Part 7
Apparently… Someone from Special Investigations had swooped down to snatch up Father Calalhan the moment we'd been split up, and promptly stonewalled Detective Corrigan about any access to him.
Which suggested to me that either someone was running interference to try and isolate us from each other, or that these guys were less on the level than I'd hoped and were trying to isolate me from Father Callahan before he could warn me about that.
The old priest had vouched for them previously but, considering we were currently dealing with body snatchers? That didn't actually reduce the odds of the second possibility that much, and without a ready supply of holy water, I was a lot more limited in my ability to check one way or the other.
To further complicate issues, I needed to check in on Jimmy and the Dolls. Father Callahan had called in for help, but I had no idea when it'd arrive, and, to be honest, I wasn't entirely sure how much I could trust anyone claiming to be it, without him to vet them. Demons liked their games after all, and a wolf's favorite disguise wasn't that of another lamb, but a shepherd.
With no safe options to rely on, I decided to place my money on the Detectives. Father Callahan had called them good people to begin with, and had recognized them at the scene. In all truth the only reason why I doubted them at all was his sudden absence from the equation.
Then again, to quote another, more established magician, it's not paranoia if there really are invisible demons out to eat your face.
"Thanks for the ride back," I said, gratefully to Sister Justine, as we pulled up to Father Callahan's church.
She seemed… nice. She was a Nun, not a cop. Well, as far as I knew Nuns could be cops, but she wasn't. Instead she was a civilian consultant for the department. Older, I'd put her in her forties, maybe well preserved fifties? Couldn't guess the hair color with the habit she wore, but her eyes were a warm brown. She wasn't particularly talkative, but also not silent.
"We do all have to help each other in trying moments." She told me as we stepped outside.
She was also the one I was gambling on.
On cue, Jimmy exited the church, looking nervous but marching up towards us with a surprising level of resolve, his hands hidden behind his back.
"That's the friend you spoke of?" Sister Justine asked as he approached at a measured pace.
"That's Jimmy," I confirmed.
"Heeeey," My fellow individual of dubious legal identity said. "Nice to meet you and… Uh… sorry,"
He then splashed the sister with a glass of water, doing a good job of making sure some of it hit her in the face.
The sister took this surprisingly in stride. "Holy water?" she asked, unimpressed, but apparently not overly upset.
"Yeah, sorr-GAH!" I started before giving a start as Jimmy threw another glass onto me. Calming down once I realized what he'd done, sending him a brief annoyed look.. "-Sorry about that. Had to be sure."
"Given the circumstances, I'll applaud your caution," she replied understandingly.
"Thank you. Sorry again. Oh and uh… Sorry Reed, but you know… You'd been gone for a while," Jimmy said to me sheepishly.
"Nah, man, it was the smart call," I dismissed, not actually upset. Hell, if anything I was pleased he was at least taking this seriously.
"That said, it might be best not to approach the others the same way," Sister Justine replied. "Some of the local officers can be overcautious in other ways."
In short, don't try that with anyone armed if we didn't want one of us getting shot in the head. Got it.
With The Sister and my bona fides established, we took the sister in to see the dolls.
They took… Surprisingly well to her.
"...So bright"
"Help us! Please!"
"She's like the other one, but more…"
Or maybe not so surprising. Father Callahan had said the GCPD's 'Midnight division' were good people. Moreover, good cops. In Gotham. Those were a rare and precious sort of person even when they were only facing down the mundane sort of crazy.
For the supernatural side? Well, I'd stared down one half-cocked form of what kind of horror that could be like, and would now spend every night of my life fearing for when it would revisit. Fully aware it would come for me sooner or later.
To stare something like that down willfully, repeatedly? For nothing but a likely skimmed off consultation fee and some donuts?
Yeah, the sister was probably a better sort of person than I'd ever be. Probably better than most people ever even met.
"My god," she said softly, looking down at them, empathy and sorrow naked on her face. "It hurts?"
"Yes"
"No"
"It's scary"
"Can you help us?"
"Not anymore"
"It still hurts"
"Y-yeah," Jimmy said. "I've been trying to keep the little guys company. Well, once I stopped freaking out," he admitted. "Some of them seem to be taking better to things than others."
"I don't feel anything"
"Most don't"
"Help, please, I beg you/"
"I do. It hurts, but not so bad here."
"I don't like it."
"It's… kinda hard to tell which one's talking, 'cause of the lack of mouth movements," Jimmy added. "The brown haired one, with the pigtails? I think that's the kid. She doesn't talk much. The two beside it are her parents, the mom doesn't talk, but the dad explained it. They went to the sale together when well… Everything happened."
"I shouldn'ta…
"It's not your fault baby. It was the bad things. I'm here, mommy's here too."
"Any word on the backup Callahan called in?" I asked Jimmy.
"Ain't heard shit," he responded. "Kinda worried someone would show up and kick me out."
"If anyone has a right to be here, it would be those seeking sanctuary, and those who would protect them." Sister Justine said.
"Let's hope anyone who tries agrees with you," I said, perhaps a little cynically. "Unless you're playing on staying around?"
"I will need to call back to the station," she said apologetically. "I'm sure Detective Corrigan can arrange some protective detail…"
I didn't like that idea. I mean, Corrigan hadn't done anything to earn any mistrust (yet), but… yeah, that feeling of danger from him. Even if it wasn't accompanied by the bad vibes I'd gotten from other shady folk… I wasn't sure that was a great opinion.
Still, what other choice did I have?
I glanced back at the dolls. Things might be easier if we moved everything down to the station…. But Father Callahan had wanted them to be here for when his colleagues showed up. And given what happened to him when we'd gone down…
There was also likely to be problems if anyone from the precinct insisted on anything I disagreed with. Cops, even well meaning ones, were not always the most reasonable about having their judgement questioned…
I grimaced in consideration.
"Here, I can show you where the phone is," Jimmy offered, leading the sister off.
Leaving me alone with the dolls.
Which was…Awkward. I mean what the hell did I say? I couldn't just ask how they were doing. Since the answer was obviously 'horrible', and throwing empty platitudes…
Maybe some not so empty platitudes?
"Hey," I said softy.
"It's the wizard"
"Are you sure he's a wizard?"
"Suffer not the witch to live suffer not the witch to live suffer not the-"
"That's not actually how that quote goes," I started, leaning back at the sudden outcry.
"It's okay, he tried to help us remember?"
