TT0: Seeing is Believing

Let us go

Mmm, who is greeting Mrs. Carson as Lady Astarte? Who is the girl, what is all this about to have all these people assembled? 'End of the World' level event, just what happened and does it involve the girl?

"Everyone said it was unavoidable, the world would end yet here we are," the younger of the dark suits growled.

"I think you are misquoting or perhaps they themselves misguided you?" The man on the lounge politely questioned turning to face the dark suited man. "I'm pretty sure all your Readers simply stated 'neither you nor they' could stop what was coming."

"That was what I was told," Lady Astarte agreed once again giving the sitting man a thoughtful look.

"Did any of you ask 'if not me they who'?" he queried smiling as he turned toward Lady Astarte.

A lot of people with no solutions or answers, oh brother.

"No but I did ask what. That," snarled the younger dark suited man pointing to the girl lying on the sun lounge with her head cradled lovingly in the sitting man's lap "is destined to manifest in a breakout event that destroys the world!"

I really don't like government agents like this who go on what some psychic says, let alone calling a little girl a 'that'.

"Twist it and changes it and not the knowledge or the control to prevent her accidents," smiling the man agreed. "And please she has already manifested and for your information has a danger sense. Don't. Please, relax." Holding a hand over the sleeping girls back he smiled. "Thank you, the true danger has passed, that there was when the world could have ended," he grinned around thankfully to Lady Astarte and the two men.

All that and the kid isn't a world-ending threat, if the one government agent doesn't calm down now he has something loose.

"If any of you had reacted to the confirmation of her power with violence her danger sense would have triggered and the escalating battle would have seen her accidentally unleashing an Extinction Level Event trying to defend herself. Please calm, I am not insane."

Good grief, thoughts of violence against the girl would trigger that, they need to knock it off or they will trigger the end of the world.

"How can I not love a child?" The seated man replied simple truth in his eyes. "She is scared and she is alone. Her parents where just killed in the plane crash in the desert, she is frightened and in need of comfort, of security and yes of love. How could I not provide it?" Watching the younger man he sighed as jaws clenched the man turned angrily from him, glaring at the girl in his lap.

That younger dark-suited man needs to be taught a lesson, especially about calling a human being an it!

The seated man turned to him calmly. "The crash in Nevada caused when the power generator spiked on the advanced gravatonic beam weapon being tested at Area 51," he answered eyebrow raised in polite innocence, the smirk in the corner of his mouth betraying his understanding of how upset the black suited man was at his knowledge of the true reason the crash occurred. "Before exploding and destroying itself the weapon's beam spiked out and ripped Flight 92 apart in midair. That plane crash. The plane crash that crises manifested her mutant abilities in order to save herself," he finished gesturing slightly to the girl in his lap.

They tried to murder her in cold blood with an advanced weapon and only killed her parents and anyone else on the plane, whoever this agent works for are monsters. She saved herself that way and he caught her before ending up in a pool, okay, just how powerful of a warper is this girl? The man holding the girl sounds like a fatherly sort, someone who has dealt with children before.

"So how do we deal with her now?" the impatient man demanded.

"You do not," the seated man declared forcefully. "You are scary. You are frightening. You don't get near her is how you deal with her." He spoke succinctly, biting off the words shortly as though dealing with a simpleton.

"I am an Agent of the MCO!" Mr. Young-Black-suit-and-tie snapped incredulously.

"I rest my case," the seated man snarled back with venom.

I agree with the seated man, stay away from the girl, you bigot. Should have known the Younger man in a suit was MCO from his attitude, so few good ones in that agency.

"She destroys the world today at 12:47 pm!" the MCO agent snapped leaning in close to snarl in face of the seated man who, unfazed, smirked slightly at the MCO agent's antics.

MCO agent needs to tell whatever psychics they have working for them not all predictions come true or are even close to accurate, no matter how many psychics are involved in getting the prediction.

An MCO agent trying to pull rank on a DPA agent, arrogant little idiot doesn't realize they have no more police powers in the United States than the people believe they have or the local government gives them.

"What we think should happen matters less than nothing compared to what he will allow to happen," Lady Astarte stated simply.

"And he decides why?" Mr. MCO agent demanded angrily.

"Because it is now five minutes to one," calmly the man on the lounge replied, managing to be seated but still project the impression of looking the MCO agent right in the eye.

"And your point about the time is?" the MCO agent demanded rudely.

"That it exists," he replied simply. "You came here knowing you could not stop the end of the world but determined to try anyway. I came here and stopped it." Calmly he sat there staring at the MCO agent his expression daring him to disagree. "You came here with questions, I came here with answers. You rushed here for the climax, I was already here waiting, containing and controlling the situation."

All this and the MCO agent still gives him attitude. *facepalms* Dressing down by Lady Astarte and the MCO agent is still being arrogant, I've met bricks less dense.

"Why indeed?" questioned the DPA agent. "He is the man who saved the world, before you or I even understood how it was endangered." With a calm confidence, almost teacher lecturing favoured pupil the DPA agent spelled it out for the MCO man. "He has been the one with all the answers. He is the one with all the knowledge. He has totally dictated our actions here and the path of our conversation. If he had wanted instead of waiting for us here he could have disappeared before we even arrived." Turning he directly addressed the object of their discussion. "I have only one question," the agent stated. "Who are you?" he demanded forcefully.

Oh good, the DPA agent has common sense.

"What are you?" demanded the DPA agent after considering the reply.

"Technically imbued, again the wrong question because it does not help you." The seated man studied the DPA agents reaction his intent study at odds with his projected calmness.

He could teach a course on how to evade answering questions in a straight manner.

Turning to Lady Astarte the man smiled. "Because it is now nearly one pm and I promise while she is in my care there will be no issues. She will live a normal life, I will teach her to control her gift and the world will continue to spin." Calmly regarding Lady Astarte he sat awaiting her judgement.

"You could have taken her, left before we arrived?" Lady Astarte questioned.

"And the three of you would have searched," he replied with a sad smile. "Combined your resources to keep looking and as long as you searched, as long as you chased us the possibility of future events equally as terrifying, equally as able to get out of hand as those averted today remained. Running would not have resolved today's issues, merely assured a repeat at a later time," he explained.

Whoa, I don't know if it's an imbued ability of his or not, but his kind of wisdom is rare to see nowadays.

All the seated man has planned to help this girl to have a fairly normal life, to help her grow up and have control of her powers, to not be a threat to the world. Yet the MCO agent goes for his firearm the moment he says he doesn't have some kind of power to control the girl, colossal moron right there. Lady Astarte can KO someone with a touch, just what other powers does she have that haven't been shown in any of the stories so far? Why is the DPA agent pushing so much for a name or codename, something is off here?

"No think. I saved the world and none of you had the slightest inkling I would be here! I have nothing to fear from psychics, it is the mundane application of technology, logic and almost limitless resources I fear," desperately the seated man pleaded.

Oh boy, this situation is a mess if the DPA agent doesn't agree.

"Or I answer your questions and with a single word you, Mr. Banks will swear sulphorously and wish you had listened to me," the seated man replied sadly.

Looking carefully at Lady Astarte silently Agent Banks and her reached a decision and the calm man's shoulders slumped. With tears in his eyes he looked to the DPA man and silently begged him to change his mind.

"I'm afraid sir I'm going to have to require you to give me some information about who you are and what you can do before I am willing to do leave her in your care" he firmly stated.
Crying silently the seated man looked him in the eye and said his one word.

*(&(, why couldn't Agent Banks leave it alone, too stubborn for his or anyone else's good.

Ripples

"That name is a legacy, as is its power," the seated man replied with exaggerated calm. "I told you I'm imbued, I am not a mutant."

"You're also supposed to be an immortal agent of the Catholic Church!" the DPA agent half screeched.

"Hardly immortal," the seated man chuckled. "I'm no older then I seem. As I said the power is imbued and the name is a legacy, It's not even a name we call ourselves rather a code assigned by the enemies of the Church as they studied those of us with this power."

"Are the ratings true?" The DPA agent demanded.

"Yes," the seated man replied calmly.

"Impossible!" This time the DPA agent did screech. "There has never been a seven precognitive!"

"Impossible for a precog, yes," the seated man replied as if lecturing. "Anything higher then a three would cause intense anguish, by five or six even the sanest will find themselves broken and in a mental institution at best."

"So how can you be a seven!" the DPA agent demanded in disbelief.

"I'm not a precog, I'm a clairvoyant," the seated man replied with a shrug.

Okay, this just became a bigger deal than before. An agent of the Catholic Church with a legacy name and power with that kind of power, dang.

"Clairvoyants on the other hand always need to go looking to see the future. If we don't look we don't see. You can think of precogs as clairvoyants with a danger sense. The more powerful the more they sense and the more often it happens. It's not the power that drives them mad it is the anguish of the knowing, the inability to prevent over and over and over again events they have seen. Eventually the powerful ones will do anything to make the visions stop." The man calmly looked the DPA Agent in the eye. "Yes I am powerful but only when I ask for the visions. I control my visions they don't control me.” Calmly the seated man looked up at the DPA agent.

*eyes bug out* Good grief, this kind of power in the wrong hands would be a nightmare.

"That's only part of my power," the seated man replied calmly. "'Solomon' is rated so high for the skill. The ability to see near infinite possibilities and the cleft points in them all and to map out the paths between them. I knew not only what could happen but how I alone could stop it, the exact steps I needed to make to force those cleft points the way I wanted them to go."

Solomon as in King Solomon, no wonder he said saying one word would get Agent Banks so upset. All those details planned out so precisely, I'm guessing those chosen to be the new Solomon are trained from a young age to have strong willpower and focus to handle all that.

Yet even he couldn't force everything to be precisely the way he wanted, just the way he needed to save Shelly in time.

Miracles!" the DPA agent demanded in disbelief. "How can you talk of miracles! You said it yourself you have the fate of the world in your hands, you can make it walk whatever Path you choose! You can make the butterfly flap its wings that would drown the entire planet!"

