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With the ABB almost completely collapsed, it was decided that, for now, our patrols should focus on the area where the now "cleared" area joined up to E88 territory. It was rather obvious that the Empire was keen to start expanding into the new area and that we were the only thing keeping them out. I could feel Alya expanding around me, happy to be spread out after spending so much time compressed as I worked on my totem magic.
"I still cannot believe that Nazis openly exist in the city," the
still-nameless guardian spirit said, shaking his head. "The occasional Klan member stirring up trouble, sure, but Nazi's? The country loved to hate them! Kids used to play 'hunt the…German,' during the war, for God's sake."
Crow turned to look at the metallic awakened spirit before looking back at me. I simply shrugged, before turning to answer his question. It was clear that spirit was implying a less-than-kind word had been used instead, and Crow had obviously picked up on him talking about history as if he had experienced it.
An increasingly large part of myself was beginning to think it was time to let Crow in on my big secret, as it was getting hard to explain what was going on. At least people like New Wave weren't privy to how a lot of my rituals worked, but Crow had witnessed them herself just before the battle with Lung. I wouldn't be surprised if she had her own suspicions already and just considered them too crazy to voice.
"They exist for the same reason they existed in Germany," I explained, bringing myself back to the conversation with a sad frown. "When things start to fall apart, a lot of people find it easier to blame a group of people than admit it's their own fault, or even that it's no one's fault but random chance. It only gets worse when someone notices and uses that to gather power for themselves. I'm not making excuses for them, I don't care how bad it is, it's no excuse for what they do. Worse is that it poisons them and the people around them, changing the way they think until all they can do is hate. And lying to yourself like that is addictive, almost impossible to let go of."
That seemed to answer the awakened spirit's question, but it did nothing to settle him. For a while, we walked silently down the street, occasionally shaking hands and getting photographs taken. It was pretty startling how normal that had gotten, the attention seemingly like just part of the job. Equally surprising was just how much the area we were patrolling had changed with news of the ABB's almost complete collapse. The streets were more active, with people walking down the sidewalks and cafes and restaurants opening up seats outside. It was like a storm had passed, and people were coming out to see the damage and escape their cramped homes.
Eventually, I brought up that the spirit was still looking for a name, and once Crow had gotten past her confusion, we started coming up with suggestions. Some of them were a bit capey, while others were just normal names. Eventually, the spirit cut me off after I suggested Jackson.
"Smokey," He said with a confident nod. "You can call me Smokey."
Both Crow and I shared a look, and I very carefully kept my face clear of any judgment.
"Are you sure?" I asked carefully. "Once people start calling you that, it's going to be hard to change it. Plus, people might connect it to Smokey the Bear."
"That's fine, Christopher always liked him," He said with a distant smile. "Plus, it's a nickname for state troopers, and I like that. Peter was a trooper before he retired."
"I… didn't know that," I admitted, nodding after a moment of silence. "Alright, Smokey, it is."
Now Crow looked really confused, giving me an intense look even though I couldn't see her face. I could almost feel her trying to ignore her trust issues, which is what finally convinced me.
"Later, Crow. Stick around when I go healing, and we can go back to the forest," I assured her, patting her shoulder. I promise to explain everything there."
"...I'm gonna hold you to that," She explained after a long pause before turning back to focus on the sidewalk.
Our patrol continued for another few hours, with Smokey, Crow, and I walking alongside each other and the golems walking behind us, waiting to follow my command. Eventually, we met up with Manpower and Laserdream, who were surprised by Smokey's presence but quickly recovered enough to shake his hand and welcome him to the vague team-up we had going. They clearly had questions, but since they didn't ask them, I felt no need to volunteer the information.
After leaving the two superheroes, as well as their own golems, to take over the patrol, I teleported my group to the hospital. Rather than teleport onto the front lawn like I usually did, this time, I appeared in a room on the second floor, one cleared of anything and marked liberally with caution tape and obvious warning signs. I told them my landing spots were adjustable, and I could just as easily land on the roof, but they explained that the emergency helipad took up most of the walkable space, so they understandably didn't take to that idea.
