Wish upon the Stars chapter 902

We were in trouble. Not immediately, because we were blending fine and these people were mostly very drunk, but in a more general sense. We NEEDED to get to the vault and get working. Someone was going to notice us here eventually, and when they did, we’d be pretty fucked.

That said, we also needed to find the priest here. That Shallow had been dangerous, but more importantly, I wasn’t convinced one D-ranker could have arranged it. I wasn’t sure what the process was for weakening the barriers into the void, but I was pretty sure it involved the same kind of misery farming that was done in the dungeon. No one here had access to the kind of numbers needed to stockpile that.

If there was a Void sympathizer helping them try to break through, it was probably someone in one of the higher zones, which meant that this priest probably had some kind of connection to them, or maybe to an organization they had founded.

Callie, for her part, had decided to make friends with the birthday girl. Lady Hilary (just call me Hilary) was surprisingly down to earth, and even more surprisingly sober. She was pretty decent company, and Callie dragged me into the conversation pretty quickly. I didn’t mind talking to someone sober, considering the rest of the party was mostly clustered around Abel and Bethy, with Bethy being surrounded by an enthusiastic group of men and women who were vying for her attention, and Abel having gotten into some kind of competition with the others to see who could handle having their fist punched harder.

“I’m sorry about them,” Hilary said wryly. “I tried to get them to hold back, but Wendell is a bit of a party animal. He really is a lot of fun though, so we put up with it.”

One of the few guys who wasn’t clustered around Bethy and Abel snorted. “He’s a lush. If he didn’t bring his own wine no one would put up with him.” At her stern glare, he cleared his throat. “Not to question your taste in friends, milady. I’m sure he has his good points. I just don’t drink much, so he’s less entertaining to me.”

“I’m surprised you aren’t drinking with them,” Callie chuckled. “It IS your party. Seems rude to party without the birthday girl.”

She grimaced. “I wish I could.” Her tone was miserable. “I have a banquet with my family tomorrow evening, and Wendell’s libations are usually a bit stronger than average. No one is sure where he gets such potent wine, but he’s certainly happy to share.” She chuckled. “Duncan isn’t wrong, he can be a bit much, but he’s always generous and willing to lend an ear, and that’s why he manages to make friends with everyone.”

“He gets them drunk,” Duncan said with a grimace. “Is that even called making friends?”

I saw Wendell infiltrate the crowd by Bethy, slipping through them smoothly. Everyone made way for the red haired man, like they just took for granted that he needed to get through. When he appeared next to my vampire friend, he held out a wine glass he’d pulled from…somewhere, and started pouring wine into it from an equally mysterious bottle.

Abel, punching the fists of a bunch of other guys, met my eyes as I glanced over at him. Noting the discomfort on Bethy’s face (made all the more unsettling by how unflappable she was, I jerked my head towards her. He nodded, making excuses and slipping away towards the pair of them. He didn’t bother being subtle, he just shoved people out of the way until he arrived. Wendell was trying to push the drink on her, his friendly smile a bit insistent as he leaned in closer.

Never one for subtlety, Abel just reached out and slapped the glass out of his hand. The shattering sound echoed through the hall, and everyone went silent, staring at my mentor as he loomed over the small redhead, who was flinching back, looking scared.

That was when I started smelling something off. Literally. I could scent dishonesty. Wendell had made a comment about how he didn’t mean anything by it, and just wanted to help her relax, and I could SMELL that he was lying. I separated from the group, approaching the two of them, and smiled pleasantly. “Hey there guys, something the matter? We don’t want to ruin the party, do we?”

Wendell shot me a relieved look. “No of course not. I was just offering the lady a drink. I think your friend here got a little jealous.” If I wasn’t so suspicious I’d have laughed. Abel viewing Bethy as a romantic prospect was about as likely as Benny dating my sister. There was absolutely no tension there. The fact that he was trying to deflect made my suspicion deepen though.

“She doesn’t drink,” I said cheerfully. “I’m sure he was just being protective. I don’t usually drink either, but I’m willing to have a glass with you as an apology. Want to pour one for me?”

I was beginning to suspect something was wrong with Wendell, and more importantly with his wine. Between Leviathan and Callie’s heretic fire, I wasn’t scared of any D-rank influence, but if I took a sip I could confirm what was going on.

Sure enough, he brightened. “That sounds wonderful,” another glass and bottle appeared, and he made a show of pouring generously, offering it to me with a flourish.

I took it from him, offering a smile, and then took a small sip. As I did, I activated Gluttony and Leviathan, though I flexed my will enough to keep the outward manifestations from popping up. No flaming hair and all that.

As the liquid poured down my throat, I felt a surge of…darkness. Like a voice was whispering in my ear. Leviathan flared, warding off the influence as Gluttony destroyed the physical liquid as it poured into me. Even so, I had to pull on Callie’s power through the bond, flooding my system with heretic fire to stave off the chill of despairing ennui.

