Chapter 1665 (2/2)
Right now the Grim Chimera was the architect of the Nether Ritual, once more feeling somewhat out of place as the being of necessity shaped the working. But Randidly didn’t flinch from this uncomfortable sensation; just like with the electricity running rampant through his limbs, he learned to relax and accept this awkwardness as part of the Grim Chimera. His claws tore apart the failed working, gathered up flows of Nether he could recycle, then began again.
The Grim Chimera never claimed it would be excellent at the start. But it sure as hell would quickly improve.
More than relying on the Grim Chimera’s base nature, Randidly had his own vision of how this would develop. As the phantasm of the Chimera manifested and began to work with the Nether, Randidly was throwing all the Willpower he could spare at an entirely new idea: that the Grim Chimera’s current project was to build itself a home.
Home, Randidly sighed. We know, don’t we, Grim Chimera, how it feels to have to leave a place. And we know what it is like to come back to an old place and find it unrecognizably changed. Or rather, find that we have shifted beyond our understanding, invalidating the spot which was once sufficient for us on this planet.
But now… now we have the chance to truly make ourselves a home. To start the process of protecting others with the strength we have accumulated. That, I think… is the sort of survival that we’ve been waiting for.
That is a meaningful act. To offer sanctuary to those who need it. To begin to pay back the long debt of the mistakes we’ve made...
Within Randidly’s Soulspace, those brilliant sparks in the belly of the Grim Chimera began to flicker.
*****
“So sick…”
Almost unwillingly, twelve-year-old Delilah’s hand stretched outward toward the beauty in front of her. It was the only part of her that could still move. Her shoulders remained hunched in a half-crouch, so desperate to hold onto this moment that she wouldn’t even move, in case a shift would spook time into jumping forward.
Cassandra looked around with an expression that would have made Delilah annoyed a few seconds earlier, but right now the rhapsodic beat of her heart dismissed such trivialities. “This is it? It… well it definitely looks expensive. And very nice. But can we go now? Staying here seems like SUCH a bad idea…”
All three of the teenagers (a group into which Delilah shamelessly added herself) were doing their best to remain relatively inconspicuous in a dimly lit warehouse. Around them were dozens of other objects, large and small, either covered in tarps or kept in glass cases. The roof was high overhead, making everything around them seem small and then forcing the humans into the realm of puny. All of these items were incredibly valuable, intending to be held for sale at the first even Kharon University Auction.
Mint, the oldest of the three, shrugged at pretty Cassandra’s words and raised the tarp to cover the object once more. But Delilah pinned him to the ground with a burning eyed stare before looking once more at the object with worship in her gaze. “Don’t you fucking dare. Not yet. Shit, they seriously just have this sort of beauty sitting in a warehouse…?”
Her fingers tingling, Delilah took a step forward. The DreamChaser 2000, Honey-Yellow edition, the newest skybike by famed designer, bad boy, and asylum seeker Elijah Frank, leaned almost casually against its kickstand. Its aura of badassness was palpable. Even in the half-light of the warehouse, its specialty paint popped in Delilah’s eyes. The smooth chrome lines of its pipes flanked the sleek body, screaming that this perfect vehicle needed to be liberated from this stuffy location and taken out into the sky.
Is this what falling in love feels like…? An entranced Delilah wondered. All it would take was a few short-term runes to bypass the key ignition and forcefully start the engine. Then she could-
“Commmonnnnnn,” Cassandra groaned in a half-whisper. “They might expel us from Kharon Academy if we get caught. Pleassseeeeee.”
Delilah’s eyes sharpened, but she didn’t have any easy solutions at this point. The only reason Cassandra was here at all was that Mint had an enormous crush on her. After learning that Mint’s dad was transporting the lots for Kharon Academy’s auction, Delilah was determined to enter into Mint’s social radar and reach this bike, even if just for a moment. Unfortunately, she lacked the requisite… allure to make any headway alone. To the seventeen-year-old Mint, Delilah might as well not even exist.
A practical woman, Delilah refused to let Mint’s lack of insight stop her from touch such a salacious bit of chrome. She then spent several days skipping her classes and following Mint, watching the places where he would glance when women had passed her by.
Honestly, she needn’t have bothered. The torque of teenage Mint’s neck was predictably determined by the size of the boobs that jiggled past him, despite any mundane fabrics that might stand in his way. So Delilah had dragged out her bustiest friend, the fifteen-year-old do-gooder Cassandra, hung around near Mint’s know locations, skipped even more class, spread word to Mint’s friends that Cassandra enjoyed exploring different sky-islands, and basically just waited.
The plan practically assembled itself.
Ultimately, she decided to ignore Cassandra. With a growing smile on her face, Delilah pressed her hand again the sleek exterior of the Dreamchaser. Somehow, it still felt warm. Everything she had gone through was worth-
Claannnggggg!
All three of the teenagers froze and hunched a little lower in the dimly lit warehouse.
“Was that-” Cassandra began, looking at Delilah in horror, but luckily Mint reacted quickly enough and shushed her.
CLLLLAAAAANNNGGGG!
The three exchanged glances. They were not alone in a warehouse that definitely wasn’t open to the public. Either Mint’s father was doing some last-minute shifting, or another interloper had infiltrated the warehouse.