Date: Sun, 6 Aug 2023 03:01:29 -0500 From: Fang Saito Subject: Welcome to Avernus - Chapter 13 This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to any real people or places is purely coincidental. This story is the property of the author and is protected under copyright laws. The author retains all rights. No reproduction is allowed without the author's consent. Conversations and feedback are appreciated to Greyson B. via email at hokkaidohotel86it@gmail.com. I love hearing from readers. As always, special thanks to Johnny Kape for the excellent editing assistance he has been providing me. If you enjoy this story, please support the Nifty archives today with a thoughtful donation by visiting https://donate.nifty.org/. You can also consider buying me a coffee or two if you want to support me as well. https://www.buymeacoffee.com/GreysonB. It goes a long way to turning coffee into ink. You can find my other Nifty stories at: https://www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/adult-youth/cadence/ https://www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/highschool/a-ghost-finds-a-body/ I have begun a mailing list to notify people when a new chapter is posted. If you would like to be added, feel free to write and let me know to add you. Welcome to Avernus Chapter 13 Boots was staying over at my place a couple of nights a week now. Usually it was planned in advance, but there had been a couple of nights now when he just kind of showed up. I always offered to let him stay over so that he didn't have to lower himself by asking. Mom was really good about it. Whether it was because Boots was always so polite and quiet, whether she remembered how often I stayed over at Alan's to avoid Dad, or just because the mesmir made her more agreeable, I didn't know. I just rolled with it. Whenever Boots stayed over, he slept all over the place. A few times when he stayed over, he ended up crashing in my bedroom and he shared my queen bed. He joked a couple of times about my bed being an "old queen". The first time he spent the night specifically because shit was bad at his house, Mom tried being overly nice and set him up in the guest bedroom. He admitted later that he felt totally weird sleeping in there, and the next couple of times he was over, if he didn't spend the night in my room, he crashed in the basement. He honestly didn't seem to mind whether I joined him downstairs, or left him alone to retreat to my own bed. It took me a minute to get used to the idea, but eventually I joined Mom in setting up my paints and supplies on the worktable in the upstairs lounge. Yeah, it was just outside my bedroom door, but really, it was outside all the upstairs doors, and it wasn't exactly a tiny area. The spread we had down in the basement, with a whole couch, futon, recliner, and TV could have easily fit up here. So one simple worktable didn't exactly crowd me. It was a Wednesday, and we still had school in the morning, but that didn't bother Mom. Boots was still welcome to spend the night. We still kept any roughhousing to a minimum, were in bed at a decent time, and got ourselves up and ready for school without any real fuss. Besides, Boots didn't eat all that much, she joked. We were watching a movie in the basement. I was sprawled out on the couch, while Boots had already pulled the futon out into a bed. It wasn't late at all, not even 9, so I was surprised when I looked over and saw Boots was passed out asleep already. I didn't know what was going on, but out of nowhere I felt a breeze play across my neck and arms, as if a crosswind had hit me from an open door. I looked around and leaped up, scrambling to the end of the couch where my feet had been. I cried out as I saw this... something, floating in the air at the bottom of the stairs. It was a head. Literally a man's head, floating in the air. But not just a head. It had what looked like his spinal cord hanging down below the neck, swishing back and forth like a cat's tail or something. It had long, stringy hair hanging from a bunch of patchy bald spots. But in front, he had a foot long wispy beard and mustache, like you always see stereotypes of Chinese wise men or villains wearing. The face itself looked old and half decayed, with chunks of flesh missing from the cheeks and forehead. From the neck, intermixed with the swaying spinal cord, was this sickening pinkish-red smoky or mist. It looked almost like blood, turned into a gas. "Ja-ssss-on," moaned a high pitched voice from the area of the... whatever it was. I was pretty embarrassed when I realized I was screaming. Flat out, uncontrolled shrieking. When I became conscious that I was doing it, I stopped. At first I was worried I would provoke the thing. I was especially worried about Mom, afraid she would come down here and see it as well. To my surprise, Boots was still asleep, with no appearance of waking. Another wisp of sound came from it, like words lost in the hiss of boiling water, the air coming out of a whistle without anything to make the high pitched part. "I can feel his power... within you.... Not strong... but still