist. Real scientists know not insist on anything being true until they've proven it to be true."
"And the Blighters considered bad science enough of a reason to intimidate and almost kill the monkey man?"
Priscilla snorted. "Nah, they're all about control, and one of the ways they control people is through the church."
Of course, Priscilla was actually talking about the Templars, but she hadn't brought Ned in on the Assassin/Templar war yet.
Priscilla continued. "The way Darwin challenges the control of the church is because his theory gets rid of God. Instead of this all-powerful all-loving creator making everything on the planet, and then using dust to make man, and then using man's rib to make woman, all life came from somewhere else, from a singular organism. That organism evolved and eventually, through natural selection, became every other organism today. The thing is, though…natural selection. Basically, nature selected. In literature, we call that personification, like the trees danced in the wind. Things that can't do what people can do, are doing what people can do. Darwin's taking nature and basically giving it a capital 'N,' saying that Nature is capable of picking and choosing what lives and what dies, and taking what lives and turning it into something else. When it really comes down to it, Darwin really just came up with a whole new religion and created a whole new god, one that doesn't have rules except survival of the fittest, which basically encourages being an asshole."
Ned had paled at the thought of Darwin having essentially created a god, knowing firsthand how much trouble that could be, but color returned to his face with a question. "How does survival of the fittest encourage being an asshole?"
"It promotes being self-centered. It makes people think they're entitled to something because of what they accomplished. Look at me and what I did, that makes me better than you, and they take that idea and use it to oppress people. It's what the Blighters are doing. They're the biggest, baddest guys in town, and because of that, they've taken over. Because they're the strongest, they think this gives them the right to do what they want."
"Alpha male mentality," Ned summarized.
Priscilla nodded. "Yeah. In Darwin's idea about natural selection, limited resources, and all life competing for those resources, everyone has to be a jerk to one another to get by. There's not enough to go around, so I have do whatever I have to, to survive. Screw everyone around me. It's all about me, me, me. I have to look out for me, and no one else. If something happens to someone, it's because they're weak, and I don't have to help them. They'll either help themselves, or they'll die. I think that's mean."
They passed the open doors of a steel mill, operated by children and adults. One of the boys tried to lift more than his little body could handle, but before he could pull a muscle, a big man, clearly not his father or any relation, came by and lifted the load with a kind smile. The boy smiled back and grabbed a much smaller load, and he followed the man.
Ned looked at Priscilla. She was small, barely five feet, and her frame was lithe and thin. All the exercise she did, but she was no bigger than a child. Granted, her muscles were hard as the steel in the factory, but still. She was supposed to be going through male puberty right now, but it wasn't happening. Her voice wasn't deepening, her muscles weren't developing, and she was hardly growing any body hair. On top of all this, she had asthma and some other mental condition.
By all counts, the notion of fittest survival dictated that Priscilla should be dead by now, but she wasn't. Good people had helped her stay alive, and now she had Ned. Ned had no intentions of ever leaving Priscilla. They'd spent a year together with steady contact, so they knew each other well, and in the recent days, they'd gotten to know each other really well. Ned really couldn't see himself being with anyone besides Priscilla, and he certainly didn't consider her to be weak given her physical and mental conditions.
"Evolutionary theory doesn't even really explain how evolution works," Priscilla said. "Like, how did the first common ancestor evolve in the first place, and then how did all the other ancestors evolve into what we have now? Darwin would say natural processes, but what natural processes? What has to happen to a creature to where it's completely restructured into something else? How does it even survive that process? In light there not being any scientific evidence to back any of this up, Darwin falls back on saying that it's all Nature. The intelligent entity Nature is facilitating genetic changes in some creatures, and making others go extinct. I mean, to that point, why hasn't Nature wiped out mankind yet? We're literally Nature's worst enemy."
Ned looked up and noted the hundreds of black columns of chimney smoke reaching into the sky. He looked down at the Thames and noted the dozens of boats churning up the brown water. He thought about London used to be thriving forests a thousand years ago, and look at it now. Ned had no argument for the notion that man was the worst enemy of nature.
"And something of a really big, obviously glaring hole in the theory of evolution," Priscilla said with a growing smile, "is that all the other common ancestors are dead, killed by nature because they were obsolete. If humans really did evolve from monkeys, why are the monkeys still here?"
Ned burst into laughter.
Priscilla giggled along with him. "Yeah, evolution's really stupid. It doesn't have any real science backing it up, and the whole narrative isn't different than any other religion. There's some mystical higher power at work in the world picking and choosing what lives and dies, and that power isn't Yahweh, Allah, Zeus, Ra, Odin, the Great Spirit, or whatever—the real god of the universe is called Nature, and Nature doesn't care about you. Be as mean as you have to to live, or die. The funny thing is, is that you have to believe in evolution. Science isn't about believing things, it's about knowing things."
"Think evolution will catch on?" Ned asked.
"Yeah," Peter shrugged. "It's a religion that encourages selfishness and has a god that's not watching you 24/7, judging you and punishing you for your sins. It'll catch on because it has no rules except for the rule of the jungle. No all-powerful God telling you what you can or can't do, ready to punish you when you disobey. Basically, evolution is freedom, and people love freedom."
Ned couldn't refute that either.
"And then freedom turns into chaos, and that's how we get people like the Blighters," Priscilla finished.
"But then freedom also creates people like us who fight against the Blighters," Ned said.
"That's also true."
And just as it so happened, at that very moment, a green Rook carriage went rolling past, being chased by red Blighter carriages.
"Shall we?" Priscilla asked.
Ned grinned. "After you, darling."
They hopped into the nearest unoccupied carriage, and Ned cracked the reigns.
Off they went.
At the end of the chase, with the Rook cart secure, Ned and Priscilla soon found themselves talking with another guy.
His name was Karl Marx.
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Guess what the next chapter will be about! Other than it being the final chapter of the Fifth Life.
Keep the evolution speech in the back of your mind. It'll come back up with modern-day Reyna. Remember, her past life was as Maria, the science-inclined daughter of Virgil, and boy has science sharply progressed since the time of the Renaissance.
As for Priscilla's seeming inability to properly develop as a male, there is actually a reason for that, and it's tied to her genetic code, and it's actually a real genetic mutation. Can you guess what it is?
I think this was a great comeback chapter. No idea when the next one will be out, though, since college starts Monday, 08/29/2022, which means four classes worth of homework.
I'm looking at Critical Analysis, Optics, Circuit Theory II, and Electronics I. On top of work.
Yippee.
Fav, Follow, and Review please!