Sell you a Bridge chapter 311

June 21st 2016 Twilight Town, 10:00 AM EDT

My  head hurt. I'd learned so much about myself, about the reasons for  things happening to me. Granted, I had more questions still. But most of  them were basic shit like 'why me?' which I somehow doubted I'd ever  get answers for. The world was crazy, people got powers and had  destinies and shit, it was just how things happened. It would be like  Superman asking why his planet blew up.

The girls were  pretty respectful of the insane weight that had been dropped on my  shoulder for the night. They just pulled me into bed to cuddle and let  me drift off to sleep in their arms. Rana didn't even bitch about us  being cuddly. In the morning though, things seemed...easier. Not much, I  had a lot on my plate still, but I always had. I'd accomplished some  crazy shit, getting back from New Genesis, beating the labyrinth,  fending off the invasion, I was used to insane stakes. I just had to  handle it the same way I always had. One thing at a time.

First  up I called everyone together to tell them what was going on. I  couldn't exactly tell them all of it, without Del around I somehow  didn't think explaining details was safe, but I gave them the cliff  notes version. We had to find twenty people who could use a keyblade. We  had four. They would each be gaining access to their own if they  wanted, though I wouldn't force them.

When I mentioned  that, they all looked at me like I was an idiot. Wally was the one who  chose to state the obvious. "Morgan, bud. Putting aside how far we've  all come together and how we need you to get home, you're offering us  the chance to gain access to crazy magical powers. The other may be able  to use magic without the keyblade, but I can't and honestly, I'm  fascinated by the idea of studying the dimensional physics of an item  like that. Plus the whole saving the universe thing that you can't  really get into. I'm all about that."

Artemis snorted, but  she had a smirk on her face. "What my beloved boyfriend means to say is  that of course we'll help. The question is do we need to find  replacements for anyone here. I know you said you have a way to do this,  but it's a big commitment. While most of us are old friends, there are a  few new faces who kind of got sucked up in this by accident. Mr.  Taylor, Suzie, Tommy, John? You all interested in this kind of thing? I  have a suspicion the whole magic thing is going to appeal to John at  least, but what about the rest of you?"

John had nodded  along, but Taylor and Suzie both looked uncertain. In the end though,  they both looked at Sindella. She gave them a reassuring smile and the  two of them turned to Artemis with a nod. Taylor answered for them.  "We're in. You said it's going to take a while to get everyone a  keyblade, so no real rush for us. Sindy will definitely want to be first  I think. How are you going to do it?"

I grimaced. "I have  an easy enough way for most of you, Artemis will be the toughest, but I  think I can manage that." Artemis was connected deeply to Zee through  their unique elf race, and I was pretty sure I could use that to link  them. other than her, none of the others had been given powers by my  ability so I should be able to just buy them keyblades through my email.  I'd have to practice brute forcing used up emails back into existence,  but it was a simple enough Deception I should be able to manage it.

Still,  I was short on points for that at the moment anyway. I'd need some time  to top up. For the moment, we had other things to worry about. "We can  get to that soon, but for now, I think the biggest issue is tracking  down the keyblade wielders who are currently in town. Del said there was  two of them here already. Not sure if the Upside Down Man is in on this  or just sent us here for his own amusement, but we need to find them  before the cloaked assholes do either way. If B-guy knows what I'm doing  he's not going to ignore a pair of wielders so close by."

We  all turned to Taylor, who rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I can help with that.  My gift should be safe to use here, though I'm not sure how well it  would work off world. Once we find those two we'll need to come up with a  new plan." He took a large bite of pancake to punctuate the point. We  were all sitting in the dining room of the inn we'd found, where they  supplied complementary breakfast, and enjoying a pretty decent spread  laid out in what looked like steam punk chafing dishes.

I'd  gotten an omelette from the omelette station, and I savored a big bite  of cheese, ham, egg, and some hashbrown. "That's definitely going to  help man, thanks." I said after I finished chewing. "But we need to try  to blend in too. If we get noticed we might lead them straight to the  other wielders. How often can you use your gift exactly? I don't know  much about the limitations."

He grimaced. "I can use it  once every few days if I'm really exerting myself. That's a good point. I  often have to shut it down nearly instantly back in the Nightside, but  that helps me keep up my stamina somewhat so it's a mixed bag. I can  track down one of them, but probably not the other too soon. Why, you  thinking we should split up again?"

