Cambrian
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The Grimoire's Chosen Ch. 21 (Worm)
🕑 Added 2024-10-22 15:04:06 +0000 UTCA/N: Moving right along~
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“Weaver is right.”
He doesn’t have to think about it for very long. In the end, while arguing for Amelia to sponsor them publicly right off the bat might be nice, Taylor had a point on easing into things. There was, after all, a very small chance that they would find their own reasons for not wanting to be publicly sponsored by the Lavere Clinic by the end of the trial period. It was a much smaller chance than Amelia deciding she didn’t want to officially sponsor them, but it still existed.
Giving Taylor an encouraging nod, Jason turns back to Amelia.
“If you’re willing to take a chance on us, the best path forward is to keep things on the downlow for a time so you can see what we’re capable of. Then, at the end of the month, we can assess where we all stand and move forward from there.”
There’s a brief pause as Brockton’s most famous healer ponders his words. Until finally, she smiles.
“I appreciate you not trying to browbeat me into signing you on publicly right away. It speaks well to your characters that you’re not expecting me to leap right into the Deep End with you both without any sort of safety net.”
At that, Amelia shoots Vicky another look, one that makes the blonde blush and duck her head. Right, Vicky had spent all day trying to do that, hadn’t she? They were honestly lucky that she hadn’t completely soured Amelia to the idea. Though from the fond exasperation in the healer’s tone, it sounded like Vicky got a lot more leeway, being Amelia’s adoptive sister.
“… Very well. Let’s do a trial period then. I’ll send over some cash for Vicky to give you both tomorrow, and we’ll see exactly what you want to do with it. You don’t have to reveal your identities to me at this point, we can save that for the end of the month.”
Jason exchanges a look with Taylor at that. He’s not going to make a decision for the both of them without consulting her… but it seems she has the same thought he does in that moment, because Taylor proceeds to reach up and take off her mask, giving a surprised Amelia a smile.
“Taylor.”
Reaching up as well, Jason pulls off his mask too and chuckles at the gobsmacked expression on the healer’s face.
“Jason. But we’ve already met.”
He’s expecting her surprise to smooth out quickly, but he’s not expecting the scowl that replaces it as Amelia’s eyes narrow and she holds out a hand to him.
“Hand, now.”
Raising an eyebrow, Jason nevertheless complies. He can guess what has Amelia so confused and worried, but he trusts her not to hurt him... especially with Taylor and Vicky present. His hand slides into Amelia’s and she clutches down on it, her lips pursed tightly together.
“… You don’t have powers. What is this, exactly? Vicky?”
Before things can get too hectic, Jason clears his throat… and pulls the Staff of Magnus out of his Transformation Pendant. Amelia jolts at the sudden display of power, her eyes caught on the beautiful staff as he gives her a raised brow.
“That’s not possible. You don’t have a Corona Pollentia. Not even an inactive one. You didn’t when I checked you over after you passed out here the other day either.”
Jason nods, having remembered hearing that when he was still coming to. Truth be told, he didn’t know anything more about why his powers weren’t showing up on her senses than before. Shrugging, he gives the confused healer an apologetic smile.
“I had these abilities before then too. I don’t know why I’m registering as blank to you. It might be an aspect of my powers though?”
That doesn’t seem to satisfy Amelia, who just frowns harder.
“… If it was, you would think I wouldn’t be able to do anything to you, but I just fixed your hearing so that can’t be it.”
His hearing? Actually, now that she mentioned it, he was feeling a difference. Huh.
“Well… thanks?”
Amelia blinks, before seemingly realizing what she’d just done. Flushing, she quickly lets go of his hand, looking at her own as thought it had betrayed her.
“S-Sorry, I…”
“Hey, no worries. I’m not going to get up in arms over some free healing, heh.”
Biting her lower lip, Amelia shakes her head.
“I’m not supposed to ever do that sort of thing. I should have asked for your consent. I apologize, sincerely.”
Wow. There sounded like there was something there. Jason really didn’t think it was that big of a deal, but if it was to his new potential employer, he wasn’t about to continue trivializing it.
“Apology accepted.”
