Stronger Together chapter 142 (Patreon)

The Crying Limey was just as pirate-y and awesome as ever. Arriving  back outside the place reminded me of that time that felt so long ago  when I'd first come here and met Dalton. I'd been a much different  person, less powerful and influential but...still me, still the same  man. Now at nineteen I'd grown and changed so much but I could still  remember my roots. Remember how much I loved my friends and my girls.

I  stepped into the bar and Charles greeted me on entry. He and his pals  spent all their time at this place. He took me to the back, where I'd  first met Hana and played that game of poker. I sat down across from  Dalton with a nod, Raven and Cinder taking their seats on either side of  me. I gave him a serious look. "If you were screwing with me man I'm  going to be pissed. Remus and Romulus? How the hell would they even  still be alive?" I'd heard of the ancestral founders of Rome of course,  Hell the word Rome came from Romulus' name so technically everyone had.

Like  anyone who knew any history or mythology I knew they had been literally  raised by a wolf. Lupa, who was considered the mother of Rome. Of  course that was back in my world so who knew how the story went here.  Apparently it was pretty similar because Dalton shrugged "Don't ask me. I  know they have some wolf mojo going on but as for how they've lived so  long it's a bit of a secret. They spend most of their time traveling or  in the Roman parts of the nevernever, so people don't know much about  them. But they're here. And not just them either." He glanced around  subtly as if checking to make sure we were alone. "Fenrir is here."

My  eyes widened. That...was bad. Fenrir was the wolf that was supposed to  kill Odin when the world ended. Odin who was tough enough that fucking  Ethniu respected him. But that wasn't even the craziest part "What the  actual fuck is going on? Remus, Romulus, The Beast and now Fenrir? Is  there some kind of wolf based supernatural social club having a meeting  in town? What could they possibly want with Conner? Assuming they're  even here for him." These were people on a much higher level than some  random Loup-Garou even a special one like Conner.

Dalton  scowled "I looked into that. Apparently there's a prophecy." I groaned,  slamming my head down on the table.  Dalton chuckled a bit despite the  seriousness of the moment. "Oh good you know how they work." I raised my  head, glaring drolly at him, but he just shrugged. "I couldn't get all  the details, I had to cash in more than a few favors for the scraps I  got but the long and short of it is that Conner is some kind of werewolf  messiah. Something about a wolf cub bringing the world under the sway  of the moon. No clue what it means but all the big wolfy players want  the kid, and they aren't picky how they get him."

I  cursed, this was insane. Even Harry never had to deal with fucking  prophecies. I was going to have to figure out a counter for all these  fucking wolves. Not just The Beast but now Fenrir and Remus and Romulus  too. No way was I going to let them take Conner, the kid was basically  family and it would be a cold day in hell before I let a fucking french  serial killer raise him instead of his mom. I was pretty sure with all  the girls and the new magic I'd been learning and refining over the last  year not to mention the insane growth of my Aura we could figure things  out, but it was going to be rough.

I  raised an eyebrow at Dalton "How did you even find out about something  like that? Don't tell me you used to smuggle whiskey to the oracle at  Delphi or something?" Dalton had plenty of sources and friends, as  evidence by his disposal of the song clan, but finding out about an  obscure prophecy was impressive even by his admittedly high standards.  "Oh, and seriously man, thank you for getting this info to me so fast.  If those guy's had blindsided me I would have been screwed. No way would  I survive someone like Fenrir without a ton of prep."

Even  if Kara was with me Fenrir was the kind of opponent we would need  backup for. Being tough enough to go toe to toe with Odin himself and  theoretically kill him with pure physical force would put him on a level  I couldn't imagine. Kara might be able to hang with him if we could  finish up her scale mail. I was suddenly incredibly glad I'd spent all  that time on the stuff. I'd have to call a meeting with the girls to  figure out what to do. Just making a lineup and going after them all  seemed like a good way to wreck the city if we could even win.

That  wasn't even taking into account the fact that we had no clue what Remus  and Romulus could do. If there were on a level with Fenrir or even just  The Beast we were in a world of trouble. I looked back to Dalton,  snapping out of my reverie in time to hear him answer my question. "Nah,  the twins put the prophecy thing out there to warn people off. They  figured most wolfkin wouldn't be willing to fall out with them over some  kid. Which to be fair they were right about based on the reactions of  the majority. Fenrir gives no fucks about anyone though, and The Beast  is a sneaky fuck even they would have trouble pinning down."

