June 1st 2016 Gotham City 6:00 PM EDT
Jim, Blood, and Madame Xanadu all flinched visibly when the name was mentioned, which...wasn't a great sign. Jim actually choked on a sip of tea he was taking, which given he didn't have a windpipe or need to breathe was even worse. Judging by the looks I wasn't the only one worried about that. Everyone at this table looked disturbed by the reaction, and I was worried enough to ask my mom and Claire to take the kids away before I cleared my throat and decided to ask. "I take it you've all heard of the place. Want to fill us in?"
Jim's immediate response was. "No." I raised an eyebrow at my teacher, pretty much shocked at that answer. Jim was very much a sink or swim kind of mentor. He wasn't the type to forbid me knowledge for my own good. He shared what he knew and if I couldn't handle it that was on me. Not that he wouldn't help me out if I was in genuine danger, but he wasn't there to baby me and he knew it. He could be pretty brutally pragmatic about his educational style when he wanted to be, a trait I ascribed to his time as a highwayman.
Madame Xanadu frowned at him, then at Blood, who was being just at tight lipped, before sighing. "I agree, to be honest, but we all know how Morgan is. The boy is stubborn as a mule and loyal to a fault. You know as well as I that he'll keep digging into this until he finds answers, and I for one am somewhat terrified about the kinds of people he may encounter in his search. Since we can't exactly stop him, perhaps giving him a realistic and factual understanding of the kind of place he would be walking into would be...kinder."
Jim snorted. "There is nothing KIND about tell anyone about that abomination of a city. Just knowing it exists is enough to give any sane being nightmares." He paused for a moment or two. "But...you aren't wrong. Morgan has never been the type to leave well enough alone. It's one of the qualities I like best about him...usually. Fine. We tell him the basics, but I want your word you won't go haring off to try to find your cousin without discussing a concrete plan of engagement with the lot of us. Discussing and AGREEING ON. If you can't agree to that then I say nothing. I'd rather you hate me than help you get there. Death is the kindest of the fates that may await you."
That seemed a bit melodramatic, but Madame X wasn't calling him out on it, nor was blood. While Jim was prone to drama, the other two were fairly even keeled, with Blood being so severe one might call him humorless. This was absolutely not an exaggeration if they were agreeing with him. I sighed loudly. "Fine. I promise. I won't attempt to enter the Nightside without discussing and agreeing on a plan with the three of you. Now you're starting to freak me out, can you just tell me what the hell is so bad about this place?"
He hesitated for a bit longer before finally sighing. "The Nightside is...difficult to explain. Mostly because people don't like to think about it too much. It's sometimes called the dark heart of London, but most sources agree it predates the city itself. The Nightside existed even before the Roman military outpost that eventually became Londinium. It exists in its own pocket of space and time, in a moment that never ends."
He paused, clearly worried about saying more. He muttered a few words and gestured with his white gloves, and Madame Xanadu and Blood joined in, casting some kind of spell to protect us from being overheard. He started speaking again, but his voice was lower. Not consciously, but as if he was afraid someone would hear and was speaking softly without meaning to do so. "The Nightside was created by...someone, no one knows who, to be the only place in the world free of the interference of Heaven and Hell. Anything can happen there, and usually does."
My expression must have been unimpressed because Madame Xanadu shook her head. "You don't understand. There are things in this world so heinous, so awful, that Heavens light cannot abide their presence. Things so despicable that even the rules of noninterference that normally governs the coming and going of the Divine doesn't allow their existence, and the angels can smite them from creation out of sheer outrage at the violation of order and decency. THOSE are the kinds of things that happen in the Nightside. Daily."
Blood cut in then, seemingly needing to interject. "Not only evil either. There are forces of good in the Nightside that Hell couldn't abide the existence of. Being of absolute judgement who cleanse would cleanse any sin they see, even the ones committed by the most innocent. The Light can be as awful as the Dark in some ways, and those outliers wind up there too. It is a city at war with itself, an abomination against every law of decency and morality, and its going on at all times, waiting for any person or being who doesn't feel the need to play by even the most basic rules."
I was starting to actually worry a bit about this. I had figured they were just being dramatic, but Blood, BLOOD of all people, sounded...afraid. Jim spoke again, his voice quiet for a different reason this time, almost sounding tired. "The Nightside, where it's always three AM, the dark hour of the soul, where the moon never sets, and the sun never rises and there's nothing to chase away the dark and save you from your nightmares. That's what you're talking about Morgan. That's where your cousin is waiting. I wasn't exaggerating earlier. Dying IS the kindest thing that can happen to you there. Are you still willing to make the trip?"
More than anything it was emphatic way they all warned me. This wasn't just a place they had heard of. There was real fear in their voices, and I was pretty sure they had all been there, and all been basically traumatized by it. My mentors were some of the most powerful people on the planet. Their genuine fear spoke to how scary this place was more than any story or warning. That said, my answer didn't change. "Yes. I fucked up before. I ignored Kit when she was in pain, just passed off the job of fixing her to Zee and Artemis. I don't know what I could have done to help, but I could have done SOMETHING. Something like Drea did for me. I won't abandon her again."
I didn't have any hard feelings against Kit. She'd taken power when she had a shot at it. It hadn't screwed us over or anything, and she hadn't tried to hurt us, she just decided we didn't care enough for us to give up her power. Despite that, she had trusted me enough to call for help. She needed someone to bail her out and she'd called me, and I wasn't going to let her just rot. She had finally reached a place where, be it from fear or acceptance she wanted a hand from me, so she was going to get it.
