Chapter 17: Chapter 16

After an exhausting search of the armory Hecatolite managed to find nothing. She did entertain the idea of an enchanted shield she found momentarily, but after inspecting the enchantments on it she realized though it had strengthening, self-repair and a really powerful “anchoring” enchantment that when activated would turn it into an immovable wall;  it did not have any weight reduction meaning she would need to keep her self-enchantment up the whole time while using it just to carry it. She quickly inscribed it with a soul bind enchantment and handed it to Hans simply stating “bribe” and going back about her business.

“Hecatolite, we have been in here for an hour,” Alexa stated leaning against her staff, she had wanted to go to the training yard to try it out but could not leave Hecatolite alone. “if you haven’t found anything yet you probably won’t.” 

“she’s right, you have already looked over most everything here.” Hans agreed, he still seemed leery of Hecatolite never turning his back to her but he did have his new tower shield on his back, now bound to him. “I doubt anything in here will be of much use to you regardless.” He looked over at the handful of “offensive” items Hecatolite had destroyed and discarded some of which he noted as very powerful armors. “Given mage bane doesn’t work on you I don’t understand why you want a weapon.”

“Safety. Magic not always work.” Hecatolite said for the umpteenth time. 

“Why not just use a sword like your father? Or a rapier-like you mother?” he asked, gaining a glare from Hecatolite.

“Hecatolite is… uncoordinated.” Alexa clarified, “she would be better off using a metal rod than a sword, she kept turning the blade while swinging and couldn’t really get it to cut.” The memory of Hecatolite swinging practice swords fresh in her mind as she remembered the handful of broken swords still lying about the yard.

There was a silence as they stood before Han’s eyes gleamed, “I might actually have something for you.” he motioned for them to follow him as he closed the door behind the girls locking it, “it just came in the day before last, so it hasn’t been cataloged yet.” He said as he ushered them down the hall keeping Hecatolite In front of him as he directed them to his office.

They arrived at the door and Han’s cleared his throat as he knocked.

“isn’t… your room?” Hecatolite asked, raising an eyebrow much as it had seen Taaffeite do when speaking to people.

“Enter.” A strong female voice called as Hans sighed.

“Not when your mother is here.” He said as he opened the door to see Taaffeite sitting at his desk a mountain of papers before her and a Babylon screen floating to her side.

“Ah good Hans, I was going to ask where the older reports are kept,” Taaffeite didn’t even look up as she flipped through the papers, Babylon flashing every time she moved one from one pile to the next, “it appears my husband had been slacking in transcribing them, also we seem to have a small problem. More people came in than taxes were recorded,” she finally looked up seeing that Hecatolite and Alexa had also arrived.

“We keep them in a storage room down the hall, I can have someone bring them here if you like.” He said, his body snapping to attention as Taaffeite looked them over.

“a tower shield?” she said her eyes landing on the captain shield strapped to his back.

“Bribe.” Hecatolite smiled as she spoke, her mother raising an eyebrow.

“I see,” she said with a grin, “and what exactly did you do that required a bribe?”

“Nothing…. Might have broken junk in armory.” Hecatolite stated as it took a seat in front of the desk.

“A few is an exaggeration,” Alexa added. “It’s safe to say that there is very little “armor” left in the armory. She insisted on testing them to see if they were good. On a side note, we found out her claws will cut through just about anything not made of mana steel or harder.”

Hans sighed as he stood at the door, his shoulders drooping slightly. “Cuts through plate armor like butter, going to need to think about upgrading the entire guard if she is going to be around.” His voice barely a whisper but just loud enough for Taaffeite to hear.

“So, he did find out then, no surprise he has known Amethyst since she was a baby.” She commented offhandedly as she continued to transcribe reports into Babylon. “And you Alexia did you find anything useful?” her eyes fell on the staff Alexa was holding behind her back.

“no, well yes.” Alexa said, presenting the staff to her mother, Taaffeites eyes going wide in recognition. “Hecatolite may have… unblessed the staff of Valor we had in the armory.”

“Unblessed,” Taaffeite repeated as she took the staff from her daughter, slipping from her grasp as its full weight fell into her hand. “And she used that “soul bind” enchantment on it as well.”  

“Yes, a weapon for protection. Only Alexa use, keep herself safe.” Hecatolite stated proudly as Alexa retrieved the staff.

Taaffeite nodded, understanding that Hecatolite seemed to only want certain people to have access to anything she made. “And Hans shield as well.”

