Chapter 258: Chapter Two Hundred Fifty Nine

We headed home a few hours later, both in a surprisingly good mood. Lauren and Amber had actually gotten Callie to be pretty friendly once she and Ashley were banned from speaking and by the end of the night I think everyone had fun. I'd have expected the attempted ass kicking and reputation bomb to have stepped on toes, but everyone just kind of blew it off as the cost of doing business. Heroes vs villains. I really didn't get the way the Unity worked. But if it was good for them they were welcome to the weirdness.

When we got back to the house, Amelia was waiting up for us, though just her, and for a second I thought this might be a parent thing. I read moms did that after a long night sometime? I wasn't sure, I'd never really had a long night, and the very few things that might count Zeke hadn't cared much about. He wasn't the helicopter type. I quickly realized though, that this wasn't some curfew policing weirdness, she was waiting up to talk to me about her wish. She was finally ready to get powers.

She gestured for both of us to sit. "Hey you two. Good to see you. I wanted to talk to Shane, Cal, you're free to stay, but try not to weigh in too much. This is between me and him, ok?" Her tone was gentle, but very firm, and Callie nodded solemnly at the statement, just excited to have her mom step on the path. Amelia turned back to me. "So, how much control do I get here. Can I wish for a specific power?"

I gave a shrug. "All wishes depend on what you can pay. I can't really give much advice without compromising the process. I can say that I can do give you most Abilities at this point, I expect. Probably nothing like...clan specific, because of the perception of exclusivity, but if you want a specific power, as long as it's minor it should be fine. I can give you a shadow power, if that's what you mean."

"Oh, gods no!" Amelia said, with a loud snort. At Callie's hurt look, she winced at her own outburst. "Sweetie. I love you, you know that. But I'm perfectly aware of why your father left. Don't get me wrong, the man was miserable to live with, and I'm well past being bitter about it, but I have no desire to invite him back into my life by becoming a part of his twisted dynastic fantasies. I can't think of a faster way to make Paul show up at my door than to awaken a shadow ability. I literally want to get as far away from that as I possibly can."

Callie's hurt faded a bit into resignation. "That's...fair. He really has zero concern for other people, I could see him showing up to try to get you back if you got shadow abilities. I'm already getting stronger, in his mind, you developing abilities would make you even more suited to be the mother of his child. I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy. So, the opposite then? Maybe some kind of light based power?"

She seemed to be warming to the idea now that she knew it was about hating on her dad. I had to fight down a snicker as I saw them bonding over mutual dislike. I'd never met Midknight, and honestly at this point I hoped that streak continued. I didn't like him, but it seemed like everyone was just better off when he was avoided. It was pretty much a moot point right now anyway with him in Rajak. I was just glad we moved out of the Unity building. I didn't think Callie could have opened up like she had under her dad's thumb (or that's how she'd seen it).

Amelia was looking intrigued by her suggestion though. "Light based might be nice. I was kind of thinking about healing? I've always like caring for things, and I bet it would work on my garden. I'm guessing whatever power Jessie has is out. Even if I got her same starting ability and synergized the same Skills with it, if I didn't have the same stat distribution and knowledge base I'd end up with something else. Better to just aim for my own thing. What do you think?"

They were talking like I wasn't there, which was good, because for the purposes of this conversation I kind of wasn't. I just let Callie advise her. She knew more about my power than almost anyone except for me and like...Zeke. PLus like I'd said, I could grant basically any Minor ability they could think of. How useful any given ability was at Minor was a different story. Plus she had to be able to pay for it.

Callie had considered that too, because she bit her lip worriedly as she thought out loud. "Healing would be nice, healers are hard to come by, and I doubt even if you ever headed to the capital Uncle Alex would let the Peace Lord anywhere near you. It would probably be expensive to pay for though. What are you planning to offer for your power. A Minor ability has little value to Shane, so that'll bring down the cost, but Impact is a valuable commodity to anyone even if he can only do the partial point."

I'd expected worry, but Amelia didn't look bothered. "I considered that. I talked to Ezekial a bit about it, he's something of an expert, and I thought over what you told me about the ability. I think some kind of contract would be the best bet. Something like a promise of a safe haven here if it's ever needed for a certain number of years maybe? As long as I make sure Shane is always welcome in our home I feel like that's something of significant value given his feelings for you."

That...certainly had value to me. I was pretty sure it might work. Wishes on mortals tended to be cheaper since they were easier to effect in any case, and I'd been paid in credits for mortal wishes before which set a standard of value. Plus it really was important to me that Callie's mom liked me and was ok having me here. I couldn't comment of course, so I just waited as she formulated her wish.

She gave it substantial thought before finally putting it into words. "I wish that I had the best possible light based power for me that you have the power to grant at this moment." I grinned. She really had been listening to Callie. That was an excellent wish. "In return you will be welcome in my home at any time for the rest of my life, even if things don't work out between you and my daughter."