Age Eighteen
Fighting is a very different experience than it was even a few weeks ago. Watching the blunted steel coming down at me through my visor slit in almost slow motion is just odd, and the speed of my reactions threw me rather significantly at first. Now, though, it feels like I have all the time in the world to move my own sword at the perfect angle. A moment of impact, before I roll around my opponent's blade, pushing it down and out and sending him off balance. My armored hip crashes into his armored hip, my forward leg slides forward between his, and my off-hand latches onto his gauntleted wrist. A simple twist sends him over my hip to the ground. Of course, this isn't entirely unexpected from me, so he rolls to his feet smoothly.
Rolland, my opponent, is huge. He stands well over six feet and if he weighs less than two hundred pounds out of armor, I'll be shocked. He's a giant, and bats anybody who stands against him around like they're tennis balls. My five-foot-one self has no business trying to match strength with this man, though because of my muscle mass, I do weigh more than one might expect.
Rolland is also my favorite sparring partner.
He's not quite the same as fighting a devil, who can shatter a skyscraper with a punch, but after a certain point, a larger difference in strength is simply academic. My method of dealing with the disparity is all precision, speed, foot work, and trying to be as much like smoke as I can manage. I dodge when at all possible, deflect when it isn't, and try to hit them first to make them think twice, when I have to. I stop-blocked Rolland once, and he tossed me a good three feet.
Now, though, everything I experience during a fight is beginning to change. After I recovered from my... bloody adventure, and I did a little further testing on dual souled animals to make sure nothing had to change too much with the Scripts, I went a little nuts.
Another cat for reflexes, a hawk I caught myself, for even more improved vision, a bat for hearing, a bloodhound for sense of smell, and a lizard for a start on improved healing. I'd considered sacrificing a pit viper of some sort for it's thermal sense, but decided that adding new senses might also alter my brain to process them, and any brain change is more than I'm comfortable with. I did sacrifice a gecko to try and get the ability to climb on walls, Spiderman style. Unfortunately, the attractive force isn't nearly strong enough to overcome my body weight.
It also took a few more tries to completely remove the physical bleed-over with how much more my body is willing to change. The hawk turned my eyes a very unnerving, almost primary yellow, and the bat added a point to my ears that I'm not quite sure what to think about. Fortunately, it took only the two more tries to fix the problem. The eyes are off-putting with the slit pupils, but Sarah assures me that my ears are more Tolkien elf than anything else. I think it looks odd, but the ears are easy enough to hide under my hair, and sunglasses solve the eye problem. Besides, the benefits I'm already seeing are more than worth the degradation in my looks, which were never really something worth mentioning in the first place.
My ears let me get an almost constant three dimensional awareness of Rolland as he comes to his feet, his back to me. He starts to twist, even as I lunge forward, into a wide backswing to make me keep my distance. Two months ago it would have worked. Now, though, I can hear the swing coming. I can smell the lactic acid build up in his muscles, showing how much harder he's having to work to keep up with me. The sword seems to move in slow motion, giving me all the time in the world to duck under it by dropping to one knee. My return stroke cuts his leg out from under him, and the world speeds up again as he again crashes to the ground, this time flat on his back.
A quick twist on the balls of my feet lays my sword across his chest and neck. The tap of my sword on his breastplate causes both of us to pause, then with a groan, Rolland goes limp on the ground, arms flopping out, sword dropping, and shield falling flat .
"What the hell have you been eating the last few weeks?" His voice is a pleasant rumble, muted slightly by his helmet.
I shrug, standing and offering a hand to help him up, "Dunno. Just having a good month I guess." I'm grinning. Rolland and I have fought a lot, and he usually wins. The difference in reach and strength too much to overcome. Now, though, with just improved reflexes and senses, and none of them supernatural in nature, I'm breaking even in wins and losses.
I can't wait to see what I'll be capable of once I get a few real boosts.
Rolland groans, "Does that mean I can expect another two weeks of this?" He sounds grumpy but I can see his smile under his helmet's face cage as he takes my hand. I plant both my feet and lean way back, pulling with my entire body to provide any aid in getting him upright. Fortunately, once there, he's more than strong and massive enough to casually tug me back onto my feet.
"Nope," I shook my head, "that's actually something that I wanted to talk to you about. Now that high school is over I've decided to do a bit of traveling. I'm leaving with Sarah to help her move into her new dorm in LA, then I'm off to places... well, not unknown, but certainly not here."
There's a moment of silence as we stare at each other through our helmets. Then Rolland pulls off his, running a gauntleted hand over short cropped blond hair, and raises an inquisitive eyebrow at me. Probably repeating the gesture he'd just made under his helmet, only to realize I couldn't see it.
"Yes?" I pause, "You can't see it, but I'm raising an eyebrow back at you."
Rolland laughs, "Of course. So you're running off and only telling us about it now?"
I shrug, "I only knew it was happening a few days ago."
"Hmmm." The big man stares at me with narrow eyes. Then a truly evil grin spreads across his face, "Listen up everybody!" he booms into the large space. We practice in a small refurbished warehouse. Which still means it's huge on an individual level. It easily fits thirty people, twenty of those are in armor, and right now every single one of them is looking our way.