"Can he turn us back"
"He said he couldn't before"
"He has to be lying, turn us back! Please, just turn us back!"
"I can't," I said defensively, and nearly choked as I did. "I'm sorry. I'm still learning."
Fuck, I had not been expecting that.
"-ot the witch to live suffer not the witch to live suffer-"
"Just turn us back!
"My daughter please. I don't care what happens to me, just-"
"I can't!" I snapped. "I'm sorry, I can't. I can't at all directly. I'm not… I'm not that kind of wizard," I exhaled.
"Just-"
"Suffer-"
"Please-"
"Why-"
"I already said I can't!" I repeated. "Look, look, please, just stop for a second… let me talk options again."
"Suffer not the witch to live…"
Yeah… I was not reaching that one. But maybe the others.
"I am… not a great wizard," I said at once. "I'm a novice. I haven't mastered a single magic. My best spell conjures food. I can't break curses. I'm not even sure this counts as a curse, and the only shapeshifting magic I know about only works on me. I can't use it properly, much less teach it… I can try and fix that, but it's going to take time, and some of you-" my eyes trailed over to the chanting doll.
"-the witch to live suffer not the witch to live suffer not the witch to-"
"Probably won't want to take that option," I admitted.
"...How much time?"
"I'm… not sure?" I said. "Um… a year? Maybe" I outlined. "That's around how long it takes to master a Cantrip. That's what you call my spells. My magic's… Not working right, right now, but I was sent to Gotham to practice for a year. That… might be why it doesn't work right? But I found an older wizard! He might… know something. And Father Callahan called in some experts who should be here soon."
"Where'd the father go?"
"He was bright"
"We got separated at the station," I said. "He… might still be down there? Don't worry though, the police apparently have a supernatural division to look into stuff like this."
"not the wi- GCPD? You want us to count on the Gotham City Police Force?"
.
"You are not from here kid."
"Daddy?"
"It'll be alright sweety. The wizard has a plan to help get us fixed."
"...District 13?"
I blinked, "Yes? That's them I think," that was the official department name I vaguely recalled.
"You heard of these guys?"
"They're not… bad. My neighbor… something happened to him. People started vanishing. They showed up and it stopped."
That was surprisingly reassuring to hear.
"...And your neighbor?" I was pretty sure that was the dad. It was almost impossible to tell their voices apart, they sounded so similar, a sort of echoing not-voice. Maybe if I separated them
"They were gone… but I think they were gone a long time before the police showed up."
"God save us."
That brought up another round of general protests and outcries.
"Look, Look!" I called out, "Right now… We're basically playing the waiting game. Help is coming. We've got priests, cops and maybe a wizard who knows what they're doing… So you guys just need to survive. Is there anyway I can help with that? Can you feel like that? I could try and find some pillows, maybe just a folded up cloth even."
"Can you tell us a story… or turn on a radio?"
"Yeah… I can probably find something. If nothing else, I could sing a bit," I offered.
"You can sing?"
"Yeah, I can sing," I said feeling at one of my less stable spells… But one still stable enough to use, once.
So feeling at the magic, and pulling at it with care, I drew in a breath, and sang them all a long and soft Lullaby.
Was it a risk? Maybe. The magic had, like Presitidigitation, become 'strained' the moment I started working it, but it held through the entire song, and didn't seem to grow any further less stable as I did… Though instinctively I knew that was the one go of it I had.
More importantly… It did seem to calm the dolls, or rather the souls trapped with the dolls. The magic, a spell designed to soothe one to a rest that would either help restore them body and mind… or wrack them with nightmares that sapped all energy from them.
Naturally, I had aimed for the former..
"That was magic? one of the dolls asked. Somehow their voice was even softer than before.
"What little I have."
"I like that kind of magic better…"
"I don't, suffer not the-"
Well, that was to be expected I supposed… I should really just be glad they waited until I was done.
"Don't start that again when she's finally relaxed."
"Maybe I should leave for a while," I offered. "Look for those pillows, or a radio…"
"Yeah, get. Get out of here you damned witch."
I got up-
"Wait!"
I paused, "Yes?"
"take me with you," one of the dolls requested.
"O…kay?" I said looking at them, "Which- ah."
I should have guessed, it was the doll that had warned us off in the first place, raising up their hand in a shaky manner.
I reached down and carefully lifted them, "This okay?"
"It's fine… You're warm," The doll said, seeming surprised by that second part.
"Well I'd hope so. The alternative would be bad," I said trying to figure out the least awkward way to hold it… her? I couldn't tell with the voice, but the doll was a female design, and they gave that vibe.
"I'm Lily," she said, confirming that for me.
"Nice to meet you Lily, present circumstances aside… You can call me Reed," I replied.
"If you're going back to the station… I want you to bring me with you," she said.
I blinked, "Okay… I think I need to clear that with the sister first," I said, not exactly against the idea, but also remembering that Father Callahan had wanted the dolls here. "It could be risky though," I warned her.
"It's fine," Lily said. "You're trying to stop them, right? The ones who did this… I want to help."
"Well that makes two of us," I agreed, still.. "You're a brave one."
"I'm not sure if I'm brave, or I'm just angry…" she admitted. "Can you show me more magic though?"
"Sure," I agreed. "Um… here, let's start with my specialty. I'm not sure if you can eat, but maybe I can juice it?" I considered. Conjured fruit vanished in time, so there was no risk of stains…Last edited: Sep 8, 2025 Like ReplyReport Reactions:dnd-addict, 84900137, MR.PEPS and 380 othersMizuki_StoneSep 8, 2025Add bookmarkView discussionThreadmarks Chapter 5: Her Name Was Lily Lain. Part 1 View contentMizuki_StoneExperienced.Nov 3, 2025Add bookmark#438Chapter 5: Her Name Was Lily Lain
Part 1
A quick check around the church ended up with me finding a storage room with both towels and table cloths inside. Not exactly a perfect match for blankets, but a lot better than leaving the dolls just laying in a basket. Just as importantly? It also had plastic cups, which I quickly grabbed a pair of to practice my magic juicing experiments.
The results were… Mixed. Lily was pretty sure she was 'drinking' some of what I was giving her, and it did help, but visually it mostly looked like I was just staining the front of her face with the stuff. I realized immediately it could just be some sort of psychosomatic effect rather than anything genuinely magical.
That said, if it worked for her? That was something, and it wasn't like the stains would stick around. So I grabbed Jimmy, put him on juicing duty, and conjured up a full bowl of assorted fruits he could put into a blender for the little guys.
