Chapter 65: 61. Breaking Dawn

The sky brightened as the sun peeked on a new horror getting conjured in front of Jay. When Emily said she was a shadow to Jay’s sunlight, she wasn't being theatrical for the sake of being a dramatic teenager. To play a bit. She was honest.

Which was probably a little too much for Derek. He had one hand on Jay’s arm as if that would protect him in the presence of Emily’s death power.

“Death is not the end, the secrets you hold are mine to apprehend." Emily's incantation turned the air even more frigid. The ghostly wailing grew in volume. “Speak in truth for all present to hear, or the pain of these chains will be yours to bear, Phantom Snare!”

Emily raised her arms and splayed her fingers. Rattling chains shot out from each digit, ten in all. The chains swooped through the air like flying snakes. The ghostly wails, chain rattles, and frigid temperature made the idyllic Florida neighborhood alley feel like a dark and scary mirror world.

Her incantation wrapped around an invisible and intangible soul. Then Emily yanked the soul from the immaterial to the material. A man’s form solidified into view while burdened by the chains. His voice raised in volume as he screamed in torturous pain.

Jay’s eyes widened as the chains emitted deadly cold energy that covered parts of the male spirit in ghost-like ice.

“That’s beyond sick,” Derek croaked.

Jay drifted from Derek to Emily’s side, his fear shifting into uncertainty. He stared hard at the spirit of his mom’s pursuer. If there was mercy in Jay’s heart, it had been there at the start until he reminded himself of his mom’s suffering and the tragic loss of his home.

Even then, he could not bring himself to wish ill upon the dead man.

“Don’t hurt him any further than necessary, please,” Jay asked Emily.

“But he deserves all the hurt.” Emily balled her hands into fists, pulling the spectral chains roughly.

The chains tore away patches of frozen ghost flesh before refreezing the damaged parts. The spirit sobbed horribly.

“Whether or not he deserves it is a non-issue,” Jay said, his voice rippling with gravity power. “I say don’t hurt him any further, Emily, and that’s all there is to it.”

The challenge in his voice was loud, clear, and a touch magical.

Emily’s eyes widened before turning hard. For a brief moment, she gave Jay a look that challenged him in return.

She would find an insane force that would hold against death. Her Conviction was higher, yes, and that held a determination that would go to war for any cause, but Jay’s overall power was greater. Her Conviction couldn’t overcome him alone when their system levels and attribute points clashed with some friction.

Like two auras testing each other out without coming to physical or magical blows. It was a feeling the Systemless or weak Rank 1’s wouldn’t understand. Jay hadn’t thought too much about his evolution, but he could tell it was easier to extend more of his energy as a Rank 2 than it was before. His new [Status Channels] Talent helped with that. And for this exchange where he got to test his system and magical strength, he found Emily wanting.

Jay won out even though Emily’s Conviction was very formidable. Through instinct, or because of their shared Titles, Emily lowered her head in deference to Jay’s victory. The [Freak] felt that was proper of her after a challenge between Champions.

Emily gave the chains between her and the quarry some slack. The tormenting ice thawed a little, giving the spirit some relief, but not too much.

“May I lead?” Emily asked.

“If I can field some questions when I think of ‘em,” Jay said.

“Sure.”

Jay waved ahead for Emily to go.

“Spirit, tell me your name,” she commanded.

“Shaun Wilcher,” he answered, his voice warbling slightly.

“Are you a World’s Knife Assassin?”

“Yes. I think. What is it you’re doing to me?”

“Do not ask questions,” Emily barked, pulling the chains slightly as a warning.

Shaun’s face was the caricature of a human, touching on the uncanny valley in ways that Jay couldn’t quite understand. Shaun’s expressions seemed all the more harrowing. In his anguish, his mouth stretched open farther than a human should.

Jay pretended to be unbothered.

Emily was entirely unphased. This sort of thing was her backyard now.

“You were sent on a mission, remember? Tell me about that,” Emily ordered, powering through Shaun’s confusion.

“I was back up,” Shaun said hesitantly. “Commander Steele wanted the teen agents used up. To stop the program from getting turned to the enemy’s side. It was expected Frank would fight them off and be occupied by his former peers, killing them while Jhara Luckrun is taken. It would be damaging to Frank’s psyche, weakening our enemy.”

“Is that why you took my mom, asshole?” Jay stopped to breathe, keeping his anger in check. “Did you take Jhara Luckrun to damage Jay Luckrun’s psyche?”

