Ace of Capes [Superhero LitRPG] [Isekai] [Card Crafting]

Ever since the child was born, the father's entire life revolved around keeping it alive.

At least that was what it looked like to Naem. Aiden quickly lost focus on the things that used to drive him before: his thirst for knowledge, the hunger for power, the itch to grow his magic to unbelievable heights. For some time leading up to that moment of her birth, he had stopped seeking out Naem's company as much, and Naem was worried that he'd wasted his time on a human mage who would never meet his full potential.

The last time they'd spoken before the birth, Aiden had told him that things were 'different', and he had 'different priorities' now.

In the human world, Naem knew that the situation was akin to losing touch with an old friend, but he wasn't a human, so he didn't take offense. Neither did he feel anything at Aiden's apology.

He pretended, because he knew that was the human response, even though he wasn't even sure why the pretense was necessary. He wasn't sure what exactly it was he wanted from Aiden at that point, since it was clear that Aiden was no longer in pursuit of the type of power he should have been.

Still, Naem remained in infrequent contact with him.

The second the child's life was in danger, things changed again.

Aiden was willing to give Naem anything to save the spawn–even his soul.

The mage was willing to curse himself to an afterlife of nothing but pain, just to save the child's life.

It didn't seem like a fair trade, but Naem wasn't a benefactor of fairness.

He had taken the oath and saved the child.

It was a strange concept to Naem, although he'd seen such a thing happen many times before. It was very common for humans, and a few other species, to give away their souls in return for their offspring's survival, but it never made sense to him.

Why on Earth would any sensible creature do that?

Some said it was for the advancement of their kind, but why did they care if their kind advanced or not? Was their existence so pleasurable that they wished it to be multiplied for generations and generations? Even if that were the case, they would not be around to enjoy it, so what was the point?

Some said they did it out of love, but that was an even more unfathomable reason.

You were cursing yourself to a life of pain, for a creature you barely knew, simply because it was extracted from your loins?

Ridiculous.

He'd told Aiden as much after they'd made the trade. At the time, Aiden had been staring down at the sleeping creature in a wooden cage they called a crib.

Aiden had smiled softly at the statement and asked Naem, "Do you have a child?"

Naem shook his head, confused as to why Aiden would ask him that question when he likely knew the answer.

Most Eldritch did not reproduce, and even those who did would not be willing to sacrifice their existence for those offspring. If the offspring could not survive on its own, then it was never meant to survive. Simple as that.

That was the same way Naem had felt about the ball of flesh and hair in the crib. It was a weak thing, probably not worthy of survival.

She'd been nothing to him, meant nothing to him. She was simply a tool he'd used to get access to her father.

But right now, as he turned his back on her in the dungeon and her scream echoed behind him, he felt something…strange.

Strange was even too mild a word for it.

It was a sensation he didn't think he'd ever felt before. At least, not in millennia.

A hollow ache came from somewhere that shouldn't exist.

A tinge of something...bitter? Was that the word?

Hm.

Where was this coming from? It had happened before, too, when Lexie's soul had almost been consumed by the now denatured Eldritch creature.

What was that thing he sensed? It wasn't a feeling per se because Naem could not feel. They had made sure of it.

If he were being foolish, he would think that perhaps the human part of his soul spawn had impacted him through their bond, imbuing him with a paternal instinct he did not otherwise have.

But of course, Naem was not foolish. He was the Lord of the Eldritch, not a father. His spawn was not something he needed to coddle, as Aiden had.

But she also was not a weak thing like he'd thought, either.

She was going to be a powerful thing, perhaps the most powerful they'd seen in millennia.

The only thing capable of finally ending his torment.

***

For the first time in his life, Torin Firebringer did not know what to do.

His brain was overheating-physically and mentally-and that alone prevented rational thought.

He could hear himself screaming, and could feel his body going through motions of trying to calm itself down, but his brain was in shut-down mode.

What should he do? What could he do?

Typically, he had an answer for every scenario. He always carried the belief that every terrible situation had a solution, and he'd found the solution to almost every single simulation he'd been placed in.

