Empathy and Ink (a DC OC Quest)

[Z488411]

Empathy and Ink (a DC OC Quest) ​

I'm still struggling to grasp the sheer enormity of the DC setting, so any help would be appreciated. That said this will be relatively heavily based on the DCAU, with some differences, OCs, etc. I like making OCs very much, so expect them, but I will try to stay true to the characters and tone of the setting as best as I can. And also include canon characters of course, even if we're not starting out meeting Batman. Writing is hard and RL is unhelpful.
I am also not dead and will get back to Wyrm and possibly Masks if I ever find the time. This is just a project to get myself motivated and back into writing, but I'm aiming for daily updates.
Any critiques are also appreciated.

1. A Workplace Accident.​

One you should probably have been able to predict. Too little sleep, too much work, and too much excitement are just not a good combination unless you don't mind the occasional accident.

Unfortunately, intern as you may be, accidents at the Gotham Museum of Antiquities apparently had consequences. Especially since the whole thing had been started by a donation of potentially magical artifacts. That had been this morning. A private collection, willed to the Museum and entirely unlabelled. Even without those, the curator and various other people working at the museum needed very little time to get excited though.

And from that point you had been looking over their shoulders, making notes and moving things around to temporary and more permanent holding places. You had been making notes, updating files and handles things you wished you could have a closer look at, even just five or ten minutes more, but seeing as you were the intern, and thus the gofer, you were also the first person to be sent off to do something mundane. Like making coffee.

You had no idea how much coffee you had made or drunk by the time it got dark, just that you had been there since morning and they were still too fascinated to even think about going home.

In actual fact, everyone had probably been in the same state of having lost track of time just to look at what you just got, then the next item and the next... it didn't matter that most weren't completely intact, there was still so much information to be gleaned.

That was probably also why you didn't notice your papercut until far too late, tripped over your own feet when one of the Ph.D. students almost ran into you and then bled on a stone shard carved with all sorts of images interspersed with characters you didn't understand but, from the headache forming just by looking at them, had to be magical.

All things considered, waking up with everyone standing around you, curled around your arm, with a paramedic on site and a splitting headache and corresponding bump was far from the worst thing that could have happened.

They even let you go home and gave you a day off after making sure you were lucid enough.

At least everyone else left with you and before something worse could happen.

You thought one of the Ph.D. students drove you home too, but you couldn't be sure. Everything was a blur and by the time you woke up in the morning, you only had very vague memories left over.


When you woke up, you almost thought everything was back to normal. That it had all just been a dream, if not for the slight pain at the side of your head, that odd feeling at the back of your brain, and an odd urge to look at your hand.

There was something moving on your skin.

It looked like... no, it was:



[ ] - The Bird
A bird in flight, beating its wings in two dimensions, looking around, as if to explore every crevice.
You supposed you weren't particularly surprised. You had always been curious, fixating on things even if your attention span wasn't the best. You couldn't stop looking at it or anything else. Flight or even just running or walking around a new place, with no particular target had an allure all of its own.

[X] - The Serpent
A Serpent winding itself around your fingers, watching you with still eyes, tongue flicking occasionally. Most people would probably not be thrilled with this, but you didn't mind snakes, the smooth movements, able to go from languid to a near instantaneous strike. It seemed right somehow. You liked to think first and act later if you had the option, with some preference for calm and quiet places and of course digging into any and all information you could find.

[ ] - The Four legged animal
A four legged creature prancing over your hand. You could see the power, confidence, and playfulness in its movements, even if you could never be quite sure whether it was a cat, a dog or something else entirely. Its tail moved, its pointed ears twitched and you couldn't help but smile to yourself. This was amazing, incredible and you had to resist the urge to do the same thing it was doing before running off to tell your roommate. You had never been the shy type.

[ ] - The Larva
A... Larva? It wiggled. Curling its fat, segmented body, with the two eyes and mandibles. It was actually kind of cute. But what did that say about you? You still didn't know what you were going to do, but college seemed like a good idea. You wanted, needed to be something, but decisions are harder than they sound and how can you pick just one? It always felt like you were dreaming and waiting for something.

[ ] - Write in - You may only choose a normal living thing, for example: The sprout, the fish, the rat, the hare, the fungus, the vine, the cephalopod or the pangolin. Mythological creatures can be obtained by growth (for example obtaining the ability to grow your bird into a phoenix or your Serpent into a dragon), as is or by fusing existing Marks (for example fusing your bird and serpent into a dragon). Inanimate objects or personal archetypes can only be obtained during the story as is. A write in may only specify the live thing itself, I will take any personality traits written in a suggestion and may disregard them entirely if I decide I have no interest in writing that sort of character.