Naturally, not all were willing to indulge. Those who did however, were quick to report a similar improvement which elevated my confidence a fair shake. It was good to know I could do something in the short term at least. Even if I was mostly just using the same half-baked healing magic I hadn't even gotten to the point it could fix my own arm.
"That's quite a gift," Sister Justine said, bearing witness to my work.
"One of the two Cantrips I'm best at," I said. "The other's a sort of 'Sanctuary' spell," I said, deciding not to use Blessing's proper name in case that ruffled some theological jimmies. "That one's more of a protective thing, but it also has healing properties. They're not as strong as the fruits though, and it seemed like it would be a rude thing to throw down what's basically a 'domain' spell in someone's house without permission," I glanced over at the nearest crucifix, while feeling distinctly… Noticed.
Don't get me wrong. I didn't think I wasn't in danger or anything. This wasn't enemy territory or anything, but I also wasn't about to test my 'host's' tolerance as a 'guest'.
"Do you think it would help?" The sister asked.
"Like I said, it's not as good for healing as the fruit Cantrip is," I said with a shrug. "Also that one works off of the body's natural ability to recover and…" I glanced over at the dolls.
Yeah, I wasn't really sure how that'd work.
"I mean, I could try?" I offered. "As long as you think the guy upstairs is fine with it," I flicked my eyes to the roof to signify just who I meant.
"God preaches to be kind to thy neighbor," she replied. "I don't think he'd think poorly on you for trying to help."
"Alright, give me a few minutes to set things up, then we can see," I said, accepting the offer. "If nothing else, I know demon magic doesn't like it. Saw that back at the house," unless it was a long con of some kind. A worry I'd probably always have to keep in mind now.
Fucking demons.
"It… might disrupt the soul anchoring, if that's active magic," I cautioned.
"I'm willing to try" Lily offered bravely.
Jimmy gave me a worried look.
I took a slow breath, "It's your choice. No pressure."
The small doll managed to tilt her head towards me, with what little mobility she had, "I want to try."
That was that then.
I looked over at Jimmy and the Sister. "My Cantrip takes a minute to cast, if you'd keep Lily company… She was hoping to help out with the investigation anyway."
"Oh… um… I believe I know how to take down notes for this sort of thing?" Sister Justine said, patting herself down before drawing out a notebook.
I nodded, and left her to it as I hunted down a good spot to lay down the Blessing. Something that didn't take me long since churches tended to be kinda big in terms of floorspace. It was just part of the nature of being a public building. Really it was just a matter of picking a spot that wouldn't alarm the other dolls if things went… Pyrotechnical.
I really hated being the closest thing to an expert in the room. Absolutely despised it. 2 out of 10 experience. Would not recommend.
Before long, the moment of truth came and…
"It… tingles a little?" Lily said.
"Good tingle or bad tingle?" I asked, feeling relieved nothing was on fire this time. Honestly, this should have been the more expected reaction. Blessing wasn't exactly a proactive spell, much less a destructive one, but given the last time…
"Good… maybe? It reminds me of when I was sick as a child, and my mother rubbed a balm into my chest." the doll described, arm bending inward… then gradually reaching in to outright touch her chest! "I can move more? I can move more!"
"Okay then!" my eyebrows shot wide. "Definitely marking that as a net positive! But why… is it the less material healing? Or the protective ward- Ugh, we need to experiment to figure this out, don't we?" I grumbled, annoyed at the idea of doing human testing. I should not be in charge of this stuff.
"Well, I mean, it's good right?" Jimmy asked.
"Probably, but the why is important here," I said. "If it's healing, it might be naturalizing her to that doll body, which… I don't know if that's a good thing or not. If it's protection, she might snap back once the magic ends. I can't keep this kind of ward up all the time. I'm not good enough to make one that'll last long enough for that." I'd been practicing in part to get the cantrip to that point.
"Would removing her from the circle not tell us which it is?" Sister Justine asked.
"I mean, yeah, but…" I started, wanting to stress the risks… Then huffed. There was no sense repeating myself. Best case, I annoyed people. Worst case? I stressed them out. It was better to just rip off the bandaid. "Lily, can we move you?"
"Yes. I want to help."
"You're doing plenty," I said as I stepped into the spell effect and carefully carried her out of it.
Once we did, she bent her head up towards me, then tried moving her limbs a bit, still showing a… decent range of mobility, "the tingling is gone… But I can still move?"
"Then it either is the healing, or the protection stripped some curse right off of you. Which this magic isn't built to do, but… Well, like I said, it's reacted oddly to demon stuff before." I didn't know which was more likely. "If it's healing, spending time in it should increase the effect. Though there could be side effects."
Naturally, Lily was up for testing that. Unfortunately, while it did seem to help a little more it had nothing on the dramatic gains from that first dash of exposure… And I was out of magic tricks that I could use to try and directly help further. At least at my current levels of skill.
On the brightside, additional testing with further volunteers proved… promising.
"You think this will help her?" the doll 'father' asked, cradling his still immobile 'wife', as his daughter in turn held onto him. Their mobility likewise restored within moments of exposure to my Blessing Cantrip's area of effect.
"That's the hope," I said. "Kinda flying blind here, but it's doing something that seems to be in the right direction."
"You're all fools, heretics, and idiots buying into that devil-damned con-artist" one of my detractors claimed from the basket, still immobile, having opted not to try the experimental 'treatment'.
I couldn't exactly blame him for that, even if I was less sympathetic as to why he refused.
"Alright, one more trip," I said, lifting up the 'mother' doll along with her family, carrying them over, into the circle.
Setting them down, the Father and Daughter dolls shifted around to flank the Mother doll, the Father doll still gripping her arm as best he could.
After a second of laying in place, the until now immobile doll began to stir,"...Trevor…?" Like ReplyReport Reactions:dnd-addict, PurpleTwilight, 84900137 and 338 othersMizuki_StoneNov 3, 2025Add bookmarkView discussionThreadmarks Chapter 5 Part 2 View contentMizuki_StoneExperienced.Nov 17, 2025Add bookmark#451Part 2
We cycled the other dormant dolls through the circle, 'waking up' all but one, who I believed might have been faking. Most began to talk, two, plus the 'still dormant' one didn't, but I was beginning to suspect that might be more psychological shock. Another began to scream once they realized they weren't 'trapped' anymore, or at least not as trapped, and one outright tried to attack me, which… Mobile or not, they were still stuffed dolls, barely able to stand on their own.
