FaithfulMuse
CitrusArms
LimeTime966
Villamvihar
Shadow Dragon
twave
BrokenPromise
Noctis
Majoraa
Mia was still basking in the blissful afterglow of her dream, when her tranquility was shattered by the sound of anguished sobbing.
Connie! she thought in alarm.
Opening her eyes and propping herself up in bed, Mia flicked on the light to see her friend curled up and shaking, while she clutched her tear-soaked pillow tightly.
“Connie! It’s okay, it’s okay,” Mia said as she put a comforting arm around her trembling friend. “Shhh… shhh… I’m here… I’m here…” she added gently. “You’re safe now. It was just a bad dream.”
“Mia!” Connie cried, throwing herself into her friend’s protective embrace. “I-It was awful! I-It s-said… It s-said…”
“Your Patron?” Mia asked, her expression changing from concern to anger.
“Y-Yes…” Connie confirmed with a small nod. “I-It s-said that I w-wasn’t d-doing enough… T-That I n-needed to do more… I-It y-yelled at me… A-And h-hurt me… I-I was s-so s-scared…”
“That son of a…” Mia seethed with fury. “Haven’t done enough?! What the hell does that mean?! You’ve been giving nightmares to people every night! I oughtta give that thing a piece of my…”
“N-No, Mia,” Connie said softly. “I-It’s my f-fault… I-I’m n-not s-strong enough…”
“What?” Mia asked, taken aback by her friend’s words.
“I-It’s true. I-I’m too timid… I n-need to b-be stronger… L-like you. C-Can you h-help me to do that, Mia? Please?”
“Connie…” Mia’s heart ached at the sight of the sad longing in her friend’s eyes. “Okay, sure,” she said with a tired smile. “We can work a little harder on helping you toughen up and overcome some of your fears. Heck, if you want, I’ll even try and find some really weak monsters for you to get some combat training against. And as for your piece of shit Patron, well, it wants more nightmares? Fine, we’ll give it more. Tomorrow night, we’ll give it a fucking crapload of nightmares! But I refuse to let that piece of filth hurt you, Connie. I mean it. If it pulls that kinda shit with you again, it’s gonna have to answer to me.”
“Thanks, Mia,” Connie said, while laying her head atop her friend’s shoulder. “You’re the greatest.”
“I know,” Mia said with a grin as she gently stroked Connie’s long brown hair. “So, ready to get back to bed?”
“S-sorry, Mia, b-but I… I don’t think I can sleep anymore tonight… N-Not after…”
“Don’t worry,” Mia said with a warm smile. “I think I can help with that.” Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, she allowed the energies of her Patron to fill her once more. The room was bathed in an emerald glow, while a serene voice called out, “Nature’s beauty! Nature’s grace! Nature’s power! Behold, I am Gaia, Daughter of Mother Earth! Now, my dearest Connie, let’s get you back to sleep.”
A radiant sphere of mystical energy formed in one of Gaia’s elegant hands and swiftly shaped itself into a beautiful flower with sparkling petals. It gave off a soothing fragrance that put even the most expensive and highest quality aromatherapy to shame, and Connie could feel herself becoming more relaxed by the second. Placing the flower upon the nightstand, Gaia calmly motioned for Connie to lie back down on the bed. Once she had done so, Gaia tucked her in, nice and snug.
“There, how does that feel?”
“Mmmm… It feels wonderful, Mia…”
“Good. I’m so glad to hear that. Now, I want you to take some deep breaths for me, okay? In, and out… Iiiin, and ouut… Iiiiiin, and ouuuut…” Gaia instructed, her voice getting softer with each syllable. "That’s it… Just like that… You’re doing great… Now, just breath normally… You should be feeling much more relaxed now.”
“Mmmm…”
“Great. Now, I’m going to massage your hands for a bit, okay?”
“Mmm hmmm…”
“Splendid.”
Gaia smiled down at her friend, as she lovingly set about her work of relaxation. By the time she had finished, Connie was sleeping peacefully once more.
“Sleep well, my dearest Connie,” Gaia whispered as she placed a gentle kiss on her friend’s forehead. Then, dispelling her transformation, she slipped under the covers herself and was soon deep in slumber, all worries fully banished.
At least, for now…
Violet Covington sat alone in her dimly lit study. The only light present was the soft glow provided by a collection of holographic displays. She was not in a pleasant mood. Tapping her foot in agitation, she checked for what seemed like the twentieth time to see if she had finally received a response to the email she had sent to the Penrose Independent. Once again, nothing was there. A frustrated sigh escaped her lips. After her sources had informed her that Penrose’s premier paranormal investigator, one Supersluth Sammy, was currently MIA, Violet had sent an email to the Independent, inquiring if the news agency would be amenable to conducting an investigation for her. Now, several hours later, there was still no response.
While many people would simply put this down to the lateness of the hour, Violet Covington was not among them, and even if such thoughts had occurred to her, they had done so only briefly. Her great-grandfather, the illustrious Cornelius Covington, had once owned a newspaper, and even in the deepest hours of the night, its staff would be found toiling away, always attentive to any newsworthy developments. The idea that the Penrose Independent, even with its meager size, would operate any differently was simply unthinkable. Yet, here she was.
Perhaps I should retire for the evening… she thought to herself.
Turning in her chair, she froze upon catching sight of what appeared to be a large figure standing on the far side of the room. But… that was impossible… No one should have been able to enter her private study without her knowing about it. The security system was impenetrable to everything short of a full-scale military assault. At least, to everything mundane.
“Who are you?” Violet demanded, rising from her chair. “And how did you get in here?”
The figure took a step out of the shadows, and took out a lighter that glinted like a distant star, alongside his eyes, now seen from under his fedora.
