Psychic Company: Case 03 - Amon Pt.3
Guinness turned to Jamie and said, "What have you done?"
Emily's eyes fluttered open to a starless night sky. She sat up and looked around but saw only an endless expanse of white sand, black grass sticking out of it, and, in the distance, a farmhouse. With nothing else in sight, she decided to make her way toward it.
The edge of the property was lined with a dirty white picket fence, on top of which sat an assortment of what looked like black pumpkins. One of them groaned loudly as she approached and she froze. She considered briefly whether living pumpkins could exist and upon getting closer and smelling something foul she thought maybe they did. When she neared the fence, however, Emily realised one of the pumpkins wasn't actually a pumpkin—it was the missing wife's disembodied head. It looked like it had been pumped with black goo, its skin lumpy and swollen with crawling black veins. Dried blood pooled on the ground in a crusty black puddle. She leaned in, inspecting it, but the head screamed in her face. She fell back on her ass and looked up as all the lights in the farmhouse switched on at once. She heard something inside stir, and then the front door opened.
A couple hours of rudimentary surgery and repeated purification with holy water had left Kain completely exhausted so he was left to rest alone in his room while everyone else gathered for Guinness' meeting in the living room.
"We'll head into the bubble tomorrow." Guinness glanced at Charles and Oliver. "All capable agents will be going. Our priority is to secure the god-demon, Amon; rescuing Emily and the family are secondary."
"Hold on," Oliver said, shifting in his seat, "What do you mean secondary? Are you planning on not actually saving them?"
Guinness trained his piercing gaze on Oliver and sighed, hinting at his withheld annoyance. "That's right." His curt reply was met with a hiss of anger. He didn't feel the need to defend himself but thought they deserved an explanation, anyway. "If my theory is correct, they are incapable of being saved."
"I'm curious as to what your theory is," Oliver said.
"I read over the transcript from yesterday," Guinness began. He turned to Charles. "You said the bubble looked like an embryo. That got me thinking... what if that is exactly what it is?"
"You think that thing" — Oliver pointed in the direction of the cloud of darkness — "is an embryo?"
"Amon's embryo, yes," he said, smiling smugly. "Which would make everything within it his domain. Not that we didn't think that from the beginning, but, from the start, we were at a disadvantage. I believe Emily and the family are trapped within Amon's proto-body somewhere in the embryo, where their minds are together in his dream world and their bodies are undergoing steady, constant corruption. Let's be realistic here: It's been days since the family disappeared so I believe it's safe to assume they are beyond redemption; Emily, on the other hand, has only been gone for just over nine hours. Unfortunately, I plan to begin the excursion tomorrow, and at that point I would consider her a lost cause."
"Emily has the Lantern of Gabriel," Oliver said. "That must count for something."
"That changes nothing."
Jamie's attention was piqued. "Gabriel's Lantern?" she repeated and then turned to Guinness. "Shouldn't it change things? A relic like that could protect Emily, or at least slow the corruption." She shrugged. "She'd be in recovery for a while but she'd survive."
"No," Guinness replied. "Even taking that into account, I don't think it's worth the risk. When we enter the embryo tomorrow we must be extra vigilant. Our hands will be full enough just looking out for ourselves, let alone having our minds preoccupied with thoughts of saving others."
Jamie clicked her tongue. "You're the boss. Do continue." Her words were deferential but she was clearly irritated. Guinness didn't care.
"We'll split into two teams when we head in tomorrow. The main team, consisting of Charles, Ethel, Jamie, and myself, will focus on locating Amon's proto-body starting at the farmhouse. Meanwhile, Fabian will setup an overwatch position from the grain silo to keep an eye on our surroundings. Once we locate Amon's proto-body, Charles will compel it to become visible, enabling Ethel to trigger her ability. Jamie, I want you to focus on protecting those two while I ready the capture device." He looked around at everyone and smiled. "That's it for the brief. Fabian, could you come double check the equipment with me?"
"Hey you two, before you go, what're your plans for dinner?" Jamie called.
Guinness looked back at the witch. "Grab something in the nearby town, probably."
