A Branch Grafted
Act 1, Final Scene
A Branch Grafted
Smoke filled the air around him; he wasn't sure what had happened. He could move, that's all he could ascertain at the moment, though the ringing in his ears was making the task of focusing that much harder.
As he looked, the house that had been his home since childhood was in utter ruin, the whole front half of the building had been blown away. As moved to sit on his knees, he saw something moving in his direction.
It had the form of a woman, and the outer edges of the form wavered like heat off hot asphalt. Then her face came into view and he reacted, shock filled his veins, eyes wide with disbelief.
---
Three weeks had passed since Maricella and Christopher had taken the offer, they made good with playing the going to work game. She came to pick him up every morning and drove to the large office building that was their new home away from home.
Christopher found it strange to have to dress up so elegantly for the first few days, though the clothing were provided by PP&P, wearing a three piece suit, tie, cufflinks and a pricey watch seemed a bit extravagant, but he wasn't going to argue. If Maricella could wear her business dress suit without complaint then he would just have man up.
Their work consisted mostly of what Christopher would consider occult research. The building that was owned by PP&P had a library that was five floors in height and he was assured by Theodore himself that this collection was only a fraction of the overall collection the Patrick's Family owned.
"It's enough to keep you two busy for a while in this realm anyway." He had said and busy was exactly how Maricella and Christopher were kept.
Though their job was mostly research, the second half of his life was training. Nothing physical for the time being as he was told, but more the element of being aware and the ability to control his awareness. A fancy way of saying he needed to know he –had- a Sine to being with and the knowledge of how to activate it.
It was this piece of his day that wore on him tremendously, he never knew that such a power existed within him, but from what they were able to tell him he'd used it unconsciously several times during his life, mostly used to achieve the level of retention and that lucid dream he used so often to bring out his heightened state of calm.
It was only during this state that he was able to understand the form and function of his Sine. The level of integration with his mind was on a scale that even surprised Maricella, even more surprising was the fact that he could only control a very small percent of his overall Sine.
This seemed to frustrate everyone, including Theodore.
Every night, they would drive back home. Christopher would be exhausted, Maricella keeping her eyes on the road. They didn't say much to each other during those times, but without fail as she turned off the engine to her small two door car, she would turn to look at him.
"It will come to you, Chrissy. I swear, it will come to you and when it does, it will be as easy as breathing, just keep working at figuring out the complexity of your Sine as only you can and when you do, it will become your best ally. You called me, remember that… a Wolf has never called a Lion."
He would smile, as this statement varied from day to day, but his response was always the same, "Thank you; I'll do my best tomorrow as well."
She would smile at this, waiting for him to enter his home before starting up the car and heading to the place she called her own.
---
It was just another normal night; after three weeks of intensive training, he was returning home with a more upbeat outlook as his training was starting to pay off. He could use his Sine in a far more conscious and active manner. Not only that but he started to become aware of things that before would have eluded him.
He could feel the presence of animals and people all the way from the street; if he concentrated he could sense the presence of the neighbors in the houses around their own.
He had started practicing this technique upon Theodore's request, to memorize the area, to know what was considered normal so that if anything ever was amiss, he would know about it immediately.
"So Christopher, how was work today? How's that research coming along???"
Her angelic features almost gave her a devilish feel. His mother always enjoyed quizzing him on the aspects of his work; she had an unhealthy fascination with what sort of research he was doing at PP&P.
"It's going well, mom… really, it's not all that exciting that I need to talk about it every night."
Sapphire of course, never far from making her own waves, "Yeah, but don't you think it's a little odd that you're doing research relating to the occult? I mean, it's a law firm right?"
That had been his first mistake.
"Listen, I don't really know myself okay?"
Which was true, because he had no freaking clue why a law firm had no law books in it's extensive library, only material relating to occult styled referencing.
"It's has something to do with how the firm handles special cases and we are being trialed to see if we are able to think objectively and at the same time think paradoxically."
It wasn't really a lie; it was exactly what the research was for, in his own mind. That and he had learned much about the lexicon of the world he was living in which helped him understand his situation better.
Sapphire only hmmmm'd at him and Adara just kept a hawk like view over him,
"You promise you're not doing anything illegal?"
Christopher again sighed,
"I promise. As far as I know it's only researching what I labeled occult like material."
His mother was about to say something, when something about the way she looked to the door gave Christopher pause, but she then smiled at him warmly,
"Very well then. Maricella is with you all day so that makes me feel safer."
Sapphire just nodded her agreement, but there seemed to be something off about his sister as well, ever since he had begun practicing his new technique he'd been picking up on some oddities coming from both is mother and sister.
"What's wrong with you two tonight? You seem a slight bit on edge."
Adara was about to say something when Christopher suddenly jumped to his feet, it rang in his mind like a siren, as he turned to look to the door and wall facing the yard, something was coming and coming in fast.
The look on his face brought both Adara and Sapphire to their feet as well and before he would even say anything, and before his world exploded around him, he hand just enough time to lift up his hand.
---
A power, so beautiful to make the heart sing of a poet. Embracing those meant to protect and destroyed those it meant to kill. So violent an outburst that it destroyed half a building.
"Amateur." A voice said.
"An amateur that stopped your synchronized attack, though." Theodore sat on a roof, watching as the time stopping shell barrier that made the sound of the explosion echo within it's cocoon like enclosure.
"You're playing both sides, Patrick. Why?"
Theodore looked up at the creature and smiled,
"Because, we Patrick's have lost faith in your new order, Breaker of Houses."
A snort is heard and the creature vanishes, as two brightly lit orbs of power appear within the protection created by a Wolf. Theodore only smiled more as his laugh carried through the hive like cocoon.
---
She had extended her hand; the smoke and fire were stinging his eyes when another form came into view with a more petite frame. She also brimmed with power.
He took it, disbelief that the hand, he was holding belonged to that of his mother.
"Chrissy are you alright?!"
She was looking over him in a panic, suddenly patting him around the shoulders and then moving both her hands to touch his head.
Christopher could only nod a bit dumbly, the ringing in his ears had lessened enough to the point that he could half way hear what she was saying,
"Y-Yes, I believe so."
"Tch… those bastards didn't make it far before they vanished into a doorway. I did manage to kill a few before they were able to escape."
Apparently satisfied that Christopher wasn't badly damaged, she turned to look at Sapphire,
"Which House?"
"SpiderHound, had it not been for Chrissy he would have been dead."
Adara nodded to this and looked over at Christopher,
"I know you have a lot of questions or will have a lot of questions, but please for right now I need you to sleep, okay?"
There must have been a look of panic or distrust in his eyes, but Adara only smiled,
"I swear upon my life and the life of my daughter and those of the House of Hind, that you my grafted branch of Wolf will be safe."
Tears suddenly welled up in Christopher's eyes, he suddenly knew. He knew he was all alone in this world, those of Wolf were dead. He was the last, for he wasn't even honored with the name of 'house' anymore, but the term of a single surviving member 'branch'. At least that research made for something.
Leaning up against her, he wept.
Here ends Act 1