A New Phase - Chapter 7
#7 of A New Phase
A New Phase
Chapter 7
Jack stirred from his slumber, feeling much better after such an explosive release, but still somewhat tired from the exertion. Not to mention feeling distinctly sticky in several ways. Selkine was still laying atop him, and the other two were both snuggled cozily against his sides. This was definitely not too bad.
He stretched a little. How long had he snoozed? Wasn't there something about time? The three girls began to wake when his movements disturbed them. Sess'tha's feline stretch against his side was quite an enjoyable feeling indeed. But the time thing was still nagging at him.
"Huh...? We fell asleep..." Farren mumbled. She stayed still for a moment, thinking. "How long did you say we had, Selkine?"
Selkine mumbled incoherently for a moment, smacked her lips, and muttered, "Two hours."
Farren laid her ears to the side, the tip of one flicking against Jack's shoulder. "How long has it been, then?"
"Two and a half hours," mentioned Jeran casually from the doorway.
Farren jumped off the bed and took off after the black cat as he backed away from the doorway. "HOW MANY TIMES DO I NEED TO TELL YOU TO KNOCK FIRST YOU LOUSY EXCUSE FOR..." her voice faded as she ran after him out of the bedroom, but then suddenly stopped short. Both Sess'tha and Selkine disengaged from Jack and all three of them sat up, looking at the door curiously as Farren returned. She was decidedly bemused and somewhat shaken.
Farren looked at all three of them. "Clean up quickly. We've... um... got company." She headed towards the bathroom, but the wolf stepped into the doorway before she got there.
"We were wondering when you'd wake up. Not good to disturb folks too badly in their own home," Master Takaran smiled. "Groomings courtesy of the Mastery." He lifted a paw and all three girls squirmed for a moment as they glimmered. The visual effect went away, leaving them all perfectly prim and proper. Their fur was exquisitely clean and well-groomed. Takaran frowned slightly and shook his head. "Sorry, Jack. Can't do that for you right now." He lifted a paw, and a large wet washcloth appeared in it, which he tossed to the naked human before turning out of the room.
Jack looked at the washcloth and sighed, starting to wash himself off with it. He didn't get more than three swipes in before he was pounced by all three girls and subjected to a flurry of licks. He laughed at the grooming, and it definitely helped raise his spirits (As well as another thing, but they behaved).
Jack was finally freed of their attentions when he was decreed to be clean enough, and he went to get some clothing to put on. Sure, the outphase clothing wouldn't matter to the midphasers, but it helped him feel better anyway. He stared at the little device making the blue fog that traveled through his dresser. The mist fan, that was it. It would be so much easier if he could tell the difference between midphase stuff and outphase stuff. Damnit, he needed to find a way!
He glared at the little mist fan thingy as he retrieved clothing from the dresser, then blinked as he realized that it seemed to be fading to transparency. He stared wonderingly until a touch on his shoulder got his attention. "Everything okay, Jack?" Farren asked him.
He turned to address her, "Oh, just a weird..." He stopped dead in his sentence. He could see through her as if she was a very faint ghost! In a panic, he grabbed her arms. He wasn't fading out of the midphase, was he?
No... She was still fully solid, if just not fully visible. He shook his head, closing his eyes as he did so, and when he opened them, she was fully solid again. "Jack, what's wrong?" Farren demanded, worried by his actions.
"I... I saw through you there for a moment, like you were a ghost. It started with the mist fan. I was worried that I was fading away from your phase." Jack said, shaken.
Jeran's movement at the doorway caught his attention. "Nah, you're just learning to see the difference between midphase things and outphase things," Jeran advised. "All younglings go through this. First it's learning by seeing one or the other or both, but the one you try not to see looks ghostly. Eventually, you just automatically know what's what."
Jack looked questioningly at Farren. She nodded, "That's true. Everybody went through it. Doesn't' last too long though before you just know. Maybe a few days for kids who pick it up quickly."
"Huh..." Jack thought. "So, you think that I'm learning to see the difference just like midphasers do?" He tried to concentrate on this concept, and soon was able to make the mist fan and the three girls fade again, then return, then make his clothing in his hand fade from his vision. He shook his head in amazement as he let everything return to full solidarity, and started pulling his clothing on.
"That seems to be the case, and more," Jeran said. "You'll get a better feeling for the issue when you come out."
