Book 2: Chapter 25 |
It took a full week and considerable effort, but Garrett eventually managed to plant and cultivate five flowers in each of the assassins, learning much in the process. Though five blooms was enough to overwrite the personality of a lighting stage awakened, the attitude of the individual during the time the flowers were growing appeared to determine how useful they would be after the flowers finished blooming. Vale, who had been mostly willing to cooperate with growing the dream seed Garrett had planted to five blooms, had retained much of his taciturn personality, and could operate with a high degree of independence, allowing Garrett to assign him to guard the end of the tunnel in the swamp.
Looking at the five converted assassins, Garrett was almost at a loss as to what to do with them. They had fought the process the whole way, even putting up resistance after the third and fourth blooms when the dream flowers had begun to work their influence. The result was that their personalities had been almost completely erased as they were forcefully dominated by the five blooms. When given an instruction they were happy to carry it out, but the rest of the time, they acted more like plants than humans, content to stand in place and do absolutely nothing.
Thankfully, they still responded to danger, moving quickly to protect Garrett and the other flowers, bringing all of their skills to bear when they did so. It was just initiative and independent thought that was lacking. This was especially true for Patolov, who had attempted to kill himself at every single chance he got. Garrett had not been about to let him off the hook, and paid special attention to the leader of the Second Wing, observing the process with extra care.
Still, it was good to have five more awakened fighters, even if they couldn’t be used for more than guard duty, and Garrett sent them all to work under Vale, guarding the tunnel to the swamp. Two stayed inside the city, making sure that the entrance to the tunnel remained hidden, while the other three were posted outside, guarding the swamp entrance with Vale. Unfortunately, the conversion also wiped out a good two days of the experience gain that Garrett had gotten from the awakened dreamers forays into the dream.
Life had settled down, and still the Grave Walkers hadn’t made their move, despite being seen more often on the outskirts of the Family’s territory, so Garrett was considering pushing the issue forward when an unexpected visitor showed up. Wheeling his chair out to the great room, Garrett greeted Chief Exorcist Fellix with a slight bow. The chief had three others with him, all dressed in the leather armor common to adventurers, but sporting the yellow armbands that marked them as official exorcists.
“Hello, Chief Fellix. It’s nice to see you again.”
“Heh, you don’t have to lie, Mr. Klein,” Fellix said, waving his hand. “I’m here on unofficial business. A personal matter of a private nature, so I was wondering if you could spare me some time?”
“Of course. Why don’t we go to my office? This way.”
Turning his chair around, Garrett’s mind raced as he tried to anticipate the conversation that was coming. Nothing came to him, however, and he was forced to wait until the others had settled down before learning what brought Chief Fellix to him. The three awakened who were with the chief either sat or looked around the room, causing Garrett to grow slightly nervous. One of them, a man with blonde hair and a sleepy look, began browsing his bookshelves, running his index finger over the books as he read the titles, while the other two, a pretty woman of about thirty with jet black hair and striking blue eyes, and a no nonsense veteran with a scar on his chin and cheek, took seats on either side of the chief.
Sitting behind his desk, Garrett waited in silence for Chief Fellix to speak, his senses straining just in case something happened, all the while sending quiet messages for the members of the Family to gather. He didn’t think that Fellix would do something like threaten him, but he also had no way of reading what was on the Chief Exorcist’s mind. After making himself comfortable, Fellix looked around and nodded.
“You’ve made a tidy little life for yourself. If I’m not mistaken, this used to be Ghoul’s Tooth territory, right?”
Despite wishing that the chief would get straight to the point, Garrett played along with the smalltalk, smiling and nodding.
“Yes, it was under the Ghoul’s Tooth gang for a long time. However, after what happened with Henrick, the gang decided to break up. Those of us who stayed wanted a bit of a different direction, so we decided to try working on a more positive type of organization.”
“By starting a cult?” the sleepy looking man over at the bookshelves asked, causing Garrett to look over at him.