Progressing the story and gaining more experiences and interactions will allow your to obtain growth for your marks and yourself. New Marks can be gained during the story as well, through specific actions depending on the Mark and any of these starter Marks can be obtained later as well, although the starter Mark has a significant influence on your character's personality and to a lesser extent life until this point. A Mark represents a significant effort and part of your personality and as such you will not be getting new marks all the time.
Mark independent abilities can be obtained as well.



Omakes, Art and general help with this thing can earn bonuses in certain tasks, growth points for marks or even for the main character and mark development options.


If you're confused, feel free to ask.

 

[Z488411]

2. The Serpent​

You had no idea, why you were so certain. It was just stuck in your still aching brain.

Which, on second thought, was unsettling all on its own.

Whatever had happened, it must have done more than just giving you a tattoo. The feeling at the back of your brain was still there. Like an itch or something warm pressed against your body that you weren't looking at but still knew where it was and that it was there at all. It wasn't even uncomfortable, just very strange.

Which naturally made you uncomfortable all on its own.

Surreal was an understatement.

You couldn't believe how stupid you had been. Getting caught up in the excitement and all of the demands until you had no idea what you were doing anymore and completely forgot about safety protocols. And now you had to hope you hadn't accidentally cursed yourself. Just because it didn't feel like a curse that didn't mean it wasn't one after all and you had paid attention in your lectures on magical history. More than enough to do well on your exams and class work in fact, but that only drove home just how screwed you might be.

If it weren't for the tender bump on your head and the headache, you would probably have gone back to sleep and assumed everything would be fine in the morning. As it was, sunlight was streaming through your window, you had the exact injury you remembered, your bag wasn't where you usually put it and pinching yourself hadn't helped.

One part of you might be completely convinced this was harmless, but that in and on itself was suspicious. Mind altering effects existed after all. You were lucky you still looked almost normal and nothing had obviously gone wrong, but that didn't mean you were off the hook.

But surely five more minutes in bed would be fine.

Needless to say, the next time you woke, it was still there. You could feel it before you had even opened your eyes, slithering across your shoulder. You could even direct it, making the feeling of 'The Serpent' move ono your back, over your neck, onto your cheek, even under your hair and across your ear. If it were a tingling or ticklish sensation you probably would have stopped, but it was just so strange and oddly comfortable.

By the time you opened your eyes, you had that feeling winding itself around your fingers and weren't even surprised to see that sense reflected on your skin.

The only problem was that it also moved on its own, without your prompting. Not necessarily quickly or all the time, but your new tattoo seemed to feel no obligation to stay where you had put it. And you didn't think you could get away with long sleeves, gloves and a mask. You couldn't even do that in winter, never mind summer. Although a scarf and very large sunglasses might, in theory, make for a half decent substitute.

Maybe you could tell it to stay on your back. It was at least worth trying before you went through scenarios.

For the time being, you pushed it right there, got out of bed and peeked your head out of the door to your room.

Five minutes later, you had tea, cereal, and were back in the peace and quiet of your own room, trying to decide what to do.

Two of the others were away to visit family, but Malaya should in theory be in and you had no idea what to tell her. You were usually the one rolling your eyes and being disappointed when she had no idea when to stop drinking or baffled at her various relationships. And family dynamics, don't forget about those. Not that she wasn't nice and helpful enough, but you had absolutely no idea how she didn't lose track and how she didn't just collapse every day keeping up with it all. You were learning of course and you could see some facets of it just fine. It was the rest that tripped you up.

Even if it made for great entertainment and you still asked about it whenever you could. You were starting to make sense of it after all.

All of those things put aside though, you had the day off. No work to do, nothing but sleeping off your headache and, the cynical part of you added, enough opportunity for your madness to manifest and to make sure your coworkers could kick you out if you became a Batman Problem

Although considering the lack of murderous urges of any kind, you didn't think you would. You really, really hoped you wouldn't in fact. You would have loved to see Batman in action at some point, but that was probably not the way to do it. But would making a mental note to think twice about any murderous plans or elaborate, themed plans and costumes really be any help? At least some of the people locked up at Arkham Asylum must have asked themselves what they were doing at some point. And had apparently promptly decided to continue on anyway.

You would like to avoid that fate if at all possible. Maybe you were lucky and all you had gotten was a weird tattoo...

But you didn't think so. Or at least it would certainly be worth it to prepare for the chance that it wasn't.

Which meant you had to at least try and figure out more.

You could move it around already. The feeling at the back of your mind told you its name, but not what it was or what it did, but it might be some sort of link, which you could investigate.

Taking the back of your spoon and prodding it with that did absolutely nothing though, not that you had really expected it to, but it was worth trying. Using a sewing needle to pierce the skin the snake was occupying had a little more of an effect, but only in as much as it immediately moved away from that spot and was otherwise unchanged. So it could only occupy intact skin? Interesting. Maybe you could cut through it and that would have an effect... All you would have to do was to cut up your own body someplace and hold it in place.

Needless to say, you were somewhat hesitant to try that.