Jack nodded and decided to leave his shoes off. He looked at the three girls and gestured that he was ready. They took up positions around him, Farren looking more nervous. Well, she already had an idea what was up. Maybe he should take a cue and be nervous too? He didn't have much of a chance to though as they headed out to his living room.
Now, he had a large apartment. It was more like a townhouse or condo in fact, being a single-story building on the outer edges with lofts, and then three stories in the middle section of each building, only the upper floor having lofts obviously. The crowd of furred bodies sitting, standing, and waiting around was a bit more than he expected to see though. He barely got around the corner when what he guessed to be at least 50 pairs of ears and eyes turned and focused on him, if not more than that. Serious crowd!
"Big to-do," Sess'tha muttered, and Farren put her hand on Jack's shoulder. Then Jack caught a glimpse of about six pairs of hands raising in a circle in the middle of the large group, and in a flash, everything went completely silent and still.
Jack stopped in surprise. It was as if time had completely stopped. He saw the hands drop in the group, and movement began to spread out from where those hands were. He watched carefully, noting as the movement got closer that a person would start to move, then look around, find somebody who was frozen, and touch them while making a hand motion, at which point that person would begin to move. Everybody had been time stopped apparently, but they were working on unstopping their associates.
Strangely enough, he was being ignored. On a nagging feeling he had, he tried to hold very still. Soon enough, the vast majority of the visitors were free of the time stop, and all of them were peering at him searchingly. He tried very hard not to blink, but his eyes were starting to kill him.
"Should we release him from the time stop too?" asked somebody outside of his frame of vision. Then a familiar wolf face moved in front of his. Takaran tilted his ears to the side, and a grin split his face for a moment. But Jack couldn't help but notice the instant of worry that preceded that.
"No need," Takaran stated. "You don't have to hold yourself like that Jack. Nothing dangerous about us." He put his hand on the human's shoulder, and Jack sighed, finally taking a chance to blink his burning eyes. He frowned though. Master Takaran was not being completely truthful.
"What's going on?" Jack asked guardedly, glancing over at his frozen friends and trying to keep his eye on this massive crowd at the same time.
Master Takaran sighed. "Portents were read and investigation has been done, but no solid answer was found. In light of recent news, it was decided that this became a much bigger issue than we previously thought. An emergency vote was cast, and we decided to investigate in person."
Jack began to get that tingle at the back of his neck like you get just before something REALLY bad happens in a horror flick. "Soooo... why did so many of you have to come here? Lots of tests?" he asked. He could barely grasp some very bad things from the wolf's mind, and he was on the verge of bolting.
Master Takaran sighed, his ears laying back, and he looked like he was trying to formulate a response. When he didn't answer too quickly, a porcupine stepped forward slightly and answered succinctly, sounding almost venomous, "Precaution."
Jack took a step backwards, bumping into an unyieldingly frozen Farren as every pair of hands went into the air, and looked to Master Takaran in for any help. The wolf kept his eyes averted, but Jack heard distinctly from his mind, "I'm sorry, Jack."
Jack was suddenly lifted bodily into the air by some invisible force. The air itself seemed to clamp around him like cold steel, barely even allowing him to breathe as it forced his body into a spread-eagled position. He hovered up into the extended area of his living room, beside the loft, floating there as most of the hands dropped and all eyes were on him. He wasn't certain whether to be afraid or not. In fact, as he thought about it, he began to simply become really pissed off.
He felt detached from himself to a degree as he floated there, almost as if he were looking at himself from the loft. Then he realized he actually was. How...? More muttering from the spell weavers below, and a translucent sphere formed around his body, just larger than the extension of his hands and feet. Swirling colors, shapes, visions... he could not make complete sense of them, but yet somehow they did have some meaning to him.
He turned his attention helplessly to the side, but he was unable to move his viewpoint other than turning it. He saw Sess'tha with her ears half back, and Farren looking concerned with her hand where his shoulder used to be... but still time-stopped solid. He tried to stretch to the side so he could see Selkine, but he still couldn't move his awareness. So he turned back to the scene of himself and the faces below.
Avid conversations were going on. The ambient sound level was growing greater as arguments started up, and he heard a lot of scary things. "Too powerful", "uncontrolled", and "dangerous" were just the start of it. He noticed that Master Takaran was looking up at him, but not arguing with anybody or discussing things, just looking sad.