"Rolland, what are you..." I try to ask, but the giant just ignores me.
"Ericka has informed me that she will be leaving us for an unknown period of time to travel the world." The loud 'aww' sound is heartwarming. I've been practicing with most of these guys since I was five or six years old. I've known most of them for practically all my life. I've never connected with them the same way I have with Sarah, not for Rolland's lack of trying. Sort of. There had been one ill-fated attempt to ask me out that we don't talk about any more. It had resulted in my first kiss, though, as I grabbed another female fighter that happened to be walking past to demonstrate what I meant when I said, 'not interested'. She'd slapped me but had laughed afterwards, so it was all worth it. "So since this will be her last day with us, we have to say goodby in the traditional manner." What? No! No nonononononono! I start backing up to try and escape only to bump into somebody behind me. While I had been thinking, they surrounded me, "That's right folks! It's time for the Goodby Gauntlet!"
The loud cheer does nothing to raise my spirits as I watch the rest of the fighters form a line along the back wall. Rolland waits in the center of the clear area strapping his helmet back on, that evil grin having only gotten worse.
This is going to suck and, for some reason, I can't stop smiling.
###
"All of them?" Sarah giggles next to me, taking joy in my pain.
I'm sore all over. I've never fought so long without a break in my life. "All twenty," I confirm, "twice."
"Twice?" Sarah dissolves into giggles again, and I just sigh.
"Yes, twice," I confirm again and push through the crowds. We've just disembarked from the short-hop flight to LAX. I spent most of the flight asleep, and Sarah, wonderful girl that she is, left me undisturbed until we landed. Which means she was getting her schadenfreude at my beating the night before, now.
"None of the places I trained at had fun going away traditions like that," Sarah pouts.
I roll my eyes, "Don't sound so disappointed, I feel tenderized." I keep moving. If I stop, Sarah would take the opportunity to poke more fun at me. My best move is to make her chase me, that way she won't be able to build up a full head of steam.
We make it to the baggage claim with Sarah only getting a few more digs at my willingness to fight forty times in a row for the sake of tradition. Not that I'm putting up much of a fight in the end. I'm doubting my intelligence as well. She collects her suitcases, and I grab my bag, and a last carrying case. It's the sort of thing that you carry full sized painting canvases in. Large, square, and awkward as hell.
We grab a taxi for the sake of convenience and are quickly at the mercy of LA traffic.
Moving into dorms is the same no matter where or when I do it. Dorm rooms are pretty much the same, too. Lots of carrying heavy, awkward things up and down stairs to a tiny room. Sarah seems pretty happy, though. Not that I don't understand, it's the first time that she has a place that's independent of her parents. That's always something special.
"Soooo..." Sarah drops onto the bed as she puts down the last of the bags she carried, "what's in the giant case? You've been cagey about it since mom picked you up."
"First of all, I wasn't being cagey, I was resenting my upright posture," I tell her primly. "Second, in this case," I pat the giant square container, "I have safety, peace of mind, and company."
"If you're offering me a 'toy', I don't want it," Sarah says, waggling her eyebrows, trying to keep a straight face, and failing dismally.
Calmly, I stand and collect one of her pillows, and respond in the only way I believe to be appropriate. I smack her in the face.
Sarah shrieks, laughing, grabs a pillow of her own, and the battle is joined. We're enthusiastic enough that pretty soon we're in the hallway, and attracting a bit of an audience. Two girls, one very attractive, who have been practicing martial arts and acrobatics for most of their lives? We may have shown off a bit.
More than a bit.
Once the RA chases us back into Sarah's room and we close and lock the door, we turn back to the case. The first things to come out of the large carrying case are six palm-sized discs of intricately wrought Script symbols, in silver wire. They are by far some of the most complex pieces of Script I've ever created. It would have been impossible if I hadn't figured out a Script to make things shrink. However, with that, I can make the things a size easy to manipulate, and then shrink them to a size more convenient for being subtle.
I activate each of them, then Sarah helps me place one on each wall, the ceiling and floor, "These should keep anything supernatural or intending you harm out of the room," I explain to her as we set them up.
The next thing I pull from my case of tricks is another intricately crafted piece of silver. This one, only the size of a quarter and hanging from a chain, "This'll give you some protection out of your room, and should let you know if anything supernatural is nearby." I wave her over and put it around her neck. "I'd have done something with the chain and the clasp, but even with the shrinking trick they're a bit too small to put anything on," I shrug, but Sarah, blushing slightly, turns and hugs me.
"Thanks," she murmurs and I hug her back.
"Don't thank me yet, there's one more thing in there." I gesture at the case that still looks entirely full.
The last thing to emerge is a three foot by three foot square of particle board. On the surface of it I've carved a Script circle and inlaid copper wire into the grooves.
"Okay. I'm confused, not silver this time?" Sarah asks, taking the board.
"I did this one first and used copper because even though silver is a better energy conductor, I thought copper would be cheaper and I'd need a lot of it for this," I wave at the board. "I really should have checked prices first. Anyway, this is the result of my efforts to figure out teleportation."
