Malcolm Tent
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Wish upon the Stars chapter 618
🕑 Added 2024-05-03 23:39:22 +0000 UTCLooking at the small town (or settlement or whatever you wanted to call it) in front of us, I was blown away. Not because it was nicer or more intricately crafted than most Ascendant cities I’d seen so far, but exactly the opposite.
The Underdistrict, as Griff called it, was unique in that the whole thing seemed to have been thrown together at a moment’s notice out of whatever people had lying around. Not that the resulting buildings weren’t beautiful, but it was in a messy, unfinished sort of way. Square shacks and booths and even small buildings built from cans and trash can lids and shuttle parts, all somehow merged into a singular whole while showing exactly what they had been.
Noticing our staring, Griff chuckled. “This place gets raided semi-regularly. Everyone knows we’re down here, and the big wigs don’t drive us off completely because this continent is so big they would lose track of us, but they come down and wreck things every so often to put the fear of the gods in us.”
I heard the bitterness in his tone, and I might have sympathized…except this whole place was literally made from scratch by the gods. They could have just gone to another planet where things were less stringent.
Not that I couldn’t see what upset them. In another life I could have seen myself maybe siding with them, but there was too much here I didn’t like. The gods that Hatescream had recruited seemed pretty objectionable, and the Horned Lords were kind of dicks. I liked some of them, but I wouldn’t lose sleep over switching sides when it was time.
For now though, I was supposed to be blending in, so Callie and I ooh’ed and aah’ed along with everyone else, and followed Griff into a big ramshackle steel building made out of lift parts and what I was pretty sure was a smashed flat dumpster.
Inside, we found a series of tables made from melded metals, and in the back, a big bar top with a man behind it polishing a glass. The man in question was amiable and quiet, with close cropped brown hair and a big curling mustache over a vest and a button up white shirt. He had a bolo tie around his neck, and smiled calmly when we approached. “Griff.” He said to our boss with a nod.
“Meechum.” He said with a grin. He flipped him a chit. “I need todays patrol schedules and about two dozen beers.” He turned and gave us all an understanding smile. “See a bunch of cringing faces here. You could all use a little hair of the dog.”
I’d rather be drinking ACTUAL dog hair than more booze, but at least beer was pretty light alcohol by volume. Something else caught my attention though. “Patrols?” I asked curiously. “I thought they didn’t care about people being down here? At least not most of the time, what are the patrols for?”
“Down here they can take or leave.” He explained. “But deeper takes you into the parts of the flipside where they do actual maintenance. Messing with that stuff can actually cause damage to the continent, albeit not on a scale that would be anything but annoying. We don’t interfere with that level of enchantment or machine though. That’s a good way to get dead.”
I nodded in understanding. “So…” I glanced at the smiling man filling mugs. “Meechum knows the patrol schedules and sells them, and no one does anything about it?”
“Does anything?” Snorted Griff. “Meechum is a member of the Freeholders Guild. A collection of powerful independents that act kind of like a clan. They have five S-rankers, and are probably one of the most powerful factions after the main six. Not counting solo monsters like Lark or Draylen Dread.”
I raised an eyebrow at that last name, but he just glossed over it like it was common knowledge. “Anyway, we need to plot a course and time it so we avoid the patrols, so feel free to get something to eat. The baked potatoes here are amazing. Feel free to look around before we leave.”
He turned and wandered off, and I shrugged, ordering a pair of baked potatoes for me and Callie before heading to one of the tables to sit down. The potato was so hot I could barely hold it and they’de like…injected butter into it somehow. Ever inch was a buttery white hot dream, and I found myself eating it so fast and I barely noticed it was gone.
“Terrible manners.” Drawled a random member of the Horned Lords as he sat down. “Is that the way I raised you?”
I froze, blinking at the man uncertainly. He wasn’t familiar, a freckled man with alternating green and red locks of braided hair. I shot Callie a thought and she covered us in Stealth as I gaped at the man. “Zeke?”
He chuckled at that. “Well I could hardly follow you down here as I was. I grabbed one of the newer members and made a temporary mask.”
My eyes roved over his form, my Perception straining, and I whistled as I failed to find a single issue. No hints that he was who I knew he was. Because now that he said it I COULD tell. Something about his demeanor and the way he spoke. This was my uncle. “What the hell are you doing down here?” I hissed.
“My job.” He snorted. “Flipside is designed for isolation. Even A and S-rankers can’t listen in to what goes on down here. I can’t get involved unless you’re attacked, but my testimony might be useful, and in case someone DOES attack you, I need to be here to help.”
I looked around. “Is Callen here? He was with you right? Did you bring him with?”
“He’s around.” He nodded. “Making a mask from an E-ranker takes about as much effort as making a sandwich. Though these aren’t made well. They’ll last three days.” He seemed proud of himself, and I understood why. I’d never seen Zeke do this whole…turning into another person, thing, until he killed the Duke and hit A-rank. It was clearly a higher level application of his Path.
