Pokemon void and veil- Manipulations
"Speech"
'Thought'
"English"
I know, I know, its been awhile, been busy.
Good news, I'm not dying. Well, anymore.
Bad news, my body is in shock from lack of nutrients, something my psionic energy couldn't compensate for.
All things said and done, it was treatable, hence why I was currently on an I. V drip...
"Are we done yet?" I asked between gritted teeth, unable to move.
"Nearly, now hush," Fiona rolled her eyes at me.
"Will you PLEASE let me up?" I was practically begging at this point, I'd been on the floor for well over an hour.
"After all the trouble we had to go through to get that I.V. hooked up to you? No," The girl crossed her arms and then turned to my partner, who was holding me in a wrap of psychic energy.
Hatenna giggled, 'I did, I did get to hold you down after all' Fiona patted the little witch's head, smirking.
I growled in response, I knew they were only helping, but I wasn't happy about the needle in my arm.
No, don't think about it.
I turned my head, the only part she wasn't restraining, to Zoey. Who was steadfastly ignoring me with her head turned away and humming to herself while holding up said I.V. bag.
"You're lucky Jerry, any longer and you'd need to be hospitalized, adept or not. You're still not in good shape, but you aren't at risk of immediately dying," She huffed and walked over to me.
Cold!
"Damnit Fiona, would it kill you to warm that thing up first?" I commented. As the nurse used that bloody stethoscope again.
After a good 20 or so seconds the girl removed the tool from my chest, then hummed aloud, "Oh, Don't be a baby. Well, your vitals are better, not great, but better."
"Oh, Goodie," I replied sarcastically, not pleased that I would likely need another check-up and/or I.V. at a later date. Along with whatever the hell she had injected into it.
"Jerry, we're just trying to help," Zoey commented quietly, sounding somewhat upset at how abrasive I was being. So, of course Fiona glared at me for upsetting her sister.
Sigh
"Fine, fine, thank you. I DO appreciate it, I don't, however, like the treatment, your bedside manner sucks," Joy twitched at my comment.
"Look," I continued, "We still have a job to do, am I good to go?"
The pinkette rolled her eyes, "Hardly, you're BETTER, NOT recovered. Ideally, I'd prefer to keep you here for recovery. You're still at risk, but thankfully you are beginning to stabilize." She paused and flashed a light in my eyes.
Fiona sighed, "You're recovering fast, and I'm not stupid enough to think you'll stay put. So here's what's going to happen, I am going to remove the I.V. Bag, then you're going to perform your little spell while I see how it affects you. Got it?" It wasn't a question, contrary to the wording.
I groaned, "Yeah, yeah, I got it,"
I winced as she removed the I.V. And put on a plaster in short order, and finally Hatty released me.
"Finally," I stretched.
"It wasn't that bad, if you just let me work it wouldn't be necessary," Fiona rolled her eyes.
I ignored her and began searching my belt pockets for the items I'd need, it was already getting late and this needed to be done before sunset.
"So are we going to get to see magic now? Like actual magic?" Zoey had dropped the I.V. Bag and was already in my personal space, at least SHE was excited.
I grunted in the affirmative, "Looks like."
The bluette squealed softly in delight and flung her arms into the air, "YES!"
"Eep," Then just as quickly covered her mouth at the noise she had just made.
I rolled my eyes, even as the Joy prodigy smiled softly at her sister, and a giggling Hatty returned to my head.
"Yeah, yeah, give me a minute," I responded aloud.
It didn't take too long to draw a pentagram onto the stone floor with my chalk piece and pull out a singular blue candle.
Fiona cocked her brow, "So you just carry candles everywhere with you?"
"No," Was my absent-minded response as I continued my work, "Well I DO but only normal ones, these are from the gift shop."
"Gift shop? The castle has a gift shop?" Fiona's voice was bewildered.
"Apparently," I confirmed, "Sonia and Nessa went there after classes with Gran, and I tagged along." More accurately I had to go, still I got something I needed and managed to sneak off while they were chatting... Gran and Sonia are going to be pissed when I get back.
"Yeah, it's on the brochure," Zoey affirmed.