It was still an improvement. Hopefully. Merciful lords and ladies, I hoped it was an improvement and that I wasn't just making things worse somehow.
At the very least it seemed to be helping out a lot with their quality of life for the moment, and at least lent them a degree of agency. Walking was probably going to take some time and effort to remaster though.
Which… kinda put my personal issues into perspective really.
Though, speaking of perspectives… now that the dolls were… mostly awake and ambulatory, we could now get a much more detailed story on just what the literal hell had gone down at the demonic yard sale. Because one very important thing I'd noted but hadn't yet commented on was that there were a lot more dolls around than there had been demons piloting freshly stolen cadavers. I realized that some had probably been used as 'ritual components' up in the attic, but there still were too many missing.
And yes, they were quick to confirm that, unfortunately, there were at least a few more demons wandering around in stolen bodies. Lily's being one of them.
So now we were headed back down to The Station so we could give more details, and try and track those down. Also hopefully spring Father Callahan from whatever bureaucratic nightmare was tying him up, now that things had become even more time sensitive, and there was a decent chance of further demonic combat.
Having seen that once already, I was not exactly looking forward to another potential round of it. I'd still try to help, sure, but without the Father… I didn't exactly like my odds against even a normal possessed body. Much less one of those weird demonic blood skeleton forms.
It was telling how bad the situation was, that I was legitimately counting on the GCPD to be able to handle things. Well, that or for Batman to swoop in and solve things. Or Zatara. Or Black Canary. Hell, I'd settle for The Ragman, and I wasn't even sure who that was, or what his deal was.
Or if he existed. There was also someone else. A clown? Not Joker, but… Freakazo- no wrong reality.
Fuck I hated my mental blocks.
"You sure you're up for this?" I asked Lily one last time as Sister Justine pulled us up to the station.
"I'm sure," Lily replied, barely audible from where she was buckled up in the back seat. A rather adorable look all things considered.
"The detectives here are good people," Sister Justine assured. "They'll do the best they can for you."
Thunder crackled above. A storm had rolled in while we were away, an ominous sign, in an already ominous situation.
"Welp… nothing for it," I said, undoing my belt and opening the door, before moving over to the back seat to help Lily out.
Detective Lisa Drake was waiting out front with an umbrella. "This our new witness?" she asked as I unbuckled Lily, and helped her up into my arms.
I did my best to shield her from the rain.
"Hello… Officer?" Lily said, neck bent to the side as she stuck close to avoid being soaked.
"Lisa Drake," the officer introduced, extending the umbrella to provide us a bit better cover. "Let's get you inside."
At that point, for me, there was a whole lot of sitting around and doing nothing. Well not entirely nothing. After the first few minutes of sitting alone I decided to start charging my fists with well… Fist, since apparently, combat was going to be an issue I was going to have to deal with from time to time during my stay in Gotham, and it was my only fully stable combat Cantrip.
Honestly, I'd have preferred to have been practicing Eldritch Blast. It had range issues at the moment yeah, but it also was one of the rare bits of magic I had that could directly affect souls.
Unfortunately, Eldritch Blast was also, as its name indicated, a 'blast'. And well… Odds of someone getting the wrong idea were a lot higher if someone stumbled across me throwing destructive energy bolts down an empty hallway rather than if they just found me sitting quietly making my hands glow. Not even at the same time. That took a level of skill I didn't have yet, and probably wouldn't for several days.
So Fist it was. Though I also did conjure myself another healing fruit, both to help with my broken arm, and because I hadn't actually made any for myself back in the church.
And since this one was just for me, and didn't need to be juiced, I could be a bit more exotic. So I conjured up a particularly plump dragonfruit, that was a bit more watery than normal, but still very refreshing.
I really needed to solve my water issue. Would Doctor Thompkins mind me getting a gallon or two from the clinic? Or wait, I probably shouldn't trust the local tap-water. Hideaway could eventually produce water on its own… Maybe I could grind up Fog a little? It wouldn't take much effort. My ability to make a cloud of any notable size was currently unstable, but precipitation on demand could be lifesaving, even if harvesting water from it could be awkward.
So much magic to learn, so little time to learn it all. To make things more annoying, all the magic that would let me cheat to have more time was currently out of my reach.
What did it say about me that with all my current issues, that was what I was complaining about?
"Mr Reed?" a voice interrupted my musings.
I looked up and saw… Trouble.
Brown hair, weathered face, dark brown eyes, brown jacket over a white shirt and tie. He was wearing a casually friendly expression… but I didn't buy it. There was something off about his eyes. A tension around the eyebrows. He looked like a shark, and not one of the dopey 'puppies of the sea' kinds of shark, but the scary, focused, hungry kind that Hollywood loved to put in their movies.
"Officer Jordan Rich," he introduced himself. "If you don't mind, I have some questions for you."
'Do I need a lawyer for those questions?' I almost said, just barely holding the words in. Instead I just stood there silently, like an idiot.
Detective Rich kept watching me as I did so, eventually interjecting. "It's just some technical stuff," he said with a smile faker than a Walmart Greeter's. "Last name, address, interviewing officer. Basic stuff we need for record keeping."
It sounded reasonable, he wasn't doing anything really suspicious at all… And yet I was suspicious as hell. "I see," I said as a basic nonanswer.
"That said, things can become… Problematic for you, if our records end up incomplete," he didn't say it threateningly, if anything he seemed sympathetic. And yet? "You know how the government can be about paperwork. One misfiled form and some suits beating down your door with fees longer than a man's arm."
Yeah no, that was a threat. Though maybe not one he wanted to deliver? Fuck, I really wished my brain wasn't apparently half locked away by some- something or other. I didn't know where the bad vibes were coming from. Was this guy a supervillain? Government blackhat? Frustrating but well minded stickler for the rules? Maybe just someone I found personally frustrating?
Was he a fucking Paul?
Ugh, okay that was for later Reed to deal with. For the moment… I was being threatened to do paperwork. What the fuck was I supposed to do about that!?
Well outside of keep standing there in front of this guy.
"Just this way-" the Detective said, signalling me to follow him.
Only for the door I'd been waiting beside to open and another cop who inspired dread in me to step out.
"Alright Reed- Detective Rich" Detective Corrigan said, narrowing his eyes.