Having the power to do that and choosing not to is a miracle in itself, imo.

"You prayed for a miracle?" the DPA agent demanded in shock. "You who set out to save the world knowing you'd succeed?"

"The world is not saved," Solomon reminded him with sorrow. "Unfortunately you now know what I am, I can no longer hide. Shelly is still in danger, and that danger could cause another event like today's could have been. And now, I am confirmed, something I've know from the moment of my gifts arrival to avoid has happened. Proof exists that I am real and my gifts as stated."

You couldn't just do the right thing without proof, Agent Banks, look what you've done. All those people wanting to control his power for their own, sickening they would see a gift like his that can save the world and only want it for themselves.

"Using our skill leaves ripples, leaves changes in the time stream other clairvoyants can see. Paths taken that should not have been taken, changes to history that are not natural. Skilled clairvoyants, and after I stop being a legend all the skilled ones will be looking for me, can track me. See what events have my touch on them, infer from those which events will touch me, which will not. Once they have a fix on me, even all my skill can't stop any of them let alone all of them pushing the cleft points till eventual someone corners me and then?" Solomon shrugged. "We have Shelly witnessing attacks on me and depending on circumstances attacks on her and then ..." he closed his eyes and shuddered.

All this because a man refused to not have an answer to his question. At least Lady Astarte is thinking clearly enough to try and get them thinking about what to do next. , no

Turing to Lady Astarte Solomon continued. "I'm sorry, I know this is an imposition but can you host myself and my ward? At least long enough for us to instil a layer of control for her gifts? Enough to allow me to try and build some cover again, learn some skills and hopefully make some contacts to try and allow us to disappear?"

A week, possibly a fortnight at Whateley Academy, I hope Shelly isn't corrupted by some of the students there or some of the staff.

"Can't you use your skills to make sure she does it?" Agent Banks demanded.

"Would you?" Solomon enquired. "Force someone to pay a price they may not wish to pay, to get a reward they might not consider enough all just for your convenience?"

"The fate of the world!" Agent Banks started before a glare for Lady Astarte silenced him.

Stuff a sock in his, Banks, you've caused enough harm by forcing his hand as it is.

What a minute, non-lethal option, talk of Whateley's Ultimate Solution, this girl is named Shelly. Don't tell me Mrs. Carson's daughter Shelly isn't her actual daughter, but this girl given altered memories by Louis aka Fubar?

In permanent motion above continental USA.

D'oh, with his first line I knew it would be Chessmaster. The Council, he is sending the Syndicate after Solomon and Shelly at Whateley Academy, how low can you get.

A Ferrari

He bought this with his Bishop's credit card, I like Solomon more and more. Okay, not bought, but still. And faking out the MCO like this, oh man, they are going to wish they never got involved once this is over. Ah, smart, careful speeding outside of the city where it's harder to get caught doing so. A road trip across the United States on Route 66, now that is classic.

Ouch, a song that her Dad liked.

"Dad and Mum didn't get on much," Shelly explained. "She left him before she had me but stayed around local so he and I could see each other. I spent most of the Christmas holidays with Dad riding around to the various farms with him, watching him loading up the truck with hayrolls taking them back to town and running them through the machines. Dad had saved up enough to take me to see America, Mum saved up enough for herself and we were gonna see some sights. We were flying to Las Vegas today," Shelly cried some more silently. "I didn't even get to say goodbye, I didn't get to say I loved them or anything," she quietly cried into her hands.

I hope whoever was at the firing controls of the weapon that shot them down suffered when the weapon exploded. Got tears in my eyes now, no child should have to lose their parents.

He's letting Shelly learn how to drive a car like that, he must know something we don't or this is to take her mind off less pleasant memories.

"For us there is two reasons. Swapping every two hours, or really every time we re-fuel and we'll be doing that near enough every two hours whether cars needed it or not, keeps us fresh, let's us rest and recuperates we can drive for as long as the sun is up. Two hours isn't long enough to start feeling it before you get a break," Solomon explained.

Good reason for switching out. The reason for not driving at night, yikes, never drive after dark in Australia it seems. Nice reason for doing it now, perfect cover by blending in in plain sight.

3 days for a cross-country trip, now that is going all out.

"Cardinal actually and a real mean bean counter," Solomon confirmed with a smile. "Not that I object normally but I just couldn't resist putting it all on the one card imagining his face over and over as he reads through the line items when he receives the card's statement." Solomon shared a smile with Shelly.

Bwahahaha, Solomon sure lets more of his fun side show when it is just him and Shelly. Going with that story for cover, hope you aren't arrested in a place where they would beat you for that rather than see you locked up. Flip-flops are called thongs, oh boy, so many ways that could be taken wrong by someone listening in.

Secure Syndicate Tele-conferencing channel

Great, they are going after Solomon, they have no idea what they will unleash if he comes to harm or they threaten Shelly. Oh, this is set in the present day, after the 2006 Halloween incident. So a different Shelly altogether, with no date given and all that I made a wild guess earlier and missed, oh well.

"And our agreement with Whateley?" another queried.

"It survived the Chessman it will survive this, especially if the team minimise damages and casualties. I leave the assembly and instructions of the team to our planner, if there are no further urgent matters?"

A second incident of you breaking the Whateley Accords, Accords you signed off on and agreed to, plus add what is at stake here and I think the Syndicate is going to find Mrs. Carson making sure they pay for this stunt.

A posh place like this and just getting a salad and the fish, what a waste. Freshly squeezed fruit juice, now this is a very posh place. People frowning at them, but who knows for what reason. Unscared and normal, tall order right now. Aww, interstate instead of Route 66.

Smiling and starting the engine as he checked for other traffic Solomon looked over to her as he pulled out. "Beautiful girl, stunning dress, million dollar car," he stated. "It's all camouflage Shelly, just never the type people would expect from those on the run. Our MCO Agent is actually one of their best and he would know by now that he's chasing 'Solomon' who works with the Catholic Church so is a priest and unlike most Americans he can pick an Australian accent so he knows that about me too, you he knows nothing about, thankfully. Our MCO agent is busy searching for a Catholic priest, who will stick out like a sore thumb in civilian clothes he thinks, with an Australian accent, possibly using Church assets maybe even Vatican ones trying to run and hide with an American teenager."

I wonder how much one of their best is going to get chewed out for letting them escape. And he has a good point, I see a car like a Ferrari and I tend not to notice who is driving unless they get too close for comfort.

"Eventually the MCO will work out where we must be going," Solomon explained, "and just move out ahead of us to block us so we are going to go to Detroit, then cross into Canada and onto Montreal. We'll buy you some clothes and then catch a train down from Montreal to Berlin, and drive to Whateley from there."

"Why a train?" Shelly asked.

"The MCO at Berlin is all based at the Airport, they'll never expect us on the Canadian train. It's all about the unexpected, as long as we aren't doing what they expect us to do they'll keep not seeing us even when we are right in front of them besides as Australians the last thing they'll expect is us to be in Canada, so we'll be able to do the shopping we need in peace. I don't have the clothes for a Northern Hemisphere cold snap either after all," Solomon smiled at Shelly.

Seriously, anyway they can get Solomon to teach some of this stuff alongside Imp, he would be great.

Precognitive Floor, MCO Headquarters

New York City

Agent James getting laughed at for requesting information on Solomon, good, the more time wasted by them the better. And the precogs mess with him like that, ouch.

"Solomon is a myth!" Julie the youngest precog explained. "He's supposed to work for the Catholic Church and apparently there are reports of him doing so all the way back to the twelfth century."

"That can't be right," James muttered.

"If you believe the looney conspiracy boards," Adams the most pontifical of the precogs started up "Solomon is an imbued line of Precogs stretching back unbroken to King Solomon the First from the Old Testament times. They say the reason the Catholic Church has survived so long is that when Constantine converted to Christianity split his Empire and built a new capital the Line of Solomon that had been moved to Rome at the conquest of the Jews stayed in Rome eventually falling under control from the Catholic Church."

No wonder information is so hard to believe about him, conspiracy boards, yikes. And Agent James has to look up those sites for information, this is going to take a while.

Berlin

"Mrs. Carson! I certainly didn't expect you to meet us personally," Solomon greeted Lady Astarte in her civilian attire outside the Berlin railway station.

"A set of co-ordinates and the words 'discreet car'? I had no idea what to expect and our clairvoyants just can't find you! How do you do that?" she demanded of him in return.

I'm guessing the nature of who imbues the Solomon line would be the answer to that, making them invisible to precogs and other clairvoyants.

"It's real easy, we made no ripples, even today what could be more normal? Two people meet at the station and enter a car. Every passenger who got off the train did the same thing. There are no ripples, no cleft points, nothing momentous happened. Shelly and I had a nice drive across the ," Solomon shrugged depreciatively.

"That's it?" Mrs. Carson exclaimed.

"That's it," Solomon confirmed. "Boring lives leave no unexpected ripples and I picked a route and method of travel that went perfectly smoothly and never had the MCO suspecting the least little thing. Even now we'll drive up to the school in your car straight through all their patrols as they've been bugging your office phone and think you've received no messages from us. As far as they are concerned you just went to Berlin for some shopping or a meeting or something else common place. They are not interested in you at the moment so they'll note the car and then ignore it, it's expected."

That fact he can figure all this out is what makes him scary to so many people.

It's simultaneously commonplace and forgotten, perfect for a surreptitious arrival without the appearance of being surreptitious so clairvoyants go nuts trying to predict it.

If he taught lessons on how to think about these things, how to plan trips, and such in this way it would make a lot of people harder to predict. Now I'm not so sure I would want him teaching such a class to Whateley students.

Not staff, not a student, just a resident of the area, who is Solomon meeting?

"I have my plans yes," Solomon agreed. "But people need to agree to them. I promise as soon as I have the means of implementing the plans you'll be the first to know my proposal and have the right to refuse it."

So he needs the help of students and/or staff members to pull off his plan, hhm.

