Chapter 238: 230: A Plague of Phantoms: XIV
"So this is going to be your basic patrol route, flying around the border for the silver city and then patrolling the city in the four quadrants I showed you. With you flying it shouldn't take more than fifteen minutes to patrol the entire area though to make sure you're thorough take your time but no more than thirty minutes for each round of patrol." I explained as I sat down on top of Grimm-Guard's head.
"I understand Star Boss!" Grimm-Guard replied eagerly.
The two of us were currently flying a half a mile above the silver city. That high up I could easily show him the entire area I wanted him to patrol since I was putting him in charge of the silver city. With his new appearance flying looked a little different. Every couple body segments Grimm-Guard had wing covers that protected his wings, which were now made from a crystalline organic fiber, they were snapped open so Grimm-Guard could stretch his wings. Grimm-Guard no longer had to flap his wings in order to fly, instead he channeled attribueless mana into them and the wings generated a magnetic field that pushed against the magnetic field of earth and kept him afloat.
"That's good…" I replied to Grimm-Guard then looked over at the setting sun in the distance and let out a sigh. I promised Grandpa I'd be back at the apartment building by eight which was only a few hours away if the sun was setting.
"Everything okay, Star Boss?" Grimm-Guard asked. I smiled sadly and petted him on his head.
"Yeah…just dreading the party that everyone's going to throw me." I replied. Grimm-Guard chittered inquisitively as we flew in circles.
"But it's celebrating you. Why would you dread it?" Grimm-Guard asked. I groaned and fell back, stretching out on Grimm-Guard's back.
"The last time I celebrated my birthday my Grandmother was still alive. It was a small kooky little party that she'd thrown together with Grandpa. They were the only ones there. My mom and dad had to work and my brother was a piece of shit that joined the military and I hadn't seen him in a year." I said then chuckled as the memory flashed before my eyes. "Grandpa made me a lopsided cake and Grandma Lulu made Kolopu, a Tolapo dish that I loved. I was so happy…"
Grandma Lulu's soft smiled flashed in my mind, her eyes twinkling with happiness as she saw the goofy smile on my face. I'd been taught by society in the US to hate my birthday, to hate the fact I was born. I was a bane and a blight to everyone around me but they both loved me regardless.
"…I'm scared to tarnish the happiness of that memory by celebrating again…" I added as I stared up at the sky. The sun finally fading beyond the horizon and plunging the sky into darkness.
"But aren't you going against the wishes of your grandmother by not celebrating?" Grimm-Guard asked. I arched a brow and sat up.
"How do you figure?" I asked.
"Didn't your Grandmother want you to live along a happy life? To do everything you wanted to and live your life to the fullest?" Grimm-Guard asked.
"Yeah…she did…" I admitted as the memory of her last moments flashed before my eyes.
"Then obviously she wanted you to continue to be happy and to experience many more happy birthdays beyond the ones that you shared with her." Grimm-Guard said.
[I agree with pincer face.] Bone-lasher spoke up through the mental connection. I kept forgetting that my evo could hear everything I did thanks to that connection. [I've been with you the longest and I've seen all your memories. Your grandma was a warrior but also kind like you. Every memory of yours I've seen with her makes me believe that she would want you to be happy and to celebrate your birthday again.]
[Especially with everyone at Sho'lajah.] Alpa'nagia piped up as well.
[A large party, surrounded by people who care about you…sounds like something your grandma would wish for you.] Fours added.
[After everything you've done for others you should let somebody do something for you!] Jiggles exclaimed, forgetting about getting chewed out for yelling through the mental link earlier. I chose to ignore it this time.
[I already told my grandpa that I'd be there guys. You don't have to try and emotionally blackmail me.] I said over the link to everyone.
[You agreed to go Savior, you didn't agree to enjoy yourself.] Bellial said. I was about to refute him when Bone-lasher suddenly shared his vision with me.
My consciousness was pulled about two miles away to my apartment building. I could see inside every room just as Bone-lasher could. Inside the Kestrel's apartment I could see Jade rushing around the living room, hanging streamers and what looked like a sign around the room. Jade and my grandpa Seamus were inside the kitchen baking if I had to guess. Bo came bounding into the kitchen full of energy as he usually was and being chased by his father Nate.
