Adamant Blood

Mark landed outside of his uncles' mansion and he turned his adamantium into a backpack. All of his clothes were normal clothes right now, but he still wore his helmet. He still had the mind token and he had a new spellbreaker sequencer from the Mayor, both fully charged. He had turned in the other ones as a matter of course, and the Mayor had given him new ones, and…

And he was delaying.

Mark looked up at his uncles' mansion. It looked more or less like it had before. A few stories tall, white with pillars out front, a nice road lined with trees leading to the front turnaround. Rich as fuck. There were some differences. Big ones, really. The trees were all freshly grown, their leaves mostly new-Spring green. The grasses and the bushes were the same. Some bushes were burned, belying the truth of what had happened here, but even those burned bushes had some new growth to them. It seemed Alexandro wanted those old bushes to come back. They were some prized roses, after all. They had some name to them that Alexandro had told Mark once, but Mark had forgotten.

A few burned trees lay between here and the other house, the one Mark and them had stayed in while they were here, before the settlement project. Mark could look through the trees to see that other house right now, but he couldn't see the house. It was gone. Burned in the raid that the cultists did to capture Alexandro and Gabriel. A lot had been burned.

Most of it had been fixed.

Mark took a deep breath, and he walked forward, already knowing that the people inside had seen him. The place was on high alert, but Mark knew… mostly everyone. There were some unknown vectors among the paladins protecting his uncles.

Mark approached the front door.

The front door opened, and there stood Wendy, one of the main Castellan Powers in the house, wearing her armor and a solid expression. Wendy looked fearful, and also mad, and a bit scared. "Inquisitor Willow didn't come back, Mark. They got her and she didn't come back." And then she glared. "But you killed that bitch, right? Kardi?"

There were other paladins behind Wendy, and another two guys, two of which Mark did not know, along with a pair that stepped out from a side door, to the side of the main entryway. At least four of the guys just wanted to see Mark, in person, to see if he was real.

Mark felt almost outside of himself, just a little, as he stated, "I murdered Kardi at least 4 times. I'm not too sure. It got… weird at the end. But she walked into the city the day after and I killed her then, too. Sliced up the middle and purified the remains away."

Wendy broke down in tears, saying, "Good," even as she rushed Mark for a hug.

She cried and Mark held her, and Mark thought of Willow, the main Inquisitor to protect his uncles. She was gone. She had never come back from the Day of Resurrection. She was one of the 17%. But for now, Mark held Wendy as she cried. Wendy had been there all while Mark had been there. She was good people.

And then Wendy stopped herself, realized what was happening, and she breathed and stepped back, saying, "Sorry. That was…" She drifted off.

"It's been difficult for everyone. I saw more death than… than I ever thought I would ever see," Mark said.

Wendy sniffled, nodded, and asked, "Can you? Uh? Union of Good and Bad?"

Mark smiled a little and black veins started to beat from his skin, to lift into the air beyond his jeans and shirt.

Wendy sighed a little. "Thanks— Oh, shit, yeah. Your uncles. Uh. They're… Let's go to them."

Wendy led the way.

Mark stepped inside and everything was different from how it had been. Instead of giant paintings on the walls, there were blank spaces. Instead of really nice, but kinda minimalist couches, there was nothing. The normal, expansive black marble floors were instead plain wood with carpets thrown over unpainted sections, but a few sections in the black marble of the living room remained. The plinths in front that had held the nice figurines of Sentinel and Credenza, the top superhero and supervillain of Memphi, were empty. Even the plinths were gone.

Some windows up top were boarded over.

Cardboard boxes and plastic wrap were piled into a corner of the main living room—

And then Alexandro was there, having walked around a corner and stopped in his tracks, to see Mark standing there. Gabriel was behind him, and then Gabriel walked forward.

And then Mark was hugging his uncle Gabriel, and Alexandro was there, too, and it was a quiet moment.

Gabriel eventually said, "We burned all of Grey Phantom's figurines in effigy a few days ago."

Mark, for some reason, laughed.

Alexandro broke away, tearing up.

Gabriel smiled as he sniffled and stepped away, saying, "We need to replace all these empty spots with figurines of you! When are you gonna license some figurines, you big damn hero!"

Alexandro said, "And we have to have a party once you actually finish the Attack the Gate program, so we can celebrate!"

