The Grimoire's Chosen Ch. 7 (Worm) (Patreon)

A/N: No Grimoire Pulls this chapter, may not be one every chapter I'm thinking. Especially when its a lot of talking and not much time passes.

-x-X-x-

“Isn’t there anything else you can do, Ames?”

“I told you already Vicky, he’s as fine as I can make him. Whatever caused him to bleed from the nose and pass out like that, I can’t really say. His brain seems to be in perfect condition.”

“And you really think…”

“No, Vicky. You didn’t make him trigger purely based on your own bad grades. Setting aside how ridiculous that idea is in the first place, there are two main reasons it’s not possible. Number One, you would have passed out along with him if he’d experienced a trigger event. Number Two, he doesn’t even have an inactive Corona Pollentia in the first place. Meaning he literally can’t trigger.”

“Shit, does that mean we have to take him to the hospital after all? This is bad Amy. Really-!”

“Hush Vicky. He’s waking up.”

Indeed, Jason was waking up. And also feeling like a total idiot. Why hadn’t he stopped to think for a moment about what five years of training in some dark ‘magic’ would do to him? Seriously, he’d been a complete moron to just jump feet first into that! At the same time… the knowledge he’s purchased is flowing through his brain. It feels almost like he just got done spending five years training under three different Masters, one for Blood Magic, one for Necromancy, and one for Demon Summoning.

At the same time though, the five years feels slightly set apart. He gets this intuitive sense that it’s to keep them from influencing his personality, from making him into someone he wasn’t before. And given the things he learned from those five years of memories, that was probably for the best. The things he’d not-had to do in order to become proficient in these magics… it was enough to make his skin crawl and he was even a step removed from it all thanks to his powers.

Even with that step removed though, Jason had so much more knowledge at his fingertips now. Flash Air was an awesome practical power, and Keen Eye was a great upgrade that helped him in a bunch of cool ways, but Blood, Death, and Demons… now there was a power that expanded his options by a multitude.

He really didn’t even know where to begin with it all. Except, before he can do anything else, he needs to deal with the situation he finds himself waking up to.

“Jason! You’re awake! H-How are you feeling? Do you need anything? Some water, maybe?”

Victoria Dallon’s frantic, high-pitched voice fills Jason’s ears for a moment before another woman speaks up with a huff.

“Vicky. What he needs is some space. You’re crowding him.”

Looking embarrassed and subdued, Vicky pulls away, allowing Jason to put a face to the other voice in the apartment. When he does, he can’t help but stiffen a little bit.

Standing with her arms crossed over her chest staring down at him is Amelia Lavere, formerly Amy Dallon. Everyone knew her story, of course, even if she and the rest of New Wave might have preferred they didn’t.

Basically, Amy was adopted and neglected by Vicky’s mom, Carol, from an early age. In the end, the family row with Amy splitting off and taking her birthname of Amelia Lavere had been the talk of Brockton Bay for weeks. As well, her starting her own clinic and getting it off the ground despite the rumors that Carol had done her absolute best to sabotage it.

Jason wouldn’t have thought that Vicky and Amelia were on speaking terms to be honest. Except… looking between the two women, he suddenly has an epiphany and connects some dots.

“… You’re Vicky’s upcoming sponsor then.”

Both Amelia and Victoria stiffen at that, with the brunette whipping her head around to stare at Vicky accusingly.

“Seriously, Vicky?”

Whimpering, Vicky wrings her hands in front of her.

“I-I didn’t tell him about you Ames, I swear! I just… may have let it slip that I’m not expecting to pass mom’s little test or go to BBU because I’ll be going full time as a sponsored hero at the end of the month!”

Directing her glare towards him, Amelia grits her teeth.

“How did you figure it out?”

Jason shrugs, wincing as he pushes himself up in the chair. He’d been slumped over long enough to develop a crick in his neck. He hated those.

“Eh… I guess I just made a couple of leaps in logic and an educated guess. Everyone knows Lavere Clinic is finally getting off the ground, and that all your legal troubles are finally settled. Everyone also knows that healing as complete and total as yours is worth a lot of money, and that it won’t be long before you’re raking in huge amounts of cash.”

Shrugging, he continues on under the intense gazes of both young women.

“On top of that, Vicky seemed super confident about her sponsor, like there was no way the deal could fall through… but if it was a done deal with some major corporation, why was she waiting until the end of the month and going to all this trouble to placate her mom? Only way it made sense was if it was going to be a shitshow, not on a professional level, but on a personal level, and she wanted to have all of her bases covered beforehand.”