But there were only so many other things you could do. Stretching and scrunching the skin did nothing. The body part you had it on didn't really feel different, or if it did, it wasn't enough for you to verify. Looking at it didn't do anything either, obviously.

Pushing at the feeling at the back of your mind did.

It agitated The Serpent. The creature moved faster if you did that, you could feel it more intently, but it also left you just a bit more drained, with no other obvious effect. Just that it was doing something and you had no idea what it was, but you should definitely find out before anything could happen to you. If it was draining your energy or something, you had better get it off before it was too late.

Still... you didn't feel like it was. And you sort of liked the thing.

If you showed anyone, you had no idea what they would do. At the Museum they would be suspicious, but you might be able to play it off as just getting a shock, but the piece being too broken to have done anything to you...



Should you:

[X] Try meditation. You have watched enough anime and read enough books to know this should work. Not to mention it was something you could do inside your own room, with no one around to ask questions and well before anyone else got into this.

[ ] Ask for help at the museum. Maybe there actually was some information they had on what you had come into contact with and could tell you what exactly you were dealing with. It wasn't as if this sort of thing was illegal and you would end up arrested, although they might insist you get cleansed.

[ ] Go to a church, touch some holy water and see if it does anything. Just to make sure.

[ ] Go looking for an expert on magic. Either the people at the Museum or the Library or the internet would hopefully allow you to find someone to ask for help with this.

[ ] write in.




The Serpent: Growth Points + 1





You can still access the other choices later for this one.

 

[Z488411]

3. Self Experimentation​

You would try meditation first. It wasn't as if you couldn't go out and ask for help later, but you wanted to at least try and find out more yourself first.

Meditation was supposed to be easy, right?

Moving your pillow onto the floor, you got into position. Crossing your legs, making sure you were sitting correctly, hands in position and eyes closed. And now you just had to... mediate.

Apparently, meditation was nowhere near as easy as advertised. How were you supposed to just not think anyway? It had something to do with breathing of course, but maybe you were missing something else too.

Before you spent half an hour or more just experimenting, you decided to just grab your phone and your trusty headphones (cord replaced twice already, but they still worked). The internet had to have some instructions, this was supposed to be popular after all and if you could find enough commonalities, you would just work from there. There were even videos to help you along.

Well, maybe not for your particular situation, but in general and in theory. You donned the headphones, made sure they sat comfortably and pressed play.

No matter how silly you might feel in the process.

You breathed.

You didn't know exactly how long you felt just breathing, letting the various sensations pass by.

It was nothing like what anime and literature had promised you. Nothing like some internal font of power or any such thing, just peaceful. Peaceful and difficult to maintain. You had to keep reminding yourself not to get distracted, to just let those thoughts pass by. Let the voice fade into the background. Se the musing to help yourself relax, no matter how tense you were.

But the feeling at the back of your mind didn't go away.

You couldn't stop being simultaneously apprehensive and at peace with it and what it might be doing to you. Did it mean anything if you didn't feel any different? Your thoughts felt slower somehow.

You didn't know how much time had passed, but the soft music helped somehow. The voice was silent and you had time. Time to look at this strange new sensation and feel it out slowly. Like a link at the back of your mind, you could feel the exact shape of The Serpent moving over your skin. Direct it like an extra limb that was both yours and different somehow. The Serpent was a part of you, but it wasn't like your hand or your foot.

Really, if it had felt like a hand or a foot, that would have been concerning all on its own. But it didn't. It was both distant and not. You could tug at it, carefully at first, just like you could push it. You could somehow move yourself towards it, but that was more difficult. You could move away without any resistance and yet it was linked to your mind, even if it didn't whisper to you like you would imagine being possessed or having some sort of weird passenger to be like.

There was no real mind behind it. No consciousness you could feel, just very vague urges. Feelings and sensations, flowing weakly from it to you. Calm and considering, without judgment.

You stepped closer.

You pushed into the space in between that you didn't understand and that seemed to push you back and tug at you at the same time, in all directions, until you suddenly shot through.

The Serpent engulfed you.

It swallowed you whole until every sensation had changed in a confusing instant and you could suddenly see again.

Your eyes wouldn't close, but everything was a little less distinct. You couldn't see colour as you had before and your stomach was directly resting on soft, warm fabric that seemed so much bigger than your pillow had been, even if you hadn't moved.

Flexing your muscles and scales against it, it was easy to push off the material and move yourself forwards, all without even needing to think about your arms and legs. You could lift your head and move it all around so easily, just as long as you compensated with the rest of your body and kept up your muscle tension. Maneuvering your head into all sorts of positions was easy.

It took you entirely too long to realise that you were supposed to have arms and legs and that the fabric under you didn't just grow.