Teleportation by Script is a textbook example of why one should never confuse 'simple' with 'easy'. Script teleportation is very simple. All you need is a very detailed description of where you want to go. The entire script reads 'there is a place where the rocks lie in this way, and the trees grow thusly', on and on. Eventually, when sufficient detail has been provided, the place you are describing becomes the same as the place where you are for just a moment, and then you're there. The problem? It's really hard to get a sufficient description. I'm pretty sure that devils get around this by way of their damned imagination-magic. Their intent for a specific place is enough to skip over all of this. Unfortunately, I don't really have that option. So instead, I cheat. What Sarah's holding is basically a phone number. Instead of trying to describe the location where I want to go, I just tell my Script to find that unique Script beacon and take me there. Poof, instant travel. It still isn't quick by any means, but it's much faster than any mundane method of travel, and unlike the first descriptive method, it's possible.
"So, with this..." Sarah trails off.
"I can pop up at any time. It'll take me thirty minutes, forty five at most," I nod. "From literally anywhere on the planet... in theory. I haven't actually tested that yet," I finish with a shrug.
Sarah hugs me again, "I'm surprised that you didn't have some magic method for us to talk to each other."
I smirk at her, "Cell phones seem to be doing a pretty good job of that. Good enough that I felt no need to try and reinvent them." Not to mention that I have no idea where I'd even start trying to recreate a cell phone network via prose.
"Fair enough," Sarah laughs. "You know what we should do tonight?" I shake my head. "To celebrate before I'm drowned in college and you vanish into the wild?" Now I'm getting nervous. "We should go out." Nervousness increasing to dread, "Clubbing!" Yup, there it is.
"Sarah," I whine, "I didn't pack anything remotely appropriate for clubbing. I don't think I own anything remotely appropriate for clubbing."
"Then we'll have to get you something." Determination, thy name is Sarah. Pretty sure that's stubbornness' name too, "Come on! We can shop until a few hours before the clubs open, come back here to get ready, then see the nightlife!" Sarah puts her hands over her head and does something that I assume is a dance move. I'll admit it looks good, her hips swing back and forth. Not something I would want to try and imitate, if for no other reason than my lack of hips would make it look somewhat silly.
"Fine," I sigh. There's no way I'm winning this argument, so I figure I might as well capitulate so I won't lose tired.
###
I'm so glad that I'd shelled out the cash for first class for my second flight. Clubbing the night before was almost a disaster. We found Sarah and me acceptable clothes easily enough, but finding an acceptable club was much more difficult. The very first club we went to, Sarah's new amulet activated in warning of supernatural presence.
As it turns out, some things are cliche for a reason. There were vampires everywhere, bouncers, bartenders, patrons. They were like ants, you spot one and pretty soon you see them everywhere.
In a way it makes sense. Dark rooms, lots of prey, and the prey normally mentally impaired. Not to mention that most people are looking to get close to someone, and let's be honest, not too many guys will object to a hot girl sucking on their necks. It's pretty much the perfect hunting ground.
Eventually we found a place with a minimum mosquito population. Dancing happened. I'm not sure if I'm grateful or depressed that every guy that tried to be suave, sliding up to us, hit on Sarah. On one hand, guys. Ew. On the other, not one? Really?
...
Anyway, we got back to Sarah's dorm room. I hooked into the wi-fi to send an email to Asia. By the time I came up for air from all the shit that had happened right after meeting her, she'd already sent me three emails. A quick apology for not replying very quickly, and an equally quick explanation of why, and we were back on track. Once I convinced her that I was really okay after getting thrown out of my house by my dad, we struck up a pretty good pen friendship. She didn't have a lot to contribute, she didn't get out much, and was too young to have much to talk about. So I told her about the world she couldn't get out into and she asked questions. We actually had a lot of fun. Her questions made me actually think about things that always just... were, before. That night's email was more about warning her that if she ever found herself in LA to watch out for vampires.
The morning had come far too early, but I dragged myself to the airport and made my flight. I'm on my way to Hawaii, the Big Island. Hopefully to meet a very unique couple of people.
After the sacrifice there were some... consequences. My normal human clientele completely vanished, almost overnight. While I had managed to get out of the alley without really leaving any usable evidence for the cops, somebody had recognized my Script under the very deliberately placed corpse.
Suddenly I wasn't one of them anymore. I wasn't a knowledgeable normal, I was one of the 'other'. I was one of the things that they used to call me to protect them from. That... that kinda hurt. A lot.
Strangely, though, or perhaps in the same theme, I did gain more new clients than I lost. Greater fae, not quite Sidhe but close. Greater nature spirits, hamadryads, mountain spirits, the larger nature spirits in general seemed to be more comfortable with me. Similarly, I got more work from mage associations. I have no idea why exactly. Some part of my confusion is certainly not being willing to think about how that one murderous act in that alley had changed me.
Still, over the last year, as I refined my trait theft Scripts, I quickly realized the biggest weakness of the technique is how long it takes to make them work. Anything that I want to take a trait from, I would have to beat, keep whatever it was alive, contain it, draw the Script, get the hopefully still subdued thing onto the Script, then kill it.
