Stronger Together chapter 125 (Patreon)

I had no clue what godsteel was worth. I mean sure it was a unique  and uber powerful divine metal, but that didn't help me set a value.  Priceless and worthless are pretty much the same thing when you're  trying to sell something, what's the point in a commodity too expensive  for anyone to buy? So I fell back on that old standby, I shut up and let  Lily take the lead. I could feel out everyone's reactions to her  suggestion and decide how to scale my price based on that. Lily looked  entranced by the ring, unable to take her eyes off it even as she made  her primary offer.

Her voice sounded...hungry. "I would be  willing to offer three favors from me personally for that item.  Anything you could ask for." That was a really valuable offer, but I was  kind of hoping for cash. Still, I didn't turn it down right away. I  might be able to leverage the favors for something of more substance.  Lily must have caught my expression out of the corner of her eye because  she finally looked up at me. "You were hoping for something more  physical I take it? I can understand that, what was your original  thought? Don't dismiss the favors, they could be traded for wealth, but  knowing your bottom line could help."

I decided to go for  broke and list something I knew was insanely valuable. "One metric ton  of welsh gold." The fae had a strong presence in the UK way back when  and welsh gold was substantially more valuable than the regular stuff  due to its scarcity. Granted there wasn't supposed to be that much welsh  gold in the world but the faeries had been in wales for a long time and  if there wasn't some stashed in their treasuries I would be very  surprised. "But I am interested in the favors. I accept them. I'd like  to invoke one now, can I use it to get that metric ton of welsh gold?"

Lily  cracked up, pocketing the ring. "Even we don't have that much of the  stuff, and flooding the market like that would drive the price down in  any case. How about gems? Your choice of type of stone as well as cut  color and clarity? Diamonds are an excellent source of value. Or a mix  of the two, no need to limit yourself to a single resource, we can  discuss an assortment of valuable goods." She seemed almost eager to  part with the treasure, but as i continued I realized she just enjoyed  talking about beautiful things.

She'd been compensated and  now she was just sharing a conversation about beauty with a friend. Fae  were weird. Still she wasn't wrong. " Ok, a hundred troy ounces of  welsh gold in ten ounce bars. An assortment of ten carat diamonds in a  variety of colors weighing no less than ten pounds and...what do you  have in terms of art? Anything from Van Gogh? Maybe a Monet? Pound for  pound art is a fantastic investment." I was right there with her, losing  myself in the feeling of bargaining for real treasure.

I'd  been through a ton of very interesting things since coming here. But  haggling for gold and jewels with a real life faerie princess, talking  about paintings from famous masters like they were trading cards, this  was a whole new kind of bizarre. Magic and monsters were both amazing,  but they were impossible things, achieving them was like living out a  fantasy, but this stuff was all real back home. I was achieving  something the past me had wanted but never gotten close to and it was  amazing.

Harry and Susan were looking on in baffled  astonishment at our behavior but Lily and I were in our own little  world. I recognized a bit of the Lily before the mantle, the gorgeous  model who had lived with friends and probably always wished her life was  like this. She was enjoying our conversation as much as I was. Sadly  all good things must end, and we finally came to a final decision. Aside  from the gold and gems, Lily was giving me one of Monet's Water Lilies  and a Gulfstream G500 complete with pilot (that was the latest model out  right now).

Finally ten million in Dutch bearer bonds,  which apparently the fae like better than money because they're prettier  and the deal was struck. She wrote down my number since Harry was  around and we both turned to the flabbergasted wizard and his vampire  baby mama.

Harry looked torn between being appalled and  salivating. "What the hell Cameron? You can just make that stuff  whenever you want? What's to stop you crashing the world economy?" His  words were jealous but his tone was admiring and he had a smile on his  face so I didnt take it to heart. His face became serious "You realize  of course this means I'm not paying any of you for working at the  office?"

I chuckled at that "No need boss. You give us  plenty of magician education free of charge. Which I actually wanted to  discuss. I want a million of those bonds to go to you. You teach us  constantly, look out for us, you introduced us to old wizards who helped  us improve. You've done a ton for us." He opened his mouth and I raised  a hand to cut him off "before you say no, think about the baby. Shes  coming sooner than you think and having some cash to invest a bit in  necessities isnt going to hurt. One tenth of a portion of the sale from  one ring inst too much."

