Travelers and Jumpers

Chapter 6:

Warning Shots

By the time I had woken up, I was acutely aware of several things. For one, it was probably around noon when my eyes had decided to rebel against the rest of my mind, and crack open. For another...my jacket and staff were gone.

That, in itself, was enough to jolt me to full awareness. Not only did my jacket have some of the only magical equipment I could scrounge up from my office, but it also had my wallet, my gun, and my freakin’ ID card! It was undoubtedly childish, but I actually felt a surge of anger at all of that. Not because of my lack of defenses, but...well, it’s my stuff. And I don’t appreciate thieves.

The man stole your tools. Your protection. He does not trust you, and will not trust you. Take up the fire; burn him until his very soul begins to blaze with-

“Shut up Nero,” I growled, my patience virtually gone at this point. “If you’re going to try something this damn obvious, you may as well do it to my face.”

Something alien and just plain wrong brushed against my consciousness for just a moment, and brought itself to the front of my mind, making itself very clear and known. A dull throb beat its way through my head, as I observed the shadows of my sprawled legs cast by the sun start to grow, and crawl up onto the walls in front of me. Impossibly, it became darker, even thicker, until it felt more akin to a living presence than a mere shadow.

Eventually, the shadow loomed over me, and two blazing red eyes formed near the top of it, along with the silhouette of two long, curving horns.

To be honest, he looked almost exactly like one of does devil shadows you’d see in an old cartoon, where some evil entity is lurking in the shadows, waiting to strike at the hero. Hell, his face was something that a kid would carve into a pumpkin on Halloween.

And I was terrified of him.

The face seemed to smile, and it leered at me in its own sense of triumph. “Hello, dear Traveler. I was wondering when you’d call on me.”

“This isn’t a call,” I told it in as firm a voice as I could manage. “This is a cell check. Making sure you’re not enjoying yourself while you tear it up inside my head.”

He scoffed in casual disregard to my feeble attempts at humor. “Please. What is it you really want from me?”

I hauled myself off of the floor, and made myself look at the shadow square in his eyes. “I want you to stop messing around in my head. You have no control over me.There’s no point for you to-”

Without warning, my left arm suddenly seized up, and started jerking about violently, wreathed in a mass of heatless crimson flames.

I desperately tried to stop it with my other arm, and looked up to see the shadow silently heaving in laughter at the sight of me.

“You share a common trait with all mortal wizards, youngling,”  he practically cackled. “Just as the rest of your kine is, you too are arrogant.”

“Yeah? Then how come you’re the crazy demon that got itself stuck in my head?” I shot back at it.

“I will give you credit; No mortal has managed to sustain my presence for this long. Three years of my whispers, my advice, my words of wisdom...and you have yet to listen to a single thing I’ve said,” he mused, watching as I struggled against him. “Even the Emperor of the mightiest land did not last as long as you did.”

“I never got to watch those After-school programs as a kid,” I replied, gritting my teeth a little. “You know, the ones that tell you to share and all that good junk.”

“Ah, but why resist? Look at the fabled ruler of Rome! Once a simple artist, I led him to power, to greatness!” He sighed as if in remembered ecstasy, and moaned, “Oh, the power...the command...the pain...I loved it.”

“Qualis artifex pereo,” I snarled, barely managing to call the latin phrase to my head. “Weren’t those his last words?”

“And everyone thought he referred to himself,” he practically purred. “It was truly a delight to have brought him, and the rest of Rome for that matter, to his knees. Oh, I can only imagine what would have happened if I had a little more time. A nudge to his military, or perhaps another fire would have added just that little spark that I could have used!”

“You did well enough after.”

“I did, didn’t I? I was especially proud of Germany. Why, who knew so many lives could be caused over a petty treaty?” He laughed in fond remembrance. “That’s why you mortals amuse me. Your call for peace just leads to more bloodshed, and to more delicious, delicious suffering. How can you stand resisting that call for so long?”

The shadow relaxed slightly, and I made my move then. The flames around my arm died as suddenly as they had appeared, shocking Nero out of his laughter.

“That’s why you demons amuse me,” I smiled. “Once you get your evil monologue started, you’re focused only on that, and nothing else.”

I reached down with my now freed hand, and grasped the very shadow that connected Nero to myself, and started pulling him away from the wall.