The new cop stopped smiling, face flat for a moment before sliding back to a now much more overtly fake smile. "Detective Corrigan," he didn't spit.
"Long way from Narcotics. What brings you around?" the red haired officer asked.
If Rich's expression shifted a millimeter, I didn't see it. "Kasinsky had a family emergency. Asked me a favor to help expedite some paperwork. You know how it is."
"Yeah, I do," Corrigan said in a tone that made it clear he knew exactly what kind of game Rich was playing.
Which, you know, was nice, because I absolutely did not. Though at this point I was willing to wager he was playing one.
Corrigan slapped his hand down on my (thankfully uninjured) shoulder. "Don't worry, I'll make sure, all the relevant papers are filed."
Rich's smile grew tight. "You do that. Good luck Mr. Reed," he said with a slight nod of his head. "Hopefully, you won't need it."
And then he left.
"Okay… what the fuck?" I asked in a low, quiet voice, not whispering, because that actually made your voice travel further.
"Don't worry about it," The inexplicably terrifying Detective said. "Your friend gave us a lead. Mind coming with? Offering your insight on things?"
"Uh… Okay?" I agreed. "If you think it'll help. Though I'll remind you I am a complete newbie wizard-wise. I haven't recognized even half the crap I've run into in this mess, and I'm pretty useless in a fight."
"I'll handle the fighting if it comes up. As for magic?" He grimaced. "You're better than the alternative," he said bluntly.
Fair enough, and I did get the feeling he could handle things if they got dicey... Which matched with the vibe I got earlier from him… "Okay then. Let's just hope we don't need more than what limited understanding and magic I can offer, minor as it is."
He grumbled out "You can say that again" as he turned, leading us back out into the raining Gotham streets.
Part 3
Detective Drake was waiting for us right outside, by a car, which, notably, was not a police cruiser, but some sort of classic Cadillac looking thing, complete with fins over the rear wheels. Very Gotham aesthetic, which was probably the idea.
"Nice ride," I commented. "Okay, but seriously, that Rich guy..?"
"Never seen him do anything directly, but he ain't on the side of angels," Detective Corrigan said with certainty. "He should back off, but try to keep clear of him. Internal investigations' been sniffing around. They might settle things for us."
"Not your department, I guess," I grimaced, not exactly happy with what I was hearing, but also not sure what else I could do. 'Hey internal police people, I know I look sketchy as hell, and lack most necessary paperwork, but please focus on this one guy who gave me a sketchy feeling in a city known to have incredibly sketchy cops.'
Yeah, that was going to go great for me. Hopefully I wouldn't need to come back to the station too many times. If I did… I'd just have to do my best to keep my butt glued to Corrigan's or Ms Drakes.
And speaking of the Lady detective, she was still standing there in the rain as we chatted.
I gave her a nod.
She gave one back, and opened the car door. Revealing someone I really hadn't expected to see coming with us.
"Lily?" I blinked, looking at the small haunted doll, currently (and adorably) buckled into the back seat, looking up at me.
"Hello Reed. You're coming too?" said the spiritually displaced woman.
"He's coming too," Detective Drake confirmed to her.
My head snapped from one to the other, "Are… you sure that's a great idea?
"I can help" Lily said firmly. "It's my body after all… If some demon is pretending to be me, I know who they could trick."
"Best case scenario, neither of you leaves the car, and you're just on call if we need a reference," The gothic woman said.
"And if things get less ideal?" I asked.
"Then we'll be on site to protect you," Detective Corrigan said for his partner.
Somehow… I suspected that might be more the actual reason than the first one. Which is why I just went ahead and got in the car with no further complaint.
"So… what's the plan?" I asked looking between Lily and the Officers up front.
"We tracked Ms. Lane's stolen credit cards to a cab company, and a coffee shop she told us she frequents as part of her work," Detective Drake explained.
"I'm an assistant at GNN. The Gotham News Network." Lily helpfully elaborated.
"Most demons aren't big coffee drinkers," Detective Corrigan added. "So if it's still got her card, it's probably still got her body, and is pretending to be her."
I frowned, "The ones at the yard sale… It wasn't a great human imitation, but it was passable at a glance. I probably wouldn't have realized something was up if I was just walking by, and not actively looking for something."
"This one might be better at it than they were. Even if it isn't? A lot of the time they don't need more than a passable disguise to get through the door," Detective Corrigan said. "If we're lucky, the demon's got some plan it hasn't put into motion yet, and we'll catch it off guard."
"And if we're not so lucky?" I asked, because someone had to ask it.
"Then it's a good thing we've loaded iron bullets," Detective Drake said.
I had mentioned how Blood had incapacitated the demons with iron nails. However, "you think that'll work?"
"It should," the more grizzled officer interjected, sounding a lot more confident than I felt.
I reached into my own pockets, digging around in my own mix of prepared 'contingencies' before withdrawing some Orange shaped Goodberries, "Here, take these."
Drake glanced back at me for a moment, before reaching around to take the offering, pulling it up while looking at them with an openly confused expression, "Thank… you?"
"They're medicinal," I explained. "One slice will heal scrapes and small bruises, three will heal more serious cuts and strained joints. I'm afraid my magic isn't good enough to fix outright broken bones or seriously damaged organs… obviously," I gestured down to my arm still in its sling.
"Handy," Corrigan replied, not looking, eyes on the road.
"Alright… but why oranges?" she asked.
"Oranges are easy to split up into portions without tools," I explained. "You can only really benefit from eating one fourth of the full fruit at a time, so, oranges. If you don't like them, I have an apple and a couple small watermelons that do the same thing if you want?" I loved my coat's deep pockets, even if I mostly just stuffed them with magic fruit.
"And here I thought it was for the vitamin C," the younger detective said, stuffing the orange into her coat pocket. "Where do you get these things to begin with?" Detective Drake. "Enchant a fruit with a spell? You don't exactly seem like the kind of person with access to a magic orchard."
"I am the Orchard," I said with a smirk. "The fruit isn't real. Or rather they are real, but they're not real fruit," I corrected, before correcting my correction. "The fruit are basically the material form of a spell. They're tangible, they have weight, taste, texture, but are temporary. They can provide nourishment, but when you eat them, you don't actually digest them, and if you leave them too long, they go poof."
"They go poof?" the detective asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Poof. The magic unravels, and fruit vanishes. No physical traces left behind," I confirmed.
"And they're safe to eat?" she asked, still dubious.