After a brief conversation with the on-duty medical director, I went about my rounds, healing nearly two dozen people. Smokey got a few odd looks, but nobody commented, not even those he talked to.
When I was done with my rounds, I bribed Crow with lunch to let me push my explanation off a bit longer. I wanted to stop by a few plant nurseries before we headed home, as well as a grocery store. What she did not expect was for me to bounce around to three different towns, stopping off at local plant nurseries. Not every shop had fruit tree seeds, which was why it took so long to find pear, apricots, and plums. I couldn't find a few of the seeds I needed since they normally couldn't be grown in the New England region, so I had to order them special. They would be ready to pick up in a few days.
Once we were done, I teleported us back to the compound, stopping by the hospital to grab Smokey, who had been waiting in the newly made landing room, as well as a pair of pizzas for lunch and a final stop at a grocery store, for a large chunk of beef.
Thankfully, Crow had the same preference as me when it came to eating, namely that we didn't talk about anything stressful. Instead, we chatted about the compound and about what I could do to help the docks community. When we were done, we made our way to the ritual platform, and I started going through my storage while Crow, still in her costume, sat down nearby.
"So, you said you would explain some things," She asked, nodding to Alya as she coalesced nearby. "You gonna make good on that or?"
"First… you need to promise to keep this to yourself," I said, talking to her as I started pulling things out of storage and placing them on the table to be used. "Kinda pointless, I know, I either trust you or not, the words don't mean much. But this is a big deal. I would like to hear you say it, at least."
"I… Yeah, I promise," she said, stopping herself from immediately confirming. "I trust you, and I want you to trust me."
"I do trust you," I confirmed before snagging a piece of electrum chalk and making my way to the platform, getting down on all fours and slowly getting started.
The ritual I had in mind was locked in my head from the latest upgrade to druidcraft, so I could easily copy it down while still paying attention to my conversation.
"...so, what did you want to explain?" She asked, watching me work.
"I'm not a parahuman," I responded simply, pushing myself to my knees and meeting her eyes. "I don't have those brain growths, and I never triggered. What I do is magic."
She stared at me, my words seeming to have no effect on her. I couldn't see her face since she was still wearing her cloak, but that was fine. As I waited, I focused back on the ritual, slowly drawing it out, symbol by symbol, line by line. It was about five minutes before she finally spoke up.
"You really believe that?" she asked.
"I know it's true," I responded, still working. "Just like you know that I'm not crazy."
"How could I possibly know that?" she asked, her voice cutting with a chipped edge, prompting me to look up at her.
"Crow. You've seen more of what I can do than anyone," I pointed out. "From the first time you saw me fight, all the way until earlier today when you learned I could make sentient guardians with their own abilities. At any point during any of that, have you seen my work and thought. 'Oh, yeah, that's definitely a parahuman ability?'"
She leaned back in her chair, my words seeming to force her down as if speaking the truth had made the situation more real.
"When you first put on that cloak, did it feel like tinker tech?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. "Or did it feel like magic?"
When she again didn't respond, I got back to work. I managed another two minutes before she spoke up again.
"Alright. So you're magic. Why haven't we seen any other magic around?" She asked, and when I sat up to look at her, her hood was down, revealing her beautiful scarred face. "Where aren't there any unicorns and dragons?"
"There is so little magic in this world that the amount of magical phenomena is near zero," I explained with a frown. "My guess is that there
is magical stuff happening, it's all just so minor and subtle that you can barely register it. No idea why it's like that, but magic does exist, just in tiny amounts. Certainly not enough to make anyone else like me."
"If it's impossible, how are you magic then?"
"That's… a difficult question to answer," I admitted, letting out a breath and frowning. "I'm not sure you want the answer."
"I-"
"I know you
want the answer. And if you ask, I will tell you," I responded before she could say anything else. "But it's a lot, not something everyone can take learning. I'm not saying this because I'm lying or because I don't want you to know. I'm saying this because I don't think you'll enjoy knowing the truth."
"You're assuming I would even believe you."
"You do believe me. That's why it's so hard to wrap your mind around," I pointed out, leaning back down to continue drawing on the platform. "If you thought I was crazy or playing a role, you would just wave it off, have a laugh at my expense, and move on. This is so serious because you know I'm not lying, crazy, playing a role, or anything like that."