Mark felt touched, but he knew both of his uncles were putting on brave faces. Mark put on a brave face too, and said, "Absolutely. Noel Oliphant? I think I told you about him—"

"I'm gonna make drinks," Gabriel said, "And we should all go to the guest kitchen for that. It wasn't destroyed so much— Ah! You're… Your house was kinda… demolished. Let's talk about it all?"

Mark smiled softly, and said, "Yeah."

They went to the guest kitchen, on the other side of the house and on the second floor, in the part of the house that looked almost normal except for some fire damage on the walls. Mark offered Eliot's services to repair the place, because Eliot had offered it first for Mark to offer it right now, but as Gabriel made frozen margaritas Alexandro spoke of how they had guys coming in tomorrow to finish the repair work.

"Not as fast as your friend," Alexandro said, green drink in hand, "But we've worked with them for a long time and they need the money. They lost a… A lot of people. They were in the nuclear blast over in High Acres."

Mark nodded, feeling some kinda way. "I was just over there the other day with Eliot and the girls and…" Mark glanced in the air, thinking. And then he remembered. "I turned the place to sand. Then he rebuilt some stuff. Did that for a lot of places. I think High Acres has a big lake now— Temporary, from what I heard. The power plant is back up and working, though."

Alexandro said, "The lake is where their home and business used to be, before it got blown up along with the substation and power plant. I heard Emilia is doing dredging projects in the Mississippi for dirt to fill in some of those places. Do you know about that?"

"I do," Mark said, as Gabriel sat down on the couch next to Alexandro. "It's an ongoing project… Speaking of projects, though. Eliot wants to redo the Walls and then spend about a month doing other things. You guys know everything that is happening, so… Should he? Because, like, you two have construction friends, and they need the work, too, right? It's been something of a conversation in the group that started a few hours ago."

"People need homes," Alexandro said.

But Gabriel nodded, and responded, "Do the Walls and then some more infrastructure and then stop there. People are talking about Eliot doing too much and he'll hurt his reputation if he does much more. I can already tell that news isn't what he would want to hear, but he needs to hear it, and it needs to come from you."

Alexandro and Mark both had a moment.

And then Alexandro smiled, saying, "Nooo… No?"

Gabriel nodded. "Yes. Eliot needs to let other people work, too, and then stop. And I don't mean, like, slow down. I mean stop. Full stop. Not even for 10x money, because those longer term construction projects, from the people who can afford to pay 10x to make it happen now, instead of in a month, rake in the big bucks for a lot of the big construction companies."

Mark kinda found himself saying, "Well. I'll… Tell him that and make sure he understands. We were already talking about that somewhat, but we've kinda been going-going-going, you know— He's going to want to do some public housing projects."

Gabriel said, "That's a good compromise. Those jobs need to get done fast. Stuff like repairing this house can take a backseat."

Mark asked, "Are you guys sure about that? Because… Isn't your security compromised now? I heard…" Mark came out and said, "I heard Willow didn't come back."

The mood turned a bit dimmer.

"Yeah, she…" Gabriel breathed deep.

Silence.

Alexandro said, "Carlotta is coming back, so that's… She was our old oversight. For the True Healer List."

"Inquisitor of Hearthswell," Mark said, nodding. "I always thought she was a nice woman."

"She's still that," Alexandro said, grinning. "Been with us for two decades until we switched to Willow and Citadel Freyala, but she's coming back for the transition period until we find another Inquisitor of Freyala. She's not staying. She's got her grandkids she wants to take care of, but she'll be here for a while."

Mark asked the big question, "Are you two going to be… okay? I know… A lot happened out there."

Crucified on I-beams above a warzone. Cultists everywhere. Death imminent, and practically guaranteed. Grey Phantom had probably snuck through all of their defenses to grab them, too, but based on the destruction of the place maybe… someone else had done it? Mark wasn't sure. He did know that Grey Phantom had been de-aged by Alexandro 25-ish years ago, almost right after Alexandro had finished the Tutorial and had his Power revealed to the higher ups in the world.

There had probably been something like a bidding war for his uncle back then, back when Alexandro Careed was 18 and Markus Careed was 16.

And so Alexandro had ended up in Memphi and he had de-aged Grey Phantom and a few other high profile people right off the bat, securing his position in the city and a lot of good will. Grey Phantom, real name Christopher Powell, had been something like 60 back then, but he got to be 25 again, and he had made a new family.

Some of that family was just now uncovered to have been related to Kardi, too. Through some cousins and such, but yeah. Kardi was related to Chris.