“Most likely. Orders from above wanted Jhara Luckrun’s execution done specifically,” Shaun explained. “I didn’t understand it. It would be easier to drop a bomb on that house and be done with it. But the benefactors are very strict and eccentric, Commander Steele told me. The benefactors wanted the mission done according to….”

“According to what?” Emily pushed.

“A tragic story. I don’t think I’m supposed to talk about this,” Shaun said, his voice flitting between shaky fear and sudden anger. “That bastard! I told Charles to keep hold of her. But look what happened? She took his gun and shot me. That fucking bitch shot me!”

“May I?” Emily asked Jay.

Jay looked up at Derek. As the one adult here, the man had the sense of wisdom to fade into the background when necessary. He was also a secret hush-hush agent, and the look Jay gave him asked for his experience.

Ever so subtly, Derek shook his head.

Jay sighed, thankful for Derek’s input. Because Shaun’s presence was grating against Jay’s stance not to torture. 

Damn.

It was hard not to fall into the dark side of things. It would be so much easier to let Emily go all out.

Instead, Jay bent into a crouch in front of the maddened spirit.

“Who are the benefactors?” he asked.

The spirit growled at Jay, jerking against the chains until Emily pulled them taut enough to control Shaun. That didn’t dissuade the spirit from trying to attack Jay somehow, snapping his teeth like an animal before breaking out into a horrid wail.

“What’s happening to him?” Jay asked Emily.

“Spirits that linger and have lots of negative emotions turn monstrous,” Emily explained. “In my crawl, I’ve encountered former dungeon crawlers that acted the same way. I had to be harsh to keep them in control.”

Jay figured that explained why Emily was hardcore about this. These negative spirits were nightmarish. You needed a bit of blackness in your heart to deal with that.

Jay sighed.

It didn’t look like Shaun was going to give them anything else.

“Benefactors,” Jay said. “Maybe not the System Admins exactly. But ain’t no way other people are Chance-savvy without some god-level help.”

“I’ve heard about the System Admins being antagonists a couple of times so far,” Emily said. “But I hadn’t seen that during my crawl.”

“It might be personal now between me and them,” Jay said. “But I can’t tell you how. I just know I broke shit in my crawl.”

“Fascinating,” Emily said.

Jay glanced down at Shaun’s wild form. Maybe if he gave Emily free reign to torture the spirit, they’d get more out of him. But the School Arc was going to start soon, and this noir-style adventure needed to close out on the right foot.

“How do you send spirits where they need to go?” Jay asked.

“With him ensnared like this, hitting him works,” Emily answered.

Jay pulled out his short sword from his bag of holding.

“The World Knife has blades hidden in every shadow, kids!” Shaun screeched, his humanoid shape distorting into something ghoulish and harrowing. “We will cut down the Champions! We will bring hell to the false idol! The benefactors won’t quit!”

“Silly adult,” Jay said. “The new world order is for magical kids.”

One cut. One neck. Another beheading.

Jay found some novelty in the sensation of parting ghost flesh and non-solid bone. It was different compared to everything Jay had cut so far. Ghosts were way softer. Like fluff, but with a dabble of ectoplasmic goo that spilled and turned to vapor. Then disappeared.

Shaun’s head fell from between his shoulders and turned into ectoplasmic goo before vaporizing. His body turned to goo and vapor just the same, leaving Emily’s clattering chains until she ended the incantation.

The death-like atmosphere, wailing ghost noises, and frigid temperature faded. Moments later, the morning sun shone on the alley like normal, dispersing all traces of the haunting nature of Emily’s power.

Jay bagged his short sword and stuck his hands in his pockets. “Yo, Emily.”

“Yeah?”

“Gotta admit, [Medium] powers are pretty wicked,” Jay said. “And incantations seem overpowered.”

Emily snorted. “It looks that way. But I was pacing around because it takes a while to…” She furrowed her brow to think. “To find the right words for Phantom Snare. Incantations can change depending on what you need them for, too. It’s not always frigid chains. It could be rope. Or it could be vines. And they can come out short, or they can come out long. And I can be vulnerable during the process, too.”

“Can you freestyle incantations when you need to?” Jay asked.

“Yeah,” Emily answered. “That’s how I got Phantom Snare. It came up like a song when I needed it early in Team Divine’s crawl. I think Conviction helps with that. But it cost me another incantation since I can’t fit too many in my spirit yet. I think Brit can fit more since she has a Skill for incantations. Lucky her.”