"Cuisine's a little sparse," she said.
Guinness shrugged. "We'll find something. You want us to bring you back some takeout?"
"Nah, I'm good. I'll make something here."
"Suit yourself. Let's go, Fabian."
Oliver didn't care for dinner and went straight to the room he now shared with Charles. He hoped to spend some time alone, but the Charles Jamie had other plans and a soft rasping came from the door. "Who is it?"
"Me," Charles said cheerfully. The agent's usual happiness did nothing to avail Oliver of his anger—in fact, it aggravated him.
"I want to be alone."
"Jamie is with me. She wants to talk with you!"
Oliver fell back on the bed and stared blankly at the ceiling. He thought maybe if he ignored them they'd go away, but was proven extraordinarily wrong when Charles practically broke down the door to get inside.
Jamie was a short girl, maybe five feet, with long brown hair and a pointed hat almost a foot high. She dressed very stereotypically for a spellcaster, he thought, and had the same stupid grin plastered on her face as Charles. "We can save Emily," she said.
Oliver shot up. "How?"
"You'll have to put your life at risk."
"That's fine. Tell me what to do."
"That was quick," she quipped. "Tomorrow, before we leave, I'll cast an anti-corruption ward on you. It won't be enough to keep you completely safe, but it'll still help since you're just a normal guy. Then, when we head into the embryo, I'll leave a sigil on the ground so you can slip in right behind us. You need to sneak behind us from a safe distance until we find Amon's proto-body. As soon as Charles forces it to become visible, I'll blast it hella hard, punching a hole deep enough into its body for you to dive right in! And you should. Immediately. You're on your own from there, but hopefully my ward'll buy you enough time to find Emily and get her out. If the hole starts sealing, Emily can sonic blast you guys out, right?"
"What if Guinness decides to capture it while we're inside?" Oliver asked.
"Don't worry about that," Charles said. "Jamie and I, and I'm sure Ethel, too, will do whatever we can to make sure that doesn't happen."
"Anyway," Jamie continued, "after you two are out, Amon should be weak enough for capture. If everything goes as planned, we can save Emily and capture Amon at the same time. Two birds, one stone!"
"Doing this goes directly against what Guinness wants," Oliver said. "Why would you undermine his authority like this?"
Jamie shrugged. "I want to save Emily. There's a chance, so I want to at least try."
Oliver couldn't shrug off his disbelief. "You don't know anything about us. I won't reject your goodwill, but I need to know if that's all there is to it."
Jamie giggled. "Okay, you got me. It's not a lie that I want to save Emily, but I also wanna stick it to Guinness 'cause he blows me off all the time. I want him to know what I'm capable of."
"I see." He didn't consider this a strong enough conviction, but he didn't have any other options. "Okay, we'll go with this plan."
"Good to hear! By the way—I'm curious—if Emily has the Lantern of Gabriel, why couldn't she purify the demonic energy in the first place? That'd leave only deific, and that's way easier to reason with."
"It's still recharging," Charles said.
"Recharging?"
"Emily used it to purify Athena five months ago," he continued. "Dr. Agassi said it can't be activated for another few months at least. Maybe a year."
"Oh, that Athena thing in the Mediterranean? Hmph. That's a shame. I would have liked to see it being used at least once," Jamie said. "Anyway, since Guinness and Fabian took the truck into town, what's there to eat around here?"
Charles, amused by the pivot, revealed a wide grin. "Right this way," he said and guided her to the kitchen. Feeling a little better and growing a little hungry himself, Oliver followed.
Jamie swung open the fridge. "You guys got meat?"
Charles leaned beside her. "Not sure. Recon squad stocked this. Oh—look!" He reached in. "Some garlic sausage behind here. Let's see what else we got. Could make something outta this."
Oliver stared at the taller man incredulously. "You know how to cook?"
"Of course!" Charles beamed and then got to searching the cupboards. Eventually, after some scrounging around, Charles managed to cook up some garlic parmesan with sausage, and a side of fried mixed veggies—the extent of Oliver's abilities. Jamie started plating a serving for Ethel but Charles grabbed the tongs and placed them on the counter.
