eligos

Double-Blind CH176

My hand twitched. It’d be so easy to end Aaron here. My Strength wasn’t particularly high, but it was still a significant upgrade from a normal person. It’d take seconds to dig my fingers into his throat and squeeze—

“I’d love to get in touch with her. Have a little chat about what she remembers.”

<Jaded Eye> crossed the threshold of stress. I stepped back from myself, mentally. Looked back towards the house. Daphne had moved from the kitchen...

Double-Blind CH175

I stared up at the metal beams stretching the length of Aaron’s house, supporting the wide open balcony on the second floor, an adage swirled up in my mind.

“The bigger they are, the harder they fall.”

As sayings go, it’s horseshit. And that’s not even getting into the terminal velocity pedantry. The saying should be: the higher you climb, the more gilded the parachute. Aaron was proof of that. If he was a normal person, the racketeering trial would have eas...

Monarch - Whitefall VII

My nerves rested on the edge of the knife. I’d been in countless situations where the slightest misstep meant death. It took a while to overcome the fear that came with the possibility of losing my own life. The last few years in the sanctum had beaten that fear out of me.

But the fear that others might die because of my mistakes haunted me just as strongly as it had at the beginning. Every death was a reminder of what I’d lost. A fragment from a perfect future, torn away.

E...

Monarch - Whitefall VI

I snapped back into my body, blinking several times.

There was no way of immediately knowing exactly how far back I’d gone, making this the most important part. It was still the same dew-crested morning. All the wagons and carriages were whole, meaning the drephin hadn’t made their move. I spun towards the overlooking mountain.

The drephin leader—the one who held his staff over his head, wasn’t there. And instead of a throng of wolves, there was a handful.

Maya tur...

Double-Blind CH174

“God, that sucks.” Streaking violet and blue swimmers covered my left eye. I sat up slowly and leaned forward, cradling my head. The nylon sleeping bag’s crinkling was absurdly loud.

It took a moment to make out Sae in the darkness. Sae nestled in the nook beside the window, where she pointed towards the house across from us. “No matter how bad you’re feeling, I guarantee our friend over there is doing worse.”

I stumbled to my feet and leaned against the o...

Double-Blind CH173

Rain poured, flooding the sidewalk and forming small rivers that followed runoffs to the storm drain. There’d been no warning of the incoming storm, save a few dark clouds on the horizon that overtook the sky in little more than an hour.

Weather is volatile in Texas. Anyone who’s lived here for longer than a week can tell you that. But it was different now. There were no more emergency push notifications, no more rain in x minutes heads ups from satellites we no longer ...

Double-Blind CH172

There’s something to be said for southern hospitality. I’d never seen the point of it before, but inviting neighbors, friends, and enemies to mingle in a closed setting was a hell of a way to create a sense of unity where none existed before.

Even if that sense of unity was counterfeit.

The location was the old golf course, around twenty minutes east of the city center. With Kinsley’s help and a courtesy call to the region 18 leader, it was easy enough to secure...

Double-Blind CH171

Kinsley and I were going to need to have a conversation about making the orders she gave her men more flexible.

Not far into region five, traffic backed up to an excessive degree, forcing us to go on foot. Emphasis on us. Ditching Grit and Ire was impossible. When they’d stubbornly refused to let me forage out on my own, I’d convinced them that escorting me around region five in full paramilitary gear was asking for trouble, and they’d ditched the kevlar and ...

Short Break + Schedule Poll

Hi all,

Thanks for your patience. I've been working out the direction I want to take Double-Blind lately, and attempting to do that while writing has made things a bit strained. Considering that, I'm going to take the rest of this week to outline the next hundred chapters or so and really nail down the direction I want the story to go. 

I had an outline for the first 120 chapters (Though I diverted from that, significantly), and while I still have a solid ending along with se...

Double-Blind CH170

I had to stop drawing attention to myself as Matt. People were already asking too many questions.

Which was why, as I pushed myself out of the SUV and squinted through the tinted lenses of a pair of dusty Oakley’s Ire offered me, I committed myself to doing nothing but enjoying a heaping serving of barbecue.

With that in mind, I swapped from <Cruel Lens> to <Jaded Eye.> If time-used factored into integration, I wanted to...