there...." His mouth did not move when he spoke, but I was definitely hearing it with my ears, not just in my head. It was at this moment that I knew, from the top of my head down to my pinkie toe, that Dominic Tsui was one day going to get me killed. Probably by this thing right here, or something like it. But as always, I can't take anything sitting down, so to speak. "What the fuck are you? And what are you doing in my house?" I whispered. I couldn't get much volume in my terrified voice, but I could definitely pour in the attitude. Boots whimpered, but he didn't wake up, and I couldn't afford the distraction. "I go... where I need to go..." the thing said. "Above the ground... I feel an energy... an emotion... a fear I had fed from before...." "Above the ground?" I repeated. "You mean upstairs?" Then I realized what it was saying. "You mean Mom! You gave her nightmares at the hotel, didn't you?" "Her taste... it is familiar.... As is the child... here beside you...." Boots tossed his head and whimpered again. Oh, hell no. "Touch either one of them, and I'll find a way to fuck you up!" It laughed. Or at least, I think it laughed. It sounded like the hissing of escaping gas, or maybe like a cartoon snake trying to talk. "Ja-ss-on... you have met... Beishang de Wenyi.... Tell Tsui.... Tell him I will have... what he promised...." I started feeling lightheaded. Like I was going to pass out. Or maybe like I was going to go to sleep, but a drugged sleep. I fought it, fought it like hell. The head-thing was wavy, mostly because my vision was so screwed up, going in and out of focus. The read mist coming out of the bottom of the next spread, filling my vision. Somehow the thing started floating through the wall, though I wasn't sure, between my blurred vision, and all the red smoke. I collapsed to the couch, and I don't know how long I sat there, staring off and trying to stay conscious. Eventually the feeling, or effects, or whatever it was, started to wear off and I became more aware of my surroundings. Boots started to stir, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand like he had been drooling. "Um, wow, sorry," He muttered. "I must have dozed off." "It's all good," I sighed distractedly. "You didn't miss much." I grabbed my phone, and saw it was nearly 10pm. Whatever it was had felt like fifteen minutes at most, but it had been an hour and a half. How long had I been sitting on the couch trying to recover? Or had I fallen asleep as well, and dreamed the whole damned thing? I shot off a text to Wren. J --I think I just got visited by something or someone. 911 much?-- I told Boots I wasn't feeling all that well and I wanted to lay down in my room. He said all was good. I said goodnight and headed upstairs. I didn't go up to my room yet though, instead sitting down in the living room to wait and see if Wren would get back to me. My faith was justified, and it was only about ten minutes before he texted back. W --What's up? What happened?-- J --Floating head with a bunch of red smoke and a tail? Said Dom owes him. Real or dream?-- W --Can I come over? I know it's late.-- J --Yeah. But be quiet. Mom's asleep and I have company in the basement.-- W --5 minutes.-- J --I'll meet you out front-- I waited just a couple of minutes, then quietly grabbed my big coat from the closet. It was late, and every night seemed to be getting colder. Good thing about being in a nice house, all the doors and shit work right, and don't make a ton of noise. I slipped outside and walked down to sit on the curb. I don't think I was out there a full minute before Wren came walking up the street. "Too bad you can't turn into a bat and fly over, or something.," I said quietly. I stood and held out my arms, and he took me into a hug. I told him what happened. I said it didn't feel like a dream, except for losing more than an hour. "I wish it was a dream, babe," he said as he sat me back down on the curb and joined me. "I hate those things, but what you are describing is one of the Jianshi, one of the Chinese Vampyre. They are not pleasant." "Yeah, Dom was telling me a little about them. Something about having to make allies with them and promising them stuff. Now this fucked up thing was over here saying something about `feeling Dom's power' or whatever. He also said some creepy shit about my mom's energy or whatever." Wren sighed and pulled me against him, and I rested my head on his shoulder. "I heard about that when your family first arrived. Many of the Jianshi visit the first floor of the hotel, feeding on the guests in the rooms above them. Your family were put in room 210, I believe?" I nodded my head. "Yeah, and I was in 212." "Your parents were given over to a particularly nasty individual named Beishang de Wenyi.It means `the plague of sorrows', and yes, he gave himself the name. I think Dom was hoping to make a deal as part of bringing you here, or to placate him. Something like that. But yes, that particular Jianshi often stays in 110, right below where your parents slept that first week." "Great," I muttered. "So this was all planned." I looked over at