Then he saw that the porcupine was also not discussing things with anybodyBut his demeanor was different. That spiny individual frowned at something, and Jack felt a tingle across both his body and his awareness as the porcupine made a motion and muttered several powerful phrases. Jack's attention was drawn to a change in one section of the sphere around him... but he could see that it was false... painted on over the top of the true image there with magic. Then suddenly a flash occurred at the changed section.
"LOOK!" the porcupine exclaimed loudly, "Where I've marked!" All attention went to the flashing indicator, and the false images behind it, and breaths and gasps of surprise filled the room. Mutterings of dismay, moans of displeasure, and several cries of disbelief filled the room. Jack looked at Takaran again, and noticed that the wolf was staring very intently, knowing something was amiss.
Jack was no beyond pissed off. He was livid. He was being set up! He tried to call out to the wolf below, but he had no voice. He watched helplessly as the porcupine jabbed a short, clawed finger in his body's direction.
"This is terrible! He cannot be allowed to live! Whatever he is, it is too dangerous to allow to stay! He must be destroyed!" the porcupine exclaimed. Jack heard some mutterings of agreement, and others questioning the statement, but it was not looking good. The number of questioning concerns and amount of confusion was somewhat heartening though.
Jack felt his anger building more strongly. Who was this spined asshole trying to get him killed?! How dare he? He wasn't sure what happened, but he suddenly found himself back in his own body. His muscles rippled as he strained against the forces holding him up. There was a crack of energy as the sphere around him shattered and shards of force burst from around him as he broke free of their constraints. He dropped to the ground, causing a panic as spell masters scrambled to move away from him. But there was not the instant death flung in his direction that he expected. He looked over the heads and saw Farren still frozen. Sess'tha was too short to see. Where was Selkine?
Jack stood up and brushed himself off, glowering around a bit. Strangely enough, as he glowered, their fear seemed to diminish and their confusion increased. A cry of pain came from the side as the porcupine shoved his way past several creatures, leaving a quill or two in one that didn't move fast enough.
"You can see the power he just exhibited! You saw the patterns in the readings! He must be destroyed immediately!" the porcupine hissed, raising his hands to begin a spell. "Come to my aid! Add your power to mine!" he shouted to the creatures around him.
Takaran's voice rang out clearly through the confusion and muttering. "It he truly was what you claim, then we would be fighting for our lives even now. You all know this! The levels of power it showed... he would not hold back. I feel there is more deception here that must be uncovered." Jack saw nods of agreement from almost all of the creatures surrounding him.
The porcupine looked around, scowling at the rest. "If you cannot see through his deception, then I will destroy the evil without your help." His hands shot towards Jack, and the same white lightning-like energy that had come from the white vixen shot towards him, as if in slow motion. Jack winced. This was going to seriously hurt.
The bolt never struck though. Jack stood unscathed as the energy crackled harmlessly off an iridescent shell of power around him. He noticed a beam forming the shell, and his eyes followed it up to the loft. The same white vixen stood there, looking as if she were putting almost no effort at all into the protection she was giving him. Her voice didn't ring out as the porcupine broke off his energy attack. It was soft, subtle... and demanded everybody's full attention. "He is mine. You will not touch him, shadow-bound."
The porcupine began to radiate darkness. His voice deepened into something very evil-sounding. Spines standing on end, he growled, "So be it, bitch." Then all hell broke loose.
Jack had never seen a shadow before. He had heard of shadow attacks, like on the way home, but had never seen one up close. Now, suddenly, there were black... things... flowing out of the ground. They were attacking everybody they came across, but the spell masters were perfectly capable of protecting themselves and defeating the dark things en masse.
Now, if this weren't simply a ruse and a distraction, Jack would have been better off. The ground around his feet suddenly exploded with darkness. Amorphous creatures ranging from half his height to well over twice his height flooded out around him, cutting him off from everyone nearby. Not that they weren't well-distracted themselves.
Then the first of the shadows grabbed at Jack. Their feel was squishy, like sponge, or wet cake. This alone was not too bad. The excruciating pain and agony that lanced through his being at their touch, on the other hand, was a different matter. He tried to push them off, writhing in his torment, and he caught a glimpse of the white vixen looking worriedly at him through a brief hole in their ranks. But she was just standing there and watching, doing nothing to assist him! Why??