Yeaaaah... I don't really see that working.
So I need something to make all that happen faster. The key I found is the alteration of the ritual to trigger when power is available. With more work, I crafted a Script that would... hang, for lack of a better term. Remain permanently on the edge of activation and trigger every time it's given the energy to do so. This'll come in two parts, the first being a Script tattoo for the part which integrates new traits. The second, of course, will be a more mobile, and hopefully flexible, extraction Script.
I haven't figured out everything I want for the extraction just yet. That will take some trial and error, so I focused on the tattoo instead. I started by looking up what I could on magical tattoos and quickly discovered that magical tattoos are complicated. You can't just slap one on generically, each tattoo has to be adjusted both for the person and the purpose.
Magic tattoos work by adding new, permanent energy flows to the body. Energy flows that are shaped in such a way as to produce the desired effects. The problem comes from the issue that if your tattoo doesn't take into account the way your native energy flows already run... well, the term I found is 'destructive resonance'. I'm really glad that there were no pictures involved.
In an act of uncharacteristic brilliance, upon finding how delicate this type of magic is, I decided to consult an expert. My new contacts with the mage associations came through for me and pointed me in the direction of one Pua Ke'Kua'Okolani, an Hawaiian Kahuna. I had to look it up, but apparently 'Kahuna' is a Hawaiian shaman/doctor/wiseman/sorcerer/psychologist. Something like that. Pua being female is unusual for the position, but after finding out more about her, I'm not overly surprised she got it anyway.
Pua is acknowledged by most who know about her, which is largely limited to human mages with no infernal connections, as the most knowledgeable and skilled magic user on the planet. To the point where she should be mentioned in the same breath as Merlin and Morgana le Fae.
The reason she isn't, is because she simply doesn't have the raw power to move in such rarefied circles. She isn't in the top ten, or the top hundred, or even the top five hundred. She isn't a pushover in human terms, but in the wider supernatural world, she's a featherweight power-wise. Which is why she doesn't really get involved with anything that the top ten, or anyone associated with them, are also involved in, as a rule.
What she does do is travel the world with her brother, one Ku'uaki Ke'Kua'Okolani. Ku, as he liked to be called, is a cultural anthropologist who specializes in martial traditions. What he does in the supernatural world is learn martial arts, empowered and otherwise, and reconstruct dead ones. He is to physical combat what Pua is to magic. Ku would travel to a place, learn the martial art there over the course of a year or two. While he does that, Pua absorbs all the magical traditions in the region. Then they go home, integrate what they learned into what they already knew, and then do it all again.
While I'd love to have the chance to pick up some pointers from Ku, Pua is why I'm making the trip. She knows more about magical tattoos than anybody else alive, and after some emailing back and forth has decided that something about what I'm doing is interesting enough that she's willing to help me out.
After some careful vetting.
The only reason Pua's even willing to talk to me is that I'm distinctly and loudly uninvolved with any major faction, and in fact have even less power than she does. These two things and my own reputation, and who my reputation is with, convinced her to invite me to come visit her village. Which is a good thing as it's apparently impossible to find her if she doesn't want to be found.
Hiding has very little to do with power, after all.
###
Finding the Ke'Kua'Okolani village is more awkward than I think it really has to be. There's no address attached to the place, so all I have to go on are directions and descriptions. Honestly, I half-believed that the sign I was told to look for was some kind of joke. But nope, there it is.
I actually have to stop and stare for a moment through the window of my rented car to make sure what I'm seeing is real. Next to the entrance of a dirt road that quickly winds out of sight towards the coast, is a hand made wooden sign. The sign reads 'Kapu!' which my handy Hawaiian/English dictionary tells me means 'forbidden'. Perched on top of the sign post is a bleached, white human skull.
How welcoming.
The dirt road winds from the interstate towards the coast. And why does Hawaii have an interstate? What other state does it go to? I shake the perfectly reasonable question from my head as I travel through groves of coconuts and bananas, and over a bridge that shows small fish-breeding pools set into the sides of a river that meanders through the village.
The village itself is the size of a small town. The majority of the houses are the local ranch style. The village is centered around two places, the first a large, two-story sprawling house right on the beach. The second is a pile of stacked stones at the top of the village just past the most far-flung house. The edifice of stone looms over the rest of the village and gives off a feeling that's more than slightly unnerving, though I have no idea why.
The road takes me into the middle of this little slice of idyllic paradise. An open dirt lot with far fewer cars than I would have expected for the population evident, makes parking easy. There are plenty of people, though. They move around performing various tasks, or surfing. Surfing is very popular. The majority of people I see under fifty or over fourteen are in board shorts or board shorts and bikini tops.
The views presented are quite nice. It seems like everybody there is a swimsuit model, or if too young, one in the making. They all have naturally golden brown skin, dark hair, and bodies that are in fantastic shape. It actually makes me somewhat self-conscious.
I climb out of my car and I'm immediately almost run-over by a stampeding pack of giggling children. They're being chased by a girl who looks to be about fifteen, in the local uniform.
