A Mother and Son Talk

Getting everyone in the house was a somewhat harder affair than getting into the cars. Firstly, there was a level of anonymity in the parking lot, despite the public nature of the setting, that made moving people both visible and invisible easier. A bunch of people suddenly going in and out of a house not known for hosting any parties or events would turn eyes, especially on a Sunday.

With the feeling of eyes on him, John got out of the car and opened the backdoor. He felt Aeolia fly onto his shoulder, her aura still harsher than normal.

“You holding up okay?” John quietly asked.

“I’m fine,” she tersely replied.

John wished he could counter her on that assertion, but the driveway was not the place, especially with Vivian’s car pulling in behind them. Only the redhead looked to be alone as she exited her car, though she left the door open.

Before John could ask where Beth was, he felt her aura draw close and could see the faint blur of one of Vivian’s veils.

Catching sight of John's perplexed expression, Vivian stepped close and kissed his cheek, using the close proximity to whisper, "Figured it would draw unwanted attention if people saw Beth's ruined shirt."

"Good call," John murmured back. "Let's get inside so we can drop the covert stuff."

John stepped away from his redheaded girlfriend and leaned into he car, blindly reaching for the seatbelt latch. He saw Vivian move her hand slightly and the veil around it faded, letting him unfasten it.

"I'll take over the whole veil, so Teri doesn't have to try and move around you with the orb to keep it up," Vivian said as she stepped behind him.

Nodding and lifting his head slightly, John asked the invisible Teri, "Her condition the same?"

"Yeah," the goblin answered. "Still the same as it was when we left. So at least the drive over didn't make things worse."

John felt Aeolia shift on his shoulder, her wings brushing against his neck.

"Then getting her inside shouldn't be something we need to be super careful with," the winged woman harshly said. John caught Teri’s veil ripple and he interpreted it as her flinching back from Aeolia’s aggressive emotions.

'I get why she's angry, but Mom was right. We don't know how she fits into all of this. Not having Observe work really puts us on the backfoot.'

The fact the blue haired woman had the Eclipse Charm didn't give John the best hope that she was innocent, but he was willing to entertain other options. But if she was involved with Phantom Reach, then what?

It's one thing to fight against someone trying to kill you, but do we just execute her? John wondered, that line of thought quickly leaving him sick to his stomach. 'Yeah, no way we're going to do that. Guess we could hand her over to the Order, but that'll open a can of worms too.'

John pushed those thoughts away for the moment and gingerly picked up the **** girl. He suppressed a light grunt of effort as he cradled her in his arms, not wanting to attract unwanted attention as he carried in the invisible girl.

After a few awkward steps, John got a groove going and managed to get inside with no issue.

"Is that everyone?" Brenda asked, her eyes sweeping through the area.

After a moment of checking with Arcane Sense, John said, "Yeah, that's everyone. Though we might want to close the curtains to be extra safe."

Nodding, Brenda shut the door and quickly moved to the living room windows, ensuring the cream curtains were sufficiently blocking any prying eyes. She repeated the process at every window on the ground floor and with the final one said, "All closed."

In that instant, the invisible visitors snapped into sight. John chanced a glance at Aeolia and found her scowling down at the girl in his arms.

"OK, next order of business," John said. "Where should I put her?"

"You don't have a glass coffin lying around, do you?" Beth asked with a slight grin. When John, Vivian and even Brenda shot her a reproachful stare, she put her hands up defensively and added, "Oh, come on. When else am I going to get to use that reference?"

Ignoring the short parkour enthusiast, Brenda said, "The couch can do for now, but a proper bed would probably be the best. There is that spare room we have, but it doesn’t have the right furniture."

"Once we get all rested, we can put up a barrier around the whole house," Vivian suggested. She turned to Brenda. "That will create replicas of the furniture. I think it would be best to keep her isolated, in case her condition caused any outbursts of magic. But we should be fine for a bit beforehand."

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea," John said, carefully slipping the girl down on the couch. She remained motionless throughout the whole ordeal, and if it wasn't for the warmth she put off and the slightest movement of her chest, he would have thought her dead.

With their possible prisoner placed comfortably, John knew there wasn't anything that would delay the talk he needed to have with his mother beyond his own emotions.

He was afraid that she would want to distance herself from it all, either demanding he give up magic or leave. And he was afraid she feared him, or would in time, come to see him as a killer.

