SIS B5: Chapter 14: Talking Powers and Arundel Castle

A/N: Sorry for no chapter two Saturday's past. I was lacking motivation. There should be another chapter this coming Saturday/Sunday though.

***

"London sure has changed since the apocalypse, huh?" Daz asked absentmindedly as he looked out the armoured car's window.

The vehicle he, Madison, the McArthur woman, as well as their silent driver, were in reminded Daz of the cars Sandy had spoken about on occasion when they used to sit down for a smoke and just chat as they often did before Daz became too busy.

'You should never let yourself get too busy for those you care about. Before you know it, they'll be gone forever,' he reflected.

Of course, Daz being who he was, had looked into the vehicles his close friend so passionately spoke about. He couldn't see the appeal in a fancy vehicle that was more style than practicality, but he respected the opinion nonetheless.

Daz didn't even have a driver's licence, so of course he had no appreciation for the uber-expensive luxury sedans of the past. 'Bentley's were his favourite, weren't they? It's hard to recall the minute details of our conversations at times... Perhaps I should invest in a skill to enhance my memory.'

The car he was in was one such vehicle. Not a Bentley as far as he could tell but it was heavily reminiscent of one.

It was blocky but in a smooth and purposeful manner. Despite weighing easily close to ten or more tonnes thanks to its armour plating, the five-seater sedan drove smoothly without disturbing the road beneath it.

The McArthur woman turned her head to look back at him since both Daz and Madison were seated in the rear while she was in the passenger side seat.

"You've been here before?" she asked curiously.

Daz slowly shook his head as his eyes continued to take in the numerous different system-influenced buildings and plazas they kept passing. "No, but I have seen videos and images of the place from both the current age and from the times before the system's coming."

He had done this to figure out key strategic locations to destroy if such a thing was needed in his takeover of the kingdom Madison's mother ruled. Not that he would say that out loud right now.

"Right, of course," the woman smiled at him. "I think we've done quite well adapting to everything. Not like those barbarians to the north. They're pretty gung-ho about rejecting the system even though there's no reason to do that at all. It's literally free power."

'I do wonder about that.' Daz narrowed his eyes. "I see. Well, everyone has an opinion."

'Scotland is the only part of the U.K. that has yet to join the new kingdom, right? The fact they distrust the system too isn't a bad thing. Hmm...' he pondered while he thought on how he could perhaps use that information to his benefit.

"Tell me about yourself. You're a McArthur, right?" he asked.

Madison tilted her head at his side inquisitively as if to ask 'why are you curious about her?'. He reached over and gripped her hand.

'Why are you not curious about her?' Daz thought but never voiced.

"A-Ah, yes, that's right. I'm Alison McArthur. I didn't introduce myself when we met at the airport?" the woman questioned back.

Daz noted that the buildings they were passing slowly shifted to a more Victorian-era theme as metal became rarer and rarer in the structures.

"No, you did not. To what degree can you use Alteration?" Daz asked in an emotionless tone.

"You know about th- Of course you do. How foolish of me? Your beloved is the young miss, after all." Smiling back at him softly, she said, "No, I can't use the family's central power. My father is a McArthur of the main family but my mother hails from the Stewarts. I inherited her bloodline and power."

Daz raised an eyebrow. "Am I supposed to know who the Stewarts are?"

Alison's smile cracked a little bit as if her pride has been assaulted by his question. "T-They're the third most prominent esper family of the Northumberland area. Their primary esper power is hailed as having the most utility in all of Europe. You... you really don't know about them?"

Daz narrowed his eyes. "Why on Earth were you assigned to cater to us during our stay when you clearly know so little about me? Is it not common knowledge that I was left in the dark about esper powers my entire life? I only just learned they exist less than a year ago."

Madison's eyes wore a guilty look but Daz didn't comment on it. He didn't blame her or Rose for trying to protect him. They had no reason to believe he would be fine if he learned he had three superpowers locked away inside of himself before the system's coming.

"I-"

Daz stopped the beginnings of Alison's panicked explanation with a shake of his head. "It's fine. I suspect it was a tactic to sound me out in some regard. Or maybe see how Maddy would respond to someone related to her by blood. No matter. Explain who the Stewarts are to me. What power is their speciality? How good are you at using it? Forgive me if these questions are taboos to espers, but I am genuinely curious."