Brochure? Well, I suppose this would be considered a landmark, so that would explain the memorabilia being sold.
"Regardless, we have what we need for the ritual," I interrupted.
The pentacle had the sole candle at the top, above the spirit point, with the now shredded lily and daffodil in the center.
"That's it?" Zoey seemed disappointed.
I grunted, "I haven't activated it yet."
"Oh," She perked right back up.
"So this is a... Ritual, then?" Fiona analyzed from over my other shoulder.
At that, I began my explanation, "Yeah, stronger and longer lasting than a spell, the magic's bound to you, but it requires maintenance, or it breaks. Hatty's is still in effect after a few days, whereas a spell will wear off after a few hours, depending on how much energy you feed it, or I suppose stop feeding it." I neglected to mention what having too many magics bound to you could do.
"And you want to let one FEED off of you, after everything I JUST told you," Fiona glared, hard. Case in point.
"Easy, easy, feed isn't exactly the right word. It's passive mostly, it only draws when in active use, but the ritual should keep the draw low," I pacified as best as I could.
"Should?" She questioned.
"It depends on the items, quality, time, and energy spent on the ritual," My clarification was met with Fiona glaring again demanding further explanation.
"Wait, so is this a... hmm, good one?" Zoey asked.
I hesitated choosing my words carefully, lest I get put on forced bed rest, "Sort of? I mean, none of the ingredients are particularly rare, and I've had the quarts for a while. But we've put time and energy into making this happen, and that quarts was originally a pain in the arse to find, or in this case make usable."
"Is that good?" Zoey was definitely confused. But the look Fiona was providing was downright terrifying, daring me to ignore the question.
How the hell does she do that?
"...Yes? I don't have THAT much experience, but according to what I do know we should be good," I nodded resolutely.
"Jericho," The pinkette's voice was low, "If this hurts you, I AM calling my mother and to the distortion world with the consequences."
I winced, "Yeah, that's fair, just nothing about the magic, okay."
Honestly, with all the medical revelations I'd had today, I would have preferred to wait myself. But I had already been shown how woefully underprepared I was to face this world, it was time to stack the deck a bit in my favor, or I wouldn't be able to advance and deal with whatever came next. I mean, I haven't the foggiest idea what might show up for the eclipse and the Grimm still needed dealing with.
Right then, I took out the matches I had liberated from the camping supplies myself and Sonia had been practicing with, and lit the candle.
Thankfully it was still light out and not yet sunset, better for the element of fire rather than air, so I could work with this.
My book referenced both the fire and air elemental spirits for this curse ritual, Salamander and Sylphs respectively. It also referenced that I needed to be facing southeast, I'm not certain why, not yet anyway, but I'm not arguing.
I activated the array, took a deep breath, and closed my eyes beginning in my mother tongue, "Spirits heed my call, wind grant me sight true, second sight to see through, to see all. Where deception lurks and secrets hide, fire I beg a light through the darkness, sight never bound, So mote it be."
The air stirred, and the lit candle flared, I heard both girls inhale sharply then the flame died, and the wind settled. I could feel that the magic had been bound to me, and like before I had felt it shape into being.
"Jerry?" It was Zoey who broke the silence.
"Yeah?" I responded, slowly opening my eyes.
"Did it work?" She asked slowly.
"Yeah," I responded absentmindedly, looking around the far more colorful room, colors laced the air itself, and I could actively see the girl's aura which was spread to their belongings, Fiona's own pink aura colored the bag she had left in the corner and the two sisters were connected by a phantom string of each other's aura.
"Are you alright?" Fiona questioned, scanning me up and down.
"Yeah," I repeated, still rather distracted at the awe of it all.
I checked myself over, I was coated in a yellowish aura of my own, and had several strings of my own, one leading directly to my partner.
"Wow, I can see our link," I spoke as I placed a hand on the Hatenna's head.
She cooed affectionately in response, 'Of course you can, we're partners.' Got me there.
I was fascinated with everything around me, but the light outside the window certainly grabbed my attention.
Quietly moving over to the window, the curious if nervous siblings in tow.
There before me was a line of energy flowing straight through the city, and more light to the right of my vision.
