A New Day

John woke up.

A flash of the general grimness filled his closed eyelids. The pain he’d felt. The sheer rage that the pain had fuelled. And then… the memory of pink lips on his, and the soft scent of berries, gently carrying the pain and rage away. That feeling stayed, even after he opened his eyes.

He went through his wake-up routine as usual, got dressed, used the bathroom, etc. He headed down to the kitchen and had just finished pouring some juice again when his mom came from the hall and noticed him.

“Oh, sweetie! Good, you’re up.” John had the strangest sense of deja vu for a moment. Then it passed, and Brenda continued speaking, “I can’t believe you didn’t tell me! It’s one thing after another this week! First a girlfriend, now a special scholarship!”

‘Huh? Scholarship? What’s she talking about?’ John thought to himself, taking another slow sip of his apple juice as he woke up, and absent-mindedly taking amusement in the mental comparison to it being whisky he was drinking as a wake-up. “She’s not my gir-”

Brenda carried on, unaware of her son’s confusion, “Oh! My little boy’s gearing up to leave the nest! You’ve become a not-so-little man! Soon you’ll be waving goodbye, moving onwards and upwards, wooing ladies left and r-”

“Mom!” John finally said, interrupting the deluge of motherly affection right as she was about to start hugging him. “What’s this scholarship you’re talking about?”

From the other room, John heard a voice say, “The Brighton Academy’s Academic Excellence Award. For the best and brightest students, hand-picked from various prep schools, such as Ashcroft, and specifically designed to give those students a fast-track into their desired qualification, through an intensive course that incorporates both academic and practical elements for the most rounded experience within the available time-frame.” Moira stepped into the doorway, a wry smile on her face. “Or, to put it simply, it’s a chance for your son, Miss Newman, to be able to skip the queue, end his time at Ashcroft early, and jump straight into a good business opportunity, should he be capable enough and wish to do so.”

She turned to face John, her expression neutral, but her eyes intensely trying to tell him something. Probably to play along with this. She did say she’d be around to pick him up today. He just hadn’t expected… this. “Y-yeah! Sorry for not, er, mentioning it, Mom. I, um, wasn’t sure if I’d get into it, and d-didn’t want to get your hopes up.”

The corner of Moira’s mouth turned up very slightly in approval, before she spoke up again, “Well, as you might have gathered, I’m here to tell you that you’ve been accepted. For the foreseeable future, the time you would usually spend at Ashcroft will be spent with us instead, so that you’re able to focus one hundred and ten percent on achieving only the best for yourself. On that note, there’s transport waiting outside for us, when you’re ready.” She smiled kindly at his mother. “I’ll leave you to get ready.” The redheaded paladin left the room, and then John heard the front door open and close.

John took another slow sip of his apple juice before it actually sank in what had just happened. Moira just excused him from all of his normal school time, and did it with an actually acceptable reason. Well, if this award thing actually existed, that is.

His mom stood in front of him, a large, proud grin on her face, and an expression that seemed to be waiting for something.

…

Oh fuck! Moira was outside waiting for him! John suddenly seemed to finish waking up, his brain finally making the connections that had been going so slowly. To the sound of his mother’s laughter, presumably at his face of realisation, he gulped down the remaining apple juice, and ran upstairs to grab his phone and such. Then he ran back downstairs and, as he threw on a jacket, called out to his mom, “I’ll be back later! I love you! Thanks for understanding! BYE!” and then went out the door, closing it behind him.

The rush of speed came to a sharp halt upon seeing the goddamned limo that was casually waiting outside his average suburban home. Upon reflection, John didn’t know why he was surprised; he couldn’t imagine Moira travelling in a family sedan. One of the doors opened, and Moira got out and waved him over whilst holding the door for him. He walked over, asking curiously, “A limo? For a school thing? Isn’t that a little much?”

As he got into the ostentatious vehicle, she replied, “Hardly. This is a Brighton Academy ‘thing’, and we have quite the funding,” and then smoothly reentered the vehicle herself.

John’s eyes adjusted to the dim lighting inside the vehicle, immediately locking eyes on Velvet. Memories rushed back through his head of the feelings and sensory exuberance he had felt the night before in the moment that her lips grazed his, and he quickly averted his eyes and hoped desperately that the lighting would hide the blush he was certain he had. As his eyes moved away, he noted the interior of the limo - a long seat of sleek black leather curving around the two ends and one side, with a gap for the door, facing what seemed to be a small bar that stretched the length of the car.

