Necromanson (beta) Chapter 16 (Patreon)

“I think he might have a nesting instinct.” Sam said, rubbing his sore eye. He sat in front of a computer, looking at a sea of information about the monster who until very recently had been a very infamous man.

“What makes you say that?” Nakayama asked, flipping through another page. “Maculat don’t nest, they wander around and prey upon lone women in back alleys.” Nakayama raised his head. “Except he is not.”

“Nope, he’s started a cult built around himself, works miracles, and takes in strays, all in the same place. The Yellow River Condominiums.

Nakayama listened without a change in expression. “The yellow river,” he said, musing.

“Something up?” Sam asked from his computer screen, the pale light glinting from the decorative rivets in his eyepatch.

“The Yellow river is a place in china that causes a great number of deaths when it floods, and yet its shores are places of plenty.” Nakayama said, folding the book in front of him.

“Like the Nile?” Sam asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Something like that,” Nakayama said, when his face darkened suddenly. “Who arranged the deception of Zack’s guards on behalf of Manson? I feel as though we could get some answers if we talked to Zack, but now we’re at a dead end.”

Nakayama looked up at Sam with Narrowed eyes. “How many people besides you knew what he was trying to do with the Yellow River building?”

Sam held his hands up. “I didn’t know,” he said, his shoulders rising in a shrug. “He kept his cards pretty close to the vest. I could tell something was up when I caught glances of a few plans, but he kept the blueprints separated so that no one could have known exactly how to use the damn thing.”

Nakayama watched him for a moment longer before glancing away, his expression sour. “So we know he has a nesting instinct, and he seems to be following the pattern of his previous life.”

“How so?” Sam asked. Nakayama raised a book with Manson’s mugshot on the front.

“He’s surrounding himself with women, in an isolated place he has full control over,” Nakayama said. “He’s shutting them away from the rest of the world in that building, and turning them into extensions of his will. His nesting instinct is not unlike a vampire.”

“But he’s not, right?” Sam asked.

Nakayama sighed. “No,” he said, tapping a finger on his book. “He’s been seen in daylight, and his image can be captured by cameras. Vampire is out, Besides, the Council observed him with Eyes of Truth before they sent Velonte to his death. There is no mistake.”

“So what do we do?” Sam asked.

“We find a weakness,” Nakayama said. “Hopefully before he eats the Council.”

Sam snorted. “I don’t know about the rest of them, but I’d like to see someone try to get the upper hand against Nadia,” he said, chuckling.

“You might get the chance,” Nakayama said quietly, fixing the one-eyed man with his gaze. After a moment drumming the book with his fingers, Nakayama stood.

“Nesting,” Nakayama said. “We can use that.” Nakayama closed the distance between the two of them until he was standing beside Sam. “Use Nadia’s authority to gain control over the water and electricity, but don’t do anything with it yet. We need to undermine this monster’s base of operations and find a weakness before we begin starving out his human followers.”

“That’s going to take some phone calls,” Sam said. “But it shouldn’t be too hard.”

Nakayama nodded, gathering his coat. “Then come with me, we’ve got to talk with Zack’s apprentice.”

“Who?” Sam asked, his brow raised.

“The man who killed him,” Nakayama said, walking to the door.

“Oh,” Sam said, closing his windows as he turned off the computer of The Library, the local branch of a global knowledge repository specifically for high ranking members of the community. “You know, they did agree to that before Zack tried to kill him, so I guess you’re right, but the only thing Zack taught him was that you can’t trust Zack.” Sam strolled after Nakayama, his long strides catching up with the Japanese man easily.

“That might have been the best lesson,” Nakayama said, as they approached the limousine. Sam shrugged and followed.

Henry was standing in the lawn, his bare toes wiggling in the grass as a spellbook hovered in front of him. “Let’s see,” he said to himself, a fire extinguisher held loosely in his right hand. Henry’s eyes ran over the symbol for fire over and over, committing the details to memory, using mnemonic devices to name each intersection of the complex lines.

