Sell you a Bridge chapter 237 (Patreon)

June 2nd 2016 London, England 10:00 AM EDT

We  took the car to London. I had to convince everyone else it was a  feasible option, but after some wheedling I got them to agree to try it,  and I couldn't have been more excited. We left from the island, where  it had been dropped off (in a giant box of all things), and when I  rolled it out I mostly got lots of droll stares and scoffs...until I  activated the flight mode. Then the stares became ones of shock, and I  was feeling pretty smug. I wouldn't have bought the thing if it didn't  have its advantages, birthday or not.

They were blown out  of the water when the Regalia underwent its transformation. While I  could trigger the change at any time mentally, I hadn't actually gotten  around to using it before now, and I was as shocked as anyone when the  car warped its shape into a sort of...air ship. Despite being still car  sized, the thing now had no wheels, and floated in midair with pink and  purple energy roiling off a series of crystalline struts forming a  structure on the back that was clearly responsible for keeping it in the  air.

Zee was the most shocked, as well as excited. "This  thing is AMAZING! Is it magic? Those crystals look magical." The struts  coming off the back and sides were reinforced with metal braces, and  there was an obvious propulsion drive off the back, but despite the  scientific look, it was obvious there were magical forces at work. Even  without the sense of power I knew from the the email that this thing ran  on a magitek generator, which from what I could tell was just sorcery  using scientific principles. I let Zee know as much and she nearly  bounced with excitement at the idea of getting to study it.

The  trip itself wasn't a long one. We zipped up into the clouds and made  excellent time crossing the ocean given the insane speeds and lack of  obstacles. Being able to open up the Regalia at top speed in a straight  line made the trip a breeze. While I'd picked up normal driving pretty  fast and enjoyed it when I did, this was a whole different feeling, and I  had to admit this was WAY better than flying by myself. The way the  girls whooped with joy when I did a roll was fantastic.

Finally  though we arrived in London fairly early in the morning. Since we  hadn't made contact with John Constantine and it was pretty early we  decided to get breakfast. Luckily we had a guide already, albeit not the  one we came here for. "So Jim, can you take us to get some breakfast?  Assuming any of your old stomping grounds are still around." That had  been the main reason Jim couldn't lead us to the Nightside himself.  Apparently the entrance moved as the city changed, and Jim had been  chased out of London a century and a half ago for reasons he didn't care  to explain.

My mentor had assumed his visible appearance,  which while not exactly inconspicuous was at least less of an attention  attraction than an invisible man in a floating top hat. Hopefully no  one noticed or recognized him as he was. He glanced around searchingly,  but finally sighed. "We can head to the seven stars. The old place was  already a century or two into its run when I was a lad, and I doubt the  oldest pub in London has shut down." He smiled and waved us after him,  walking off into the crowd.

His steps never faltered or  slowed as we trailed behind him, as if he still remembered every turn  and alley even after all this time. It occurred to me that this was  Jim's version of Gotham. His home, the city he came from, and one that  no matter what would never stop being a part of him. Gotham was in my  DNA, in my blood, and London was the same for Jim. It made me more  curious than ever about exactly what the circumstances were behind my  mentors departure from the city he so clearly loved.

When  we reached the Seven Stars Jim got us a table, seeming nostalgic as we  all sat down and he headed to the bar. There were no servers here, the  order had to be done in person. He smiled jovially at the young man with  the vest and red gold beard behind the bar and carried back a massive  tankard of beer. He set it down in front of him and took a long, slow  pull. He gave a refreshed sigh. "Now that's the ticket. Been a dogs age  since I've had a proper pint for breakfast." He paused, his upper lip  covered with foam. "None of you saw a thing, Claire doesn't like when I  drink before noon."

I smirked at him a bit, but I actually  thought it was sweet. I wasn't going to kill my teachers buzz.  Figuratively or literally. I decided to move on. "So, back in the old  stomping grounds? How does it feel? You have any old friends around town  you were hoping to see? I know it's been a long time but someone has to  still be around here. You used to run with the big dogs around here  right?" I hadn't heard many stories about Jim in London. I knew he was a  thief back in the late eighteen hundreds, but that was about it.

He  shook his head with a chuckle. "No. I was a highwayman and a vagabond  when I lived here. This was before I came into my own for the most part.  After my death I came into more power, but it wasn't to the level I've  reached now. When I left London I was still an amateur magic user and a  shadow of my future self." His eyes clouded. "It was during my first  visit to the Nightside that I lost my life, in fact. My friend Julian  invited me for a drink there, and I was quite excited to experience the  dark side of the city." He shuddered. "I was a fool."

