251 - New Normal

Jerry got up after the announcement, his expression like that of someone who had surrendered to the gallows.

“I’ll go speak to them first,” he said. “You guys stay and decide if you’re going for the Archmage's deal or not.”

“What’s your vote?” Stella asked him. 

“Abstain,” he said. “I know what you said makes sense, but I don’t trust the Archmage or his daughter. They have both committed several confirmed crimes, including consorting with Eldritch, and we don’t truly know what their endgame is.”

“Vacek trusted us,” Lexie pointed out.

“And look where that ended him." He gave her a tight smile. “Anyway, I gotta go.” He started towards the entrance, disappearing through the doors.

Lexie glanced up at her father, but he didn't seem to care about Jerry's accusation at all.

He’d already confined and created the prison pocket dimension to hold both the Alchemist and Vulcan, separately, but if the heroes rejected his offer, he would simply release them.

Lexie wondered if the prison was putting a strain on him. It didn’t look like it. He looked perfectly fine, relaxed even. He even glanced down and winked at her before he faced the group again. 

“What’s your condition, Archmage?” Nikola Shadowsbane spoke up for the first time. He’d been silent as a shadow for most of the meeting. "What do you want from us?"

“Simple," Aiden responded. "I want access to files that Dominic Vacek was working on during and after the death of my wife. He said he investigated it, but I never got the notes.”

“According to your daughter, you already know who killed her.”

“Yes. But I don't know why, and I don't know how many people were involved.”

“Can’t you just get the information out of the prisoner?”

Lexie wondered the same thing. Why would he need the files if he could get Monty to access Vulcan's brain directly? And what exactly did he plan on doing with that information? Revenge?

Her father had never seemed like the vengeful type, though.

This wasn’t what she expected him to ask for.

“Those are my conditions," Aiden said. "Take it or leave it."

“That’s a non-starter,” Kya said. “I can’t believe you would even think to make such a ridiculous request. Nikola, do you not have a Shadow palace available to hold the prisoner?”

“I think the Archmage is right," Nikola responded. "The Shadow Palace is made of magic, and it cannot hold a prisoner who is adept at tuning magic to their will. The Prison Island was the most secure place on Earth. If that didn’t work, then nothing will.”

“This is too much." One of the Lords, Lord Stillwater, said. ‘Why don’t we just kill both of the villains and be done with it?”

“That’s what I said,” Lexie murmured, but they ignored her.

"It's too late for that," Stella said. "Aiden is right. He's our only option. The only other alternative, I believe, is letting the Fae take the prisoners back to their planet so they can be kept there. In fact, since this was an interplanetary crime, that might be what the Fae are here for.

“No," Groundmage said instantly. “We can't let the Fae take the prisoners. They already have enough of a handle in our affairs, and they’ve made it clear that they want more. If there’s one thing I agree with Vacek on, it’s that I’d rather humans handle human affairs and not leave it in the hands of the Fae.”

“I agree.” Another elderly woman, Lady Thistleworm, said. “The Fae have been repeatedly kept critical secrets from us, when it suits them to. They might do it again and use whatever information they garner from the Alchemist to force us into a protectorate.”

"Or to stop the development of Alchemy entirely," Lord Braveheart said. "We can't let that happen."

“So you’re saying that we should go with the criminal who depleted our mana and cost us several decades' worth of reserves?" Kya asked.

That silenced the group for an instant, until the murmuring began.

“I’m more predictable than your other option,” Aiden interrupted. “What I want today is the same thing I wanted five years ago. To find out what happened to my wife. I understand your apprehension, but I have had these new powers for a while, and I have not used them for any world domination yet, nor have I acted in egregiously criminal ways.” Lexie knew that last part was a lie. Aiden gave it away with his 'tell' but the rest of the people in the room probably wouldn't notice. “Believe it or not, I'm not your enemy here. I just want to keep my daughter safe from the same people who killed my wife."

"What if you start working with the Alchemist?” Kya challenged.