“Oh, I never introduced everyone. This is Henri, Marta, and that’s Grant. They’re all first order exorcists that work under me.”
Greeting the grizzled veteran, the black haired woman, and the blonde man in turn, Garrett raised his eyebrows slightly.
“I’m not familiar with how the exorcists work. What is a first order exorcist?”
“That just means that they are allowed to operate independently, with teams of their own. Third order are our trainees, while second order are those done with training, but without teams.”
“I see. It would seem that I have quite the illustrious group visiting and I had no idea. My apologies.”
“No apology necessary,” Chief Fellix said, waving his hand. “But Grant has an interesting question. We’ve all been wondering about the spread of these flower symbols among the people.”
Reaching into his pocket, the chief took out a simple piece of paper on which the five petaled dream flower had been drawn. Garrett had never seen that particular one, but the symbol was unmistakable, and he had seen enough of them to know that he was looking at one of the charms drawn by a citizen in the Family’s territory. He wasn’t sure how the rumors had begun to spread, but the citizens had begun treating the flowers as a way to ward off bad dreams and ill-luck, and even though they had no actual effect, the practice was spreading quickly.
“Embarrassingly, your guess is as good as mine,” Garrett said with a shrug. “The workings of the minds of the citizens of our fair city are beyond me. Though, I imagine that many of them appreciate our values and the work we do to improve our community.”
“I noticed that the streets around your inn are thriving,” Fellix said with a nod. “You seem to be doing a good job with this community improvement, though, having lived in this city for a long time, I’m not sure how wise it is to show such marked improvement.”
Rubbing his chin with his fingers, Garrett looked at Fellix with a sharp gaze.
“Would you mind elaborating?”
Shifting in his seat, Henri, the scarred older man, spoke up, his voice a bit raspy.
“Neighborhoods that show strong growth like yours become prime targets for both the merchant groups and the nearby gangs. Everyone wants to control such areas.”
“Don’t forget the city guard,” Marta said, her eyes flashing. “The biggest gang of them all.”
“And the city guard. It’s good to see the people thriving, but typically those that manage to do well for themselves end up suffering the most.”
“An unfortunate reality,” Garrett nodded, his expression mild. “But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try. One of our core principles is the elevation of our community, and we won’t stop trying to achieve it, even if we find ourselves threatened by outside sources.”
“Even if it means fighting against the rest of the city?” Marta asked, staring at Garrett with undisguised interest.
“Even if it means fighting against the rest of the world,” was Garrett’s calm reply. “We believe in seeking the peaceful solution whenever possible, but we also believe in defending ourselves with appropriate measures.”
“Sounds like a cult to me,” Grant said, walking over from the bookshelves to sit on the arm of Marta’s chair.
“I can understand that, but I assure you, we’re just a group of people who want to elevate our lives and the lives of our neighbors.”
Chief Fellix waved the paper he was holding, causing the flower to shift as if it was alive.
“Tell me about this flower. How did you decide to come up with it as a symbol for your group?”
A hint of amusement appeared on Garrett’s face as he looked at Chief Fellix quizzically.
“I don’t mean to be disrespectful, sir, but did you really come here to discuss a request or are you here to grill me about our organization? Either is fine, but I prefer to get straight to business if there is business to get to.”
“Oh, this is just an old man’s curiosity. I’ve been seeing these flowers starting to pop up in various places, including the soap that my daughter keeps sending to my wife, and I got to wondering about it.”
Nodding, Garrett opened up a desk drawer and took a small wooden box out, placing it on the desk where the exorcists could see it. The box was decorated with a portrait of Ryn, smiling much more graciously than Garrett had ever seen her smile in real life, above a five petaled flower that glittered with color. Taking the top off the box, he revealed a full set of stamped soap bars, each cut thin so they could be sold individually, and wrapped in a gauzy fabric.
“This is our flagship product, and it’s proven to be pretty popular,” Garrett said, gesturing to the bars of soap. “We’re starting to move into other products as well, scents, candles, and such, and will be beginning food production soon, with meats, processed grains, and other things that make life better.”