"I told you our contact would be meeting us at your school, her instructions were to wait between the Grove and the school boundary and she'll meet us 'sometime' tonight." Solomon explained. "Since tonight is going to be practically a blizzard Shelly and I will be waiting in a tent."

Not even September so the school hasn't started yet, wonder what would cause such an unseasonal blizzard besides Kigatilik.

"Let's keep it simple those that are unfriendly won't be hindered by any cover story and let's not have misunderstandings getting incompetents going after the wrong people. I'm a Catholic Priest Shelly is my ward who has just manifested, she's here for some basic training and testing while we organise to have her start next semester."

So basically the truth with some details left out, should work.

"Even the schools defences are not enough, you aren't a student nor technically a parent or staff, they'll take you and then face the consequences."

Good to know Carson realizes even the school has its limits on who it can defend.

"It doesn't take two weeks to organise that."

"It does to build up the will to authorise them to enter the grounds of Whateley Academy though and I'll be staying wholly within them." Lady Astarte nodded her understanding.

I honestly think you could get a crew of hardened mercenaries to sooner march into Hell than try to storm the grounds of Whateley Academy.

A Tent

Already that cold, where did this blizzard come from? An escort, just who would they get that would laugh at them as the tent is blown around by the wind? Solomon has been camping before. That close to the Grove without going into it, he could give Lanie lessons on being a rules lawyer.

"Two or three at least but that's to the good, everyone still thinks we are trying to get here the last thing they'll expect us to be doing is camping in a blizzard like this."

Just what is up with this blizzard, the one Kigatilik caused was in October, not even September now. Something strange has to be going on.

"Yeah, I carefully placed it and it's the same type of tent they use in Polar expeditions, it's rounded so the wind goes over rather then tries to blow it down."

"What about snow and tree branches and stuff?" Shelly asked concerned.

"My you do have a good imagination!" Solomon complimented her with a laugh. "We are in the lee of the trees, that means that the trees are protecting us from most of the wind and the little wind that gets through will blow the snow off the tent almost as soon as it lands, piling it up in the lee of the tent and therefore not on the tent. Also I carefully positioned the tent, while we are in the lee of the trees we are not under the trees, no branches should fall on us nor is there a tree directly upwind from us for the wind to blow over onto us either. All we have to worry about is the cold so lets fix that as best we can."

Just what kind of experience does Solomon have in camping, this is pro-level knowledge. Has he been camping in blizzard conditions before, sure seems like it.

"It's a porcelain thimble, it's the best I could find for our guest to use when she arrives."

Milk coffee and this, is one of the pixies from the Grove a friend of Solomon? Coffee made with just milk, always wonder what milk coffee was.

"Tell me about your parents. Tell me some stories about them."

"Why?"

"Because you are grieving. Because you keep remembering your last seconds with them over and over."

"I don't want to talk about it!"

"I know but I don't want you to be only remembering your parents that way, to have it be the thing you remember each time someone mentions them. The mind is an amazing thing always playing back things to remember, building new links, strengthening old ones. If you fall asleep over and over remembering just those few seconds it will slowly build stronger and stronger links to those images, I want you to keep other memories of your parents is all like what does your mother smell like?"

Good, getting her to talk about them so she can hold onto happy memories. Crud, numbly and automatically answering questions about them.

She did notice though that he was there to sweep her into his arms when eventually she cried "oh my God they're gone they’re never coming back!" and wept into his chest as he held her and stroked her hair.

I want to find out who ordered that weapon to be fired on them and make them suffer. It hurts seeing Shelly in so much pain.

b]Selanothis[/b]

So many people try to rush people, forgetting to let them grieve and that there is no set time limit on how long they will grieve. I'm so glad she has Solomon in her life. Selanothis, sure sounds like a pixie or some supernatural being's name.

"Bubble bath, for Selanothis modesty."

"Wait modesty? You'd only fit a hand in that pot!"

"You or I would, Selanothis on the other hand" Solomon pointed across the tent.

Peeking out from behind Shelly's hanging jacket was a wonder, a tiny women little larger then a man's hand in height with long red hair and huge nearly transparent wasp-like wings. She was wearing what looked like brown leather pants and vest and her arms were tightly hugging her chest.

Okay, doesn't sound like the pixies that have been hanging out with Absinthe, so a fairy instead of a pixie mayhaps. Leg warmers and a beanie from parts of a thermal glove, resourceful guy Solomon is.

"Oh wow! Of course, Fairies live forever!"

"No Shelly she's a mutant just like you I just mean she was born in the sixties, she's old enough to be your grandma. Think how your grandma would react to you being in her bathroom with her!" Solomon chuckled at the sounds of Shelly quickly turning around and he couldn't help peeking sideways to see her flaming red cheeks as he heard musical laughter from behind him.

A mutant with a BIT that much like a fairy, whoa.

"She's a telepath? Cool does she need permission to do it? Is that like a fairy thing?" Shelly demanded excitedly.

"No it's a Selanothis thing, she considers it rude to project into people's head without their permission."

"Oh cool! Please feel free to telepath to me too!" Shelly called.

*Careful, you know not what you offer after all once in I could wander anywhere.* With the words came emotion and these words came with all the humour and wickedness of a cat with a new toy mouse.

As playful as some fairies too, eep. At least she is more polite than most telepaths.

Shelly blushed and nodded. "Yeah Dad's Mum before she died, I swear every morning I woke up in her house last summer she had a smirk and an eyebrow lift that made me blush to the roots."

*First crush?* Selanothis asked to Shelly's rueful nod.

Her maternal grandmother sure knew how to embarrass a girl.

"Wood ash from a fire and fat from cooking is the original soap Shelly, people used it exclusively for millennia."

*If not usually the best smelling,* Selanothis agreed. *So washing up detergent is a welcome change.* She sniffed her hand. *Smells of lemons,* she 'pathed with a smile.

She uses the original soap, no wonder dishwashing soap is a welcome change.

Selanothis laughed a silvery bell like sound that was both heard and emotions in their head. *It's a blizzard! Even wild animals are tucked up trying to stay warm waiting this out. Fairies are no more capable of surviving cold then humans are, we have just as little hair and the Grove isn't equipped to receive weather reports so an August blizzard took me by surprise.*

A mutant who is a fairy, is this like with Sidhe mutants? Aww, no magic, for now, no wonder she came into their tent. I wonder if anyone at Whateley knows Selanothis is out in the Grove, if Fey or Absinthe might have or might in the future meet her.

"I'm Shelly Kelly from Australia, I live in a small town near Wagga Wagga in case you know where that is?"

First and last names rhyme, I hope she didn't get teased too much. And Selanothis is shocked to learn the rumors about the Catholic Church and Solomon are true. Oh, misunderstood earlier, not a line, I wonder how the next Solomon is chosen.

Wait a minute, with what Solomon is asking Shelly to 't tell me she can bring what she imagines to life, that is extremely powerful reality warping. Wait a minute, I remember Kristin saying reality was an improperly placed aspect for warping, that it doesn't exist. Either I'm remembering wrong, or something has changed.

"You are a reality warper, a very powerful one," Solomon explained.

"Reality warper?" Shelly asked confused.

"If you concentrate nearly anything you imagine you can make. You change reality in a field around yourself and after you've finished things are different. There are limits on what you can do but the most dangerous part of your skill is how good it is. Most reality warpers need to consciously build up in their mind in detail what they are warping, they are limited to what the can understand. You are not. If you can imagine it your skill can make it and that's what has them scared."

"Why?" Shelly asked distressed.

"Well unlike other warpers if you decided to create a black hole you'd get a black hole, only a micro or a mini one but it'd still be an uncontained black hole in contact with the earth, quite literally 'bang goes the planet'." Shelly stared at him in shock.

Okay, starting to see why everyone was so afraid of her power, and why Solomon needs to train her to control it.

"I don't know probably Dragon Ball?" Shelly suggested.

"And other Anime and cartoons right?" Solomon prompted to Shelly's shrug.

*Why is this dangerous? They are children's shows.*

"Because Shelly's gift allows her to think anime but get reality. For example think really big explosion and get an atom bomb."

What the what!?! Her power dwarfs anything else, if the MCO wasn't after her, the potential of other students trying to bully her, I would say she was perfect for Whateley.

"Yes and you see what Shelly's 'training' mostly is. Teaching her real life knowledge about various things so that she uses that when using her skill and not anime and cartoons and Hollywood movies and all their fake physics. She'll grow out of being a danger to the world fairly fast with proper training but the problem is people and organisations like the MCO are manoeuvring to physically threaten her now, any confrontation that escalates too far will get her panicking and desperately trying things that will have these unintended consequences. She'll think fake physics but her skill will give her real physics and its consequences. She's only dangerous if she gets desperate and even then only because she's untrained, powerful and scared. Change any of that and there is no problem."

All this and Solomon wants Selanothis' help training Shelly, tall order. A safety valve, put her to sleep if things get too bad, glad to see Solomon planning for that potential.

Solomon raised an eyebrow. "Pixie sorcerers with your power and experience?"

*There are others more powerful then me.*

"Pixies?"

*No, but..*

"You enchant her, not sorcery or magic. You. I want you Selanothis and we travelled a continent not to hide but to meet you."

Talking to her all this time and only now turns red and points out she is naked, Solomon, speak up sooner next time.

A future

Standing on the table with her glove-dress on and a thumb-tip beanie pulled down over her ears Selanothis struck a pose. *How do I look?* she asked.

Glove-dress, never thought I would read that in a sentence. Decades, ouch, so the other faeries have been shunning her for a long time.

*Possibly but I'm kind of an outsider, some things in my past make them really uncomfortable so I make my own clothes.*

Aww, no one should be alone. A comforting burst of pure emotion, sending Shelly all the comfort she could, is this part of her magic, or is she a projective empath as well?

"Shelly is a reality warper I am a Clairvoyant you are a powerful Mage. I need to disappear, become believed dead Shelly as well. You want to regain normal size, interact again with humans, have relationships. I was thinking a spell that changes all our appearances, actually more a spell guiding Shelly's power and complimenting it as she does the necessary reality warping to make it work."