"I'd hope so. I've been living off the things for around two weeks now," I said, glancing over at Lily to check if she had an opinion.
Said woman trapped in a doll seemed content to watch the byplay for now..
"That's one way to save on the grocery bill," Detective Drake remarked before focusing back ahead like her partner, eyes scanning the streets as we passed.
She wasn't wrong, of course.
After a second, a thought visibly crossed the younger detective's face. "So wait. If it can feed you without you actually digesting it, does that mean someone with a messed up digestive system can survive on these things?"
"Sure," I confirmed. "The reason I have apples and watermelons left over is because I was juicing them for the dolls. And they don't even have organs as far as I know."
"It helped a little. And we could taste it," Lily helpfully chimed in.
"That's important?" I asked, not entirely sure what her sensory situation was. On one hand she seemed to be picking up on more than mundane eyes could see, on the other… well she didn't exactly have mundane eyes to see with.
The possessed doll nodded. "Mr. Charleston gave us some water when we got to the church. I think it was holy water. He thought it might help," she explained.
"Not sure if that was reckless or good initiative," I admitted. "So you couldn't taste it. How about other senses?" she could clearly hear at least.
"We can see, hear, but it's weird… touch is muted, it used to hurt, but not as much since you used your magic healing circle. We can't smell, I think, the only thing I've tasted since being turned into this was your magic fruit juice."
Not the greatest to work with by the sounds of it. "What do you mean by weird. When we met you called the Father 'bright'."
Lily elaborated without any hesitation, "People look… strange. Like moving watercolours over themselves. Some are bright, beautiful, some are twisted and wrong."
"That's a rare trick," Detective Corrigan interjected.
"You know what it is?" Lily asked.
"Not exactly," The older man said. "But it sounds like you're getting a glimpse of someone's true nature."
That got Detective Drake's attention as well.
"I'd theorized about that," I admitted. "I figured with their souls having been pulled loose, they might be perceiving things on the spiritual level."
"Is that… how it works?" Lily asked, sounding both curious and concerned.
"It's possible," the red haired man agreed. "Souls can be perceived in a lot of ways, but what she's describing matches up with a lot of accounts for astral projection."
"But you're not sure," I said with a sigh.
"It's magic," he argued. "You can barely be sure of what it is you're dealing with half the time. At the end of the day you just have to take your best guess and act on it."
"Well, at least you two get paid for it," I said, trying to lighten up the mood.
"Maybe, but you have to deal with a lot less paperwork than we do," the older officer said with a smirk.
"And speaking of work," Detective Drake commented. "There's the place," she said, nodding towards what was presumably the building we were headed for.
Things went quiet as the officers pulled in, and got out into the still continuing Gotham downpour.
I was really hoping the weather wasn't some kind of metaphor for how this was going to go.
Part 4
Detective Drake motioned me to get out as we exited, then directed me in towards her former seat. "Radio's live," she explained. "Here's how you use it. We'll call you if we need you up there. Call us if you see anything."
"Can-do," I agreed at once. Lookout duty wasn't exactly glamorous, but I also wasn't exactly working this job for glory, and keeping watch in situations like this was important.
You could never have too many eyes in a manhunt. Demonhunt? Yeah, calling this a demonhunt seemed accurate.
Either way, the two officers entered the building, leaving me here with Miss Lane.
"Anything I can do to help out?" I asked Lily.
"...Help me up? I can't see much of the street from this angle," the living doll requested. Slipping herself up out of the seatbelt with… honestly alarming ease, given its intended function.
Then again, given her small mass, it probably still would have worked fine for her if we'd actually needed it, at least when she'd had it around her middle.
"Sure, hop up," I held out my good arm, which she took, carefully lifting her up to my shoulder. "This okay?"
"It's much better, thank you," she agreed. Then after a moment. "We probably look ridiculous."
"Yep, probably," I agreed, eyes on the swivel. "Then again, it is Gotham, so probably not that weird."
"I'd say it's not that bad but… I guess it is.," came Lily's sad reply.
"We'll figure something out," I replied, having had some time to consider the issue. "I know a bit of magic that can at least make things a bit less horrible. Can't use most of it yet. But that's just time and practice. The Church or the League might still step in. Father Callahan had called in some friends of his; they should show up sooner or later."
"I Hope…" the small doll replied. "I'm not sure… living like this forever would be…"
"Rough," I finished for her.
"I don't want to imagine it." she admitted.
"Something tells me you'd be able to handle it, even without me." Not that I was some great help in all of this; bumbling, not even half-trained hedge wizard that I was. "I'll still do what I can."
"Thank you… I'm not sure I've said that enough." Lily replied from my shoulder.
I didn't look at her. "Thank me when I've actually done something impressive."
"I…" she hesitated for a moment. "I will."
For the next few moments, the only sound that passed was the rain pattering against the car's roof and windows.
Then suddenly something caught Lily's eye. "Wait, is that-"
I looked over at her, and followed where she was facing. Someone had just stepped out of the coffee shop. A young woman, brown hair, black shirt with something on it I couldn't make out two white objects in her hands that were probably coffee cups. "Is that-?" I started.
"It's me." she said so quietly I barely heard her even sitting on my shoulder. "It's her. The demon that stole my body."
"You're sure!?" I asked, grabbing at the radio. The rain was falling hard, I could barely make out
"It's a demon! I see it!" she said emphatically.
Right, she had soul sight.
I triggered the radio, already on the signal Detective Drake showed me earlier, "Target's in sight! I- I'm -I mean we've got eyes on the suspect!" I got out after tripping over my own tongue.
The demon in stolen skin walked up to the GNN building.
The radio came to life, "You see her?"
"Yeah, Lily spotted her. She came out of the coffee shop. She's coming right up to the front doors right-."
The demon stopped right as she reached the front.
My mouth went still. Did she hear me somehow
"Reed? Reed!!" Detective Drake's voice shot back. "Lily!?"
"We're here, she's stopped dead in front of the building." I said as loud as I dared.
"She's looking at something." Lily said.
"Lily thinks she sees something- FUCK!" I cursed, as the demon dropped both coffees and started to walk down the street. "She's rabbiting!"
When did the cops go in? Three minutes ago? Five? How far in where they? Would they get out in time?
My belt was off, the door was open.
"Reed!" Lily called out.
"Keep on the radio!" I said as I took off towards the demon in what was probably the single stupidest move I'd made since coming to Gotham. Which was an impressive achievement given some of the decisions I'd already made.