But all you could see behind you was a long body covered in smooth scales, patterned in beige, green, brown and black. Long and slender instead of the bulk of a boa or python and you could move all of it as if you had always been able to. As if this was completely normal and nothing to be concerned about at all even if you had just lost your hands and your body used to look completely different.

You could even still hear the music coming from the headphones next to your head. Which was far, far too small now.

The distorted surface of your headphones' metal parts showed you a slender, blunt head merging seamlessly with the neck and relatively large, round eyes. You tasted it with your tongue with one swift flick. There were so many more flavors in the air than you could ever have guessed. Like what you had lost in visual acuity was being paid back many times in this different world of scents.

And of course, your human scent was all over the room, but your pillow smelled of detergent and feathers too. The headphones tasted metallic, the leather was something else entirely, the wooden floors had their own taste and even each plank of wood was faintly distinct. You had moved off your warm pillow without even thinking. Flicking your tongue here and there, tasting your backpack, your jacket, your notes inside, your chair and your keys. You could even get back onto your bed even if it wasn't quite as easy.

You weren't exactly a long snake after all.

Which somewhat got back to the crux of the matter.

If your roommate found you, she would scream. You couldn't talk like this, you had no way of explaining at all and even if you theoretically knew how to do this, there was no guarantee you could just turn back the same way and forget this ever happened.

Maybe you should have found someone to help first. This was absolutely influencing the way you thought and you lived in Gotham. You knew what altered states of mind could do to people, even the natural forms, never mind something like this. You couldn't even make any noise but to hiss in alarm and to tap the ground with your body.

This had to be reversible. Right?

You could still feel something at the back of your mind, something else. But you couldn't focus. You were stuck as a snake!

What would you do if you couldn't fix this? This was exactly why you should have been more careful. No more experimentation unless you knew what you were doing or had help. You could use your mouth to write, maybe, but if something worse happen, you might be well and truly screwed.

But first, you had to try and fix this. You had to calm down. You were still alive, you could still think something vaguely resembling rationally at least. You had absolutely no desire to ut on a ridiculous costume and rob a bank. You could fix this, just as long as you breathed. There were ways out of this. You couldn't afford to panic, just calm down...

Breathe.

In and out.

You were fine. You couldn't close your eyes, but you were fine. You would find a way out, you just had to focus.

Nothing going on around you mattered. Just breathe. Not the chair, not the pillow, not the cool air or the feeling of wood on your scales or the many tastes in the air. Just let it go. Just focus on yourself. The Serpent was calm, you could be calm too. You could see it, you could feel it very differently. That connection you had made, pushing you back. The weird, fuzzy space in between pulling you in so many ways.

The sudden darkness as everything expanded and you felt yourself lying on the floor with something poking your hip and your toe being jammed against a bedpost.

But you could only roll over and stare at the ceiling.

You would never do this sort of thing again without someone to help or at least call help if you passed out. Or if you ended stuck in a way that wouldn't allow you to do so yourself.

That was way too close.

You weren't even doing anything illegal. There was nothing you could be charged with, apart from the danger of telling the government you were a meta. But between that and getting stuck, you might want to reconsider your priorities. But first, you just closed your eyes and rested.

It had to be about noon when you woke back up with a new set of aches and pains and extracted your headphones from underneath your hip.

But what now?



[ ] Tell your roommate Malaya. She should be in and just in case something like this happens again, she would be able to call for help. You had no guarantee you wouldn't do anything weird to yourself in your sleep.

[x] Go to a church and dip your hands in some holy water right now. Just to be sure. And then take a few water bottles with you just in case it doesn't do anything and you can convince a priest to bless them. They might come in handy later and it never hurts to be prepared. Especially since you had no idea if this might make you more attractive to magical threats.

[X] Go looking for an expert on magic. It's not just a weird tattoo. It might do all sorts of things and you should really get help before you manage to do something worse to yourself.

[ ] Ask for help at the museum. Maybe there actually was some information they had on what you had come into contact with and could tell you what exactly you were dealing with. It wasn't as if this sort of thing was illegal and you would end up arrested, although they might insist you get cleansed. And they might even have a point there too.

[ ] Write in



Parietal Eye unlock 1/?
Heat vision unlock 1/2
Partial transformation unlock started
The Serpent GP +3
The Serpent current GP: 4


Charissa has unlocked Full transformations. Transforms into her Mark.
Other Marks would have taken a bit longer to get to this point, but she's gotten a pretty good scare out of it too.

 

[Z488411]

4. Suspicious persons and phone calls​

You could tell Malaya later. When you had more information and could keep her from talking you into something (or trying to for entirely too long). You needed an expert. You could still go to a church later, just the holy water in and on itself was a good idea and you made a note on your phone to do that, and would be at the Museum tomorrow. Finding somebody who knew what they were talking about while it was a weekday and a day off had priority. You could try Saturdays or Sundays later, you had no idea what sort of hours the kind of person you needed liked to keep. Or even how to look for one, really.