Whoa, big plan, and less than a week to pull it off or never have it happen. Living the memories of Solomon to learn his plan and every detail of it, wonderful and dangerous is right.

*It is wonderful and in its wonder lies its danger* Selanothis cautioned. *We, us, our identity is our memories. I have seen what happens to those who loose themselves in the memories of another and become nothing but a copy of the first.*

Yikes, I wonder who she saw this happen to.

"This is not quite the same," Solomon assured her. "These memories are made of my visions of the future which contain a lot about you anyway. It will just be disorientating as you are not a Clairvoyant. You will remember my skill at sorting the futures and that it all made sense but not have my skill you will have the memory of seeing it clearly but not skills to do it again within your own 'memories'."

And all this to make a difficult choice, I hope Shelly isn't scared by what she 'remembers'.

Sorting out memories subconsciously, don't think about it, always easier said than done when pointed out to you.

"Yes but please believe me I hold them back not to manipulate you, but out of love. Only sadness comes for knowing what is lost and can now never be."

Seeing the future with his degree of accuracy and ability, just the knowledge of paths lost would drive some mad.

*If I look in the first knot I force a choice on you?*

"You do."

*It is a choice you do not want?*

"It is a choice I am willing to make for all of our happiness."

Selanothis considered him unhappily for a moment. *I am sorry I cannot make a choice with what I know, I need to know what else you have seen that allows you to so confidently hold this choice* she finally replied.

Don't do it! And she is going to do it, at least Shelly doesn't want to see the memories of what might have been. Selanothis putting Shelly to sleep, if she could bottle that up she would make a mint.

"On your head be it." Starting to tear up already Solomon closed his eyes and opened the memories playing them in his head and allowing her to experience them with him, three lifetimes of memories that would now not be made.

This won't end well.

*I would have loved her,* Selanothis sniffed. *All that I wanted, hopes and dreams I'd hidden from myself. A life, a family, children.* Turning to Solomon she looked him in the eye. *You.* Crying steadily now Selanothis sat stroking the cheek of the sleeping girl. *Gone now and I never even got to fight for them. Oh how I want to fight for them!* she cried.

Stop making me cry, this is heartbreaking to watch. This is why seeing what might have been is never a good idea.

Finally she sighed and muttered, "Just more happy futures taken away from me by forces I cannot control nor even understood until too late. Buck up this time you have a choice."

Please let them have a happy future together as a family, after all this, they have all earned it. Selanothis, you are sneaky, but with good intentions. Even their dreams didn't give them peace, they need this whether they want to admit it to themselves or not. Sleeping by her future family, hehe, even if she thinks of it as a joke they do need this.

Secure Syndicate Tele-conferencing channel

And they found them at Whateley, whoever is talking is an idiot, he doesn't realize it will take time to go into Whateley Academy after them.

A long pause greeted the outburst. "I'm inclined to agree," finally the original voice responded. "This could be a trap, someone playing us to again blacken our name at Whateley and reduce our influence."

Yet they aren't aborting, seesh, lack of common sense. Any corrupt security officers who rat them out or give information to the Syndicate on this are going to be toast once Mrs. Carson finds out. And they still need proof that Solomon is real, I hope they are too late.

A wanted trap

Selanothis riding on that magpie, flying around the tent, guess she likes the gift after all. Oh good, everyone is on board with the plan.

*You cannot unlove a child. Once you'd experienced that future you are Shelly's adopted mother, those memories are yours now even though that future cannot now happen. There is no way you were not going to help Shelly once those memories entered your head, she is your daughter.*

*Pretend all you like I'm the mind reader not you,* Selanothis replied turning back to silently watching Shelly. *You may not have known the consequences but I know your attempts to stop me were heartfelt and sincere. There was no trick, I trapped myself and I can't in all honesty say I am sorry. I want this. I want to hold her and comfort her just as you do. Until you showed me I didn't realise how much I've always wanted a family, how much I hurt that it has been denied me all these years.*

Solomon says they can't get that future now, why now, why won't the plan work as intended? Please don't let anyone die.

Sighing guiltily he looked towards Selanothis unhappily. *You are sure about giving up your existence to stay with her and help her?*

*I told you it's not like that, I'm choosing to stop just surviving and moving on to living again." Selanothis turned back to watching Shelly. *This is as good for me as it is for her and if you'd stop feeling responsible and tragic you'd know that I am right.* She turned to Solomon and smiled. *After all is it not exactly what you have chosen? You no more could stop loving our adopted daughter then I can.* Wryly, Solomon nodded at the statement's truth.

Giving up her existence to say with Shelly and help her, what does he mean by that? They have to let Mrs. Carson know about Selanothis, this should be an interesting meeting.

No magpie snow gear, aww, they need to go somewhere warm.

*Haven't you worked out what a large bird that will happily let you sit on its back means?* Selanothis darted back to the tent again followed by the magpie to sit there blinking at him in confusion. "Your 'it's not me' glamour has something to deflect to, something that flies," Solomon murmured.

Selanothis’ eyes widened in surprise. *I can fly in the day!* she cried joyously whistling and jumping on her magpie as Solomon laughed.

She needs to give the magpie a name.

*But I have to not be seen! Ever since I manifested I've been able to fly but always not able to do it freely where it would be possible for people to see me. Always I’ve had to be on the lookout for people or lately cameras, always flying carefully, darting from hide to hide, waiting to see if anyone saw and is tracking me. Now I'm free! This. Is. Flying!!* Screaming in joy Selanothis dove on Shelly who ducked to Selanothis' joyous laughter.

No wonder she hasn't been noticed by anyone at Whateley in all these years.

"As old as your grandmother not is a grandmother," Solomon repeated. "Is some ways she's still the teenager she was when she manifested, she's had to hide from people ever since. She can look after herself and do magic but she's not really had much of any imperatives to grow up."

"What? She's like Peter Pan?”

Solomon laughed. "I dare you to call her Tinkerbell, wait till tonight when we're alone again," he smiled wickedly at her and Shelly gave him a guarded look before ducking into the tent to start getting the bags out. With a laugh Solomone knelt down and started unburying a tent peg and levering it out of the ground.

Oof, never had to grow up in all these years, I wonder what a shock being human-sized again after all this time might be. And don't call her Tinkerbell, bad idea. A fun way to remain hidden, a fairy in the hood of her hoodie, Shelly will have tales to tell when things are safe again.

*Shelly is innocent in this, her excitement is the innocence of one who has been given a special gift.*

*So was hers,* Selanothis pointed out with great sadness in her thoughts.

*She knew not what she did Selanothis and you never did tell her.*

*It was done and could not be changed,* Selanothis cried sadly in her thoughts. *Her unhappiness would not have benefited us in anyway.*

*She loved you Selanothis,* Solomon gently reminded her. *She knew you were sad and you never gave her a chance to atone for it.*

*She had no need for atonement she was as tricked as I was.* Selanothis sighed. *Enough Solomon, it was long ago and I was a different person I will not hold innocent excitement against Shelly besides it is distasteful to carry out conversations while excluding Shelly from them.* Including Shelly in the 'path she commented *Our lift arrives!*

Old pains brought up, sounds like an innocent friend was tricked, I wonder who that innocent friend was. Now the security team shows up, Autumn, fall, some use them interchangeably. And this wasn't even the worst the year has to offer, oh boy.

The security man smiled beatifically. "Exactly, also it's on the other side of the staff cottages from the teaching halls and the student cottages."

The summer retreat cottage sounds like the perfect hiding place in winter, I wonder if some students haven't thought of doing stuff there in the winter before.

The Retreat

Very precise and detailed instructions for the cottage they are using given by Mrs. Carson to security, hope those help.

The security officer sighed. "Unfortunately if you want the best they tend to be a curious bunch, they may not warn off easily."

Oh boy, don't tell me it is the former Dragonslayers or one of the student security teams.

"Find the most gossipy and magically sensitive to drive Mrs. Carson too and from here a few times then rotate the task through the most likely to be curious after that. If they see her here a lot 'by herself' they might better get the message."

Smart plan but some students would be made even more curious by this, and try again and again to look at what is going on inside.

"Father Timothy?" he enquired as the phone was picked up.

"Well if it isn't Crocodile Dundee the Monsignor!" was the happy answer.

I like him, he's silly.

"And I told you if they can't be bothered releasing them in our theatres I can't be bothered seeing them. I go to the movies not sit at home watching things, it's a harmless thing I can do with a bunch of teen and preteen kids with no worries, let's not get into the wealth of potential issues with a priest, a number of teenage boys, or girls, and a video player could get accused of doing."

An extremely good reason for seeing movies in theatres. Solomon, you have got to be careful with regular people of the church when having them thanked or talked to by those from the Roman office.

Shelly's grandmother died from a heart attack, ouch, keep that from her for now, enough to deal with as it is. Last rites for the victims, I hope Father Timothy can do them in time.

"A friend, Father Timothy is a Jesuit Priest and lawyer, he works with a lot of 't look like that you two, it's nothing black or hidden! The Catholic Church owns a lot of land, Churches, Schools, Hospitals, Universities, Monasteries, Nursing Homes, the list is nearly endless. Add in our charities like the St. Vincent De Paul Society with all its second hand shops, Caritas with all its overseas missions often in places that are officially sanctioned by the , priests or nuns so we have people like Father Tim who gets sent from parish to parish, agency to agency to negotiate the mess of "

Father Timothy has a job I do not envy, important but hard.

Whoa, I'm Catholic and didn't know this about the day-to-day operations of the church. Everyone isn't a Bishop not having paid, trained staff, that is ridiculous. Dorlean Kelly, faking the death of Selanothis, even after all this time that has to hurt doing. I'm once again so glad Shelly has Solomon and Selanothis in her life, she needs all the comfort she can get.

Mrs. Carson

"I'm aware of the reputations of the kids at this school and that you like to, shall we say, 'encourage' the smart ones by letting them think they are getting away with things of an espionage nature."