That must have been visible on my face, because Jim didn't question my resolve at all, just sighed and nodded. "Alright. Then since you promised you would be making a plan we'll need one. First off, who will be going with you? I assume you'll want to bring along your companions but which ones. This isn't the type of place you take the faint of heart. Not even the gods are safe in the Nightside, and trust me, there are plenty of them there to act as an example of that fact. Who will you risk?"
As much as I wanted to say nobody, I knew that wasn't my call. I sighed and looked at the others. "Well based on their auras I'm pretty sure Zee and Drea will insist on coming with me." That got a pair of nods from my girls. "Artemis looks unwilling to be left behind, and I'm pretty sure that means Wally is in. Rana looks like she wants to come but...I'm going to say no." My daughter's eyes widened in pain and hurt and I held up a hand. "Not because I don't think you could help us out there."
Zee could feel what I was feeling through our link and picked up the thread, taking some of the heat off me. "Honey, you're still...new, to this world. The place we're going is full of terrible people doing terrible things. We want your early experiences in life to be happy and exciting, we would be terrible parents if we let you go to a place we knew was going to emotionally traumatize you. Plus we're still going to have loved ones out here. Without your father around to protect them if they get into trouble you need to be here as a last resort in case of trouble."
That second point clearly hit harder than the first because Rana closed her mouth, but her face still looked conflicted. She opened it again, then closed it, before shooting to her feet and knocking her chair out behind her. "This is so unfair!" She turned around and stalked away from the table. Cassie gave me an apologetic look and followed, with Gilotina quietly rising to trail after them, and I smiled knowing she was taken care of. They were good girls and they had her back, she would be ok.
I turned to Reggie and Bette. "I'd like to ask you guys to watch over her while I'm gone. It's a bit late, but Reggie I was hoping you would agree to be Rana's godfather. She may not seem like she needs it, but aside from combat and basic lifeskills she has no memories more than a few months old. She needs someone to look after her. I'd like Artemis to be her godmother as well, if she'll agree, but since she's coming with us I wanted to ask you first." I smiled encouragingly at him, hoping he would accept.
Reggie didn't want to go with us, he didn't want to leave Bette, and he sure as hell didn't want to bring her with him. He felt terrible about that, but he shouldn't. They'd been together for half a decade at this point, and I respected his desire to keep her safe. This was giving him an easy out where he didn't need to feel bad, and I really did want him to be Rana's godfather. It was an important position, and one I never had growing up because my mom had been sure anyone my dad picked would suck me in the mob.
He swallowed hard and nodded once, eyes locked with mine as he promised to do everything he could for my daughter while I was gone. I turned to Jim, raising an eyebrow. " Five of you. Madness, in all probability, but if that's what you choose so be it. Nimue, you're the one with the best grasp on things related to the Nightside. I'm aware of your...history, with that place, and won't be expecting yourself or Blood to accompany us, but perhaps you could point us in the right direction."
She sighed. "I have a shop location in London, and still drop in on the old town time and again. I know the local players. I can't help you get into the Nightside, but I can help you find a guide who can. There's a man who spends a decent amount of his time there who can be reached in the normal side of London as well. He's got something of a reputation even among circles in the normal world, so you may have heard of him." She raised an eyebrow at Jim, smiling wryly. "His name is John Constantine."
June 2nd 2016 London, England 10:00 AM EDT
We took the car to London. I had to convince everyone else it was a feasible option, but after some wheedling I got them to agree to try it, and I couldn't have been more excited. We left from the island, where it had been dropped off (in a giant box of all things), and when I rolled it out I mostly got lots of droll stares and scoffs...until I activated the flight mode. Then the stares became ones of shock, and I was feeling pretty smug. I wouldn't have bought the thing if it didn't have its advantages, birthday or not.
They were blown out of the water when the Regalia underwent its transformation. While I could trigger the change at any time mentally, I hadn't actually gotten around to using it before now, and I was as shocked as anyone when the car warped its shape into a sort of...air ship. Despite being still car sized, the thing now had no wheels, and floated in midair with pink and purple energy roiling off a series of crystalline struts forming a structure on the back that was clearly responsible for keeping it in the air.
Zee was the most shocked, as well as excited. "This thing is AMAZING! Is it magic? Those crystals look magical." The struts coming off the back and sides were reinforced with metal braces, and there was an obvious propulsion drive off the back, but despite the scientific look, it was obvious there were magical forces at work. Even without the sense of power I knew from the the email that this thing ran on a magitek generator, which from what I could tell was just sorcery using scientific principles. I let Zee know as much and she nearly bounced with excitement at the idea of getting to study it.
The trip itself wasn't a long one. We zipped up into the clouds and made excellent time crossing the ocean given the insane speeds and lack of obstacles. Being able to open up the Regalia at top speed in a straight line made the trip a breeze. While I'd picked up normal driving pretty fast and enjoyed it when I did, this was a whole different feeling, and I had to admit this was WAY better than flying by myself. The way the girls whooped with joy when I did a roll was fantastic.
Finally though we arrived in London fairly early in the morning. Since we hadn't made contact with John Constantine and it was pretty early we decided to get breakfast. Luckily we had a guide already, albeit not the one we came here for. "So Jim, can you take us to get some breakfast? Assuming any of your old stomping grounds are still around." That had been the main reason Jim couldn't lead us to the Nightside himself. Apparently the entrance moved as the city changed, and Jim had been chased out of London a century and a half ago for reasons he didn't care to explain.