People didn't exactly have phone books anymore (at least you didn't), but there had to be an online version, right?

Well, you could just go to the library if that didn't exist.

For now, you flipped open your laptop and asked Google, and promptly got way too many results, most of which didn't look even remotely credible.

Maybe this would take a little longer than you thought... but you weren't about to give up just yet.

Even if you did end up taking more than an hour just checking things and trying to make sure you would do this right. Some people were easy to rule out, but others were difficult to find information on and magicians, at least the real ones, didn't usually advertise themselves in the same way new age shops did. Then again, those ideas about shamanism and spirit animals might even have something to do with your problem.

Still...

There was one Jason Blood noted as a demonologist and mystical practitioner. You could find relatively little other information on him, but what you could find - a few posts on social media and the general lack of, well, much of anything meant it might be worth trying. Through the phone anyway. The man was more than suspicious enough that just going in person may or may not be safe.

Unfortunately, the first person you had tried calling didn't respond and the second had been completely useless. The day was wearing on and you had spent more than enough time weighing the positives and negatives by now. You made a mental note to get yourself some burner phones for this sort of thing. If phone booths were still a thing, you would have used that. Actually...

You could afford to take another half hour. You didn't have a lot of money, but you had enough for at least one disposable phone so you wouldn't have to sacrifice your smartphone.

In the end, you found yourself standing at a street corner, walking into a park and dialing the number of one Jason Blood from a scrap of paper in your hand. Ignoring the nervousness creeping up on you and the ingrained feeling of vague danger at this endeavor.

You could move quickly, he or anyone else from your list wouldn't be able to track you home and you had a phone to use for anything weird you might be getting up to now. Just in case.

A part of you wished he wouldn't pick up, but after the fourth dial tone, you heard a male voice instead.

"Hello?"

No, you wouldn't allow yourself to be so obviously nervous. You took one deep breath and replied. "Hello. I'm looking for one Jason Blood, Demonologist and Mystical Practitioner."

You had to wait a moment before you got your reply. "That is correct." He sounded more suspicious and tired than friendly or helpful, but the voice seemed calm. "And you need a Demonologist." Definitely apprehensive, if not actually annoyed at you. But things could be worse and you did, in fact, need help.

Calm. Don't breathe too loudly. You might have inserted a slightly longer pause than was customary, but when you spoke your voice sounded fine and you didn't want to come across as hysterical. "I think I do. I recently had a magical accident and I'm certain it's influencing my mind. Would you be able to find out if it's anything demonic or anything else I should be concerned about?"

That apparently garnered a pause on his end. And you paused to wonder why he didn't ask any more questions and just believed what you told him.

When he did respond, he sounded intensely focused. "Have you tried to enter a church? What sort of influence on your mind is it?" It was simultaneously unsettling because you had to be missing something and reassuring because you didn't have to deal with some weird religious ideas.

"I'm heading towards one. It makes it difficult not to think of it as normal and harmless and any changes as completely natural." You still had a hard time believing it was a problem, but you had also just almost gotten stuck as a snake and anything influencing your mind was automatically suspect, no matter how harmless t might seem. As long as you focused on your fear of that influence, not the thing itself, you could hold onto it.

Jason Blood had paused again.

"See if you can to enter the church and touch any holy objects. Does it push you towards doing anything?"

You started walking again. There was a church only a block away and that should do, even if you had never been inside, you didn't think it was some kind of cult church and that would have to do. Maybe you should look into that topic too. The list was growing. "It's not pushing me towards anything at the moment, as far as I can tell." Your voice was calm and steady, despite the fear coursing through you.

His focus seemed to have shifted to a bit more annoyance, but he hadn't hung up. "As far as you can tell isn't always good enough. I will have to meet you in person before I can see if I can tell for certain and I hope you're not wasting my time." Definitely not happy or friendly, but you didn't come for that anyway. "I can't tell you very much without knowing what happened."

Which he wasn't too happy about, but you were suspecting this might be a general problem. You had to approach this very carefully. But telling him what happened didn't mean giving location details necessarily and you still needed help. Even if it went against some of your instincts, he was making perfect sense and your paranoia wouldn't help you very much here. You breathed. "I was handling a piece of some old artwork. I don't know what it was, the writing was making my eyes hurt, but I had a cut on my hand. I believe it touched it just before I passed out. I woke up with a new tattoo and I'm apparently able to turn myself into a snake. I'm having a hard time thinking of it as harmful and the transformation feels natural to the point that I'm having difficulty getting concerned about it directly. It might be pushing me towards using it and finding out more or it could be natural, but I almost failed to transform back."

That caused a longer pause.

You had almost reached the church by the time Jason Blood replied. "The blood will have made the connection." which you might as well have known already. "You could have entered yourself into a contract. Do you still have the piece?"