I checked to make sure everyone was ok (they were with my mom right now) and then he got up and left. It would have been suspicious for whoever he was supposed to be to hang around with us too long. Once he was gone, Callie and I got another pair of baked potatoes and then called over the others, Stealthing and filling them in on what we’d learned.
Abel seemed unsurprised. “I assumed he was here. After they told us about the blocking properties this place had he’d have needed to follow us. I assume you caught him up on what you learned inside the bubble from that disruption earring?”
“Right after I got some time alone I sent him the info via scan ring.” I glanced around. “We’re conspicuous grouped up like this. Let’s split up and sightsee, get a feel for this place. I don’t want to do anything too noticeable until we get back topside.”
Everyone agreed, and we split up. I noticed a tall bald man following Chelsea, Bethy, and Gabe, but given Callen was around, I assumed either he was the one following them or whoever it actually was would be wishing they weren’t before long. Callie and Iwere on our own, with Mel and Abel doing their thing, so we took the time to just take a romantic walk.
“Those baked potatoes were so good.” Callie groaned. “I totally want another one. I wonder if any of these other places have food like that.”
I chuckled. “They were pretty good. We can look around for some more food. I think I saw a place making funnel cakes, and another with popcorn. Reminds me of the circus almost.” I could have sworn I saw caramel apples, and I was on the lookout for those.
One of the things that really entranced me about this place was the vibe. I could see people I’d noticed topside in cloaks slipping out of alleys between buildings. Towering pillars and stairways connected us to the surface, obvious maintenance exits from high rise buildings up above. It was like an entire secret world beneath the surface.
You’d think with the WCP I’d be used to that, but the palace had never really been secret. Even back in Valen we knew it was there. This place though, I bet plenty of the topsiders didn’t even know it existed. Knowing it had to be rebuilt on the regular made it even more amazing, and part of me wished we had more time here.
We stopped at a few stalls where people sold discounted alchemy concoctions, flawed weapons, and dangerous inventions that people wouldn’t pay for topside. I was tempted by a few things, but in the end I didn’t have the cash to blow on things I didn’t need. I made a note to come back here sometime after this mess was over though. Maybe pay Zeke for another identify spree.
After about an hour we got called back and we met up at Meechum’s where Griff informed us of our next move. “We have about twenty minutes before the return loup on the local patrol, so shut up and follow me quickly. This will be close.”
Without another word, he turned and strode off into a nearby alley, the rest of us trailing behind him. He took us down a length of street, then did a quick left turn, and we barely got into the alley he ended up in before he cornered again. We had to hurry to keep up, but he finally brought us to a large empty house built into the under structure of one of the stairwells.
Clearly not ALL the buildings were taken down when they did the raids, this one looked old, but we didn’t stay long enough to confirm, heading down into the basement. We stopped at a large refrigerator, and he opened the door,pulling some of the shelves out partway and then sliding them up or down.
There was a click and the back of the fridge opened up, and he climbed through, not even waiting for us to process.
It was a tight squeeze, but we made it. The next twenty minutes was a blur of turns, climbing, dropping, and a few times crawling, avoiding glowing enchantment script or dangerous looking machine parts.
Finally, we came to a stop. “Alright.” Said Griff. “We’re here. Made good time too. Good work everyone.” He stepped forward and turned a metal wheel on an oval door set into the wall. Metal security bars slid out of the surrounding steel brackets and the door swung open, admitting us all into a huge metal chamber decked with machines.
There were other people there, lots of them, all crowded around what looked like a big ass stage in the center of the room, upon which stood a tall dark haired woman in a long black dress and a bright red cloak.
I didn’t recognize anyone here, but I hadn’t expected to, this place wasn’t exactly a hangout for my old friends from the Glade. Many of the Horned Lords spread out to talk to the oddly dressed people mingling, clearly other gangs, and I did my best to listen and remember what was being said without seeming like I was eavesdropping. Never knew what would come in handy.
Griff clapped Abel on the back. “Welcome.” He said jovially. “Welcome to the place where your mind will be freed from the chains the six put on you. Free to return to our true origins. We’re all just animals, Kyle, and the Law of the Jungle is the only Law we should be following. And after tonight, you’ll know it as well as I do.”
Glancing around at the milling crowd, I was worried he might not be wrong. Out of reach of most civilized people, even with Zeke here, I was just nervous of what might happen. In a very real sense we were off the edge of the map down here. Here there be monsters.
Comments
Malcolm Tent
It along with Callie and the others stat progress is coming, I've been a bit wrapped up in plot stuff lol
Kevin McGuire
Has our MC made any progress on his new staff form? Will we get to see it soon?