His eyes then brought him to the blonde berserker that sat closest to him, her face full of a shit-eating grin that spoke of barely-held laughter. John silently cursed the blush he could now feel heating his ears, and **** himself to speak. “Nice to see you again, Erica, V-Velvet.”

“Heya, hero boy. Did you have a fun night?” John almost flinched at the insinuation, and felt himself getting slightly angry, and raised his eyes to the blonde babe’s. He immediately saw that she’d said it as banter, nothing more, and **** the dangerous emotion away rather than try to deal with it right now.

Then the lingering anger was entirely derailed by the quiet, “Hi John…” that came from Velvet. Simple, barely a response, and yet… strangely alluring, like sugar on the tongue.

Any further conversation was cut off by the beginning of the vehicle’s movement, and Moira clearing her throat. “With that out of the way…” She focused her attention on John, and he sat up straighter, uncomfortably conscious of his poor posture under her gaze. “As promised, we are here to collect you for your training with Erica. She mentioned yesterday, I believe, she only has the rest of this week before she leaves for a transfer, so this week will likely be rather intensive for you.” John just barely caught the downward twist of the Warden’s lip at the mention of Erica’s transfer, but had no time to consider it as she continued to speak, “With that in mind, Erica has called in a favour on your behalf to employ the services of a Fateweaver, who will provide you with some degree of time dilation. Additionally, I have permission to provide the Order’s support, within reason. For the most part, however, Erica will be handling your training and support.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll be looking after you, making sure you don’t kill yourself by accident or get kidnapped again, etc. etc.” The blonde’s eyes glittered with mild amusement, but mainly excitement. “The actual interesting stuff starts with me, whilst Red over here will deal with the boring stuff.” Moira started to exasperatedly object, only to have Erica ride over her with a laugh held in her tone, “So! Speaking of… I was thinking we could start with something easy and practise making some barriers so we have a safe space that you can do your weird yet cool game power stuff in, without accidentally blowing up the manor or something. I’ll take a look at your gear before we start doing any combat stuff, to make sure it’s all in good condition, and-”

He interrupted, “Uh…”

She stopped completely for a moment, looking at him incredulously. “...Dude, are you about to tell me that you don’t have any gear?”

He nodded.

“You’re telling me that you attempted to stop a **** without any weapons?”

John nodded.

“Against two opponents, one of whom was apparently about three times your size?”

John nodded again.

"And then you took a power you didn't know, went 'zerker mode, and dealt with the jailer… all without a weapon or anything? And all on your first day of the Abyss?"

John nodded once again, and then remembered something. "Oh, yeah! I, uh, did actually have a weapon? But only for the, uh, first bit." He held his hand out and willed Kitten's Claw out of his inventory, the blade appearing in his hand. He carefully grasped it and said, "This is actually yours, Vel. I found it in the alley entrance, and used it when I tried to stop them from taking you." He handed it to the brunette in question, turning to Erica after doing so. “But I only really got one hit in, and it was barely a scratch.”

"...Fucking hell. I don't know if I should be impressed or call you an idiot." Erica shook her head slightly. "Doesn't matter. We need to get you some equipment before you can train. Can the Order's armoury outfit him, Moira?"

The redhead frowned. "I… would like to say yes, but unfortunately not. Our blades and armour are made to order, and as John is not officially a member…" she trailed off, the frown becoming an apologetic grimace.

Erica hummed in response, and seemed to be thinking. Just as John was about to pipe up that he could maybe go and grab a bat or something, Velvet gently raised her voice, “We - the Peacekeepers, I mean - have a privately contracted source that might have something.”

Erica snapped her fingers. “Ah! Yes, of course. The enchantress girl. I thought she was exclusive? Only crafts for the people she wants to, and only to-order? What makes you think she’ll have something available?”

Velvet blushed a little as she smiled. “She, uh, owes me a favour, for helping her ‘see’ something she was working on.”.

Erica faced Moira again. “You think you could cover half the cost of some gear from her?”

Moira raised an eyebrow. “Erica, considering the worth of the Fateweaver you have somehow called in, I believe it would verge on criminal to **** you or John to pay for some basic equipment.”