That was much more useful. And much more unsettling. Especially since there was no telling what the contract said if it was one and what breaking the thing into pieces had done to it.

Besides that revelation - which you probably could have gotten on your own, but had potentially ignored either for magical reasons or for your own sanity's sake - you had apparently entered the church with nary a sound and no tangible effect to show for it. You were standing in the entrance, looking towards the altar and you were fine.

Even hesitatingly dipping your hands into the spout of holy water still meant you were fine... the only problem was all you had was your own usual water bottle you brought with you to classes. No extras, even if that one was full. And you had no idea where the priest might be. But first: "I'm in a church, but I don't have the piece. It's not mine, but I can get a look at it again."

"Then you don't need a demonologist, but even if it is not demonic, that doesn't make it harmless. We would have to meet in person to tell you anything useful." Why did it always have to come back to that?




[X] Meet Jason Blood in person, as soon as you told Malaya where you were going and made sure she would call for help if you didn't call back in.

[ ] Meet Jason Blood at the Museum, with supervision and the stone shard. You have no idea how he would react to this or how your coworkers would react, but this probably has the best chance of working.

[ ] Don't meet with Jason Blood yet. Study up on animal symbolism and anything else you can find on magic first.

[ ] write in.


(An attempt to obtain some holy water will be made in all cases)

Parietal eye unlock 2/?
Heat vision unlocked:

Heat vision -
Allows her snake form to sense heat. Less accurate (blurrier) than her normal vision but fully functional
Cost: 5GP

The Serpent GP+1
The Serpent total GP: 5

[ ] Buy heat vision
[X] save GP

 

[Z488411]

5. Jason Blood​

Getting your answers on the phone would have been too easy wouldn't it? You sighed. It was probably better to get it over with and depending on what you found out, you could still see if you could get Jason Blood to come to the museum and look at the shard. It was still much too dangerous to just go without any kind of preparation and you would rather do this on your own if you could, just not at the cost of being stuck as an animal or worse.

"Alright. Do you need anything in particular or could we just meet anywhere?" Preferably someplace he wasn't familiar with, because you were still far from trusting the man.

"Peace, quiet and potentially some of my books, Miss..." That would have been too easy. Doubly too easy, because he'd finally noticed you had conveniently forgotten to mention your name and names may or may not have power.

"Ellis, sorry." You paused. Inviting him to your home, if he would come at all, was just not an option. Inviting yourself to his meant, meant you had to tell Malaya to be ready to call the police and hope one of the superheroes managed to save you or you could figure out some way to save yourself if things didn't go well, but it didn't leave you in a completely hopeless situation. Even if it was still risky. "I suppose it's best if you pick a place then. When do you think we could meet?"

"Soon, if you can. Whatever your problem is, it's highly unlikely to get better by waiting. My home. You'll find me at 12 Whitehollow avenue." Well... You would consult a map later.

"Soon as in as soon as possible?"

"Ideally. If you're worried it's influencing your mind, I wouldn't leave it to do its work in peace, even if it isn't demonic." You had a hard time refuting his point there.

"I'll get there as soon as I can, thank you." That was what you'd come for after all, despite your apprehensions. You listened to Jason Blood's goodbye, still somewhat grumpy as it might be, your feelings hadn't completely disappeared. You could suppress the fear of course and you weren't going to hide from this just because a part of you was afraid, but that didn't make it go away or the concern any less rational. And no matter what other people might say, it was prudent to be alert in Gotham, especially as compared to where you'd grown up. This wasn't Metropolis.

So logically the first thing you did was to go looking for the priest.

You were still inside a church after all and you might as well at least try. Carefully looking around corners and hoping you weren't too late, but it was still only mid to late afternoon.
Roll 1d100 = 75
It might have taken you a few minutes of looking around, you weren't the most familiar with Catholic churches, but you found him. By ringing his doorbell actually. A man in his 60s maybe was standing in front of you, dressed only slightly more casually than you would usually expect a priest to.

Might as well get it over with. "Excuse me, Father." You hoped that was him anyway. If he wasn't, he would probably be able to point you in the right direction at least. You pulled out steel metal water bottle. "Would you be willing to bless this water and bottle for me?"

He blinked and obviously paused. "Of course. Are you well?" You probably didn't look well, not with that still swollen lump on your head and not the usual amount of care taken before going out.

You sighed. You definitely weren't ready to explain this. "Just bad dreams. I'm hoping maybe this will help."

"If you would like to talk about them." He lifted his hand and spoke the blessing in Latin. You couldn't feel anything, not in your hand, not on your bottle but maybe the faintest buzz. But it would have to do. "To me or to the Lord, you are always welcome, you know that, right?"

"I..." And you suddenly remembered why you usually avoided the overly religious types. They always seemed so sincere as well. "I know, thank you."