Jeffery Powell, Sentinel, was from a previous relationship, 44 years ago, back when Grey Phantom was only 41-ish.

The investigators were still unclear on a lot, but some things were well known.

A lot of stuff would be coming out of those investigations, and soon.

But the damage was done. How much would the investigation actually help, when the enemy was as chaotic as demons? Who the fuck knew!

Alexandro said, "We'll be okay. But…" He looked to Gabriel.

Gabriel nodded. "Yeah. It's time."

… 'Time'?

Alexandro held Gabriel's hand, and said, "We like the respect of being in our 40s. It's helpful for a lot of things. But Gabriel fell when running and my back got… My back broke and I couldn't walk. We got caught way too easily. I was up on that crucifixion unable to feel my legs at all. Anything below my ribs. So we're leaving the mid-40's behind and going back to age 20."

So that was horrific, but also—

Mark smiled wide. "That's good, right? Good! Yes! 20-somethings again!"

Gabriel chuckled, and then he let go of Alexandro to wipe away a small tear. "It'll be a change, but it will be good."

Alexandro said, "It'll be a change! But yes. It'll be good. We wanted to do it when you came of age, with your mom and Markus, but…" He changed topics. "So Resurrection Day. It proves that those magics exist. Have you heard of the expeditions they're trying to set up to explore Endless Daihoon, to go find that magic and the elves?"

Mark's eyes went wide. "No, I… I hadn't heard that. That was kinda… My super-long-term plan— Someone is doing that? Right now?"

Alexandro said, "We've heard some chatter that something is happening in that direction, maybe a year or two out. They want to study what happened here to see if it's repeatable, and to find whatever person Awakened with that Power. That'd be the easy way to get it, to understand the magic, but no one's expecting that person to come forward at all."

Mark suddenly realized that Uncle Alexandro fully believed the propaganda that someone Awakened to some Mass Resurrection Power. The Mayor and several other news sources had run with that story and it had gained traction rather easily, but it was a lie.

Did Gabriel—

Gabriel watched Mark in the wake of Alexandro's words, at first casually, and then he focused. A moment passed. And then Gabriel's eyes went a little wide, his vector going from curious to something close to a person experiencing a small revelation. He breathed out, "Oh."

Alexandro looked between Mark and Gabriel, and then he looked again, and asked, "What?"

Gabriel said, "We don't want to know, Mark. That's big league stuff, and that is not us."

"No, wait. What? I want to know." Alexandro looked at Gabriel and repeated, "I want to know."

Gabriel winced.

Mark answered, "It was a…" Mark stopped himself.

"I want to fucking know," Alexandro repeated, his voice stronger. Verging on angry. Right now he was just incredulous, but anger was close, and getting closer. "Tell me."

Mark said, "We're not supposed to break the official story, but Resurrection Day was caused by something in Chris Powell's Contract… I helped Blackthorn kill him, and he transformed into a Living Spellform. A Resurrection spell, in this case. Planty told Blackthorn not to look, because that sort of magic should not leave quarantine, because the demons used it a long time ago and a lot, and it caused a lot of them to completely divorce from human understandings… or maybe that was a result of their Contracted people getting divorced from reality. I don't know. Point is that no one Awoke to a Mass Resurrection Power. It was the propaganda win for the cultists to have that failsafe, if they all died, which they did. The government of Memphi and the Central Cities don't want people to know the truth, because it could… it will cause a rise in demon worshiping.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

"Apparently Timeweaver knew what was going to happen with the Resurrection Ghost because he made it happen that way, because… Well no one wants 25 million dead… or at least no normal people want that. We still ended up with 4.6-ish million dead.

"Anyway…

"It was a demon magic that did that Mass Resurrection, and only because the demon wanted it to happen… And I have no fucking clue why Leash worked for it to happen that way at all. Kardi was fucking crazy enough! What was her fucking goal? To make me untouchable by the empires? Well maybe that did happen, because I haven't heard of shit from them lately at all!"

Mark was probably speaking too loudly, because he saw the worry in his uncles' eyes.

But Gabriel said, "Talk to us, Mark."