Opening the window, I stuck my head out, more lines, several converging on this location.
"Jericho?" Fiona got my attention for a moment, then I noticed the same light from the lines was what was in the air around me.
"Ley lines," I said aloud.
"What?" The pinkette wanted clarification.
"Ley lines, the castle was built on several converging Ley lines," I explained.
Fiona groaned, "Which are?"
"Energy, magic, aura, whatever, this is its rawest form, pure energy, and they're converging into a nexus here," My head throbbed. I hissed and shook my head, stopping the energy the spell was using.
"Jerry!" Zoey was the first to grab me at the slightest hint of trouble. While her sister was multitasking, both glaring at me worriedly and checking my vitals.
"I'm OK, I'm OK," My attempts at waving them off, were unsuccessful.
Fiona scoffed, "That's what you said last time."
She pointed to the ground, "Sit, now."
I sighed at all the fussing but complied, "I'm serious, just a headache, I'm seeing things that aren't technically there, my mind's just, processing."
The Joy prodigy hummed skeptically, "I'll be the judge of that." O'great the fucking stethoscope again.
"I can feel my energy Fie, I promise I'm fine," Actually my limited pool of energy, was filling faster, interesting, same yield but more stamina. I guess proper nutrients with my higher metabolism was already making a difference.
The question though was, were the ley lines helping, or did I have to actively tap into them? Because if not, I might've been even worse off than I thought I was otherwise.
Hmm, perhaps I connected with them just now?
Fiona said any more fights like yesterday could have done me in. But considering how bad I apparently was already, I shudder to think about how much worse my condition could have been. And now I knew they were there, I could feel my body almost subconsciously drawing more on the natural energy.
Shooting a look at the concerned sisters, I decided then and there, that was a secret I'd take to my grave.
'I won't~' Ah, there's the voice in my head... Shit.
'Well, YOU still can't tell them,' Was my hasty reply.
'Not yet~' The witch purred, though I felt a combination of annoyance and worry through our link.
"Well you seem fine, in fact, your vitals are climbing rapidly now," The nurse seemed confused.
"Ley lines," I affirmed with a nod, more to myself. Though, the girl's eye twitched.
"Of course, silly me, of course it's the Ley lines," She flung her arms into the air.
"Cool," Well at least Zoey wasn't worried anymore.
"Yeah, so can I get up?" I asked hesitantly, trying not to push the worried girl anymore.
"Fine, but I swear to Arceus, if you ignore your health like this again, I AM tying you to your bed until I say you're fit enough to leave, understood," She was pointing down at me even as Hatty giggled.
"Understood," I agreed, trying to placate the worried girl.
'I'm telling~' Hatty teased.
'That's a problem for future Jericho,' I stated as I returned to my feet.
"Well the ritual worked at least, going to have to practice with it mind you," I was looking forward to it actually. New magic, from what I'd read, was somewhat hit or miss. Which is why I was being careful with it unless I had a true NEED for it, a powerful intent.
Fiona's glare had returned full force, "You're not practicing that alone, the last thing I want, is you overworking yourself to death when I only just fixed you!"
Raising my arms in mock surrender, the nurse relaxed somewhat, "I get it, I'm still fragile at the moment. I'll be careful."
"So what now?" Zoey spoke up, obviously in an attempt to redirect the conversation.
Fiona huffed irritably but answered her sister, "We go to the morgue." Then she turned to me directly, "And seeing as you aren't actively dying, I suppose telling you to stay put wouldn't work?"
"You assume correctly," Was my swift response.
Fiona growled, through it sounded more like a kitten trying to be threatening. It would have been adorable, if I didn't actually know the girl likely could and would drug me if she felt it necessary.
"Hey, you're the one who said I was recovering rapidly. And honestly? I have a bad feeling about this, I'd prefer we stick together right now," The truth was I'd had a bad feeling since Zoey's mum had questioned me at lunch, and if things went sideways they'd need support.
"Yeah, together we can do anything," Zoey cheered, though had the presence of mind to be quiet about it this time.
I sighed, "Soooo, the morgue?"
"The morgue," Zoey confirmed, grinning despite the fact it was, you know, a morgue.