"Ah, uh, well... it's not a secret so I don't mind explaining. There's still another 30-minutes or so of driving until we reach the palace, isn't that so?" Alison asked the driver and got a sharp nod in response. "Well then... How to begin? The Stewarts were originally a line of French espers and were..."

Daz only half paid attention to her. He didn't really care about her maternal family and he had better things to do while he waited for both her to detail how her power worked and for them to arrive.

'Maddy's mother is up to something. First the immediate interview. Second not censoring the internet's response to said interview when that is definitely something she would do according to Rose's intel on her. Third, the pointless day plan. Fourth, this bumbling excuse of an escort. And finally, why is this drive going to talk another half an hour? They've embraced the system here. It should take minutes to cross the city, even with pretty basic transport upgrades,' Daz surmised.

He nodded his head and made short noises of affirmation here or there to Alison while he thought. Finally, he reached a decision.

With a powerful mental image and the infusion of some internal energy, his right eye started glowing with a subtle golden sheen. Not a few moments later and it was back to normal.

"... And that's how they ended up migrating to England in the early 1,700s. They actually changed their primary esper power after winning a pretty brutal hidden esper war. Ah, uh, you do know about those, right? W-Well, my ancestor's on my mother's side absorbed the individuals from the side who lost and made their power into the family's through selective breeding," Alison claimed, having finished the historical side of her answer. "A bit medieval if you ask me, but it got the job done and is common enough."

Daz nodded. "I see," he replied both to her and to his vision. "One moment."

Alison paused with a confused look on her face. Daz could tell she was just trying her best to keep him placated since from her perspective, he probably looked like a very hot potato just bursting at the skin ready to explode.

"Driver, stop the car," he ordered in a commanding tone as he infused some of his Archreaper's Aura into his spirit and words.

With an ear-piercing screech, the armoured luxury sedan came to an immediate stop. No doubt, having damaged the roads and perhaps even its tires quite a bit in the process.

Daz opened the door and stepped out. He then approached the driver seat and knocked on its window.

With shaky hands and a trembling body, the driver somehow managed to open the door. "Y-Y-Y-Yes, s-s-s-sir?"

"It's just a bit of aura. Man up, would you?" Daz said as he reached in and unbuckled the man's seatbelt before tossing him out of the car. "Tell the queen I'll be going to see her soon. Be thankful I spared your life when you were complicit in wasting our time."

With that said, he got into the driver's seat then started up the car and performed a U-turn before speeding off, leaving the driver shaking in terror in the middle of the road.

"Am I being kidnapped?" Alison asked in a frightened tone.

Madison, meanwhile, chose to lie down across all of the backseats now that Daz had moved.

"No, you're not. In the vision you seemed just as confused as us when we reached the palace four hours from now," Daz answered as he pulled out his phone, went to his contacts, clicked on Rose's profile and called her.

"I see... Wait, four hours?! Why so long?" Alison questioned then mumbled, "And you can see the future? Isn't the Hamilio power meant to make you super hard to kill, not seers?"

'So the level four ability of Survivor's Instinct isn't common knowledge amongst espers. Good to know.' Daz shrugged. "I suspect Madison's lovely mother was trying to arrange a projected meeting. A hologram is likely. I won't accept a meeting that isn't in person though. We'll see who wins here. Her Alteration, or the omniscient head of the N.C.I.A."

Alison leaned forward before putting her face in her hands. Daz could hear a faint sobbing sound coming from her. "I'm so fucked..."

Daz frowned. "If it's any consolation, I don't hold you accountable for any of this. I don't even blame that driver who was working under orders to stall us nor the other people employed by Maddy's mother. It's hardly wise to say no to a woman ruthless enough to beat and abandon her own daughter when she was just a toddler for not being chosen by the Hamilio heir to be her future bride."

He still regretted picking Aila over her that day, but what was in the past was in the past and couldn't be changed at this point.

Daz didn't get a response from Alison beyond the soft sound of her weeping into her palms.

[Ember of Empathy [Entry-level (initial mastery)] has increased to 25%.]

'Feeling sorry for people can make me stronger? Good to know,' he thought as he reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone before dialling a familiar number.

"What do you want? I'm kinda busy right now," Rose barked through the phone the moment she picked up.

Daz smiled wryly. "The location of Madison's mother, if you wouldn't mind. I'd rather not waste too much internal energy on a de facto war against her Alteration. I certainly have less energy to use for such a thing than she does given my circumstances."