Mark blurted out, hard and heavy, "Why is Leash acting like this? He wanted me to take a Contract with him to do some shit to Addavein, to pull him apart into Kanda and Addashield, and then to kill Kanda, I think? But why approach me like this? Why kill everything to get to me? Why does he think that would ever make me want to Contract with him? Why did they attack you at all? I couldn't take a Contract with Leash right then and there, anyway, because he was Contracted to Grey Phantom —and we're only 20% certain that he's actually dead— and it just doesn't make sense. Everything Leash has done so far has pushed me away from anything he could ever offer me and makes me want to figure out how to erase demons from existence, so yeah, maybe that is part of it. But I would be starting with… him."

Mark kinda paused.

Mark had stood up while ranting.

He sat back down.

Had he just figured out Leash's goal? To figure out how to erase demons? Kardi wanted Mark to be untouchable, too, for some reason… so… Yeah. Leash wanted Mark to be stronger… To be able to kill demons, for real?

Alexandro was very concerned about a lot of things right now, but he shoved those thoughts to the background, to mull over later. He looked at Mark and wanted to help, but he didn't know how.

Gabriel looked at Mark, and easily said, "So it's important to have a good understanding of what a demon is, and I might as well tell you because it's best you get it from a trusted source, and I don't know how much you already know… But demons are not…" He struggled for a moment. "Real. Demons are not real in the way you and I are real. They're products of their environment, and their environment changes based on a lot of things. 'Their environment' can be as much as the person and Contract they're inhabiting, and it can also be an attachment to their past existences. It's kinda hard to explain, and you should definitely look into becoming an Inquisitor, Mark, so you can Look Past the Curtain with this, but to make it way too simple to the point it's practically a lie: Demons are evershifting dreams, able to become anything that their Contract and ties to reality tells them to become. They are not solid things. They are products of their delineated environment.

"If you ask me, whatever Leash is doing around you is based not on actually controlling you, but about making it so that you will fight and kill Addavein, which seems like it will eventually happen, just by virtue of you two being strong.

"Because here's another fact: Dragons don't work well together unless there is a strict hierarchy. Upset the hierarchy, with an elder losing ground to a youngling, or a brother gaining vast powers over another brother —you know, to pick a random example— and you cause fights.

"So that is what Leash is trying to do. To make you strong enough to be able to fight and kill Addavein properly, when that inevitably happens."

Gabriel finished.

Alexandro nodded. "We talked about this a few days ago and yeah. Gabriel is probably correct."

Gabriel waited for Mark to finish thinking.

Mark felt like his eyes were open… Except something didn't sit right. "But I… Okay, so. Union allowed Freyala to reach divinity. Sure. That happened. I doubt I can do that, and I don't even know what that means, because it doesn't seem like she can do a whole… lot. She can do a lot on a vast scale! But individually? Not anymore.

"But she did kill an old dragon in one beat of her heart back in the Reveal.

"So maybe that is what Leash expects. But honestly…" Mark looked at his uncles. "Addavein is beyond that weakness. Whatever Freyala did to that dragon I am absolutely sure that Addavein has protected himself against, and a whole lot more besides. Whatever… Whatever 'killing' I could possibly do against Addavein is just something that is not going to happen. So, with that in mind, do you still think Leash is trying to make me stronger to kill Addavein in some inevitable fight?"

Gabriel sat back in his chair, thinking deeply.

Alexandro frowned a little, also thinking.

Gabriel announced, "I don't know! I'll have to rethink a lot, actually… Is Addavein really that strong?"

"Oh yes," Mark had no trouble saying, "Absolutely. The demons are fucking terrified of him, and they should be. Like. I'm not a dragonist, but holy shit, I would take him over demons and cultists any day of the week. That's a no-brainer… Shit. Well… I didn't think I was a dragonist." Mark decided, "I'm still not a dragonist."

Gabriel had an introspective moment.

Alexandro didn't have to think much at all to look at Mark and say, "That's a lot different from the Mark that used to talk about killing Addavein all the time."

Mark sighed. "Maybe."

Gabriel asked, "Do you think Addavein would be interested in going on an expedition looking for resurrection magics in Endless Daihoon?"

Mark kinda paused again.

Alexandro looked at Gabriel. "… Would… he?"

Alexandro had no idea what he was asking, and from Gabriel's expression Gabriel didn't know what Gabriel was really asking, either. About the only thing that Mark could tell was that Gabriel was gathering information in order to make more informed choices.

Mark kinda said, "I never asked, or even considered asking… or anything like that—" Mark decided. "I'm never asking him, either."