“Is that one of your principles too?” Grant asked with a cynical smile.
“It relates to that same principle I mentioned before. Action should create life. This is part of our attempt to do that. Anyway, I think that the popularity of the products is part of what is driving that symbol to show up everywhere, though part of it is just market awareness. People like being part of something, belonging to something, and this has given them something to be part of.”
“Especially if they’re paying for it,” Grant retorted. “We saw your blue coated gang members on our way here.”
“You seem to have the wrong impression about us,” Garrett said, turning his attention to the blonde haired man. “We do not accept protection fees. We do not shake down local merchants. We do not steal from those in our neighborhoods. We enforce peace and lawful behavior, and deal strictly with both conflict and lawlessness. Our guardians are there to help the citizens, acting as a replacement for the largely absent city guard. If anything, we are a civic organization, committed to the protection of the citizens and the improvement of their daily lives.
“In return, they go about their lives, causing no trouble and doing their best to elevate themselves and their neighbors. Sure, they might have a preference for the products we release, but any bias they have is created internally, out of gratitude, not from external pressures. Or, it’s because they believe our products to be the best, which they are, and we don’t mind lending the hard working folks credit. There are a lot of factors that go into it, but to call it a cult is a far stretch.”
Sensing that Grant wanted to argue, Chief Fellix held up his hand to cut the blonde haired exorcist off.
“Thank you for indulging our curiosity. You have built quite an impressive organization in a short time and I think that we are all marveling at how prosperous it seems to be. But, today we have other matters to talk about, matters that, I fear, are not so pleasant.”
Putting the lid back on the box of soap, Garrett didn’t put it away, but pushed it to the side as he waited for the chief to continue.
“As you know, our primary line of work is investigating supernatural incidents in the city. We are an independent organization, but due to the specialist nature of our work, we are often called upon to deal with sensitive cases that involve the nobility and the upper classes. Well, we’ve run into one such case, and I was hoping that you might help us.”
Blinking at Chief Fellix, Garrett found himself at a complete loss. Of all the things he thought the Chief Exorcist might bring up, working together was not one of them.
“You want me to help you with a case?”
“Yes. I understand that this is highly unusual, and in fact, my subordinates didn’t agree that it was a good idea, but I hope that after meeting you and speaking with you, they’ll have changed their minds. Our organization isn’t large, and it has become a challenge to do our job well, since supernatural events are constantly on the rise. Furthermore, our experiences have led us to have a rather, uh, rough outlook on life. You, on the other hand, could pass for a noble, and would have a much easier time mixing with the upper classes, which would in turn make working on those cases easier.”
“He does have a pretty face,” Marta said, giving Garrett a little smile.
Ignoring her, Garrett’s mind raced. He wanted to say no as he was already finding himself overstretched, but he had been looking for a way to infiltrate the exorcists, and what better way than working with them directly. However, the closer his proximity, the more likely they would start to suspect him. He had not done a good job making the dream flower that the Family used as their symbol distinct from the dream flowers inside the dream, and already people who encountered both were beginning to make the connections, so it was unlikely he would be able to hide it from the exorcists for long either.
“Mixing with nobility is one thing,” Garrett said, a faint frown furrowing his brow. “But why do you think I’d be interested in getting mixed up with supernatural events?”
“Because the benefits outweigh the risks,” Chief Fellix said, a sly smile slipping onto his lips as he smoothed his mustache with his index finger. “You have been involved in multiple supernatural events in the last few months, and you have come away unscathed from all of them. That tells me that you are not entirely helpless, which is the best that any of us could ask for in an exorcist. But more importantly, it means you’ve seen the power of mysterious artifacts.”
Pausing, as if to gather himself, Fellix leaned forward, his voice lowering to a whisper.
“What if I told you there was a whole other world, just out of sight, that is filled with these powerful items, ready for the taking?”
Comments 7