Fiona rolled her eyes, before giving her reluctant agreement, "The morgue."
The walk there was quiet, not many people in this part of the castle, less so now, as twilight descended.
Zoey was relatively happy, all things considered, but Fiona continued eyeing me. It's understandable I suppose, this likely goes against her medical training, but ultimately, I would have followed them regardless, I think she knows that.
Note to self, find a gift for Zoey and Fiona, I had been a rather stubborn idiot, I'll admit. More importantly, a shit patient, but I really don't like needles, or hospitals or, well, medical treatment in general.
Never had that problem before, but after arriving in this world I became paranoid, afraid of what they might find considering my circumstances. I need to lose that train of thought, I can trust these two. Unfortunately, old habits are hard to break.
"So this aunt of yours," I broke the silence in the corridor, "What can I expect?"
Fiona's face scrunched up for a moment as she thought, "Aunty Saline is... different, like me. She became a mortician to get away from people."
"Ah, got it," Was my simple reply, a sore subject. I know Fiona had some trouble with her family, don't get me wrong she loved them and vice versa, but when you're born a Joy you enter the medical field, end of story.
There were some who deviated from that path, but it always led to strained relations with the family. Not purposely, but when your family is constantly trying to be helpful by getting you, back on track, I can see why. For Fiona that wasn't an option, and now I know about her sire, I know why.
Granted, mortician work WAS a medical field, but it wasn't normal for a Joy, which made her something of an outcast but still an active part of the family.
I spared a look at my pink-haired friend, she wanted to be a naturalist, to research the world, explore, and figure out how things worked. But She was already very different from others in her family, so she endeavored to be the best nurse she could be instead.
It's not something a child should have to deal with, then again, none of this is.
I shook my head.
"Well, at least we'll get along, we both hate people, that's common ground, right?" I was only partly joking, outside of my family, these two were the only people I even remotely liked, even if they tended to make life difficult at times.
Joy snorted lightly in response.
'Hey!' The witch broadcasted indignantly.
'You're included in the family part, partner,' I soothed. Receiving a rather smug sound in return.
"Na-ah, we're people, you like us," Zoey optimistically countered.
"Nah, you're Zoey and Fiona," I stated factually.
"Yeah, but we're people," I have no idea why she sounds so proud of that.
"True," I conceded, my point lost. It was best not to try and explain that for some unholy reason, I had become emotionally invested in the two, and they therefore weren't JUST people to me.
Zoey puffed up in pride, even as I rolled my eyes and Fiona smirked at my point going over Zoey's head.
I shivered as the temperature dropped in the hallway, "Is it just me, or is it getting colder?"
And like that, Fiona was back in my personal space, and fussing, "You feel cold, perhaps we should get you more food first? Your metabolic spike might be slowing."
"No, no, I'm fine, I don't feel cold myself, I mean in the air. You don't feel that?" I questioned, only receiving duel frowns in return.
'I do,' Hatty confirmed.
"Hatty feels it too," I relaid.
"Hmm, perhaps it's because you're an adept, they tend to have better sensory input than normal humans," Fiona queried aloud.
"They do?" I hadn't noticed anything. Then again, thinking back, I had only seen the tower after becoming an adept, was that part of it?
"Yes, though considering your less than... ideal condition, perhaps you never noticed, or your body never adapted to read the energy until now?" Fiona was looking concerned again.
"Maybe" It made sense, but something felt... off.
Fiona sighed in frustration, hey it's nice to be on the other side of one of those.
"When you've recovered, we'll need to get a baseline for your vitals in case something else happens," She wasn't asking.
I winced slightly, like I said, old habits are hard to break. Fiona's pleased smirk wasn't helping, nor was Hatty's eager, 'I'll help.'
Now it was my turn to sigh.
"Hey, I feel it too," Zoey cut in as we got closer.
"I think I know why," Fiona pointed ahead at the appropriately labeled, morgue, door.
"Is the morgue door supposed to be open?" I queried, knowing the answer.
"No," Fiona quietly held up her mother's access card, but worriedly didn't make any further comment.
"Powers out," Was my rather obvious comment as we passed the dead card reader.