Henry closed his eyes and conjured the image of the symbol in his mind beside his tree, whose leaves were fluttering in the non-existent breeze of his imagination. In his mind’s eye, Henry let the invisible power that stirred the branches of his tree flow down and through the circle containing the symbol of fire.

A wave of heat across Henry’s face made his eyes shoot open. Unnatural flames leapt from the grass in front of him, burning higher and hotter than they ever could have on a meager diet of grass. Henry pulled the fire extinguisher in front of him and began sweeping the blackened lawn as the book that had been floating in front of him fell to the ground.

Henry reached out with his foot and kicked the spell book away from the heat of the flames even as he swept the fire extinguisher back and forth in front of the fire. The fire seemed to fight back against the drowning chemicals with a surly red color, and Henry took a step back as the heat against his face doubled.

“Heads up!” Athena called from Henry’s left, and she stepped forward with a garden hose, unleashing a jet of water at the unruly fire. The water rolled across the surface of the blackened grass like a hot stovetop, hissing as it balled up and skittered around.

After a few minutes, the fire lost its unnatural heat, and between the two of them, Athena and Henry managed to put the fire out. Looking at the circle of cooked earth and ash, Henry turned to Athena, who held her hand out for a high five.

“That,” Athena said, with barely contained enthusiasm. “Was awesome! What else is in there? Is there a spell to change your body? Or mess with peoples minds, or make food?” Henry shook his head.

“Theres a few crazy spells in there,” Henry said. “But all I can do right now is cast a spell a few minutes after reading the spell, sooner or later, my memory of the spell gets fuzzy, and then the symbol loses complexity, and then nothing happens. I’m going to have to memorize one spell over and over until I can see it in my sleep.”

“You said ‘cast a spell,’” Athena said, her eyes squinting as she beamed.

“Yeah, you win,” Henry said, shrugging. “Feels weird saying it. I feel like one of those guys running around the woods with bean bags with ‘magic missile’ stitched onto them.” Athena chuckled in response, her gaze turning back to the perfect circle of ash on the lawn.

“I think we’re well beyond that point,” Athena said, turning the hose off and wrapping it up. “Just promise not to shout the name of the spell as you cast it, and we’ll be good.”

As Athena straightened, a lone limousine rolled into the mansion’s paved lot, rolling silently to a halt near the grass a few dozen feet away. Athena, for her part, got closer to the edge of the building, ready to duck behind cover if necessary. Henry bent to retrieve his Gandalf staff, ready to flip the car on top of whoever came out of it if they were aggressive.

The side door opened, and Nakayama stepped out, taking a few strides forward before he addressed Henry. “Mr Stein, I need to speak with you.”

Behind Nakayama, the driver’s door opened, and Zack’s gigantic bodyguard stepped out, his right side covered with fading pockmarks, and a fanciful eyepatch with embroidery and studs covering the eye on the same side. The giant slouched over the car and rested his weight against the hood, glancing between Athena, Henry, and Nakayama.

His gaze lingered a little on Athena before he glanced back at Henry. In the dead space after Nakayama had spoken, he lifted one of his arms off the hood, pointing at Henry’s staff. “That thing’s an antique,” he said, propping his chin up against the hood. “There’s a wizard at Cornell University who can fix you up with something way better.”

“Yeah, I kinda figured,” Henry said, glancing up at the staff, then back to Nakayama, who seemed mildly annoyed at Sam. “So, what did you need to talk about?”

“It may be a rather long conversation,” Nakayama said. “May we speak about it inside?” Henry nodded and the three of them headed for the sitting room. Behind him, Athena and Sam walked beside each other, Athena deliberately staying just out of the giant’s reach as they talked.

“So, about your eye…” Henry heard Athena say as they walked down the halls.

“Don’t worry about it,” Sam said, waving his hand dismissively. “The explosion didn’t bust my eye, and even if it had, for a last sight, that wasn’t bad.”

“I had to find a way to stop you,” Athena said, her voice firm.

“And it worked,” Sam said with a smile on his face, scrunching up his face as he did a one-eyed wink.

“I want to ask,” Athena said, glancing up at Sam. “Were you really going to kill me?”