Again silence returned. I was thankful that both Alya and Smokey had, at some point, realized that this was a bit of a private conversation, and had left, as much as Alya could leave me. Even Kali, who was aware of everything that happened in her domain, was "focusing" elsewhere, creating the illusion of privacy.
"Why are you telling me this?" Olivia finally asked. "If you're telling the truth… why tell me?"
"Because I trust you. Because you're working closer to me than anyone and I can tell you were starting to catch on," I explained. "Because I saw how much me hiding Alya from you hurt you, and I didn't want to do it again. Because you were already noticing that Smokey was not just some sentient golem AI. Because you're my friend, and you deserve to know."
That seemed to catch her off guard, and while silence did return, it was not nearly as heavy. I continued to draw and outline the ritual, getting most of the way through before she spoke up.
"So, these rituals… they are real, actual magic?" She asked, standing from her spot to walk around.
"That's right. I have to fuel them with my mana, plus anchor the item with material sacrifices," I explained, putting the finishing touches on the ritual. "Pass me all the stuff I have lined up over there. This is a complicated one."
She nodded and passed me each ingredient for the ritual, starting with a quarter cut of the beef I just bought, a ruby, a little fragment of hematite, a small ingot of gold, and several other ingredients, before handing me the focus, a single pear seed. I carefully placed each one in the correct spot before making my way out of the ritual and kneeling down beside it.
"This one's gonna take a bit to get going, so feel free to find where Alya and Smokey went," I suggested. "Don't go too far from the compound, though, or the protections will kick in, and you won't be able to get back."
She nodded, and I turned my focus to the ritual, slowly focusing on charging it up. This particular ritual was a slow start, meaning I had to delicately infuse my magic into the whole ritual before it could all start at once. Then I needed to maintain that output for another twenty minutes. A difficult task, but considering I had done longer rituals already, so I wasn't exactly new to it.
By the time I was done, Smokey and Alya had returned, the former talking quietly with Olivia while the latter simply floated and watched. I could feel Kali swell up and influence the end of the ritual, stepping in to refine and bind the seed to herself on a minor level. A flash of images and feelings told me it was so it would respond better to her care and that it wouldn't affect the fruit.
I barely had time to inspect the seed before Kali pulled herself into her dryad golem, happily taking the seed from me and rushing to the orchard. I quickly followed after her, only to find that she had already cleared and cordoned off an area for the magical enhancement plants. Flat stones lead off the wooden walkway, curling around into several large circles, all connected together in a tree-esque manner, each circle wide enough for a few fruit trees. I would have to cut down some trees and expand the clearing if we wanted to expand the number of circles, but for now, it was more than adequate.
"It looks good, Kali. Feel free to plant the seed wherever you want," I said with a smile, watching as she almost skipped down the stone path, stepping into one of the circles and gently planting the seed.
I could feel her working her magic on the whole circle, but I still needed to step in and cast some spells on the seed itself. Nothing major, just a minor increase in growth. I couldn't do anything close to what I did with the food orchards, as the effects would ruin the end result.
I had a feeling that Kali was gonna find a way to speed it up anyway, but I wasn't going to complain.
"So…what did I just watch you make?" Olivia asked, her eyes watching Kali, who was excitedly watching me push my magic into the soil, drawing up nutrients and freshening up the soil. "And who is this?"
"That was something called a divine fruit tree. And no, there is nothing divine about it. It's just a name," I assured her. "A divine fruit tree creates fruit that enhances people permanently. This is going to be a pear tree. It should bear fruit that tunes muscles and unlocks a person's full strength."
I couldn't help but chuckle at Olivia's wide-eyed look, stopping when Kali poked me and gestured to be introduced.
"Oh, and this is Kali. She is... well, honestly, what she is is a bit complicated," I admitted, scratching my head. "How about we sit down and start from the beginning? There's a lot to go over, and I'm sure you'll have questions."
After a long moment, Olivia let out a long breath and nodded in agreement, so I smiled and led her back into the main compound, away from the orchard, my three other companions following after us.