Wren. "Do you know? Is Dom setting this up to make me feel like I don't have a choice but to tell him yes?" Wren chuckled dryly. "Dom's subtle, and he can be pretty slimy. He might be glad for the help in convincing you, but no, Dom really is in this much trouble. He almost wasn't accepted into Avernus because of the friends he brought with him." I shivered and he noticed. Honestly it was cold, especially the freezing concrete curb we were sitting on. But I really think the shiver came from the memory of that creature in the basement, and what it made me feel. "Are you cold, babe?" Wren asked me. "Why don't we go up to your room for a while?" "Dude, I have company over." "So? Didn't you say he was staying in the basement tonight?" "Yeah, but I've also got school in the morning." I was smiling by this point. Sure, I was putting up a fight, but I really wanted him to talk me into it. He didn't disappoint. "Don't worry, babe. I won't stay long. I'll just tuck you in and make sure there aren't any monsters under your bed." I sat up a little straighter. "Hey now. With all the weird shit that goes on around here, don't give my paranoia any ideas!" I said it with a laugh, but I think he knew I also kind of meant it. "Sorry about that," he said, then kissed me on the forehead. His lips were as cold as the air around us. "Fine, fine," I said, standing up and pulling Wren with me. "Let's go get you fed. You're all ice cubes right now." He laughed and held me as we walked up to the front door. Wren promised to pass on my message to Dom, yes, I was starting to get used to calling him "Dom", damn Wren for wearing off on me! However, I didn't hear anything for several days. Then Saturday evening I was kicking back, watching Liam and Erin play a game up at the store. Wren, she said, was busy with something but would be by later that evening. Suddenly Garrett came rushing over from the table he was at. "Jason, buddy, huge favor!" he said, all in a rush. "Please, I beg. Go move my models off to one of the hobby tables along with my bag, then take over for Erin here!" He didn't even wait for a response. He grabbed Erin's arm, and the two of them left with four other guys that were in the store. Model collections were abandoned all over the room. It was obvious that something had happened, and it involved the Vampyre. "Hey Liam, help me out?" "Why?" asked Liam halfheartedly. "Garrett's usually an ass." "Yeah, but he's friends with my friends," I replied lamely. "Just, please? For me?" We spent about twenty minutes talking to people and sorting out which armies got abandoned, and moving them all over to an empty hobby table, grouped by what was left together. I spent a moment apologizing to opponents who had been left trying to figure out what had happened. I don't know why I was the one apologizing, except that I was the one left cleaning up their tables. I didn't have any mesmir or anything, so I just did what I could. Most of them were cool about it, if confused. One guy was kind of a dick, but a couple of others shut him down pretty quick, and he packed up and left, instead of trying to sort out a new game with someone else. Liam and I went back over to his table, and I got him to start explaining what had been going on in their fight. I had been following along, but I was still pretty rusty on the specialized rules of each army. I was also trying to dodge Liam's questions and concerns about what had just happened. That was going to be up to the Vampyre to sort out whether they needed to come up and mind-wipe people. I tried to have fun, I really did. But I kept thinking about what might be going on right then, right under our feet. I got the impression that they had been pretty even in their game before the interruption, maybe with Erin having a slight edge, but under my stellar leadership, Liam handily crushed the forces under my command. I promised him a better matchup soon enough, with my own Collective army. I had one more unit and a tank coming in the next week, and then I should be ready for a small-points game with my own miniatures. We trash talked a bit while we cleaned up, then he decided to take off for the night. I added Erin's models to the other table, and then sat down there myself, playing around on my phone for a bit while waiting to see when they would come back for their stuff. It was quite a while, nearly 10, before they all came back to the store. A whole crew came in at once, including my own "unholy trinity" of Wren, Erin, and Garrett. Pretty much all of them made a point of thanking me for grabbing up their models for safekeeping. "So what happened, you guys?" I asked. The three of them shared a look. Then Erin reached across the table and took my hand in her own colder hands. Shit. If she was going in for the sympathy play right off, something bad must have happened. Looking across the table at me, she said, "Jason, what are your thoughts on the offer that Dominic has made? Your honest opinions, pros and cons, with no pressure from him being here?" "I think it sucks, and he's putting me in a real shitty position," I said. They all