Then he heard a mental voice. "Move to the inner shell... You can do it... You must do it..."
The inner shell?! What was that?! It hurt, oh god it hurt so much! He cried out for anyone to help, but no help was forthcoming. Then his mental state snapped. Fuck it. These things were not going to get him. To the inner shell, wherever that was!
He concentrated his thoughts. He had no idea how to do it, but he would try. Inner shell... inner shell... FUCK OUCH!!! INNER SHELL DAMN IT!!!
* * *
Jack realized that the pain was gone. He was curled up from his prior misery, but it was all calm now. He cracked his eyes open, and squinted at the brightness. Where was this? The... inner shell?
His vision was adjusting quickly, and he looked around. Swirling ghosts of forms everywhere. He could barely make out the room, and the people in it. Each hazy form carried a brilliant speck of light at its center, some brighter than others. He saw several very bright, and saw the arcs of power from the spells they cast at the shadows. The arcs of the spells were echoed by tendrils of light coming from the bright shards, engulfing tiny dark spots. Then he noticed that the dark spots were within shadows. The ones that were near their destruction seemed to be only shades of grey and hazy. He looked at the swarm of black specks around him, and the bright glints beyond. Everything was frozen in place. Nothing moved.
He took a step backwards in fear. The same voice that had told him to move to the inner shell came from nowhere. It had no identity, no sound, no way to recognize who or what it was. "Careful..." it said. "You wield great power here. Be cautious, lest you accidentally hurt the wrong thing with your movements. This is a timeless place by nature. Take your own time, as you lose none here."
Jack frowned. Hurt the wrong thing? He looked around more carefully. The very air around him seemed to glow, though it did not obstruct his vision. He looked at one of the specks of darkness nearby. He saw that it seemed to be very slowly absorbing the glowing air. Bracing himself to jerk his hand back if need be, he poked cautiously at the black speck.
No pain. Just something like a soft fluff that he touched, slightly wet-feeling and squishy. He looked at all of the black specks surrounding him, and anger caused him to see red. He swatted at one viciously, and it moved easily with his swipe. As it left the hazy body of the shadow it was within, it suddenly poofed into smoke, disbursing into the surrounding glow and vanishing quickly.
Jack stared at his hand, then at the empty shadow body. What was that black speck? The voice answered, "You might call it a soul... a being... the body's source of thought, will, and power..." The voice faded again.
Jack sat thinking, a realization dawning. If he just destroyed the shadow's... soul?... then would it die? The voice answered simply. "Yes."
Jack no longer felt rage now. Methodically, slowly, he began to catch the small black shards with his palms and fingers, drawing them from the bodies until they came free and broke into smoke. Soon none were left around him, and he began to move cautiously beyond the immediate area. He looked at the specks of light, and had a chilling thought. Could he remove those too? Would that hurt... or kill... their owners? Again, the voice answered, "Yes."
He shivered. Great power indeed! And great need for caution. A trip and fall could kill a friend! He began to weave his way ever so painstakingly through the specks, catching and removing the dark ones he found.
He nudged accidentally against a bright speck with his forearm, and felt the warmth, discomfort, and alarm from it. He cried in dismay, fearing for bad things. Then he noticed the space that he just KNEW that the shard of light belonged. With the utmost care and caution, he nudged the shard back into place. He could feel the trust emanating from the shard, and the gratitude as it was back where it was meant to be.
He was more cautious thereafter as he moved about, destroying the black specks. He wasn't paying attention to where he was, just to the specks themselves, but he realized that he was near where he had seen Master Takaran. He focused on the hazy, ghostlike forms of the bodies around him, and quickly spotted the wolf a bit further on, laying on the ground. Something was not right.
He moved over quickly but cautiously, and as he drew closer, he saw the arcs of energy surrounding the wolf, who was in obvious distress or worse. He would lay his own ears back in distress if he could. Then he noticed something that made his breath catch and his heart stop for a moment. There was no shard of light within the wolf's body.
Looking around franticly, worried that he may have moved it himself, his attention was drawn by the bolt of energy in the physical world. He followed it to its source, and saw the porcupine's twisted face, a huge shard of blackness within his body. Tendrils of shadow were extruded from the nebulous dark that was the porcupine's being, and they were extended halfway to the wolf, where they grasped a dim light within their malevolence.