He was tempted to think that this was a simulation, too, but the very fact that he was thinking that meant that it wasn't a simulation.

This was real.

Torin forced himself to stop screaming Lexie's name. That wasn't solving anything. He tore his hands through his hair, as though that would help his brain think harder. Heat was coming off his skin. Fire teased the tips of his fingers.

The dungeon was gone. And so was Lexie.

Torin didn't like to swear. His great-grandmother taught him that it was uncouth and ungentlemanly, and she would always pin him with a look whenever he even thought about doing it.

But right now, he felt it roar out of his throat, the first word his brother ever taught him. "Fuck!"

What could he do right now?

Nothing, came the answer. There was absolutely nothing he could do.

This was above him. He couldn't do anything about a dungeon that already disappeared; no one could. Although…

Someone had tried.

Four years ago, Torin had overheard his parents talking about it. They were talking about Aiden Sparrowfoot and his crime, how he'd opened up several dungeons to try to find his wife. Torin had been shocked. He'd never heard of anyone opening up a dungeon, but then he'd remembered the mad look in Aiden's eyes when he'd left his grandparents' house after accusing them of having something to do with his wife's death.

Aiden. That was who he needed to call. He would know what to do.

But wouldn't Aiden's attempting to open up a dungeon again be a crime? It had dire consequences the last time, and if he did it again...

Could Torin stand by and watch that all happen? Could he aid and abet a criminal?

He released a breath. All of that was moot. He didn't even have Aiden's number.

He needed to call his mother.

Before he could, he saw that he was getting a video call from Kai. Kai had called twice already before they went into the dungeon, but Torin had ignored the calls because he didn't want to give away what they were up to.

Now, he answered, and Kai immediately launched into daily gossip. "Dude, you'll never believe what happened...." He trailed off, probably noticing the look on his friend's face. "Before that, what happened to you? You look weird."

"I messed up." After the panic, a numbness was setting in, as his training helped him corral the fire that was threatening to escape and burn the whole forest down. "I really messed up."

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He never should have brought Lexie here. He also never should have let her get close to the dungeon. Torin had acted based on his fear of losing Theo and the mistrust that had plagued him for months concerning the association.

Not to mention the misplaced confidence he had in Lexie. He didn't know why he trusted her so much.

Even though she was a kid, she didn't seem like one. There was something about her eyes that made it seem like she always knew what she was talking about.

But he shouldn't have listened. As mature as she seemed, she was still just a kid, and now she was dead. It was all his fault.

"Torin? Hello?"

Torin hung up without saying anything and immediately called his mother. He didn't really expect her to respond. She would be busy. There was civil unrest, and the last thing Stella needed right now was him calling her to fix his screw up.

But to his surprise, the line beeped and his mother's voice came through. "Tory? Are you okay?"

It was like that blast of water from the ceiling. Just hearing her voice brought everything into sharp detail, had riotous emotion welling up in his throat.

"Mom…" His voice shook as he spoke. "I made a mistake."

***

Xena was trying very hard not to blind herself while bending the sunlight through the trees.

She was starting to get frustrated, but at the same time, she was trying not to be. After all, she was making progress.

Before, it had been difficult for her to bend even just one ray of light from its regular path. Now she could make light beams and bend even more light, splitting them through the leaves and leaving shadows all over the place.

Still, a part of her wasn't satisfied.

Lexie would have mastered this by now, probably, that ugly voice in her head said. If Lexie were a Lightlark, she would already know how to shift the sun itself and how to manipulate the light into whatever shape she wanted. She wouldn't still be struggling with the basic skills.

"But not everyone can be like Lexie and have her natural talent," Xena muttered.

Although Lexie's natural talents turned out not to be as natural as Xena had once thought.

Before, Xena had assumed that Lexie's dogged drive and determination to create powerful cards were just a cute quirk of her personality. She was just your regular type A, overachiever, the type who threw up when she didn't get a perfect grade on a test. Like Mya.

The fact that the cards Lexie made were highly unusual and had hurt people here and there wasn't intentional; it was all accidental.