I was then yanked a few blocks across the silver city again to see Jane, Iris, Louie, Haws, and Madilyn all walking towards the apartment building. Seemingly laughing and talking about something. Each of them carrying paper bags filled with unknown items.
[Not even two minutes after we left they all left Moldworks and told me they were going shopping for your party! They told me to keep it a secret!] Jiggles exclaimed happily.
[So naturally tusks for brains told all of us, my lord.] Empress said snidely. That earned a trumpet from Jiggled that thundered in my head.
[Jiggles….!] I grumbled the warning.
[Sorry Star Shaper…] Jiggles whimpered.
[The point is….!] Alpa'nagia piped up drawing focus. […everyone at your company wants to celebrate you. Not because you're their boss but because they care, because you showed time and time again that you care. They want to have a good time with you.]
[And after all the times they nearly died following you they could really use a party Boss.] Bone-lasher added earning a hiss from Alpa'nagia.
[Don't say that you imbecile!] Alpa'nagia hissed.
[What! Its true static breath!] Bone-lasher growled.
[Static breath! What does that even mean?] Alpa'nagia exclaimed.
[It means your breath is so nasty its shocking!] Bone-lasher barked.
[Oh so mature!] Alpa'nagia retorted.
[Well if anyone would know mature it'd be you leather face!] Bone-lasher retorted.
[General Bone-lasher! General Alpa'nagia! Compose yourselves!] Empress exclaimed. I threw my head back and laughed loudly.
[Gods above you two! Leave it to you guys to argue while trying to cheer me up...] I said as I started laughing so hard I rolled over on my side and held my stomach.
[At least he laughed…] Fours said.
I laughed for a few minutes until I finally calmed down. Once I did I sat up and patted Grimm-Guard on the head. I could feel all my evos watching me through our connection of all the evos inside my farm crystal.
[Thank you everyone…I think I can take your advice tonight.] I said then smiled. [I'm so fucking lucky I found all of you!]
***
I took a deep breath and let it out slowly as I stood on the stoop of the apartment building. I had been standing there for several minutes at this point. Thanks to Bone-lasher I knew that everyone at Sho'lajah was inside the Kestrel's apartment, at the door, and waiting for me to come through the apartment door. All of my evos were inside my farm crystal, watching, and sending warm feelings and wishes through my mental connection.
I grabbed the doorknob and turned it, pushing the door open. The lobby of the bulldkng had a simple layout, directly across from the door on the other side oof the room was the staircase that lead to the other floors. The Kestrel's apartment was to my right and directly across from them was the mailboxes for the apartments and the staircase leading to the basement. The moment I stepped into the lobby of the building the Kestrel's door swung wide open and everyone rushed out of the apartment.
"SURPRISE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" Everyone yelled.
I watched as everyone lined up in front of the stairs, Bo and KC carried a banner and stood in front of everyone that said "Happy Birthday Chase!' in bold red letters. Because KC was so small his side of the banner drooped a little but he didn't seem to care, he just looked happy to be helping. Iris, Jane, Angie, and Jade were all holding boxes wrapped in ribbon and gift bags with bows attached to them.
Everyone had bright beaming smiles and their eyes sparkled with joy and happiness. I felt my lips tugging into a smile, a genuine smile, that surprised me. I felt a warm feeling building in my chest as I looked at all the people in my life that came to celebrate me. My eyes finally landed on Grandpa Seamus who was holding Colossus in his arms and stroking the little porker's head. He too had a broad smile and a but of a glint in his eyes.
"Well don't just stand there Starlight like a right mad boobie, git yer arse over here!" He exclaimed. I laughed in spite of myself and walked over to everyone and was quickly swarmed by my friends.
"Case! Up!" KC exclaimed, dropping his side of the banner and holding his arms up to me so I could pick him up.
I smiled and picked him up, holding him on my hip. The little man beamed and started playing with my locks singing, 'Birftday, Birftday!', over and over again. I was then barraged with happy birthday wishes and hugs. All of which I was not used to, especially the sincerity I heard in their voices.
"Okay! Okay everyone, let the birthday boy breathe!" Iris exclaimed as she elbowed her way through everyone to stand in front of me. Jane walked over to the Kestrel's front door with Jade and the two of them motioned inside.
"Lets head inside everyone. We can't have the whole party outside." Jade announced. Everyone started guiding me inside the apartment.