"She'll eat later," he said. "She's taking a nap right now. Probably has a migraine."
Jamie stared at him, a little shocked. "How do you know?"
Charles shrugged. "She went off to her room alone after the meeting, and it's just about that time, anyway." He took the plate from her and placed it back on the counter. "I'll make sure she eats later. Don't worry." He smiled softly.
Jamie raised her hands in the air innocently. "You do you, man." She took a seat and dug into her food, starting at Charles all the while. One could see the cogs turning behind her eyes. Suddenly, she said, "You two together or something?"
Charles choked on his food. "What?"
"Are you and Ethel an item?" she said with a little more force. "I already know he and Emily are together without even having to ask—with how devoted he is." She gestured to Oliver and he blushed a little.
"Ethel and I aren't a thing," Charles finally said. "Neither of us really have the time to actually be together, you know? Since we're usually on different missions all over and such. We really only see each other on big missions like this, or when we happen to be on break at the same time." He turned to Oliver. "You're lucky that Emily gets to work out of the office most of the time."
"It seems to me like you two have a real connection. What with both your powers being pretty dangerous and all."
Charles stared down silently. "That's how we connected at first. Our powers..." He trailed off as his smile faded. "If we're not careful, we can easily lose control. After all, our powers are triggered simply by speaking and blinking, right? Same with Emily, though her ability isn't inherently lethal."
Jamie propped herself up on the table. "You should go after her."
Charles grimaced. "No way. Uh-uh. It'd be too weird."
"She's a little skittish, right? I think you'd be good for her. Calming, reassuring."
"So, Oliver, how is your relationship with Emily going?"
Though annoyed at being cut off, she was curious enough to go with the flow. Jamie swapped arms to stare at Oliver. "I'm listening."
A little caught off guard, Oliver straightened his slouch and set his fork down. He glanced solemnly up at Charles and said, "You say I'm lucky because she's with me in the office, but actually I'm jealous. You, Kain, and Ethel get to join her in the field, risk your lives together, support each other—in a way I never can. You guys see sides of her I never will."
For a moment, Charles couldn't look Oliver in the eye. He never thought of it that way. Work was work. He felt he was lucky enough to have coworkers he got along with. In a single motion, Charles reached over and slapped Oliver on the back. Nice and loud. Solid. "You got nothing to worry about! She's always talking about you when she's with us, man. Especially lately. One time, she told us about how in the shower you—"
"Okay, yep, that's enough, that's enough!" he yelled and then sighed. "She tells you that stuff?"
Charles nodded, causing Oliver to cover his reddening face with his hands.
Jamie laughed. "I think I'd like to hear the rest of that. Sounds juicy."
"I could tell you later."
"You are not telling anyone anything," Oliver said.
Charles didn't reply. He simply winked at Jamie and mouthed the words later.
Oliver managed to convince Guinness to let him ride along to the perimeter fencing, where he was promptly dropped off with the police with nothing to do.
"I'll be on comms if you have any demon-related questions," Oliver said.
Guinness huffed. "That won't be necessary," he said and held up his gloved hand, referring to his psychometry ability.
"You plan on learning everything you need to with psychometry?"
"Correct. Now, stay here and let the local officers protect you." Guinness turned on his heel and climbed into the driver's seat of the loaned SUV. Jamie stuck her head out the back window, winked, and shot something out of her wand just as they drove away. Oliver checked to see if anyone else saw it before quietly running over to where a sizzling, glowing symbol was carved into the dirt—the so-called sigil that would allow him to sneak into the embryo. He stepped on it and a cooling, tingly feeling crept up from his feet, covering his entire body. He held up his hands and was pleasantly surprised to see they were semi-transparent. Now properly cloaked, he walked the rest of the distance to the embryo's boundary line.
