Marie took the lead, spreading the gaudy purple drapes and stepping into the mysterious store. To the surprise of the rest of the party, it was quite tidy inside, looking more akin to a gentleman’s living room than to a shop. Reclining comfortably in an easy chair with a book in one hand and a glass of wine in the other sat a greying man of roughly fifty years, who’s face was home to a polished monocle, a pipe, and a well-trimmed mustache and goatee.
“Do come in,” the man beckoned, setting his book and glass on a nearby side-table and rising to his feet, adjusting his red dressing gown as he did. “What can Abercrombie, the Ability Expert do for you?”
“So, like, on a scale of 1-10, how much of a scam is this?” Marie questioned bluntly.
“Marie!” Isaac exclaimed, turning to the man with an apologetic look in his eyes.
“Straight to the point, aren’t you?” The man laughed, waving Isaac’s forthcoming apologies away. “Well, set your mind at ease. Not only can I read your abilities, but I can tell you what your Sub-Abilities are, to a certain degree. I offer numerous other services as well, for a price.”
“Sub-Abilities?” Charles asked, curious.
“Indeed,” the man nodded. “As far as I have seen, all players have one Ability, and one Sub-Ability. I can tell you what they are easy enough, but there’s one catch.”
“Of course there is,” Marie quipped, suspicious.
“I can tell you the name of your Ability easy enough, but unless you’ve managed to trigger it, I can’t find what its effect is. Further, even your Sub-Ability’s name is obscured to me unless you have used it already.”
“Well, that’s not much good to us now, is it?” Marie scowled indignantly. “Basically, you can only tell us what we already know? Why would we pay for that, exactly?”
“Mmmm, let’s not be hasty,” the man replied tranquilly, taking a sip from his glass. “Several people have passive abilities that trigger without them even having to do anything, such as one fellow who came in earlier. His Ability “ENIGMA” made any kind of mental control/mind reading attempted on him rebound on the user and temporarily incapacitate them. He never knew he was using it, but it activated the first time someone tried to control him. Further, I can still tell you the name of your Ability, and if it’s one I’ve seen before, I’ll be able to tell you the effects. Not everyone’s Abilities are unique to them, after all. Lastly, for an added fee, I can activate a ward on you that will inform you of your ability, its name, and it's effect the next time you use it, just in case.”
“Well, it’s not like I’ve got much to lose,” Marie admitted reluctantly. “What’s the price?”
“That’s the spirit!” The man beamed. “26 gold pieces for the main service, 14 for the ward, and if I’m unable to tell you what your ability does, you get 50% off your next appointment!”
“That’s a steal, for a service like this!” Charles exclaimed, eagerly counting out and tossing the man a pouch of coins.
“This IS the beginner’s town, after all.” The man shrugged, recounting the coins within. “If I had set the price too high, I wouldn’t have any business.”
“What should I do now?” Charles asked.
“Nothing whatsoever.” The man chuckled, taking a sip of his wine. “My Ability “CRITIC” is always active, whether I will it or not. Your Ability is called “BASTION”, sir. It’s a new one, so I can’t tell you its effects. Also, your Sub-Ability has yet to manifest itself, so I can’t help you with that either.”
Seeing the dejection on Charles’ face, the man rose and patted him on the shoulder. “Don’t let it get you down; now that you know your ability’s name, it should be easier to find a way to activate it. With a name like “Bastion”, it obviously has to do with defense, no?”
“I guess…put me down for the ward effect too.” Charles counted out more coins glumly. “But how am I supposed to use an ability when I don’t know the effects?”
“It’s a little easier than you might think,” the man replied. “To use any non-passive ability for the first time, you require simply the desire to activate it, and a trigger.”
“A trigger?”
“Commonly something spoken,” the man clarified. “It’s not so much of a password as it is a form of assent. As far as I’ve seen, the words themselves don’t matter, only the act of using them.”
“The 4U Principle!” Isaac exclaimed.
“Hmm?” Charles questioned, turning around.
