Sunday, November 11, 2007

Solomon Ch. 5

Solomon: Chapter 5

"Say a number between two and twelve, then roll the dice. You may repeat this as many times as you require until you are satisfied with my abilities." Jacob sat staring at Felicity for a few moments before she felt the need to speak again. "Well, what are you waiting for?"
Confusion showed clearly on Jacob's face. "You're not going to draw a spell circle or anything? Won't you need time to tailor your magic to each roll?"
Felicity sighed in the sort of exasperated, world- weary, sarcastic way that only a preteen can do justice. "Mr. Solomon, if I needed to do any of that I would have mentioned it. Anyway, I don't think it would be a very impressive test of my skill to put so much effort into a simple probability control spell. I mean with that level of prep you could successfully influence the outcome of a dice roll yourself."
She had a point. Jacob rattled the dice in his hand for a few seconds then called out "seven" as released them. They landed on the table, one showing five, the other, two.
"Seven is the most statistically likely roll when throwing two dice," he pointed out.
"That is correct," affirmed Felicity. "And it is also the reason that I pointed out that this test is indefinitely repeatable. Continue until you are convinced."
Jacob took her up on the offer. Every time he said the number, the dice came up showing that result. Even when he started naming specific number combinations, Felicity never so much as squinted with effort. Her ability to adapt her magic on the fly was indisputable and impressive. Her ability to do so without a spell circle of any kind was a testament to her power.
However influencing a die roll was, as she pointed out, a very simple spell. While her mastery of it was impressive, it did not necessarily prove her worth at other aspects of Fate manipulation. Jacob pocketed the dice and nodded. "That was impressive, Felicity," he allowed, bowing his head slightly. "Though I think you will agree with me that it was far too limited a demonstration to fully win me over."
Felicity smiled at him. She was, to tell the truth, more than a little creepy. It was obvious that she had outstanding intelligence. Talking to a ten year old that spoke like an adult was quite a bit unnerving. "Of course. In that vein, I'd like to note that weather prediction, while considerably improved recently, is still imprecise at best. This is because there are so many factors influenced purely by chance. There is virtually no chance of precipitation projected for today, correct?"
Jacob nodded. "I'm pretty sure you're right, there."
Felicity closed her eyes for a fraction of a second. A look of absolute calm suffused the child's face and for that brief moment, Felicity was the portrait of perfect childhood innocence. Not the sort of blind, stupid innocence that adults often ascribe to young children, because that is a myth. Instead it showcased the truth of innocence, which is the purity of the emotions that children feel. A child's emotions are no more or less complex than an adult's, but they are more total. For that instant in time, Felicity did not just feel calm, Felicity was calm. Then Felicity opened her eyes.
Outside, it began to rain.

