[3:22PM, January 14, UTC +02:00]
"I must say, this is the first time a case like this has been brought to my office."
DAMILARE turned away from the Principal – Dr Ferdinand Edvin, as indicated on the nameplate and multiple award plaques lining the walls – and looked at both guilty parties with equal intrigue. Folasade was staring at a spot on the floor with a morose expression while chewing the inside of her cheek. Elisabeth just looked straight ahead as though the stern-faced middle-aged man in front of her was transparent. Damilare switched his focus between both of them repeatedly before voicing the only question on his mind.
"What exactly happened?"
Folasade stopped chewing and her jaw clenched, the only indications that she had heard the question. Elisabeth continued to stare off into space. Damilare stared them down for several seconds before looking back at Dr Edvin inquiringly.
"I was told you're here for the both of them?" Dr Edvin asked, the inflection in his voice turning the statement into a question.
"Yes," Damilare muttered. Confusion flashed across the man's face before he leaned back in his chair and sighed.
"Well...before we get into discussing the nature of their punishment, you must understand we have a zero tolerance policy to fighting in this school."
Damilare blinked. "What?"
"They've refused to admit what they were fighting over, but I was told they started in the lavatories before moving to the hallway where they were separated."
Damilare barely suppressed the growl that rumbled in his chest as he leered at both girls. "Really."
Folasade glanced at him and tensed when their eyes met. He had no idea what his facial expression was, but if it reflected the way he felt in any way, then he was sure he looked murderous. Elisabeth still maintained her blank forward stare, her blinks and breathing movements the only signs that she was actually alive. Dr Edvin leaned forward, rested his elbows on the table and pressed his fingertips together beneath his nose.
"Their case was most unusual because they're both new students. They also transferred in from different schools, so it couldn't have been an old feud. They aren't in the same classes, they've been here barely a week and...forgive me if I'm prying but there's already so much confusion here and I just can't help asking...how come you're representing both of them?"
"Um..." Damilare said while looking at Elisabeth. He didn't want to bring it up but the man was staring at him suspiciously and it was the most believable explanation he could think up at the moment, though it was based on a half-truth. "Elisabeth's father passed away recently. He was a very close friend of mine so I took her in."
"I'm sorry to hear that. Although, now that I know they live together, it make a lot more sense. Any troubles at home?"
Damilare almost snorted.
You don't know the half of it.
"Well," he said. "We're all still mourning, but that shouldn't lead them to fight."
"In my experience, grief can lead people – especially teenagers – to act out in different ways. Maybe your daughter said something offensive about Elisabeth's late father and-"
"I did not," Folasade said sharply.
"So what did you say?"
"It's personal," Elisabeth mumbled.
Dr Edvin leaned back and pursed his lips, before turning to face Damilare. "Ordinarily, I would be sending them off with a week's suspension, but the situation seems delicate enough as it is. So I'm going to give them a warning instead, so you can sort out whatever the situation is at home. But should there be another case of this sort, they will have to face the full penalty."
"I understand," Damilare said as he got up. "Thank you so much for your kind consideration. I'll do my best to make sure this never happens again. Thank you."
Dr Edvin hummed in response and Damilare thanked him once again before gesturing to the moody teenagers to get up and leave. He nodded appreciatively to the secretary as he walked past, and they moved quietly down the empty school corridors, pausing only for the girls to get their coats from their lockers, before making their way to the exits. Through the glass doors, he spotted Olutayo standing in the foyer, looking out at the snow-covered parking lot. Damilare brushed past him and stepped into the biting cold, crunching through the snow as he stomped towards the car.
"So..." Olutayo started. "What ha-"
"Both of you better have a good explanation for what that was about," Damilare said as he turned towards the girls, barely bothering to hide the anger in his voice. "What part of 'keep a low profile' didn't you understand?"
Elisabeth scowled as she looked up from the ground to meet his eyes. "But she started-"
"I don't care whose fault it is!" Damilare screamed as his wings and tail ripped through his clothes. "What did she say that was so bad that you had to start fighting? Anything could have happened! You could have involved some innocent bystanders and turned it into something worse, like a police matter. You could have used magic and exposed yourselves! So don't you dare stand there and try to play some stupid blame game!"