shared another look, and it made me feel like I needed to explain myself. "Look, the offer itself sounds like it could be fun enough. Triple the lifespan, powerful friends, and constant excitement? But like I told him, bad timing! I don't want to still be a 15 year old shrimp when I'm graduating high school." "Is that your biggest concern?" Erin asked. "Well, I mean, there are others. Especially about Dom's enemies and this power struggle of his. What's going on, guys? What happened tonight?" Wren cut across his sister. "Dom was... attacked. Ambushed, really." "Was it that ghost-head thing?" I asked, dreading the answer. Garrett and Erin looked surprised, both looking over at Wren. He ignored the looks of the other two, nodding to me. "It was Beishang de Wenyi. Calls himself the Plague of Sorrows." "Sounds like an asshole," I muttered, "to give himself a name like that. Is that what everyone really calls him?" "We don't really have another name to call him," said Wren. "So yeah." "Was it just Dom that was attacked?" I asked. "And do we know it was this particular butt?" "Yes, we know it was him. Beishang and two others," said Erin. "And no." She glared over at Wren, clearly annoyed. "He wasn't alone." "You were there?" I asked Wren, surprised. He pulled back his pink sparkled jacket and lifted his shirt. It was the first time I had seen the soft white skin of his torso. Unfortunately there was a pair of nasty gashes across the ribs high up on his left side. It wasn't quite closed, but nearly sealed over with what looked like pink skin within the wound. I jumped up and ran around the end of the table, sliding into a chair next to him. He held his shirt up as I ran my fingers across the wounds. The edges of the gashes were jagged, like claws, not blades. They were torn, not cut. His skin was as cold as always, except for at the wounds themselves. Those were hot to the touch, like feverishly hot. "And this happened just a few hours ago?" I asked. "You are already healing up this fast?" "The benefits of being Vampyre," Wren said, lowering his shirt and pulling his jacket back in place. I could tell that it still hurt though. "You should see Garrett though," he laughed. "What I can heal in hours, a Vampire can heal in minutes." "Sick," I said. I looked around at all three of them. "That's why you asked about Dom's offer. The fight might have gone different if I had been there?" "It might not have happened at all," groused Garrett. "They only attacked because they think he's weakened right now. And he is." "And that's my fault, I guess, right?" I shot at him. "Right or wrong, the truth is the truth," he answered back. I sighed, trying not to get drawn into an argument. "Well, there's one opinion. Erin, what do you think? Is it an offer, an opportunity, or an obligation?" She sighed as well, trying to show me some sympathy in her eyes. "Honestly, it's a bit of all three." I laughed. "If you're gonna say `honestly' that means that other times you're not, right? Anyways, that's what my mom always jokes." "Ha," she said with a smile. "Also, ha. But back to my point. It might suck, but you have been given a pretty strong responsibility here. And I won't deny that we kind of have a vested interest in convincing you to say yes." She laughed and looked over at her brother. "Yes, even Wren here. We would all be safer if Dom had more leverage against his friends." Following her gaze over to Wren, I asked, "And you? You've helped me out here and there, and you've made it clear what you think of Dom personally. But what about this Assecla business?" He shrugged his shoulders. "Fifty-fifty. More time to get to know you, but you might decide you like Dom better than me." I could see that Wren was trying to play it off, but there was a twinkle in his eye that told me he wasn't nearly as cold as he was making it out to be. It made me want to get him alone and ask again. "Did he tell you guys that he offered me a ton of money, and even said I could send my mom off to be safe somewhere else?" "Yes," said Wren. "It wouldn't be a terrible idea." I couldn't help it. I laughed. "You guys don't live in the real world, do you? I'm 15! I'm in school. How the hell am I supposed to keep everything running, get food, deal with teachers, hell, keep the power and water on?" The three of them looked at one another. Finally, Erin spoke up. "Jason, sweety. You need to look around. You aren't living in the real world, either. We're in Avernus, and you would be under the service and protection of one of the dominant members of the town. Hell, Dom would probably set up a runner to go grocery shopping for you once a week and put the whole school under his mesmir, just to have you say yes." "You guys are that sure that I should do this?" I asked. "Seriously, if Dom and his enemies are such a problem, why not just ask them to leave? Get rid of them all?" "They won't leave without Dom," Garrett spoke up. "Apparently he made them promises before leaving China." "Yeah, that `whatever it was' mentioned that." "And Dom won't leave without you," finished Garrett. I scowled at him. "I really think