My mentor had assumed his visible appearance, which while not exactly inconspicuous was at least less of an attention attraction than an invisible man in a floating top hat. Hopefully no one noticed or recognized him as he was. He glanced around searchingly, but finally sighed. "We can head to the seven stars. The old place was already a century or two into its run when I was a lad, and I doubt the oldest pub in London has shut down." He smiled and waved us after him, walking off into the crowd.
His steps never faltered or slowed as we trailed behind him, as if he still remembered every turn and alley even after all this time. It occurred to me that this was Jim's version of Gotham. His home, the city he came from, and one that no matter what would never stop being a part of him. Gotham was in my DNA, in my blood, and London was the same for Jim. It made me more curious than ever about exactly what the circumstances were behind my mentors departure from the city he so clearly loved.
When we reached the Seven Stars Jim got us a table, seeming nostalgic as we all sat down and he headed to the bar. There were no servers here, the order had to be done in person. He smiled jovially at the young man with the vest and red gold beard behind the bar and carried back a massive tankard of beer. He set it down in front of him and took a long, slow pull. He gave a refreshed sigh. "Now that's the ticket. Been a dogs age since I've had a proper pint for breakfast." He paused, his upper lip covered with foam. "None of you saw a thing, Claire doesn't like when I drink before noon."
I smirked at him a bit, but I actually thought it was sweet. I wasn't going to kill my teachers buzz. Figuratively or literally. I decided to move on. "So, back in the old stomping grounds? How does it feel? You have any old friends around town you were hoping to see? I know it's been a long time but someone has to still be around here. You used to run with the big dogs around here right?" I hadn't heard many stories about Jim in London. I knew he was a thief back in the late eighteen hundreds, but that was about it.
He shook his head with a chuckle. "No. I was a highwayman and a bit player when I lived here. This was before I came into my own for the most part. After my death I came into more power, but it wasn't to the level I've reached now. When I left London I was still an amateur magic user and a shadow of my future self." His eyes clouded. "It was during my first visit to the Nightside that I lost my life, in fact. My friend Julian invited me for a drink there, and I was quite excited to experience the dark side of the city." He shuddered. "I was a fool."
That sounded like a hell of a story, but it also sounded traumatic as fuck, so I decided to focus on a more innocuous part of what he'd said. "What happened to Julian? Did he die too?" I figured I could distract him from his dark thoughts by talking about his old friend. I'd never heard of anyone named Julian who was that old, but if he was able to bring Jim in and out of the Nightside he must be someone pretty impressive.
To my surprise my mentor just laughed, his face showing nothing but joy and amusement at the thought of his old buddy. "Julian? Gods no. Nothing could kill that bastard. Julian Advent was a famed Victorian adventurer. He went where he wanted and did what he wanted and damn the consequences. I heard he vanished just a few years later, though he popped back up a few decades after that. We lost touch after I left the city in any case. Harder to keep in contact with distant friends in those days. I haven't thought about the old boy in an age." He smiled sadly. "He tried to help you know, when I was killed. Even got my body out of there. I'll always be grateful for that. If he hadn't my spirit might still be stuck in that terrible place."
He took another long, slow, sip of beer. "In any case, I spoke at length to Nimue before we left. She told me plenty about this John Constantine. The boy is a troublemaker through and through, but can be reliable in very short doses. She suggested none of us try to befriend him and that we leave his company as quickly as possible however. Constantine has the devils own luck, and while things work out for him for the most part, the splash damage tends to cause problems for anyone nearby."
That kind of sounded like the worst power ever, but I hadn't planned on adding a new member to the crew anyway. I had a more important question. "Sounds good, but what about you? I knew you had a rough time in the Nightside, but hearing about how traumatic your last visit was, are you sure you're ok going back? Why couldn't Blood have come with us? Or Madame X for that matter? You mentioned she had some history here, what could possibly have happened that was worse than you dying over there?"
While I wasn't going to force him to talk about his experience I was kind of annoyed at my other mentors for making him come. He shook his head sadly. "Blood isn't welcome there. There are more than a few beings from Avalon still in residence in the Nightside, and they do not care for Blood at all. That's a long and complicated story, but suffice to say it would be worse. As for Nimue...suffice to say she was involved in injuring a great and powerful sorcerer, and one who does not forgive or forget. It's even less safe for her to be nearby."
Yet another crazy sounding story, but again I understood that prying wasn't viable. Artemis of all people voiced her unequivocal support. "What Morgan means to say is that we're glad to have you with us as always. Knowing this place has bad memories for you means it's even more of a favor to come with. We always feel better having you at our back boss." She glared at me. "Isn't that right Morgan?"
I put both hands up in surrender. "Of course it is. Jim knows we appreciate what he does for us and that I'm always happy to have him around. I was just worried about him. If this is too much we can go it alone, this Constantine guy is supposed to be our guide right?We don't need Jim putting himself through some terrible emotional ordeal when we have someone around to show us that way anyway." Despite his power, I found myself worried for my mentor. I'd grown enough that he didn't seem like the invincible monolith he used to. He was more than capable, but even people like Jim needed someone to worry about them.
His fond smile told me he took the concern in the spirit it was intended. He put up a hand. "Peace, both of you. While I appreciate Morgans worry the fact is that Constantine is too young and inexperienced, not to mention an unknown quantity. While I may not be an expert on the Nightside, I've been around for quite some time, and I do know people and things and how they work. I wouldn't feel comfortable letting you all run around that viper pit alone." He pinned me with a stare. "Despite your power Morgan, there is no substitute for experience. Being strong doesn't mean you can do everything."
