Mana Mutation Menace (Journey to Chaos Book 3) (20 page)

The last time Eric was here, it
was after escorting her from school and meeting Nulso. His fists clenched at
the memory. He was useless then and even his new abilities did not prevent
Nulso from controlling him.
I need more power.

It was a small place. There was
a desk, a pullout bed, a CV, a mini-fridge, and shelves of books. It was the
kind of place for a study abroad student. At the Dragon's Lair, Eric had access
to subsidized meals in the guild's mess hall. They weren’t gourmet by any means,
but they were better than frozen dinners.

The grendel and the trickster
sat/floated at the kitchen table while the elf fetched them refreshments. As he
assumed, it was soda and salty snacks. Tasio drank and ate without mischief and
even put his can on a coaster. Such politeness weirded Eric out. Having served
her guests, Annala took her seat at the table and gestured for Tasio to begin.

"My terms are simple; I want you to convince t
he
Mana Mutation Summit to invest in Medical Mana Mutation."

"Does this mean you're a lobbyist?"

Tasio scowled. Annala giggled.

"No. It means I'm Victor Frankenstein. Moving on...I'm
sure you're sick of hearing this, but it bears repeating. You are the first
monster to recover sapience in a controlled human setting and one of a handful
in any setting for one hundred years. Your existence validates the
International Community Dedicated to Mana Mutation and silences the criticism
of countries like Latrot. This means all eyes will be on you."

"Goodbye, peace and quiet..."

"
Lunas can exploit this
if he can twist public
perception of you. Even now, he's trying to convince the general populace that
there's a chaotic conspiracy going on."

"There isn't?"

Tasio rubbed his forehead. "I want Medical Mana
Mutation to be a success because I don't like seeing victims of mana
mutation."

"It's part of The First War; a territory struggle
between Order and Chaos over the world fruit hanging from the Great Tree
Noitearc," Annala explained. "If Tasio can remove the negative of
Chaos, then Order won't have a ledge to stand on."

"Precisely.” He ruffled Annala’s hair and she playfully
protested.

“So you don’t actually care about the victims themselves,”
Eric stated.

“How can you
say
that? My heart
bleeds
for
every single tragic, unfortunate, and hilarious victim.” His grin broadened.
“Like that one just now; a creature that farts out of its mouth and eats with
the other end.”

“Is it called a ‘Tasio’?”

“Of course not. They’d be invoking me every time they saw
one. Anyway, Lunas’ mudslinging presents a problem for another reason; the only
way I can make you immortal is by making you an elf. Elves can shapeshift and
Lunas can use that to feed his propaganda and say that everything was a chaotic
prank."

"Then why would you offer in the first place?"

"More than anything else, I need you alive. Thus far,
my siblings and I have been puppy guarding you. Recent events have demonstrated
that I need to step up my game."

"Are you going to tell me why?"

"Would you believe the 'bestest friend' line?"

"No."

"Then you won't believe the truth because it’s more
unlikely and you'll appreciate it less. In any case, do you believe I'm working
against Lunas and Nulso?"

Eric nodded.

"Then regardless of how you feel about me, or my
mother, or mana mutation, we can agree that their influence needs to be
curbed."

“They need
to be torn apart and scattered to the winds!"

Annala gasped.

Eric fixed his eyes shut until they returned to human. He
took a calming breath and his vocal chords reverted. Then he opened his eyes
and scratched the back of his neck.

"Sorry about that. I got a little carried away."

"As I was saying, I know how much you don't like the
spotlight, but I need you to be a peacock just this once."

"You brought me back from Threa for this, didn't
you?"

The trickster grin returned. "Nonsense. I brought
Emily
here to help her fulfill her dream. You piggybacked on my portal."

"Bullshit. You did that on purpose. You said as much
on the
Flying Whale.
"

"Even if I planned that, and I'm not saying I did, it
was still your decision to jump."

"Fine, be that way. In a nutshell, you want me to
make a spectacle of myself so the big wigs will agree to fund Kasile's latest
pet project."

"In a nutshell, yes. Do we
have a deal?"