The pack of kids skid to a halt in front of me, staring with wide eyes. They look at me, I look at them.
There's a profoundly awkward silence.
The girl chasing them catches up, panting slightly, "What are you lot doing?"
One of the boys turns to look at her, and points at me, "Howle, Tima!"
The girl, Tima apparently, slaps him upside the head and shushes him, "Aloha, are you lost?" She pushes some of her hair behind an ear, looking shy.
"Ah, no... I was invited here. I'm supposed to meet with your 'Kahuna', if I'm pronouncing that right."
The girl blinks, studies me suspiciously for a moment, then shrugs, "You want that house there." She points at a two story house next to the sprawling, central one.
"Thanks." The girl nods to me and herds her rampaging hoard towards the beach. I watch her go for a moment, then head towards the house indicated. It looks nice enough, has an open front porch, it's walls have the look of raw wood, and there's a tall, red plant at each corner.
Taking another moment or two to center myself, I knock on the door. "Un moment!" a voice calls from inside. The sound of striding footsteps approaches the door. When it opens I look up and up and up. "'Ello? May I help you?"
I stand about five foot one, the woman in front of me has to be at least six foot. Long slender limbs, perfect figure, luxurious brown hair, dressed in a white peasant blouse and skin tight Capri pants, with a French accent that's simply unfair.
"Uh..." I shake myself, "Yeah, I'm looking for Pua?" I'm distinctly uncomfortable.
"Oh!" The woman gives me a blinding smile, "Yes, I am Thea, Pua said you were coming. Please, come in." She stands aside and waves me in. The inside is open and airy. Most of the walls are polarized windows, currently open and covered with mesh, giving the place the feeling of being outside. An impression helped along by the smell of flowers and the sound of birds.
I'm waved to a seat, which I take, and Thea strides off shouting something in French. Soon enough, she returns accompanied by another woman. This one is short, my height, Polynesian, and dressed in a sarong and bikini top. Her shoulders, arms, and a good portion of her torso are covered by tattoos. Black symbols and designs whorled and danced across her dark skin. The tattoos alone are enough to convince me of who this was.
I stand, forcing myself to smile naturally, and hold out a hand, "Ah, Kahuna... Pua... I'm sorry I'm not entirely sure how..."
I'm interrupted by Pua dashing forward and catching me up in a hug, "Oh, you have no idea how happy I was to get your email!" She doesn't squee, I'm not entirely sure how the noise she makes isn't one, but it's not. I suspect dark powers. "Do you have any idea how few people who use magic are concerned with anything aside from more power? It'll be great to talk to somebody else interested in the actual mechanics of what we do." She pushes back her hands on my shoulders and looks me up and down, "And my height, too. That's rare." Well, she's not wrong. People our height are rather uncommon. "Come on, show me what you've got so far and what we're trying for."
She is right about one thing though, it will be nice to talk to somebody who actually understands what I'm saying when I talk about my Scripts.
###
Working with Pua is a dream. She's every bit as skilled as advertised, and I thoroughly enjoy the back and forth. I'll also cheerfully admit that without Pua I would have done something awful to myself long before I figured out how to do anything on my own.
We start with two mapping projects. The first is to map my own energy flows. The way my body directs what meager power it has naturally. Pua is somewhat surprised that I have only just enough energy in me to keep myself alive. That's what the majority of people have, all the mundanes, but typically mundanes don't sit in her living room and discuss biological ley lines.
I just shrug, not really sure what to say.
The second is mapping how my Script would influence and produce energy flows inside a living thing. This results in a lot of exploding chickens. Apparently, when you ask a Hawaiian 'what animal is okay to use for potentially lethal experimental magic', the answer is chickens. It's enthusiastically chickens. In fact they typically follow that up with, 'can you use more chickens?'
Hawaiians really don't like chickens.
Also, I know what 'destructive resonance' looks like now. Really wish I didn't. On the other hand, I'm really, really glad I got expert help. I don't sleep very well for a few days after the first test. Or the second. Or... yeah.
Of course, Pua can't spend all her time with me, she has duties to her village. When those duties involve magic, she sometimes invites me along to observe, and I get to see first hand how she gained her reputation.
She lays fragile and complex spells into seeds or saplings that are then planted where needed. As the plant grows so does the spell, gaining power as the plant or tree ages. Illusions, deceptions, and wards are woven into almost every bush, koa tree, and tea plant in the village, making it indistinguishable from the surroundings whenever she wishes.
A more physical barrier is laid around the village, conceptually tied to what Pua called Nalu. A word meaning unstoppable force, or inevitable, specifically in regards to the ocean. Her power matters little as the inevitable nature of the sea itself reinforces the 'immovable object' of the barrier. As long as there are tides that barrier would stand.
Even the village layout itself has its roots in Chinese geomancy, bringing all sorts of benefits to the people who live there, all powered by where the buildings and roads are, and the people themselves moving along those roads and paths.
The weather for the village is planned out months in advance. Pua can't summon up a storm at will, but with a little effort she can make one seem to show up on its own a month down the road.