Elisabeth took a step back, her eyes wide and frightened as Olutayo slowly stepped forward.
"Um, Pops," Olutayo said cautiously "You're-"
"What?" Damilare seethed as he turned towards the boy. He hadn't sensed any humans other than the ones within the school, so he wasn't at all concerned about being seen. Olutayo seemed hesitant to continue, and Damilare tried to calm himself, figuring that he probably looked like a wild animal on the brink of going berserk.
I definitely feel like one.
"You're bleeding," Folasade said softly.
Damilare looked down. There were dark red stains on his jeans and in the snow beside his feet. He winced as he opened his fists and retracted the claws that had grown out and stabbed into his palms. The puncture wounds closed quickly and he wiped the rest of the blood against his side pockets before reaching in for the keys.
"Get in," he said as he unlocked the doors, grunting as he forced his wings and tail to recede into his back. "And don't say anything else or get on my nerves until we get home. Adam really likes this car."
}-{
The children made themselves scarce as soon as they entered the house, much to Damilare's relief. Though he wasn't exactly experienced in the parenting department, he knew some sort of punishment had to be instituted, but he wasn't yet in the mood to deal with their indiscretions. He pushed the matter to the back of his mind and sighed as he released his wings and tail, following the sounds of conversation into the lounge.
"-now at a tactical disadvantage," Kojiro said grimly.
"Shit," Ecru muttered, drumming his fingers against the back of the couch close to Adam's shoulder. "Without Esoterica, we're basically just a group of uncoordinated fractions. This was obviously well calculated."
"You think?" Paula said snidely, rolling her eyes.
"What? What's going on?"
Damilare startled and turned. Adrianna had appeared in the doorway beside him, her gold-flecked hazel eyes glowing inquisitively. He hadn't heard her approach, which was odd. Paula groaned and threw her head back on the loveseat she was occupying.
"Everything is going on," she seethed, more to herself than Adrianna. "At this point, we might as well overdose on sleeping pills and call it a day."
Adrianna shot her with an unamused glare as she walked into the room. "I heard something about a...Esoterica? What's that?"
Paula pinned her with a leer. "Are you fucking s-?"
"Paula..." Adam warned.
"Sorry," she sighed. "Force of habit."
"Esoterica is – or, as it says on their official letterheads, the Esoteric Division – a secret sect of the U.S government that handles matters of the...unexplained nature," Ecru said, moving around the couch to sit beside Adam. "They're kind of like the CIA of the occult. They operate mainly in the American continents, but they also dabble in affairs that have any sort of global significance."
"So..." Adrianna drawled as she sat on the armchair across from Kojiro who was swirling the tea in his large red mug. "How are they connected to us?"
"They're the largest organised group of supernatural agents in existence," Adam said. "And we're talking actual supernatural beings – djinns, harpies, demigods and the like, not mages like us or humans with paranormal abilities. The Americans actually have a different division for that. Anyway, because they have so many beings from different pantheons and cultures working there, they're usually quick to pick up on any happenings in the otherworldly circles. They're basically our information brokers."
"Oh."
"Even in the magical world, a lot of people don't know about them," Ecru continued, "They've tried to keep their associations limited since they were breached by a double agent a couple of years ago, but they still have a good working relationship with some of us. We rely on them for updates, and they rely on us to handle matters that fall outside their jurisdiction."
"Any word from them?" Damilare asked.
"Giacomo's been unreachable," Ecru said. "Although it could just be that he lost his cell, again. He's rarely ever at base anyway."
"Etho did say the Scouts were working overtime, but there's no way we would know who was present at the time of the attack," Kojiro said worriedly. His voice came down to a murmur so low, Damilare was sure he only picked it up because of his acute hearing. "He should have called by now."
Adrianna frowned. "Who should have called?"
Kojiro looked at her, surprised for a moment, before his face quickly settled into a sullen expression.
"I'm expecting a situation report from Etho, the head of the Esoteric's Conversion Unit."
"Why?"