Now facing it up close, he thought the outer layer looked like a membrane. Like a shimmering sheen, thinly veiling the swirling purple smokey darkness within. He placed his hand on it and was disgusted by how warm it felt. Nevertheless, this was where the others had entered, and so must he. When he pressed his body through the membrane the anti-corruption ward on his hand burned as if someone were holding a torch against his palm. He clenched his teeth and bit back the pain until he was completely through, but the pain didn't disappear, it only dulled. Looking at the ward literally charring into his hand, he figured this just meant it was working.
Team Cropduster and the remnants of Office 3's field team stepped out of the SUV and onto black dirt. Due to how the space was, they didn't want to risk somehow wrecking the vehicle by driving deeper into the darkness and decided to leave it on the road near the entrance.
"Was it like this before?" Charles said. He looked up at the sky as a bolt of blue lightning struck across the horizon.
Ethel scowled at the landscape. "It looks completely different."
"Something must have happened. Maybe Amon picked up on my team's arrival," Guinness said.
"I've never seen anything like this," Jamie said. "It's a hellscape." A putrid, sour smell wafted through the air and she wrinkled her nose. "Ugh, what is that?"
"Over there," Ethel said, pointing towards several piles of black goo. She pursed her lips together as something about their arrangement seemed familiar. She checked the side of the road and gasped.
"What is it?" Charles asked.
Ethel turned to the goo piles with a look of horror. "Those are the cows from my report."
"The ones Kain impaled?"
Ethel nodded.
Guinness frowned as he looked from Ethel's clearly traumatized expression to the goo in the field. He waved a hand and said, "Fabian, grab a sample."
"Yes, sir."
"No, no, no!" Ethel cried. "It's contaminated!"
"I know," Guinness said. "But what if whatever melted those cows is also what's slowly eating away at Kain? We should get a sample, have a look at the tissue, and see if we can learn something from it. Might come up against something like it again."
Ethel pursed her lips, unable to reply and silently berating herself for not thinking ahead. Charles picked up on this and rested a hand on her head, smiling down at her in an attempt to cheer her up, but she only meekly smiled back.
Fabian returned with a sample of the goo and Guinness put it in his bag. "Good. Now, head out for the silo," Guinness said.
"Yes, sir," Fabian replied. He grabbed his share of equipment and marched off.
"How does he know which way the silo is when we can hardly see a hundred meters in any direction with this fog?" Charles asked.
"His covered eye can see through anything," Jame explained.
"So he's completely unaffected by this, then, huh." Charles twirled his finger, gesturing to the darkness.
"Not at all." Jamie seemed proud of this fact.
Guinness, not at all entertaining the conversation, said, "So if these blobs are the cows, you know which way the farmhouse is, right?"
Ethel looked in a certain direction. "It should be that way."
"Great," Guinness said. "Lead the way."
Ethel was hesitant at first—she'd never been in a leading position before—but with Charles beside her and an equally as cheerful Jamie behind her, she felt a little reassured.
The farmhouse ended up being a lot further than Ethel remembered. When she commented on it, Guinness scanned the surroundings, his eyes intense and perceptive.
"The space is expanding," he said.
"It hasn't gotten bigger on the outside, though," Ethel said.
Jamie leaned over to her. "He means Amon's domain is expanding. It's growing more powerful since it can warp space."
Ethel didn't really get it but thought it sounded dangerous anyway. Her brow wrinkled as she said, "Is it expanding right this moment?"
"Probably," Jamie replied honestly.
Ethel clapped her face. "Are we going to get too far away from the car? Are we going to get lost in the darkness?"
"Calm down, Ethel," Guinness chided. "We will never get lost. Fabian will always see where the car is."
Ethel heaved a sigh of relief.
Guinness inspected the scuffed dirt in the courtyard. "Talk to me," he whispered as he took off his glove and touched the ground. After a brief moment, he walked off in a certain direction as if compelled. The others trailed after him as he walked around a shed where he suddenly stopped and looked down at his feet. A large puddle of bloody mud. Guinness looked back at Ethel and Charles, apologetic but speechless.
"That's not Emily," Ethel said.
"The vision is unclear, but I sense a great pain took place. Too recent to be a member of the family."
"Unless someone survived. And they were killed here." Ethel wouldn't let up.