She reached behind her and slipped open the panel between them and the driver a fraction. “Change of plans. The south side of the market, if you would. Thank you.”

The market was, in a word, wonder-hell. John knew that was two words, technically, but it was the only thing he could think of to actually describe the place.

There were so many sights to see! The entire barrier thrummed with magic in a way that neither Brighton Manor nor the Peacekeeper HQ did. Everywhere John looked, he saw it - a flame burning in a dish with no fuel, the array of strange and impossible weaponry, even a catgirl running a stall. John was honest enough with himself, in his own mind, to admit that the last one excited him a bit and got the part of his brain that consumed a little too much erotica thinking.

Then there was the other side of it all. The sheer amount of stimuli pouring into his mind was staggering: Flashing lights everywhere, advertising this or that; people moving constantly, flowing through the open spaces like a thundering river; and fuck, the noise! A cacophony of sounds cascading over him, booming in his eardrums louder than anything he could remember hearing. Far, far louder than any mundane market or store he’d ever been in.

“Y’alright, dude?” John registered that he was being spoken to, and finally pulled his eyes away. Erica was watching him, her eyes inscrutable, apparently waiting for a response.

He realised he’d been very quiet and still for a while, so he **** a smile onto his face and a canned laugh out of his mouth. “Haha, yeah, I’m, uh, I’m fine. It’s just all so, uhm, interesting, isn’t it?”

Erica looked at him a moment longer, then nodded slowly. “Yeah, I guess it is, if you haven’t seen it before.” She turned to look around for a measured moment, then gave him a sideways glance and quietly said to him, “Wanna get outta here and get what we came for?”

John flushed lightly with embarrassment, his discomfort with the overstimulation not concealed sufficiently, but nodded thankfully to the blonde babe anyway. She returned him another one of her wide grins, and burst into motion. She strode over to Moira, tapping the paladin’s shoulder then thrusting a thumb over her shoulder and half-shouting, “C’mon. Pretty sure they’re this way,” then the pair of them started in the indicated direction.

John was about to follow, when he noticed Velvet. She stood, still where she had been, seemingly fine. When he’d looked closer, though, he realised her jaw was tense, and her teeth gritted. He glanced down and saw her right hand on the very edge of forming a fist, clenching and unclenching in what seemed to be an **** stress response. He hadn’t thought of it, but if the market had been overwhelming for him, with his normal senses, how much worse was it for her, who interpreted the world through magic? Or, something like that. John made a mental note to ask her about how her sight actually worked at a later point.

He took a deep breath to gather his courage, and then as gently as he could, thrust his hand into hers just before she clenched it shut again. There was a moment where she crushed his hand with a surprisingly tight grip, then all the pressure drained out of her and she turned to face him, her pearly eyes seeming to glitter in the sunlight. She was still just a moment, then a smile came over her face, to match the one that covered John’s, and he used their connection to guide her as he turned to follow the other pair.

As they walked, the sounds and sights of the market faded, and, whilst not exactly quiet, John was able to hear himself think once again. Unfortunately - or fortunately, depending on your perspective - all he could think about was Velvet’s hand in his. Her skin was so soft! And her hand was small in his. Not tiny, though. Just slightly smaller, so that it felt like he was enveloping it totally. The soft scent of some still-unknown type of berry still lingered around her, and John couldn’t think of a scent he’d been more attracted to ever before. He was so distracted by their physical connection - that he’d initiated! - that he simply didn’t pay any attention to the everyday buildings he was passing, nor to the remarkable storefronts they’d pass every once in a while. He was only brought back to the real world when the pair he was following disappeared into a random unlabelled doorway.

He shook his head slightly, throwing away the remaining fluffy cobwebs. John thought to himself that he must look like an idiot to Velvet, behaving like a lovestruck teenager. He remembered she couldn’t see his expressions, and silently sighed in relief, then **** himself to speak, “In- In here.” He cleared his throat to get rid of the awful squeak that had come out when he spoke. “They went in here.”

The blind brunette turned to face him, a smile on her face. “I know. This is my… I suppose my friend’s workshop. I tend to come here for my dad.” A slight frown followed, though she quickly banished it. “I usually come from the other direction though.”

“O-oh.” John laughed awkwardly. “Of course. Silly me, I guess.