What she’d attempted to do to Felix, that is. It wasn’t personal, it was business, and her job.
She hadn’t agreed with it, had sent a formal complaint, but had been nonetheless forced to go along with it if she wanted to keep her position.
Since she’d gotten fired shortly after the whole thing had gone down, it sounded like someone in ethics had sold her out.
All in all, she was a great acquisition even if she couldn’t offer any insight into what this meeting was about.
“Good afternoon, everyone,” Lily said. “What can we do for you today? Please keep in mind, you’ve once again filed for an emergency meeting outside of protocol. Our bill will be in the mail.”
“This’ll be quick,” said a man Felix had seen several times but never bothered to learn the name of. Dropping a paper in front of Lily, they turned and left without another word.
Felix was confused. All that fuss, and for what?
Lily had already picked up the paper and was reading through it.
“If we ever wanted proof they’re in league with our enemies, this would be it. They didn’t bother to cash our check. When they finally did try, it was when our assets we’re frozen, which means the check bounced. We’re now in breach.
“I’m sorry, Felix. I didn’t even think to check to see if they’d cashed the check.”
Felix waved it off. “Doesn’t matter. We don’t need the money from the landlord job anyways.
“I mean, don’t get me wrong, this sucks. And it puts a lot more weight on the points bank, but it isn’t anything we can’t get through.”
Lily sighed and set the paper down in front of Lauren. “Please get to work on this immediately; we’ll reconvene tomorrow for a department meeting. I’ll introduce you formally to the rest of the team. Until then, get settled, get a tour, get some food.”
Lauren picked up the paper, her messenger bag, and nodded. A few seconds later and she was out the door and on her way to start her first day.
“She’s eager. I think she’ll be a great long-term employee. I didn’t tell her much, as she wasn’t under contract, but the little I did tell her seemed to make her happy.”
Felix shrugged and then sighed, slumping into his chair. “I think we were supposed to talk about something next, weren’t we?”
“Yes, my first favor,” Lily said, folding her hands in front of her on the desk. Apprehensive would have been a good description of her.
“Okay, sure. That’ll at least be fun. Probably even solvable. Whatcha got for me?” Felix scratched at his head.
“I want you to fix my little brother. He’s… not well. I’ve got him in a full care facility right now. Technically, I’m his guardian. I’ve been working on getting everything together to have him transferred here.”
Rather surprised at the request, Felix didn’t know what to say.
“As of course, being your property, my property is yours. As his guardian, I’ve written him up an Indentured contract.”
Lily slowly set a paper down in front of him. It was indeed a contract and had been completely filled out.
“My favor is… please, sign the contract and then help him?” Lily finally turned her head towards him, her hands gripped together in front of her.
Her eyes were wet, and it looked like she was fighting to keep herself from crying.
“He’s one of the reasons I got into magic. I wanted to find a way to help him.”
“What exactly is wrong with him?” Felix picked up the paper and looked over it.
There was a momentary flicker of annoyance, a whisper of indifference to the situation.
Both vanished and were replaced by the simple fact that he wanted to take care of Lily. That he didn’t want her to suffer if he didn’t have to.
Pulling the pen from Eva out of his front pocket, he ran his thumb along the words.
Guardian indeed.
“We’re not sure. He just… fell asleep one day and never woke up. His brain is active, he’s not… he’s not braindead. He just won’t wake up.” Lily sniffed, her voice breaking. Her fingers were locked into one another, intertwined.
Felix nodded his head and signed the contract. “Let’s go get him, then. If we can get him put to rights today, we’ll do it.”
Lily let out a sudden sobbing breath, a smile breaking free. Then she launched forward and wrapped him up in a tight hug, her arms firm around his shoulders. “Thank you, thank you, Felix. Thank you.”
Awkwardly, he patted her on the back. Lily shuddered and Felix realized she was crying.
Catching Victoria’s and Andrea’s eyes, he motioned them towards the door, hoping they’d get the hint. Both women left without a word.
Felix held on to Lily, not saying a word.
The sobbing sorceress of death, the incredibly strong lawyer, the ravishing temptress, broke down.
All that was left was a woman who was carrying the burdens of an older sister who only wanted her brother to be well.
“It’s okay, Lily. We’ll get this taken care of. How old is he right now?”
“Sixteen. If he wakes up—” Lily took in a shuddering breath. “He’ll be so far behind. What kind of—” Another shoulder-shaking sob. “—life will he even be able to have?”
“Well, I’m sure I can cheat and use points to get him up to speed. I wouldn’t worry about it too much. I mean, come on. I can practically bring people back from the dead. There’s not too mu—”
Felix blinked at a thought that tore through his head.
I own their corpses, don’t I? Why can’t I just… bring them back?
Lily didn’t realize he’d stopped mid-sentence, but had buried her face in his neck instead, holding tightly to him as she cried.
Felix followed his thoughts as he comforted Lily.
Standing at the foot of the bed, Felix was surprised. The young man looked wasted away. Years of immobility, of not moving his muscles on his own, had caused them to atrophy.
He looked as well cared for as one could be in a coma, though. The facility was very high end, and Lily had paid for its treatment of her brother for another hundred years in advance.
She’d been concerned what would happen to him if she was killed or captured.
Smart sister.
The boy had a faint resemblance to Lily, but Felix had a hard time seeing more than only a hint of it. The sunken cheeks, waxen and pale skin, took too much of the life out of the kid.
“No time like the present,” Felix said. Calling up screen for the teenager, Felix looked to the character sheet.
Name:
Lucian Lux
Power: Astral Projection
Alias: Luke
Secondary Power: Eidetic Memory
Physical Status:
None
Mental Status:
Lost, terrified
Positive Statuses:
None
Negative Statuses:
Lost, atrophy, intellectual disability
Strength:
17
Upgrade?(170)
Dexterity:
23
Upgrade?(230)
Agility:
15
Upgrade?(150)
Stamina:
11
Upgrade?(110)
Wisdom:
31
Upgrade?(310)
Intelligence:
91
Upgrade?(910)
Luck:
47
Upgrade?(470)
Primary Power:
91
Upgrade?(9,100)
Secondary Power:
95
Upgrade?(9,500)
“Huh. He fell asleep because his power woke up. He’s an astral projector.