"And that there is more then a few well equipped, well staffed, well motivated organisations with considerable power that like to know exactly what goes on in my school?" Mrs. Carson finished.

I knew it! All that espionage by the students, I knew Carson knew about it all. And organizations who want to know what is going on at Whateley Academy, just look at the idiot recruiters breaking the rules and you can figure that one out easily. Carson doesn't know about Selanothis, color me surprised. Even the basement of this cottage is tricked out.

Playing Tricks card game and Shelly is being beaten by Selanothis, her reaction is priceless. The introduction of Selanothis to Mrs. Carson, running Whateley Academy has prepared her for meeting all types of people.

"You and I, Shelly," Solomon continued. "Represent complications to the delicate balances that allow this school to continue operating, not to mention valuable assets some of those with agreements or other points of pressure on the school will be manipulating to get Mrs. Carson or others in power in the school to act in ways they might prefer not to.

"I'm glad to see you understand my difficulties," Mrs. Carson acknowledged with a smile.

Yikes, between the proverbial rock and a hard place. ARC, glad that is a plan of last resort to involving them, being a guest there they might as well be prisoners.

"Because ARC's containment facility is a very secure combined nuthouse and prison," Solomon explained sadly. "People who run nuthouses and prisons are not very receptive to the idea that inmates are innocent or sane without their say so on the matter. Once there no matter what the circumstances of our arrival the controllers will take the position all inmates are potentially dangerous to public safety until proven otherwise. It may be easy to get into ARC but I assure you it would be considerably harder to get back out."

Solomon knows a lot about how psych hospitals and prions treat patients and prisoners.

Solomon sighed. "I can't say. Events that happen today, events several states away and beyond my control will dictate the timing. I need to wait and feel how the cleft points move."

Seeing the future sounds like a headache and half to deal with.

"It's not knowledge of the same skills that is true," Solomon agreed. "But a Mage of strength controls powers of similar scope to those Shelly manipulates, their learnings have instilled in them appreciation for the dangers of such powers, understanding for the areas of concern. Selanothis has decades of experience carefully planning her spellcasting to have the fewest undesirable effects. 'How can this go wrong' is second nature to her, it is this skill Shelly most desperately needs. Basically Selanothis is the best of us to understand the ways in which innocent intent, enormous power and lack of proper forethought and planning can lead to unexpected and dangerous events, she's the best person we have to stop Shelly making a fatal mistake."

Why, why, why couldn't Selanothis have come to Mrs. Carson sooner and offered to help teach magic classes, so many of the Wiz students need to learn those things. *eyes bug out* They need Selanothis and Solomon to train Shelly for this plan to work, one misstep 't want to think of what could happen.

Time crunch and not enough time left, how will they pull this off? All that and Solomon can only directly influence some of the cleft points needed and pray the rest go their way, this is going to be rough. At least he can get the information needed for Mrs. Carson to plan ahead. An imbued device, the Solomon heritage is passed down through an imbued device!

Solomon smiled. "None" he laughed at her stunned look. "Shelly is a nickname not a name on any of her records, it's not even a short form of any of her names. Searching the records of the flight will not find her."

Okay, that definitely threw me for a loop, I thought it was her real name this whole time.

Solomon nodded. *ARC black level isn't a prison it's a containment facility," Solomon explained. "If we are put into ARC Black containment it will be as human popsicles, frozen until such time as an ARC advisor group feels it is a good idea to unfreeze us again. ARC Black is the 'lock them up and throw away the key' prison for awkward mutants."

*Awkward?*

*Highly dangerous but not actually guilty of doing anything yet. Those locked up for 'societies' good without trial or parole, mostly for the sin of their power's existence and poor control. Oh there are a few super dangerous criminals in there too, the ones that get rolled out when someone asks what the facility is for.*

I knew ARC black level was used to imprison super dangerous criminals, but not the rest. Now I don't like ARC as much anymore.

*OK, OK. She's a high school girl who is dealing with monsters, a destiny and people coming after her for things she's not even sure she wants and she deals with these things by hitting her enemies. Anything that gets Shelly to try something other then her talents first gives us time to get to her and protect her and prevent her getting out of hand with anime instead.*

*So you're trying to brain washing Shelly into hitting things and not throwing anime at them?* Selanothis asked giggling.

*It is a good show! You should give it a chance!* Solomon defended.

Hey, Solomon has a point, I'm just glad Dragonball Super isn't out yet by this point, or imagine what Shelly might try. And having to see all the bad outcomes of each vision of the future that doesn't go as they wish it, yikes, like Dragon's Lair times a thousand at least. Visitors tonight but won't be discovered, the rest of their conversation, sometimes following Solomon's way of talking of his visions can give me a headache.

Selanothis sighed. *I hope you know how hard its going to be to watch this and not correct it all the time. The writers didn't even try to stay true to any mythology, just making it up and 'borrowing' things form all over the place as they went along!*

Heh, I had to keep reminding myself it is just silly entertainment and ignore those same complaints from my brain when watching the series. Camping inside, I love Shelly saying it is girls only in there, strong-willed young lady.

Selleny

Crud, Agent Banks is on the move and has a partner named Selleny. Going to Whateley Academy, he is going to get read the riot act if he so much as draws his gun while on campus grounds. Agent Banks is a manipulative weasel, saying he would do things with Selleny after this, already booking tickets for both of them.

"You both seem to be forgetting Selleny is on leave this week," the office aid smirked. "What on earth do you think she believes Banks just offered her with his call to spend the rest of the week and the weekend together with him in New Hampshire in the Fall?" she queried with a naughty smirk.

Okay, Agent Banks is an idiot who just dug himself in deep, if he doesn't live up to Selleny's expectations for their time together he is going to leave her beyond ticked off.

Las Vegas

Wait, this isn't Las Vegas! The temporary home for Shelly, Solomon, Selanothis, and Maggie is shaping up great.

"Eventually," Solomon laughed. "This afternoon I'm going to show you the past, more importantly a what if past in particular what didn't happen in Las Vegas. You need to understand your power and fully know its dangers if we are to have any chance of doing this."

"Didn't something awful get avoided in Las Vegas?" Shelly whined.

*eyes as wide as saucers* He is going to show her the bad future, the one where he didn't rescue her, a world-ending disaster. I hope she can handle seeing this. That deep of a telepathic link so their love for her can assure Shelly these memories aren't real, dang, tearing up here. This is a training run for all future training, a heck of a training scenario Solomon picked.

Aftermath

Do I even want to guess how bad it was that you didn't show the alternate past? Solomon dead, Shelly was shot by one of the agents [probably MCO boy] before she even did anything, just from these details alone it sounds like a nightmare. Shelly needs to rest after that, I wish Solomon had thought of a better way to train her. And in that potential past being shot multiple times triggers her power and an explosion that ends the world, all because an idiot saw Shelly as nothing more than a threat to eliminate.

These possibilities are not real, they are not happening they did not happen. They are not you. Shelly I want you to think about this as a very realistic simulator a computer game, one where you can save your progress and try over and over again till you get it right. You've played those games right? Ones where there is only one way forward and many, many wrong ways that kill you and you have to try over and over all the different ways till you get it right? Can you do that?"

"I. I'll try," Shelly mumbled.

Disconnecting from her potential past or futures like that is a very tall order. The original Buffy movie, oh the cheesiness of it. I'm glad Shelly is getting some sleep after all that, draining doesn't begin to cover what it must feel like.

Dinner

Selanothis looked carefully to Shelly and then puzzled turned her head. *No,* she drawled. *She is intellectually afraid of what happened but emotionally it doesn't connect to her talent.* Selanothis looked to Solomon who just nodded relieved.

That is good, intellectual level fears I've found are easier to deal with than emotional-level ones, imo. 30-minute nap, good. Beef stew, yum.

"I wondered how long it would take you to ask," Solomon replied with a smirk. "She can eat the same as us but her stomach is tiny, she basically needs to eat nearly all the time to get the energy she needs during the day to fly and do the magic she does. She eats as much sugar as she can get."

I wondered how she got all the energy she would need at her size. No going to the toilet the way humans do anymore, Selanothis might miss a lot of things but I bet she doesn't miss that.

Wait, so every potential future he sees, now a past that never was, is part of Solomon's memories now. He must have incredible willpower and a sense of self to keep it all straight.

"Now when she shares she goes even deeper, not just reading the mind like words in a book but actually reliving the events as though she was the person doing them.”

Selanothis has incredible willpower to do that.

"I don't want to lie to you, something equally as bad would have happened had I not been there. The MCO agent had no intention of letting you go and had steeled himself to kill 'a helpless girl' for the good of mankind before he arrived. He was so ruthless in hunting you down not because he hated you but because he hated himself for hunting an innocent girl like that."

"What?" Shelly asked startled.

"You are everything he swore to protect," Solomon explained. "But to protect everyone else he had psyched himself to the point where he could kill you, he just wanted the dirty work over as fast as possible. He wanted it over as fast as possible because he knew what he was doing was monstrous and he was worried he was too weak to carry out the task."

So he isn't a bigot to mutants, just got in too deep on what he had to do to save the world for this job and hating himself for it, ouch.

"You are not dangerous, you have full control of your talent and what it can do, if people left you alone there would be no problems."

"How are you going to stop people chasing me? How am I going to stop doing things that hurt people?" she wept into his chest.

"We are going to teach you and protect you Shelly, then you and Selanothis are going to change the three of us so much that no matter how hard they look they will never find us again."

I hope I'm not just reading into this, but that line from Solomon, the first one in the quote, makes it seem like Shelly has elements of the Hulk in that if people left her alone there would be no problems.

Whateley Security

An illusion of a portal sucking things to scare off security who weren't supposed to be there, now that is a great use of an illusion. Shelly and Selanothis sleeping in the tent together peacefully, just how it should be. Solomon's first name is David, huh.

Distracted

Solomon, taking one of Shelly's Vegemite toast, naughty.