"Departmental protocol. It's customary to give a report to your presiding officer within twenty four hours of all emergencies."
Adrianna cocked her head. "Hold on, you work for Esoterica?"
"Head of the Diplomacy Unit," he replied after taking a sip of his tea. "I oversee his unit too. And before you ask, yes, they know I'm here, and Adam is equally aware of my other responsibilities. I would have been back at the base today but for Etho's warning. And as much as I'm eager to go find out happened, it makes no sense to expose myself to danger."
"I see," Adrianna said, leaning forward in her seat. "So Esoterica, an American group of supernatural agents got attacked yesterday. Because of this, we've lost a big source of information, and I assume this meeting is to figure out who is responsible."
"That's the gist of it," Paula huffed.
"Why?"
Ecru frowned. "What do you mean 'why'?"
"Why are we so concerned with who is responsible? There's no point."
"Are you serious?" Paula said incredulously, turning to face Adam. "Is she serious?"
Adrianna ignored her and continued. "While I'm not entirely knowledgeable about most things, I've had a weird feeling since this whole random attack situation began..."
"Oh, a feeling?" Paula said, her voice drenched in sarcasm. "How wonderful. Why weren't we using our feelings all this time, instead of, you know, actually looking for actual evidence? Imagine how much progress we would have made."
Adam frowned, but seemed more intrigued than annoyed. "Paula, just...let her finish."
"We've been trying to get at the mastermind of this whole incident," Adrianna said slowly. "I'm assuming it's so we can come up with an attack plan or something. But the way I see it, we're already sure it's a group, and there's a chance that they're all involved in the planning, meaning that all their actions will likely not follow the pattern of anyone we know. Hence focusing on a culprit is bound to be futile. If this is the case, we should be more concerned with dissecting their actions to figure out their objectives, right?"
Paula seemed awestruck, Ecru's eyes were narrowed in concentration while Adam and Kojiro seemed to be considering the reasoning in her statement.
"It started with the Proles going missing," Ecru said.
"It was Nathan first," Adam corrected. "Then some mages attacked and ransacked Erwith's place, before the Proles disappeared."
"The Proles were involved with the desecration of the shrines in Japan," Kojiro added. "And my family got attacked. Twice. I remember Ecru saying something about how the Lawrence's were attacked too"
"Yes," Ecru agreed. "It was also around that time that respectable mages started getting ambushed and going missing. And then Esoterica found a hideout in Mississippi where they uncovered a number of things, mostly obscure magic, from what Giacomo told me. Then Ivan's group attacked us and we lost Erwith."
"Yesterday, Etho told me there had been more attacks to different pantheons, like someone was intentionally trying to rile them up. That's why I was supposed to return today; to make plans for a mediation and prevent a possible inter-pantheon war."
"Nothing is really adding up," Paula muttered.
"I remember something," Adam said slowly, "from the time New Arcadia was being breached and I got pulled in by Oberon to maintain the defensive barrier. In that moment between when the barrier broke and when I got thrown back into my body, I perceived the energy of what was breaching. I remember thinking it was familiar but I didn't get a good feel of it so I didn't want to make any claims. But now that I've thought over it..."
He stopped and turned, focusing intensely on Kojiro. Kojiro raised his eyebrows.
"What was it?"
"It was Shinto."
Kojiro's eyes widened. "Are you sure?"
"I was reminded of it when Rin visited you yesterday. It was a lot easier to read her energy with fewer people around, and the similarity was undeniable."
"Wait," Damilare said with a frown. "Rin was here yesterday? When?"
"Very early in the morning," Kojiro huffed. "She gave me a warning, something about the state of the world relying on the forces of good and evil and how we may not know our enemies as much as they know us. It was really vague so I didn't waste time pondering over it."
"Oh."
"So, back to what Adam was saying," Paula said, looking between Adam and Kojiro "You're sure it was the Shinto gods that attacked?"
"Positive," Adam replied.
"Well, it would make sense," Kojiro replied. "Proles are the workmen of the Elfin Kingdom. Since they were the ones desecrating the shrines, then the Shinto gods would have taken it as an affront from the Elfin Royals."