Of course we both knew I wouldnt  be selling much more if any. Lily was a rare supernatural I could trust.  Aside from maybe Ebenzar I couldnt think of a single person I would  willingly hand any amount of godsteel over to. But pride was less  important to him that his child and we both knew that. Harry just nodded  begrudgingly. I knew he would put the money to good use. I wished I  could give him more but the fact that it was a small portion was the  only reason he would take it. At the very least it should take some  pressure off, plus the girls and I wouldn't even be letting him spend  it. We were going to spoil that little girl rotten.

Of  course it was only a temporary measure anyway, until we could get the  company going. We made sure to ask him enough questions about the aura  batteries that we could claim he was consulting the whole time and force  him to take a paid position. That train of thought was cut off however  when Charity carried out a huge plate filled with sub sandwiches and a  few bags of chips in various flavors. Harry and I mutually decided food  was more important and made a dive to get to it before Kara finished  most of it off. To our surprise though Charity pointed her inside to a  separate plate she'd made just for her with a smile and Kara beamed and  kissed the older womans cheek before racing in to grab it.

River  and the kids were coming over to eat too, and Molly and Raven were back  outside, with the former looking much happier than she had which I  assumed meant her talk with her mother went well. Yang was following  behind River, and she scooped up Bea and carried the giggling ten year  old over to the picnic table. Michael was out though Charity assured me  she made him an extra sandwich and put it in the fridge. Finally we were  all sitting together. I looked over at Bea "Hey kid, good to see you  again, you seem like you're having a blast here. How are you feeling?"

Bea  beamed at me "It's so much fun! Hope is the coolest and she says since  I'm shorter than her she doesn't have to be a hobbit anymore and that  makes me her best friend and teddy and I were playing with her and big  sis was playing too, that's what Yang told me to call her and it was so  amazing and now I'm hungry!" That was all said in a single breath and I  was mildly afraid she was going to pass out from lack of oxygen but it  seemed like she had some kind of kid immunity to suffocating while  excited. Yang was beaming and Hope looked a bit embarrassed though still  happy.

I  couldn't help the grin on my face as I responded. "Well that's good to  hear, especially the last part because Charity made a ton of food and  she's an awesome cook." I paused "Is it cooking to prepare a sandwich?  Or food prep? Either way her food is always good and I'm sure the  sandwiches are amazing. As for the rest of it I'm glad you're having  fun, I hear Yang is a great big sister to have, and saving your friend  from being a hobbit seems like a strong opening move for a bestie." I  nodded seriously as I addressed her points, which got me a delighted  smile and a quick nod before she dug into the food.

Charity  smiled and sat down next to me after getting the other kids settled.  "It was a wonderful thing you all did. Helping those people and  especially Beatrice." Her smile was so motherly and proud I felt even my  cheeks flush and charity laughed softly at my shyness. "I know it must  be intimidating, being around people like Kara and Barbara and Raven.  But if nothing else you've proven to me beyond a shadow of a doubt that  you are every bit the hero they are. Kara comes over when she can for  dinner, and you're all welcome to come along whenever you like. We  always have a seat at our table for any of you."

She  rested her hand on my head and got up, heading back to check on her  kids, her seat taken by Barb. My girlfriend smiled and kissed my cheek.  "That's an honor to hear from someone like charity. She'd right too.  You've more than proven yourself as part of this family of ours, as  weird and demented as it's become." Her face fell "If anything I'm the  one falling behind. Aura isn't enough anymore, everyone here is a  powerful warrior on top of their abilities. It goes against my nature as  a bat to admit I feel like I'm falling behind." Her brow was furrowed  in the same kind of desolate feeling of uselessness I'd been feeling  until recently and I couldn't bear to see her like that.

I  put a finger under her chin and raised it so she was looking me in the  eye. "I've been thinking about that. I want to look into making  some...tools out of godsteel for you. Some rings, maybe some balls of  the stuff we can enchant like smoke pellets or something. You can do the  bat thing for real with the most advanced magic material in the world.  Hell I'd been looking into making scale mail for Kara but maybe it would  work better for you, we can enchant the suit with more than just  durability. You're probably way better at this stuff than I am so just  tell me what you need and we can figure out how to make it happen."

Her  eyes were wide and excited at the possibilities and I was ecstatic that  my idea had won her approval. I was excited to see what she would come  up with too. Batman level ingenuity and my godsteel mixed with real  enchanting, the sky was the limit. I smiled at her as she started  muttering to herself and took her hand in mine, focusing on eating my  sandwich now and leaving all the heavy thoughts for later. All that I  was worried about now was good food, friends, and what the hell you wore  to a multimillion dollar poker game.