I nodded. "I know, and like Artemis said we're happy to have you as long as you feel comfortable with this. I just didn't want you pinned into something that was going to hurt you." Seeing that this had come to a close and Jim had made his choice I decided to change the subject. "Anyway, tell me more about Julian, he sounds like he was pretty awesome. You said he was an adventurer?"
Despite knowing I was trying to distract him Jim gave me a grateful smile and launched into a story about Julian Advent and his worst enemies, the Murder Masques. Despite not being world ending peril, the story was exciting and impressive. The way Jim told it Julian was sort of like Batman, only way more personable and with much better taste in outfits (not that it was a very high bar).
The two of them had gotten into plenty of trouble together, and had even ended up on opposite sides on more then one occasion growing up together. As I listened it gave me more of an appreciation for my mentor and what he'd been through in his life. Happy to be here, I put an arm over my girls and settled in to listen to another story. I was really liking London so far.
June 2nd 2016 London, England 2:00 PM EDT
After we finished breakfast we walked around for a few hours, Jim showing us all the places he used to go when he was younger. Eventually though Jim pulled out an old silver pocket watch, checked the time, and tsked in annoyance. "Ah, I'm afraid our tour is at an end children. Our meeting with the illustrious John Constantine is at hand. We're meeting him at The Old Rose pub. Excellent timing too, it's about time for tea." I wasn't entirely certain it ever WASN'T time for tea in the UK based on what I'd seen, but we shrugged it off and followed my mentor to the meeting, taking my badass car.
When we arrived we found our guide waiting for us, sitting at a table nursing a mug of beer. Despite it being like, two PM, John Constantine looked like he'd just crawled out of a gutter he'd just woken up in. His blonde hair was messy, his blue eyes bloodshot and ringed with circles so dark they looked like bruises, and he tan canvas trench coat was rumpled and stained in places as he took pull after pull of his liquid lunch. I couldn't resist turning to my mentor. "Are all british people drunks or are you just a bad influence."
Constantine snorted, raising an eyebrow at me. "Nothing else to do round here mate, getting sloshed helps pass the time. It's either this or lay around all day watching the tellie, and I need sustenance to maintain my girlish figure." He took another long pull of his drink, and I was surprised to realize that under the rumpled exterior he was only a year or two older than I was. I wondered how someone like him had gotten involved with Madame Xanadu in the first place, but it didn't seem like the time to ask about that. We had other business.
I plopped down in the other side of the booth. "Some Madame X says you can get us to the Nightside?" I was expecting him to drag it out and play the disaffected youth, but to my surprise he choked and the beer went up his nose. His eyes widened in shock and darted around as he coughed and pounded his chest, trying to recover from the alcolohic burn of beer going down the wrong pipe.
He glanced frantically to either side of us before leaning in to whisper at me harshly. "Bloody hell mate, are you completely insane? You can't use that word here! Saying that anywhere within city limits is a one way ticket to attention none of us want." He reached into his coat and pulled out a series of chains and necklaces with a mishmash of religious and mystical symbols on them. He flipped through the symbols, muttering the occasional prayer or invocation as he tried them each one at a time, and then finally sighed in relief. "Good, we weren't noticed." He leveled a glare at me. "Watch your damn mouth before it gets us all killed."
Jim knocked twice on the table and slipped out a strange metal device. It looked like the stand for a globe but with a flat clear glass lens instead of a planet held between the two spindles. He flicked it gently and it started to spin. Rather than slow down however, after a few seconds it started to pick up speed. A tiny glint of light had shone through the lend but as it spun the light expanded, filling the glass completely until the spinning lens formed a sphere of light that then expanded to cover the whole booth as we all squeezed into it. Once that was done he nodded. "My apologies Mr. Constantine. This was my oversight not my disciple's. It has been remedied, you may speak freely."
Despite the theatrics I very much doubted we'd been in any actual danger. Jim wasn't a rookie or an idiot, if there was danger in mentioning the Nightside here he already knew it and most likely had less obvious protections in place to compensate. Most likely he'd been testing John to see how he would react to the provocation, and my mentor's aura seemed to suggest that he was pleased with Constantine's response.
The blue eyed brit glared at my teacher for a bit before taking another long pull, draining his glass completely and slamming his mug down with a bang. "Right. You lot are here to get into the Nightside. I assume I don't need to give you the usual speech about how your souls will be in danger, you might all die, you taint yourselves by even thinking of the place, or that you'd be fools to enter?" We all shook our heads and he just sighed. "Bloody Americans. Always think you know better than everyone else."
I shot him a dark look. "Hey, I resent that! I don't appreciate you making assumptions about me. Me thinking I know better than you has nothing to do with being American, I'm just a really condescending person." That actually got a flicker of a smile from the dour and disaffected brit. He hadn't meant it anyway, his aura clearly showed that he just liked to rile people up, and my attempt to serve it back had warmed him up to me a bit. "Seriously though, can you get us there? We realize it's a bad idea but I have family there I need to find."
He gave a long sigh. "Ah, good intentions. Excellent for paving the road to hell. Luckily you're close enough that you don't really need to walk that far. But if you know the risks it's not my job to try to convince you. I owed the Madame a favor, and I know some people over on that side of things that will be less likely than most to harvest your organs from behind when you turn around. Yes, I can get you there. Though I warn you, it's never a pleasant trip. I haven't been back in a year or two. Not since I finished my apprenticeship to be a PI."