you're enjoying this. You really got a problem with me?" "I know you're being a greedy bitch." "The fuck? I didn't ask for any of this. I didn't ask for anything, including money. I didn't even ask to move here!" "Yet here you are," he shot back. "Look, kid. It's a shitty situation that you didn't ask for. But you're in the middle of it, and you have a responsibility. Fair or not, this is something that everyone needs you to do. And the more promises and conditions you hold out for, the more people resent you." "Fuck you," I muttered. I wanted to be angry, but I also believed his words. "I'm just a kid, and this is too much." I hated letting Wren see me be so vulnerable in front of the others. It pissed me off at the same time that it made me want to go run and hide in a hole in shame. But as much as I wanted to deny it, the asshole was right. If the situation was anything like they were telling me, I really didn't have a choice. But if I was already going to be seen as a greedy bitch, I would take one more thing first. "Know what? Fine," I declared. "But I want to know something first. No lies, no beating around the bush, no bullshit." I looked Garrett in the eyes, daring him to deny me or dodge. "How old are you? And how old are the twins here?" Garrett paused, frozen in apparent surprise. Then he laughed. A genuine, hearty laugh. The twins looked at one another, and I couldn't tell what they were thinking of the question. Finally Garrett composed himself, though he was still filled with merriment. "I'm a fairly young Vampire. I was turned in the Roaring 20s, during a Great Gatsby style garden party. But these two?" I was prepared to hear they were around for the Roman Empire or something. "The beauty twins here were born in the late 80s. They aren't even 40 yet. To the Vampyre, they are practically as much children as you, Jason." "Bitch!" laughed Wren. "You aren't exactly ancient, yourself!" "So how is it you are on your Si-whatever-fu-thing?" I asked Wren. "Ahem," Erin coughed pointedly. "We. We are both members of the Si-Jing-fu. Much to Garrett's dismay." "Oh, no wonder Count Dracula disses me. I like the babies more than him, and he's jealous!" Petty, but he earned it. I really just wanted to put my head down and make everything disappear, but I knew I couldn't. Garrett started packing up, but then Erin asked him if he wanted to play a game, since their earlier attempts had been interrupted. I paused, trying to get up the courage to take the plunge. I was usually not one to hold back, but this wasn't about maybe embarrassing myself. This was literally life and death. In the end, I just said "fuck it" to myself. "Fine," I said out loud, to no one in particular, but to all three. "Set it up. I'll do it." Then to Wren specifically, I asked, "It's late. Will you please walk me home?" I could hear the other two quietly celebrating as they pulled out models and Wren led me to the door. We snuck into the house only a little after eleven, and I dragged Wren up to my room. He started to reach for my pants, but I playfully slapped his hands away. "Uh uh," I whispered with a grin. "It's my turn tonight, Junior!" "Junior?" he laughed as I pushed him back onto the bed. I was getting used to the cooler temperature of his skin, and really enjoying it. "Yeah, you're practically a baby, right? Isn't that what your best buddy said?" I pushed Wren onto his back, and he relented, though he kept his shoulders propped up with his elbows, watching what I was doing. I took advantage of that, and hooked the sleeves of his jacket back, effectively trapping his arms. Then I started running my hands up under his shirt, lifting it as I moved north. My fingers found the edge of his wound. It didn't look a whole lot better than when he had shown me an hour before. "Let's see if we can't get you some extra energy to take care of this, shall we?" I teased. "Can't have flaws on this pretty skin, can we now?" I undid the button on his pants and started lowering the zipper. This was going to be new. Wren had sucked me twice now, but I had yet to see him naked. I was looking forward to it. I had no idea what to expect, and honestly I didn't have any real expectations. Whether shaved or something else, his chest had no hair, and as I worked his pants down, he also didn't have a treasure trail. I ran my fingers up and down, trying to detect stubble. Nothing at all. He was smooth. I was not surprised at all to find him wearing panties. After all, these were girl's cut jeans he was wearing. I was, however, surprised to find they were simple cotton, rather than silk or something fancy. They were probably some fancy brand though. His skin had not begun to warm up yet. "I must not be doing a good enough job yet," I teased. "You're still cold." He laughed softly. "You haven't started anything yet, silly." "Silly, am I?" I grinned, then kissed his pubic mound just above his underwear before I began peeling them down. He was still soft, with pale white skin to match the rest of him, and still hairless. He was uncut and small, thin and maybe three inches long. His foreskin was long, with