“So here’s a friendly reminder. I know your limits,” I told him as I pulled him back into his prison. “I know you can’t do anything without striking a bargain first. I know that you can’t control me unless I let you. And I most certainly know that if you try a single thing to harm one of these ponies, or one of those other humans, I will NOT hesitate to lock you in the mental equivalent of a Construction site’s outhouse.”

Nero glared at me, his shadow now frozen on the floor. “Mortal arrogance!” he roared in anger.

I pulled him all the way into my mind again, and said, “Bite my arrogant mortal ass, chump.”

Fully trapped in my mind now, he started howling and screaming like a banshee, thrashing around the walls I had placed around him in an attempt to free himself once more. For a terrifying moment, he almost broke out again, was almost stronger than my will. I closed my eyes at that, and cleared my mind in an attempt to strengthen my focus.

When you’re matching your will with anyone, the key to success is a good focus. You need something that will help you stay on target, while distracting and weakening your opponent. It’s one of the most important factors in a battle of the minds, and is the only reason you will win. If something breaks through your focus, or distracts you, all of your defenses will come crumbling down, and you’ll be wide open to an array of mental attacks.

That’s why a lot of people use music or poetry to keep up a good defense. If it’s a good enough distraction, your subconscious will constantly maintain it for you, and allow you to focus on other matters. I’ve actually mastered this area of magical defense, thanks to the little freeloading demon in my head. And while any scrap of music will manage the job, I make sure that I use the most humiliating songs I can think of to remind him who’s in charge of my head.

In this case, I started playing the theme from DuckTales in my head at full volume, completely drowning out his screeches in favor of whimsical treasure hunting ducks.

So maybe he has a bit of truth in his “Arrogance” statement. Big whoop. The song worked either way, and I was able to drown him out entirely.

As soon as I was sure he had gone back to being dormant, I slumped against the wall, and let out a deep sigh of relief.

That had been way too close for comfort. Nero was getting harder to deal with, despite my constant defenses. To put this in perspective, picture Nero as a river, and my mind as a boulder. I have to constantly make sure that the boulder blocks the river every time it gets violent, and keep it up as it increases, or else River Nero will be freed.

And I’ll end up getting swept up with him in the process, and he’ll be calling the shots.

“Ivy,” I groaned, summoning her from the watch. “I need you to start researching ways to suppress demons while they’re in your head. Ol’ Nero is getting cranky in there.”

Ivy’s fireball-esque form floated out of the watch, and rested lightly on my shoulder, flickering in concern. “Traveler, I’m not certain you will be able to suppress him much longer. At best, I estimate you will have five months before he forces you to free him from his prison,” she said, worry in her voice.

“That’s why I’m having you search and reference your memory for something to help with that,” I grunted, brushing my hair out of my eyes. “Right now, I’ve got bigger fish to fry.”

I ignored the wave of nausea that came when I took a few steps forward, and managed to make my way to the front door of the library. A chill wind bit into my exposed skin, and I found myself wishing for a bit more protection from that than my ratty old Dark Side of the Moon album t-shirt and jeans.

Just before I took my first step out the door, I looked up to see the worried expression of Twilight Sparkle, standing next to me with a bowl of steaming hot oatmeal.

Oh. Did she hear and see all of that?

“Did you see all of that?” I wittily asked her.

She only nodded numbly in reply. I was pretty amazed that she didn’t faint, although the look on her face suggested she wanted to do just that. Still, Twilight had some real courage in her to be on her hooves. From the way the humans treated me like the plague, and how she didn’t exactly take well to some of my explanations of combat magic, I guessed that they didn’t have much exposure to violence.

So that left me with a bit of a moral quandary. Do I explain Nero to her? Or do I try to lie, and attempt to preserve her innocence? Normally, I’d try to lie. I could easily write Nero off as a manifestation of some form of magic that escaped because of pressure, or some bull like that. Twilight, though, seemed too smart to be fooled by that, though. Plus...she was the only one so far who’d shown me any kindness. I wouldn’t feel right if I lied to her.

Damn conscience. That thing had more control over me than the damn demon in my head.

I sighed once more, and rubbed at my face tiredly. “Alright. But please, don’t tell anyone else about this,” I asked her, failing to keep my nerves out of my voice. “This is one of those things that gets stronger with the knowledge of its existence.”