We didn't leave right away. John insisted on getting another mug of beer. He said he refused to make the journey sober. One he was finished draining another huge glass we headed outside and got in the Regalia, which he admired appropriately because it was awesome, and he gave me directions to the nearest subway station. When we pulled in we got out of the car and I turned to look at John archly. "This is your terrifying entrance to the Nightside? We're going to take the train? I bet they charge like...twenty percent more for a ticket huh? I can see why you would be afraid."
John just snickered. "That's a good attitude to have, as long as you can still react when something tries to kill you. By all means, be a smart arse. Gods only know I wish I could still make jokes about this kind of thing. Somehow though, I doubt you're going to find it funny for much longer." His voice was even, but I could see in his eyes he was actually nervous, and I got the feeling not many things scared him. John Constantine didn't strike me as a person easily frightened. The aura around him was actually starting to make me worry.
Aside from the fear, John's aura told the story of a pretty terrifying person. Covered with powerful nasty magic and deals he'd made for one reason or another, with strange flickers of bright gold sparkling through it and vanishing too fast for me to actually understand what was happening. But everything about him showed me that he'd seen some shit, and done even worse, and this was STILL absolutely terrifying to him, which wasn't a great sign for the rest of us. We followed him into the subway station, and I stayed on my guard, making sure I was out in front of the girls and Wally just in case.
We took the escalators down to the train platform, stopping to get tickets from a machine instead of a desk like I'd been expecting. I'd never really taken the subway in Gotham, the train compartments were too good at holding in Joker Venom and Fear Gas. Still, I followed John down the walkway on one side and then down a slightly protruding walkway alongside the tunnels. We walked for about fifteen minutes, taking multiple turns down apparently random subway tunnels until we finally came to a door.
John gestured for us to go inside, and I held up a hand, scanning over the door with my aura sight. I didn't see anything special, though whether there was nothing there or it was just hidden I didn't know. Glancing up I saw a strange sign over the door in a language that I didn't recognize. I turned to John with a raised eyebrow, but it was Zee who volunteered an answer. "That's Enochian." I looked at her quizzically, and despite talking about magic she didn't look as excited as usual. "It's an artificial language that was created by magic users to enable them to talk to angels."
John nodded, opening the door. "That it is. But we're on a schedule if you please." He gestured into what appeared to be a closet, full of scarecrows in uniforms that looked like the ones on the people who worked here. The room was dull grey cement, and fairly small, but we were all able to fit, and John shut the door behind us before walking over to an old payphone on the wall. In the silence that had cut off the sounds of the subway patrons when the door closed I could hear there wasn't a dial tone as he picked the phone up and simply said "Nightside."
The wall on the side of the room that was bare until now split in two and opened with a low grinding sound, and we were all suddenly staring down a completely new tunnel. The walls of the new tunnel were red and rough, and in the low light it kind of looked like we were about to walk down a vein. Artemis raised a hand mockingly. "Can I vote we don't go down the creepy flesh colored tunnel? Because I'm starting to get what John boy here was talking about with all his doom and gloom, and he was right, I preferred finding this funny."
Admittedly I was right there with her, this was super creepy, but we had to keep going. Kit was out there, somewhere at the end of this tunnel, and despite what might have happened she was family. She'd asked for my help, and while I might not have been able to be there for her before, I could be there now, and I would be. Zee took one of my hands, and Drea the other and I nodded to John, who was just waiting casually off to one side for us to get up the courage to follow the tunnel.
It wasn't just the sight that was worrying. The place smells like a thousand different perfumes and scents that shouldn't exist. Some good, some awful, some so good they looped back around to being sickening, or so awful they were almost addictive. I heard voices too, whispers on the edge of my hearing that were saying things I both didn't want to and needed to hear, along with snippets of music that sounded both haunting and eerie. It was sensory overload, in the worst possible way. We headed down the tunnel, and when we finally came out we were standing on a train platform.
This one was full of people too, but not like the ones before. Their auras were strange. Some terrible, some beautiful, some boring or amazing, some hopeless and some that looked like they could take on the world. Off to one side was a train, surprisingly well maintained compared to the terrible condition of the white tile of the platform, which was full of gouges and claw marks and occasional blood spatter. I turned to John and he just gestured out into the platform. "We have about fifteen minutes before the train leaves. Feel free to look around." So, with a shrug, we headed out to talk to the locals. Best to get an idea about the kind of place we were headed.
June 2nd 2016 London, England 3:00 PM EDT
The train platform was...unsettling. Not just the big obvious stuff either. I think the most unusual things were the subtle little discordant elements. The walls were plastered with posters of familiar famous people, but mostly in strange and disturbing movies that would never make it to theaters in reality. The board for arrivals and departures was old and worn but still readable, and it listed places I had never heard of. Shadows Fall, Haceldama, the Street of the Gods, and several other places whose names sounded vaguely familiar but I didn't quite recognize. The one obvious one was there though. The Nightside.
I turned to John. "So, this is where things get nuts right? Like we should expect to be attacked at any second?" I was scanning the whole place, but I had my aura sight off. I'd been as good as told that there were things here that could melt my brain, and I absolutely wasn't stupid enough to open myself up to psychically viewing the true nature of any of the things on this platform, not when even the normal mortal versions of them were fairly disturbing when you paid enough attention.
To my surprise though, he just shook his head. "Not here mate. We're still protected by the aegis of the authorities of mortal London. This platform IS in the city. The Department of Uncanny, the London Knights, the Carnacki Institute, all the big boys in town cover you through here. Hell, you're safe through the train ride there. The trains go through some awful places, but there are various compacts and deals in place ensuring their safety. Not that you can't get killed here or anything, it's just only marginally more likely to happen than up topside. The real party starts when we step OFF the train on the other side."