"At least I prepared for being a dumbass this time," I muttered to myself as I fished my good hand into my pocket.
The demon wasn't running. It was probably trying not to draw any attention at this point. Which was silly because people ran in the rain all the time, but maybe this demon didn't realize that… or maybe I was walking into an ambush.
I itched to prepare a Jolt, or at least cast Mage Armor in case I ate any hits if- Okay, more realistically, when the demon finally noticed me and dropped the human act.
I didn't cast either. I didn't want to risk attracting attention, and while in this rain, someone might mistake Mage Armor as some kind of raincoat? I remembered how the dolls had picked up something off of me back when we'd first met, back while I was using the spell, and I didn't want to risk the demon having any sort of similar sense.
Which didn't mean I was entirely without magic. Mage Armor might be 'loud', but my Goodberries had seemed to be a bit less noticeable. Which gave me a couple options. Healing as a given, but also one theory I'd had rolling around in my head since my Blessing Cantrip fist lit up that demonic spell circle like a match igniting a puddle of gasoline.
Blessing was not an offensive cantrip. It wasn't even a purifying one really. It did two things, ward off an area against violence, and heal people, but the demonic magic had reacted, extremely negatively, both at the house, and at the church. And while I wasn't sure why that was. I'd also observed similar reactions with my other healing cantrip of choice.
Which wouldn't have changed much, if not for one little fact. Tomatos were also a fruit.
"MISS LANE!" I called out before she could get too close to the street corner.
The demon paused, turned in step to turn to look at me.
I threw the tomato directly at her face… and missed, hitting her instead dead on in the chest, the unexpected blow making her stagger back as the fruit bounced off.
I broke into a sprint, struggling to reach back into my pocket, and barely managing to get my hand inside it, nearly stabbing myself on my other contingency in the process.
The body possessing demon regained balance, its hand coming up to where the tomato had hit against its chest before jerking away attention momentarily focused on its palm, before rounding back on me. In a moment its eyes went from the normal brown eyes you'd expect to see on a human face to pure black, mouth falling open wide in a soundless scream as it countercharged.
I found what I was looking for and pulled my arm free. Casting Mage Armor before we could impact, a padded, mail-lined cloak appearing over me as I amplified my stupid decisions by leaning in with my bad shoulder as the two of us crashed into each other.
Pain exploded in my arm, and I felt an oddly thankful moment that Sally had broken it and not my shoulder, as I used my greater mass to bowl over the stronger but significantly smaller body of the demon in a tackle.
Which, of course, still left me in grappling range of a (relatively) super strong demon. Which was not ideal.
The thief of Lily's body immediately tried to claw out my stomach. Blunt fingers pushed my conjured coat directly into my flesh with horrifying force.
I counter attacked with my good arm, reaching back over her strike to stab the iron nail I'd picked up earlier directly into her shoulder.
Immediately the possessing demon went slack. Like I'd just 'turned off' her stolen body, which might have been surprisingly close to the truth.
Either way I immediately scrambled away, arm not hurting anymore out of the sheer amount of adrenaline running through my veins, barely mindful enough not to crawl on my bad arm and stress it even further.
I got about a meter and a half of distance and started charging Jolt, padding at my side for a moment before realizing my neck hurt.
"-eed! REED!"
And someone was yelling at me.
I looked over and saw the detectives running towards me from GNN's entrance.
"Iron works," I half whispered. "Iron- I got her!" I called out more loudly.
I blinked and the pair were over me. "You're bleeding," detective Drake informed me.
I was? I felt my stomach again. Only for her to push her hand against my neck suddenly.
Ah, the demon bit me. That was probably bad.
"That's her?" Detective Corrigan asked.
"Lily spotted it," I said. "Jabbed it with an iron nail. The shoulder. Don't let it fall out."
Detective Drake shoved a slice of my own Orange Shaped Goodberry in my mouth.
Obediently I bit down, chewed, swallowed, and almost choked from not chewing enough. My neck hurt more doing that, but the magic went to work helping that. "C-couple more slices please." That had only been one. Needed three for a quarter of the fruit. I felt at my coat, only to remember I was wearing Mage Armor over it, and dispelled the Cantrip to access my remaining reserve.
Drake beat me to the punch shoving another two slices in.
"Good job," Detective Corrigan said, confirming my statement. "Never do it again."
And for some reason that made me just start laughing.
In front of me Officer Drake cracked a smile, but I could tell she didn't get the 'joke' anymore than I did.
Still nice of her.Last edited: Dec 13, 2025 Like ReplyReport Reactions:dnd-addict, PurpleTwilight, 84900137 and 303 othersMizuki_StoneDec 13, 2025NewAdd bookmarkView discussionThreadmarks Chapter 5 Part 5 New View contentMizuki_StoneExperienced.Dec 18, 2025NewAdd bookmark#505Part 5
Once more things basically meshed into a blur. People showed up, Lily's body was put onto a stretcher. Someone got me a towel and some hot chocolate. Which was really appreciated, all things considered.
I also hadn't outright broken my fractured arm again, somehow. Seriously, either my medium sized healing Goodberries actually were helping with healing that, or I'd somehow used up all my good luck for the next decade.
Wait, no, I was probably already in karmic debt for the whole 'chance to learn magic' thing, even if it had required me to be stranded in Gotham.
Or was being stranded in Gotham really enough to cover that? I mean, I knew my memory was currently swiss cheese on a lot of the details but at the very least it didn't seem that bad? No Night City or Hellsalem's Lot at least.
…I… Should probably raise my standards a little.
Getting back to the subject at hand, with Demon Lily disabled and detained, this raised the all important question. What now?
Luckily, I didn't need to come up with the answer for that.
Less lucky, that was because a bunch of other people had some strong opinions about it.
"And that's when you stabbed them with the magic nail?" An officer who was not Detective Drake asked from across the interrogation desk.
He'd introduced himself as 'Sargent Rook', and was a bald man with dark eyes and the sort of square jaw that looked solid enough to hammer nails with. Which was appropriate, since I felt rather like a nail he was hammering at the moment.
I wasn't entirely sure what kind of officer either, only that they wore a suit and lacked the brown leather jacket I'd seen nearly every other officer at the station with.
"The nail wasn't magic," I said. "But, yeah, I managed to stick it in the shoulder… You sure I don't need a lawyer?"
He made a sound at the 'it' part as he continued to note things down, his writing not matching the pace of my speaking. "You're not being investigated. If the nail wasn't magic, why did it kill the 'demon'."