"How will this work?"

The Opener of Doors clapped his hands together and pulled
out a sphere of shining golden-brown light. It was eerily similar to the ones
Eric used in his act the other day, but the similarities ended there. That was
just a light show;
this
was true power!

Greater energy radiated from this palm-sized sphere than
all the Fog of Mt. Heios plus a thousand more like it. Everything around it
faded into dullness in comparison with its brilliance. The only exceptions were
Annala’s hair and Tasio himself; they shone with the same power and same life,
but they lacked its untapped and unbridled potential. It was a bountiful
harvest and a forest fire; a mother’s love and a mother’s loss; never-dying
hope and everlasting despair mingled into an inextricable mess.
This
was
the subject of Grey Dengel’s lecture and his own Mana Enlightenment.
This
was the Source of All Power.

"That-that-that…" Annala blinked and rubbed her
eyes. "THAT'S A SEED OF CHAOS!"

"Shhh! Not so loud!" Tasio covered Annala's
mouth, which stirred a protective instinct in Eric. "If people knew there
was a
SEED OF CHAOS
in this city, there would be tremendous panic and
mayhem." The Incarnation of Despair turned thoughtful. "Which, come to
think of it, would be fun to watch..."

“You already did that with your Tazul stunt.”

“You’re right, I did.” The Embodiment of Hope turned
serious. "Eric, listen carefully, because this is very important. This orb
was given to me by the previous Avatar of Chaos and I have been holding on to
it for a special occasion. It can turn you into an elf with all its perks: golden-brown
hair, pointed ears, healing factor, and immortality."

In other words, within arm's
reach was something that could make all his dreams come true. As an elf, his
magic would be greater and he would be closer to proving himself better than
Dengel. As an elf, his body would be able to heal even when he was on death's
doorstop, so his mentor and teammates would never have to worry about him. Most
importantly, as an elf, he would be beyond time's grasp and so Annala might
consider him her boyfriend.

Grand action. Commitment
.

"Is this permanent?"
Eric asked.

"I don't know. I’ve only
done this once and she never asked."

Eric turned to Annala. She turned away. Her posture was
rigid, but she didn’t tug her ear. She gave no sign of approval or disapproval.
Considering how vigorously she protested him becoming a reaper, he considered
this a good sign.

He looked at Tasio's solemn face and then down at the orb
he carried. The chaotic energy swirled in perfect harmony. The subtle blends
and shades of gold and brown were beautiful; almost as beautiful as Annala's
eyes.

 "I want it."

Tasio's face remained solemn as
he held out his hand. "Then take it."

Eric reached out, his hand
hovering over Tasio's for only a second. Then he grabbed the Seed of Chaos.

His hand burned as if he were sticking his hand in magma.
The feeling surged up his arm and traveled through his chest, then burrowed
into his heart. From there, it spread like a wave flooding a beach. He screamed
in ecstasy as the chaotic power engulfed him.

When he opened his eyes, he lay in something soft and
there was a sweet voice in his ears. The sight of Annala's worried face greeted
him. His smile brought out hers.

 "Did it...work?"

Annala held up a mirror. "See for yourself."

His crimson hair was replaced by gold and the points of
his ears touched the edges of the mirror. He jumped out of Annala's lap and
reached for his staff. Drawing his crystal, he made a small cut on the palm of
his hand. It healed in seconds. The only sound was their breathing.

Annala hugged him so fiercely she knocked him backwards.
Eric slipped his arms around her waist. Both sighed happily.

They lay together on the floor for some time. Annala was
so comfortable she fell asleep. This led to a look of mischief on Eric's face.
Gently, slowly, and carefully, he arranged Annala into his arms bridal style
and stood up. He crossed the room and phased through the door. Annala stirred
but didn’t awaken. With painstaking care, he walked down the stairs. He was
almost to the lobby when Annala awoke. She yelped and tightened her grip around
his neck.

"What are you doing!?"

"I'm taking you out to dinner in a literal
fashion."

Annala squirmed, but he reestablished his grip. She
pounded on his chest in protest but settled down after only a few beats.

