Chương 41: What do we do now?

I forgive you," Grim said as she watched Hazel's body transition into a black sheen and melt into shadow." Well, I sure as hell don't. What was that kid?" Phil asked as he sauntered up and made a show of looking around at his now destroyed warehouse.

"This place is a Saints damned mess." Grim's head was spinning, an aftereffect of the ritual and the fight she'd just been in. Her Aura was nearly depleted again and seemed to be very, very angry at her. In the way a scab you kept poking at got angry. She felt like she was going to faint again, but she steadied herself, taking it slow as her body dumped adrenaline." I'm… sorry. I don't know what to say. Everything was going good, I could feel us winning, but whatever I saw made me stop.

I couldn't let Hazel go, not ag… I was about to say again? Isn't that strange? Sorry, I just couldn't do it, not if it meant she'd be gone, and I can't remember everything I saw but whatever it is she couldn't handle me forgetting." Phil ran his hands through the remains of his hair. He'd shucked off the armour, and the clothes he'd been wearing underneath were covered in sweat.

"I told you she was trouble. You should've listened to me. This isn't just about you, Grim. There's a killer out there and we're the only ones who can do something about that."" I know." Something in her expression made him soften the permanent scowl he had on his face.

"Nothing we can do about it now, it's not like we got nothing out of it. I heard that girl shout a name while the ritual was undergoing and I'd put good money on it being yours." Grim tried to remember, but that couldn't be? Had Hazel really yelled it out? Her memory was spotty, with blank spots mixed with small glimpses of their fight against… something. She'd pretty much gone from the start of the ritual to grabbing onto Hazel's hand in terms of remembering." What… is it?"

Grim asked, afraid for reasons she didn't know." Never would have imagined such a delicate name for someone like you," Phil said gruffly.

"Don't know if it fits." Grim glared, "You can't tease me like this, tell me." Phil let loose a big gush of air, "Belinda."" WHAT?" Grim spat out an imaginary glass of water.

"Belinda? What, am I a circus elephant? That's horrible, I feel like I need a tuba playing as I walk around now. I can't go by th— wait. Why are you laughing?" Phil had been silently bobbing himself as she went on her spiel, but after her accusation, he burst out laughing, unable to hold it anymore. He was laughing so hard that only a pain in his side forced him to relax lest he aggravate it.

"You should have seen your face. Saints, wow. I needed that." Grim was stunned.

"Really, after all that?"" That's for your little maniac destroying my warehouse," Phil said once he was done laughing, wiping a tear from his eye.

"Emily."" I'll help you clean it— Emily?" Grim asked, her voice choking up.

"Is that my… name?"" Nice to meet you, Emily." She couldn't stop it this time, not after everything that had happened, she let out a small sob. It surprised her at how fast it had come up. She'd been fine a second ago. Phil raised his hands, "Woah, woah, it's okay. No crying now, I don't do that."" Sorry," Grim wiped her eyes with her sleeves.

"It's just I'm so happy my name isn't Belinda." Emily. It was hard to digest, how could she have a proper girl's name? It didn't feel like her, but she was so happy it was. Maybe something had gone right in her life, at least it proved her parents weren't just vicious creatures. They clearly hadn't planned this was where she'd be. She'd never spoken it out loud, but it would have been really nice being normal, she'd have liked to go on dates or wear pretty things in her life.

She wanted to be feminine and smell like flowers like other girls, but she couldn't. Not if she wanted to survive, not as Grim. Emily could've." So Emily— gonna be hard to get used to saying that. You unlocked your authority too, good job on that." Grim frowned, "Call me Grim, for now. I don't think I can be an Emily yet. Not until this is over. I-I want to be Emily when I can fully be her, when I have the rest of my memories back. If that's okay?"

"Suit yourself, your name after all."

"Yeah," Grim nodded.

"You mentioned authority? Was that what I felt before?"

"They never taught you any of this in school?"

"No, they didn't teach us much. I've probably learned more in the past month than the last 18 years."

"God, who do they think they're saving by keeping this stuff hidden?" Phil asked the air.

"Your authority is a concept that resonates with your soul. You felt it, you felt mine. I don't think I need to explain your own soul to you, so I won't. You are in essence forcing the system to listen to you while you have it in effect. Not something you can use every time, unless you want to end up like me." The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Grim was about to interrupt him with a comment when a glare from him shut her up."

Don't answer that if you know what's good for you," Phil glared.

"As I was saying, your soul needs time to recover afterwards to heal from the damage. Now that you're a D-class, you should be able to perceive your own aura and others. I'd say imagine you were blind and you got your sight back but I don't think you'd have to imagine too hard."" You're a prick," Grim said.

"Anything else I should know?"" You should also be able to manipulate your boons in new ways, stretching their abilities. You won't be able to do much right now, but you should be able to do more once I train you," Phil finished.

"You're gonna train me?" Grim asked." I'm sure as shit gonna try. Up to you if anything sticks in that thick skull of yours."" I didn't mean…" Grim stopped, she wasn't sure what she'd meant to say.

"When do we start?"

