Freaky. This place felt freaky. Jinx walked into the room Anatoly took her to, and she saw people ahead with masks on. Not more masks. What is it with masks? If I'm taking someone out, they'll know it's me.
There were masks of a raven, a bear, a scorpion, a cougar, a crocodile, an armadillo, a pig, a wolf, a rat, a monkey, a butterfly, and a fish. Twelve freaks in all.
The one with the raven spoke first. "Make greetings brief and listen to Anatoly. Remove your mask when talking to her, and then politely put it back on afterward," she said. She took her mask off and gave a really big totally fake smile to her. "Hello. I am Morga the Raven. Morga is fine, Raven is fine, and Morga the Raven is fine too. Welcome. We understand you are wanting to join Anatoly's mercenaries?"
Well, at least she could ask directly. "Did he grant your wish?" Jinx asked.
"He's wonderful. I have nothing but wonderful things to say about him. He is my future husband. This is my home."
Future husband? Okay, she was gonna be bias.
The next person took off their mask. "I am Bear!"
Whoah. "Bear what?"
"Bear. Just Bear," he said. "Welcome."
Boy, oh boy. She got a little bit closer. "What are you, like five?"
"Six." He held up four fingers.
Six. "How long have you been here?"
"Six." He kept holding up his four fingers.
She laughed. No way. "Okay? This?" She gestured toward him. "You aren't a mercenary yet, are you?"
"I am training," he said. "I was a dying baby and my parents brought me here. They left. Anatoly took me."
"Orphaned kid found a killer family? I've heard that story before." Hopefully it had a better ending.
The next person who lowered their mask. "Scorpion. Just, Scorpion." He put his mask back on. So did the crocodile, armadillo, and cougar.
After that, the next one to take their mask off was a pig. "Piggy or Ms. Piggy. The guy next to me is Wolfie or Mr. Wolfie. He is mine. That's all." Wolfie didn't say anything.
Then, the rat took off the mask. "I am here to follow all orders my superiors make me. No matter how terrible, scary or kinky it is," he flirted before he put his mask back on.
Then, the monkey. "I am Steph the Monkey! I am always, always, always, ready, ready, ready, for an adventure! So let's go, let's go, whenever we are ready!" She jumped up and down.
Hmm. Monkey makes me feel normal.
"I am Butterfly." The person with the butterfly mask showed their face. "Next to me is Butterfish. When we were five, we joined Anatoly because Butterfish needed an operation that no one could afford. Since we joined, she's been great."
Butterfish took off her fish mask. They were twins and probably twelve or so.
"Well. Hey."
"If you are going to leave," the Cougar said to her. "Leave at the beginning. It will only get harder as time goes by."
"Thanks for the tip." She watched as Cake came into the room. She looked really nervous. Super nervous.
She watched Anatoly grab her straight up like a ragdoll.
"Don't change me!" She screamed.
"Now." Anatoly casually talked as he held the kid like an object in the air. "Let me share how our mercenaries work. I am a mage, and I have a unique ability that can't really be detected that easy. Everyone that knows of me, is under me."
"Except your dad and mom too," she corrected him.
"Right. When I say me, I mean the Laurent family."
Okay, should I start heading to the door? Jinx heard knocking from outside. Heavy knocking. Found mommy again.
"This is the hardest part of the job. The easy part is I will give you high strength, high healing, anything that you feel weak in will be maximised."
Maximised? "Super strong? I'm already super fast."
"You'll be even faster still."
Whoah. It'd be nice to think about except for the fact that poor kid was still hanging like a banana in his grip! That arm had to be hurting. "Drop the kid."
He kept continuing. "I will take care of your clothes, your food, your home, your care, and everything else you need. I will take care of your wishes, all wishes spoken now and spoken later that I can help with. In exchange?" He finally focused on the girl. "This is Cake. She is locked into my power, just like everyone else. All it takes is one touch to be locked in. When you do, you cannot leave my power for ten years."
"Ten years, not happening, and would you let that kid go already?!" Geez. She must be hurting. The momma was starting to yell from the other side of the door. That's it!
She easily dove for her, moving him away with her boot (being careful of that touch thing) and knocking him to the ground as she got her. "You okay?"
"My arm," Cake cried.
That wasn't a surprise. He was standing back up. He'd probably be mad and kick her out, but she'd already decided against the place anyhow. She set her back down. "I am out of here."
"If you go, I will not touch the kid again."
"Good."
"She will die."
What a low-based threat. She started to walk away. She heard the screaming of Cake again, but knew it was just a threat. He was expecting her common decency to win out. That wouldn't happen, she was working on figuring out how to become better.
Then the kid hit a new decibel it hadn't hit in all it's struggles, and before she knew it, she was back in that room, this time with the kid on her belly. Must have slid in instinctively.
"Yes, you will fit in well, Jinx. By the way? I don't reveal I am a mage, nor do my mercenaries reveal anything outside of the village to outsiders. Even outsiders in the middle of joining."