tons of extra skin. I was circumcised, but I'd seen enough videos to know what to expect. I was kind of excited, and kind of glad he wasn't too big. Maybe my first blowjob wouldn't be so difficult. I took him in my mouth, reveling at the feel of sucking him soft. His skin was still cool, but was quickly warming, losing his chill as he lost his softness. I used my lips and tongue to work on skinning him back, which I'm sure was doing things for him. I quickly quit worrying about his foreskin, letting it take care of itself, which I went to work on his shaft. Having never done this before, I was pretty nervous that I was going to fuck it up, but I heard no complaints from above. The skin of his cock warmed as it hardened. Damn, but he was the definition of a "grower". By the time he was at full mast, he was easily over six inches and bigger than me. "Fuck me," I said. "You doubled in length and thickness? Beautiful, but no fair!" I laughed at his smile, then dove back in. He tasted clean, with a hint of whatever shampoo or body wash he used. I made a note to ask later, knowing full well I would forget. Fearful that I might disappoint, I concentrated on giving my best effort, keeping my teeth back, trying to vary my pressure, and roaming around his perfect legs and stomach with my hands while worshiping his appendage with my mouth. The more I worked, the warmer the rest of him became. I must have been doing a half decent job, because he was soon panting and giving out little whimpers and moans. I was feeling pretty good about myself, considering this was my first ever time doing this. That said, I had been dreaming of sucking a cock since I was about 11, and damn was Wren's cock amazing. I reached down to give his balls a feel. Their skin was so soft and silky, paper smooth and hairless, like the rest of him. They hung pretty low, but I could feel them tighten and rise a bit each time that his cock twitched. I was rewarded with a bit of leaking precum, and it tasted as good as I'd always heard. I had no idea what to expect from his cum. I mean, I'd tasted my own a few times, and it was nothing special. Not terrible but not exactly tasty. But this was Wren. He was getting the full treatment tonight. He started panting and grunting, trying to flex his hips to pump up into my mouth. Gravity worked against him, but I felt like I was making up for it. At last, his stomach contracted under my hand, his shaft expanded, and his head started spurting in my mouth. I ran my tongue around his head, inside the foreskin, making sure to coax out as much juice as I could. It had the tiniest bit of saltiness to it, but was the kind of sweet you get from overripe fruit. His cum was thick and there was lots of it. It definitely wasn't what I thought cum should taste like. At least, it was nothing like what mine had tasted like. And there was probably twice what I ever put out. I tried to swallow, but I choked, and well over half of it spilled from my mouth, running down my chin onto my shirt and his pants. "Oh, shit!" I hopped up and made to go run to grab a towel or something from the bathroom, but Wren grabbed my arm and pulled me down on top of himself. "Don't worry about any mess, babe," he said as he pulled me in for a kiss. "That was amazing. You must have had some great experience with this kind of thing. You'll have to tell me about them some time." "I wish!" I laughed. "That was my first time." "Really?" Wren looked surprised. "You mean you've only done other stuff?" "Nope. You've sucked me twice, and now I've paid one back. You were my first." "Wow, I'm honored. Sincerely." He looked up at me with a bit of a twinkle. "Wait a minute," I said. "If you are supposed to be all about sex with guys, and you're all magic and shit, aren't you supposed to be able to like, sniff out virgins or something?" He laughed, then kissed me again, a quick peck on the lips. "You read too many books, babe." I lazily played with his penis, which was quickly softening, and just as quickly cooling. It was so cute, how small it got. I released it, though he didn't give any indication that it was a problem. Instead, I reached up to feel his wound. As I expected, it was now nearly healed. There was the faintest feel of a ridgeline to both sides of each gash, and the darker pink area was already beginning to lighten in color. "Absolutely amazing," I whispered in awe. "And you say that I'm going to be able to heal like this, also?" "Something like this," he said thoughtfully. "I mean, each is different. There are general expectations, but the benefits can affect each person slightly differently. For example, we are already seeing that you are already having some superior benefits in dealing with mesmir. It looks like you managed to get some super strength in there, as well." "Yeah, but I can't control either of them, can I?" "Once you truly are an Assecla, that control will open up to you. We will also be able to teach you." He nestled me against him, giving me a bit of a hug. "So you've decided? You are really doing this?" "It's like you guys said, I don't have a ton of choice, do I?"