But you did actually have somewhere to be. And a holy water bottle that you could probably knock someone out with on hand. Now you just had to call Malaya. Who you hadn't told yet and who might be worried too, but you'd think about that later. Being on your way to a probably dangerous man definitely took precedence.

You tapped her contact and she picked up almost instantly.

"Rissa! Are you alright? They said you had an accident yesterday evening and I haven't seen you all day."

"Yeah, no. I'll explain later. I'm not dying and I don't think I've got brain damage or anything, but I need to meet someone."

"You want to meet someone. While you're on sick leave and haven't talked to me all day. I know you like your peace and quiet, but are you sure you're okay?"

"No. I'm going to explain later, I'm not okay but it's not critical I think. I need to meet with someone to ask him questions and before you say anything, I want you to know where I am, with who I am and to call the police if I don't call back and tell you everything's fine."

"You know this sounds pretty suspect, right?" And usually you were the one telling Malaya to be careful, but it was good hearing her voice. Even if you suddenly had one more thing to be afraid of. How do you even explain these things?

"Obviously."

"You sure you don't want me to come?"

"I'm a bit far right now, I'm not sure how he'd react if I bring someone and, well, I do need you to call the police, don't I?" You pushed The Serpent (maybe you should name it?) back up your sleeve and onto your leg.

"Rissa, please. You're not going on date are you?"

"No. I told you I'll explain. I'm meeting Jason Blood, 12 Whitehollow Avenue and if I don't call back before one and a half hours something's happened."

"That's up there in suspicious names, you know that?"

"Yes." Maybe it was your tone.

"I'll do it, but I want an explanation."

You smiled. Despite the argument. "Thanks, Mal." and switched to using your phone to get directions instead. The sooner you got there, the sooner you would be able to get back, hopefully.

"Just don't die alright? You're supposed to have common sense." That was when you hung up. Before she could try to get one more question in and also because you needed a map and you didn't put in headphones. Whitehollow avenue turned out to be reasonably easy to locate, but still a little under half an hour away by subway.

By the time you found number twelve and Jason Blood's apartment, you were even more uncomfortable from that creep on the train and walking even faster. Right that moment you had actually been upset your new tattoo didn't give you anything like enhanced strength as far as you could tell, that attacking people for being creeps was probably not legal and that you weren't exactly trained. Not completely untrained, but not enough you thought you'd get an easy win.

Expensive place. One deep breath and you rang the doorbell.

The man who met you at the door had broad shoulders and probably some muscles to work with that too. Tall, with auburn hair and a white streak and dressed in a black turtleneck. You were even more glad you'd called Malaya now.

"Miss Ellis?"

"Yes." You nodded. You didn't think he caught the lie, but you didn't have anywhere close to a good enough grasp on him to be able to tell for sure. At least, despite the shadows under his eyes, he looked concerned rather than angry. A part of you wanted to dig into that, but first, you had slightly more pressing concerns. You dropped your backpack in a corner.

He didn't even try to hide that he was watching you, but you supposed that was par for the course. Almost half a minute later, he broke the silence as if he had come to a conclusion. "We'll talk inside."Jason Blood stepped aside to reveal a hallway with a picture, obviously of him, dressed up for the 17th century on an actual oil painting and you were led inside a living room with more pictures. All historical, all of Mr. Blood and all in different styles, interspersed with bookcases, antique and a few very modern devices. You weren't quite sure what to think, but the place made you feel off.

"Drinks?"

"No thank you."

"Alright. Now, you were saying you have a problem with something influencing your mind and transforming you into an animal?"

"Yes." You focused and coaxed The Serpent to slither across your face only to disappear back underneath your collar. "I've got... this. I can't think of it as dangerous directly and I suppose when I focus on it, I can turn myself into a snake, but it's somewhat more difficult to turn back and as soon as I am in snake form, I can only think of the body as natural. I think of the tattoo as natural as well, although I'm aware that it's definitely not. I can't tell if there have been any other effects."

He nodded. You couldn't help following him with your eyes as he walked around you. "Yes. It's a good idea to look for help with these types of things especially if you're inexperienced. Enough people lost themselves to it or to a pact as it is." He looked tired. Very tired for a moment, mingled with frustration, but this probably still wasn't the time to ask. Especially since he started talking again. "I'm going to have to cast some spells on you before I can give you anything but speculation."

"I figured. How long is this going to take?" Would you have to call Malaya beforehand?

"That would depend on the complexity of the spell, Miss Ellis. I will start with something simple. Touch my hand." That... you had Malaya and this wasn't suspect yet. You reached out to feel fingers decidedly stronger than your own.

And you could feel it. Like a faint buzzing in your veins. The Serpent trashed, wound itself around its own body and slithered up onto your neck. Something was odd. Something was feeding it foreign energy and whatever it was, it didn't feel good.