*She didn't just manifest she's been reality warping for months it's just that it's almost unconscious like wishing, later we'll need to make her aware of it and get her to control that too but currently it's not an issue.*

*What do you mean 'unconscious'?* demanded Selanothis.

*Well like the Vegemite,* he said picking up the jar and screwing the lid back on. *Shelly's Australian and breakfast was toast, when she went to the pantry she expected honey and Vegemite so that's what she found, now this being America it's not actually true that this is the case anymore, Americans don't stock Vegemite in their *

Oh crud, she is more like Haruhi Suzumiya, doing unconsciously without even realizing it, eep.

*So one of the reasons you're so sure we can do this is because Shelly didn't just manifest, she's already got pretty good control over her abilities we just need to teach her how to direct them?* Selanothis asked impressed.

*Yep,* Solomon replied taking another bite out of his toast and chewing thoughtfully. *Nearly all the time is going to be like yesterday with its interruptions, but we got a break.*

Okay, that is good, now to resolve all the incoming threats.

Agent Banks is coming, Selleny is his distraction, idiot doesn't know what he's set himself up for. So Agent Banks isn't the MCO agent they first met, at least that guy took the bait and heading to the wrong location. Ugh, figures the MCO would illegally monitor a store like that. And how is the DPA operative distracted? At least Mrs. Carson and another woman, probably Selleny, are with Agent Banks as he shows up.

"My boss was less then happy reading my report and he wants me to learn more about something that can end the world and see that it is being properly contained."

Okay, no respect for Agent Banks now, calling Shelly an it, a fellow human being, is one of my pet peeves. Ignoring what Solomon says as well, this guy needs a harsh lesson about how to operate when on Whateley Academy property.

She is dressed like that and Banks is all business, this man needs a swift kick to make him pay attention.

"I'm here on holidays!" she replied dramatically. "I was promised a trip through the mountains, quaint forgotten towns, picturesque covered bridges, scenic mountains full of forests in fall colours." She turned to Agent Banks and grinned possessively. "Cold nights, warm open fires and hot blooded men keeping me warm all night long." She licked her lips suggestively. "There was to be dancing, close and tight."

"I apologised already," Agent Banks said bright red. "I didn't remember you were on leave when I called and invited you to come with me to New Hampshire, I'll clear it when we get back to the office and get you your leave returned."

Agent Banks, you could give osmium lessons on being dense.

She's a tease," he mumbled. "DPA guidelines are that close colleagues aren't to work in the same teams, so she does everything she can to get a raise out of me every time she partners me," he explained squirming while Agent Selleny gave him a daggered look from behind then smiling beatifically walked up to him grabbed his arm and cuddled up to it.

"He was my first love! Straight out of the Academy together he looked me up and proposed out of the blue, I knew he'd be my only partner for life," she turned and looking up into his eyes with a love struck gaze.

*You know I do believe she's serious,* Selanothis 'pathed delightedly.

Either Banks has a very bad memory or Selleny is blunt as a two-by-four to the face.

"Shelly's abilities are spectacular but not very heroic, I'm sure Shelly's experiences so far have already taught her the dangers of confrontations, she is not going to go deliberately seeking them out in the future, are you Shelly?"

"Na uh!" Shelly replied wide-eyed. "My talent’s too destructive for that! Everyone would be after me even if I survived doing it!"

Mrs. Carson's reaction, I think this is the first time she has met a teen who has a common sense this strong about their powers and going out seeking danger.

"You may inspect any buildings bar the student residential cottages but only when they are not in use by the student body. There is to be no attempting to sight or meet or track or in any way whatsoever to interact with the students, the students are to be totally oblivious to your presence but any of my staff may be interviewed away from the student body by request. You are not to attempt penetration of Whateley files of any sort by any means, be those financial, medical, surveillance, disciplinary or even just a list of students attending the school or any classes in it. Basically Agent Banks you may inspect the school but its student population is totally off limits at all times and in all ways, am I understood?"

Reasonable rules for a yearly inspection to keep the kids safe and not being unduly influenced by government agents.

Mrs. Carson smirked. "Well one of them is currently attempting to get your attention right now," she said pointing to Agent Selleny sitting next to him who had been attempting to subtly gain his attention and get him to look her way ever since Mrs. Carson first started making the offer.

Smiling sweetly Agent Selleny stood. "If you'd excuse us I think there are some things I need to talk to my partner about upstairs." Without looking back she strode to the stairs and exited the room.

Agent Selleny was one of the agents who did the last yearly inspection, well this will be fun. I pity Agent Banks if he even tries to skirt Mrs. Carson's rules and interact with the students, a herd of angry elephants is less scary than Mrs. Carson in mama bear mode.

Selanothis, go outside with Shelly, she doesn't need to relive what she saw in Solomon's memory.

"As you saw, Agent Banks is here and he managed to bring his own distraction with him. Agent Selleny will keep him mostly off balance enough for us to work around the two of them comfortably also Agent Selleny is already pre-disposed towards allowing our plan to continue since she has a slight pre-cognitive ability of her own, little more then trained intuition but she 'feels' no danger from Shelly. No matter what people are saying Agent Selleny has a lifetime's experience of following her own 'hunches' over other people's 'logic'.

I like Agent Selleny, now if she can just get Agent Banks to ask her out properly. 'Payola platoon', why Mrs. Carson doesn't have Fubar vet all security candidates and fire that bunch is beyond me.

Planting a bug like that, can't even trust everyone in the DPA completely.

"Change us, right down to the DNA. We won't look like we do now nor have the same DNA. Once that’s done a simple teleport spell and we'll 'disappear' and it will be impossible for the MCO to find us. We can live normal lives, Shelly can learn without even the possibility of being tracked."

Mrs. Carson looked sceptical and Solomon laughed. "All right would you accept the statement practically impossible? I know technically there would be people with the skills to track us anyway but they would have no reason to try. The MCO is global but without DNA, descriptions of us, clues to where we would go and who would help us the resources they'd actually assign to looking for us don't have a hope of finding us. Next the DPA only have jurisdiction in the United States, if we are not in the United States their abilities are crippled below a level effective enough to find us. Finally there is you, as either Headmaster of Whateley Academy or Lady Astarte do you really have any reason to want to track us down?"

This is huge, a plan like this being pulled off I bet it would a first of its kind.

"Oh yes, extinction level event," Solomon assured her. "Shelly would have set off an explosion easily as strong as a super volcano or massive comet hitting the earth."

When this story is finished I want to know what Shelly's official power ratings would be from Whateley power testers, even if she is never tested by them. Because that is a massive level of power.

"I can't really say the someone who could set of an extinction level event isn't a danger but at the basics her talent doesn't even sound dangerous," Solomon sighed. "At its simplest Shelly can reality warp about one hundred kilograms of matter from one form to any other form she wants, with some limitations."

"Limitations?

"It has to be real, it can't be impossible," Solomon explained with a shrug. "Also raw materials are easier for her as are living things for some reason, things she is intimately familiar with. So such things as lumps of raw elements or compounds are easy as are living things strangely. Mechanical or technological 'things' require her to know what it is and how it's made, so she could easily get a lump of iron, with practice should could get an iron bar but she'll need lots and lots of skill before she could get even a bare metal iron sword let alone one with a wrapped leather grip or made of steel. A computer is way out of her league. all she’d end up with is the outsides with none of the working internals.

"That covers her limitations then we get to the powerful part of her talent, it just has to be real matter. Shelly doesn't have to know its real nor understand it to make it in fact she can think any unreal thing she likes and her talent will produce the closest real analog to it can."

Okay, now it is starting to sound like some form of TK with high-level manipulation ability to restructure matter and some form of manifestation to create living beings. Like a Telekinesis 3 g rating for Dexterity, Manifestation of around level 3 with c and y for animal level independent behavior. But there would have to be more to it than these for all she has been noted as doing so far, wouldn't there? Also some Warper in there as well probably.

100 kilograms of anti-matter, *faints* I was wondering why Mrs. Carson was there, Mrs. Potter, I've missed her being mentioned. Preparing for the worst, I really hope that doesn't happen, not after all they have been through.

Solomon laughed. "No I merely wish to ask that she stops interfering."

Mrs. Carson stared at Solomon. "Interfering?" she enquired in a deadly cold tone.

Unfazed Solomon stared back. "You've heard the saying 'too many cooks spoil the broth'?" he asked waiting for her cautious nod. "Well we have too many clairvoyants stirring the possibilities. Mrs. Potter has her own skills, her own contacts and a set of cleft points she can manoeuvre, I have my skills, my contacts and my cleft points. It should be obvious that we are not necessarily talking about the same cleft points nor possibly the same wanted outcomes from even the subset of cleft points we both can manoeuvre. With more then one clairvoyant the complexities spiral exponentially and neither can achieve the outcomes they wish, I merely ask that you pass on my invitation to talk so I can persuade her to let us be.”

In other words if Mrs. Potter meddles too much in Solomon's plans it could blow up in everyone's face.

About a future

"Spare me your drama David, you know that being with Ragnarök enables the chance for the very worst of outcomes to occur."

Solomon smiled. "Only if I die and I have no intentions of doing that, even then it is only the remotest possibility that Shelly'll embrace her power and become a Super Villain Vigilante bent of punishing the MCO for my death by raining down antimatter explosions on all the MCO bases she can find."

"But it's not even a possibility if you leave her," Mrs. Potter reminded him.

"And all the life ending possibilities disappear from the table if Shelly is left in my care," he reminded her. "In fact no possibilities of life ending events would have ever been possible at all if all clairvoyants had left her to her fate unhindered!"

"Now David that was always a low probability," Mrs. Potter chided him.

"Two of the agents there were yours, are you telling me your reputation alone would not have forestalled the last one of those?" he asked dryly.

"I only sent mine when it was certain you would be there."

Okay, really starting to not like Mrs. Potter, best intentions don't count if you try to force others to follow your plan instead of their own, always thinking you are right no matter what.

Stunned silence greeted that claim before it was broken with rueful laughter. "Solomon I see now why that title commands such respect, the knowledge to change the world and the faith to let it be so changed, that is a terrifying combination!"

