RoR 2 -CH1-

One

Letting his hand fall to his side after knocking on the door, Warner wasn’t quite sure what to expect. Being invited out to dinner was one thing, being invited to someone’s home for dinner was something altogether different.

Given that Daria had seen no futures of Jenny up to this point, it had set their group into a bit of a mad dash to learn what they could.

Madison the Troll mostly kept Maya company while Bodil, Aelia, Daria, and Warner had combed the internet, called people, and used abilities.

Not a hint, whisper, or tinge. Neither fate, future, nor wyrd revealed itself to either of them pushing on this.

This was all compounded by the fact that Daria still hadn’t seen Jenny in any of their futures. That she could see nothing of the woman in any way shape or form.

At least that was true until this morning, seven days after the invitation had been sent.

With a clack, the door unlocked and swung inward.

Standing in the doorway was Jenny. A local news-reporter who had apparently figured out who he was.

Though not only that, but had taken an active role in trying to help preserve his identity. Having apparently deleted some footage of him being where he shouldn’t be.

Even going so far as to look into Aelia, his armorer and personal illegal gunrunner, and offering a reminder to check what was publicly available on her.

Her short black hair was hanging freely around her, making a lovely dark frame around her face. Her eyes were a very vibrant brown color and looked quite appealing.

She was dressed in street clothes that weren’t completely unappealing, but nor were they flattering to her. Not what she would likely wear every day at work or around those who expected her to be “on” regardless of location.

If he had to label it, he’d call it “comfortable”.

“Good evening, Warner. I was rather surprised at how quickly you’d responded,” Jenny said, putting her hands behind her back and giving him a wide smile.

“We were watching your piece as you did it,” Warner admitted with a chuckle.

“Oh? Warner James, are you perhaps tuning in just to see me?” asked the reporter, her head slowly tilting to one side as she watched him.

Daria had warned him about this privately in the bedroom when he woke up. She’d finally seen what futures lay in way for them with Jenny now that the dinner-date had arrived.

Quite a bit had changed overnight she’d found. A great deal that had shaken up the futures they had in front of them, but only in one particular way.

That he had to be extremely careful or he’d end up drawing Jenny into their harem as a member. If she did join, they’d lose Bodil in the future. Their personalities, or maybe just who they were as people, would grate on one another. Bodil would leave before Jenny would

The group as a whole would gain little through her addition. Jenny was a nice enough woman, intelligent and bright, but not as useful as Bodil was.

And that was the last thing Warner personally wanted.

If he was being completely honest with himself, he was far more attracted to Bodil, then Jenny.

Ugly thought or not, there it is.

Other than that his week had mostly been spent trying to get rid of Madison. Leading up to a conclusion on that front he hadn’t expected in the least.

That he hadn’t just failed spectacularly to dislodge the Troll and get rid of her, but he’d been betrayed from the inside by his own people.

Using his efforts against him without his knowing.

Both Daria and Aelia had worked against him.

They’d acted deliberately in concert to counter his efforts and draw Madison ever closer. Deeper into the harem with every push he made, they pulled at her harder and harder.

The Troll all the while being more than happy to join and become one of them. Finding the prospect of being in a group of people who wanted her so badly that they would countermand Yellow-Eyes himself.

The entire effort had been fully planned out by those two. Though Bodil had mostly ignored it and let it run it’s course.

“Maya likes to watch your station,” Warner admitted with a shrug of his shoulders. “You carry all the Yellow Eyes news. She’s interested in it. Very interested.”

That… should be a confirmation of sorts, right? She can leave it at that.

Jenny laughed and then nodded her head. Stepping to one side she gestured into her home.

“Please, do come in. I’d love to have a chat with you. Off the record, of course,” Jenny said.

Halting a sigh as it started, Warner forced himself into her home.

“Just head down the hall and turn right. I already have dinner ready and set up. It’s very not-fancy, and very not-exceptional. This is just what I normally eat by myself,” explained Jenny after closing the door. He could hear her directly behind him as he went along. “I figured it’d be easier this way while we talked about what you’ve been up to.”

With a nod of his head Warner entered the dining room as he’d been told to do.

A table with two plates was there along with pre-filled glasses of water. Between the two looked like a baked chicken, mashed potatoes, and green-beans.

“And before you think I did anything extra, I really didn’t,” Jenny proclaimed. “You just season the chicken and dump it in the oven. Mashed potatoes are just as easy and green-beans from the can taste better to me. Fresh ones are just… not right.”

Pushing his thoughts around, far more than he normally would, Warner focused in on what he’d been told.

Don’t discuss anything outside of the facts.

Keep the conversation mundane.

Don’t comment on the dinner.

Don’t comment on her clothes.

Don’t comment on her pieces.

Don’t compliment her at all.

Anything positive at all, runs the risk of pulling her in.