“Not a weapon, still bind. Dangerous tool.” This distinction gave the three adults pause as they looked at the smiling girl.

“I can’t say I disagree; in the wrong hands this shield would be problematic to deal with.” Hans unstrapped his shield and activated it, the shield proceeding to float in the air next to him. “Even her claws couldn’t seem to get through it.”

Taaffeite nodded as she walked over and tapped on the shield a few times. “Just try not to leave it anywhere, if Hecatolite enchanted it, that shield will probably never move again if you die.”

“If I’m being completely honest Taaffeite,” Hans said, pulling the shield from the air and returning it to his back, “after watching her try to get through it; I truly fear anything that can get past this shield.”

“Good bribe. Friends now.” Hecatolite stated happily. “Now my weapon?”

“You don’t bribe friends, Hecatolite.” Taaffeite stated turning to her daughter, “you give them gifts.”

“Gifts are just bribes to keep friends.” Hecatolite stated, the room went quiet for a moment.

Taaffeite could not think of a rebuttal to that statement, it was not true or false. The three of them simply stared at the young smiling girl who was eagerly waiting.

“That's… a little sad don’t you think Hecatolite?” Alexa finally said, soliciting a shrug from Hecatolite. 

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“Well moving on,” Hans coughed as he walked to one side of the crowded office, “this is what I wanted to give you.” he pulled a large case from a shelf behind his desk and set it on the floor, the case seemed to be a simple leather case about four feet long with large intricate clasps holding it shut.

“What exactly are you trying to give my daughter Hans?” Taaffeite asked, grabbing the handle before Hecatolite could.

“Honestly, junk.” He said with a grin, “no one else could probably use half of what’s in that case, we had a man who fancied himself a mage hunter come through a few days ago and that’s his kit.”

“Mage hunter?” Alexa asked curiously as she eyed the case.

“Mage hunters have long since died out,” Taaffeite said, lifting the case from small grabbing hands. “Well before the last demon lord and the god king, why would someone claim to be one now?” 

“Couldn’t say, not the first time someone dug up an old title and tried to play pretend.” Hans shrugged, “but the man did have the kit for it, too bad he got himself killed almost instantly trying to attack some adventure in the bar.”

“Please give. Want to see.” Hecatolite said trying to reach the case, it was quite comical the small girl reaching up to grab the case its mother held just above her own head. 

Taaffeite looked down at the pleading eyes of her daughter, letting out a long low sigh before saying, “fine, but if it seems dangerous, I will be taking it away.” She handed the small girl the case.

Hecatolite wasted no time in discarding the clasp that held the case shut, simply ripping it off and throwing it over her shoulder. Pulling the lid open she let out a breath as she started pulling things out.

Inside the case was a cane that looked almost like it was made of stone, its handle engraved with an intricate knotted pattern that led into a rod that was not rounded like a normal cane but square, ending in a rounded spike at the bottom.

“Is… is that a mage bane rod?” Alexa asked, eyeing the cane, “who would make such a thing?”

“Someone who wants to beat a mage. Crude but effective.” Taaffeite said holding her hand out, “it's heavy too, this would pack one hell of a punch to someone who relies too much on defense magic.”

“More!” Hecatolite giggled as she pulled out what looked to be just over 1 meter long 6 shot revolving rifle. 

Hecatolite gawked at the rifle in its hands, the dark finished wood stock leading into the scorched blue metal body leading out into its long barrel the same wood accenting the bottom of the barrel as a grip, the trigger mounted just below the cylinder along the slightly curved stock that was just a bit too long to fit her small body comfortably. The revolving cylinder moved easily as she clicked it around checking every chamber through the loading window at the back. Satisfied that it wasn’t loaded she pulled the hammer back and pointed it well away from everyone, and tested the trigger. It had a slightly heavy pull to it as she gently applied force until the soft “click” rang out in the office, her whole body seized as she slammed her eyes closed. 

Memories flooded Hecatolite’s mind, ones of what felt like hundreds of wars, her head felt like it was about to explode as thousands of hours of training with guns of all kinds riddled her mind, from the simplest black powder rifle all the way to hulking mounted automatic machine guns. Her breathing caught as all the destruction, the pain and suffering, such weapons can bring filled her vision with horrid acts of war. The memories snapped from one violent death to another, the feeling of bullets of all kinds ripping through its body over and over again, unable to even scream as the taste of iron filled her mouth. 