"The back-up power should have kicked in though," Zoey frowned.
The morgue looked fine, though. As we entered, the only thing's out of place was the open, fault? Door, and the sleeping Nurse Joy. The last of which, I assume, is Saline, she had her head in her arms on her desk, and her back was slowly rising and lowering.
BANG
"Shit," The door had shut behind us, I grabbed at it to no avail.
"Is it-" Fiona didn't even need to finish for me to answer, "Locked."
"Coz there's no main power," Zoey was looking both scared, but resolved.
The cold was getting worse now.
"First things first, check on her, I'll get the freezer," I pointed at their still-sleeping relative.
As the two moved toward their elder, I went to shut, what I can only assume, was the repurposed freezer door and the source of the freezing temperature.
Sleeping in this can't be good.
'Maybe emergency power only goes to the freezer?' I asked my partner.
'Yes? Human death rituals are weird,' Hatty was feeling confused more than concerned.
But I could feel something was wrong, the what, however, was eluding me.
'Yeah, I know,' I responded. The door was even colder though, and frosted over?
"Aunty, Aunty," Zoey was shaking the sleeping woman. Aunty? I will never understand how their family relations work.
Unfortunately, the heavy metal door was far too much for my younger body. I sighed into the silence... The freezer wasn't running, that present chill now ran down my spine.
The freezer was dark, too dark to see too far in. But from what I could see, I spotted several bodies, at least five, none of them identifiable. Whatever THIS was, it wasn't something that was related to the grunts we had killed.
"She's cold," Came Fiona's voice.
That's not good, yeah, this door needs closing.
A little should be fine, someone's life IS in danger.
"I got it," I responded, flaring my psionics very weakly, to empower myself. Exhaustion was a small price to pay for a life.
Hatty was the first to react with worry, feeling my power build-up, 'Maybe, I should-'
Fiona, however, let out a desperate, "NO!" while closing the distance between us, followed by-
CRACK
"FIONA! What the fuck!?" I yelled, as she fucking slapped me, again! I thought we were past this.
Rather than respond, she took advantage of my surprise to push me down. I heard Zoey call out for her sister in surprise as I hit the floor.
"You're not dying," Was the only comment the girl on top of me made, through teary eyes.
"Fiona! What?" I cried in surprise, at the girl's actions, before her words registered.
Then I paused as I took in the girls, now crying form.
Click
That fucking collar.
"FIONA, get this off of me, NOW!" Though weakness quickly overcame me, I was unfortunately used to it. Thankfully, that also meant I was used to operating in a depleted state.
Hatty cried in alarm and pushed the girl off of me with a weak blast of confusion.
"NO! I'm not letting someone I care about die," It didn't last long as she launched herself back on me.
"What are you-" Then, something clicked in my head, "You looked it in the eyes," I accused.
The pink-haired girl froze, still crying through a stern face, "You're not going to die."
The Grimm's presence alone spoke of death, but look it in the eyes, and it'll show you far worse. It was still a demon no matter how low in the hierarchy, it thrived off of manipulation.
Before I could respond, and figure out just what that fucking Grimm had done, a cracking snap caught my attention... from behind me.
It was suddenly quiet, as everyone currently awake in the room turned their attention to the opened freezer, and the bodies now sitting upright, turned their stiff necks toward us in unison with a CRACK.
"Fiona, get this thing off of me," I quietly begged as Zoey let out a whimper of fear, and more concerningly, their Aunt's breathing hitched.
But she, like her sister, was frozen.
Fear took a hold of my soul, the atmosphere, the cold, the undead, my adrenalin kicked, and I tried to focus, to compartmentalize and act.
Something was so very wrong, I clawed at my herb bag, as the... things moved and stood around a, oh shit. That's a reverse pentagram.
An old castle like this would have a church and the Ley lines would only strengthen the effects. In other words, this was technically holy ground.
And something was trying to get in.
"Shit," I brought the herbs to my pentacle, "Spirits put apathy to this fear, So mote it be." And nothing, the fear remained.
This should work, you don't need to be an adept to be a mage. I focused hard on forcing my calm, but then it slipped, again and again.