That was actually somewhat comforting. I looked over at the train. "Well, it doesn't look that special. Does it really hold back whatever is out past the end of that tunnel?" I pointed off down into the darkness. Again I fought the urge to look at its aura, but I figured just asking was safer. It also seemed like a subject I should probably brush up on since I was going to be ON that train, and I wanted to know if I needed to armor up and stand on the roof fighting off hell gargoyles or some shit.
John even seemed to understand the worry because he didn't make a big deal about the question despite having mostly answered it already. "Yeah, it's safe. Nobody takes shots at those trains, heaven and hell themselves guarantee their protection. Not to mention a number of other parties just as dangerous. The Nightside is awful but it's also necessary. It provides a place for deals and meetings that can't be held anywhere else. True neutrality isn't pretty, but it is important." Despite his words he seemed almost disgusted with himself for sticking up for the place his expression on of grudging acceptance. He clearly wasn't a fan of the Nightside, even if he understood why it existed.
While we were waiting John headed over to talk to some incredibly old man with a blindfold, preaching old school fire and damnation from a soapbox as he gestured threateningly at passersby with a ratty looking bible. I headed over to stand next to a punk looking girl with a mohawk and lots of piercings, who appeared to be reading a bible of her own, except this one was blank. Her pure white eyes were as empty as the pages as she scanned over it, and as I stopped to look down at it she addressed me directly. "Heading for the Nightside? I have to say, you'd fit right in with that lot."
Despite her rough punk exterior her voice was a soft and clear alto. She had an Irish accent as opposed to John's British drawl but she seemed almost...unattached to the world. It was like watching a really convincing screen with a prerecorded message on it. Even if it answers you when you talk, something about it made you positive it wasn't actually showing you anything that was really there. Zee had wandered off to bother random people, and Drea had gone with her while Artemis and Wally were chatting with a brown haired main in a suit and converse wearing a tan trenchcoat.
I raised an eyebrow at her. "What makes you think either of those things?" I got a sneaking suspicion that turning on my aura sight would seriously mess me up in ways I couldn't begin to predict. This girl was giving me vibes like Del, and to a lesser extent Gojo. I just got a 'do not fuck with vibe'. Still she didn't seem aggressive and maybe she could tell me more about where I was heading.
She smiled gently. "Because the Nightside is where all the best liars end up." I blinked, not sure how to take that. "Not that there's anything wrong with that. Lies make the world more interesting. But if you're the kind of person to tell convincing lies in the dark the Nightside is the perfect destination. Though I suppose that isn't why you're going. Misplaced your little lost kitten have you?"
That was about as much vague and creepy as I could take before genuinely putting my guard up. Before I could speak further to the strange girl though, John stepped up, and without even looking at her, grabbed my arm and pulled me away. He dragged me across the platform to stand with the others by the entrance to the train with a glare. I just shrugged. "What? You said we could explore. I wasn't bothering her. I was just curious about the book and then she started making creepy obtuse comments."
He glared for a bit longer before sighing and letting his shoulders slump. "Ignore her. Literally, if you can force yourself to, forget you even spoke to her. She's a graduate of the Deep School, a university where the teach the secrets of reality. The people who come out of there see and interact with the world in odd and dangerous ways. If you infer something you shouldn't from one of their comments you can literally go insane." That didn't sound like a real thing, but he apparently didn't appreciate my skepticism.
He leaned in close, voice dropping to an urgent whisper. "They've learned forbidden secrets about the world, and without their training and preparation the human mind isn't designed to handle the kind of knowledge they can let slip by accident with a casual statement. Most people who attend the Deep School go insane, and it's VERY contagious, but if anything the ones who come out coherent are an even bigger risk. Don't dwell on anything she said to you, ignore all of it as hard as you can." His severe tone was all the convincing I needed, and had me feeling very unsettled about the whole interaction.
The lecture was luckily cut short because the door in front of us opened, admitting passengers to the train. John looked relieved to be getting away from the girl, and dragged the rest of us onto the train behind him, pulling us over to an empty corner where we could all sit. Once we were down he looked around the inside of the metallic car uneasily. For someone who had claimed this train was so safe he certainly didn't look like he felt very secure here. Still, he calmed down after a minute, especially once the train got moving.
He didn't bring up the girl again, probably trying to follow his own advice, and once we'd all gathered around he cleared his throat. "Right, well I went and talked to an old friend of my teacher. That wacky priest, Pew, usually knows whats what around the Nightside, given his constant position by the train tracks. Sadly he didn't see your cousin or her boy, at least not around these parts."
That made me frown. "This is the entrance though, right? Like they would have had to come through here to get in, so is he lying? Or are they not really there? I have no idea why someone would want to lure me to this place, but traps DO happen. Maybe this is a wild goose chase." It didn't feel like one, but my instincts were far from bulletproof. If the old man was sure and he was on the up and up maybe we could skip this whole trip. The closer we got the more unhappy I was with the concept of stepping off this train.
John just shook his head. "Pew plays it straight, but it doesn't work like that. This is one of the entrances, the most official and safest. There are dozens of others, and that's just the ones you can count on. The Nightside and London occupy the same space on different planes. It's been rubbing against the city proper for centuries. Sometimes parts wear thin. Aside from showing up on purpose, you can just accidentally wander into the Nightside if your luck is bad." He looked nauseated by the idea.