This stuff was…awful. Not the taste, though that wasn’t great. But what it did. I’d had Dantalion running when I drank, confined to my own skin, and I was able to analyze the composition of the energy as Gluttony broke it down. I’d never considered that combination before, but it was something to note. What it told me was deeply disturbing.

The wine was infused with Void, the liquid form of that same despair and soulcrushing hopelessness that had made up the mist from before. But it was more than that. The Void was a priming agent, a sort of preparation for the energy in the wine.

Because that was Wendell’s power. He infused the wine with some sort of hypnotic energy. It didn’t impair the drinker, it just made them more trusting. Wendell became more likable, more interesting, you wanted to tell him things and be his friend. 

Normally, this probably wasn’t a particularly useful ability. It was VAGUELY soul related, but it was also very weak. It mostly just made him a better party host most likely. But with the Void taint in the wine, people’s mental state became vulnerable and easy to manipulate. His power combined with the Void wine turned a weak, low level ability into an extremely dangerous social manipulation tool.

It was also the kind of power NOBODY would trust if they found out you had it. Some abilities, like Mad Scientists had been back home, had deservedly bad reputations. Being able to control people, even slightly, through tainting their drinks was the kind of thing that would get you branded as a dangerous element.

I saw a flash of satisfaction in Wendell’s eyes as I drank, and I knew that at the very least, he didn’t have the feedback to understand that it hadn’t worked. But it confirmed what I’d already known. He knew what he was doing, and he enjoyed it. My expression stayed jovial, but my heart was cold. I’m not a bloodthirsty person. I don’t decide to kill people easily or often, and when I do, it’s usually in single combat.

This guy though, this guy I was going to kill. Trying to poison Bethy with Void wine so he could manipulate her mind? That was a death sentence. But I couldn’t just attack him here. I had to play this smart. We still needed to enter the vault and retreat.

I smiled at Wendell. “I’m so sorry about my friend, here, let me clean up your glass for you.” I reached down, having seen him do the same, and with a seemingly unintentional wobble, I bumped his shoulder. His finger jerked across a shard of glass and he hissed. My eyes went wide with horror, and I scrambled to “help” slipping the bloody shard into my ring.

He waved me off, looking momentarily annoyed before his mask of good humor returned. I apologized profusely, claiming Abel had already had a few drinks and saying that Callie and Bethy and I needed to take him home to rest. We made our excuses and left, and I saw Wendell staring after us with a troubled expression. In the end, he shrugged and seemed to let it go, and we managed to reach the next passage pretty quickly.

“What the hell was that?” Abel demanded. “You know how she is about wine, you just let him get away with-”

“Nothing,” I said coldly. “I didn’t let him get away with anything. He tried to do more than give her wine, and I absolutely am NOT letting it go. But now isn’t the time. I have my own means of dealing with him, but I promise you, he WILL be dealt with. No one messes with my friends. I just didn’t want to tip our hand early and get us surrounded and killed.” 

He glanced at Bethy, who looked a little subdued. When she was us looking, she perked up, pasting on a big smile. “It’s fine, Shane, really! He was just trying to be nice, right?”

She’d clearly missed what I’d just said, so I repeated it, and informed them of what he was doing. Callie looked troubled. “So he’s the priest I sensed?” She asked in confusion. “I don’t know, I thought they felt stronger.”

“Might not be him,” I pointed out. “Maybe you sensed the Void energy in the wine. Someone had to have put it there, and I don’t think Wendell has the chops. Regardless, we’ll have to look into that later. Interrogating a bunch of drunk partiers under the guise of having a good time is one thing, but trying to pump an active Void infiltrator for information after he’s got reason to pay attention is too risky.”

Once we were out, I’d have Devlan look into his background, and I’d use Dantalion to retrace his steps outside the fortress if needed. I didn’t believe he could have come into contact with NO ONE outside. This place was isolated, but not that isolated.

They all looked angry, and I understood, but I really did have it under control. Just to calm them down, I told them what I had planned, and they all stared at me in shock. “I…I didn’t know you could DO that.” Abel said in respectful awe.

I shrugged. “It’s not a power I use much, but it works here. Like I said, it’s handled. Just waiting for the right time.”

With that revelation, everyone cheered up considerably. Since we were past the cancellers, I put us back under Murmur. I’d keep an eye out for them in the future, but for now we should be safe, and I felt better under stealth. After that, we moved on. 

The rest of the trip was pretty uneventful, and when we finally reached the last passage, I called everyone to a halt, expanding Dantalion’s range across the intervening space so I could get a read on the vault from inside the hidden passage. We’d only get one shot at this, and I was going to make it count. It was heist time.