Double-Blind CH169

I didn’t have the time or the patience to play this nice. In seconds, I was out of my chair and on his side of the room. He flinched, as if I was about to strike him. Instead, I pushed a number of papers and trinkets out of the way and took a seat on the desk, planting one foot on the seat of his chair.

Needed to reset the stakes. Make him think this wasn’t really about the charms.

“You know,” I spoke idly, “I tend to come off as an asshole. Or so I’ve been told. As ...

Double-Blind CH168

As if something whispered in the back of his mind, Buzzcut suddenly whipped around. He scanned the room, pausing on me.

I held my breath.

Buzzcut’s eyes finally slid off me. He pumped sanitizer into his palm from a bottle on his desk and proceeded to wash his hands intently, working the sanitizer in with practiced ease, paying extra attention to the backs of his hands, going all the way up to his wrists and arms.

I’d found a new functionality, experimenting with the 2022-10-07 23:01:05 +0000 UTC View Post

Monarch - Whitefall V

I ignited my sword. Violet flame radiated from it, and the center grew red. “Bolster the first group with the rank-and-file.”

Maya stared at me, dumbfounded. “Help the well-organized contingent of men that isn’t struggling, while you get yourself killed aiding the second group? I don’t need your protect—“

“It’s not like that.” I shook my head. Whatever our issues, for the moment, we needed to bury them. “You have the harder job by far. I thought ...

Monarch - Whitefall IV

“Maya?” I shouted.

“Here!” A voice called back. A few yards away from me, Maya pushed herself to her feet, expression dazed, dress smeared with dirt and torn.

The aegis faded. After a brief look to make sure there was no immediate threat, I forced myself to disassociate from the chaos. Catalogue the damage.

A piece of metal shrapnel, about a finger’s-width long, had found its way through a gap in the xescalt armor and embedded itself in my thigh. While...

Monarch - Whitefall III

It took some time studying the canopy of dark green leaves before I found what I was looking for. An old tree, full of gnarled branches and bark that felt brittle to the touch. More importantly, it stood taller than any that surrounded it.

Lord Erebus trailed behind me, doubt clouding his features. “The Everwood spans a great distance, your grace. It seems incredibly unlikely that the panther has stayed close by. Even if it ventured a minimal distance, the canopy is thick.”

...

Monarch - Whitefall II

My father was unflinchingly attentive throughout my retelling. His cold blue eyes pierced me, evaluating every word, every gesture.

It was only the two of us in his carriage, save a mute scribe that took down our every word.

For the most part, it felt like some sort of elaborate ruse. A cruel joke that could end the moment he decided the novelty of taking me seriously had faded. Only, it had been hours. He asked me questions that indicated he was not only paying attention to my ...

Double-Blind CH167

I soared through the sky. Even after ten minutes, the feeling of weightlessness was jarring and alien. In normal circumstances, whatever passed for normal these days, I would have enjoyed this. I was gliding hundreds of feet in the air, getting the sort of million dollar view only accessible from a helicopter.

Problem was, I’d over-tapped myself last night. Using my vocation ability to spy on Miles was a risk, but the result had paid off in spades. The peace of mind that came with k...

Double-Blind CH166

THRUM

Bright. Brighter than the birth of the universe.

The crinkling fabric shredded through my ears like a sudden gale of wind. A metal saucer bearing, massive, far too large to be the utensil it resembled, forced its way in my mouth, cracking against my teeth. An overwhelming taste of vanilla radiated through my tastebuds and sinuses, so strong and overwhelming I nearly vomited. The metal withdrew, banging against a molar hard enough that my root nerves scr...

Double-Blind CH165

This was the homestretch.

I’d expected to cover the retreat, and was fully prepared to take a few more parting blows from Azure to sell the theater.

What I hadn’t expected was the Region’s reaction. I’d assumed they would cower in their apartments, waiting for the incessantly repetitive emergency message to fade.

I was wrong.

It seemed that many had not taken the events of transposition lightly. Nearly dying due to their cowardice had not faded fro...

Double-Blind CH164

It’s impossible to account for every variable. No matter how methodical your planning, well-thought your reasoning, you’ll always leave something out. The best plans always account for something to go wrong, expect proceedings to go off-course, and leave ample windows to adjust on the fly. Or at least, that was what I thought.

How the hell was I supposed to account for this?

Chrome-mask was more force of nature than sole combatant. He flew through the wrecked door, so quickl...