I  nodded "We might actually owe them a bit of a favor then. I have a  feeling this would be much worse if every wolf based supernatural from  here to Timbuktu had decided to show up." He waved a hand in  acknowledgement of the point. We were pretty much feeling around in the  dark here, we needed more information. "You have any leads on where any  of them might be? I'm assuming Fenrir is in human form, since I would  have noticed a four story god wolf running around Chicago, what about  the twins? Pictures? Habits?"

The  grimace he gave me in response was almost enough of an answer but he  responded anyway. "Nothing on the twins. I've had my feelers out since I  got the news but they don't really spend time in places where people  take pictures. The description I got was young looking and blonde with  hazel eyes, but as for where they might be I have no idea. Fenrir is  definitely in human form, he flew in yesterday apparently. Every local  practitioner I know of with any sort of divination ability has been  having fits just from being around him, they're all on edge."

That  sounded promising "Does that mean they can sense him? Because if they  can feel his power we might be able to use that to track him down.  Granted that's not really a fight we can have in the city but at the  very least we can figure out where to stay away from to avoid him."  Luckily while he was a problem he had issues of his own, he would need  to step foot on Demonreach to get Conner and big evil supernatural  entities weren't exactly playing with an advantage there. If he wasn't  careful he might get locked up under the island, maybe I could even get a  favor out of Odin for that one.

Rather  than happy though Dalton looked even more worried "No. His presence is  so fucking massive they can't distinguish where he is at all. The aura  he gives off has been described to me as feeling like a giant feral wolf  crouched over the entire city. It's so huge and terrifying even the  weakest sensitives can feel it from everywhere in the city like he's  standing right behind them." That was not a particularly comforting  piece of imagery, but from what I knew of Fenrir it sounded accurate.

I  wondered if Odin would let me borrow that chain he used on the wolf in  the myths. Gleipnir had to be a high quality magic item but getting that  furry bastard off the board was as a big of a benefit to him as anyone.  Of course I didn't know how to even contact Odin, aside from maybe  asking Gard to pass him a note. Still at the very least he should know  the worlds least goodest boy was around town. Odin had been coming to  town recently to see me and I didn't want him to get eaten or something  because I didn't bother to reach out.

I  sighed and slumped back in my chair and Cinder finally spoke up.  "Forgive my ignorance here, but who or what is a Fenrir, and who are the  twins? You speak of them as if they're all famous figures so I thought I  should at least check in." She flushed slightly as we looked at her,  still off balance with her new place in our relationship. I reached out  to grab her hand, threading my fingers through hers to reassure her. It  was a decent point too, I kind of forgot Yang and Cinder were from a  world that didn't have the same history as the other girls and I.

Dalton  looked a bit confused but I just shook my head "That's not ignorant,  you aren't from around here. It's only natural you wouldn't know about  local figures. Fenrir is a powerful wolf from legend, his father is  Norse god Loki, the god of mischief. In the myths he's said to be  destined to be the one to kill Odin, the All-Father, in Ragnarok. Odin  is crazy powerful and absolutely brilliant so that's a scary thing to  think about. Odin was Merlin's teacher the man who founded the White  Council and is so powerful the leaders still use his name as a  ceremonial title." I neglected to mention knowing him in person in front  of Dalton.

Dalton  for his part looked confused at how Cinder wouldn't know this but was  too polite to say so, so I kept going with my explanation " Remus and  Romulus are the founders of a country that went on to become one of the  largest and most prominent Empires in earths history. They were  supposedly raised by a powerful female wolf spirit named Lupa. We don't  know their abilities sadly, but the Greek and Roman gods are massively  scary so anything related to them should be treated with respect."

She  nodded seriously "Ah, that makes sense. Well it sounds like information  gathering should be our first step. Wouldn't it be a good idea to  contact Odin and see if he has any information about Remus and Romulus?  If he's so old and wise I'm sure he knows who they are and what they can  do, and since Fenrir is here and is our problem now...well the enemy of  my enemy is my friend." That was a damn good point actually. Odin would  probably be a huge help with this mess.

I squeezed her hand and  smiled at her in gratitude and she flushed a bit, having become much  more shy since she became part of our relationship, not that I disliked  it.

We said goodbye to Dalton and  thanked him for all the help and headed home to consult with the others.  As we climbed in the car and Raven pulled out I slipped out my phone  and called a number. A man picked up and I asked for a meeting to which  he agreed immediately. After all, John Marcone and I had worked together  before, and he wasn't the kind of man to turn down something that could  be to his benefit. I knew he would be bringing Gard. It was time to  talk to a Valkyrie.