* * *

"So we've got two," said Jacob as they walked away from the house. The smell of the recently fallen rain was strong and fresh in the early October afternoon air. Felicity had stopped the rain just as suddenly as she'd started it.
Silver snickered. "I told you, man. See I'm not that bad. My plans are often excellent!"
"Don't get ahead of yourself there, Sil. That was a good plan. Not all of your plans are, but that one was."
Silver rolled his eyes at the demonologist. "Whatever, Sol. Who do we hit up next?"
Jacob gave it some thought. His mind wandered. He drifted to remembered times past; images of light and the scent of perfume and sweat punched through his memory like a knife
"Maybe Lucinda?" suggested Jacob.
Silver cocked an eyebrow. "The Light mage? Didn't you two hook up for a bit a while back?"
Jacob nodded. "We're still friends. She's helped me out of a couple tight spots." He glanced over at the Western part of the sky. "Besides, it's getting dark. She'll be at a disadvantage if anything unpleasant should come up."
The necessity to resort to murder was always a strong possibility when dealing with another magician. Especially when it was something as secretive and sensitive as forming a cabal. Magic was not easy and it was not for those with weak stomachs.
Silver shook his head. "I know that's a realistic possibility, man. But fuck dude. How can you be so cold about it? I mean, this chick is someone you know pretty damn intimately. How can you talk like that?"
Jacob glared at Silver. "Look, Silver, the realities of what we do are sometimes unpleasant. It doesn't mean I like it, but I'm aware of it."
"Whatever," said Silver. "Do you think about what you're going to do if it becomes 'necessary' to kill me before every time you come hang out with me?"
There was another pause in the conversation. Eventually Jacob answered quietly. "No."
"You don't?" Silver raised his eyebrows at his friend. "Really?"
"No, I don't," Jacob's tone was flat and emotionless.
"I feel like there's more to that that you're not telling me," said Silver, matter- o- factly.
"Look," said Jacob, exasperated. "Can we just drop it? It's really not that big a deal."
"No no," said Silver. "Really. I wanna know why you feel that precaution is unnecessary when it comes to me."
Jacob exploded. "Fine! You want to know the truth, Silver? You're a mirror mage. Your specialty is very utility-based; it has almost no destructive power. If you ever decided to start shit I could kill you before you got halfway through your first incantation! So I don't have to think about how I'd ice you every time I get ready to see you because I've had about the same plan ever since we became friends!"
Silver was stunned. A look of hurt and confusion dominated his features.
"Look, Silver," Jacob started, much more calm now.
The younger magician cut him off. "No, it's fine. I should have known it'd be something like that."
"Silver I--"
"Really. It's fine. You're right. Fighting is not my thing. It's not a big deal. Let's just drop it like you said."
Jacob was upset. He hadn't meant to snap at Silver like that. Why couldn't the kid have just dropped it when he asked? They made the rest of the trip to Lucinda's apartment in awkward silence. When they got there, Jacob rang the buzzer for Lucinda's apartment.
"Lucy? It's Solomon. I've got Silver with me. Are you free to talk for a bit?"
Her voice came back through the speaker momentarily. "Sure, I'll let you in. Come right up."
Together the two magicians made their way up the fourth floor apartment where Lucinda lived. Jacob knocked on the door and was greeted by the sight of his smiling friend.
Lucinda was twenty years old and about five- foot six. Her shoulder- length hair was a rather darker shade of blonde, what most people would call "dirty" blonde. It was styled in a simple, no-nonsense center- parted style. Lucinda was wearing a purple ankle- length skirt and a plain white blouse.
Lucinda pulled Jacob into a tight hug as soon as she opened the door. "Hey, Stranger. I've missed you."
Jacob smiled at her as she released him. "Hey, Lucy. It's great to see you again. Can we come in? This is. . .kind of sensitive."
Lucinda gestured the two of them in, still smiling. "Sure! Come on in. How are you doing, Silver? You've grown since I last saw you."
Silver blushed as he stepped in and Lucinda locked the door behind him. "Um," he began elegantly. "Yeah. I went through another growth spurt at the end of last summer. Probably my last one."
Lucinda nodded. "Awesome. Well then, what was it you needed, Prince?"
Silver cocked an eyebrow. "Prince?"
"He wasn't quite a king yet," explained Lucinda with a twinkle in her eye. "If you catch my drift. . ."
She winked.
"Okay. That's enough of that," said Jacob over Silver's laughter.
"Dude, no. That's entirely too hilarious."
The sour look on Jacob's face suggested he thought otherwise. "Look can we focus for just a little bit here?"
"Sure thing," said Lucinda.