Sam shrugged, glancing up at the ceiling with a sigh. “The way things were going, Zack probably would have told me to kill you, and I would have. That was my job.”

“What’s your job now?” Athena asked.

“Killing whoever Nakayama tells me to, until my master decides otherwise.” Sam said, looking down at the little woman who, from her demeanor, bore a slight resemblance to Nadia.

“Master?” Athena asked.

“Person who teaches me?” Sam said, raising an eyebrow. “I’m technically still an apprentice.”

Nakayama scoffed. “Don’t let his false modesty fool you, young woman,” he said, glancing over his shoulder. “Any man who can impress Nadia enough to convince her take him as a disciple has more than good looks.”

Athena glanced from Nakayama to Sam, who shrugged with an innocent look on his face. Athena narrowed her eyes and kept walking, following the group into the sitting room.

Henry dragged chairs close together, not minding the expensive furniture grinding against the concrete mansion’s floor. Flopping down in the seat, he addressed the aging Japanese man who came to sit across from him. “So, tell me what’s up, are these council people going to step in and kill this thing for me?” he asked.

Nakayama shook his head. “No, Mr. Stein,” he said. “The Council has been compromised. One of the elders was sent to dispatch the creature recently, But he was killed, and the monster he was sent to purge has taken his place on the council.”

“How the hell did he do that?” Henry asked, his voice raising. “You all know he’s a monster, so what the fuck? I mean, he’s not even one of you.”

Nakayama raised a hand, and Henry gave him a moment to speak. “We are well aware,” he said grimly. “There is no requirement that a Council member be human. In fact, many of them have long since shed their humanity in the pursuit of knowledge and power. There is an ancient law that allows a council member to nominate a successor in case of their untimely death. Manson has capitalized on that.”

“He tortured a very powerful wizard to death,” Nakayama said, meeting Henry’s eyes. “And forced a nomination from his lips.”

“How did he know?” Athena asked after considering a moment. “How on earth would he know the secret handshake that would let him in your exclusive club?”

“I don’t know,” Nakayama said, shaking his head. “But, signs point to one of the remaining eight members of the council being responsible. I would suggest finding a member with reason to kill both Zacharius and Velonte, but that doesn’t actually narrow our choices.”

“What about one with ties to Manson?” Henry asked.

“Manson is just one cult leader out of dozens across the world,” Sam said, shaking his head. “The people on the council are old, from the far corners of the world, they’ve seen it all. A lowlife like Manson wouldn’t have caught the attention of a single one. We can only believe the information about Zack’s bid for immortality came from a council member with the intent to use Manson to kill him.”

“Does it matter who helped him?” Henry asked. “All we need to do is find a way to kill him.”

“There may be a way,” Nakayama said, resting his hands atop his knees. “We can use the device that created him.”

Henry furrowed his brows. “But Zack told me it was burned out, like a flash bulb,” he said, frowning.

“And it is,” Nakayama said, leaning forward. “Zack had no reason to lie to you, but such a place has its own uses. The land is devoid of magic. The Leyline that ran beneath it is shriveled and dead, but that presents an excellent opportunity.”

“And what’s that?” Henry asked.

Nakayama grinned. “Have you ever heard of reverse osmosis?”

Sam clapped his hands together with a shout. “Awesome!” he said, grinning as Nakayama shot him a look.

Athena and Henry exchanged glances. “Mind explaining for us plebes?” she said, raising an eyebrow.

Nakayama nodded. “Manson is in essence, a bloody slab of meat, and the building he has chosen to nest in is a salt bed,” Nakayama said, motioning with his hands. “Manson has a tough, resilient skin keeping all that water inside, but if we were to break down the barrier between him and the salt bed…”

“He would dry out,” Henry finished. “Metaphorically, of course. So how do we make that happen?”

“Suffuse the building with a high concentration of neutral magic, then when the barrier keeping his power contained has dissolved, allow the dead land to reclaim a fraction of the power it has lost,” Nakayama said.

Henry glanced to Athena, who shrugged. “And… How would we do that?” he asked.