"Once my ribs stop hurting every time I breathe. Come now, lets check on the Doctor. After that, get some rest." The Doctor was fine but still unconscious when they checked on her. After that, Grim was led back to the bed she'd been sleeping in and fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. When she woke up the next day, both the Doctor and Phil were gone, which made her panic for a second before she found a note he'd left behind. He'd gone back to work while the Doctor Lalok left as soon as she'd woken up.

He also left her a list of chores, which were extensive, mainly focused around cleaning up some of the damage and taking care of his plants. It was the last thing she wanted to do after waking up, it hurt simply existing. Turns out fighting your inner demons while already half dead was exhausting. Who knew. Still, she did what she could. She wouldn't leave shit to others if she had the choice. Phil came home later that day with some takeout, and he looked utterly beat, but he didn't complain.

Grim tried to speak, but he didn't respond until they'd both finished their meal.

"I've got good news and bad news," Phil broke the silence.

"Which one do you want first?"

"Bad."

"That Witch we fought? His coven was the one that got your house raided, so it's safe to assume they know who you are."

"That's bad. How?"

"Bad luck for us really, they specialize in detection and surveillance, actively recruiting for abilities that would be useful for those purposes. They call themselves the Raven's Eye. One of them, Omen, was the one who tracked you down. He's got specially bred hounds that can smell Aura. They must have followed the scent to your house, not surprising really. As an E-rank with that much Aura and no control, you probably reeked."

"Great. Awesome. What's the good news?"

"One of the outer rings was breached. A team of Witches died in a Gate world and it spilled out before anyone else could stop it. Now there's a whole host of doppelgangers grabbing and replacing people. It's gonna take them a couple of months to get everything under control if I had to imagine."

"An outer ring?" She asked, she hoped Louis was okay.

"How's that good news? A lot of people are going to die."

"Yeah, nothing we can do about that, though. We can only use the time we got from that to prepare, we'll need to figure out how to avoid them. I can look into their abilities and see if I can't find ways we can hide ourselves because if they find out where we are, we're done. There's no fighting a Coven at full power."

"What are the chances we're able to do that? Hide ourselves?" Phil frowned, "Low."

"I don't want to hide for the rest of my life, is there anything else we could do?"

"You could surrender yourself to the Watch, with your powers, no chance they'd give you up to a Coven. You'd spend the rest of your days in the crater, though."

"Not happening," Grim said.

"What if I became a Witch?"

"What? You want to become one? No chance, you wouldn't survive."

"Why not? We both know I've got way more Aura than I should have. I've got two overpowered Boons, why the hell wouldn't I?" Phil looked off in the distance, a blank stare on his face, "The Witching... It would take more than that. People train their whole lives for it, they're raised by Witches themselves and given every possible advantage. The best gear, multiple rolls on effective Boons, higher ranks to start with. They still die. No matter how much they prepare, they still die."

"Why?"

"I can't say. Just if you have any shred of trust for me? Don't. We'll find another way."

"Is there another way? If I passed the Witching, then I could get into a Coven of my own, they would protect me. The Raven's Eye wouldn't be able to do anything to me, or the Watch. It'd solve just about all of my problems, I'd be safe. Eternity wouldn't be able to touch me either, not if they wanted to keep the Covens on their good side."

"It's not that easy."

"I don't do things cause they're easy. What part of my life do you think has been easy for me? When's the next Witching?" Grim asked.

"Because I'm going." Phil rolled his eyes.

"You remind me of Marissa, uh, Doctor Lalok. Both of you get so deep into something until you can't find your way back out. It's going to kill both of you someday."

"Phil." He sighed, "Three months, give or take a few weeks. It's gonna be a bloodbath, the first one after a selection day is always bad. Too many kids with a hint of power thinking they're gonna change their life around. I'd recommend waiting for the one in the winter, it's when the more seasoned independents go."

"I can't wait that long. I'm going to the next one, even if it's more dangerous."

"You don't know what you're doing." Grim pursed her lips.

"You said you were going to train me."

"What?"" Yesterday, remember? It was your idea." Phil shook his head, "That was the remnants of my authority talking, no, not a good idea."

"You're a Witch right? That means you did the trial, you can train me." He looked shocked for a second, "I'm half of what I used to be, kid. I'm no Witch anymore. No, I can't do it."

"So you'll just let me die? After everything you've done to keep me alive so far?" Grim felt a small grin peel across her face.

"If you don't, who will?" They both felt his authority ring out in response, like a ghostly echo. Something about Phil changed in that moment and instead of that portly older man grumbling about how things used to be he was different. He was the one who pulled the trigger on a monstrous decision. A line crossed. The devil without bargain. In that moment she saw what he used to be and the distance between them was much too small.

Phil grit his teeth as if fighting a spasm, and his authority receded along with his aura, while his face stayed in that deadly visage.

"Consider this your first lesson. Don't do that again." Grim adjusted her knife back into her boot, "Sorry." His face softened, and his posture showed every year of his age as he cleared the table of food.

"We'll start tomorrow." She watched his back as he left, and she questioned just exactly what she had signed up for.