"The simple shadows have no true being," the voice said. "Their existence ends when it leaves their bodies. Creatures with a true being keep their identity and existence beyond their bodies... but their bodies will not survive the loss, nor will their being have any form thereafter."
Jack stared in shock, then finally got his wits about him. He went to the tendrils, grasping them and pulling them away from the bright shard of light. They felt like worms: cold, slimy. He broke several off, and they dissolved into mist as well, so he finally simply grasped the main trunk and pulled it apart. It stretched for a short ways before it snapped, and the far end dissolved, leaving the tiny shard of light.
Jack whimpered as he caught the glowing shard gently in his cupped hand. He could feel its pain, and he knew it was Takaran. He cradled it carefully as he carried it back to the wolf's misty body, placing it back within Takaran's form. He took great care in placing it exactly where he felt it should be, dismayed by the dim and feeble illumination it gave.
Anger growing again, he turned his attention back to the black nebula that was within the porcupine. He would rip it apart! He took a step towards it, but was stopped by a gentle hand on his shoulder. He spun around to look, but there was nobody there. The voice soothed him though, "Save your anger... You have done many things, but you still have much to learn. You broke the trunk of will from the shadow-binding's being, you replaced your friend's light. You must now return to that world and see what your actions have wrought."
Jack clenched his fist as he stared at the darkness within the porcupine, but he calmed down and nodded. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and thought of the midphase, and of his friends who needed him there.
* * *
Jack felt the distinct change, and a cool breeze flowed past. There was chaos, though that was fading as the shadows were suddenly dissolving into smoke all in an instant, but no pain any longer. He was not where he had been standing in the inner shell, but was back where he had left this phase originally, still curled up. So apparently his physical body remained where it was and only his awareness went to the inner shell. He heard a cry of dismay from the voice that he recognized as the porcupine as that creature collapsed.
Jack jumped up as he opened his eyes, looking around through the fading black mist as many people seemed very confused at the sudden destruction of all of the shadows. He heard somebody shout Master Takaran's name, and he suddenly remembered. He was over at the wolf's side in a heartbeat, ignoring the porcupine who lay still.
"I can't heal him!" somebody exclaimed as Jack was approaching. "He's reacting like a dead body to my healing! We're going to lose him!"
Takaran's eyes were glazed over as he opened them, and his fur smoldering from energy burns. Jack could tell it was not good. Takaran licked his lips painfully, and looked searchingly at Jack. "You... I felt you... how...?" he asked, unable to formulate his question.
"Look into the inner shell, just like you look between the two phases. Give him light." It was the same voice from the shell. Jack concentrated, and before his eyes he could see the dim light within the wolf's chest, flickering unsteadily, wavering about as if not fully attached within.
"Hang in there! You can't die!" Jack exclaimed. Give him light? Takaran closed his eyes, wheezing, and the dim glow began to drop lower, almost near the edge of his back.
Jack cried out and placed his hand on the wolf's grey chest, his fingers clenching into the thick fur. He felt the distinct tingle again for a moment, and then it went away, replaced with a sense of a warm flow, almost like liquid from his fingertips. Jack watched in amazement as he could see, within the inner shell view, light from his fingertips, streaming like golden fluid into the wolf's shard of being.
The shard stopped falling, pulsing as its glow strengthened. It wavered slightly, and began to draw back to the center of Takaran's chest. The spell master's breathing eased and began to lighten, his face relaxing as the pain left his spirit.
Jack began to feel slightly drained, but he held his ground, not letting his fingers fall from Takaran's chest until the glow was bright and strong. He felt tired, but soon he felt soothing in his mind, comfort and congratulations. "What tires you now will be second nature to you soon enough." The voice said.
Takaran opened his eyes, and they were bright once again. The wolf's amber gaze fell on the human's face, and a broad smile split the canine's face. "I knew you were something special, Jack. Thank you."
"You know how to see or not-see the phases. Now you must choose to not INTERACT with the midphase." The voice sounded urgent. Jack stood up in alarm, and heard a sound behind him. He turned to see that the porcupine had regained his feet, and everybody who had noticed was bound in crushing bands of power emanating from the porcupine's body.
