-Jess Lair

John pulled his companions away from that gory section of the barrier with its foreboding message as quickly as his scrambled mind would allow. Even after being somewhat hardened to the horrors of battle - as much as one could be in less than a month - John was rather disturbed, both at the message and its method of delivery. All the same, he was in no state to return home safely, and had no desire to do anything more than let his damaged psyche recover. So he remained in the confines of the magical zone, trying to tune out the faint tones of blood and gore from his nose as they sequestered themselves across the false storefront.

Strangely enough, both of his companions were equally… eager to help with consoling him. Layla stood at one side, Sophia on the other. A more aware John might have noticed a slight tension in the air, but he was too lost in thoughts to do much more than hear the words that were occasionally spoken.

"Take your time," Layla cooed into his left ear, her hands almost shaking as she stroked along his forearm. "That was quite something to witness, even for the Abyss. Someone must have had some very powerful magic to enchant an amulet to do that to an Exuder."

"Father, this cruelty goes beyond war. To go against one aiding you is betrayal. I too am disturbed, but we can be strong… together."

John said nothing in return. In the silence, Layla's voice rose again.

"Your daughter is right. Whoever cast that spell, they were aware of how to work around her body's innate magical defenses. They must be a very skilled and powerful mage. I came to apologize for my approach by aiding you, John Newman… if you need my skills, they are yours."

"Thank you, Layla… but I barely know you, I wouldn't ask that of you. The person who sent this message is dangerous. She already tried to kill someone close to me."

"The Abyss is a dangerous place. Aligning oneself with any person is always a risk."

"And why are you willing to take that risk?"

"Because… I have no one else. It has been too dangerous for me to make allies in the past - your aura makes me think that maybe… it was meant to be," Layla admitted slowly, shrugging her shoulders. Her eyes suddenly turned away from John, the first time since she had approached him in the marketplace. Her entire body seemed to sag at once, and her weight pressed against John Newman with a fervent need.

"My abilities make me a very valuable asset… but they also make me a target. Aura readers with my range and skill aren't common, and there aren't many organizations with the territory and needs to make use of me who don't delve into the unsavory aspects of the Abyss. I've survived this long by never letting anyone know how much my abilities have grown. I thought perhaps the way your aura resonates would mean you felt the same. Having to keep my powers secret, even in a society that accepts wondrous feats of magic… I'm sorry. I shouldn't be bothering you with these problems."

John felt his brows knitting, both out of concern and a bit of suspicion. The excuse she gave was probably true - so far, Kim was the only other aura reader John knew of, and she had never displayed any abilities nearly equivalent to Layla's whether she had them or not. All the same, something about her story rang too true to John's own to be taken fully seriously. A mage with innate abilities too powerful to reveal, hiding on her own, concealing her potential to avoid enemies? Either she was lying… no, there couldn't be any other excuse. Her story was too true to John's own to believe that it could be mere happenstance that he should stumble upon her.

Could there?

"Don't worry about it," John said, brushing aside both her problems and his suspicions for the moment. He had enough on his plate without trying to analyze Layla on top of it all. Besides, currently John had no reason not to trust her. She was a bit… awkward during their first meeting, but she had alerted him to what John now knew was a very dangerous foe.

"You helped me out. More than you know, honestly - I won't turn down more help, but I'll feel pretty bad about accepting. Is there anything I can do for you in return?"

Two stars must have crossed in the sky, for it happened that John heard two phones ringing at almost the same instant - both his own phone and Layla's started playing so close together, John wondered for a moment if some Abyssal alert had gone out. John was so stressed out that the noise actually caused him to jump, embarrassingly enough. Truly there was nothing more intimidating or manlier than recoiling at the bizarre medley of “Better than ****” and the Final Fantasy 7 victory theme.

Layla didn't take her eyes off John as she removed her phone from her pocket, but when she glanced at the screen, it was as if she were glued to it. John glanced down at his phone as she did, and although he couldn't see his own reaction, he imagined it was quite similar.

Incoming Call: Tricia Gorbachev

"What the hell happened now?" John muttered, before glancing up to Layla. Although outwardly calm, something in her eyes told John that her own phone call was of equal importance. Layla pulled out a pen and paper from some Abyssal storage, and before John could ask what she was writing down, she was thrusting the paper into his hand.

"Sorry… I have to take this. This is my phone number. If you need my help, or if you just need to talk… please contact me. I'll be waiting."