Gabriel nodded, and then he got up and got the bottle of tequila from where he had made margaritas and poured himself a floater. He held up the bottle. "Anyone else! Yes, you, Alex~" Alexandro held out his frozen margarita and Gabriel poured out a finger of tequila right on top, and then he asked, "Mark?"

Mark held out his glass, too, saying, "It takes a lot to get drunk these days, so yeah. Pour it on!"

Gabriel smirked, and poured it on. "Let's start with that."

Alexandro chuckled, asking, "That's the one complaint brawnies always have! Body Powers always make it hard to get drunk, and you're probably young enough to experience a few breakthroughs, too, yeah?"

Mark had probably had one of those so-called 'breakthroughs'. He began, "I haven't gotten in a scanner lately, but—"

"Let's not talk about Powers," Gabriel said, "Let's talk about stuff that doesn't matter! Like how do you think we should decorate with all the new construction? I was thinking we leave behind black and white minimalism to go for some good greys and blues."

Alexandro scoffed. "Always with the blues and greys! What about red! I love red but I haven't had a red couch in forever." He looked at Mark, saying, "I came home one day, waiting to plop down on my fantastic red couch, and what do you know! Gone!"

"That couch was fuggly and you know it."

"He threw it out when I was gone!"

Mark chuckled, saying, "I liked the big black one you guys had."

Gabriel slapped Alexandro's shoulder, saying, "See! Good couch!"

Alexandro laughed.

Gabriel smiled.

They talked of decorating the place, and Mark didn't know the first thing about any of it, but he was happy to walk around, talking about possible furniture with his uncles.

Eventually they made it down to the superhero nerd cave. The place was half ripped up, collectibles stacked on the left half of the room and the right half showing bare stone walls. The floor, the ceiling, the everything, had been burned away and was in the process of getting repaired.

Alexandro eagerly walked over to a little raise on the floor and he took a stand on it, making a pose, saying, "Now this is where we want your life-sized statue to go, Mark, so make sure you get a good one made!"

Mark laughed.

Alexandro smiled wide as he puffed out his chest, saying, "You gotta do the superhero pose, too! Like this!"

Gabriel did a villain pose, though, with his back hunched and his eyes shifty, smiling even as he said, "No no! He's a villain. He has to pose like this."

Mark ended up taking a few pictures with his uncles in both poses, and then Gabriel made ribs for dinner along with some more drinks, and Mark stayed well past sunset, talking about everything from plans for the future, to flying castle schematics, to that one weird moment with Glorious Man.

"And he was just fucking there," Mark said, reaching out into the air, "I could have touched him!"

Alexandro grinned.

Gabriel glanced at Alexandro and smiled. "Hot guy, right?"

Alexandro smiled wider. "Kinda dreamy!"

Mark felt kinda embarrassed. "No! He's… He's Glorious Man! And I could have touched him! But I'm so glad I didn't. It was a fucking…" Blood. Death. Resurrection Ghosts. Demons and Timeweaver deciding all of their fates, unilaterally. Cultists that just wouldn't fucking die… Kardi. Knife through the heart, over and over and over again… Mark blinked a bit, then he looked at his drink. It was empty. "I need a refill."

"Oh yes you most certainly do!" Gabriel said, getting up and grabbing the bottle and dumping out several shot's worth of whatever they were drinking into the glass. "Bottoms up!"

Mark chugged that very, very strong alcohol. It burned like fire, but without the smell of flesh invading Mark's nose… Oh god.

He knew what burning people smelled like.

Mark jumped up from his chair and puked into the kitchen sink.

"Well oooookay," Alexandro said, "Let's not waste the good booze—"

"Honey," Gabriel said, tight and quick.

"I'm good!" Mark stood up and washed out his mouth with some tap water. He spat a few times. "Just booze. Sorry about… that." He washed out the sink, not wanting to rid himself of any inebriation by doing a Union of Purity/Impurity.

Gabriel got up and started mixing some more drinks, saying, "Obviously you have a refined palette and you need to have some sugars and sodas with the booze."

Mark grinned a little, chasing away the horrors of last week. "Absolutely."

The night ended around 10 PM, and Mark hugged his uncles for a long time.

Eventually, teary-eyed, Mark waved to them as he took to the sky on a tri-toroid of adamantium, flying high, Quark organizing a flight plan for him, to clear it all with the city.

"Oh gods," Mark said, changing paths to fly higher and higher, to just get away from it all.

Quark compensated.