FoJ: Chapter 7

It has been a week since that whole debacle, and things have quickly flowed into a routine.

I mean, Alex thought being a bartender to a supernatural bar would be cool, but it was the same boring stuff.

Except, you know, instead of serving to normal humans, you’re selling drinks to people with horns or a pig’s snout.

Freaky, at first, but then you hear them talk and then you’re like “Meh…”

Some things did change.

First, apparently, he developed some sort of reputation? Not enough to be recognizable by everyone, but from time to time he’d hear comments about him, mostly about how he’s the newest member and that he’s strong? Although the last point is somewhat debated by them.

Second, you know the aforementioned effect Garp’s powers had on his psyche? Well, turns out it was majorly underestimated.

Not only did he dream of his life in vivid, unforgettable details, every single night. But the more he used his powers the more his mind kind of… switched to his mindset.

And every time he switched, some things were kind of left behind.

A part of it was subconscious, Alex is almost sure of that. Garp as a person has a lot of qualities Alex really admires and wishes to embody.

The ability to live through life freely, following his own whims and desires without caring about anyone else’s feelings? His determination to go through excruciating emotional and physical pain and simply push through it? The willpower necessary to be considered one of the strongest in a world where it directly translates into strength?

His ability to stare death to the face, and feel unquestionable happy, smiling all throughout it?

Alex wished he had those qualities, so he thinks whenever he dives into that mindset, he kind of pulls them with him, holding onto them out of desire.

It also somehow had an effect on his lifeforce, hi “Ki” didn’t necessary grow more abundant or potent, but it seemed to morph? Not the perfect word but close enough, it seemed to morph in a shape that resembles some kind of wheel.

Right now, it’s extremely vague and still scattered like some sort of wildfire within his senses, and he doesn’t know why or how this is happening, but it didn’t seem to affect his effectiveness or ability so he really didn’t care so much.

And it’s noticeable in other ways, some minor things, like his taste in rice cakes and meat.

Some other things almost brought him to tears, like when he saw himself smile in the mirror and got almost shocked at how earnest and manic it looked, finding out through introspection that he never actually felt so free and… ecstatic, in his life.

Others, just made him annoyed.

“Hey, Alex!” Thell had a vein showing on her forehead. “That’s the fifth fucking wall you broke this week!”

Exhibit A.

She does some signs with her hands that fix the broken wall back up with a soft brown glow.

“Honestly, at this point I’ll have to enchant the whole building with durability wards, and I don’t even know if they’ll work!” She turns to Alex. “I’m halfway into docking your shenanigans from your pay.”

Alex sheepishly scratches the back of his head.

“Sorry, I-It just…” Alex stutters. “It just felt… not there?”

“Not THER-“Thellsa forcefully interrupts her outburst by biting on her fist, taking deep breaths to calm herself down. “Alright, I get it. You don’t know your own strength, and I can’t blame you for that. But-but, just try and get it under control.”

“I can do that.” Alex says. “However, I’ll need some way to experiment.”

“Experiment?”

“Somewhere to train, I think to be able to put a gauge on my strength I’ll actually need to know how strong I can get, at least without enhancing it with my life-force.” He explains. “Abandoned warehouses can only serve me so far.”

Thellsa’s face shows a thoughtful look, scratching her chin in her thought.

“That’s a good point, it’s the first time I see someone who grew to be so strong without having a ballpark for their limits, but you’ve proven that you’re not exactly normal.” She muses out loud. “Neither of us needed any special spaces for training, Cillian simply trains his stances and has a gym on his apartment, and both I and Aiko only need to study. But I don’t see why a training space won’t hurt, not only for you for the rest of us.”

She finally lowers her hands. “Alright, I’ll see what I can do, just… get ready for now, the meeting’s in one and a half hours.”

But to her surprise, Alex was hunched over a table, taking a nap.

Exhibit B.

A slap is barely felt enough to wake him up.

Alex slowly lifts his head. “Huh? What’s going on?”

“You just fell asleep mid conversation!” Thellsa slaps his head once again, to no effect.

“Oh uh… I guess I just fell asleep like that. Huh…”

Before the faerie could express her rise of blood pressure, the loud laughter of a child echoed from behind her.

Turning around, she sees a 9-10 year old kid with white hair and crimson eyes pointing toward Alex and just laughing his ass off, accompanied by Aiko who held his backback.

“You’re just too funny, Alex!” His voice, while cheerful, seemed to be strained.

Alex quickly steps up to the boy and lifts him by the armpits.

“So, I’m a joke to you now?” He says. “Let’s see you laugh now.”

He then proceeds to tickle the hell out of him.