The logical part of his mind dismissed those thoughts as nothing had indicated Brenda was feeling that way. On the contrary, her offering their home as a place to rest indicated that she was at least open to the idea of the Abyss.

But the emotional part of him couldn't shake the idea that things were going to fall apart. If not now, then later once she had time to really think things over.

Brenda glanced over at John and seemed to guess his next move as she gracefully excused herself and adjourned to her office.

John moved to Vivian and pulled out a handful of twenties.

"I've got to talk to Mom about everything," he explained, a lead weight settling in his stomach as he said aloud his intention. "Could you order some pizza for everyone?"

Vivian took John's money holding hand in hers and gently rubbed the back with her thumb, trying to soothe away his worry as she smiled softly at him.

"Don't overthink things," she quietly advised. "I don't think she's going to freak out over anything."

"You didn't see her while it was just me and her," John muttered. "When Bill had her tied up. Or when I took damage. I don't want to lose anything, not you guys or her."

With her free hand, Vivian cupped John's cheek and leaned up to capture his lips in a quick kiss. When she pulled back, she said, "I think things will work out. Maybe it's an old fashioned way of thinking, but opening up one's home was a sign of good intention."

Soothed slightly by her encouragement, John took a deep breath.

"I hope you're right,"John remarked and made his way to Brenda's office. She had left the door ajar and John slipped in. His mother stood with her back to him, staring down at a picture of a younger him, grinning ear to ear. She heard his approach and turned to face him.

"Everyone settling in alright?" she asked.

"Yeah, but that's not why I'm here, Mom," John answered, shutting the door behind him. "It's time to come clean about everything."

"You don't have to," Brenda interjected, catching John off-guard. "There's always a point where a mother has to let her kids fly on their own."

"Mom, this isn't me going to college or moving out," John countered, feeling a little angry that she wasn't treating things with the right amount of gravitas. "This is a whole, big thing."

Cursing his lack of eloquence, John continued, "This isn't something we can ignore. And I don't think it's smart to do so."

"When did my little boy get so wise?" Brenda asked tearfully.

Holding back a retort referencing his stat line, John asked, "So, tell you everything?"

Brenda nodded.

John spent an hour recounting his week, only leaving out the more erotic aspects, as well as the full nature of his relationships with the girls. Brenda listened with rapt attention, only breaking his flow with questions she couldn’t contain. By the time John reached the relatively boring events of the prior day, he felt both further exhaustion and a sense of relief over airing out his hidden week.

"Certainly is a lot to take in," Brenda said softly, leaning back in her chair. "And I can't say I'm thrilled to learn you've been putting yourself at risk every day, but after what I saw today, I don't think I could condemn you over it."

She took a breath and continued, "I suppose you're expecting me to try and **** you to stop being in this Abyss, right?"

"I, um, yeah, that was one option," John answered, a little confused at her seemingly complete acceptance over the whole situation.

"If you had come clean before we got attacked, I might have. Once I accepted that magic was real and all that," Brenda admitted. "But I can see how getting out would be a problem. Running wouldn't guarantee our safety, right?"

"Probably," John answered with a sigh. "These guys attacked me when I hadn't done anything but exist. There's nothing to say they wouldn't hunt me down to tie up loose ends."

"I suppose there isn't some authority, is there?" Brenda mused.

"Not like a government, but there kind of is," John admitted. "But I hear they would expect me to walk lock step with them, which means into this fight, then maybe the next one, and the one after that."

"Can't say I'd like that trade," Brenda said. "Sounds like you'd be joining the military."

"Considering they're pretty much holy knights, yeah, not far off,” John remarked.

"So, if running isn't an option and joining these knights isn't one either, what's your plan?" Brenda asked.

"Wish I knew," John said. "I think first will be trying to get info out of our guest once she recovers. If she recovers."

Brenda frowned, not liking his pessimism. "You don't have any tricks or anything to help her?"

"Outside of hitting her with another shot of the staff's Evocation, no," John answered, then his eyes widened. "But I've got something that might give us answers. I need to run an idea by Vivian before trying it."

"It's not dangerous, is it?" Brenda inquired, her voice hitching slightly.

John wanted to reassure her it would be fine, but found trying now after laying everything out would be in bad taste.