"Okay, just let me get my coat..."

"I don't think so, Hercules. This Atlas isn't letting
go of his world."

Annala pouted. "Using mythology to charm me isn't
fair..."

"But effective."

She retracted one arm from around his neck so she could
tug on one ear. “There will be people outside…they'll see me like this..."

"Indeed."

 The Trickster lounged in the air and munched on an apple.
He farted and the flowers below bloomed magnificently. Eric could only stare in
shock. The Catalyst of Change finished his apple and threw it over Eric's head.
It landed by the stairs and an apple tree grew where it fell.

"Are you implying something?"

"Apples are delicious and I want to grow an apple
tree, but it can't be out in the open."

The apple tree broke into motes of light like any other
illusion.

"Because of Lunas' fakedly true chaos conspiracy,"
Eric said.

"'Fakedly' is not a word. Anyway, I need you to look
human again."

Immediately, Annala protested, "Eric can't shape—!"

Eric shrugged. "Sure."

He imagined his human identity and willed himself to
become it. Just like that, his ears rounded and his hair turned red. Then he
grew taller, broader, and other features until he was a grendel. He tried to
cycle back to elf but stayed a grendel. This piqued his curiosity for a second,
then he figured it out and became human again.

"How the abyss did you do that!? Shapeshifting is exclusive
to elves! I know you can do the limited—I saw in the Organic Research
Repository—but…? Did that seed teach you—”

"No, it didn’t. I am Eric Watley. What I look like is
simply a projection of this identity. Mentally, I am human and a grendel but
not an elf. It's no different from Grey Dengel's lecture about the Uno-Elemental
System as opposed to the Deiz-Uno-Elemental System: there is only one entity
and although it has more than one shape, its properties remain fundamentally
the same!"

Annala interrupted his lecture by pulling his head down
and kissing him. Tasio passed the time by debating whether or not she did that
because she was aroused by it. Eventually, he turned his left hand into a
flugel horn and blew it in their ears.

"Are we clear about the Mana Mutation Summit?”

Annala let Eric go so he could answer and catch his
breath.

"Yes. If that's all, I'd like to continue my date
with my girlfriend."

Tasio snapped his fingers and disappeared. He reappeared
with Annala’s coat, hat, and mittens. Then he disappeared again.

“He seems fond of you.”

Annala shook her head. “He’s like this with every elf
because he’s our doting grandfather.” She put on the various garments without
leaving Eric’s arms. “I just happen to have his attention right now.” 

 Once outside, Annala pulled her coat’s hood over her face
and then snuggled deeper into Eric's embrace. He cast Air Disk to avoid patches
of ice. With the strength of a grendel, Annala felt light as a feather. When he
arrived at his destination, he wasn’t winded in the least. Instead, he
whispered threshold jokes in her ear.

Her face turned an adorable shade of red and she squirmed
again. Eric placed her on her feet just outside the door, but he still insisted
on opening it for her. Once they placed their order and sat down, Eric asked, "Is
there anything I should know about being an elf, culture wise? I couldn't find
anything but speculation, gushing, or hatred on the internet and the library is
just about empty."

Annala expressed exasperation. "Our first date and
you want to talk about cultural anthropology?"

"Nerd mating dance, right?"

"Okay, how about holidays? Torch Day is two weeks
away and Ataidar commemorates it as the day that Fiol stepped down as queen in
favor of her daughter. Elves have a similar holiday, First Flame, to remember
Tasio teaching humans the first magic spell: Fireball."

“When is that?”

“In the spring.”

“Okay, anything coming up?”

"The most holy of elven holidays is about a month
away. It’s the Festival of Arin's Ascension colloquially known as 'Elven Origin.'
It's a carnival with games, dances, and food, but at the same time, it’s more
than that. It’s the only time of year that every elf returns to their home
village. We travel the world just to see what's there because otherwise, we'll
go stir crazy."

"Because we're immortal."

Annala nodded. "We had to lock up Grandpa Nueces. He
stayed in one place for a full millennium and he started thinking squirrels were
chasing him."