"Is she okay?" Leta voiced her concerns as Allister lifted the sleeping dark skinned woman from her chair.
"Oh, aye." The red haired giant nodded absently, "A'ppens all the time. Give 'er some time to rest, some caffeine, and she'll be good as new."
Eriene saw Leta's shocked face at the thought of the pleasant but eccentric Ismene having any more coffee and reached over the table to pat her hand.
"Don't be alarmed, dear. Ismene is a Priestess, blessed with the power to see past, present, and future and perform miracles in the name of the gods. Unfortunately, mortal bodies have trouble balancing such power and Ismene suffers from Kleine-Levin Syndrome, better known as Sleeping Beauty Syndrome. Ismene uses caffeine to help stay awake and alert for longer, but when a prophecy occurs it tends to burn the caffeine right out of her system and knock her cold."
"Please don't worry," She smiled, "While it may seem odd, this is completely normal for Ismene. Shocking as it might be, it's not uncommon for her to consume more than a thousand milligrams of espresso in a sitting and come out the other end without a single health concern."
Leta blinked in shock at those numbers.
She was no coffee aficionado, but she remembered a physician once telling her that the average person was advised to consume a maximum of four hundred milligrams of caffeine a day.
And yet, Ismene was drinking thousands of milligrams and still struggled to keep awake.
[IT IS ADVISED THAT THE HOST USE THEIR SCAN ABILITY TO HAVE A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF THE INDIVIDUAL'S WEAKNESS.]
Leta could have slapped herself in the forehead. She'd almost forgotten about her new ability to scan an individual with all the excitement of meeting the Chosen.
Leta look at Ismene's limp form in Allister's arms and focused.
[Name: Ismene
Class: Priestess
Abilities: Precognition, Postcognition, Dispel Charm, Purify, Barrier, Tongue of the Many, Magician's Hands
Strengths: High constitution
Weaknesses: Significantly low stamina]
Leta sort of expected Tongues of the Many to be one of Ismene's skills, but was surprised to see Magician's Hands among her skills.
'Is low stamina really what's causing her to pass out all the time?'
[INDEED. TO HAVE SUCH A SEVERE WEAKNESS WOULD MEAN THAT IT IS BALANCED BY AN EXTREME TALENT. IT IS ESTIMATED THAT HER ABILITIES ARE MUCH HIGHER THAN STARTING LEVELS FOR THIS CLASS, INDICATING A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF TIME THAT THE SKILL HAS BEEN UTILIZED. THE SCAN ABILITY WILL NEED TO BE UPGRADED IN THE FUTURE FOR MORE DETAILED INFORMATION.]
Leta absently watched as Eriene got up from the table, found a post-it note and pen in a drawer, and scribbled Ismene's prophecy down before slapping it onto the refrigerator.
Leta leaned over out of curiosity and used her enhanced eyesight to better read some of the other post-it notes that were tapped there.
"Clouds above and below. Follow the hawk."
"Dark of skin, light of hair, breath of fire, heart torn asunder."
"Keep the candle ever burning, or call forth the sentinels."
"Behind a friend's blissful smile comes unwilling and unknowing danger."
"When black ice rises from the deep a great calamity shall emerge and plunge the hidden into the light."
"Silver is the weapon. The end and the beginning are both within the opal's eye."
'Charming.' Leta mused before her attention was broken by a hard and sudden thud.
The front door opened with a bang, slapping against the wall and making a hole in the drywall.
Allister turned on a time and had a throwing dagger in his hand when a gruff feminine voice barked, "Lower that toy now, McLeod, or I'll be using it as a toothpick after I skin your hide with it."
In walked a petit, middle aged woman of Indian nationality in a navy blue kurta and matching blue pants. Her hair was turning gray, but her golden eyes had lost none of their fire, fixing the ginger giant that was twice her height with a no-nonsense scowl.
Behind her came a man covered in dirt and what looked like blood. His beard and mustache were clean and cut short, the sprinkling of gray hairs and the white at his temples the only things that indicated his age.He was dressed in a reinforced leather jacket, dark gray henley, jeans, and black boots. It all seemed… intentional. As if he picked his clothes specifically to be foregetable.
He was covered in scratches and was being helped inside by a spunky looking young woman of Middle Eastern descent, dressed in a maroon shirt, jeans, combat boots, and black denim jacket.
"Ice pack is on the counter, Kaviah." Eriene gestured to the woman who had given a disapproving look to Allister.
"Ugh… Blasted Goblins." Leather Jacket groaned, pressing one blood soaked hand to his shoulder as he stumbled through the door.
The sharp eyed woman Kaviah grabbed the ice pack, looking Leta up and down with a discerning eye.
"We have company I see." she said with a distinct South Indian accent.
"Indeed. Oletta Black, meet Kaviah Ramesh the Blacksmith. Atreus Mavros the General, the leader of the Athens sect of the Chosen, is the individual currently bleeding all over the carpet. Propping him up is Affra Shabudak, our Harth Tender. Atreus, Affra, Kaviah, meet Oletta Black. She is a recent Arisen and seems to have caught the attention of our dear friend Alaric."
"Sucks to be you." Leta heard the Affra woman mutter under her breath.
"Urgh…Well." Atreus moaned as he was lowered into a chair not too gently, "I believe we'll need a bit more of an explanation after that."