Watching her work, how she achieved with a delicate touch, and excessive skill and knowledge, what any of the greater supernaturals would have just brute forced, gives me so many ideas. Both for new things I can try with Script, and for new ways to do old things.
Some things I'm not allowed to know about, though. I still have no idea what she's doing on top of the stacked-stone step-pyramid once a week. I ask, but I'm told that it's a temple and only the Kahuna and the Ali'i, or Chief, can go up there.
Pua negotiates with spirits, and deals with local dragons that sound more like Mephistopheles than Ddraig. She acts as doctor and therapist to the villagers. Adviser to the Ali'i in supernatural matters, and is the spiritual center of the village, settling ghosts and calling on the spirits of ancestors.
More and more frequently she lets me help with various things around the village, when she lets me come along.
When I can't come along, I try to advance our project without her. I can make some progress on my own while waiting for her to finish her duties as Kahuna. When I can't do any more without Pua, I try to advance what I can do with Scripts on my own. When I can't sit in one place anymore, I wander. This leads to me meeting her brother, Ku.
Pua is my height, and adorable. Ku is some inches over six foot and built... well like a Pacific islander. He's all muscle and smiles and is more than happy to kick my ass whenever we both have the time. Even better than just being a very skilled sparring partner, he figures out pretty quickly that I'm struggling to integrate new capabilities into my fighting.
He sits me down and asks what I have that's new, and what I plan on adding, and gives me a series of exercises to help me more rapidly acclimate to improved senses, reflexes, speed, and strength. Even just with my new senses, using his advice produces dramatic improvements.
Of course, not everything is sunshine and rainbows, and both of the siblings are far more perceptive than I would have wished they are. Pua notices within days that I'm always working, which really shouldn't be too surprising. Sarah figured it out when she was, at most, fifteen. She probably had earlier and she just hadn't worked up the courage to confront me about it sooner. Pua is a trained psychologist as part of her duties as Kahuna. She knows something is up the first time she tells me to take a day off while she works on other things, and I come back beaten all to hell.
For the first few months Pua is subtle. She's trying to hint at something, that much I can tell. The way she emphasizes her reasons for not being available for our projects on certain days. Or her enthusiasm to have me join her in her more magical duties, which can't be entirely explained by my willingness to look at whatever she wants to show me, and listen however long she wants to talk. However, I am stubborn and dense. Even worse, stubborn in my denseness. So eventually Pua sits me down in the living room with a cup of tea and just asks, "What's wrong?"
"What...? I don't..." Prior to this, aside from some suspicious looks, she's shown no real indication that she's really concerned with anything, so this comes as something of a surprise.
She sighs, "Ericka, one of my duties is to tend to the mental and spiritual health of the village. Granted, you're not one of the villagers, but I'd like to think you are a friend." Her attitude is very different from the cheerful academic that I'm used to dealing with. I've never talked to a priest before in either of my lives, but I imagine it must feel something like this. The calm aura of comfort is... relaxing, "There is clearly something wrong, you push yourself harder than anybody I've ever seen, you watch the calendar like you're on a deadline. Fear drives you, though it's not a fear of something concrete. I have a feeling that if it was you'd have done something about it already." She leans forward and lays a tattooed hand on mine, "Tell me what's wrong."
I stare at her, I'm not really sure what to say. It had taken years to tell Sarah, or my parents anything, and even then I didn't tell them everything, "I'm not..."
"Does it have something to do with your reincarnation?" If I'd been taking a drink I'd have done a spit take.
"How the hell do you know that?" I don't mean to sound that aggressive, but really what do you say to that?
Fortunately Pua just smiles, "You're hardly the first person to be reborn. I would guess that something from your past life has followed you, and now you're trying to prepare for something that you've already failed at once." She squeezes my hand sympathetically, and just like that I'm back on an even keel. If she had actually known everything already, I wouldn't have known what to do with myself. But I still have some control, which serves to center me somewhat. "With the vague memories that usually accompany one through lives, it can be even more difficult. Can you tell me who you were...?"
She trails off as I start shaking my head, "Who I was doesn't matter. I wasn't anybody special, and even if I was, nobody from my past life matters here." Pua looks confused but doesn't say anything, just waves me on. I hesitate, am I really going to do this?
I think I am. Unlike anybody else who I might have told, Pua both has a responsibility to others who might be affected, and more importantly the capability to do something about it. That, and given what else she dealt with, she might not dismiss me as insane as quickly as most would. She both needs, and is likely to believe, a more complete explanation "I... Are you familiar with the Many Worlds theory?"
The Kahuna blinks, but nods, "That every way something could have gone creates a parallel universe where it did. Are you saying that..."
"How about the World of Fantasy corollary?" I cut her off, I'd get to answers in a moment.
"That one I haven't heard of before." Pua answers, after a moment of thought.
I sigh, this is where it would get either really interesting or really awkward, "The theory states that with infinite variations, such as presented in Many Worlds, everything would be true somewhere." I pause for a moment trying to think of how to explain the next part, "I want you to think of a TV show. One of those with lots of power creep. Where every season everything is just bigger and more over the top than the last."