I could see the fear of what he was talking about in his eyes as he continued. "Wander down a particularly dark alley or step through a weird out of place door and end up who knows where. It happens to people sometimes, not often, and not usually anyone you'd miss, the Nightside is more in tune with the downtrodden and crumbling parts of town. The dark and shady spaces, so when people do vanish no one is usually worried enough about them to go looking. Regardless, the train isn't the only entrance. They could have gotten in plenty of ways."
I shared a look with the girls and Artemis. Wally didn't know my cousin, but Drea was worried about her for my sake and Zee and Artemis had been friends of hers. Forgetting the terrible things that she could be enduring, there was a pretty solid chance that she might die before we could save her. That wasnt an acceptable outcome to me obviously. "Do we have another option to track her down? We dont really have time to wander around the Nightside and look for clues."
He grimaced. "There...is an option. My teacher, John Taylor, and please, don't make any jokes about our names I've heard them all, is an expert at finding things that are lost. Of course he also has fuck all for subtlety and enough enemies to assume someone will try to murder us for being nearby when we go out with him. I have a reputation for collateral damage, but he makes me look like an amateur. It's one of the reasons I moved on once I got my PI license."
That didn't sound great, but honestly it seemed like a better idea than spending too much time in this radioactive dumpster fire. John seemed to think for a minute. "I know where we might be able to find him, wouldn't hurt to at least ask I suppose. Though the sentiment feels a bit like tempting fate. We can check in at his favorite bar and see if he's there, but if we can't find him I'm not traipsing all over the Nightside looking. That's far too dangerous for anyone with an ounce of common sense to try."
With a plan in mind we all settled in to wait for the train ride to end. We tried our best not to focus on the faint sounds of howling and screaming outside the train, and I for one was thrilled this thing had no windows. I heard scurrying across the roof, but nothing actually tried to get in, clearly trying to psych us out with the screaming and the sounds of scratching on the metal shell of the train. Unfortunately for them I'd been through worse. I decided to take a nap during the trip. This might be my last moment of real safety for a while, best to take advantage. I leaned back, put my arms around my girls, and went to sleep.
June 2nd 2016 The Nightside 8:00 PM EDT
The train ride wasn't great. I managed to nap through more than a bit of it but even then the howling and scratching resulted in some less than pleasant dreams. Zee and Drea were there with me though, and woke me up when things got dicey in dreamland. We didnt talk much, the atmosphere not conducive to any sort of discourse, and the whole trip had the air of someone holding their breath and waiting for the other shoe to drop.
When we finally reached The Nightside we made our way off the train and I was surprised by how normal the train station on this side looked. The same beau up aesthetic with odd underlying themes as the one we came from. The only difference was the crowd over here. Though the station itself was business as usual for anywhere I'd ever seen, the crowd here was much more unusual than even the one on the platform we had come from.
While the first crowd had some weirdos, they were mainly keeping a low profile. They people over there were odd sure, but they were subtle odd. The girl with the white eyes from the Deep School and the old blindfolded priest were weird, but they were the kind of weird you could see anywhere. The weirdos in this station were much more open. The phrase "let your freak flag fly" seemed to be as good as gospel in this place.
Tall, short, fat, thin, pale, dark, human, alien, machine, every color of the rainbow, every style of dress, every possible combination of features you could imagine, all of them were on display here. The whole place was packed with the widest variety of beings I had ever even imagined and every one of them was here to party. Some with dead eyes looking to drown out the monotony, some predatory and looking for a victim, but no matter what it was clear every person or thing in this place wanted a good time, and they would do anything to get it.
When we emerged onto the street the visual noise cranked up to eleven. The Nightside was a blazing tapestry of neon and bold colors, the buildings just as loud as the people wandering in and out of them. The brightness only seemed to highlight the darkness around it though, deepening the shadows of the alleys and creating a wall of shadow that even I was hesitant to push through. My aura sight remained off here, because I did NOT want to see what the things here were feeling or thinking. Some things it's better not to know.
The sky above was mostly obscured by towering buildings and clubs, though the moon was easily visible, taking up ten times more room in the sky than it ought to, with no obvious reason behind why that might be the case. The whole thing was bizarre and terrifying and monstrous and...amazing. Despite the noise and the disturbing nature of some of the shops and clubs, this place felt...like home. The Nightside was like Gotham on steroids, people letting their worst out proudly and not giving a shit what anyone thought about it.
Something about all these people just being themselves was inspiring, even if it was awful in some ways, and I couldnt help but get caught up in the enthusiasm and the energy. I wasnt the only one either. The girls seemed enthralled too, and Artemis was obviously a bit energized too. The only one who seemed genuinely uncomfortable was Wally, who looked incredibly upset and disturbed by some of the awful displays around us. I wasnt really sure why at first, but I wanted to make sure he was ok, so I tried talking to him about it.
I put a hand on his shoulder. "We talked about this man. It was one of the things you had to agree to before coming. I get that you're not ok with some of this stuff, but the local government knows about all of it. The laws here are almost nonexistent, and if you start a fight were going to end up screwed. These people all knew what was going on when they showed up, and while some of the things happening suck, starting a fight is going to get all of us killed and not actually help anyone." Wally looked around at all the bustle, focusing on some of the worst things before tearing his eyes away, seeming almost sick with disgust.
Taking a second look I could understand what was setting him off. Between the crazy clubs and the sex and the gambling and the drugs I could see even worse atrocities, terrible things fading into the background I hadnt noticed. On one corner a street vendor was selling tiny fairies in cages, their dead eyes too broken to even plead for help. Under a large sign advertising fresh kebabs a man was carving chunks off an impaled, shaved werewolf and putting them on a grill even as the beast's regeneration regrew the flesh.