He smiles at her and nods, prompting Amelia to let out a relieved sigh. Then, she rises from her chair.
“Right. I should… be getting back. I appreciate you both unmasking to me and entrusting me with your identities. I swear I will not abuse that trust.”
“Awww! Don’t wanna stick around for the tutoring session, Ames?”
Shooting Vicky a look as the blonde teases her, Amelia huffs.
“There’s a car waiting for me outside, Vicky. And no, the idea of further schooling as laid out by Carol does not interest me in the slightest.”
Well damn. Shut down. Vicky flushes, but perks back up again when Amelia goes over and gives her a goodbye hug. Then, with one last nod in their direction, she’s out the door leaving just the three of them alone. Feeling a bit self-conscious about holding the Staff of Magnus at this point, Jason puts it back away in the pendant before clapping his hands together.
“Right! Let’s get to work, shall we?”
Vicky groans a little, even as she plods over to the couch.
“Maaaan… do we have to? You don’t even need my mom’s money at this point, not with some cash flow heading your way from Ames.”
Jason just shakes his head as he sits down as well, getting out his materials.
“Look, I’m not going to pretend it’s about the money anymore. Everything is moving so fast that I don’t even know where we’ll be a week from now. But this right here… this is normal. It makes sense to me. I don’t have to think about it very hard. So if it’s all the same to you, I’d like to keep at it. Gives me something to keep me grounded.”
Vicky blinks at his honesty, before slowly nodding.
“Y-Yeah… I didn’t think of it like that.”
Taylor, meanwhile, perches herself on the arm of the armchair he’s sat in.
“Actually, I had a thought about that when Jason read me in on all of your plans. You’re letting Jason tutor you for the rest of this month but still intending to fail the exam that your mother set up for you, is that right? All so you can go on to be a full time hero sponsored by the Lavere Clinic.”
Tilting her head to the side, Vicky gives Taylor a curious look.
“… That’s right, yeah.”
“I think you should aim to pass the exam with flying colors instead.”
Taylor’s words cause both Vicky and Jason to pause for a moment. Though, Vicky looks much more like a deer caught in the headlights, blinking owlishly at Taylor after a few seconds.
“Um… run that by me again?”
Smirking a bit, Taylor leans forward.
“You should pass the exam. Try to get the best possible score you possibly can. And then, when they offer you a place at BSU… just say no.”
Oh. Now that was an interesting idea.
“Jason might not need the money or anything like that anymore but imagine how he’ll look to your mom if you fail the exam after a month of tutoring. Sure, you could probably convey the same thing by just getting as low a score as possible instead… but if you get the best score you possibly can, beat all of their expectations, and then still fuck off, you let Jason come out of it all smelling like roses.”
Heh, of course this was all about him. Taylor was sort of right, of course. It might reflect badly on him if Vicky failed the exam at the end of the month in the wrong way and her mother didn’t realize she’d done it on purpose. Of course, he’d always assumed that seeing Glory Girl be sponsored by the Lavere Clinic mere days later would be enough for Carol to pick up on what had happened.
There was something in him akin to an educator’s pride that liked the idea of Vicky succeeding though, rather than failing on purpose…
“Huh. You know what… that’s not a half bad idea.”
He just wasn’t sure that Vicky would go for it- wait what? Jason watches as Vicky begins to grin, clearly warming to Taylor’s proposal.
“I mean, I was always going to have to have it out with my mom eventually anyways. I’m not exactly planning to go No Contact with her after this is all said and done unless she proves to be REALLY insufferable. So… yeah. Why not? Why not blow their expectations out of the water and go for broke?”
Suddenly, Vicky looks downright energized as she gives him a wolfish grin, and for once it’s not related to what they’ll probably be doing after this.
“Well Teach? Let’s get to work. We’ve got an exam’s ass to kick.”
Huh. A Vicky who was excited to learn solely for the sake of learning? That was new. And maybe just a little scary as well. But even if it was a little scary, it was a whole lot more exhilarating. Returning the wolfish grin with one of his own, Jason chuckles.
“Let’s.”
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Ding!
Focus – Divination – 600 Points!