And I don’t want that.

If I have to choose, I choose… I choose Bodil, not Jenny.

Get in, talk about Yellow-Eyes, hear her, get out.

Repeating the commands of Daria in his head Warner was determined to not screw this up. He’d had a very long talk with Daria about Bodil and she’d confirmed all he’d suspected.

All those one way conversations they’d had between Daria and Bodil were often about where she was likely to end up with Warner.

“So what can I do for you, Jenny?” Warner asked, moving over to what he assumed would be his own seat.

“Well! If I’m being honest here it isn’t about what you can do for me,” Jenny admitted, gesturing to the seat he was standing next to. “It’s what I can do for you.”

Smiling, Warner took the seat and wondered how she’d like to proceed with this.

“I’m really good at digging through things,” said Jenny, not jumping to her point directly. He got the impression she was going to work around it. Build up to what she wanted from him.

Without a word from him, Jenny picked up a plate and served it full of of everything that was on the table. Then she set it down in front of him.

“I know for a fact that you have a young woman living with you by the name of Tarja,” continued Jenny working at filling her own plate now. “Though her alias of Daria has far more paperwork than her real name. In addition to Daria though, a second woman by the name of Bodil lives with you. She doesn’t have a record or anything that I could dig up. That isn’t that surprising except her grandfather has a record. Accused several times of murder but never convicted. Attempted murder in six cases, never convicted.”

Warner didn’t know that. Raising his eyebrows he waited for her to continue.

Bodil’s grandfather had nothing to do with her.

“The most recent addition is a young woman I… can’t find anything on yet,” murmured Jenny with a shrug. Then she laughed. “But given Aelia and what she’s about, I imagine I’ll find new information on this new girl relatively soon.”

“That’ll probably be tomorrow. It’ll all show up roughly at the same time. Moving it too quickly would have been worse than having no paperwork at all she said,” offered Warner. “At least, that’s what Aelia said and I trust her.”

He did, too.

His Poltergeist armorer and lover had thrown in completely with him.

“Oh?” Jenny asked curiously, watching him as she started in on her dinner.

“Yeah. Troll, female, born local, offense as a minor, sealed record,” Warner supplied.

“Troll,” repeated Jenny, the fork with chicken on it slowly descending back to her plate. “Hm. Tell me about all this? How it all started? You putting on the mask of Yellow-Eyes.”

Letting out a slow breath, Warner leaned his head back and stared up at Jenny’s roof.

How it all started.

“Maya was hit by a car as you know. Pattin,” Warner murmured, moving his thoughts backward.

“Yes. And… this all started with that?” she prompted, not giving him any time to sort his thoughts out.

“Somewhat. Realistically it started when I shot some punk in the head when he tried to car jack me,” Warner admitted, looking to Jenny. Before looking back upward. “He reeked of injustice. There was no way I could let him live.”

The feelings of rightness with his actions were stirring. Once more the sublime feeling of balancing the scales was echoing through his mind.

“Ah…? I had no idea,” said Jenny, her fork now resting on the plate entirely.

“After him… I didn’t really do much. Kind of let it lie for a time,” Warner mused aloud, his focus still on the ceiling. “Ended up killing my neighbor across the street. Was a Werewolf. I let the other one live. The Werewolf reeked of intentions most foul.”

The upwelling of joy was rising higher in him as he spoke of his victories.

A call to battle having been made and satisfied with blood of the wicked. Warner had challenged a Werewolf and won in melee combat.

Glancing to his dinner-host he found she was watching him.

Watching him with an unrepentant stare. Jenny said nothing, her eyes locked to his face.

“That was probably the first time that I really felt it. What I really was,” remarked Warner. “After that I saved Daria from a foul spirit of malevolence.

“It was Daria who made me aware of the fact that I had to go for Jim Goff next with her precognition. And so I made the choice to eliminate the DA. When Daria said that if I didn’t take of him then, it was unlikely that I’d be able to get him in the future, I believed her.

“My faith in her was truly rewarded when I addressed the evil that he was. In truth, he wasn’t even human”

Warner sighed and shook his head.

“Alas, I still don’t know what he exactly was. It wasn’t inherently evil, but I was under the impression it was easier to fall from grace as such a being. Jim changed into something else just before I shot him and thus revealed himself to me. The amount of injustice roiling off this man was… considerable. His scales needed to be righted firmly. Immediately and without any delay.”

Nodding his head at his own words, Warner made a chopping motion with his hand.

“Once that threat was eliminated I began more regular patrols through the city,” continued Warner, his eyes moving throughout the room as he spoke. “I freed a trapped young woman from a prison of grief, having died at the hands of a manticore.”

Speaking of Tammy reminded him that he needed to go check on her to see if she’d met her final rest. He’d promised her he would.

“I… a manticore,” repeated Jenny.