Xena had thought that until the fight with Rufina, which Xena had observed herself. She'd seen Lexie smile while attacking, laugh even, like she was having the time of her life.

Even then, Xena had brushed it off. Until she'd noticed Lionel watching Lexie with that look on his face that was usually reserved for suspicious characters they'd met on Planet Fae.

"What?" Xena had asked at the time.

"Your friend," he'd said. "Has she had any accidents in the past?"

Xena didn't want to share Lexie's whole life story, but she told him stuff that he could find out on his own anyway. "Yeah. Right before I met her, she fell into a ditch and lost her memory. Around the same time, her mom died too."

"I see," Lionel said.

"See what?

Lionel shook his head, but Xena insisted, "See what?"

"Do you think there's any chance she's mingling with an Eldritch creature?"

Xena looked him right in the face and burst out laughing.

"What?" she cackled. "Lexie? Dude, she's twelve."

"Age has nothing to do with it,"

"Yeah, I get that, but Lexie is also pretty straight-laced. Sure, she bends the rules here and there, but when it comes to things like that, she's a goody-two-shoes. I have friends back in my old orphanage that I would never let her meet because I think she would judge them. No way is she palling around with an Eldritch."

"Maybe not her, but someone around her, maybe." Lionel brushed his chin. "Her father is Aiden Sparrowfoot, right?"

Xena's laughter disappeared. "Yeah, and I know what you're going to say, so let me stop you there. Her dad's not a bad guy. Trust me, I know him, and he's one of the coolest and kindest people I've ever met. He's saved so many people in our town, even when they all hated him."

"That doesn't prove anything. He can be a kind person and still mix with the Eldritch. People aren't all good or all bad, Xena. I've told you that your black-and-white thinking is gonna get you into trouble."

"Whatever." Xena didn't want to talk about it anymore at that point, mostly because she was still creeped out by her first set of encounters with the Eldritch on Planet Fae, and she didn't even want to think about those things, much less talk about them. "Let's just go eat."

Xena had thought that would be the end of the conversation. Although she'd grown to trust Lionel's instincts in those weeks on Planet Fae, she'd known he was totally wrong about the Lexie thing.

As usual, though, it turned out that Lionel was right.

Xena was just slow on the uptake.

And one day, she could no longer ignore the red flags anymore.

The fight with Rufina's minions.

Hearing Lexie call out the name of an Eldritch lord so prominent that even Xena knew who he was.

Then the thing with Jett and her argument with Rufina at the Elemental party.

And finally…her obsession with getting void powers even after she'd learned what happened to Zakhar's father. Lexie had been so singleminded at that Ansing party, like she didn't care about anything else going on.

She just wanted to make the card.

That was when Xena started to accept that it might be even worse than she feared. Lexie wasn't just consorting with an Eldritch. She was slowly being possessed by one.

Lionel had taught her about the concept of slow possessions. It was how the smarter Eldritch operated, and it was more beneficial in preventing humans from catching on quickly, and also slowing the deterioration of the human body.

Humans and Eldritch could not coexist for long. It was a fundamentally parasitic relationship that would eventually end with the humans losing their sanity, their humanity, or their lives. Often all three. Lionel had hammered that into Xena's head, and she'd visited a mind-healing infirmary full of humans and other creatures who'd had long-term encounters with the Eldritch.

It had been truly an ugly sight.

It was hands down the worst place she'd ever been, and she'd hated watching those creatures' endless suffering.

Some of the possessed had been as young as three years old. Hearing the three-year-old cackle madly had terrified Xena and reminded her of Evan's loiter illness, but worse.

That day cemented it in her mind.

The Eldritch were evil.

It was why, no matter how much Lexie tried to defend their actions, Xena would never understand those creatures. Attempting to understand them was the first step to falling under their spell. That was how smart Eldritch worked. They gave you a false sense of camaraderie, made you think you were on the same side, and then possessed you without you even knowing.

"Xena," Lionel said, hopping down from the tree he was sitting in, enjoying an apple. "You keep being distracted, and you're going to hurt yourself."

