15

Standing in front of her, I ignored the slight pain radiating from my shin and plucked the shimmering emerald out of her grasp, peering it over. Using Arcanum Prime, I could see the magic thrumming through the device.

Swirling in the green depths were strings of dense mana that appeared to be the shredded soul of the homeless man I kidnapped once I gave them a closer look. The thick spirling strings seemed to be slowly devoured by the gem for it to sustain itself.

Frowning, I let the ritual process tumble through my head. Nothing should have required it to consume massive quantities of mana regularly. However, it was similar to Lich's phylactery; the only difference was that it caught the soul after death instead of before.

It could be that my base idea required the consumption of souls as Lich's phylactery did. That, combined with the common consensus of man demanding a cost for immortality, altered it, so it needed mana to sustain itself.

As I let out a long sigh at this part failure, my Grimoire's power built up again before fading back, ready to grant me new might soon. The gem, while potent, would demand around the cost of an average soul per month; otherwise, it would become inert.

This was obviously unacceptable; if the gem failed at an inopportune time, it could mean the death of Komainu. That meant linking it to a sufficiently powerful energy source, and I couldn't risk my current sources.

That meant finding a new parahuman. I did have a few suspects; however, the best would be the Undersiders. I knew they were based in a building owned by Redmond Welding, which was in the Docks. I also had their names as well.

Rachel Lindt for Bitch, Brain Laborn for Grue, Jean-Paul for Alec, and Sarah for Tattletale. While full names would be better Bitch I could track down, then force her to show me to the base, and none of them could stop me.

I didn't see via sight, and I could stop time, leaving Grue useless. I also did not have nerves, which stopped Alec, and revealing my secrets would be impractical to supervillains.

Handing the emerald back to Komainu, I checked my mental clock. It was the afternoon, so I had a few hours before Taylor arrived. It should be enough time to track down Bitch.

Pulling out the compass that I used to track down Squealer. Peering over at the circles I had made, I, with a mental nudge, directed the other me's to start cleaning up the dust I bled out while I made the words vanish.

Placing the compass on the ground after the cleanup, I drew another circle and started to chant. It was the same line as what I used to find Skidmakr and Squealer with a few changes.

"Entdecke diese, finde sie, wo sie sich versteckt hat, entdecke die Lebenden, bring mich zu ihnen."

The compass started to turn widely for a few moments before the needle settled and started to follow a point north of me slowly. Standing up, I ruffled Komainu's hair before speaking as I shrugged back on my amulet.

"I'm heading out. I need to grab a few folks to ensure your immortality won't fail at a bad time."

Replying, she looked at me with concern

"Be careful, ok. I'll hold down the fort!"

Giving her a nod, I strode out, following the compass. Walking on foot, I ran through my plan. I needed to catch Bitch. To do that, I could teleport next to her, freeze time, hypnotize her, then chuck her in Castle Brunested.

Following that, I would have to extract the location of her base from her. I had two options for that; the better was to hypnotize her; however, I didn't know if she couldn't resist it.

The other choice was to let the spirit of Castle Brunestud at her. However, that was the last resort. While Komainu's safety was paramount, and I was willing to do anything to make her safe, what the spirit would do would be needlessly cruel.

The compass started to turn as I looked up and around at who it could be focusing on. A fit girl with brutish features and auburn hair walked in the afternoon light. I assumed this was Bitch

Peering around for any witnesses, I spotted a few, so I ducked around a corner and teleported to a nearby rooftop close to my target. She had her hands stuffed in her pockets, and I could spot her lips moving as she mumbled to herself.

As she turned the corner away from any witnesses, I teleported right next to her. She was fast, and a fist stopped just shy of my face as I pushed out my blue world.

Peering into her eyes, I pushed and caught her as she fell into my arms fast asleep. Appearing in Castle Brunestud, I dropped her unceremoniously on the ground before emerging back in the world.

Next, I teleported back to my lab. As soon as I appeared, Komainu darted up to me, eyes full of questions. In silent response, I made Bitch's form reappear on the ground. As I was conjuring ropes out of Dust, I asked Komainu.

"Komainu, do you know how to tie a knot because I have no clue?"

"Yup!"She replied, scurrying over to me and grabbing the rope.

A few minutes later Bitch was securely bound. I gestured for Komainu to step back and gave her a slight slap to her cheek to wake her up. Spluttering, her eyes snapped open, and they darted around in confusion.

Sitting on the ground in front of her, I kept my voice calm and level as I spoke.

"I only want to know where the base of the Undersiders is; no harm will come to you if you tell me."

As I spoke, my Grimores power built up again and faded away similar to before. Tearing my attention away from the cooling heat in my marrow, I cast my gaze back to Bitch, awaiting her answer.

"Fuck you!" She snarled out, straining against her bonds. I waited another few moments to see if she had anything further to say; however, she had devolved into furious snarling.

Standing up, I sighed, the hard way it would have to be. This way might work, but I didn't know how it would interact with her non-human mindset.

Putting somebody to sleep was one thing; most everything slept at some point. However, I didn't know how the direct Shard meddling might mess it up.

As I knelt back down to peer into her eyes, she started thrashing her head back and forth in an attempt to prevent me from locking eyes. This was fruitless as I grabbed her head, and Power Overwhelming ensured she could not break free.

Eyes locked, I pushed mana into her brain, attempting to force the information to her lips. It was hard, and I stopped as she started to froth. My basic knowledge of hypnotism forced me to resort to brute force.

It seemed my theory was correct; I would need a better understanding of hypnotism in order to tease out the location of the Undersider's base. That would take months or years of instruction, however.