So basically it sounds like she admitted she is too afraid to let the world change except in ways she directs it to, why Mrs. Carson trusts her so much is beyond me now. In her care or Solomon's, Mrs. Potter, I no longer trust you to have the best interest of anyone but yourself and your own goals until you prove otherwise.

Oh good, the training will be at a level less deep than yesterday so not as intense. Huge Virtual Reality simulation of real life, I wish they could replicate this with technology.

*Difficult!* Selanothis agreed. *Once we know the path to the right future then we start drilling you over and over and over again until you can make those choices, fulfil those tasks perfectly at exactly the right time always no matter how tired you are, no matter what else is happening around you.*

When you have only one chance to get something absolutely right you do everything possible to insure it.

That is a lot of progress in one afternoon. Having to delay dealing with her grief because of all this, I wish Agent Banks had just let them go instead of demanding a name from Solomon.

"Our DPA Agent has asked for testing of Shelly to confirm what exact powers she has, failing that he wants to conduct a series of interviews with her."

Solomon grimaced. "We don't have time for testing, nor for him to do interviews with Shelly. Shelly doesn't know what her powers are and I doubt Agent Banks will have the time he needs to tease it out of her." Solomon sat thoughtfully for a bit before suddenly he smiled at Mrs. Carson. "Counter with an offer instead to interview me, he can have as many interviews as he likes with me in the evenings after Shelly goes to sleep. I do know Shelly's powers and it will give me time to work on putting him at ease with our plan."

Agent Banks sure asks a lot of a girl who only recently lost both her parents to a tragedy.

Free will

Bwahaha, now that is paranoia, Agent Banks thinks Solomon wasted time to manipulate events so he did what he wanted him to do all day.

"No Agent Banks, removing the free will from someone is just about the most evil thing you can do to them," Solomon assured him. "Agent Banks remembering I am a priest, a Christian. What is the purpose of life?"

On this I agree wholeheartedly.

Solomon glared at Agent Banks then took a deep calming breath. "Agent Banks what would happen if your boss told your partner to put a bullet in the brain of a mutant under her care?" Solomon asked calmly.

"She'd give him the finger," Agent Banks replied immediately with a shrug. "No way is she going to be overruled in the field by a pencil pushing xenophobe."

"And knowing that if you left a let us say 'controversial' mutant in her care, like you did in Colorado, would you be guilty of manipulating Agent Sellany when she ignored an order to do something like that?"

"What? Of course not! Like I could manipulate Sellany, she'd as happily tell me to fuck off as she would our boss!"

"So why do you keep insisting I'm manipulating Shelly just because I can foresee how she's going to react? I'm not changing her reactions just foreseeing them! Accuse me of manipulation when I get someone to do something they'd normally never do!" Solomon snapped as Agent Banks sat there blinking at him.

Never make a good man angry, you almost saw the result, Agent Banks.

Capture or kill mission with an assassin among them, I wonder what Carson will have planned to deal with them. The Syndicate going this far, I can only wish that Mrs. Carson gets evidence and can use this to remove their influence at Whateley, or at least punish those involved. Oh good, not yet ready to attack and not sure Solomon is at Whateley.

Already have a security team keeping the creeps under surveillance, oh goodie.

Shelly stared at him for a few seconds before unexpectedly she broke out into a huge grin. "I have access to your memories too Solomon and a priest should be ashamed of what you did! Lying by omitting is still lying and that was a big, huge, whopper of a lie you just told Mrs. Carson there! She's not gonna forget in a hurry you did that when she finds out!"

Blushing brightly Solomon quickly stood and started gathering the left over mugs from the meeting, scrambling off to clean and dry them as the laughter of Selanothis and Shelly followed him.

Bwahaha, they are already like a family, teasing the father over something as mother and daughter.

[/b]Training[/b]

Alarms going off, Shelly rushing up the stairs to attack, and Solomon having to put her to sleep with a spell. Agent Banks stayed to observe the Syndicate team, went to the cottage without Mrs. Carson, and set off the wards, good grief. Having to reveal the plan to Agent Banks and Agent Selleny, I can't believe Agent Banks thought Shelly's power is just to destroy the world, bonehead. At least all the cards are out in the open about the plan, well most of them, what did he omit telling Mrs. Carson?

Solomon, stop stealing Shelly's Vegemite toast.

*Black holes have mass right? It is their extreme mass that makes them so dangerous, able to hold in light. Well Shelly can only manipulate around 100 kilograms of mass, she could turn it into a black hole but it would still only be 100 kilograms of mass. To turn that into a black hole you'd need to compress it to a really, really, infinitesimally small volume, 3 times 10 to the minus 22 meters in radius. Zero point 22 zeros and then a lonely trailing 3 meters in size, the smallest things even the machines at CERN can detect are about ten to the minus 20 meters in size and this would be a thousand times smaller.*

*What about the black hole's gravity?* Selanothis asked confused.

*It's 100 kilograms it would be as dangerous as standing next to a 100 kilogram motorcycle, does that rip you apart? Do you even feel any gravitational pull from it? Basically while she could create a black hole you'd be hard pressed to even be able to detect it before the galactically larger earth's gravity field ripped it apart hence why I used it, 'big and scary' sounding to make Shelly sit up and take notice but not actually that bad if she really did it.*

Oh brother, way to scare the girl, if Shelly ever finds out she might manifest 100 kilograms of pillows over Solomon so they drop on him.

*No it is the release of all that matter as energy as the micro blackhole disintegrates in the Earths gravitational field that would be the problem, not any issues from its gravity! It wouldn't be quite as bad as an anti-matter explosion but only because it would only be the mass of the black hole being converted into energy not like for anti-matter where you'd also have an equal amount of normal matter converting to energy as well. If Shelly created the biggest black-hole she could it'd only destroy any nearby cities not rip the earth apart or anything like that.* Solomon assured her.

Lead with the fact that it is still a very scary thing first, Solomon! Nervous, the difference between nearby cities being destroyed and the Earth is clinical if you are in those cities or people are in those cities when it happens. Solomon, you need to be taught what normal people consider terrifying already.

Warp a side of beef into a full pig carcass, then live warping, this is going to get messy, isn't it? Live testing with 2 pigs, then the main event the next day, darn Syndicate team has forced them into a very narrow timetable. Solomon can be such a goof even when planning these things out, bet he even makes dad jokes.

Returning

"Actually it's not as bad as I thought, well it is as bad but I'm handling it better." Father Timothy sighed. "There is a lot of need for my skills out here, both legal and spiritual. These people are getting circled by the absolute worst of ambulance chasers, getting caught up in all sorts of dubious things when their grief is such they have no idea what to do. Whenever the situation gets too much for me and I feel too angry or upset I can vent by tearing through the crap documents some of the scum are getting these poor people to sign. Filling out the paperwork to get them invalidated and the scum sanctioned for their actions is very cathartic, it helps me calm down again and get back to the right state of mind for helping these people."

Now this is the kind of righteous anger I can get behind and taking down scum like that, he is good deeds. It all worked out, the world needs more men like Father Timothy. Oh god, this is going to be rough, Shelly is going to be hurting and I just wish could help alongside Solomon and Selanothis.

shelly crying and dealing with her grief, she shouldn't have had to hold it in so much already. At least her parents planned ahead and she doesn't have to plan their funerals. Being at her parents' funeral, getting to say goodbye one last time, if she wasn't able to do this because of the Syndicate or MCO I would have been furious.

Yikes, Shelly made perfectly formed dead copies of herself and Solomon, changing their appearance and identities completely I don't think even precogs or clairvoyants will be able to track them anymore. A barbecue with a whole pig is one hell of a thank you.

Agent Banks, if you don't act on Agent Selleny's obvious and extreme flirting already some people will start to talk. Solomon can be very forceful even with government agents when needed.

"I'm here to protect the public and allowing the Syndicate to get their hands on you or Shelly is not fulfilling that oath. I've seen them Solomon, the Syndicate snatch squad are ready to go at a moment's notice and I'll use my skills to the utmost to protect the public even if that means tonight I patrol the perimeter."

Stubborn and by the books, he really needs to hook up with Selleny already and loosen up some.

Carson still wanting to know why Solomon is doing this, why can't she understand wanting to help shape the next generation and make a better world.

Solomon sighed and nodded conceding her point. "First then me the man. Why am I doing it?" He cocked an eyebrow at her nodding at her demanding expression. "At least that is simple, for the same reason Selanothis' is doing it." Solomon looked her directly in the eye. "Love," he replied simply. "Shelly needs it and we can give it too her. Our hearts strive to give it to her, be crystal clear about that it will clear your sight as far as Selanothis and I are concerned.

"Second why is the Catholic Church's 'Solomon' doing it?" Solomon smiled. "Because even with great wisdom Solomon was still a man and all men are bought low by love as the poets like to write. Personally I see little low in love and consequences are usually not from love but other darker stains interacting with it. Love is the final command of Jesus to the Apostles and I feel a worthy guiding light for my actions." Looking up Solomon smirked at Mrs. Carson's thunderous expression.

I've never heard a better answer to a question.

"I'll let you in to a truth the Church tells over and over again but nobody seems to hear, mayhap you will." Solomon lent forward the playful smirking expression replaced with one that was deadly serious. "There is no Solomon Legacy. There is no line of Imbued from the time of Solomon to the present working within the Catholic Church to continue the work of Solomon. There are no Immortals. There is no secret rights. There is no vessel of power. There is not, there has never been. I. Am. Not. Solomon," he stated firmly.

"And yet you called yourself such," Carson pressed.

Solomon smiled. "And I did it for exactly the same reason all have done so before, legends have power, names have a mystic appeal all of their own by saying 'I am Solomon' I got us here exactly where I promised I would and everyone believed and pulled to make it happen. No other name I could have used would have done so, so I used the name I needed."

Mrs. Carson lent forward. "If you are not of the line of 'Solomon' what then are you? A mutant?"