John wanted to say something, but before he could make up his mind on exactly what that was, Layla had gone. Disappeared from the Barrier and back into mundane reality, essentially exiting his range of hearing without moving an inch, even if she did have to deal with a particularly nosy shopkeeper.

"Father, are you certain that you have only met this woman once before? She described her earlier meeting, but… she seems very intimate with you."

"You could… definitely phrase that better, Sophia," John noted, shaking his head. "Honestly? I have no idea. I'm assuming she's either lying or knows more about me than she lets on, but… her abilities were really useful, I won't lie. I won't contact her unless we need her, though."

"I will trust your judgement, Father."

Seeing as how that seemed to be all Sophia had to say on the matter, and having already left his phone ringing for far too long, John hastily answered the call.

"Hey, it's John. What's up, Tricia?"

"You need to return to the Manor, immediately."

John's blood ran cold. Had his luck run so badly that everything he'd avoided for the past week was being crammed into a single day? Were the Albidians attacking? Had some new threat arisen? What exactly were-"

"Tricia, what's going on? Is the Manor under attack? Should I gather everyone? Is Seras okay, are you-"

"John, it's not that," Tricia sighed, her voice level but obviously tired and exasperated. "It's Mithra."

"Is something wrong? Did she-"

"John Newman, you have no patience," Tricia said, her voice beginning to show traces of annoyance, which meant far worse emotions were seeping through. "Mithra is ready. She's giving birth."

John froze in place, every muscle fiber rigid with the flood of chemicals that enveloped his brain, nervous system, and muscles - in approximately that order. His suddenly shaky fingers struggled to hold the phone steadily near his head as he gasped out just a few words in response.

"Are… are you sure?"

There came the sound of a sigh over the phone, then a light rustling, as if Tricia were repositioning herself. Then a light breathing, more rustling, and then…

"…Mrow?"

A light breathing, soft wet sounds like chewing, and…

"Mewl! Mrow? Mrow!"

"John, I am quite certain she is giving birth."

John wasn't sure which came first - the peal of laughter escaping his throat or the warm but overly happy tears streaming down his cheeks.

"Trish, I'm on my way. Please, just… just keep her safe! Keep her well; I'm… I'm just gonna be there as fast as I can!"

"John Newman don't you dare run all this way, take the car like a normal human or-"

John slammed the phone shut and turned to Sophia, a madman's grin breaking his usually calm features.

"Sophia, hurry! Hurry! You're about to have a bunch of siblings!"

Layla trailed out of the store without much fanfare, the shopkeeper already having retreated to his back room again. Surely he would emerge after the bell rang, confused as ever to find no customer… but that was none of Layla's concern at the moment. Far more important was the name on her phone.

"Hello Tess," Layla greeted calmly as she answered the phone, trying to level her emotions and control the pulses still fluctuating through her being.

"Lay? What's goin’ on, where ya at?"

"I just left the market," Layla responded, her mind immediately poring over the details of her schedule. Where was she supposed to be? The answer came immediately - it was one of her many date nights with Tessa. Ever since their graduation from Firesmith, she had scheduled more and more of them. Never knowing when their masters would call upon them, the two wanted to make the most of themselves that they could before the inevitable happened.

"Ah shit, that's what I was worryin’ about," Tessa said, her voice sounding relieved despite the concern still present. "Someone just messaged me an’ said the Enforcers were looking inta some major mana spike right outside the Market. Were you at Teajuvenation?"

"I was," Layla replied flawlessly, her voice rolling with the out that Tessa was kind enough to offer her. "There was a bit of a commotion afterwards but it didn't hold me up for long. I'll be home soon, okay?" All truth. Somehow that made it worse how easily she was believed.

"Nah, no worries," Tessa said, her voice now fully relaxed. "I'm just glad you're doin’ alright. Since the Order went and finished their war with the Cabal, everybody up at the Academy’s been ridin’ the edge."

"No worries, Tess. I'll be home soon, I’m on my way right now. I love you."

"Love you too, Lay. Stay safe."

Layla closed her phone, sighing softly. She’d gotten away without even needing to lie.

...Mostly.

——-

(Hey all, Talon here. Just for fun and since it’s been a while, here’s a little poll - who’s your favorite girl from my branch? Poll is here, single choice only - next week we’ll do a multi choice poll for all of your favorites!