My final step was to let the Brunestud at her. Dropping her, I let her head bounce on the floor a few times before transporting both of us into Castle Brunestud.

I tossed her over my shoulder as I walked up the long driveway. I didn't like being here; it reminded me of when life was normal. Before I arrived on Earth Bet, I was forced to fight to survive.

The magic was beautiful and everything I had ever hoped for, and while I had only been here for a month, I was already missing my family. Pushing down the thoughts, I gently pushed the door open.

I saw the spirit lying down sideways on the couch, the barely breathing form of Purity lying still on the carpet. Her face was covered in bruises, and part of her chest was caved in.

The spirit pulled a red liquid-filled bottle out of thin air before forcing it down her throat, allowing her chest to fill out as the rest of her bruised form stayed the same.

Twirling around and standing up, the carbon copy of me strode over green fire flickering in glee as it peered over Bitch's foaming at-the-mouth form.

"A gift! How wonderful, thank you a ton!" It crooned as it picked up her form from my arms.

"I have one request I need to be fulfilled."

"Oh?" it asked as it turned back around to face me.

"I need you to gain the information of where the Undersider's base is."

The grin on its face grew as it took in the request before nodding and setting Bitch's body on the carpet, carelessly kicking Purity's twitching form into the unlit fireplace.

I twitched as Purity's nose cracked and blood stained the white stone base; while I wouldn't engage in needless cruelty myself, the blood staining the white stone was annoying.

Despite this being a mere replica of my house, it still was the house that I grew up in, and seeing part of it be trashed, apart my mother was incredibly proud of, hurt.

As the spirit got to work, I knelt next to Purity's gentle breathing body and moved it out of the way while the blood vanished with a mental push.

Turning around, I saw the Brunestud spirit leaning over Bitch's unmoving form, hands gently clasped around her temple. Her body started twitching and gurgled moan slipped out of her mouth as the twitching grew into full-fledged spasms.

A few minutes later, her thrashing had settled, and her eyes were staring sightlessly up at the living room's ceiling. Turning to the spirit, I asked the question I had come here for.

"Did you find the base location?"

Jumping up onto the couch, it replied with a peppy "Yup!"

"Please tell me the location."

A few minutes later, I walked out of Castle Brunestud, Bitch's body slung over my shoulder. Stepping into my lab, I set her on the ground before setting up another of my draining circles.

The more challenging part would be getting it hooked up to the emerald while maintaining its cohesion. The best way would most likely be via silver casing that could act as a necklace.

Pulling the Dust from around my feet, I had a simple necklace with a casing that could hold the emerald. Hooking it up was a matter of a few minutes.

Peering into the emerald, I could see the soul of the man I sacrificed as well as new energy being pushed in at a roughly equal rate. That should ensure it keeps working; however, I needed a few more parahumans to make sure.

Checking my mental clock, I could tell the sun would start setting soon, and I needed to be ready to great Taylor. Gesturing for Komainu to turn back into her statue form, I hid the minions behind the illusion and cracked open the Grimoire while I waited.

Around thirty minutes later, a careful knock at the door sounded throughout my lab. Springing to my feet, I threw the door open and grinned at the form of Taylor Hebert clad in her imposing Skitter costume.

"How are you this fine!"

Despite putting in a visible effort to sounding confidante, her voice still slipped a few times as she spoke.

"F-Fine you?"

"I'm doing splendidly. For information, I would keep an eye out these next few nights. People from outside the bay will move in with the power vacuum that was recently formed. "

Nodding in response, she took her leave.

Closing the door behind her, I let my minions out behind the illusion and nodded my head to signal that it was safe to turn back. As her form shifted, I felt something form in my chest next to my SOUL as my grimoires power peaked.

I dropped to my knees as the pure weight of the object slammed into me. My vision swam as images assaulted me; I could see a figure with bubblegum pink hair.

She was clad in a school uniform. It appeared vaguely Japanese. She was surrounded by destruction; an entire city was laid bare. Lying propped up on the wall behind her was another girl, this one with black hair and a haunted look.

In front of the standing girl was a strange creature; it appeared to be a mix of a rabbit and a cat. Its soulless red eyes peered into the girl's eyes as she spoke and made a wish.

"Prevent all magical girls from the past, present, future, and all other timelines, from ever becoming witches" I saw as this wish something selfless and pure ripply out through creation.

Tearing open my jacket, I saw a small pink shard that was floating next to my SOUL. I felt like I couldn't breathe as the pure emotions flowed through me.

Komainu started to shake me as I collapsed on my side; the pure selflessness of this world-changing wish hit me. Pushing myself to my knees, I felt what this wish did; my power had increased and my recovery of mana to a lesser extent.

I could almost feel a whisper in the back of my mind as this was granted to me.

"It will all be ok; you will end up safe; your family will be fine; Komainu will be fine."

This voice reminded me of everything warm, and small pools of green flame splashed onto the ground as I grasped Komainu and held her tight.

Thick burning tears and picture-perfect wails escaped my throat as this pure wish let me know for just a moment; that everything would be alright.

Powers Gained

Shard of a Selfless Wish

A wish that truly gives back to others, yet asks for nothing in return...such a thing isn't meant to exist in this world, yet, here it is. And such a thing could perhaps change the world. Holding onto this pink shard increases your own magical power greatly and gradually replenishes lost energy. 'Burning' this shard will let you dramatically increase your magical power tenfold, though the boost is temporary and will be lost afterwards until your next jump. Notably, any magic given towards aiding or healing others without any expectation of a reward, karmic or otherwise, are most powerful when used with this Shard.