Jinx stood back up, thinking about what he said. Touch. "You touched my neck. Oh your just a real Mister Do- It -Fast- and -Who -Cares -About -The -Consequences' arentcha!" She was already locked in. Well? "Sticking around here til the end isn't happening." She'd go out and find a way around it.
"I already know your weakness. If you leave, I will end Cake and her mother."
"Whoah, Dude? Really?" She rolled her eyes. "You think I care that much? I have killed thousands. I'm an iconic criminal. I'm just walking out. See ya."
He announced for his doors to be opened. She just moved past Mommy dearest that came barreling in after her daughter.
"Shields. I want you and Cake to move out and leave by noon."
Not my problem.
"But? But I do good work for you, Anatoly? I don't understand," she protested. "Please. I just. It was my instinct to scream for her, I wanted her safe. Please don't do this."
Not my problem, I need to get- . . . Shoot. Oh no. This is how I become a good person, isn't it? No, it couldn't be. Staying in a tiny village for ten years? It's just a bluff.
"I can't put Cake through that," the woman said. "Mercy please?"
If I die, then I am letting myself down. If I stay in a village underneath someone, that's pretty messed up.
"A painful weak death or one quick death with a touch of my hand."
"Momma!"
If I figure out how to save myself while here, then I could figure out the whole village. I could free the whole village! Right. Yep! That would make her a better person.
"That is the only mercy I will show. Clean out all your things. Be out."
"I will take that mercy. Close your eyes, Cake."
Damn! Okay, mind is made up! "Freaks! Each and every one of ya!" Jinx complained as she came back. "You aren't doing that. Fine. I'll stay and be a mercenary until I figure out a way out of this." It was probably a damn thing like Viktor. She cursed herself. Everyone Viktor touched died.
"Look at her, she's so gutsy." He smiled. "Ten years, or a fight."
"Oh? Right, give me the fight." She'd be out pretty quick then. That would make it easier to figure out the cure.
That only seemed to get him more fired up. "Then let me explain the rules. This is a very hard fight. Few have beaten it. If you win, you free yourself and five other people from my power."
"Okay. Then." She gestured between the mom and the kid. That'd stop him from playing dirty with her. "Those two little hooligans, and I guess the little bear too."
"Okay then. You may challenge me as often as you like, the rules are always the same. Besides control whether your power levels go up or down, I can also feel when you were at the strongest point of your life, and the weakest point of your life. When it starts, you have five minutes to knock me down to the ground in that state."
Ugh. She knew when that had been.
"A side effect of this magic is an illusion casted over you. You will be brought back to that moment when you were the weakest. Same age. Same haircut. Same clothes. Same everything. It lasts about a minute and it will pop up the more you are stunned. After five minutes the fight is declared over, and I will restore your power. Are you ready?"
Jinx kept herself bold. In control. "Sure I am, why wouldn't I be? Put it there." She held out her hand. Silco always taught her how to take control of the situation.
Then the next second, it felt like all of that control was lost.
Ooh. Interesting. The levels between within her were soooo different. He usually had one place to call for the weakest moment in a person. After all, weakness involved more than strength, it also included a person's own emotional vitality.
While he couldn't read memories exactly, he could feel the exact stats they were at to produce that weakness.
He tried the one that had a very high attack power, yet an unstable emotional rate. Extremely low.
She appeared before him in a different outfit. Her whole body looked dead. Her eyes couldn't seem to focus on anything but pulling a grenade in front of her. Her entire being looked like it was ready to go dark.
In that condition, she would probably willingly kill herself instead of fight. Not that one.
This one had a low attack power, very low. Yet the emotional rate was super high. When he set those stats, he saw her as a kid crying on the floor. She was younger, but still, at least she wasn't going to off herself before they finished the fight.
But? Just a curiosity. What was she when she was at her strongest point? Ooh, those power levels. That emotional level. Strength. Attack. He saw her in the same outfit she had been in, but it was different.
She was sitting on something, slouched, like she didn't care about anything. Then she suddenly stood up and grabbed a helm that appeared. And her look?
"What's going on?" She looked all around. "Ekko?"
"An echo?"
Instead of answering, she moved away so quickly, grabbed one of the practice weapons and aimed straight for him.
Goodness! He got out of the way, adjusting his speed. "Hello."
She was panting and angry, no longer feeling relaxed or in control. "How did I go from my balloon to here?!" She moved away quickly and, even with his added speed, dropkicked him.
Wow, not ready for that! He turned his pain tolerance to 100% and his health regeneration as high as he could.
100%. He was going to find a way to drop Raven for her. He moved himself to max stats, and grabbed her again. "Wow." She struggled and bared her teeth like a savage, wild animal. "You are breathtaking." She wrinkled her little nose at him. Obviously, not this one, but goodness. He couldn't wait to do battle with this one.
Her chosen form, her weakest, yet not wanting to end her life.
Back to the child crying.
"Don't leave me! Violet!" For a minute, she forgot everything. She was back on the ground, every moment of after Vi leaving her behind erased from her mind. It didn't take long for it to come back. Then she looked at her hand. A kid's hand. I'm Powder. Not only that, she had found herself sobbing on the floor, her emotions were so high. They were so high that night.