“Also known as the Will and the Word, it was a principle of magic in a series of novels I read when I was younger,” Isaac continued. “Magic requires the will to use it, and words to confirm it. I’m guessing these abilities use a similar principle.”
“Hold up.” Charles paused, raising an eyebrow. “How’s that translate to “4U”?”.
“’Double-W’ just didn’t have a nice ring to it,” Isaac returned. “So, if it’s two double-u’s, doesn’t that make it “4 U’s” all together?”
Charles groaned, planting a palm over his face.
“That aside, all Charles has to do to activate his power is want to use it, and yell something random out?” Marie asked, dubiously.
“It seems to work better in high-tension scenarios, perhaps because in hopeless situations, we are the most apt to welcome any kind of solution, and thereby the “Will” comes more naturally,” the man offered. “Further, the “Word” is assumed to work best when it has to do with the action required. Now, is there anyone else who would like to have their ability read?”
“Here old man, I’ll pay for the rest of us,” Marie offered, throwing down a purse of gold. “Put us down for the wards too, just in case.”
“Are you sure?” Isaac asked. “I’m feeling pretty flush after all the monster drops last battle.”
“Call it a good-will offering to the future of our team,” Marie shrugged, smiling.
“Sorry to interrupt but…couldn’t you have done this BEFORE I paid for my own reading?” Charles ventured.
“There are limits to even my good will.” Marie smiled sweetly, pushing him aside and standing in front of the Ability Reader. “So, what’s my ability, old man?”
“Yours is called “FLUX,” the man replied. “Also, your Sub-Ability has not been activated either, so here’s a 50% off coupon for your next time. Please come again!”
“Well, that was a whole lot of no help,” Marie grumbled, snatching the coupon. ““Flux”? That could mean literally anything.”
“I’ll go next!” Isaac exclaimed, stepping up.
“Hmmm…” the old man mused, stroking his goatee. “Your ability is called “ADMIN” and it does seem to be active, but the entry for it is obfuscated. I’m sorry, I can’t seem to read this one. Would you like a refund?”
“It’s okay, I rather expected something like this,” Isaac smiled wryly. “What about my Sub-Ability?”
“Just one moment sir…” The old man started, before his eyes suddenly widened in surprise. “Well, well, well,” he muttered, taking off his eyeglass and wiping it. “You have no less than EIGHT Sub-Abilities! None of them have been activated yet, and all but one is greyed out, but that’s seven more than should be possible. You must be very lucky!”
“Woah, way to go!” Charles grinned. “I should’ve expected it from you, though.”
“What about Tenshi?” Isaac asked, pointing to her.
“That will not be necessary,” Tenshi quickly declined, stepping back. “I already know what my ability is; it allows me to make copies of myself.”
“Copies? You don’t say!” The man’s eyes lit up. Rising from his chair, he took a step towards Tenshi. “I’ve never seen an ability like that yet. If I may…”
“Wait!” Tenshi exclaimed, holding up her hand.
“Well, this IS my day for surprises,” the man muttered after a moment, passing a hand over his face.
“What is it?” Isaac asked eagerly.
“My ability must not be working correctly,” the man shrugged, wiping his monocle again. “When I tried to identify her abilities, it gave me an error saying “Cannot Scan, NPC detected”.”
As one, everyone turned to look at Tenshi.
“Tenshi?” Isaac started, only just managing to emit the second syllable before his world went black.
*******
With a gasp, Isaac rolled over…and fell off his bed.
“Awake yet?” Celica asked calmly, holding his now powered-off N-LiFe.
“WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?!” Isaac gestured wildly at his sister. “What the heck is that cliff-hanger? I need to know what that means!”
“Hey, I sent you a message, it’s your fault you didn’t respond.” She shrugged.
Isaac blinked. “When did you send it?”
“About 30 seconds before I turned your N-LiFe off.”
“Wow. You couldn’t even wait a minute, dingbat?”
“I’m a busy girl.”
Isaac sighed and sat down on his bed, defeated. “Fine, whatever. What did you want, anyway?”
“Oh right, I almost forgot!” She tapped a fist on her palm. “Jace and Art are at the door asking for you.”
