Sell you a Bridge chapter 329

July 2nd 2016 Traverse Town, 1:00 PM EDT

On  the list of things you never want to see associated with an enemy, a  five sided shield is basically at the top. Anything Superman related is  pretty much guaranteed to fuck you up, and mixing in Barbatos's bat shit was almost definitely going to make it worse. I had to hold back a sigh  of annoyance at this news. Of course we weren't done with Batman  nonsense. Because Barbatos was the bat god, and his fucking cultists  just weren't annoying enough.

Leon was looking at me  suspiciously. "Do you recognize that symbol? All the infected have been  drawing it. We want to clean it off, but it's infected blood, and  touching it would be a bad idea. We've just been steering clear and  everything seems fine. Does it mean something to you?" I could see that  the fact that I'd reacted gave him the impression I knew what was going  on.

Sadly I had to disabuse him of that notion. "Not  exactly. I recognize a few elements of it, but nothing that would give  away who is doing this." Probably. Hopefully. I just hoped it was  actually some alternate Batman and not some kind of weird version of him  from krypton or something.

He didn't look convinced, but  it wasn't like he could torture me of information or something, he just  turned his back with a grunt. "Come on. I've been out trying to find  answers. Aerith will have a better idea what's going on." Apparently our  conversation was over now. It was nice to be consulted. Rolling my eyes  at the absolute dickishness I trailed after him. Leon was kind of an  asshole, but it wasn't like that was a new thing in my life.

We  followed him up the stairs to the second story, and he led us into a  room with faded peeling wallpaper. In the room, a girl sat on the bed.  She had bright greed eyes and long brown hair  that was braided down her  back, with a big pink bow in it. Her button nose rested over what  looked to be a permanent smile, and her soft gaze was locked on a large  book as she peacefully read a story that I couldn't identify. When she  heard us enter, her eyes snapped up to lock onto Leon, and her soft  smile bloomed into a beaming expression of joy and exuberance.

Even  without my aura sight, she'd have been a compelling person, but with it  I was almost bowled over. Not because I thought she was hot or anything  (though she was certainly pretty) but because the sheer, unbridled  GOODNESS radiating off her. It was like standing next to some sort of  kindness reactor. She exuded happiness, cheer, and good vibes like a  cheerful sun. Even grumpy Leon's aura shifted to something a bit gentler  and more approachable in her presence.

Of course, his  aura was showing signs of a much more personal and intimate connection,  but the fact remained that she'd altered his whole demeanor just by  being in the room. He'd gone from sullen and sulky to quiet and  thoughtful. Aerith smiled past him, bringing that beaming joy to bear on  all of us, and I was pretty much unable not to smile back. "Oh! New  friends! Hello there." She cocked her head in puzzlement, looking for  all the world like a confused puppy. "Some of you look familiar. Have we  met before?"

As she asked, I felt the magic around us  sort of...shift. Not anything as deliberate as a spell, but just an  intention made manifest. Aerith was curious about us, and the magic  wanted to scan us and find out who we were for her, even without being  told to do so. That pretty much clinched it. I didn't know what Aerith  was, but she definitely wasn't human. She also wasn't hostile though, so  that wasn't super relevant. I wasn't going to be rude to someone for  being born different, especially not someone so obviously good natured.

Leon,  who had been distracted, looked back at Roxas and Namine. "They have  something to do with Sora and Kairi. It took me a bit to place the  resemblance too. It's the hair. Really throws you off." He said it like  an accusation, despite not seeming to have any hard feeling against Sora  or whoever Kairi was (presumably the next wielder, and the one Namine  could lead us to).

Aerith looked overjoyed (I got the  impression Aerith was overjoyed about most things, she seemed like a  pretty joyful person). "Oh! I haven't seen Kairi in such a long time.  Sora actually visited earlier, but he had to go. He should be coming  around soon when he has time though. He promised we could catch up."  Shaking off her excitement, she focused on us. "In any case, a friend of  Sora or Kairi is a friend of mine. Welcome! Since Leon brought you, are  you here looking for them? Or maybe here for help?"

"Close."  I said with a smile. "We're here to help you. Well, and to look for  Sora. But I'm told that he'll be around once this is over. If you see  him I'd love to meet up, but until then we're here to lend a hand. Can  you tell me a bit more aboujt this virus or whatever it is? Leon said  you'd be able to tell us more than him. Is that because of  your...otherworldly nature?"

She gave a pleased smile.  "You could tell? How impressive. Yes, I'm a Centra. We're extremely in  tune with life force and magic. Usually as it emanates from a planetary  body or in the atmosphere. I've been in Traverse Town a few years now,  so I've got a pretty good grasp on the local magic. It likes me. I tried  using that grasp of the power to try to divine the source of the  contagion as well as use my magic to try to treat it."