"But the Royals were not involved," Paula said.
"They don't know that," Adam replied. "And we still don't know what led the Proles to revolt in the first place. They've been the stewards of New Arcadia for millennia. Why now? What do they hope to gain?"
"Freedom?" Adrianna said softly. "Nobody wants to be in perpetual servitude. Maybe that's what they were promised in exchange for their help. Since they successfully engineered an attack on the Royals, then clearly their plan is working."
"They've attacked more than just the royals," Ecru said. "They attacked Kojiro's family, and got that dragon to attack Damilare. They're most likely the ones setting off all the other gods. It's obvious there's more to this than their emancipation."
"Maybe it's a cover-up," Damilare said. "Maybe they thought if they added a bunch of other targets and tried to make it look random, it would distract us from their true target."
"No," Kojiro said. "If they wanted to create a distraction, they would have done so before attempting their attack on New Arcadia. Their revolt and their attacks on the Shinto shrines were the set up for bringing down the Elfins, and their attack on Esoteric Division was designed to cut off our communication, so if they're attacking other gods now, it must be part of their plan. It seems Rin was right; they definitely know us better than we thought."
"What of the other members of their conglomerate?" Adrianna said. "They must have their own motives. What if these new attacks are part of that?"
The room went quiet as everyone became lost in thought. Damilare felt they were probably overlooking something, but he had to admit, this was the most productive discussion they'd had since all this began. He also tried to come up with an explanation that fit the context of all the information given, but ended up thinking about the meeting with the principal and the fight in school and the fact that he had not yet started on dinner.
He sighed.
When did I become a housewife?
"Excuse me," he said with a huff as he stepped away from the door. Adam merely nodded in acknowledgement and Damilare turned and moved down the corridor in the direction of the stairwell. He was about to turn into the hallway that led to the kitchen when he heard footsteps following him. He didn't have to turn to know who it was, and grunted in irritation as he entered the kitchen and immediately went to the fridge. The other set of footsteps stopped at the doorway, and there was a bit of shuffling before the person spoke.
"Hey."
Olorun, give me strength.
He ignored the voice as he grabbed the bacon, eggs, cheddar cheese and heavy cream. He placed these on the counter, turned on the oven to preheat, and moved to the pantry to get flour and macaroni.
"Anything I can help with?"
He rolled his eyes as he as he moved to the cabinet to grab the saucepans. He filled the smaller one, threw in salt and placed it on the cooker before moving to the counter to chop the bacon. The footsteps approached, tentatively, and he felt the presence beside him. An all too familiar scent invaded his nostrils and he huffed in a feeble attempt to expel it.
"I'm really fucking trying here, Dami."
Damilare dropped the knife and turned. Paula's eyes were closed, her shoulders tense as she placed a white-knuckled fist on the countertop. He sighed and tried to keep the hostility from his tone as he spoke.
"What do you want, really?"
Paula released a strained breath as she walked around him and lifted the cover off the heated pot.
"Kojiro and I talked yesterday."
Damilare frowned, but decided not to interrupt her.
"I had a bit of time to think, and I decided I'm way too old for this bullshit."
She turned around and folded her arms as she leaned against the adjacent cabinet. Damilare shook his head and picked up the knife again. He wasn't in the mood for this. He really didn't know why he was still hoping for something to change when she had already made her position very clear.
"I was never one for relationships," she said, "but when I was seventeen, I fell for someone. David. It was that head-over-heels, nauseatingly sappy type of love that I really thought would last forever. Our relationship was sort of a secret because he wasn't from a magical family and I knew my parents won't approve, but he knew I was a mage and he was fine with it. We had our lives planned out. He was going to finish Law School and join his family practice, while I would get my degree and a Masters in Business Management while training to get into Sentinels of Melanchthon. Once I was able to support myself, I won't have any need for my parent's approval and we could do whatever we wanted."
Bubbling sounds came from the saucepan. He watched with bated breath as she moved to the counter to grab the pack of macaroni, dunking it unceremoniously into the boiling water before she went back to her position beside the cabinet.