Twilight thought about it for a moment, and shook her head. “I can’t say if I will or won’t. If it’s something that will put my friends in danger, I’ll have to tell them. It really just depends on your story.”

“I guess that’s all I can ask for. Alright, I’ll give you the cliffsnotes version.” I pointed a finger at my head, and told her, “About four or five years ago, one of my Travels took me to Berlin, Germany, a place on Earth, in the year 1945. I was there to deal with some kind of reported necromatic activity. You know what that means?”

The unicorn shook her head.

“Someone was messing with the dead. So, naturally, they get yours truly as the guy who goes to check it out. I get there, and somehow get pointed to an old bunker. Turns out that some old fool of a sorcerer tried to bind the spirits of the fallen to his will,” I told her, going over to the chalkboard that was still sitting out from the night before. I drew a few diagrams of the bunker on there for added effect, along with some squiggly lines that were supposed to represent the spirits. “Unfortunately, the sorcerer botched it up, and accidentally called forth a fallen Demon.”

“Nero?” she asked.

“Bingo. Nero’s a special kind of demon. Completely powerless by himself, but if someone makes him a deal, he’s pretty much allowed to use whatever magic or reality bending powers he has to make that deal a reality. With his own twists, of course,” I grimly said.

“What do you mean?”

“He’s a tempter, a genie on steroids and dark magic. He makes you an offer you can’t refuse, and starts offering you all these little favors and points of advice,” I explained further, doodling on the board. “You keep accepting that, and finally, you realize he’s completely in control of you, and the power you got from him is now, by extension, his own. It’s how some of the world’s most feared dictators, villains, and killers got to be that way.”

“Nero...is that his real name?” Twilight hesitantly asked.

I shook my head, and chuckled. “No. Like I said, the fear that naturally comes with his real name actually gives him a bit more power. So I named him after the first guy he took over. Remind me to tell you about that piece of work later. Anyways, the sorcerer was possessed by Nero, right? I get to his lair, fight through his monsters, and find the bastard...right before he takes a gun, and points it to his head...”

I paused here, and wondered how she’d react to the next part. From the greenish expression on her face, I could guess that she already knew what had happened.

“Right...not a pretty way to go. So, I take him out, and Nero’s free to go to the next body...” I smiled a little darkly, and once more pointed at the center of my forehead. “That next body just so happens to be yours truly.”

We sat in silence at that statement, and I took the opportunity to scarf down the almost forgotten food that Twilight had brought me. It occurred to me after I had finished it that it could have been Twilight’s breakfast, but I didn’t really care at that point. The aftermath of dealing with that chimera, Nero, and Nero’s backstory had all but starved me. I think I was allowed at least one meal.

Besides. It had strawberries in it. How can I pass that up?

In any case, Twilight allowed me to finish my meal in relative peace. The moment I finished the bowl, and started on the toast, she asked me, “So how did you get out of there?”

“I pretended to join an army, and snuck out of there. They dumped the body, and I was able to get out of there. A year later, I found out about Nero,” I explained, munching on my toast. “We’ve hated each other ever since.”

“But...how have you been putting up with him?” Twilight asked, a mixed look of fear and respect on her face.

I shrugged noncommittally, and said, “Years of practice. You don’t go waving around as much power as wizards do without gettin’ used to the idea of temptation.”

“I see...I guess that makes sense,” she admitted carefully. “But what about that shadow thing he did?”

“That was just him being cranky,” I scoffed, hiding my nerves with a bit of false bravado. “What you saw me do was metaphorically smack him in the nose with a big stick.” I mimicked the action of using my staff to lightly tap her between the eyes. “He’s probably brooding in the back of my mind now.”

“Brooding?”

“Sulking, moaning, rattling his chains, trying to plot his eventual escape, that stuff,” I joked. At the look of alarm she gave me when I said eventual escape, I quickly added, “Even if he does escape, I’ve got a few contingency plans for him.”

“Like?”

Smart kid. She’s pressing for details.

“Namely I whack him with my staff, slap a pair of magician’s handcuffs on him, and saw him in half,” I told her, getting up from my spot on the floor. “Speaking of my staff...where is that?”

Twilight winced a little, but looked at me openly and honestly.