Guinness shook his head. "Unlikely." He looked toward the house. "But, for your benefit, I'll check the house, too."
Ethel started trembling so Charles rubbed her shoulder.
There was a large black stain on the porch, assumed to be Kain's blood. It had only been a day but already it had completely dried up and even aged. Jamie hopped up the porch steps to examine the old blood, but as she kneeled down to get a closer look, footsteps trailed through it. "No way," she breathed. She looked back and said, "You guys see that?"
"It's trying to lure us in," Guinness said.
"Are we gonna?" Jamie asked.
"It's got a trap ready for us, doesn't it?" Charles mused.
"Likely. But we'll head in anyway," Guinness said.
"What, why?" Ethel asked.
"Knowingly heading into a trap means we have a chance of springing it back on them," Guinness said and followed in the ghostly footsteps.
"Not stepping into a trap at all would be the best choice," Jamie grumbled.
"You're correct, but this might be our chance at forcing a confrontation with Amon. We need to weaken it in order to capture it, but no one's even seen a proper glimpse of it. It's been hiding this whole time, behind melted cows, behind cat-scorpions, invisible hands. We need to confront it somehow."
Jamie sighed, realising he had a point. "All right, then," she said and stepped after him. Charles and Ethel followed, though with more caution than the other two.
The footsteps wound through the house until eventually heading out the kitchen back door and stopping in front of a locked cellar at the back of the house.
Over comms, Fabian said, "I don't have direct sight, but I can still see your auras through the house."
"Good. I think this is the place," Guinness replied. "Keep an eye for anything suspicious. I don't want anything jumping us while we're inside." To the others, he said, "I want Ethel and Jamie to take point as we head down. Charles, you follow them, and I'll cover the rear with the capture device."
Charles eyed Ethel as she clung tightly to his arm. "I don't think Ethel should lead," he said.
"Why not?"
Charles laughed in disbelief. "She's clearly afraid."
Guinness glared at Ethel. "She's a field agent."
Taken aback, Charles replied, "What's that supposed to mean?"
"That she shouldn't let fear prevent her from fulfilling her duties."
A loud crack resounded through the air, grabbing everyone's attention. The cellar doors flew open and everyone watched in horror as black goo oozed out. They backed up but behind them the supposed cows had moved in and had them surrounded. They were trapped.
Jamie immediately thought of Oliver. Where was he and was he safe? She pursed her lips as she looked around, from Guinness to the goo cows and then to the house as it suddenly shook violently. The farmhouse exploded, pieces of it falling away as Amon's proto-body erupted from the basement.
Amon's proto-body was a giant of at least ten meters. Its form was split into two: one side was that of a beautiful young man with skin and hair as white as milk while the other was of gnarled black bone lined with gold and fangs and spikes, with sharp ivory horns curled out from atop its head on both sides. It cried tears of blood from closed eyes, yet smiled with dark red lips. Robed in red silk with a white collar and adorned in gold baubles, it gave off the impression of nobility—but being in its mere presence was oppressive, heavy, bleak.
It opened its mouth, showing shimmering white teeth, and, grinning, said, "Welcome, young ones, to my expanding realm." Its voice was dissonant, as if two voices spoke as one. Black goo gushed from the bowls of the exposed basement—fleshy, moist, shimmering. It seemed to undulate. "I advise you join me, join the family, join Emily."
As if on cue, Jamie immediately raised her arm and shot a beam of magical energy at the ever-growing flesh, searing it. "Bite me," she yelled and then, "Oliver, you there? Now's the time!"
"What are you doing?" Guinness said, his eyes wide and brow sweaty. He was about to grab Jamie's arm but out of the corner of his eye he saw Oliver come out from behind a shed a little ways away. He saw the young man bolt for the hole Jamie seared into Amon's flesh and shouted, "Oliver, stop! You don't know what you're doing!"
A loud crack echoed through the area as Fabian, watching from afar, managed to shoot Oliver through the calf, causing him to tumble. Nonetheless, the office worker clamored to his feet again and ran the rest of the way, diving into the hole.
Guinness turned to Jamie and said, "What have you done?"