As I stepped inside I was blown away by the decorations; while nothing more than simple paper streamers, festive table cloths, and balloons all hastily prepared and hung up it was obvious they wanted to make the apartment look nice. Once inside Louie and Haws led me over to the couch which had balloons stuck to the arm rest and sat me down in the center. I had placed KC in my lap and Bo rushed over and jumped on the couch next to me.
"Presents!" Bo exclaimed, throwing his fists up in the air. I chuckled as KC mimicked the gesture. Everyone surrounded me and suddenly produced similar gift bags and boxes to the ones that the girls, Jade, and Angie were holding earlier and formed a line with Jade at the front.
"Happy Birthday Chase!" She exclaimed with a soft smile and held out a box for me. I took the box and undid the bow, opened it and gasped when I saw what was inside then looked up at Jade. "I wanted to get you something that I knew you would use and I've been working on this for a few weeks in my spare time…I decided to get you the most American thing I could think of…"
"A revolver!" I exclaimed and picked it up out of the box.
On close inspection I realized the revolver one of any of the known variants I knew about, it was of a original design that to anyone that didn't work at Sho'lajah would think was incomplete. The revolver had three barrels that were about five inches long and stacked in a triangle shape to the frame of the gun. The cylinder was missing but I knew that was so I could create one made of crystal later and attach it. It had a beautiful black pearl handle with a grip that seemed to be molded to my hand and the most interesting thing was it has two triggers.
I had seen this on a couple of guns before it was a precursor to the fully automatic rifle, which is still ungodly expensive. It was called the double set trigger, the first trigger was pulled to fire one bullet from the top barrel and cycle to the next barrel, while if you pulled both triggers then all three would fire. There was a different variant of this for rifles but it was much more complex and hard to create, not that making a revolver with a double set trigger wasn't extremely difficult. Especially for someone with little or no experience.
"I've heard how well your mana-lock works from Sin, Bo, and others buy also heard of the slower firing rate. So I wanted to try and make something that could work around that. I came up with this…with a little input from Nate." Jade said. I gripped the gun tightly and held it close to my chest.
"I love it!" I exclaimed, fighting back tears. Jade reached out and wiped the tears that were forming in my eyes and smiled softly.
"None of that now. No one should cry on their birthday." Jade said in a comforting tone.
"This is the first birthday present from someone other than my grandma and grandpa I've ever gotten…" I said softly. Jade and everyone's eyes widened at that declaration and it was now Jade's turn to fight back tears.
"Well it definitely won't be the last." Jade said then stepped to the side so the next person could give me their present. Haws was up next.
"Here you go kiddo…shit I guess I can't call you that anymore since you're nineteen now and my boss…ah who care!" Haws said and handed me a gift bag.
Inside was a necklace made from animal teeth that had been coated in silver. I cocked my head to the side and held up the necklace obviously a little confused. Haws laughed at my expression and then smiled.
"Those teeth are from the thrad that took my arm…think. You risked a lot to same me, and lost even more that day. I kept those to remind myself that even though I lost my arm I still have my life thanks to you and well now I have my arm back with a few improvements. Also thanks to you.." Haws explained.
My expression was blank, I really didn't know how to react to the gift. While a grim reminder of the worst day of my life, it was from a different perspective. A life was lost but at the same time so many were protected, a reminder that not only my life was affected that day.
"Thank you Haws. I can probably turn this into a pretty sick enchanted item." I said plastering on a smile. Haws smiled and was promptly shooed to the side by Madilyn who had a significantly larger box than everyone else's.
"Yes, yes, happy memories and all that." Madilyn said dismissively then placed the box in Bo's lap since mine was being used by KC. "This is less of a birthday gift and more of a business expense."
"Well can you get your business expense off me!" Bo exclaimed and shoved the box back into Madilyn's hands. Madilyn rolled her eyes and placed the box on the ground and opened it for me.
There was a suit inside and a very expensive looking one at that. Madilyn pulled the suit jacket put of the box and held it out for me to look at. It suddenly dawned on me that I didn't actually own a suit. The best I had was a dress shirt and a pair of jeans.
"Judging from your daily outfit I guessed you didn't have any good clothes that could be used in a business setting, like Evo-cution. So I bought this, we'll have to have it tailored later." Madilyn said.