“Why would I do that?”

“Both of you believe you have been wronged by the system."

"And he conspired with the man who tried to kill my daughter."

"Jerry tells us that Vacek had you investigating the Alchemist, and the two of you have met on multiple occasions.”

“Monty was there for those meetings.” He glanced around. “Speaking of which, he should be here too, shouldn't he? To corroborate what I'm saying."

“He’s busy with some family problems,” Stella said.

“The point still stands,” Kya said. “The two of you could have conspired to do this. Isn’t it suspicious that you’re suddenly so good at Alchemy when you've never been interested in it before?”

“Alchemy isn't super complicated to learn. Most people are just learning it the wrong way." Aiden gestured. "If you ask Monty, you’ll discover that I was already using Alchemy before I even met the Alchemist, so he's not the one behind my powers. If I were indeed working for him, he never would have been caught in the first place."

Kya didn't look convinced, but some doubt had appeared on the features of the other detractors.

"You should also know that you lot don’t have much time to deliberate on this," Aiden said. "I’m sure the Fae have come to demand you hand the villains over, but they can only do so after you finish your investigation or if they certify that the human prison isn’t good enough to hold him. So if you won't let me help you, then you need to make your choice now, or they will make it for you."

Kya pressed her lips together, her eyes narrowing. It was clear she was suspicious about Aiden and his intentions, as they all were. But no one was disputing that what he was saying was correct.

“I vote we keep the Alchemist with Aiden,” Stella said.

“Of course you do,” Kya muttered.

Stella ignored her. "This is following a stringent contract that he must sign with the association, giving them access to the prison."

“I agree,” Groundsmage said. “It's not ideal, but I don’t think we have any good options here. He's definitely better than the Fae.”

“I cast my vote for the Archmage, too,” Shadowsbane added quietly. One by one, the rest of the board agreed, except for Kya, who voted no, and one other person who abstained. 

Aiden nodded. “Good. Now, while you draft the contract, the Alchemist will remain in the pocket prison. I’ve already made the arrangements, but I'll need to refine the bond."

“What about when we want to interrogate him?” 

“You can have access through the access key I’ll give you. Include that in the contract.” He stood. “I’ll give you a few hours to work that out. But if you’ll excuse me, I need to take my daughter home now. She hasn’t had breakfast.”

“I’m not really hungry,” Lexie told him. 

“You’re never hungry,” Aiden told her as he picked her up into his arms. 

“Dad!” Lexie cried out, her face turning red. She kicked her feet to be let down, but he refused, thoroughly embarrassing her in front of the board of association. 

She couldn't believe him.

"I'm thirteen," she hissed. "You can't keep doing this."

“Relax," he told her as he walked out of the office, down the hall. "It’s just until we leave and can teleport safely out of here.” 

But they were stopped in their tracks when Jerry hurried to them.

“You can’t leave yet,” he said. “The Fae want to talk to you.” 

"Why?"

“They’re accusing you of the murder of Vacek."

Lexie's head swung to her father. He raised an eyebrow. "Do they have proof?”

“They say they have reason to believe that you were influenced to kill him, using the emotional anchor of…man, I don’t know, it’s all Fae mumbo jumbo. You should talk to them to make sure. And they’re ordering you to submit to a full memory sweep.”

Aiden raised an eyebrow. “And if I say no?”

“I don’t think you can. This is their investigation, too.”

“False. Though the issue affects the rest of the bi-solar system, it occurred on Earth, and between humans, so it is entirely under Earth’sjurisdiction. The Fae are only entitled to their investigation once we’re done with ours unless they attain special privileges from their government.”

“Aiden…" Jerry sighed. "It will be a lot easier to trust you if you would just let us do a memory sweep.”

“You’re welcome to it. You’ll just have to go through the proper channels. Petition the human courts, and get a warrant. Just understand that if you force me into this memory sweep, that sets a precedent. I just hope you're ready for the consequences of that."

