Chapter 44: 40. Systems and Sundays! (II)

“Heh.” Jay smiled at the rising sun. “Should I get off the roof like a human? Or like an Inhuman?”

The Inhuman racial denomination had been in his mind briefly when he gave himself time to think. Jay wanted that can of worms to stay left alone mostly.

Sooner or later, he’d tackle that Inhumanity stuff head-on. He’d rather keep things lackadaisical and light for as long as possible.

Jay stood and took a swaggering step forward across his mom’s rooftop. His foot hovered over the space between him and the yard below. Thanks to his superhuman Agility, he paused perfectly still and gave his newly updated and edited profile a look.

Intellect was proving to pay its weight in gold when he got the inclination to do some interface organizing, which was a thing. So, he split up his Skills from Kleo’s. He listed their Talents and Titles with his things packed to the front, followed by hers.

It made for an easy and fun read.

 

Name: Jay Luckrun, Rank 2 Class: [Lesser Freak, Level 19] Race: Inhuman Allegiance: Multiverse Protectorate Pantheon. Affinity: Gravity Familiar: Creepy Kleo, Rank 1 Type: [Teeny Faerie, Level 8] Statuses: Health [400/400] Stamina [600/600] Mana [1100/1100] Chance [x2/x9] Attributes: [300 Applied AP]; 20 Resilience, 20 Poise, 20 Strength, 40 Agility, 80 Perception, 30 Intellect, 45 Conviction, 45 Discovery; [4 Free AP]. J Skills: [Moonwalker, Level 10], [Dance Floor Relativity, Level 10], [Grav Kick, Level 10], [One Heavy Step, Level 10], [Sling Assist, Level 1], [Horizondancer (Super), Level 10], [Cloak of Freakish Relativity (Freak), Level 1]. K Skills: [Orbital Mastery (Familiar), Level 10], [Gravity Grasp (Familiar), Level 1], [Graviton Wall (Familiar), Level 1], [Faerie’s Voice (Faerie), Level 1], [Judging Finger That Cuts Divinity (Faerie), Level 1]. Talents: [Identify], [Guiding Light], [Obscurification], [Monkey Boon], [Faerie Master], [Eye of Venerated Madness], [Mana Weaver (Familiar)], [Appetite for Divinity (Familiar)]. Titles: [YoAnne’s Champion of Challenge and Change], [Omen Bearer of the Apocalypse], [Precursor of the System], [Challenger of the Divine], [Slayer of Tyranny (Familiar)], [Successor of the Dungeon (Familiar)], [Punisher of the Divine (Familiar)]. …

 

“Glorious,” Jay said with a mad chuckle, his mismatched eyes glimmering. “Please, let there be a real mean assassin that catches me in a dark alley. Make my freaking day.”

He floated down the rooftop, the grass crunching softly under his sandals. For some reason, touching down and the resulting sound was pleasing. Jay jumped and fell slowly again, letting his senses extend close to the limits. 

He shuddered from the noise. His smile grew. “That’s some good ASMR stuff right there.”

“Uh, Jay,” asked one of the neighborhood kids. A small ragtag gang huddled on the sidewalk in front of his house. They were out earlier than usual.

And why didn’t he react to them coming closer?

In retrospect, he sensed them through gravity even if he had his Perception trained elsewhere. It ticked off anything or anyone within close enough proximity without him having to concentrate. It was as if he didn’t care they came into the perfect spot to view him.

Or he did care, but not for the usual reasons.

“Don’t you know?” Jay asked. “I’m magic.”

The boy leading the pack scrunched his brow. “No, you’re not! You’re the Rooftop Weirdo!”

All at once, the children put aside Jay’s manipulation of gravity. They jeered in unison with their knucklehead leader, pointing and shouting. “Weirdo! Weirdo! Weirdo! Weirdo!”

They walked off chanting until they crossed the four-way down the street.

One of them split off from the group and ran back to him.

“When’s the potluck?” the girl asked as if they hadn’t been bullying him.

“Starts at ten like last time,” Jay answered merrily. “Now go on and terrorize someone else.”

“Okay,” she said before running off and screaming. “Ah! He was gonna throw me on the roof!”

She rejoined her friends as they laughed and went on menacing elsewhere.

Jay shook his head. On the surface, there was nothing of note about that event. He harbored no ill will toward the kids, even if the Rooftop Weirdo negative slant could get demeaning. But on this occasion, Jay enjoyed it more than usual. He was already spirited. Now he was more so as he vaulted through his open bedroom window, curled tightly into a flip, and landed softly near the head of his bed.

His window faced east.

The sunrise fell on YoAnna and Kleo as the two started to wake. The gauze was gone now. Under the light of a new day, YoAnna looked up with a face that bore a great scar. It asked a question to all who viewed her.

Would you see past the scar?

Or would you see only the scar?

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Jay saw both, which made him feel fuzzy, thrilled, and frightened. Then those feelings settled down as low background noise with the other things bumping around in his head.

“Morning,” Jay greeted.

YoAnna blinked, her long eyelashes batting aside motes of sunlight twinkling around the right side of her face. At the same time, a strange shadow passed over the left side of YoAnna’s face. The scar grew more defined.

The teenage goddess smiled as she gave a moody Kleo her much-loved head strokes.

“Hello, Jay.”

 “Good morning, Kleo!” the [Faerie] menace shouted. She pounced on YoAnna’s hand and wrestled the fingers. “It’s time for your morning session of big sis bullying little sis, my godling!”

YoAnna sighed. “Oh, goodness me, I can’t ever hope to beat you, big sister. Please, won’t you spare me?”

“Mmm,” Kleo hummed. “Keep making me feel special, and I’ll let you off the hook.”