So, for what felt like the millionth time that night, Leta gave the abridged version of events. The hospital visit, the detention at the police station, and her battle with the Blessed.
Eriene and Allister added in to the tale once it got to the part where she arrived, interjecting to talk about Ismene vouching for her and the Priestess's prophecy.
When it got to the part about Leta absorbing vitality from the dead Loupgaru, the newcomers were more than a bit concerned just as Allister and Eriene had been.
"I get it, it's weird. I'd be lying if I didn't find it super gross myself. Would it help if I show you kinda what happens?" Leta offered. "Like, do you guys have some meat or fruit you're not particularly fond of? I'd like to show you what's actually happening so you have a better understanding of what's going on. Eriene can sense vitality, right? Have her take a look after I'm done to verify."
Atreus shared a look with Allister, then Eriene before nodding. "Very well. Any fruit or meat item?"
"I'll get more…uh…nutrition out of meat. Fruits and veggies will work but it's more like smelling a banana than actually eating it for all that it does for me."
'I hate the idea of wasting nanites… Gada, use 1000 nanites to up my Mental Fortitude by one.'
[UPGRADE CONFIRMED. MENTAL FORTITUDE HAS INCREASED TO 21].
Eriene, who'd gone to the kitchen to look for a suitable victim, held up a small pot of basil that had been in the kitchen window.
"Would a plant work, dear?"
Leta blinked, "Uh, honestly I've never tried it before but let's give it a go."
Eriene placed the potted plant in front of her and Leta delicately pinched the woody stalks at it's base.
She looked back at Eriene. "If you're comfortable with it, you're welcome to put a hand on my shoulder and monitor what's going on."
The older woman nodded and did just that.
[COMMON BASIL, UNPROGRAMMED NANITES:50]
[ABSORB UNPROGRAMMED NANITES? YES/ NO]
[UNPROGRAMMED NANITE ABSORPTION COMPLETE. CURRENT UNPROGRAMMED NANITES: 5,505,450.]
In Leta's hands the plant seemed to lose a bit of luster before their eyes, its leaves turning yellow and brown at the edges as if it hadn't been watered in some time.
"Incredible." Eriene whispered as she watched the basil seem to age a week before their eyes.
"What?" Atreus frowned, seemingly ready to jump in and defend the older woman despite his wounded state.
"It's… It's not exactly vitality, per say, but she's absorbing a piece of what she touches and taking it into herself. It's not destroying the plant, she's making it… less. I don't really know how else to describe it. The plant is just less than what it was a moment ago."
The room was quiet for a while, everyone lost in thought at the demonstration.
Leta looked down regretfully at the plant, sad that it had been sacrificed and feeling that it would never truly bounce back after this.
As Atreus deliberated, she began to get the feeling that she was going to have another situation of Allister trying to detain her again.
"Permission to speak, General." Koa spoke up, his back straight and leveling Atreus with a serious stare like the soldier that he was.
"Permission granted, Warrior."
"Leta had been trying to figure out her talents when we met each other, both the good and bad. When we were attacked by the rest of the pack, Leta tried to use her electricity talent and ended up taking serious damage. After the attack, Leta only attempted to heal herself, and when she was full she stopped. Even new to all of this and suffering from blood loss, she didn't gorge herself like a Blessed would have or attacked in a fit of madness. Based on my interactions with her this evening and the Priestesses voucher, I would say that Mrs. Black is no threat to us or the Chosen and would be of assistance to us if we needed her."
Atreus gave her a pointed look, which Leta shrugged, "Absolutely not a fan of the Blessed, thank you very much. Haven't really known you guys for long, but you seem like nice people…er… Awoken? Enlightened? What do I call you guys again? I think it was something with an A."
"Arisen, dear." Eriene answered.
"Arisen. Yes, thank you." Leta smiled in gratitude. "Mama always told me you don't sign on to a team unless you know the team and, while I don't exactly feel like I know ya'll enough yet to sign onto this team, I can say with full confidence I'm not joining the other option. On that, at least, I swear."
Atreus was quiet for a moment until Eriene cleared her throat. In her hand was one of the many post-it notes that had covered the fridge.
Without saying a word, it was handed over to Atreus with all the finality of an enemy messenger handing ill news to a king.
Atreus read what had been scribbled on the small three by three inch yellow paper once, glanced up at Leta, then read it again. His lips pressed into a thin line before he held it out for Allister.
Allister's face broke out in a jovial grin behind his beard.
"Luck really is with ya, Miss Black." He chuckled, and flipped it around to Leta so she could read it.
Scribbled in blue in red, "Black is the truth. Black is the future. Trust and believe, for Black shall bring light."
Leta blinked, "Well sh**. That's convenient."
"I'll say." Kaviah muttered, snatching the prophecy from Allister's sausage sized fingers to get a better look.
Atreus leaned back in his chair, grimacing at the pain of his wound.
"Not to be off topic or anything, but can't Eriene heal him?" Leta asked with a pointed look.
Allister shook his head. "Healers use their own energy to mend others. Wounds like this would take too much out of her. You may also have noticed that Awoken heal quickly on their own. I'm willing to suffer for a day or so if it saves Eriene from exhausting herself.
"Now." He paused, groaning as he took a sip from a water bottle, "Based on the prophecy, Ismene's approval, and Koa's recommendation, I'm more at ease with you knowing our secrets and being in our space. However, what has yet to be answered is if keeping you with us is truly beneficial for all of us."