You pulled away, but your stare got you no reaction. Mr. Blood just nodded and straightened, but your discomfort seemed to go ignored. He didn't look like the absolute most caring, compassionate and empathetic type either though, and you were reasonably sure the effect hadn't been intentional. You shook yourself. "That was weird."

"That showed me that your predicament is definitely magical, though not demonic and partially drawing its energy from you." He turned and picked up some chalk he apparently had lying around in a box. "I can't tell you if there is a contract involved, but you have an external source too. More importantly, your spell is unstable and you said that this was caused by only a part of the artifact." He tapped the chalk. "It would be useful if I could see it, but there are other ways to find out more. I'm going to use this to draw a few things on the ground."

"What exactly is an unstable spell?"

"An unfinished one, one that is fraying at the edges or has been tampered with or one that was miscast. Regardless of what it is, most of them are dangerous or have serious drawbacks." Which might explain why he was eyeing you so carefully. And it definitely sent a few shivers down your spine. Nobody wanted to hear unstable, but tampering, fraying or miscast were even worse. And as uncomfortable as you were, you needed to know and you needed to know as quickly as possible.

"Right."

You should still have over half an hour, but you soon found yourself too absorbed with the markings on the ground to properly keep track. They were both intricate and written in a language you still didn't understand, Jason Blood muttering something under his breath. Needless to say, you were also very careful not to move.

"This will probably feel strange, but if you move, it will fail. Ready."

"Yes."

You felt it. You saw it even, wisps coming off you, forming something in the air, Jason Blood's eyes glowing. Something was pulsing through you, pulsing through The Serpent and your link... making everything within so much more important than without...

Then it was over.

And Mr. Blood frowned. Not so much unhappily as as if he were confused by something.

"It's a weakened spell. Most likely because you only had one part of the artefact. It's also somewhat malleable and probably didn't take in the way it was intended to. Your snake is connected to something else, linked to your own power, although you don't currently have much of it. This seems to be some part natural and some part attempting to connect to a god or spirit and some part sorcery. I can't tell you what exactly it will turn into, but the reason you feel it is natural is most likely because it has been merged with your or drawn from you.

You should still be very careful with this however and wherever you found it, if you run into a problem, I need to look at what caused this to fix it." He seemed happy enough when he said that though. "Whatever it is, it's not particularly strong, not enough for a powerful contract to be involved, even if it might have been originally."

But while you might not be sure whether to be relieved or very worried, maybe it could have been worse? At least you definitely weren't possessed. That alone was worth a smile.

"I would be interested in hearing more about how this develops. Where did you find it?"

Pulling out your phone, you sent Malaya a quick text. 'I'm ok, wait for text in 1 hour' before you got around to actually replying.

"Accident at the Museum." That got you a decidedly suspicious look you couldn't quite interpret until... "I'm an intern." You added dryly. "I think if I'd tried to rob the place it would be in the news."

He chuckled.

"I suppose." Then picked up a mug from a coffee table and emptied it. "You also need more information on magic here before you get into anything else, but not now. You're cleared."

You let out a breath and smiled. Despite all of the questions, just knowing why it felt so natural made you feel so much lighter. Your pains became harder to ignore, but the tensions holding you upright and making it impossible to think about anything else had evaporated. You would be fine, at least for now.

"Thank you. For helping me, for finding time on short notice, and for the offer. I'm still way too lost to feel comfortable."

And Jason blood wasn't the kind of person to reassure you there. all he did was to nod in return. "Good. That just shows you've got some sense. Sorry to push you out the door so fast, but I'm somewhat busy right now, so more information will have to wait. I might have something to look forward to after all this is over."

"All this?" And that set you off all over again. The dark shadows under and around his eyes made more sense now and had also become decidedly more concerning.

"Nothing for you to worry about. I would simply appreciate you showing me your transformation when we meet again. Unless you intend to suddenly change phone numbers."

"No." And his intention was clear enough. "Thank you again and good luck with 'all this' I suppose."

Even if your smile only got a tired reply from Mr. Blood. "Try not stumble into any more magic this week. Good Night Miss Ellis."

You should probably correct him there eventually

But what now?



[ ] Go home, finally talk to Malaya and hope you can keep her from trying to make you a superhero and staying out of it in general.

[ ] Go home, avoid Malaya and go straight to bed

[X] Go home, talk to Malaya and see if she can help with research. Maybe it'll keep her distracted, even if it gets her even more involved.

[ ] write in (you will arrive home just past sunset unless you do something here)



Name The Serpent?
[X] Yes
- [ ] Name?
[ ] No.



Parietal Eye unlocked -
Allows you to perceive magic, vague type of magic by colour and very vague direction in snake form. Also allows you to sense lighting conditions on top of your head.
Cost: 15 GP
Swift, slender and flexible 1/4


The Serpent + 3 GP
The Serpent total GP: 8

Buy an Upgrade?
[ ] Yes
- [ ] which one?
[ ] No


Upgrades are found in the info post.