"You will NOT win," the porcupine growled with a wheeze, a clawed hand with far too much energy reaching for Jack's throat. Jack's eyes widened and he took the warning of the unknown voice to heart. No touchy damnit!!
He felt a subtle shift in himself, and the grasping paw found nothing at all. The porcupine looked shocked, and for the first time, Jack saw fear on this prickly creature's face. "Now... you want to interact with the inner shell," the voice said.
Jack frowned at the porcupine. It took only a heartbeat for him to return his sight to see the inner shell, and the trunk of dark power that fed the energy bands holding everybody captive. The porcupine jumped back as Jack reached, but stopped when he realized Jack was not reaching for him. If he had known what Jack was reaching for, he would have turned tail and run.
Jacks hands found the trunk of power, squeezing as he gripped it with both. The porcupine gasped and fell to his knees. Jack exerted his new strength on the black wormy mass, causing the porcupine to shake in distress as it stretched. The trunk snapped and the porcupine collapsed. The power that held everybody faded quickly, dropping gasping and shaken people free of its grasp.
Jack glowered at the porcupine. The 'pine lay there, eyes filled with fear now, gasping for breath as his whole spirit itself was filled with the pain of losing his magic. The spell masters gathered at a good distance, uncertain what was going on. Jack looked as one tried to touch his hand, and the paw went straight through, eliciting a gasp from several.
Jack strode over to the porcupine who cowered and tried to shy away from him. He reached down for the creature, and was promptly presented with defensive quills as the 'pine rolled over in desperation. Jack ignored the quills. They presented no threat to him. His fingers closed around the pulsating black mass within the porcupine's chest and he squeezed hard.
The porcupine keened in agony, causing ears throughout the room to lay back and paws to suddenly be slapped over the offended orifices. Jack ignored the scream that seemed to echo through his whole being, yanking sharply on the blackness. He felt it fight, trying to stay put, but he would not leave it be. It finally slipped from the porcupine's form. The scream cut off as the black mass snapped free and the body fell silent and motionless.
Jack could feel the fear and hatred that the black glob emitted as he held it tightly. It sickened and disgusted him. "Give it light." The voice said. Jack thought this to be odd, but the voice had not led him wrong. He exerted his will, and light flowed from his fingers into the black mass. The light washed away the black spongy darkness, leaving a dimly glowing warm shard to be revealed within. Jack's mouth opened in surprise, but he continued to feed light into the shard until it glowed brightly. He could feel the fear in it, but also desperation, and hope.
He leaned down to the porcupine, ignoring the black haze that remained from the darkness as he put the shard back into the pine's body. There was a gasp of breath from the creature as soon as the shard entered him, and he felt the growing tug from the shard trying to get to its rightful spot. He guided it carefully until it settled into place, and the porcupine stopped shaking. "You could not have removed the darkness while it was still in him. Worry not about that. You have done well."
Jack felt damage in the porcupine's body from the death state it had been in. It reminded him of the pain he sensed when he was massaging Sess'tha after squeezing her too hard. He thought about what he did then, and he felt the tingle changing to a similar flow of energy as the light had.
The poor porcupine began to breathe more easily as Jack knew the damage was being undone. Soon Jack withdrew his hand from the porcupine's body, blinking as he realized he should start interacting with the midphase again. The porcupine lifted his head from where he had been cowering in his arms, and looked up at Jack. He stood slowly, gazing at the human, and then suddenly burst into tears and threw his arms around Jack, hugging tightly. Jack cautiously returned the hug to avoid getting poked by spines, and found them all laying flat and not a threat.
"Welcome back to us, Jericar," Takaran said from behind Jack, patting the porcupine's hand.
"I'm so sorry everybody," the porcupine, Jericar, sobbed, his face buried against Jack's shoulder. "I fought it so hard, but I could not beat it. It took control of me, it ruined me! I thought I was stronger... But I wasn't. Oh, heavens, I'm so sorry." He shook in Jack's grasp, but his distress was decreasing.
"For every strength we have, they can find one stronger. It could have happened to any of us. We are all simply glad to have you back with us," Takaran murmured. Jack saw all the nods of agreement from the surrounding creatures, many of whom were looking at him in awe.
Jack could feel that Jericar had stopped crying, and was just hugging him now. Time seemed to be clipping on slowly... at least in this bubble of moving time while everything else was stopped. But the hug did seem to be lasting for a strangely long duration.