"I can do this." That shaky kid's voice held no confidence. She couldn't fight anyone back then. She wiped her tears. Okay. It's just an illusion, everything is still there. I still have my moves. Just think of something. "I can do this." Her voice sounded normal again. Her body was back to normal. Right. She tried to rush him in with a kick, but he easily grabbed her foot and reversed it.
Not quick enough. Oh, the pain was so much worse! Powder couldn't take a hit back then. The illusion came up again after the hit. She felt a scrape on her elbow too. Even scrapes? "Illusion is one thing, how do I have the same injuries?"
"The same everything. The moment is so deep, that it takes root into our very mind of when we were so very weak. Even things you forgot that your mind remembered can't be ignored."
She tried to control her breathing. She waited for the illusion to be gone again.
"I am very lucky, you almost beat me. Your second weakest moment was only months ago."
Months ago. When she was ready to pitch it all in. Ekko stopped me. Her will power was low, but the rest of her would have been great. Unfortunately, that wasn't her weakest spot to her mind. It was the spot that was hard to leave. It was the spot where life changed. It was the spot where a villain controlled her life.
She stroked her cheeks. Okay, Powder. Jinx. Whichever. You aren't actually this age or this weak. You need to try again. Figure something out. She tried attacking again, but he just grabbed her hand and raised her up.
Apparently that counted as being 'stunned' because he was holding her like he held that kid Cake. "Jerk!" She tried to kick him in the knees. She wouldn't win. "I know I won't win this time, but I will. I won't stop fighting until I am freed!"
She hung for a little while longer, and then felt herself going back to normal. "Fine, guess I'm locked in right now." She would beat him. Eventually. "So, now what?"
"You are going to be my new leader to the mercenaries."
"She can't be the new leader!" The Raven woman complained. "I'm the leader!"
"Morga," Anatoly scolded her. "She will be trained and she will take over. That is all."
Well? For now. Might as well get these new lessons. Can't free a village if I'm dead.
"And the outsider?" Anatoly Sr. asked his son. "Where is she?"
"Anny?" his mother called him out. "We gave you a chance. That wasn't what you were supposed to do."
"I don't want Raven. She can handle it," he insisted. "Why can't I choose someone I like?"
"You don't know her," his mother scolded him. "She's pretty. That's all you know, and I can't believe you did that!"
"It was an accident."
"Was it?" his mother asked suspiciously as the new resident Jinx came in, wearing that awful raggish outfit again. "Greetings."
Jinx didn't want to speak. No one could blame her.
"We are sorry about our son," Anatoly Sr. said to her. "Dear Cake is fine, he puts extra strength in the arms if he uses anyone for tricks. It's an old fashioned way of finding people who genuinely care."
"Yeah. Heard. Not really pissed off about that, but something else?"
"He didn't mean it on purpose," Anotoly Sr. said. "We are in control of our power and touch at most times, we can touch very well without an exchange of power, but he was too . . . eager."
"Eager?" She was confused. "About what?"
"About you," Mrs. Laurent answered her. "He fancies you."
"Fancies me?"
"Mother!" Anatoly Jr covered his face.
"First of all, let's go back and speak about the unfortunate event that happened. We do not use our power in touch before we make deals. That is why the village is happy, everyone makes their deal and accepts it. We don't trick others into deals," Anotoly Sr. said. "If anything, if we don't accept it and don't like that person, we'll just touch and kill them instead to be done with it."
" . . . ya don't say?"
"However, since he does fancy you, the touch was different," Anotoly Sr. said. "Now, we all need to learn how to grant your wish."
"I think . . ." Anatoly Jr. was really looking at her now. His face was even blushing. "I think your skin is beautiful and your pink eyes are amazing, and I'd really like to have you lead the team so-"
"He is attracted to you," his mother stopped him. "Do you think you like him?"
Like I would really like someone who trapped me in this place. People call me nuts.
He only smiled at her.
"No kissing," his mother warned him. "If she wants to, you can date to see how you fit, but no kissing. You are still technically taken, Anny."
Taken? Right. Raven said something about him being her future husband.
"I don't like Raven," Anatoly Jr. said.
"All of it is ineffective right now. We need to figure out how to grant her wish to become a better person," his mother said.
"I already did," Anatoly Jr. told them, still holding her hands. "Once she is trained. You'll see. I'm sure of it."
"Uh huh. So, there was this fighting thing that lets me gain my power back before ten years? Since this was your mistake, can you fix that for me?"
"Normally he could," his mother said, "but unfortunately he fancies you now. I doubt he's going to make it any easier for you to leave."
"Mother," he called her out. "I am trying. Anyhow, I am granting your wish, once you learn your place," he promised. "You need to learn several skills first. After that, then maybe we'll talk. Okay?"
"Why are you letting your kid run the show?" she called them out.
"It's interesting," Anotoly Sr. said. "I want to see how this goes."
"I have no powers or I would stop the ridiculous act," the mother said. "I would stop a lot of things. For now. Welcome to Laurent village."