Jay nodded, appreciating the explanation. That answered some of his questions about how Call of the [Freak] happened. And it linked back to how YoAnna freestyled [Eye of Venerated Madness] into Jay’s profile when he had looked too deeply into her divinity.

He glanced at the spot Shaun had been killed twice.

“Why couldn’t I torture him?” Emily asked. “And don’t bring everyday morality into this. I want the [Freak] to answer.”

“When it comes to Chance and certain situations that could be narratively driven, I can feel the gravity of it all. It’s whimsical, yeah, but it offers me some insight into stuff. My instincts said to let him go without giving him too much trouble.”

“Now that’s peculiar,” Emily said. “I played your supporting dame to see things from your perspective, and good thing I did. You’re more than just the Rooftop Weirdo, now.”

True that.

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“Does that mean Shaun’s treatment was tied to something important?” Emily asked.

“Yes,” Jay said, “and no.”

“Explain, please.”

“It's a bright morning right now. We’re starting a school arc. And we’re not learning anything absolutely groundbreaking from Shaun. All we have is a name. The Benefactors. Serious dark stuff like torture should be used for a way more important plot point.”

Another point was Jay deciding to stand as a hero of comedy. He didn’t want to go back on that path easily.

On the other hand, an argument could be raised to teach Shaun a lesson for having Frank cull his own peers. That was beyond cruel and twisted. These assassins were the worst, and Jay was certain they’d return as recurring villains like a Saturday morning cartoon.

But Jay would like to be a Saturday morning hero.

Emily adjusted her glasses.

“We know they’re targeting our mental health if they fail to kill us,” Emily said. “Which is pretty fucked up. Isn’t that a threatening plot point?”

“We’re gonna face heaps of bull in those dungeons, so the assassin threats won’t hold water for long,” Jay said. “Look at us now. In three nights, most of us transitioned from Rank 1 to Rank 2, got a burst of magical growth, and can kill a squad of assassins pretty fine. I don’t think they can be a huge focus for us right now.”

“They have plenty going for them to retain our focus, Jay, even if you can mow through two hundred of them,” Emily said, stepping close to him.

She fished inside his pockets without asking, found the goods, and lit a cigarette. She stayed close as she took a drag. Then she shared the smoke with him.

“It’s YoAnna who they can’t absolutely threaten or harm,” she said. “I’m assuming her presence blocks off the bad guys from committing their bigger plots.”

“Unless,” Jay said, puffing and passing. His Perception highlighted the little things between him and Emily.

“Unless they go after her mental health by hurting her Champions,” Emily added. “You, especially.”

That wasn’t easy for her to say, Jay imagined. But Emily was more of a straight shooter compared to the other Divines.

This moment made for a great segue to Emily’s alternative reason for being here.

“YoAnna,” Emily said, “is special to us.”

“Same for me,” Jay said.

“It’s not fair of you to swoop in when we’ve been at her side since tenth grade.”

“The childhood friend angle says otherwise.”

“Then the Divine will resist you when it comes to romancing YoAnna,” Emily declared, puffing her chest proudly near his chin. “One of us is more deserving than you, Jay Luckrun.”

“It’s Casey, ain’t it?”

Emily chuckled even though her eyes didn’t spark with amusement. “It’s pretty obvious it’s her and not another, huh?”

Jay hesitated as he saw the hurt behind Emily’s eyes. “Everyone knows Casey’s hardcore about achieving stuff. It makes sense for her to want YoAnna.”

“Yup,” Emily said, finishing the cigarette quickly.

Jay was going to reach for another, but Emily got into his pockets again. She took her time extracting the cigarette and lighting a new one.

Jay narrowed his eyes.

“You can’t knock me down by flirting with me,” Jay said.

“What makes you think I’m not interested because you seem fun?” Emily asked with a crooked smile.

Before Jay could answer, Emily closed the spare inches between them.

She had height on him since it seemed like a requirement for the Divine to be closer to YoAnna’s amazonian frame than most girls. Jay had to look up to Emily’s face, or he’d get a faceful of her chest. Her pouty lips hovered in front of his eyes.

“In an alley, really?” Jay joked, sounding a little weak as his blood boiled.

Having High Perception made everything more intense–the touches, the heat of pressed bodies, the simple nearness of a pretty girl, her lips drawing closer, every detail getting magnified by his vision.