Xena sighed and put her hand down, allowing the light to disperse again. "I really need to keep doing this before I can learn to control my belief powers?"

"Yes. Until you can master this, you cannot master that."

She sighed. "Alright, but can we at least take it easy today? It's my first day back." She hadn't practiced at all back in Hovelton. She'd been too busy spending time with her mother, both at the healing house and at their home. She'd also spent time with Dewie when he wasn't having extra classes and beauty treatment with his mother.

She was supposed to have spent time with Lexie as well, but her best friend had made herself scarce, of course. It was always one excuse or the other, and Xena had tried to give her as much grace as she could afford, but at a point, she wondered if the answer wasn't just that Lexie didn't want to hang out with her and Dewie anymore.

Maybe she felt like she'd outgrown them, now that she had people like Conrad Grace and Stella Firebringer on speed dial.

Maybe she was simply too good for Xena and Dewie.

"We can't stop training," Lionel said. "You're already behind as is. You'll be joining our meetings with the Fae soon, and they'll want to see your progress." He squatted until he could look into her eyes. "What's distracting you today?"

Xena shook her head, and he rolled his eyes.

"Please. We've been doing this for months now, I think I know you enough to know something is wrong."

She sighed. "It's nothing."

"You had a fight with your friend?"

Xena gaped. "How did you-"

"You always have that look on your face after the two of you fight," he smirked. "Or when you're worried about her."

Xena shook her head. She'd read Lexie's text when she woke up, and she knew they had to talk. They would probably make up once they did, and everything would be fine. She didn't want to talk to anyone else about this. "Nothing's wrong. Just teenage stuff."

"Boys?"

"No, ew. I don't even think Lexie likes boys yet. Anyway, I'll head to lunch now. She's probably there."

Lionel hesitated, but ultimately nodded.

On her way to the dining hall, Xena got stopped by Kai Skysoarer, who was walking in the opposite direction.

"Hey, Zee," he called, and her steps stalled. "Have you heard from Lexie?"

Xena shook her head. "Not since this morning. Why?"

"She went somewhere with Torin earlier, and I just called Torin and he was…weird. Now he's not answering my calls. I was just wondering if he was okay."

"Where did they go?"

"I'm not sure. Torin said some off-campus training."

"Huh." Lexie hadn't mentioned anything like that.

But Lexie had been acting so weird, Xena was instantly suspicious.

She texted Dewie to ask if he wanted to grab lunch, and Dewie responded immediately with an affirmative.

Xena smiled.

That was what she loved about Dewie. So simple and honest. Always reliable. Always available. Unlike some people.

Xena met Dewie at the dining hall, and they both took their lunch over to the table. After some time, Henrietta joined them, but almost instantly, Xena got an alert on her SI, summoning her to the Headmaster's Office immediately.

"Oops, I think I have to go to Journeyman's office right now," Dewie said.

Xena frowned. "Me too."

"Oh. I thought this was about my medications."

Xena shrugged. They quickly finished eating and then headed in that direction.

Xena was about to knock, but the door opened automatically, as usual.

Xena walked into a packed office. Torin and Stella Firebringer were there. So were Stein, Madswick, for whatever reason, Biufur, Lionel, and a couple of people Xena didn't recognize.

The first thing she noticed was Torin's face. She'd never seen that haunted look on it before, like he'd been sucker punched and didn't know how to deal with it. Not to mention, his hair was a mess, and Torin's hair was never a mess.

Stella Firebringer didn't look any better. She was standing next to her son and looked like she had just apparated out of a warzone, with dirt and grime on her costume. But her face was similar to Torin's, devoid of life, as if she were going to be sick. Her eyes were red-rimmed.

Stein also looked troubled.

Xena instantly had a sinking feeling.

"What's going on?" she asked.

Journeyman sighed and got to his feet, rubbing his beard. "I have bad news. I thought the two of you should know before the rest of the student body. Especially since we might be adding her name to the list of casualties for today's wake."

"Whose name?"

Stella and Stein shared a look, and that was the final warning before the bomb dropped.

"Lexie Sparrowfoot is dead."