Then a memory of a black dog with glowing red eyes, it wasn't just Fiona, even from that distance, something was latching itself to me, all of us.
Damn it. The iron had only stopped it physically.
Of course, we hadn't noticed, we'd all been out of sorts from the fight, and clearing the air of our personal issues.
It hadn't even changed us, only manipulated us, my constant flare of anxiety was unusual, but understandable given the circumstances.
Zoey had suddenly become very passive, she was shy, yes, but a go-getter in every sense, often taking the lead, again explainable given the circumstances.
But Fiona's sadistic nature had doubled and become violent, it was never something she would use against me. I shouldn't have explained it away, had she done the same?
Hatty though, she seemed relatively fine- the ritual. But the spell wasn't working now, fuck, fuck, fuck.
I- We couldn't fight like this, we had to run, remove the collar, smash the door-
Wait, Hatty wasn't bound, she could-
Too late, space warped, and the corpses collapsed like marionettes with their strings cut. Whatever had been powering them was now activating the array.
Then everything got unnaturally dark, as I forced myself up, and dragged the terrified nurse with me away from the freezer.
Hatty as per usual, appeared on my head and hissed.
I forced the tear-stained nurse behind me, and grabbed at the collar myself, if I could even the odds even a little.
"AHHH!" The fucking thing shocked me, of course it had a fail-safe.
"My, mY," I froze, no way, it couldn't of, "I exPecTEd YoU To hAve toRn each oTheR aPart BY noW."
Overcoming fear, is courage.
"What did you do," I hissed out. If I couldn't block the fear I would use it, anger settled in my gut.
The darkness twisted, and a childish chuckle echoed around us, "A maGi cOulD bE QuiTE a ThReAt, I MaDEd SUre you WOUldN't be. YOu WeRe sO FoCuseD ON YoUr FAilUres, On WHat CouLd bE. YEt Here YOu ARE, ResILieNt lITtLe mOrtalS aRen'T You?"
The cold was piercing now, like being out in a blizzard, except the air was suffocatingly thick.
From everywhere and yet nowhere, the voice continued, "AlL I NeEded TO Do WaS MakE YoUR EmOTionS MoRE... ExTReam. I WoNder, DiD YOu REsiSt THe WoRSt, BecAusE yoU ACTully FelT ThaT WAy, Or PERhAps YOU're STronGer thAn yOu AppEAR, OR WAs IT jusT LUck?"
"Ah, BuT A LEShed Dog iS no ThREat To mE, A lITtle push HeRe, A nUDGe there" It whispered in my ear.
I wanted to shiver, but Fiona's own quiet broken,"No," Had me bearing my teeth.
The darkness formed, a twisted grin took shape, the Grimm had broken free.
"WHat IS It You SAid? sHaLL We?" It taunted.
I drew my blade, running was useless now. And anger burned hot in my gut against the cold fear in my heart.
If anything, it's grin widened.
A/N: And so the truth comes out, its the little things, easily explained away by the stress of the fight, the first kill. Fiona's violence due to her own nature and experiences made her more susceptible, she also looked it in the eyes directly rather than glancingly, more on that later, and any medical professional fears not being able to help their patient, she wasnt upfront about it like she normally would have been. While Zoey's willingness to simply follow her lead rather than lay down the literal law, and even join in, though reluctantly and with some complaining, rather than simply acting out, is a result of her own belief in law and order. Jericho was the least affected mostly because of his soul's age, and flexibility but even he began to panic at one point and kept going on tangents.
Ultimately however a Grimm didn't know Jericho was actually in danger of dying, and isn't that curious, but it gave fiona something to focus on with some control, and some control over. Nor could it have known that Jericho was a reincarnate and would know large parts of the future which would spread the shock and focus away from JUST the supernatural. Meaning that they didn't have time to get themselves too worked up over one thing. Never mind team plasma, which it was aware of.
As for Hatty, this is literally her first time in actual human society, shes effectively copying the two girls closes to her age to gain some understanding.
The real question is, what was real, and what was manipulated? It couldn't reach out to them immediately, and it had only a day and a bit to work on them, during which it had to get a metaphorical feel for them before acting, even then its been locked away for along time.