Sam leaned forward. “It’s easy, all you gotta do is smash some priceless treasures,” he said with a grin. “Right, Nakayama?”

Nakayama sighed nodded. “It’s true,” he said. “Destroying a reservoir nurtured by a leyline for a century would be sufficient.”

Henry’s eyes lost focus, he pictured himself battered and bloody, at the end of some epic quest to retrieve these artifacts of power.

“Zack’s got a few in the vault,” Sam said, looking over at Nakayama.

“Excellent, that will save us time,” Nakayama said, nodding.

“Wait,” Henry said, his brows furrowed. “I thought you said it was a priceless treasure, nurtured for a hundred years and all that jazz.

“They are expensive, but not rare,” Nakayama said, “Thousands are sold every year by growers who have been in business for thousands of years. Sam was misleading you.”

“Wizard humor,” Sam said, smiling. “That’s what I like to call it.”

Henry grunted. “What’s our time frame?”

“As soon as possible,” Nakayama said. “The longer we wait, the more lives are ruined, and the more likely it is he will discover the nature of the dead zone he inhabits, and the threat it poses to him. Within a week, I can gather enough men to-“

A ringing interrupted Nakayama, and Sam reached into his pocket, his expression grim when he looked at the caller I.D. “Yes?” he answered. Sam’s face blanched. “Of course. I’ll tell him. “You can expect us there within the hour.”

Nakayama watched Sam’s conversation with a raised brow. Sam hung up and slid the phone back into the pocket of his jeans. “Well, plans got moved up.” He said jovially. “Manson’s moving the Council to the Yellow River Condominiums, Either Nadia got brainwashed, or she’s acting because she was saying stuff about becoming part of him, or something, and not to bring any weapons. It sounded like whatever is going down is happening tonight.”

Nakayama’s calm demeanor changed. His skin paled and his shoulders drew upward defensively. “That’s… Very bad,” Nakayama said, his hands beginning to tremor.

“Yeah,” Sam said, coming to a stand. “I’ll grab the reservoirs, let me know when you guys are ready to go.” A moment later Sam had disappeared from the room.

Nakayama watched Sam go and sighed quietly. A moment later he looked back at Athena, measuring her with his gaze. “There are four women on the Council, each one very strong willed, and yet, Manson had them acting like school girls. Would you be offended if I asked you to stay behind?” he asked, his gaze steady.

Athena thought about it for a moment, and then nodded. “I felt him through the television once,” She said, shuddering at the memory. “I’m not arrogant enough to think I’m special somehow, so if you can give me something to do somewhere else, I won’t complain.”

Nakayama nodded, and pulled a pen and a hundred dollar bill out of his jacket and wrote down a number. “This is the number to someone who can authorize an Armageddon, think of it as The Nuclear Option for wizards. If that monster is still alive after tonight, give them… this number” Nakayama pointed to the series of numbers and letters on the back of the bill. “and tell them the target.” Nakayama met Athena’s eyes before handing it to her. “And it goes without saying that you should absolutely never let this fall into anyone else’s hands.”

Athena nodded. “Alright,” she said, taking the bill form him and folding it away. “I’ll see you guys later, If you’re alive.”

“I’ll expect that bill back if I see you again,” Nakayama said, nodding. He turned to Henry. “Shall we go?”

Henry stood. “This all feels kind of slap-dash, shouldn’t we have a more concrete plan?”

“The theory is sound,” Nakayama said, “And if the Council is allowed to fall to ruin, more dangerous beings than Manson will lose stewardship, and the world will plunge into crisis.

“All right,” Henry said, glancing back at Athena. “Let’s get this taken care of. Then, you and I are going on a date.”

Athena chuckled. “I guess you’ve earned that much, but talk to me again when your face isn’t on America’s Most Wanted.” Athena stood and wrapped her arms around Henry for a moment before she backed away. “You take care of yourself.” Athena walked out the door, brushing past the two of them.

Henry sighed, and faced Nakayama. “Alright, let’s go.” The two walked out to the driveway, where Sam was waiting for them.