"I got pregnant, when I was twenty-two. We'd done our best to be careful, but I guess the birth control pills didn't work or something. I found out when I started getting symptoms, and by then I was already in the second month. Anyway, he didn't want it, but I couldn't bring myself to abort. He accused me of not loving him enough to consider our plans and his future, and once my family learned about it, everything went to hell. He said we needed a break. I was so stressed out by everything, it wasn't surprising when I got a miscarriage."
She released a bitter laugh and flipped her hair out of her face. He felt a strange tightness in his chest and an urge to comfort her in some way, but he forced himself to stay still. She looked at him and sighed.
"It was an incomplete miscarriage so I had to get a D and C. And just when I thought my life couldn't get any shittier, I got an ascending infection. Doctors said that there was a chance I would never get pregnant again if the scarring was extensive. I was out for barely a week when David broke up with me, because if I couldn't have kids, then I had messed up his plans, again. I was a mess for over six months. But in that time, I came to terms with the fact that he had only been using me, and I had let him. So I vowed to never let myself be put in that position again."
He wasn't sure when he moved until he was a few feet in front of her. She held her hand up, instructing him not to come any closer, and looked up at him with a strange fierceness in her eyes.
"I don't want your pity. I just wanted you to fully understand where I'm coming from."
Damilare shook his head. "I wasn't-"
"I guess I never really moved on," she said softly. "Because all this time, I've still been running from David, or at least the idea that every guy would end up being another version of him. And it doesn't help that you men are basically scumbags most of the time but..." She paused and took in a deep breath. "What I'm trying to say is, if we're going to do this, you better not fuck it up because I know several disintegration spells that will turn you to household dust in less than ten seconds."
He blinked, stunned for a moment before the meaning of her words fully registered in his mind. He grinned. She responded with a weak, almost shy, smile, but it disappeared as someone rushed into the kitchen.
"Pops?"
He turned, releasing a low annoyed growl. Olutayo was leaning against the door, his face a mix of worried and embarrassed.
"Sorry," he muttered. "I'll go tell Adam."
"Adam is kind of busy right now," Paula said, stepping around Damilare. "If you need me to leave, I-"
"No," Olutayo said. "You don't have to. Pops, something's wrong with our powers. I know it's normal for our magic to be weaker around this time of year and all but...I can't even feel Fola like I normally do."
Damilare frowned. "What do you mean?"
"She thought it was because I've gotten closer to Elisabeth that our connection was weakening but-"
"Is this related to their fight?" Damilare asked sternly.
Olutayo bit his lower lip. "Uh...kinda."
"How?"
"Elisabeth might have said something about how Fola is jealous and in...love...with...me?"
Paula smirked. "I can tell she didn't put it so nicely."
As if on cue, Elisabeth appeared beside him, followed by a sharp rush of air. She staggered suddenly, and held on to the counter for support. Olutayo moved to help her but she motioned him back with a wave.
"I'm okay," she huffed. "Just...wanted to be sure."
"About what?" Paula asked.
"What Lulu said," she replied, standing up straighter. "He's right. Something's definitely wrong with our powers. I just moved from my room down here and I feel like I ran a mile."
"Hold on," Paula said with a snort, "Did you just call him 'Lulu'?"
Olutayo blushed but ignored the comment. "Anyway, do you know what's happening to us?"
Damilare tried to think, but he honestly had nothing. Fortunately, the scent of boiling pasta gave him a reason to abandon the conversation, and as he took the saucepan off the cooker and towards the sink, he heard three sets of footsteps coming towards the kitchen.
"It's called the Grapevine Effect."
Adam stopped at the doorway, flanked by Adrianna and Kojiro. He gave the teenagers a sympathetic look before his gaze moved to meet Damilare.
"It's the only thing that makes sense, given the circumstances. When the gods are saving up their power, they reduce what's available to anyone contracted with them. So if I'm right, for those of us with ancestral contracts, it would start with the youngest generation before working its way up the family tree."
"You're saying this will affect all of us?" Paula asked
"Yes," Kojiro said. "It seems riling up the gods wasn't just to start a war. It was also meant to make us weaker."