“I’m curious,” Emily whispered. “What makes you so special?”

To Jay’s surprise, his body wanted everything Emily had to give. But his heart and his mind knew YoAnna was his ultimate goal. None could separate him from that. So, he pulled up all his willpower–and his Conviction.

“What’s next if this fails?” Jay grunted. “You’ll send Macy to woo me?”

“And not me again?” Emily asked.

“If you don’t trip on the way to seducing me,” Jay bit back, making Emily flinch.

That broke the spell she had on him. Jay took that window to retreat a few steps and get some air.

A few shaky breaths came and went before Jay found his composure again. Thankfully, Emily was recovering from getting flustered just the same. She didn’t hound him any further.

“Did any of that work?” Emily asked.

“Of course not, I’m an anime degenerate, and you lack the 2Dness,” Jay said, offering his arm. “Let’s get you back to my street, then we can go from there.”

Emily signed disappointingly. She grasped his arm, leaning into him without overdoing it. “I can’t do the slutty thing at all.”

“I doubt anyone would get with me so fast and not leave me hanging,” Jay muttered as he walked her back. Derek followed along, having a knack for remaining discreet in the Champions’ wake.

Emily looked like she wanted to say something but kept it to herself. They entered an uncomfortable silence filled with Emily’s high-heeled boots thudding across the ground. Sharing smokes under the morning sun made the moment less uncomfortable. Though, it did give Jay flashes of Emily’s mouth and how kissable it looked.

He gave 30 Intellect a warning that he’d limit the Attribute if it didn’t knock it off.

The images stopped coming up.

They reached his street and stopped in front of his destroyed house. Sensing his noir-style adventure coming to an end, Jay waited to hear if Emily had more to say.

“We’re rivals when it comes to YoAnna’s love,” Emily said. “But the Divine stands with you whenever you need us. I can tell there’ll be a lot of action with you, Jay.”

“I’ll gladly have you back as a supporting dame, Emily,” Jay said. “But let me clear something up for you. We’re not rivals. Casey, you, or whoever, has lost already.”

Emily glared. “Egotistical, aren’t you?”

“You’re right,” Jay said. “My ego is king.”

***

Derek was driving Jay back to the motel while the [Freak] lamented in the rear passenger seat.

“I think you handled that pretty well,” Derek said.

“Are you saying that to be nice?” Jay asked.

“Totally.”

“I wasn’t ready for any of that,” Jay said. “I was making stuff up.” Jay rubbed his face. “I can still feel her all over me. And all the indirect kisses. And, and, and….”

“Want some advice?” Derek asked.

“Shoot.”

“You should enjoy yourself, man,” Derek said. “I don’t know what the big deal is, but we guys can have a little fun and still get with our number one.”

“I won’t cheat!”

“No, dude! I mean you’re not officially dating her, right? Miss Sainte-Rhythms is still rejecting you last I’ve heard.”

“It’s only been a couple of days since I’ve first asked,” Jay said.

“All right,” Derek said. “All I’m saying is go with the flow and enjoy until things become more permanent.”

“Is that really the best advice when trying to date a deity?” Jay asked.

“I dunno, brah,” Derek said coolly. “Big waves. Small waves. You can surf them the same.”

Jay took a moment to think. “Why are you talking about this rather than the assassin stuff in the alley?”

“This silly adult wants to help out,” Derek said. “I’ll lend an ear and look out for you if you don’t mind.”

Jay’s heterochromia eyes glimmered. “Does the MPC think they can get to me better with a likable agent?”

“Am I likable?”

 “Yeah, you are,” Jay grunted, making it obvious that was the end of the conversation. It still wasn’t confirmed if YoAnna had planted her own agents as MPC or not. Derek was clearly not a Pantheon agent–but he was friendly, at least.

Jay glared out of the window as the experience with Emily echoed around his body. At the very least, she took his mind off of Shaun’s cryptic words and the continued threat of the World Knife. And the Benefactors.

Emily had made some solid points about how the assassins were still threatening, which matched with YoAnna’s prior warning about the Systemless being a danger until the Champions were well into Rank 3. Even after killing more than two hundred men, Jay needed help from other Champions when things got too hot for him last night.

What would it take for Jay to kill thousands of assassins and not break a sweat? His [Slayer of Assassins] Title would love such power, and Jay wouldn’t mind it.

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