"I can’t say for sure," he instead said. "I've never used this skill on a person. Remember the thing I told you about seeing things from an object's past?"

Brenda nodded. "You want to try that on her?"

"We can do it on her bracelet first. That shouldn't lead to anything bad," John outlined. "If that doesn't give us anything, then we'll try using it on her directly."

"But only after Vivian gives you the okay that it won't hurt you, right?" Brenda asked, a small smile on her lips.

John nodded, working up the courage to properly address his relationship status. He'd glossed over it before in favor of the more pressing details, but if there was any time to tell her, now was it.

"Mom, there's one thing I haven't properly explained," he began, only to be cut off by Brenda.

"Is this where you tell me you're seeing both Vivian and Aeolia?" she asked with a knowing smile.

On the back foot, John stammered, "Um, yeah. You, er, figured it out."

"Not all that hard when the girl I didn't know drops in and kisses you after coming to our rescue," Brenda teased. “I did consider that Vivian was just a smokescreen so you would have someone I could meet to explain away your absences, but why have her spend the night and get caught by chance? From there, it wasn’t hard to piece things together.”

John awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck. “And, em, that’s not a problem?”

“Sweetie, I’ve come to terms that you’re going to be fighting dangerous enemies. A little thing like dating two girls isn’t that much in comparison,” Brenda bluntly said.

“And what if it was more?” John asked, his cheeks ever so slightly red.

Instead of looking scandalized, Brenda grinned. “I thought that might have been the case.”

“Wait, you knew?” John nearly shouted.

“Well, I suspected,” Brenda answered with a lilt in her voice.

John was about to ask how she came to that conclusion, but decided that it wasn’t an important tangent for their conversation to take. Instead he cleared his throat and said, “Yeah, so, I’m also dating Beth. And Senka. Well, I mean, we’re all dating each other.”

“Okay, I hadn’t expected there to be more than one more,” Brenda admitted after a pause to process.

“We all kind of just fell into it,” John sheepishly said.

Brenda frowned and asked, “Isn’t Senka the one living inside your head?”

“Yeah,” John replied. “Well, it’s a bit more complicated than that, but that’s the easiest way to describe it.”

“Has she been listening in on us?” Brenda inquired, to which John shook his head.

“Nah, she’s resting. She used a lot of mana and doesn’t regenerate that quickly,” John explained. “Plus, she costs some of my mana to be active so she went to sleep to free up my full regeneration.”

Brenda frowned a bit. “Oh, I was kind of hoping to properly meet everyone, but I can’t fault her for resting. She did a lot back there.”

“Well, she’s around any time I am,” John remarked. “Er, mostly. I can tether her to her knife and she can carry that around to move freely. And she got a range free night out yesterday from the goddess plugged into my powers.”

Brenda’s frown deepened. “That sounds like you’ve got her on some kind of a leash.”

“If I could have her come and go as she pleased, I would,” John hastily commented. “We’re stuck dealing with the rules of magic, even if I kind of stretch them. As far as we know, Senka is one of a kind.”

“Still, it’s rather harsh to keep her cooped up,” Brenda remarked, then made an expression as an idea came to her. “I know! Once you’re all rested up, you can keep her summoned, right? No need to keep her in your head now that I’m in the know.”

Smiling slightly, John nodded. “Yeah, that sounds nice.”

The image of Senka exploring the house brought a smile to John’s face, but then an errant thought cut that imagining short.

“They’re pretty quiet out there,” John remarked, looking at the door.

“You all did fight pretty hard,” Brenda said.

“Yeah, but I figured there’d be a little noise,” John pointed out. “I asked Vivian to call for some pizza. Which I paid for, of course.”

“As a good host should.” Brenda laughed, before her expression drooped. “A bit of a pity we didn’t get to make dinner. Although, I don't think our planned list would have fed everyone. Suppose that means we'll have to increase the size of our list next time."

"Guess that means I'll have to pitch in," John faux bemoaned. "Let's go and see if anyone has any requests."

Brenda let out a chuckle as she got up from her seat and pulled John into a hug.

“Mom?” John asked, his voice muffled by her chest.

“I love you, sweetie,” Brenda said in a warm voice. “You’ve grown into a fine young man. I’m proud of you.”

John felt wetness spill from his eyes and he wrapped his arms around Brenda to reciprocate.

“Love you too, Mom.”

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