“What?” Isaac exclaimed, staggering to his feet again and grabbing a change of clothes off his bed. “Wait outside, I’ll get changed in…”
He froze.
“Celica…”
“Isaac.”
“Why are my toenails green?”
“I couldn’t help it, you were completely defenseless.”
“Why does that make it okay to paint my toenails?!?” Isaac cried out, throwing his change of clothes at her.
“Isn’t green your favourite colour?” she asked, tossing his clothes back
“How is that even relevant?” Isaac moaned, running his hands through his hair. “Besides, if you had the time to paint my toenails, you clearly had time to wait for me to respond!”
Celica put a consoling hand on Isaac’s shoulder. “Isaac, sometimes there are sacrifices one must make in life.”
“Why is it always me that makes the sacrifices though?”
“That’s your job as a big brother.”
“That’s sexist! I demand equality!”
“Equality’s a one-way street, pal. You were born on the wrong side.”
“Shoot, I can argue with that. But… agh, that’s not even the point here!” he cried out. “My toenails are GREEN!”
“Yes, your toenails are green.” Celica nodded.
“Zack’s toenails are definitely green,” came an unexpected reply from the doorway.
Isaac turned in horror to find the source of the voice, his two friends, standing outside his room.
“Sorry to interrupt, but it sounds like Zack’s up now,” one of them explained.
Both the teens were roughly Isaac’s age and were dressed in casuals, the taller one wearing a light-hued polo shirt and black slacks, and the other in a hoodie and jeans.
The taller of the two was 19-year old Arthur Dubois, a fisherman’s son and aspiring accountant who looked the part, something like a Viking with glasses, complete with the beard. Also complementing his fisherman side, Arthur had a tendency to get lured to his misfortune by “mermaids”, with a history of heartbreaking romances longer than he would care to remember.
To his left was 16-year old Jason Letterman, a part-time cook with an unhealthy obsession regarding knives and homemade weaponry. As if nature had foretold his love of cosplay, he had the lean body and curly hair of a K-Pop idol, and was happy to take advantage of that.
“Going for a new look, Zack?” Arthur asked, nodding towards Isaac’s vivid viridian misfortune. “Sorry to say, but I don’t think the lady-types dig painted toenails.”
“I don’t want to hear about romance from you, Odysseus,” Isaac muttered, grabbing a pair of socks and slipping them on.
“Hey, don’t pick on poor Art,” Jason interjected. “He’s approaching his record of four months without a tragic relationship!”
“Can’t you two ever have a normal conversation without randomly hurting my feelings?” Arthur asked, putting Jason in a headlock. “We’ll head downstairs Zack. Put on some proper clothes and meet us in the car.”
“In the car? Why?” Isaac asked, grabbing his clothes bundle from the floor. “Actually, what are you guys even doing in my house?”
“Well, like, you may or may not at some time have said something like “we’re always welcome at your place”,” Jason explained, struggling in vain against Arthur’s hold. “We’ve got some big news, so we thought we’d head to the usual spot to discuss it.”
“You crashed my house for a superfluous reason like that? If this “big news” is that Art found himself a new girl, I swear I’m gonna leave you guys with the bill,” Isaac grumbled, escorting Celica out of his room. “Try not to burn the house down while I’m away, sis.”
“You’d better hope I don’t, because if anything happens you’ll be the one blamed for it,” Celica quipped as a parting shot, skipping downstairs. “Younger sibling privileges. Maybe I’ll try to deep-fry while you’re away.”
“Please, please don’t give me any more causes for stress,” Isaac sighed, passing a hand over his eyes. “I’ll pick you up a snack in town if you promise to keep out of trouble.”
“I already slipped the list into your backpack,” she called out. “Make sure you pick up everything!”
“Who the hell raised this girl?” Isaac grumbled as he changed. “I swear she’s adopted.” Noticing his N-LiFe was still lying on his bed, he grabbed it up with a few other oddities. I guess I should bring this along, just in case, he reasoned to himself, rushing out to the car where his friends were waiting.
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