". . .your highness," added Silver, inspiring a new fit of giggles from both of the younger magicians.
Jacob rested his forehead on his palm and sighed. Eventually he decided to just try pushing on through their laughter and getting to the point. "Okay, here's the deal Lucinda. Silver and I are organizing a cabal and we'd like you to join us."
The laughter stopped abruptly. Lucinda looked at Jacob, then at Silver. "Are you serious?" she inquired, cautiously.
Silver nodded. "Yeah, that's the truth. I thought maybe Sol would approach it a bit more delicately, but that's the facts, no crap attached version."
"I would have been a bit more subtle in my approach, but you two are apparently too easily distracted for that," explained Jacob.
Lucinda blinked and shook her head. "You're not just messing with me, right guys? I mean, this is serious."
Jacob nodded in agreement. "Yeah, it's not exactly the kind of thing to joke about. We're very serious."
"We've already got two," added Silver, helpfully.
"Who?" Lucinda asked, her question clearly direct towards Jacob.
"A couple of Silver's friends; a Pyro named Aidan and his little sister, a Fateweaver named Felicity."
"And how many were you going to do, total?" Lucinda knew the answer even before she finished asking the question.
"Seven," said Jacob and Lucinda together.
"Figures," she commented, more to herself than either of the men. "You've put some thought into this, haven't you?"
"It's something we've kicked around from time to time," admitted Silver. "I'm pretty sure most magician friends at least contemplate it from time to time."
Lucinda was still gawking at them. "What inspired this, though? What made you decide to go through with it?"
Jacob shrugged. "I was tired of instability. I'm going to have to wean myself away from Adam soon and I'd like to have a support network rather than be on my own. Silver here is young and we all know that Reflectors aren't the best fighters. The other two are young and don't seem to have much for support other than each other. We all need people we can rely on. The strengths we'll share should be enough to cover the weaknesses of our individual members. And I'd like to have you with us. I know you don't have anyone to fall back on, Lucy. I know that better than anyone."
Lucinda shifted uncomfortably in her seat. "What if I say no?"
Jacob shrugged. "That's your choice. But we have to make sure we can trust you not to tell anyone else. One way or another."
Lucinda shook her head. "See, that's why we couldn't stay together, Iz. You're way too pragmatic about things like that. You'd bind me to an oath of silence or kill me and not think much of it either way."
"That's not true," said Jacob calmly. "I'd much rather you said yes. Failing that, a binding oath would be my choice. But if you forsake both of those options, you know how it has to go down. It's a fact. A hard one, but a fact nonetheless."
Lucinda considered the proposition for a few minutes, finally she spoke again. "Fine. I'll do it. What the Hell? I mean it's not like I'll be any worse off, right? And someone has to watch out for your soul, Solomon."
Jacob smiled. "I'm glad it's going to be you, Lucinda."
"Jesus would you two cut it out or get a room?" Silver interjected, soundly ruining the moment. "If it gets any sappier in here, I'm going to have to start swimming."
Lucinda rolled her eyes. Jacob punched Silver in the arm. The men stood and excused themselves, leaving Lucinda's and heading back on the street.
They started making their way back to Silver's apartment.
"So we'll get the other two tomorrow, then?" asked Silver.
"Yeah, sure. That sounds like the best idea to me," agreed Jacob.
When they arrived at Silver's apartment, Jacob didn't go up. He preferred not to risk a run- in with Annie so soon after the one this morning.

Word Counts
---
This post: 2140
Total: 9908

I'm very behind. The goal was to get out 10k words this weekend. I'll continue working on that after I post this. I may move the new chapter target up to 3k words daily to make up for lost time.

3 comments:

Ryan said...

I think the demonstration might've been a bit more impressive with more than just "it began to rain".

Also, I take it you don't need the fate test or nickname ideas anymore?

I wanna meet the other cabal hopefuls. Any influence from FF here?

Unknown said...

Nicknames ideas are still being taken. The only FF I know if is Final Fantasy, is that what you were referring to?

Unknown said...

Note to Future Self:

I just reread the old posts and realized that Jacob and Silver were originally just going to talk to their contacts the next day, separately. Going to visit Aidan and Felicity made sense, but to explain why they went ahead and visited Lucinda I need to add to Jacob's "How about Lucinda?" Probably change it to "How about Lucinda? Her apartment is close by, then we'll call it a night." Okay. If I have editing time before the end of this thing, I'll change that line.