That  sounded like a hell of a story, but it also sounded traumatic as fuck,  so I decided to focus on a more innocuous part of what he'd said. "What  happened to Julian? Did he die too?" I figured I could distract him from  his dark thoughts by talking about his old friend. I'd never heard of  anyone named Julian who was that old, but if he was able to bring Jim in  and out of the Nightside he must be someone pretty impressive.

To  my surprise my mentor just laughed, his face showing nothing but joy  and amusement at the thought of his old buddy. "Julian? Gods no. Nothing  could kill that bastard. Julian Advent was a famed Victorian  adventurer. He went where he wanted and did what he wanted and damn the  consequences. I heard he vanished just a few years later, though we lost  touch after I left the city. Harder to keep in contact with distant  friends in those days. I haven't thought about the old boy in an age."  He smiled sadly. "He tried to help you know, when I was killed. Even got  my body out of there. I'll always be grateful for that. If he hadn't my  spirit might still be stuck in that terrible place."

He  took another long, slow, sip of beer. "In any case, I spoke at length  to Nimue before we left. She told me plenty about this John Constantine.  The boy is a troublemaker through and through, but can be reliable in  very short doses. She suggested none of us try to befriend him and that  we leave his company as quickly as possible however. Constantine has the  devils own luck, and while things work out for him for the most part,  the splash damage tends to cause problems for anyone nearby."

That  kind of sounded like the worst power ever, but I hadn't planned on  adding a new member to the crew anyway. I had a more important question.  "Sounds good, but what about you? I knew you had a rough time in the  Nightside, but hearing about how traumatic your last visit was, are you  sure you're ok going back? Why couldn't Blood have come with us? Or  Madame X for that matter? You mentioned she had some history here, what  could possibly have happened that was worse than you dying over there?"

While  I wasn't going to force him to talk about his experience I was kind of  annoyed at my other mentors for making him come. He shook his head  sadly. "Blood isn't welcome there. There are more than a few beings from  Avalon still in residence in the Nightside, and they do not care for  Blood at all. That's a long and complicated story, but suffice to say it  would be worse. As for Nimue...suffice to say she was involved in  injuring a great and powerful sorcerer, and one who does not forgive or  forget. It's even less safe for her to be nearby."

Yet  another crazy sounding story, but again I understood that prying wasn't  viable. Artemis of all people voiced her unequivocal support. "What  Morgan means to say is that we're glad to have you with us as always.  Knowing this place has bad memories for you means it's even more of a  favor to come with. We always feel better having you at our back boss."  She glared at me. "Isn't that right Morgan?"

I  put both hands up in surrender. "Of course it is. Jim knows we  appreciate what he does for us and that I'm always happy to have him  around. I was just worried about him. If this is too much we can go it  alone, this Constantine guy is supposed to be our guide right?We don't  need Jim putting himself through some terrible emotional ordeal when we  have someone around to show us that way anyway." Despite his power, I  found myself worried for my mentor. I'd grown enough that he didn't seem  like the invincible monolith he used to. He was more than capable, but  even people like Jim needed someone to worry about them.

His  fond smile told me he took the concern in the spirit it was intended.  He put up a hand. "Peace, both of you. While I appreciate Morgans worry  the fact is that Constantine is too young and inexperienced, not to  mention an unknown quantity. While I may not be an expert on the  Nightside, I've been around for quite some time, and I do know people  and things and how they work. I wouldn't feel comfortable letting you  all run around that viper pit alone." He pinned me with a stare.  "Despite your power Morgan, there is no substitute for experience. Being  strong doesn't mean you can do everything."

I  nodded. "I know, and like Artemis said we're happy to have you as long  as you feel comfortable with this. I just didn't want you pinned into  something that was going to hurt you." Seeing that this had come to a  close and Jim had made his choice I decided to change the subject.  "Anyway, tell me more about Julian, he sounds like he was pretty  awesome. You said he was an adventurer?"

Despite  knowing I was trying to distract him Jim gave me a grateful smile and  launched into a story about Julian Advent and his worst enemies, the  Murder Masques. Despite not being world ending peril, the story was  exciting and impressive. The way Jim told it Julian was sort of like  Batman, only way more personable and with much better taste in outfits  (not that it was a very high bar).

The  two of them had gotten into plenty of trouble together, and had even  ended up on opposite sides on more then one occasion growing up  together. As I listened it gave me more of an appreciation for my mentor  and what he'd been through in his life. Happy to be here, I put an arm  over my girls and settled in to listen to another story. I was really  liking London so far.