  They all watched the small grinning girl inspect the rifle with such care and wonder that one would think she was afraid of breaking the weapon. None of them ever trained with a firearm, there simply was no need for them when one had magic, yet Taaffeite and Hans both knew the simple principle of using one. Hunters used them to get small game, yet most people still prefer the bow and arrow given the ability to infuse them with mana and spells. Both noted Hecatolite’s care in inspecting the weapon being sure it was not loaded before nestling it into her shoulder and test firing it, being sure to point it at a near unoccupied wall.

The second the gun’s hammer clicked into place Hecatolite froze, black veins springing to life pulsing along the girl’s body as they watched her clenched her eyes shut. They could hear her teeth grinding as she stood unmoving, not even breathing as she trembled slightly.

“Hecatolite,” Taaffeite spoke softly as she lay a hand on the young girl’s shoulder. She had seen Hecatolite freeze for a moment or two before but nothing like this, normally she would just stop and stare into space before resuming whatever it was she was doing. However, this was something completely different. She did not bother asking if the young girl was ok, just started rubbing her back and whispering, “it’ll be ok”, she watched as black liquid aether pulsed out of its hands coating the rifle.

“W̶̪͝i̷̪̿l̴̀͜l̶̹͝ ̷̲̿y̷̼̆õ̴̪ǘ̶͕ ̸̬̚b̴̘͒e̶̳̅c̷̞̓o̶͛ͅm̶͈͊e̶̛̹ ̸̗̃ẗ̸̫́h̶͕͐e̴͙̔ ̶̰͌m̷͈̂o̴͕̓n̴̳͊š̵̭ṯ̷͠e̸͒ͅr̵̝͘,̷̢̓ ̷̧̕ǒ̵̥ṛ̸̓ ̶̦͐t̷̺͑h̵̦͝e̵̞͠ ̸̧͂p̷̡͊r̸̺͘e̵̤̐y̷͉͘?̷̢̇” the words slammed into Hecatolite’s mind, a distorted low rumble building in its chest. The scrambled thoughts brought with them new memories, not of its deaths but of deaths it caused.

Men, women, children, anything that crossed its path fell to its hands. Guns, swords, knives, everything from the simplest of clubs to bombs that tuned entire towns to ashes. Hecatolite did not feel remorse for all that it was watching die, but relief from the pain of death. Relief that someone else was dying instead of it, the horrid screams ringing in its mind sounding almost like music as the worlds burned around it. It watched as its hands wrapped around a struggling man’s neck, slowly squeezing the life from him. The look of terror in the mans face brought not dread but a twisted delight to its heart, knowing that one less person would be trying to hurt it as the mans eyes rolled up in his head.

Then it felt it, a warm soft hand on its back, just barely at first but soon it could clearly feel the soothing circles being made as it heard a soft loving voice calling to it, “it’ll be ok.”

Hecatolite’s whole body groaned as they watched the young woman’s mouth open, a loud primal yell tearing through the whole barracks as the words seemed to bend the air itself, her voice distorted as a wave of energy blasted out from her, flinging Hans to the ground. Somehow, neither Taaffieite or Alexa seemed affected by this outburst that shook the very walls. The black liquid exploding off the rifle and fizzling in the air.

 “I am not a monster!” black blood like liquid poured from her mouth as she seemed to collapse still clenching the rifle in her hands, the stock and grip now black like charred wood, and the burnt blue body now covered in white web-like lines that seemed to glow ever so slightly. 

the discarded Babylon screen flashed atop the desk, “Traits acquired, forgotten legacy, mage slayer. Skills acquired, marksmen.”

Name; Hecatolite Lapidary

Age; 10

Race; unknown

Titles; Twin soul, Me, X47, Soul Sorcerer, Enchanter, Soul eater.

Traits: Aether body, Marred soul, Abomination, shared body, Twin soul, Soul magic affinity, Enemy of boxes, Arduous, Indomitable will, Weak focus, fractured mind, Scholar, Forbidden Knowledge, Polyglot literate non-fluent, Albinism, claustrophobic, heretic, forgotten legacy, mage slayer.

Skills: Soul magic mastery, Enchantment mastery, Skill override greater, Spell circle creation, Spell chant negation, Aether mastery, Deception greater, Blessed by “error”, danger sense greater, Blessing, Blessing override, Marksmen.

Lapidary Bloodline skill personal: Babylon “Inutil”

Locked spells; Moonlit devourer

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