“Ahahahaha, no! That’s unfair!” He lets out between laughs. “Aiko! Alex is bullying me.”

“Let Cyrus down, Alex.” Aiko’s tone was chiding, yet held fondness within it.

Alex pouts, an unnatural expression for a self-proclaimed adult, which causes the boy to laugh even more.

“You’re no fun, Aiko!” He grabs Cyrus and puts holds him with one arm, reminiscent with their first meeting.

Cyrus laughs at his shenanigans.

“Hey kiddo, how do you think about going upstairs and watching me play some CoD?”

“Watch you?!” Cyrus’ squeaky voice echoed. “I want to play!”

“No way!” Aiko interrupts their fun, once again. “You have have a meeting to prepare for!” She points at Alex, then turns her finger toward Cyrus. “And you! You have some homework to do, so go upstairs, and I better not see you play videogames without permission.”

“But Aikooo! I just came back from school!”

“No complains, you hear me! You’re a young boy and the adults are going to be busy for a while, so get upstairs and do your homework!” She chides. “And if you’re quick enough, you’ll get to play before going to sleep.”

Cyrus pouts, mouthing some harmless insults before grumpily going up the stairs.

Alex idly smiles at his retreating back.

“He’s gotten more cheerful this week, huh?”

Aiko huffs, both hands to her sides. “He got more positive once we told him that his mother is alive.” She says. “Seems the vampires told him that they murdered her when he complained too much.”

A vein showed on Alex’s forehead, a furious expression on his face. “I oughta leave that butler alive; he didn’t suffer nearly enough.” He turns to Thellsa. “Any idea about who’s responsible for his kidnapping?”

The semi-alcoholic shrugs. “No signs of either the mother or her attackers, I tried to touchdown with some friends, get some chatter, but no one knows anything about vampires dealing with anyone else.” She explains. “The SCIA are equally concerned, simply the act of vampires conspiring with others is anomalous enough to bring suspicion, in addition, they say there’s an uptick in supernatural violence in the region, mostly cultist action, but some are too strange, supernatural-adjacent people disappearing and signs of collateral damage without victims, that sort of thing.”

“Cultists? Could there be some sort of religious faction suborning others? That butler vampire seemed possessed by that white guy, maybe there’s a process required, and the disappearances are them forcefully recruiting agents?” Aiko comments.

“Maybe, but we can’t be sure until we receive concrete info.” Thell answers. “What we do know is that Cyrus and Amira (the mother) are definitely involved, what strikes me as particularly strange is how she disappeared, to me that means she’s either dead or somewhere else.”

Aiko nods.

“Her death would be unlikely, she’s reportedly a quasi-Ultimate class, anyone who’s capable of killing her wouldn’t need to be bothered with being stealthy.” She elaborates. “The issue is that if she’s alive, why would she decide to hide, and most importantly, why leave her son alone in a hostile group’s hold?”

Alex shrugs. “Simple, she either didn’t love the boy, or more likely, she knew something about him that we don’t, something that has to do with his weird vampire-like lifeforce.” He explains. “She knew that whoever held him would keep him at least alive.”

Thell snaps her fingers in agreement. “Right, but why disappear?” She says. “If I had a son and he got kidnapped, even if I knew he’d be safe I’d scramble to save him, so that still doesn’t explain that.”

Alex channels Garp’s expertise on that matter, the Vice Admiral was simple minded, not stupid, and had a bevy of crazy experiences on his resume.

“Either she thinks she can’t handle his captors single handedly and is getting help, or she is/holds another asset that lies Cyrus’ nature with whatever plan their counterpart has for him.” Alex speculates. “If she has another piece of the puzzle, it would be best to be separated, especially if that piece could culminate in Cyrus getting in danger.”

Both Thellsa and Aiko looked at him strangely.

Alex stared back. “What? Is there something on my face?”

Thellsa was the first to recover from his sudden surge in wisdom. “Right. Again, that’s all speculation until we get more information, what we know is that people managed to suborn a High-Class Vampire and are targeting Cyrus.” She says. “I don’t think someone with that capability would cease their efforts at the first set back, so we keep an eye on Cyrus until someone tries something, yeah? In the meantime, I’ll keep digging on our mysterious enemies.”

“We should also get ready for the meeting.” Aiko comments.

“Right.” Alex answers. “I don’t see Cillian though? Where is he?”

“He on loan to the church, on a mission in Albany, he likes to act as an Exorcist for hire, thinks it’s great practice and swears that Claiomh Solais enjoys it. But he should be coming with the Church’s delegation.”

“Cool.”

‘Maybe I should do something similar?’ Alex thinks, before looking around for something to fill the time with.