"So basically, every shonen anime ever," Pua offers easily. Something about the look in her eye tells me I've found a perhaps not so closeted fan.
"Yeah. Exactly," I have to chuckle. She's not wrong, after all, "Now imagine that one day you wake up in that show. And you're not a lead, you're not even a side character or an extra, you're just there. Unpowered, waiting for the disaster that you know is coming. What do you do?"
Pua's silent for a long moment, "I live in an anime. That's either the most awesome thing I've ever heard, or the most terrifying." I just snort, I know which way I lean. "So you've seen what's going to happen?"
"Not to you," I admit, "you weren't in the show. But I know who the next Red Dragon Emperor is going to be. I know some about what's going to happen with the Biblical factions. I know a few other events that have happened or are about to."
"Like what?" Pua leans forward, gaze intent.
I squirm slightly, "What are you going to do with the information? I'm sort of relying on my fore-knowledge, if you start messing with things..."
Pua sits back and nods thoughtfully, "If we act on anything you tell us then you lose one of your only advantages." After a moment or two of intense thought she sits forward again, "I obviously can't assure you that we won't act on what you tell us... But let me talk to the Ali'i and maybe we can work something out."
Pua stands and I stand with her. I figure she's going to go talk to people so we can settle things as quickly as possible. Instead she moves forward and hugs me. Getting hugged by somebody my own height is a novelty. Pua is also very pretty, something that I immediately feel guilty about noticing since she's married to Thea.
Sure, same sex marriages are neither traditional nor legal in Hawaii, but Pua is the one who would be performing the ceremony and her Ali'i doesn't care. So as far as her village is concerned, they are married.
"You are no longer alone," she whispers to me. Nothing is special about the words themselves, but the concept she puts forward with such absolute certainty makes me tense up in shock. "You have carried the burden of your knowledge and figuring everything out, alone. This is no longer true. If the meeting with the Ali'i goes how I expect, and you agree to share your secrets, the Ke'Kua'Okolani will owe you a debt. And even if it does not, you are my and my brother's friend." She pulls back from me and presses a palm to my chest and smiles, "We will help you as much as we can, regardless."
I'm more than a little stunned. I stare at the woman in front of me. Just the idea that somebody knows what I've been through has tears leaking from my eyes. I don't know what to say, the idea is so foreign that presenting it has almost put me into shock.
Sarah always has my back, but she doesn't really have any interest in getting more involved with the supernatural. If she hadn't known me, she would have cheerfully let all the magic and monsters deal with themselves, not getting involved at all. I always feel a little guilty about what she's done for me in light of that, and so try to keep her out of everything I can. Cait provides some information and space, but otherwise leaves me on my own. That I have somebody in my corner that not only can, but would, help with the supernatural everything is a revolutionary concept.
I try to say something, but words aren't coming no matter how hard I search for them.
Pua, though, just smiles and squeezes my shoulders before heading out the door. I stand where she left me while my brain reboots. Once I can get myself to move again I head out and, for the first time that I can remember, sit on the beach and do nothing.
I watch the waves roll in, watch kids learn to surf, and watch teenagers showing off. I don't even watch the girls specifically, I just... watch the world go by. Still, for perhaps the first time since I had been reborn.
Pua gets back to me as the sun is beginning to set. She smooths out her sarong and sits next to me in the sand and for a few minutes we watch the sunset together. When the disc of the sun vanishes behind the horizon, I glance over at her. I kind of expect her to ask why I'm just sitting around. Not because she objects to my laxity, but it's so foreign to my nature that even knowing what's happening, I'm almost wondering what's wrong with me.
She doesn't though. She just smiles at me and takes it as a signal to start speaking, "So after talking to the Ali'i and the rest of the nā mākua, elders, we have decided that if you're willing to tell us what you know, we will warn you before we act in such a way as to change things. If we interfere with a plan of yours, the Ke'Kua'Okolani will work to make up for what was lost. Depending on what you tell us, we may owe you a debt. The nature of that debt will depend on what is revealed. What we may do to repay that debt will depend on what the village must do to protect ourselves. Is this agreeable?"
I'm silent for a long few minutes. This is so different from the way I'm used to acting. To operating. On the other hand, I can use the help, Pua knows a great deal, and Ku is a fantastic teacher and sparring partner. What's more, they are both willing to help me develop what I've already accomplished. I don't know anybody else who could or would help in the same way.
One of my goals had been to gather allies.
"I... Give me some time to organize things in my head. There's..."
Pua smiles sympathetically, "It's very different from what you're used to or what you expected. Of course, take all the time you need."
"It won't be long. I'll tell you tomorrow. I just... need to think." I don't really feel right making them wait on my dithering.
So that night, instead of sleeping, I spend the night in my bed staring at the ceiling and trying to recall everything I can about the future. Or theoretical future.