I nodded. "Yeah, it  worked pretty well last time, barring the whole god beast attack. As  long as each of us gets a wielder we should be fine. Though I'm probably  going to bring someone with me this time instead of going it alone.  Assuming Taylor can find one of the wielders though, that leaves the  rest of us looking for the other one. Our first move should be to ask  about any weird places in the city to check out."

John,  who was sipping a coffee I was pretty sure he'd spiked with something  from a flask, shot me a wink and looked over his shoulder at the pretty  brunette from the front desk. She'd just come in to check the chafing  dishes to see if anything needed to be refilled. John had been flirting  with her a bit and she seemed like his accent judging by her blush.  "Olette, love. Would you mind if we asked you a few things about your  lovely town?"

The  green eyed girl flushed again, giving John a shy smile. I rolled my  eyes at him. I was sure it was an ego trip since I knew he was pretty  serious about Cathy, but since it got us the information we needed I let  him have his fun. Olette, the front desk girl, came over to our table,  holding a platter that had formerly contained sausages she'd used to  refill one of the dishes. "Oh, hello again! Sure, I'm happy to tell you  anything you'd like to know."

Artemis  rolled her eyes even harder than I had. "Sorry about our friend, he's  not really that bad, but if he's creeping you out just let me know and  I'll teach him some manners. We're new in town and we were hoping you  might be able to tell us some interesting places to check out. We're big  fans of urban legends and stuff like that. Are there any places where  mysterious things are supposed to happen?"

Of  course, we didn't know that weird happenings would lead us to the  wielders, but it was as good a place to start as any, plus I could cheat  a bit with my ability. Plus this would be less suspicious than just  wandering around looking for some unknown pair of people. Even if Taylor  could find one of them, finding an unnamed person we had no picture of  in a huge town while bat worshipping edgelords combed the streets for  them was a long shot.

Olette  blushed harder. "Oh, no not at all! I don't think he was being creepy."  She gave John another shy look. "I really like your accent. But sure, I  can suggest some places. My best friends and I actually kind of look  for those kinds of things in our spare time. I'd offer to take you but I  picked up this job for summer break and I really need all the hours I  can get. I'd be happy to give you a list though."

"That  would be lovely dear." Sindella said with a warm smile. "Artemis  doesn't mean anything by her teasing. She's a spirited girl and she just  likes to make sure John doesn't get a big head. It's sweet of you to  stand up for him though. He's a good boy." She said this in that  motherly tone that would have sounded condescending from literally  anyone else, but from Sindella just seemed really sweet. I swear I saw  John of all people blush slightly at the comment.

Giggling  slightly, Olette nodded quickly. "Of course. Twilight Town is pretty  quiet and normal all things considered." Not counting the literal  permanent sunset apparently, but then, I guess she just didn't know how  weird that was. "There are seven mysteries in town that are kind of  weird though, and they're famous around here. There's the spooky steps,  which differ in number when walking up or down, the friend from beyond  the wall, which is a weird alley where things are thrown from nowhere,  the moans from the tunnel, the doppleganger, the animated bag, and the  ghost train. There's also supposed to be a mysterious girl in the window  of the old mansion but that one is pretty hit or miss."

We  all just blinked at her. That...was a lot of weird shit for one small  town. I mean, all of that sounded like it could be a lead, though I had  to ask about the first one. "How...how can the stairs be different  numbers going up and down? Also who even noticed that one? Are there  seriously people who are so bored they just randomly count steps as they  walk around? That's just kind of weird."

"Um..."  Olette said with another blush, this one more embarrassment than  infatuation. "That one was Rai. I haven't actually confirmed it, and he  doesn't pay much attention at the best of times. I have most of the  others on good authority though. My friends and I are planning to check  them out over the summer to confirm. The ghost train is especially  mysterious and that one is well documented." As she talked, her blush  got darker until her embarrassment reached critical mass. "Sorry I  should go, enjoy your breakfast." She squeaked, bolting away as she  muttered to herself for boring the guests with stupid local rumors. I  felt kind of bad about it and decided to tip her if possible, she had  been really helpful.

The  stairs were dumb, but some of the other definitely seemed worth  checking out. It at least gave us a place to start. I turned to the  others. "Alright, seven wonders, fourteen of us. If we ignore the stairs  that is. We pair up and hit each place. It makes sense to be in pairs  at least if we run into the bat cultists. Make sure each pair has a  heavy hitter. I'll take the mansion, since I had decent luck with that  last time." I smiled at my mentor. "Jim, want to come along?" The old  ghost tipped his hat with a chuckle as everyone else started picking  their partners. The two of us breaking into a mansion. This would be  just like old times.