"I  take it that wasn't a success?" Said Zee from behind me. She seemed  fascinated by the older girl, which wasn't a surprise. Some sort of  magic super dryad was exactly Zee's type of person.

Aerith  shook her head sadly. The virus isn't from here. Or from anywhere I've  heard of. It's...wrong. Unnatural. I don't mean that like most people  do. I mean it is literally antithetical to nature. The makeup of it  reminds me strongly of the heartless. Not that it's magical, I believe  it's entirely scientific, but it's as if the very substance that makes  it up is anathema to magic."

Fuck. I'd been afraid of  that. It sounded like Sindella's description of the anti-magic of the  Upside Down Man. Not that I thought he was involved. No, there was a  much more reasonable explanation. The virus was from the dark  multiverse. What shocked me was that this extremely kind woman seemed to  be completely unconcerned with the spreading contagion. She didn't seem  like the type to ignore others.  "So, are there no more infected?" I  asked as casually as I could.

Aerith's smile dimmed, and I  felt bad. Like I'd kicked a puppy. "I'm afraid that isn't the case.  We've found several. However, I've been able to isolate them. A Stopza  spell used on them before the symptoms get too bad is able to suspend  the progress of the virus. At least until we can find a treatment."

As  she said this, she grimaced slightly, and I realized something I hadn't  noticed. Her aura was diffuse. Powerful and  bright, but thinner than  it should be. She was maintaining spells. I suspected the nearby magic  was helping her actively, because based on the dispersed tethers to the  magic that I could see if I looked, she was cranking a LOT of juice.

That  was confirmed by Leon's pale face at her words. "Aerith!" He hissed  angrily, the first negative emotion he'd aimed at her. "Stopza is an  absurdly powerful spell. How many of them are you holding right now? You  could hurt yourself doing something like that!" He sounded more scared  than angry, and I could tell from the flash of guilt in her aura Aerith  saw it too.

She gave a placating smile. "Ten at the  moment. But don't worry too much. Traverse Town is handling most of it. I  only had to bear the initial burden, and you know how deep my reserves  are. We need to help these people." Her green eyes began to shimmer with  unshed tears. "I couldn't help that poor man from before. I had to  listen to him die. The magic screamed as he changed. It was horrible."  Her voice took on a pleading quality. "I needed to do something Leon. I  had to help."

He sighed unhappily. "I know. I'm sorry. I  didn't mean to snap, you just need to be careful. You can't do  everything. This isn't Midgar. Traverse Town is smaller and weaker. It  also doesn't know the Centra as well. You're strong, even without the  same advantages, but it's important to know your limits. You'll never  help anyone again if you overdo it and die because you tried to do too  much."

Giving a long sigh, Aerith nodded. "I understand.  I'll try to be more careful." Her green eyes turned to us, still  pleading. "Can you take a look at some of them? If Leon brought you here  to help he must think you can do something. We have several of them for  you to study, as long as you don't hurt them you can look over them as  much as you want. The Stop spell is keeping them frozen in time, locked  in a stasis that even the virus can't overcome."

Zee  choked next to me. "Wait...what? You can do TIME magic? Like freezing  things in the time stream? That's...amazing. Can you teach me that? Also  of course we'll help, it's why we're here. Morgan is the best at  deducing what's going on with people. If anyone can find out what's  wrong it'll be him. He might even be able to fix it!" I suspected that  would be easier said than done, but probably doable given Merlin's  insistence on us being here.

Aerith popped to her feet,  wavering slightly, only for Leon to vanish and appear at her side,  catching her by the elbow to steady her. She giggled in embarrassment.  "Oh, sorry about that. Thank you Leon. I'm very dizzy still. To answer  your question I would be happy to teach you Stop. I'm not sure it will  do much for you now. The earliest form of the magic is a bit weak. It  takes years of practice to get it to higher tiers like master or  grandmaster. That's when it really shines."

Zee waved that  aside as she stepped over to help take the girl's other elbow. "No  problem. We're happy to help. Learning a new spell is just a perk. Plus I  don't mind having to work at it, I'm sure the theory is fascinating."  As she escorted Aerith to the door and out into the hallways she  chattered on about magic and casting theory in a way that made my eyes  glaze over. Zee was cute when she was passionate, but that didn't make  her easy to understand. Her magic jargon could really put me off of  listening.

Luckily Aerith didn't seem to have that  problem, speaking back and chattering excitedly about all of the theory  Zee was spewing. As we walked, I considered what I would do when we got  there. I suspected there must be a way for me to save them, since Merlin  had sent me, but I also suspected it would be exhausting. I'd have to  be careful about wasting too much power all at once. Last thing I needed  was to get attacked while I was recovering. Finally, we came to a new  door. Aerith pulled out a key and unlocked the door, pushing it open to  reveal a room full of unconscious people on beds. Time to get to work.