"It's iron," I said. "Iron's a bane to demons. It disrupted their control over the corpse. Which is why it's so important not to pull it out. No one's pulled it out right?"
"That's not your concern," he dismissed.
It felt like my concern. Also the concern of everyone else in the building and/or city.
"So iron disrupts the control," he said bluntly. "And the body is just… What, a puppet?"
"...Somewhere between that and a suit?" I said. I almost mentioned the possibility of it being used as 'other materials' for things like the ritual I'd helped stop, or the blood demon skeleton thing, but decided against it. I wasn't sure that trick was one they could pull in an 'active' possessed body given how it'd worked back at the house, and I was mindful that Father Callahan had probably covered most of that up for a reason.
I didn't know who this suit guy worked for, but he wasn't giving me a good impression. I'd warn him about the basics, wouldn't lie about anything asked, but I also didn't exactly feel like volunteering any information to someone I was about 90% sure would misuse it.
Or worked for people who'd misuse it anyway.
Or was just sick of dealing with this and thought I was crazy for calling 'basic metahuman powers' magic. I was kinda hoping for that option, though I was also worried it would eventually end up with me on some sort of list for mandatory 'government employment'.
Really, the longer I stayed at the station, the less welcome I felt. Honestly, at this point, it was only awareness that running might cost me any chance of talking or walking away that kept me from Blinking through the first window I had any unattended access to. Well that and Lily and the Father still being stuck in this place… Somewhere. Hopefully.
"And you're sure the controller was a demon?" the sketchy sergeant pressed.
"Not a hundred percent," I admitted. "But not a lot of things react that badly to both holy water and iron." Maybe some kind of fae.
"Holy water," he said skeptically.
"As a non-Christian, I can attest to its effectiveness on certain supernatural predators," I replied frankly.
He gave me a long, flat look, then wrote down another note. "Alright, we're done here."
That was a relief. We'd been at it for almost an hour.
Unfortunately… Apparently a lot had happened in that hour.
"Mr. Reed," a familiar aged face greeted me as I exited.
"Father Callhan!" I exclaimed in relief. "Thank good-ness…" I started only to trail off as I took in his expression, which was focused and grim.
A brand new terrible pit opened up in my stomach. Good thing I kept eating Goodberries, I would probably have an ulcer problem by now with how often that'd been happening lately.
"Mr. Reed," he greeted in a sad tone.
"What happened?" I asked looking around for any hint.
"My… Associates finally arrived, and have set to their task," he began. "Jimmy, good boy that he is, informed me that they tried to contact me, but when they found out about my incarcerated position, decided to… Expedite their methods. The dolls are gone."
I blinked, needing a moment to register that. "Wha- wait, What. What do you mean the dolls are gone. They took them?"
"If only that," he replied, folding his arm as he was clearly unhappy with the situation. "They exorcised them. Released their trapped souls to God's judgement."
"What!?" I demanded again. "Why- Where's Lily!?"
"She is currently in the care of Ms. Drake," Callahan said. "Her faith in me, or at least the institution I represent understandably shaken. As for why? Only God can know for certain what was in their hearts, but I can guess at a reason… Though I do not agree with it."
"Don't talk in-" I started. "Okay, where is Lily and the Detective then? Am I allowed to know that?" I asked.
"When I last saw, they were at Ms Drake's office," he said. "Reed… I do not agree with what they have done, even if I can understand it."
"Right," I exhaled. "Right…" I shouldn't judge quickly. Even I'd thought helping the trapped souls move on might be the better call earlier on, if it meant avoiding a fate worse than death.. Ethics involving Soul magic had to factor in that kind of risk.
That didn't mean I was okay with this. Not in the slightest.
Though to be fair. Father Callahan didn't exactly seem pleased with his colleague's decisions either. "I will be questioning my colleagues about their reasoning when I reach them," he said.
He then paused, looking up at me. "I have a favor to ask."
I gave him a raised eyebrow, a dozen snarky rebuttals forming in my throat, and all of them dying before they could escape it. "I'm listening."
"Look after Ms Lane," he said to me. "She might seem strong, but this entire event has been understandably taxing on her. She nearly cracked when I told her the news, and I fear my continued presence will do her no good. I believe she sees you as a lifeline. Be that for her, if you can. At least until she can get her feet back under her."
I exhaled, some small unexpected tension in my back releasing. "Ask me to do something I was already planning on doing…" I rubbed my face with the hand of my good arm. "Yeah, sure. Of course I will."
"Thank you," the old priest replied earnestly. "Now… I fear I must go and track down the men I've called into this city," he said grimly. "I can only hope their actions were due to an incomplete understanding of the situation… Either alternative isn't something I'd like to contemplate."
I grimaced as I processed that. Right. Either they were wrong to do it, or we were wrong not to. "Good luck with that," I said reflexively, before taking another breath. "Seriously, though. Be safe out there."
This wasn't his fault. Hell, I was the one who brought him into it… Not that I had a lot of options at the time.
Had he felt the same way? He'd done a lot better than me at the house but… Freaking demons man.
Merciful gods, what the fuck.
"With luck, we'll pull loose the roots of the issue… By now, Blood might have already beaten us to it," he didn't seem hopeful about it. "Walk with grace Mr. Reed. God is watching over you."
"I know," I just wasn't sure how good a thing that was.
And then I was alone. Standing in a station that did feel like hostile territory, in the middle of a situation I no longer felt I had any real handle on. Trying very hard not to think about how a Father and Daughter had just left the world along with their newly reunited wife/mother.
SMACK. Pain.
I blinked, as I looked over at where my 'good' fist had impacted into the painted brick of the wall hard. Apparently enough for my knuckle to split, I noticed as I pulled it back to examine the damage. Feeling a sharp, but manageable sting as I gave it a few experimental flexes, finding no issue.
No new broken bones then. Good.
I reached into my pocket and pulled out the healing apple biting into it and fixing myself up. Eyeing the small spec of blood on the wall with a grimace, before trying to wipe it off on the inside of my sleeve. I really wished Prestidigitation was more available to me.
"Right," I said out loud to focus myself. "Right," I repeated again. "Lily. Need to find Lily and… Go to ground I guess." Not a lot of options for that…. But I did have options.
Okay, I could do this. I had to do this. I would do this.
I took another bite of my apple-shaped Goodberry and started looking for Detective Drake's office.