Pausing, he gives Amelia a crooked grin.

“Of course… didn’t know for sure until you confirmed it just now. Sorry.”

The brunette healer’s palm meets her face at that last part and she groans. Vicky, meanwhile, bites her lower lip before giving him a Look with a capital L.

“You’re not going to tell my mom, right? She doesn’t need to know anything about what Amy and I are planning.”

“Amelia.”

Vicky blinks as Amelia corrects her, looking a little hurt when the brunette levels a stare in her direction.

“Remember Vicky, you don’t get to call me Amy in front of other people. I go by Amelia now.”

Yeah, he remembered something about that too. Amelia HATED her old name. Considering everyone associated ‘Amy Dallon’ with Panacea and New Wave, that made a lot of sense. Jason wasn’t even sure if Amelia Lavere HAD a cape name anymore. Seeing as New Wave basically took away the choice of having a secret identity away from her, she’d just gone all in on being upfront about who she was and what she could do.

It seemed their past meant Amelia still let Vicky call her Amy in private though, at least. Which made sense if they were actually still far closer than anyone had really thought they were after everything that happened.

“Right… sorry.”

Nodding, seeming to accept Vicky’s apology, Amelia looks back at him, an appraising glint in her eye.

“I can see why Crystal has a crush on you. And why she picked you to be Vicky’s tutor. You’re pretty smart, aren’t you?”

Wait, what? As Jason blinks, Vicky squawks and shakes her head rapidly.

“Ames! Why are you throwing Crystal under the bus like that?!”

Amelia just rolls her eyes. Apparently ‘Ames’ is still fine, because she doesn’t correct Vicky on that one.

“Guy like him knows how much of a catch Crystal is. As far as I’m concerned, I’m helping her.”

Letting out a slight laugh of disbelief, Jason rubs the back of his head.

“Alright ladies, no need to mess with me. I know Crystal doesn’t see me like that. We’re just friends.”

There’s a brief pause as the two young women stare at him and then look at each other. In the end, Amelia shrugs her shoulders.

“Or he could be the idiot savant type of smart.”

Vicky just huffs and crosses her arms over her chest as well, muttering something under her breath about ‘men being so dumb’. As Jason looks between them, Amelia grows more serious after a moment, changing the subject.

“… I used my powers on you while you were unconscious without your permission. Are we going to have a problem because of that?”

Huh… a problem? Jason tilts his head to the side, honestly confused.

“You were just trying to help, right? Why would there be a problem?”

Sure, she was trying to help Vicky more than him, Jason knew that. But he was still the one who benefited the most from her coming over to try to heal him.

Rather than answer his question, Amelia just nods sharply.

“I’ll hold you to that then.”

Turning to Vicky immediately after, she just huffs.

“I’ll leave it to you to convince him not to tell Carol about the sponsorship, Vicky. I’m heading back to the clinic.”

“But Ames-!”

“No buts. This is your mess, Vicky. And remember, I don’t clean up your messes anymore.”

That seemed a little harsh, but while Amelia’s words are rather final, it’s clear she still cares about Vicky quite a lot. In the end, the two exchange a hug before Amelia is out the door. It’s only after she’s left that something she’d said while he was still waking up hits Jason like a fucking truck.

“W-Wait… did she… did she say I don’t have a Corona Pollentia?”

Vicky freezes in place before grimacing like she’s bit into something sour.

“Ah… you were awake for that, huh? Yeah… look not everyone has the ability to develop powers. If you don’t even have an inactive Corona Pollentia, you’re basically never going to trigger. Sorry.”

Jason leans on Vicky’s inaccurate read of the situation to take a moment to himself. She thought he was upset that he couldn’t get powers. But in reality, he was coming to terms with the fact that not only had he nearly just been outed by Amelia’s abilities, but also… his powers didn’t come from a Corona Pollentia.

What did that mean? Did it mean his powers were maybe masking their own existence from Amelia’s senses? Or did it mean his powers came from somewhere else entirely than where everyone else’s powers came from? It hadn’t escaped Jason’s notice that the pulls he got with his primary power spoke a lot about other worlds and universes. Magic and technology that didn’t exist on Earth Bet as far as Jason was aware.

… Was he even a Parahuman?