“I came in through the door. Literally.” He lit up his cigar; the smoke could be seen in the darkness, like a bluish serpent that coiled up to the ceiling. “You might be wondering if I’m taking the mick about it, but you’ve noticed it too, haven’t you? There’s more to our world than meets the eye. Usually people are fooled by the Masquerade, and think it’s all some coincidence or contrivance.” He walked forward a couple of steps.
“Now, you’ve had some trouble recently with mysterious incidents with no trace, correct? Well, those ain’t coincidences, or anything you could rationally explain; it’s all caused by magical folks, just like yours truly.” He paused for a moment to let the revelation sink. “But don’t be alarmed. I’m not here to hurt you. In fact, I’ve come to provide my services.” He sat down on one of the chairs placed before her desk, and crossed his leg in a casual manner, leaning back with his hands clasped.
“I’m Al Scarpe, and I represent the Ebon Mint, a company that specializes in taking care of magical problems, and magical people. We also offer some very useful products.” He then took an item from his pocket; it was a magical pendant, made of grey metal, and decorated with a large round coin with the image of a theater mask colored half-white and half-black engraved on it. “Here’s an Artifact, an item we magical folks have enchanted.” He placed it on the desk. “It solidifies the magic of the Masquerade into a shield when worn, granting protection from assassins. You can have it.”
“My thanks for the generous gift,” Violet replied, seemingly unbothered by her visitor’s strange appearance. “But assassins do not concern me. Someone is attacking my father through his dreams, and even if your trinket can guard against that, I still wish to know this vile attacker’s identity so that they may be dealt with in a most conclusive manner. Am I to assume that you are capable of providing assistance in that regard? If so, what, precisely, would you be asking for in return?”
“The Freddy Krueger comedy act, eh?” Al chuckled, followed by a couple of coughs. “Well today’s your lucky day miss, because we specialize in conclusive dealings.” He took another puff of smoke as Violet spoke, the smoke now trailing behind him as if set to drift by wind.
“Ah yes, straight for the brass tacks. Well then, here’s my offer.” He held his hand out, a contract appeared with a glimmer; it looked like it was made of silky paper, with golden lettering written in beautiful cursive. The contract drifted towards Violet, letting her catch and read it for herself.
“As you can see, the terms are simple. In exchange for providing us with a reasonable monthly fee and access to certain establishments and services, we will give you the means to capture Morpheus, and prevent other magical incidents. This includes a choice of agents from which you can select those best suited for your needs, a stock of Artifacts guaranteed to work with full warranty, and we’ll throw in a communication device for free.”
With the cigar still hanging precariously off the corner of his lip, Al took out a fountain pen from his breast pocket, and made it spin horizontally in the air; it slowly floated to Violet, and like a compass, stopped, pointing away from her and towards him. “Now unfortunately, I’d love to stay and chat, but I’m a busy man; I have other people to meet with, payments to collect, you know how it is. So I’d need an answer in... Let’s say...” He pulled his sleeve back, revealing a Rolex-like expensive wristwatch encrusted with tiny diamonds. “...Thirty seconds.” Violet wasn’t sure if Al caused it to happen with his magic, or if she just imagined it, but the wall clock in the room seemed just the slightest bit more audible as it ticked, each second followed by the next.
“You can have my answer right now,” Violet told him in a decisive tone, as she grasped the pen without the slightest hesitation. “Money is no object, and as for the use of Covington Industries’ resources, I am more than willing to consider any reasonable request, although I must insist that your use of them does not become public knowledge. If that is agreeable to you then I shall gladly sign this contract.”
Al's teeth snapped shut in a curved smile. "But of course, miss Covington. We pride ourselves in being...confidential with our customers." He had a glint in his eye. "In fact, as part of our package, you may personally oversee that your preferred level of discretion and professionalism is maintained."
“Very well,” Violet replied with a nod. “Then I believe we have a deal.”
With a swift and elegant flourish, she inscribed her name on the gilded parchment.
The parchment glowed for a moment after it was signed, and multiplied into two; one of them flew back to Al and placed itself in his breast pocket, while the other remained, having returned back to normal.
Al then stood up, and extended his hand, holding it out for a handshake.
“Thank you for choosing the Ebon Mint,” he spoke. Assuming that Violet accepted the gesture, she would realize that after his hand parted, her hand now held a smartphone, having seemingly formed from a bit of smoke that extended from his sleeve. It was a sleek, modern design that one could find at any electronics shop, with a black shell. It also worked like a regular smartphone would. But, it had an application she had never seen before, labeled “Ebon Mint”.
“Your communication device, as promised. It is enchanted to be unbreakable, and to have Wi-fi connectivity anywhere in this dimension or the Overcity. It has a lot of features, so take your time browsing the instructions.” He turned away, tipping his fedora. “The Ebon Mint will look forward to working with you. Ciao.” And with that, he faded into nothingness, leaving only the couple of Artifacts and the signed contract as evidence of his passing.
Alone once more, Violet gazed down upon the smartphone the Mint’s representative had provided. The conversation that had just transpired would have likely left a lesser person stunned, at least briefly, but not Violet. She considered herself fortunate that she had been granted the opportunity to establish a partnership with an organization that appeared to possess the same level of professionalism she expected from her other business associates.
Although she was tempted to explore every aspect of her new “communication device”, she decided that it would be prudent to retire to her bedchamber as she had initially planned. No further nightmares would plague her father, now that she possessed the two-faced pendant. Other matters could safely wait until morning, after she had refreshed her mind with a good night’s sleep.
A small smile curved Violet’s lips as she donned her silk bathrobe and slipped under her covers. Yes, the nightmares had ended for now, but they would soon return, and this time, she would be the one providing them.