“Alex took it. Along with your jacket,” she told me.

I nodded, barely surprised at all. It made sense that Alex wouldn’t suddenly trust me after just one little fight with a monster. Besides, he wasn’t as blunt as Matt was. It would stand to reason that he’d wait for me to tire myself out before trying anything. And from the looks of things, he had dealt with wizards before. That’d explain why he took my equipment. But there was one mistake he had made. He wasn’t just dealing with a wizard.

He was dealing with me.

“Thank you, Twilight. I’ll go see if I can’t have a civilized discussion with him,” I said, walking back to the door.

“Wait!” I turned to see her standing there somewhat awkwardly. Taking a deep breath, she said, “I won’t tell anypony about Nero. Not unless they have to know. But you have to promise to keep him locked up, and warn us if he’s about to get loose.”

I let loose a breath I didn’t even know I had been holding, extraordinarily relieved. “I swear, on my power, that I will do just that. Now, if you excuse me...I’m gonna go get my stuff back.”

{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}

A few minutes of stumbling around, and earning more than one awkward stare from a passing pony, I managed to use a bare trace of magic to track down the rest of my gear, using a combination of dumb luck, and actual detective work.

...Alright, I can’t say that with a straight face. Look, the honesty of it was, I got lucky. I overheard one of the ponies talking about the new arrival (Guess who), and wondering if it (I am a he!) was going to be living with them. After a couple more vague guesses, I managed to wander down the road, until I came up to a worn and extremely fixed up home.

That fit the rumors I’d heard. Score one for the Traveler.

Now, that left the matter of my approach. Alex obviously had a clear reason to distrust me. Well, clear to him, at least. I was still a little confused on the issue...or that just might be the constant repetition of the DuckTales theme getting to me. Still, he seemed to be a well-respected member of the community, trusted, easily liked. I was confident that if I really wanted to, I could handle this entire situation with tact and diplomacy. Unfortunately, he had stolen my pistol, so I couldn’t use Diplomacy, and Tact was still in my house back on Earth.

So I’d just have to settle for dealing with this in my usual manner. One that might help me with the intimidation factor.

I waved my hand at the fallen leaves around me, and murmured, “Ventas Servitas.”

A small, steady swirl of wind gathered beneath me, slowly but surely picking up the leaves and twigs, and swirled them around me in what I hoped was a mystifying blur. Slowly, so as not to disturb the illusion, I approached Alex’s home, hidden within my cloak of leaves and dust, doing my best not to cough from the lack of clean air. When I was within twenty feet of his home, I forced the wind to carry the leaves away from me, forming the illusion of a sudden appearance.

That little gesture made me feel another wave of exhaustion, but I quickly brushed it aside. I’d used that spell too many times for the after effects to get to me for too long. What was important, though, was the sudden shifting of the curtain I saw out of the corner of my eye. Someone had seen that little disturbance.

Perfect.

I walked the rest of the distance to his front door as casually as I could, and rapped my knuckles on the door. Little pig, little pig, let me in.

Outloud, I called out in a falsely cheery voice, “Hey, Alex! It’s me, Travis! You know, the wizard? Listen, I think you accidentally took something of mine, and I just thought I’d stop by and grab it real quick. Ya mind bringing it out here?”

No answer. The curtain shifted again.

I shrugged in an over exaggerated way, and called out in that same annoyingly cheerful voice, “Alright, I guess I’ll just have to come in there and get it myself. Don’t worry, I’ll just wait out here until you bring it to me!”

With that, I sat down on his front porch, and idly started whistling to myself. To be honest, I didn’t trust myself to cleanly knock down the doors to his home and get my stuff back myself. I might have gotten distracted by my anger at the fact that he had taken my freaking personal belongings. If any of that anger accidentally fell into whatever spell I decided to use, it might change it from “Friendly” to “Kill With Fire”.  So, I settled for patience. He couldn’t get rid of me unless he came out to talk to me face to face, and I didn’t exactly have anywhere I could go.

In other words, we were stuck with each other until the other one yielded.

Where have I heard this one before?

And then, I did what is the most crucial part in the lives of all private investigators. Probably the most important thing for a magic user, or anyone for that matter. Something that everyone has to do, and yet they can never go along with it. We all hate doing it to some level, actually.

I waited.

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