Jerry looked like stuck between frustration, despair, and sheer exhaustion. Lexie almost felt bad for him. Aiden, though, didn't.

"In the meantime, I’m going home. My daughter needs her breakfast.”

“You can't just–"

But Aiden had already vanished. 

The hero association meeting room technically disallowed teleportation, but the hallways were a different matter. Teleporting in was disallowed, but teleporting out was permitted.

They appeared in front of their cottage. The sun had completely risen in the sky, but Lexie could sense it was still morning just by the scent in the air and the bird calls around them.

It was nice. It was cozy. It was home.

“Okay, you can put me down now,” she said grumpily. "I can't believe you really carried me in front of everyone."

"I know, honeybee, I'm sorry." He set her back on her feet, laying his hand on her head. "I'm just glad you're okay."

"I'm glad you're okay, too," Lexie said, even with her pout.

The door was suddenly thrown open.

“Where have you been?” Tate demanded, crossing his arms over his chest and frowning disapprovingly like a thirteen-year-old disappointed father of two. “You just disappear at the ass-crack of dawn, none of you are answering your calls or texts, and now people are talking about you being a father-daughter crime duo. What the hell?"

“Were you worried?” Aiden said, smiling at the other boy as he stepped past him.

“No,” Tate denied too quickly to be true. “I was just concerned. Isaac kept calling. He said he saw you on a livestream.”

“He did?” Lexie asked

“Who’s Isaac?” Aiden inquired.

“A friend. What livestream?”

“It showed you guys appearing out of nowhere, showed Aiden using magic to pull the Alchemist out of the air, and a whole bunch of other things that he's not supposed to be able to do. It's going crazy on the Undernet right now.” He exhaled. “Just, the next time the two of you want to pull something like this, maybe give me more warning than, ‘Lexie and I are heading out early. Breakfast in the warmer.’”

“Speaking of breakfast, I’m starving.” Aiden moved toward the kitchen. “Do you want some more Tate?"

“No, I'm fine.” He frowned as he watched Aiden walk by. He leaned in to ask Lexie, “What's up with him?”

“What do you mean?”

"He seems different.”

Lexie had to agree. Her father seemed lighter than he was before, and seemed almost in a good mood, which seemed crazy considering everything that had happened.

Lexie shrugged. “Maybe he’s just happy to be home.”

Or maybe he was happy that he'd caught the people responsible for endangering Lexie. She was happy too.

But she wouldn't be entirely comfortable until Vulcan was dead.

There was also the fact that she’d just found out that her mother was alive in some way, shape, or form.

Did Aiden know?

If not, she had to tell him so he could find a way to extract that information from Vulcan's mind, too.

“What happened?” Tate asked before she could say it.

“We went to find the Alchemist and Vulcan,” Lexie told Tate. “And he almost trapped us in a pocket dimension.”

“What?”

“Yeah, but it’s okay. My dad was able to reverse the traps and set us free. Now they’re the ones who are stuck there.” 

Tate gaped, glancing at Aiden, who was moving through the kitchen, whistling as he worked. He stepped closer to Lexie. “You didn’t kill Vulcan?”

"Not yet. Soon, though.” She cracked her neck. “Oh, and Vacek’s missing. He might be dead.”

Tate's eyes widened. 

“Yeah.” It occurred to Lexie what Vacek's death could mean for Tate and her.

She asked, “Do you feel different? Like maybe your fate points have gone up?”

“It's not that easy to tell in the short term. Only after some time. Also, the bulk of his fate points would go to the person most responsible for his death, and then it will trickle down from the strongest chosen down to the last."

"Oh." That was disappointing, and it was also alarming to hear that Vulcan would get the bulk of those points. All the more reason why they needed to kill him faster. "But yours has to have gone up by a little bit, right?”

“I guess we’ll see,” he said. "Are you okay? I mean, I know you and Vacek were working together."

Lexie shrugged. She didn’t know how she felt about Vacek’s disappearance yet.