Jericar shifted against Jack, and suddenly Jack was aware of a disturbing bit of information. His face turned red quite quickly, and he touched the 'pine's shoulder carefully, murmuring near the porcupine's ear, "Um... Jericar... you're poking me. And I don't mean with your spines."
The porcupine suddenly snapped out of his haze, and jumped back, displaying a full erection before his paws dropped to cover it. "Oh goodness, I'm sorry!! It's just... You feel... Oh shit! Sorry!" He was obviously highly embarrassed.
Jack shook his head with a small smile as several of the other spell masters looked confused, and others looked knowingly amused. "It's okay. I seem to have that effect on people. I guess on guys too."
Jack looked back towards the hallway, and blinked as he noticed Selkine frozen in the kitchen, well-below where he could have seen her from the loft. He thought back. He had been pretty sure that she had been on his other side walking out, but he really couldn't remember.
"Jack... I'd like to show everybody something, and I ask you to trust me," Takaran murmured in his ear. Jack turned and nodded to him. Takaran raised his voice. "The darkness was trying to deceive you, sure enough. It placed a glamor over what was truly there."
Takaran muttered some words, and Jack felt himself lifted again. This time the force projected against him was warm, soft, and comfortable though. In the center of the room, the sphere of bright colors and images formed around him again, and his attention was drawn to one section of it, even though his awareness was still in his own body this time.
He saw a blinking through the sphere as Takaran put an indicator by that section, and he heard gasps as before, but now they sounded happy. Murmuring and excitement filled the room, and the sphere faded, then the force dropped Jack carefully to his feet amidst excited and happy animals.
Jack looked around at the smiling faces, confused as all get go. "Um, so... what does that mean?" he asked Takaran as the wolf approached him.
The canine smiled. "That, my lad, means that you are the first gatewalker we have found in over a century. And from the looks of it, damn powerful too."
Jack considered. "Oh, so I guess this is something about a great lineage, or chosen from birth, destined for greatness from the start, that sort of thing? I guess I can deal with that."
Takaran shook his head. "Actually, gatewalkers are chosen from amongst those who are most inept at some things, but with a good base to build on. Apparently you can't build greatness of the right kind from an existing great person. You need a shamble and a mess with enough of the right raw materials to make it work. We never have known much about them though. But, er... It's basically a pity case for all of them. The bad news is that this means the shadows are massing. War will come soon. The good news is that we will have your help fighting them, and a period of respite once the battle is over. The best news is that it might mean the end of the darkness."
Jack opened his mouth, blinked and closed it. Pity case? Figures. He tried to formulate a comeback. But the wolf smiled, "Don't worry, it's not too bad. Don't read too much into it. Although I think you are probably the first outphase gatewalker ever." Takaran looked thoughtful, his ears going to the side. "I wonder who the avatar is, though."
Jack blinked. "Avatar?"
Takaran nodded. "Some higher power, greater than the phases as a whole, creates both the gatewalker, and an avatar for themself, to guide the gatewalker. The avatar embodies the power of the greater being that creates the gatewalker. But the avatar is also originally a normal person. However the avatar starts with great power, and is built on from there, unlike the gatewalker's original ineptitude. Just, the avatar can't do much to affect the world or the phases. Some sort of cosmic bylaws or something."
Jack tilted his head in thought. "It's probably that white vixen."
Takaran looked confused. "What white vixen?"
Jack's jaw dropped. "Okay, hold on... I know you saw her at the call center."
Takaran shook his head. "No, not that I remember. The tigress who attacked you with raw energy to try to spite Selkine when she came in, a number of bystanders... But no white vixen. That would be very noticeable, especially since it's summer and arctic foxes are currently sporting dark coats."
Jack frowned again, but decided not to press the issue. He couldn't take anything at face value anymore. "Okay, so what now?"
The wolf considered. "Well, now, we go and plan some more, get some more information, and hope the avatar shows up soon. We'll release the time stop before we go. Other than that, just try to stay out of trouble, and enjoy your female friends."
Jack shrugged and nodded. Complicated, definitely. It seemed that even though he was set for life in the outphase, things were not going to be a walk in the park and three-furry-girl orgies daily. Well, time to see what came of it. Still... Getting all this power because he was a fuckup at something? That stung.
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