"Oh no I am Imbued," he promised then leaned forward with a playful smile gesturing her closer. "But I'm not uniquely Imbued," he whispered into her ear before leaning back with a great laugh at her shocked expression.

I should have known better, what better way to manipulate than with a lie they think is the truth? Use their own conspiracy theories against them, it's so simple and brilliant.

"Have you heard of the 'Gifts of the Holy Spirit'?" Solomon inquired. "No? They are Wisdom, Understanding, Knowledge, Counsel, Fortitude, Piety and Wonder, these gifts are but some of the Gifts given to the Apostles and the first Christians at Pentecost and God never stopped giving them in greater, or lesser, degrees to those who dedicate their life to his work."

Carson's eyes widened in shock. "The Catholic Church has more!" she demanded.

Solomon smiled. "To greater, or lesser, degrees," he repeated sitting back. "Basically there is no conflict for me, I was always my own man working as I see fit and I know that this is where I need to be, what I need to be doing. There are plenty more in the Church who can step up to cover other duties I may have been fulfilling."

That means the Catholic Church has a lot more power than anyone ever expected, no wonder this is kept secret.

I really hope Mrs. Carson provides them with the assets needed for the plan. So all those resources are ready for their new lives and new identities and Selanothis already has hers set up.

Aggressive seduction

*hits head on desk* Agent Banks, stop being such a stubborn idiot already! Snowstorm, he is going to be stuck in that tent with Agent Selleny all night. Dressed up like that, if Agent Banks doesn't take the hint already and act he is a moron of the highest degree. A kiss like that, she isn't playing anymore.

"For the record I don't tease what I don't want, I flirt with what I intend to have and I'm all through with flirting I will have my dessert."

Whoa. No way he is going to forget this, maybe Banks will finally loosen up.

Alternative measures

Carson still called in the ARC agents with their containment tubes, there is being prepared for the worst and there is betraying a trust. Talking to Doctor Trent about Shelly like this, *sigh*

"If the timing goes wrong and they cannot complete their spell in time we won't have a choice," she admitted sadly. "They have until the first attack on them to get it done, once the attacks start they are not going to stop and it then becomes Russian roulette with the world on the line and an unknown number of bullets in the gun."

"They can't just try again?" he pleaded softly.

Mrs. Carson closed her eyes in pain. "The players against them are not amateurs, they have their own precogs and clairvoyants too. If they attack they believe they'll succeed and I believe they'll at least get to them, that's all it will take to spook Shelly. Once spooked Shelly can so easily escalate, slowly or fast the spiral is inevitable and we know its eventual outcome doesn't bear thinking about."

"But she's such a good kid."

"As are all too many of the others held there that I failed," Mrs. Carson sighed turning away and walking into Doyle Medical Centre face bleak.

Ouch, just how many kids Mrs. Carson feels she has failed are in ARC Black?

Morning after

Banks feeling like he had been set up using the tent and snowstorm, you are an idiot to complain about a beautiful woman who wants to be with you.

*He had as much chance of escaping her as the Titanic had of making New York, he was sunk years ago she has no shame in taking her man.*

*I think 'taking' is exactly what he feels she did.*

*Tell me that when his pants stop tenting at her merest scent,* Selanothis laughed. *He needed a good screw and she definitely enjoyed giving it to him, look at her marking her conquest rubbing all over him.*

Banks needs to learn to loosen up already, enjoy being with Selleny instead of complaining about it. And get that stick up out your you know where. Good, plans to stop the hostile forces from reaching them before their plan is finished.

Hiding

"There will be an explosion a huge crater will be created and we will no longer be there, you can tell everyone I died containing 'Ragnarök's' final event that consumed us both," Solomon replied solemnly.

"And if it doesn't work?" Banks pushed.

Solomon smiled wryly. "There will be an explosion, a huge crater will be created and we will no longer be there, you can tell everyone I died containing 'Ragnarök's' final event that consumed us both," Solomon dead-panned with a slight smirk.

Banks blinked. "How will I know which it was?" he exclaimed frustrated.

Solomon laughed. "You won't, nobody will only we will know if we succeeded or not. If you want you cannot lie to your boss by using words such as 'we believe they perished' instead," he suggested grinning widely.

Eep, not knowing if it worked or not, the same result from the perspective of everyone else whether it does or not. That level of uncertainty is cruel. Sleep spell if the Syndicate team reaches them before they can finish, hope for the best, prepare for the worst. Good saying but you don't have to like it.

30 minutes of them standing still and it will take an hour or more, the suspense would be killing me. Dam it! Selleny shot through the leg like that, if she dies I will be upset. Now they attack with dropped grenades and harm Shelly that badly, these creeps need to die! Telling Selanothis to fly as it is lost, she refuses, this is the worst possible outcome so far. Having to put Shelly to sleep because of what she almost unleashes on one of the attackers, darn it!

Putting the enemies to sleep one after one, Selanothis is forced to flee from shots fired, having put to sleep even Whateley security guards, Agent Banks, and Selleny in her rage, oh no. Now she is stuck back in the Grove in her hole hiding once again, this shouldn't have happened.

Mrs. Carson recovering, Shelly's assailant burned some, but Shelly is as well, if she hadn't been stopped it could have killed her as well. Stuck in ARC Black, no, why did it have to end like this? At least security and medical teams are showing up fast, Selleny should survive, and all or at least most of the extraction team were captured.

ARC

Selleny survived and recovering, Solomon and Shelly being put into ARC Black, darn it.

Carson sighed anguish showing through her usually impeccable teacher's mask. "I did but as he always said today was a one shot. They ran out of time and our enemies got lucky, they managed to render Ragnarök unconsciousness and unable to respond to her danger sense we will not get a second chance like this so, as I always warned I would, I have acted. Rest here when we are ready you will be able to watch and confirm for your employers the insertion, our MCO Agent friend has also been invited to attend so be warned." Turning she left Agent Banks to his thoughts.

The MCO agent is coming, if he gloats I would choke him unconscious. A letter from Solomon to Agent Banks. Solomon knew, he knew from the start the plan would fail and put them all through this anyways. Just so they can be frozen and thawed out when people have forgotten about them. That is unbelievably cruel to Selanothis, to give her hope of a new life and never intending for the plan to work in the first place. And giving Agent Banks this letter, he planned all this, he knew what his response would be, how is that free will?

Epilogue

She is mailing the check, leaving her tunnel, and planning on talking to Mrs. Carson about getting help to move to Shelly's home with Maggie. At least Selanothis is going to be living her life finally.

Secure Syndicate Tele-conferencing channel

A decoy team they planned to be spotted and traced back to them, just what is the Syndicate up to?

"Correctly, the team was planning to enter Whateley grounds, the fact remains though they did not. As far as Whateley is concerned a different 'unknown' group attempted extraction," the planner replied calmly.

I knew something smelled off about that extraction team, Carson should have Fubar scan them and find out the truth.

"You and I know that," the planner replied not even the distortion hiding his humour. "But no one else does, not even the members of that team. I hired them directly by anonymous means, giving them full intelligence on the first team as a 'rival' concern and they acted independently at all times. As far as they are all concerned they were hired by a competitor organisation."

"So Whateley is completely unaware of our organisation's involvement in the incursion?" the commanding voice demanded.

"Completely."

I want the Syndicate to pay for this one! And now they are just going to cover up any involvement in the whole mess, arrgggh!

Twenty four years later

Whoever this guy in the DPA is is a psycho, thinking he can force Solomon to work for the United States government. The woman who took over for Banks is his and Selleny's daughter, this DPA sob invaded ARC Black and attacks personnel, this will not go unpunished. Deborah and she is a DPA agent as well, whoever this man invading ARC Black should be tried for some serious offenses.

Selleny was fired over that, talk about high-level corruption. An interesting meeting between Banks and Deborah, it says she is Selleny's daughter but not who the father is, I still think it is Banks from their night together in the tent at Whateley. Corrupt DPA agents threatening people like this, I hope they get taken down hard.

A gold ring came out of the envelope and a single piece of paper. Taking the single sheet of paper out he opened it and read:

We are not there. We have never been there. We've disappeared into history as I promised you we would.

Sit with your daughter and catch up, her Mother will be there soon to enjoy the laughter as your former boss and her nemesis gets his comeuppance. Marry her, she deserves her reward.

It was the created corpses of them placed in the containers in ARC Black, I never expected that. The greatest revelation of all.

This story started out with a tense situation and no idea of who Solomon or Shelly were, nor even why DPA and MCO agents were after her. All the reveals throughout the story, the twists and turns along the way, and the fact we got to know so many individuals enough to care about them make this so wonderfully crafted.

Shelly having to deal with her grief, but also having to live on the run, in hiding, with only Solomon and then Selanothis to comfort her, you just couldn't help wishing you could give her a hug and help comfort her alongside them. I'm not sure what her power ratings could be exactly but high level doesn't seem accurate enough. The best parts were seeing her laugh and get to be a normal teen even if just for a short while.

Solomon, I can't believe he got us all with that. The history of the line of Solomon, of the supposed Imbued power, passed on to a new user, everything, all taken from the internet conspiracy theories to throw those on his trail off the track of the truth. It was a well-crafted lie too, I had no idea until the big reveal. I love that he is such a caring father figure, I only wish Selanothis had been able to be a part of their family longer.

Selanothis, a mutant turned into a pixie, I have to wonder how many more are out there like her. And is it like Sidhe "mutants", where they actually become a pixie? But the loneliness, staying in the Grove all those years undetected, I can see why she latched onto Shelly so quickly. I only wish she could have been Shelly's mother, paths not taken.

Agent Banks, I never expected him to be used more than the first scenes, let alone show up at Whateley with Agent Selleny. The dynamic between him and Selleny, he is either so dense it isn't funny, scared of getting into a relationship with her, or married to the job. Glad the tent scene happened, nice that the letter confirmed Deborah is his daughter.

A well-crafted story with a lot of emotions, a lot of twists, turns, and feints that tricked not only the characters but the readers, and a wonderful surprise at the ending. I wish there was more to their story we could read.