As one who works in the shadows yourself, you hold supremacy over the world of the unseen. By closing your eyes and focusing your senses, you gain a sort of sixth sense for everything around you, able to locate hidden objects, hiding enemies, and even things that might be invisible or illusory in nature.
You now have 200 Points saved up!
Oh hey, would you look at that. Something finally worth putting in his Banked Slot. Jason does so without a second thought, before leaning back with a sigh and stretching for a moment as he stares up at the ceiling.
It’s the next day and he’s at the University, grading some papers. Crystal is out for the day, so it’s just him in the little room they share with one another when working as Carol’s TAs. Carol herself might be around somewhere, but so far he hasn’t seen her yet today.
Last night was productive. This morning, he and Taylor had still been at Vicky’s place when Amelia’s money had arrived. Having five thousand in cash on him felt a little wild, even if he had even more than that in his bank account from agreeing to tutor Vicky. There was just a big difference between having that sort of money digitally and having it physically, he supposed.
Still, they were getting ever closer to him and Taylor being able to go out and start patrolling as bonafide heroes. Jason didn’t know what would come of that, but he did know he needed points wherever he could get them if he wanted to keep getting stronger. The only question was whether he should start using some of the magic he was storing up in the Staff of Magnus from those summoning rituals on Blood Magic rituals, or if he should keep saving up to be able to cast some big Sealing Spells on the fly…
He-
Jason blinks as his phone pings with a Notification. Not a Text Message or a Missed Call, but rather a PM… on PHO.
Quickly forgetting his latest quandary, he hastily opens his phone up and brings up the PM. As he’d hoped, it’s a response from Parian, his eyes widening in delight as he opens it up.
Hello. While I can certainly make costumes if the price is right, I prefer to communicate solely online and arrange a drop-off location after the fact so we never have to meet in person. As such, I’m not too sure about this business proposition you have for me. I value my privacy, anonymity, and my safety above all else. What exactly do you think you can offer me to risk that?
Okay… that wasn’t too bad. She sounded cautious but curious. He could understand why a Rogue like her might not want to meet her clients face to face, though he did wonder how she handled measurements then. He supposed she just had to rely on her clients to take their own measurements, but that didn’t sound very professional.
Still, if they were going to do this, he needed to convince Parian that she could trust them. He just… wasn’t sure how to do that besides telling the truth. He quickly shoots off a response.
I’ll be honest with you. My partner and I are just getting our start. Their power allows them to control enough spiders that they can create sizable quantities of Spider Silk using Black Widows. It’s perfectly safe and we were hoping to sell any amount of Spider Silk you might want at a discounted rate in exchange for help with our costumes. And if you’re interested, a business deal going forward.
Maybe pretending that they were more experienced would have been a better call, but Jason didn’t want to start this whole situation with lies. He wanted to start off on the right foot, and hope that the mention of Spider Silk would be enough to truly get Parian’s interest. Jason hadn’t even bothered explaining what it was, because he figured she had to already know given her line of work.
Sure enough…
That’s an interesting application of that sort of power. Does your friend want to be a Rogue too? They could make a lot of money selling that sort of material, and not just to me either.
Probing, maybe? Did she think they were villains? If he said yes that Taylor did want to become a Rogue, maybe Parian would take that as a sign they were trying to get on her good side a bit too hard. Jason decided that playing it safe and just continuing to be honest was for the best.
No, we both want to be heroes. We’re going independent because we don’t necessarily trust the PRT or the Protectorate to make the best use of our powers.
There’s another pause at that, but Jason hopes it just means Parian is typing. Finally, there’s a response.
I want to see some of the Spider Silk, to confirm it’s what you say it is. Drop off a section here so I can analyze it.
She goes ahead and gives him a link to some coordinates. When he checks, they’re to a park that’s only about thirty minutes away from the University. And yet, Jason can’t help but feel a little dissatisfied. And maybe a little impatient as well. This was just going to result in more steps, wasn’t it? First, he’d have to have Taylor drop off some of her Spider Silk. Then, they’d need to wait for Parian to pick it up. Then she would have to analyze it before getting back to them.