"You got him a suit?" Angie groaned and slapped her own forehead.
"It is a very practical business expense." Madilyn replied.
"It's his birthday!" Angie exclaimed.
"Suits are very common birthday presents back in the States." Madilyn retorted.
"Maybe for the rich We poor folk normally get fun stuff." Haws teased. Angie snickered and then pushed Madilyn out of our way. Making sure to push her box with the rest of the suit to the side.
"This is from me, KC, and Louie." Angie said and handed me a gift bag.
"Gift! Gift!" KC exclaimed and grabbed my forearms. I smiled and opened the bag and pulled out a polished rock and sling shot.
"The rock is from KC and the sling shot is from us." Angie said before I could question why.
"I found outside!" KC exclaimed as he looked up at me and pointed to the rock.
"Aww! Thank you Lil' Chaser!" I thanked him and gave KC a big hug. When I looked back to Louie and Angie they both had a soft smile. "Thanks you two."
"You're welcome. We would have got you something else but we wanted to keep in theme with KC's gift." Louie said.
"Also we had like six hours." Angie added.
"I love it! Really. I always wanted a sling shot. Especially when I was younger but it wasn't safe for me. You know that whole law about splicers and weapons…" I reassured them. Both parents smiled in relief then frowned.
"That law was bullshit though. It's a toy! Not a weapon!" Louie grumbled.
A knock suddenly came from the front door and everyone turned around. Nobody had closed the front door to the apartment so the door was wide open, and standing in the center of the doorway was Baset, Desmond, Astrid, and Chad. I arched a brow when I saw all of them.
"We're not too late are we?" Baset asked as she stepped into the apartment. Jade walked over and waved everyone inside.
"Not at all!" She exclaimed.
"Wait! You guys came?" I asked, astonished. Baset chuckled and walked over to me, stepping around the others who'd surrounded me.
"Of course we did. You didn't think I'd miss my top student birthday, did you?" She replied then flicked me on the nose. I frowned and narrowed my eyes at her.
"How did you even find out about the party? All of them decoded about it at Sho'lajah." I asked.
"That'd be my fault Starlight. I had yer dean tell yer teacher about the party while he was walking be to yer mana train." Grandpa Seamus spoke up.
"That doesn't explain why those two are here." I said pointing to Astrid and Damon. They both looked offended.
"Well that's a fine way to thank someone for showing up to your birthday party!" Astrid exclaimed and crossed her arms.
"It's not like I wanted to be here! Astrid made me come!" Damon grumbled and shot her a evil look, however the one that Astrid shot him was a lot more menacing and made the temperamental Frenchman flinch.
"I did no such thing Damon. You were the one that practically begged me to go with you because you were so certain that Chase would boot you out if you came alone." Astrid said. Damon starred to blush and coughed conspicuously, looking away from everyone else in the room.
"Well I only wanted to coke because my father decided it would be best if I was on friendly terms with Kingston…." Damon muttered. Bo groaned and looked up at me.
"He does realize that he just admitted that he's only here to suck up to you, right?" Bo asked.
"Give him time. Damon is a little touched in the head." I said. Damon growled and stomped his foot.
"Stop with the insults Kingston!" He demanded.
"Stop with the temper tantrums, DeCharles." I teased.
"Oh for the love of the gods don't you two start!" Jane, Iris, and Astrid all snapped at the two of us. I smirked and then waved my classmates over.
"Come on in you two. The more the merrier." I said. They both obliged and walked over to the group. They looked at several of my friends and employees, as if wondering how I knew them.
"Okay, now that that's out of the way, my turn to give Chase my present!"
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Hutexa_The_Djinn
Hutexa_The_Djinn World Fact: While it is typically taboo for a splicer to fight using any sort of firearm there is a small club of splicers that prefer to use guns over magic. This club is small and has members from all over the world. Membership into this club is via invitation and only on the recommendation on another member. Members of this club are among the best marksman in the world and avid collectors of rare and unusual guns.
Currently the club is consumed with rumors of guns that fire magic bullets that are far more powerful than heavy artillery. Those guns are in fact Chase's magi-tech guns: The mana-lock. Their information about the guns are spotty due to the fact that nearly anyone that sees Chase use the weapons ends up dead.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone