NOVEL NEXT Book 9 - The Deal - Chapter 39
Klix arrived right after we did.
Fray didn't have to be told to lay down on the cot next to Astrid. She'd also worn a strapless top that would clearly display the seal as soon as I ran some of my magic through it.
"Are you ready?" Klix seemed tired and her voice lacked its usual snap.
Miel had quickly left, leaving the two of us alone with the Goddess. We needed to begin, but there were still a few things that I wanted to talk to Klix about while I had her.
"I have a few things I'd like to talk about real quick…" I cleared my throat. "First is about Pixie's cover. Since she and Carter have been passing as twins for the last eighteen years, wouldn't that mean that Trent would have to claim that Carter was his as well?"
Klix looked bored. "So?"
"So what is it going to look like if all of the sudden Trent has three kids that are the same age at the same school?" I waved my hand in the air. "If as many of you Gods know about the sibling bond thing, then the Primus has to know about it. Trent hasn't been attacked yet, but are they going to hold back if it looks like he's trying to build a supersquad out of his kids?"
Klix thought for a moment. "I see. So what are you proposing?"
"Let Pixie keep claiming the Warray name. We know about the bond, so we try to foster it but more or less in secret rather than flaunting it in the Primus' face and daring them to come after us."
After a moment Klix started nodding. "Makes sense." She smiled broadly. "It's just like talking to a younger version of him." The Goddess sighed. "But that was a long time ago. Let's get started."
"That's the other thing that I wanted to talk to you about. Well, two things. One was why do you have to be here and could say, Ether help me?"
Klix glared at me for a moment, then mumbled. "Doesn't even know what he's doing…" She began waving her hands and an illusion appeared in between us.
"The answer to your second question is easy. No." She nodded at Astrid. "The marks would be slightly different based on who is the core focus of the seal. For this one that's you." She paused as she started moving the blurred image in between us together. "I guess they might be able to help you fashion pieces, then let you put them in, but because of the answer to the first question, it's no."
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The image finally came into focus. It looked like a black castle.
"This is the old seal." She twirled her hand over the image and pointed at the black flag with the face of one of the demons on it. "When Trent tried to break in…" A figure that looked like a miniature Trent ran up to the main gate. "He got caught in a trap." The miniature Trent fell through the floor into a dungeon under it. "It's a tricky trap and he can't get out by himself, but anyway…" She waved her hand over the castle and it crumbled into a pit of sand. "This is what happened when you killed that demon. There's nothing left there except rubble and the dungeon." She pointed at where the little Trent was stuck underground.
"So why can't we blast a hole into it and get him out?" That seemed like the easiest way to do things to me.
"Because it's like liquid sand. The harder you hit it, the harder it gets." Klix touched the rubble and the castle started reforming. "It also wants to rebuild itself, so if one of the Gods tried to reshape it…" She paused. "Well, Mive might be able to power down enough right now, but he's also too weak for this in his condition." She waved away the rabbithole. "Anyway. There's a maximum amount of magic that can be used before it starts reforming. Once you pass that threshold, you have to dump a LOT of power to destroy it. But if we did that…" A jet of fire shot out of her hand and the entire illusion vanished. "It would wipe out everything."
"So what am I doing?"
Klix snapped her fingers and the illusion snapped back.
"You…" She pointed at a miniature version of me hanging over the ruins. "Are building your castle on top of it." The image sped up and a blue castle stood where the old one had been. The flag flying over it had the symbol on my chest on it.
"Once you finish…" Klix blasted fire over the image and all the black parts burned away. "We can destroy what doesn't belong and your seal will keep everything that should be there in place. Once we finish, you'll be the undisputed owner of the dungeon and can order it to let Trent out."
"Okay…" I was trying to absorb it all. "That tells me what I'm doing here, but what are you doing? Besides waiting for me to finish so you can blow everything up."
Klix pointed at the string that was tied around the miniature me. "I'm holding you up so you don't get sucked in." She let the figure down and as soon as their feet touched the ground, they started sinking.
"That whole mess is like quicksand." She sighed. "Basically, I'm your lifeline to keep you from getting sucked in while you work on it."
"Oh…" I hadn't realized that I was at risk of getting sucked in too. That didn't dampen my resolve to keep working, but I was going to be more careful while I worked.
Klix walked over to Astrid and gestured at the golden woman. "Are you ready to start now? I've got a meeting this afternoon and I'd like to get as much done as we can."
"Yeah…" I sat down next to Astrid and started working.