He was tempted to push a little harder, to try and get that meeting now. Hell, he didn’t even care if it was on her own terms, wherever she wanted it to be. He just wanted to know sooner rather than later whether they could make something happen, or if he and Taylor needed to find another way.
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A/N: Will try to keep this up to date at the end of every chapter, get on me if I forget please. Though if it gets too out of hand, might have to change it at some point.
Jason's current banked points:
200 Celestial Points
Jason's current banked power:
Focus (600 Point Cost)
Jason's current powers:
Flash Air (Gained in Chapter 1)
Transformation Pendant (Gained in Chapter 4)
Keen Eye (Gained in Chapter 4)
Blood, Death, and Demons (Gained in Chapter 6)
Alchemical Prodigy (Gained in Chapter 8)
Staff of Magnus (Gained in Chapter 13)
Bind and Seal (Gained in Chapter 17)
Hero of A Hundred Faces: Everyone’s Leader (Gained in Chapter 20)
Comments
Darendarus
A moderate approach probably. Thanks for the chapter!
Bob Saget
Don't know if this is already covered, but some soft suggestions for a list of feats. The specific numbers especially are placeholders for whatever works: 1. Parahumans defeated (1,5,20,50...) 2. Parahuman bounties fulfilled (100k, 1m, 10m, 100m, 1bil...) 3. Fame level achieved (personal/team): (City-wide, National, International, Global). 4. Parahumans bedded (5,10,15...) 5. Endbringers defeated (1,2,3...) 6. Parahumans recruited (to Indie team organization) (5,10,15...) 7. Civilians rescued (5, 20, 100...) 8. Villains turned to heroism (1,5,10...) 9. Kill Orders fulfilled (1,5,10...) 10. Hero Org. bases/branches established (only 1 per city) (1,2,5...) 11. Number of nationally famous teammates (1,3,5...) 12. Various first time achievements. Based mostly on heroic tropes/'classics': 1st real hero costume worn/made, 1st successful parahuman arrest, 1st arson foiled (put out or prevented), 1st cat saved from tree, 1st homeless criminal punched in the face, 1st memorable one-liner (before/during/after combat), 1st cliche 'damsel in distress' rescued, 1st nazi punched in the face, 1st nazi organization destroyed, 1st time wounded wounded in villain fight, 1st embarrassing heroic gaff caught on camera, 1st heroic gadget created, 1st copycat (person impersonating you without permission), 1st re-arrest (villain you sent to jail that escaped and you had to arrest, again) 1st 'sidekick' gained 1st misunderstood 'hero meets hero' meeting causing hero on hero violence. 1st 'lets you and them fight' villain v villain gambit achieved
Connor
Considering Jason is approaching Parian for a service, one she has laid fairly clear restrictions on, offering the silk as an in is a good reason to push for a relaxing of those restrictions, but not to the point of demanding she ignore caution. Not to mention he's already seen feats that help him by gaining allies/lovers, why alienate a potential ally, even if only as a business partner?
jp9901
There is no gain from pushing.
Josh Snider
Maybe we can spy on the dropoff location to see what Parian is up to.
VaticToxic
Pushing will just result in Parian going "nope" and suddenly they're blacklisted by them. Not like Jason or Taylor have any way to find out who they are, yet. Well, theoretically Taylor could control bugs until they find Parian but bleh.
shadowbadger
I voted push just for a bit of conflict, but the smart thing is definitely to play ball. Also, anyone else instinctively move to check if the underlined 'here' was actually a link? It was just pure conditioned behavior on my part.
Rapthorn2ndform
Agree. I'm usually one to push for conflict because it makes for an intersection story but I don't see a good reason to push in this case.
Nanaya7Nights
Jason has nothing to gain by pushing. At most he can ask if she is willing to make the costumes using Spider silk, if the quality pans out and ask an ETA of how long it would take for her to make it once she has the materials and measurements.
Raiy
I say play ball with Parian, like they did with Amelia. No need to burn a bridge just because Jason wants to meet face to face...
Mask
PUSH PUSH PUUUUUUUUUSH
AR
Parian is coming across as very cautious and she laid out her stance very clearly. Pushing to meet anyway seems basically guaranteed to have her drop the whole thing.