Double-Blind CH163

I covered my eyes and threw the cylinder. Even behind my arm, the resulting explosion was painfully bright, leaving a corona of pulsing violet around my vision. I sprinted out of the converted training area and out, leaping over training equipment and catching a glimpse of myself in the wall mirror, looking mussed and harried.

My side stung. Blood darkened my shirt, the self-inflicted wound bleeding far more heavily than expected.

The lobby was abandoned, pulsing red cast by the...

Double-Blind CH162

I shook my head, hoping I was projecting the correct amount of terror. “It looked like a monster.”

Foster’s eyes darted back and forth. Finally, he seemed to decide. “We’re not here just to monitor you. Miles thought… he thought there was a chance someone might make an attempt on your life.”

“Someone?”

“Myrddin.”

“What? Why now? There were plenty of chances before.”

Foster looked away.

“Holy shit. For talking to the Taskforce. ...

Double-Blind CH161

We went down to the converted racquetball court area. Foster went in before me, while Cook waited outside the door.

I observed them carefully. Other than Miles, I had very little experience with how high-level field agents operated. Cook seemed rusty, reflecting what Azure had told me. He hadn’t operated in this capacity in quite some time. Foster, on the other hand, cleared the court almost casually. He was thorough but calm, the only indicator of focus a slight tightnes...

Double-Blind CH160

AN: Sorry for the delay. Posting the chapters for this week in bulk.

I returned to my apartment.

Ironic that I was beginning to finally think of it that way—as mine—now that I was on the verge of losing it, along with everything else.

There was a throbbing hum as Sae stepped through the portal behind me. It was harder to read her these—along with the physical changes and expressionless compound eyes typically hidden behind sunglasses, she’d become ...

Monarch - Whitefall I

The camp had gone up quickly, wood from the forest efficiently felled and processed into defensive towers and strategically placed barricades. Tents of white and blue placed in uniform rows made up temporary barracks for the soldiers. Larger variations emblazoned with the banners of an eagle, bear, wolf, and panther surrounded the King’s pavilion.

An old fear took hold, like a rat gnawing through my guts.

In the twenty-some years I’d survived my father, there was ...

Monarch - Pyrrhic XIII

Sweat poured down my forehead, burning as it made contact with the last vestiges of seared skin. I’d told Kymar to stop, for now, and asked Ralakos to not inform me of the time until we reached the hour-before deadline.

I needed to limit any distraction.

For the third time, I pressed my hand against the control crystal, forcing the spark through it. Veldani’s voice guided me, kept me grounded.

“Remember that this is not a race. Be calm, collected. You cannot see the ...

Double-Blind CH159

A picture of Dr. Svelt stared back at me. My therapist for nearly half a decade, before money got too tight, and we couldn’t afford him anymore. If they had my session notes, this was about to get a lot uglier.

“What the fuck, Miles?” I asked. I didn’t have to manufacture the outrage.

“Do—” Waller started

I held up a hand and cut him off. “No. I want an explanation.”

Miles shook his head, regret clear in his expression. “You knew we had to look at...

Double-Blind CH158

I went over all of it with the feds watching from behind their panel, in painstaking detail. For the most part, I stuck to the truth. Everything from the park where I first met Kinsley to the open-forum was mostly accurate, excepting any mention of becoming a User that early. Other elements were subtly tweaked.

The encounter with the SWAT officer was abridged somewhat, making it sound less like a one-on-one encounter, more like a mass-shooting I’d escaped after someone next-door was...

Double-Blind CH157

The outcome was already decided. That much was certain.

Their side of the room had something of a frustrated air, as if they were all waiting for a foregone conclusion. Even if the detractors weren’t entirely onboard, they’d toe the blue line if the majority decided to pull the trigger.

They were waiting for Miles.

Which meant my only outward advantage going into this—that Miles was doubting himself, unsure of the course he’d put into motion—was somewhat mitigate...

Monarch - Pyrrhic XII

I knelt in the center of the room and attempted to clear my mind of all distraction. The memory of Maya’s parting threatened to resurface, over and over. I bore down on it ruthlessly until there was nothing but a blank.

“Water coming down.” One of the servants warned. A second later, a frigid torrent flooded over me, soaking me in fragrant water that immediately sapped my body heat.

There’s a rare consistency between apothecary and alchemy. The more powerful a...