###
The next morning I sit down with Pua and Ku and tell them everything I can remember about High School DxD. Who has the Boosted Gear, and that Lucifer's little sister would get him for her peerage. About the stolen Excaliburs and Kokabiel's plan to restart the war in heaven. About the Khaos brigade and the hero faction. That Ophis had founded it to kick the Great Red out of the dimensional gap, and to that end was recruiting every strong person she could lay her hands on and empowering some of them with her own magic. That Cao Cao had both plans of his own and the True Longinus. About the plan to kidnap the only child of the Yokai faction's leader. Even a few things that I only vaguely remember mentioned, like the original Lucifer's kid throwing in with the Brigade, and an eventual war with Hades. Though who the sides were aside from the Boosted gear on one side and Hades on the other, I can't recall.
Then I point out that most of what I told them about, I'm pretty sure, is season one stuff. So just imagine how much more insane and ugly all of this is going to get as time moves forward.
Pua turns pale at several points along my explanation, Ku just frowns deeper the longer I talk. When I finish they look at each other and engage in some bizarre form of sibling telepathy.
"So what will you do?" I ask after the silence stretches further than I can stand. I think I do pretty well to only fidget for as long as I have.
"Well... I can't give you specifics, but we're probably going to hide," Pua says after another moment of thought. "We'll keep track of what's going on, but in general we'll layer as many defenses as we can over the village and try to disappear. Wars with the kind of people you're talking about are... well they're nothing that we want to be exposed to." She smiles at me slightly, "That's not an option for you though, is it? No, like I said, for this the Ke'Kua'Okolani owe you a debt."
Ku nods at his sister's words. "Pua and me, especially. We're the kind of people, much like you will be," he smirks at me, "that a lot of folks will try to recruit whether we want to be or not. Lots of the villagers would be appealing in various ways, actually."
"This warning will save a great number of our people," Pua finishes, "thank you." I blush slightly, and muttered a 'your welcome'. Pua takes pity on me and changes the subject, "Now we have a lot of work to do, we'd best get started."
I can't really blame them for not wanting anything to do with what's coming. Hell, I don't either. Still, I really hope that they manage to hide effectively. If for no other reason than having a secure location to fall back to, where none of the no-doubt many enemies I'll make can find me, sounds pretty nice. Pua and Ku as resources I can tap sounds even better.
After the explanation not much appreciably changes. Pua still works with me designing my tattoos, though she's absent more often as she starts to set up whatever defenses would make this hunk of the big island of Hawaii effectively disappear. Which, interestingly, leaves me in the position of doing a lot of the minor magical work that she'd normally handle for the villagers. It's slightly awkward, but good Script practice, and the people are friendly enough that I don't mind helping them.
At the same time, Ku starts having more time to help me out with my fighting. It's Ku that takes what I learned in dojos, studios, and the ring and starts turning it into something that will have me winning with blood, not points.
It's also Ku that introduces me to a smith on the island who can help me with the second part of my plan for combat-speed trait theft. The man in question is nominally a farrier. He has a portable forge that he works with out of the back of his truck. He turns six old, iron railroad spikes into knives for me. Working with Pua, when we can't stand to look at tattoos anymore, I develop six different versions of the extraction Script to acid etch onto the knives. We even manage to get something like intent targeting for the extraction Scripts.
So theoretically, once the tattoo is put on me, I would be able to stab something with the knife, the death would activate the Script, which would rip free whatever trait I'm focused on. The knife would then feed the extracted trait into the tattoo which would integrate it into my soul. The alterations of my soul would then be reflected on to my soul enhanced body.
Instant trait get.
Unfortunately, the script on the knives will take some testing to see which one works the best, especially with the intent targeting. Pua is sure it will work, we just aren't sure how... cleanly it will work, and the only way to know will be to try it and see.
In the end, it takes almost a year and a half of work between Pua and myself to get to the point where Pua declares the tattoo ready to be put on me. It's broken only by working with Ku, and the occasional visit to Sarah, Cait and my mom. I also send a lot of pictures to Asia. I think I've convinced her that Hawaii is actually a slice of heaven that got dropped on earth.
The tattooing itself is painful as hell. And we have to shave my head. The tattoo started on the palm of each hand with the Script to connect the tattoo to a matching piece of Script on the knife. The script then forms a line that wraps around both sides of each forearm, reconnecting at my elbows. The Script line then runs up the outside of my arms to my shoulder where it splits again. Along my front, the Script lines run along my collar bones to a Script circle around the hollow of my throat, then continue down my centerline to connect to circles around my heart, solar plexus, and just below my belly button. Along my back, the Script lines connect at the back of my neck, then run up and down my spine. Downward, the Script line eventually ends at a circle around my tailbone. Upward, the line runs to circles at the crown of my skull then continues forward to the last circle around my third eye. Every chakra was covered giving the Script even access to each spiritual center, to allow for smooth and even integration.
With long experience in mystical tattooing, Pua somehow manages to make the work look beautiful. The whole experience still sucked though. Single needle strike tattooing is horrible and takes forever. Actually putting the tattoo on me takes six hours a day, every day, for a month. When it's done and healed though it's all worth it.
I'm finally there. Everything I've worked for since literally the day I was born is finally here and starting to work.
That short list of useful targets that I can actually expect to get is finally going to see some use.
Right at the top?
Trolls.