Suddenly the energy and mania didnt seem quite so infectious. I could understand why Jim hadnt wanted us to come here. This was a bad place. Wally clearly thought so too, but he shook it off. "I'm fine. This is...sick, but the League is a UN affiliate. They teach us about the need to respect the local order even if the laws arent something we agree with. If...THIS is allowed here then I can deal. I hate it, but we came here to save your cousin. I wont screw things up by dragging us into a suicidal fight."
More than anything that showed how much Wally had grown in his time with us. New Genesis, the OZ, he'd learned to accept the world as it was and do what he could, learned that black and white were much less common than shades of grey. It was sad in some ways, to see him lose that stubborn heroic streak, but I couldn't help but be glad for it now because he was right. Starting something with anything here could have been suicide. Still, staying here seemed like a bad idea we needed to move before this became too much for him. Hell for any of us. I turned to John. "Ok, where are we headed now?"
John, who had been staring almost nostalgically around us, shook off the reverie. "Sorry mate. Lost my train of thought there for a moment. Strangefellows. My teacher is usually there when hes around at all." He shot us a wink. "Figure you lot could use a drink to settle the nerves, and there's no place like the oldest bar in the world to wet your whistle." Ignoring the fact that I was pretty sure John was an alcoholic, I couldn't deny that the place did sound interesting at least. Plus a drink really might help. Alcohol wasn't really my bag mostly, but after some of the things I was starting to notice now that I was paying attention I could probably use it.
So we followed behind him in the crowd. I made sure to keep the girls next to me and Zee had a hold on Artemis who was dragging Wally. We didn't need to get separated out here. Honestly where I had at first been a little psyched up by the atmosphere of this place it was starting to get to be a little overwhelming. Sort of the place version of eating too much candy and getting sick, the longer I was exposed the more over the top and cloying the street around us seemed. It was loud and noisy and garish and then, suddenly...it wasn't.
We'd been walking down the road, avoiding the cars (some of which John insisted weren't actually cars and most of which apparently ran on something unpleasant and were usually hungry) when suddenly John took us down a sharp turn. Not into one of the black as night alleys, not at first, but down a small side street. The place was packed with squat dark buildings, lit with dim and flickering gas lights and paved with actual cobblestones as opposed to the blacktop the rest of the roads were made from. John looked around casually but intently as we walked down the road, until we came to an alley.
Given the lack of neon to provide a contrast the darkness here was much less oppressive. Still heavy but not nearly as much as it had been back outside the train station. Our eyes were able to adjust pretty easily as we stepped into the space between two of the rustic looking buildings. The whole place made me feel like I was going to a thieves guild in a medieval city or something, and I was relieved to be away from the garish lights at this point. The novelty of the Nightside wore off pretty quickly, and I was already pretty ready to get the hell out of here once we found Kit.
As we entered the alley I saw another neon sign, not a big one, it was dim and understated, that was in some language I'd never seen before. The red glow cast a soft light down onto a massive slab of steel set flush with the wall, a slab with no knob or handle. John strolled casually up to the door and rapped on it smartly, banging out shave and a hair cut on the metal, which swung inward at the touch of his last knock, showing us into the entrance to the bar. He turned to us with a grin. "Glad that worked, this thing only opens if the owner likes you, and he's a moody git some nights."
We stepped inside, the door slamming itself behind us as we looked around. The parlor of Strangefellows was...strange, like everything else in the Nightside. It looked kind of fancy and posh at first glance, Tudor furniture, persian rug, bas relief paintings and murals on the walls and ceilings. But the furniture had drunk people draped across it, the rug was stained in places with who knew what, and the paintings were all of obscene acts that even renaissance italian masters would have considered gauche.
The pair of metal stairs in the corner lead down to the stone pit that the actual bar was held in, and a sign at the bottom said 'Enter at your own risk', this time in English. John stopped us as we got to the top. There was old school rock playing in the background. "Alright, ground rules. We're here to find my teacher. His name is John Taylor, and he kind of has a rep around here. So, a quick list of do's and dont's. Do: stick close to me, avoid engaging with the bar patrons, and be careful what you order. Don't: start any fights, eat the bar snacks, or mention Taylor's name to anyone unless I do it first."
He seemed genuinely worried, as opposed to the general sense of fatalism he clearly felt about the Nightside as a whole. He lowered his voice as he spoke again. "The protections on this place are serious business. Merlin is buried under the wine cellar. He still shows up once in a while, raises himself from the grave to keep everyone honest. Being dead doesn't stop you from being a major player in the Nightside. I've never seen him manifest, but I know people who have, and trust me it's nothing you want to see. He isn't as cuddly as the King Arthur stories make him sound. There's a reason they called him Satanspawn."
That...wasn't a name I'd ever heard applied to Merlin, but if he was actually here, I guessed it was true. Whatever the hell he was I doubted I wanted to meet him. Though I had to pinch Zee who face was starting to glow with excitement at the possibility. Sensing my discomfort and worry through our bond she sighed as I glared at her pouting but giving me a nod. Once that was out of the way I told John we understood, and we all mounted the stairs to head down into the oldest bar in the world.
So begins our next big arc. I'm VERY excited about this one. I have big plans, some involving DC, some involving residents of the Nightside. If anyone wants to know more about that latter I recommend reading the books. As usual advance chapters are available on pat-reon at that site/malcolmtent. I hope you all enjoy the chapter and what's to come.