“I find that acceptable,” YoAnna said, sitting up with Kleo held like the tiniest baby to the godling’s buxom chest.

Kleo winked at Jay.

Jay wondered if getting a quick cold shower would be rude before his guest washed up. Though, that begged him to ponder. Did she need to wash up? She could magic perfection onto herself, couldn’t she?

He should probably say something with everyone’s attention back to him. Oh no, he was losing his mad confidence. Now he was fumbling for words. He should say something. He really should. But what if he said something stupid?

“Are you sure you want to go to the junkyard?” YoAnna asked, scooting to the edge of his bed.

“Oh, you know, gotta take it back to the ’90s,” Jay said, jumping onto the first thing that came to mind. “Back then, the comics were hella edgy and dark. Anti-Heroes were in at the time. Everybody was getting hyped off of The Watchmen and the deconstruction of heroes. Lots of scenes where heroes go to the junkyard, train their powers, and find a couple of bad guys to beat up along the way.”

“You would purposely hunt lowly mortals in poor economic blocks to train your powers?” YoAnna said, tilting her head. “They may be riff-raff and a step above the dirt, but that’ll still be quite predatory of you.”

“Ugh.” Jay turned to his 30 Intellect and asked for help. His 30 Intellect could only conclude that silence was the best option. He was a jokester, not a social and economic major. That and YoAnna’s words made him feel uncomfortable.

The godling laughed and smacked Jay on the arm lightly. “Be at ease, Jay Luckrun. There are complexities of structure and human sin that create the bedrock for mortal pain and suffering. There is no place in the Multiverse where heaven exists without the equivalent of hell lying somewhere near. Ying, yang, in a sense.”

“Yeah, I get that, but I just wanted to live out a childish fantasy,” Jay said, feeling the tingles that remained from her jovial hit. “Even if it’s for this one trip. And I won’t go looking for trouble. Maybe Rick and Tim might be there to watch my back.”

“But if they are not, and trouble finds you,” YoAnna said, her shadow spreading across her face, “then don’t hold back.”

“I’ll win no matter what,” Jay promised.

YoAnna smiled, the sunlight shining through to push back the shadow side. When she stood, reminding Jay how much she towered over most people, especially him, the whole sunrise and shadow dichotomy fell away.

It was a curious thing Jay’s improved Intellect picked up on. The world would subtly or overtly bend to display themes around the deity. Reality shifted itself to paint real fantasy to life. Thus, telling a story.

“YoAnna,” Jay called.

“Yes?”

“I kinda understand what you mean about the impossibilities between us.”

YoAnna lowered her head.

“Gonna date you anyway.” He grinned. “Cause why the fuck not?”

YoAnna looked at him, expressing different emotions depending on the side of her face. There was a scary, obsessive, and dark persona with plans for Jay on the left side. There was a pleasant, distant, enlightened motif on the right side–this also had plans for him. Between them both, Jay could almost see a flicker of unity. Something both sides shared in their opinion of Jay.

YoAnna might like him as more than a friend.

“I am still of the belief,” she said quietly, “that we shouldn’t be romantically involved.”

“Don’t care.”

“I will find a way to endure you and press you into friendship,” she continued.

“Good luck.”

Kleo ogled them both like she was watching a guilty-pleasure soap opera.

The atmosphere in the room intensified as the teenage goddess and rank 2 mortal faced off.

The door swung open.

The cloud of tension burst.

“What up, man!” Jhara Luckrun greeted. “I got a kitchen loaded with the goods, and you ain’t feasting?” She swaggered in with a big tipsy grin and aviator sunglasses reflecting the bright morning light. “Did she reject ya that… bad?”

His mom stopped. She backed up to the door threshold.

She lowered her sunglasses and gaped at Jay’s face and glowy heterochromia eyes. Then she looked over the rim at towering YoAnna with a face that begged a divine question.

The sunglasses fell free.

A quick application of [Gravity Grasp] covered the apparel in a purple aura and yanked them into Jay’s awaiting hand. He ignored the increased mana expense from using a Skill from his familiar. Those were nice sunglasses and worth the mana price.

Jhara missed the magic trick, her eyes too busy shining with admiration and infatuation for YoAnna. At least for a few seconds. Then she reclaimed some of her composure and spotted the last bedroom occupant. 

“Hey, Momma Luckrun!” Kleo waved from YoAnna’s chest. “I’m Jay’s other girl, Creepy Kleo!”

Jhara walked away, letting a string of Creole come out. English wasn’t enough to express her shock.

“Did we upset her?” YoAnna asked worriedly.

Jay cracked a grin. “For now. She’s gonna be happy soon.”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah,” Jay said. “If there’s one regular mortal who deserves an introduction to magic, it’s my mom. She’s the coolest.”

And weirdest. Weirder than Jay, even.

“Oh, good, a reason for me to stay longer.” YoAnna licked her lips. “Her choices of seasoning for sauteed ackee and sweet plantains are delightful. And I like how she keeps her pancakes simple but has an assortment of syrups and add-ons for us to choose from. The woman is both artistic and practical.”

YoAnna’s stomach rumbled, making the air visibly shake.

“Do deities need to eat, or do they pretend?” Jay asked.

“If our desires are strong enough, there is no pretending,” YoAnna said, “for we will feast.”

“Divine gluttony!” Kleo cheered.

Jay felt a non-magical premonition of warning. There wouldn’t be leftovers for the Last Sunday of the Month Potluck. He ran out of the room and darted for the kitchen to make a huge serving for himself.

YoAnna stalked after him with slow and methodical steps. Her hunger shook the air inside the whole house with every belly-rumbling groan.

Kleo laughed like a loon, enjoying her free but wobbly YoZilla ride.

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