"... You're not wrong. Ha-ah, this is going to push back my next meeting by at least an hour. Fine. Take the next left," Rose ordered.

Daz grinned. 'Always complaining but still the most reliable person I know. Now, how will the high queen of these lands explain her clear attempts to avoid meeting me and her daughter? I'm very interested.'

***

"Well, this place sure is rural," Daz commented as he stopped the car and put the handbrake down.

"Like most British castles are. Well, I'm done here. She's in that building. Now leave me alone unless an emergency happens," Rose rudely said before hanging up.

Daz shook his head as he put his phone in his pocket. He turned to face Alison before saying, "You're coming with us."

"W-What? Why? Can't I, uh, just stay in the car?" the woman answered in a shaky tone.

Daz opened the driverside door and got out. "If you trust her mother to not have you murdered when you return to her side, then sure, feel free to stay. You did fail to keep us away from her, after all."

Daz watched as Alison glanced between him and Madison who was also getting out of the car. She took a few deep breathes before she nodded. "I, uh, I'll go with you."

"Smart choice. I'll keep you safe. Or Mr Barrier will, isn't that right, you mysterious blob of blue fur?" Daz asked the creature nestled on his fiancée's head.

It jiggled sadly in affirmation.

"Oh stop it. You won't get any pity from me. That conversation's still happening tonight," Daz said coldly before turning to face the massive castle Madison's mother was hiding in.

Arundel Castle, that was its name. Well, provided High Queen McArthur hadn't renamed it since claiming it as her own. Daz had to be honest with himself, it was a very impressive structure. As was the village surrounding it.

Said village was suspiciously empty upon their arrival but that only helped to add to the atmosphere of the place.

"It has to be at least twice as big as Castle Crowthorne," Daz commented as he walked down the gravelly rural road that lead to the castle's primary entrance.

"Maybe, but it's more courtyards than buildings unlike your castle, um, Your Majesty," Alison commented in an attempt to be helpful.

"Hmm... Well, unless we get jumped or somehow stopped in our tracks by her mother," Daz said, pointing to Madison, "which is possible but not likely, then we probably have a good 15-minutes of walking ahead of us to reach the High Queen."

Daz activated his Soul Vision and he immediately spotted a group of perhaps a hundred or so souls in what Daz guessed was the castle's built-in cathedral, though it could have just been a chapel. He was no expert.

"While we move, why not finish telling me what is it exactly that your esper power can do? You stopped talking when I assumed control of the car," Daz noted.

"I was scared out of my mind. Still am..." Alison whispered but clearly not faintly enough as Daz heard her. "Well, uh, simple terms of in-depth explanation?"

"Simple," Daz replied instantly. "I'll ask questions if I want answers."

"Okay... um, well, it's nothing special, hence why I'm just a maid of the McArthur family... or maybe was a maid of the McArthur family... It, uh, it lets me control water," Alison claimed with shame in her tone.

Daz nodded. "A very basic but powerful ability. I assume you're stuck at level-one then otherwise you wouldn't have been used as a pawn so easily."

"Powerful? Maybe a few hundred years ago... Only grandfather is seen as a powerful figure in our family during this era. But... y-yeah, I've never advanced. I haven't even been able to improve my internal energy since I was 11," Alison said.

Daz frowned. "A shame. I can think of so many applications for such a broad ability. Does the water need to be pure water to be controlled, or can you control things that contain water? If so, to what degree? So much stuff has water in it. Blood, food, the ocean, the ground we're walking on, the air, snow. Probably so much more too. I'm not well-versed on the subject."

"I know. It's just not a very powerful ability at my level," Alison repeated.

Daz didn't push her on the subject further. He knew esper powers could be shifted, altered, and changed, as he had done with his new usage of Survivor's Instinct, Success Sight.

He wouldn't reveal such a secret to a veritable stranger, however. "Show me that you're worth keeping around and I'll make sure you get proper training for your power when we return to my Empire. I'm always looking for espers that aren't complete monsters."

"Y-You're going to keep me around? I, uh, I have family here," Alison said in rejection.

Daz shrugged. "Family who's likely loyal to her mother, who probably won't be alive for much longer given her attitude."

He saw Madison flinch at that, clearly uncomfortable to some degree at his declaration. With that in mind, he kept his mouth shut and the three of them walked in silence through the eerily quiet Arundel Castle.