It wasn’t grief that was for sure. She didn’t know him well enough for that, and she was never emotionally attached to him, especially given that there was a good chance that he was very responsible for her mother’s disappearance, or at the very least, he hadn't done anything to stop it.

So her view of him was very mixed, and that, combined with her general Eldritch response to death, she didn't feel much.

Then she remembered. “Oh shit, isn’t today Cara's fight?"

“No, it’s tomorrow. But they'll be training at the dojo today."

"Are you going over there?"

He hesitated, then nodded. "Yeah, but I'll also be going to the library for a little bit."

“Okay,” she said, then she called back. “Dad, I want to meet my friends at the dojo. Is that okay?” She figured now that the immediate threat was gone, she could start living again and doing the stuff that she used to enjoy.

Hanging out with friends. Making cards. She might even be able to make some today to help them with their match.

Life was returning to normal. Well, a new normal.

She would tell her father about her mother's possible 'aliveness' later. It felt like that would be too heavy a conversation for such a bright day.

"That's fine," Aiden said in response.

"Really?" Lexie asked. She'd expected him to fight her about it, insisting she had to rest or that he had to come with her. But he seemed relaxed as he threw her a look over his shoulder. "Of course."

"You're not worried I'll be in danger."

"Always. But I'll have to learn to trust you."

Lexie smiled. "That's good. But I should be on the lookout for people like the Emperor and the Fae, right?""

"Yeah, but don't worry. I'll take care of them. And everyone else who tries to hurt you."

The words sounded ominous, but the fact that he was giving Lexie this freedom meant the world to her. She ran over to hug him. "You really are the best dad in the world."

"And you're the best daughter," he responded. "Now, let's eat breakfast."

***

After Lexie and Tate left, Aiden finally let his smile drop.

He felt mostly at ease, but there was still a tension coiling in his neck as his memories returned to him in bits.

He remembered the night he'd visited the Alchemist nearly in full now. 

He’d walked into the store that night, glancing around at the darkness and heading right for the wall where Tate had indicated the access point was.

He placed his hand on it and he felt something pulsing against it. Felt it unlock. 

Then, a second later, he was in a creepy dollhouse.

"Aiden/" The golem appeared about twenty years younger than the real Alchemist. He looked up from his doll and gave him a wide, toothy, eerie grin. "I've been expecting you."

"I'm sure you have." Aiden was fully expecting this to be a trap of some kind, but he had no other choice. "I'm sure you know why I'm here, too."

"Yes, of course. You have a problem with your daughter. I have a solution."

"Do you?"

"Yes. You have more than one problem with little Lexie, and the most immediate one isn't that which you're most worried about."

"How do you figure?"

"Because I know what's going to happen. And I'm going to reveal everything to you. My entire plan from start to finish, and how you play into it. I would like your cooperation, and if you agree to help me, then I will help you save your daughter. But if not, then you will forget everything you just learned here and go home and forget you ever met me."

"I didn't know you had power over memories."

"I have power over almost everything in this domain." His head turned 360 degrees like an owl. "For example, I can do that. Isn't that neat?"

Sickening was more the word for it.

"Why would I trust you when you're working with the man who wants her dead?"

"Vulcan is merely one of my associates. I have a contract with him, you see. But were I to sign a contract with you, it would trump what I have with him, and I will agree to whatever terms you set. But we can decide on the terms of the contract only after I show you how sincere I am."

"What do you mean?"

"I will show you all the plans fate has in store for your daughter, step by step. And if they come true, then our contract remains in place. But if they don't, then you will be released from the contract, and I will have to pay a penalty. Does that not seem fair?"

There was a trick here somewhere, Aiden knew it, but the possibility of saving Lexie was too strong for him to deny.

He'd come here defenseless to throw himself at the mercy of a criminal for Lexie's sake. There was absolutely nothing he wouldn't do for her.

"Show me," he said to the Alchemist.