“Look… I really need you to promise you won’t tell my mom about the deal Ames and I made. I swear, I’ll let you tutor the shit out of me for the next month. Fuck, I’ll even do my best to pass that test mom wants me to take, even if I’m not actually going to go to University afterwards. She just can’t know right now. She’ll try to ruin everything if she does.”

Pulled out of his thoughts by Victoria Dallon’s ramblings, Jason blinks as he goes back over everything she just said. Rising from his seat, he shakes his head at her.

“I’m not going to tell your mother anything, Vicky. Nor do I need you to sweeten the pot. Did you think I was going to try to hold this over your head or something like that?”

At her blank, surprised look, Jason just huffs.

“Look, our original deal remains. I am going to tutor you every night for the next month. You are going to listen and obey my instructions and do your best to learn the things I’m intending to teach you. After that, whether you bomb the test or not, it doesn’t matter. And your sponsor being the Lavere Clinic doesn’t matter to me either. I was hired to do a job and that’s what I’m going to do. Are we clear?”

Swallowing, Vicky nods with wide eyes.

“C-Crystal, sir.”

Ah, that reminds him.

“Let’s leave my little fainting spell between you, me, and Ms. Lavere, yeah? No need to let Crystal know about any of this, I should think.”

“R-Right. Y-Yeah, of course.”

Of course. It would look bad on Vicky’s part if word about him fainting in her apartment got out, wouldn’t it? He honestly probably didn’t even need to clarify that last part, but it still felt good to do.

Sighing, Jason runs a hand through his hair… and then sits back down and picks up his notebook.

“Now… where were we?”

Vicky looks a little incredulous for a moment, but then moves to take her seat again as well. This time, there aren’t any interruptions as they spend the rest of the session getting an idea of what Vicky’s worst subjects are and what her best subjects are. She even seems a little more enthusiastic about things too. The blonde is definitely more engaged if nothing else.

They finish up a little later than he’d originally planned thanks to his fainting spell, but if nothing else, Jason has to admit that he’s pleased with the progress they make that first night. With this information, he can plan out a proper thirty day crash course in everything Vicky needs to learn and relearn before the test.

And sure, maybe it’s a little silly to be so invested in doing his job after everything he’s learned about Vicky’s plans for her future. She and Amelia have certainly got it all thought out from the look of things. But he was hired for a job and damn it all, he’s going to do that job.

-x-X-x-

After seeing her new tutor out the door with promises for him to come over again the following evening, Victoria Dallon is left alone in her apartment, biting her lower lip and squirming just a tad.

Damn it all, Crystal! Why’d she have to go and get Vicky someone so assertive and hot?! Why couldn’t Crystal have found her an unscrupulous nerd who would be wowed by Vicky’s massive ‘personality’ and not raise a fuss about the idea of taking her mom’s money in exchange for just hanging out around her apartment for a month?

Fainting spell aside, Jason was a very driven sort of person. Vicky liked that in a guy. She especially liked a guy who had his own sense of authority to him. It would have been so easy for Jason to just lean on her mother to browbeat Vicky into submission. Threatening to tell Carol would have left Vicky with very little in the way of real options.

Instead, he’d refused to invoke her mom’s name, refused to use her as the boogeyman, and ultimately just stood up to Vicky on his own two feet. Even after he’d wound up realizing just who her sponsor was, he hadn’t used that against her.

… Was it any wonder Vicky was a little turned on? Floating to her bedroom and flopping down on her bed, the blonde moans a little as she begins to shift her clothes to the side, her hands starting to wander over her body.

She definitely shouldn’t… even if Crystal hadn’t said it outright, all the signs were there that the older girl had a bit of a thing for Vicky’s new tutor. And yet… Crystal was being so obtuse about it that even Jason himself didn’t know.

… So why not? Why shouldn’t Vicky and Jason have a little fun together? They were both consenting adults, right? And it wasn’t like it could be anything too permanent. Just some good, honest fun in between serious tutoring sessions.

Vicky’s finger touches her slit and she jolts, surprised at how wet she already is. F-Fuck… who knew all she was waiting for was an assertive guy to tell her to sit her ass down so he could tutor the fuck out of her?

-x-X-x-

A/N: Will try to keep this up to date at the end of every chapter, get on me if I forget please. Though if it gets too out of hand, might have to change it at some point.

Jason's current banked points:

200 Celestial Points

Jason's current powers:

• Flash Air (Gained in Chapter 1)

• Transformation Pendant (Gained in Chapter 4)

• Keen Eye (Gained in Chapter 4)

• Blood, Death, and Demons (Gained in Chapter 6)