“Indeed! It was a most ferocious creature. It was the museum assistant. The serial killer,” said Warner with a heavy sigh. “He fooled me with his disguise. I thought almost nothing of him until it was before my very face.

“And thank you for taking care of the evidence I left behind. Very astute and forthright of you. I’m sure it did shift your scales accordingly.”

“Of-of course, Warner that-it was nothing,” mumbled Jenny.

“I did kill the manticore. His eye-teeth rest in my basement. I am contemplating what to do with them. Aelia assures me she could probably sell them into the market. Apparently a witch would do a number of things with them.

“I’m not sure. They’re my trophies after all. They must be displayed and recognized.”

Looking to Jenny, Warner stared at her.

During his discussion of the manticore he’d felt the extreme elation of delivering his foe to justice with his own hands. To the point that he felt quite light.

As if he weighed nothing at all.

Slowly, the reporter nodded her head.

“Mm,” Warner said, feeling better that she agreed. He’d already been hounded by Bodil about the teeth several times. She apparently wanted to carve them into runes. That felt like a waste to him. “From there, I took down Pattin himself at the game. He was apparently a similar creature to Goff. I do believe that was why the two malevolent scum assisted one another. They were in cahoots and planning things most foul.

“And that is where I met the Troll. I conquered her and lashed her to my will. She will serve me until she has paid her penance. Then she must decide what to do with herself.”

“I… this… its-”

Jenny’s voice faded away into nothing. Her eyes trailing along to the left and right from Warner.

Following her gaze he found his golden wings were extended outward from each side of himself. They were stretched wide, glowing, and still.

He was ready to fight. To do battle with anything that might rear it’s head and challenge the status-quo that was the world. That all things must face justice in one form or another, and Warner would be the one to mete it out.

“Ah-ha. Yes, do forgive me,” Warner said, looking back to Jenny. “I’m afraid that when I recount my battles I can sink too far into the mood of it. To nearly relive the feeling of settling scores and placing people to rights.

“It’s quite a heady feeling, you realize.”

Shaking her head slowly, Jenny released her fork and then held her hands up to her face. Pressing her fingers to her cheeks she looked like someone who had no idea what to do.

“Werewolves? Manticores? Trolls? Warner… what… what are you talking about?” Jenny asked, her face looking incredibly pale. “And… you have wings. Why do you have wings? Your eyes are actually glowing. It… isn’t a mask or just digital effects?”

Opening his mouth Warner wasn’t quite sure what to say.

He’d gone and barged right through the whole thing under the assumption that Jenny was aware of the real world at large. That she was aware that everything that went bump in the night was actually real.

Letting out a slow breath, Warner’s mind brought up one of the points Daria had made.

Don’t discuss anything outside of the facts.

Keep them mundane.

And by keep them mundane, she meant don’t discuss the paranormal world. But she phrased it the way she did to try and keep me from changing the future.

But it seems I’ve somehow gone and messed that up.

He felt it when his powers receded back into himself. To the point that he was no different than any other human out there.

That he wasn’t “angelic” as Bodil had called him.

“Because it’s all real, Jenny,” murmured Warner. “Everything is real. Vampires, Werewolves, Trolls, ghosts, necromancers. I had no idea that it was real either, by the way. Not until the incident with Maya.

“I had to learn quickly after I killed the Werewolf. That and saved Daria. And met Bodil.”

Shaking her head back and forth slowly, Jenny clearly didn’t know what to say or do.

Closing his eyes, Warner turned his head away and took in an ugly short breath.

Then let it out in a quick blast.

“Well! Sounds like maybe I’ll be answering more questions than I expected,” Warner said and then scooped up a fork-full of mashed potatoes. Sticking them in his mouth he started to chew them up.

It was actually rather tasty. More so than he expected it to be given he was fairly certain they were something that came out of a box.

Reigning in his desire to give her a compliment, he instead swallowed and gave her a patient smile.

“So, Jenny. Before I begin, what was it you wanted to offer?” Warner asked.

“Uhm. That… uh… I can help you get more information on people. Figure out what’s going on, “Jenny said, her hands slowly coming down from her face. “Maybe help you pick out targets for you to… to… judge.”

“I do not judge them, Jenny. I settle their scales. Judgement is done in the afterlife by the judge, that is not my bailiwick,” Warner corrected. He wasn’t about to let her get this wrong at the start. “My forte, my specialization, is in meting out justice. To chastise the foul until they’ve been cleansed of their wrong doing.”

“Cha-chastise them. I see. Okay. And… okay,” repeated the reporter. “I can help keep you out of the news as well. Or at least, out of the news in the ways you don’t want to be known for. Probably help you figure out what’s going on with that investigation that the cops have ongoing for Yellow-Eyes.”

Nodding his head at that, Warner did indeed want that information in particular.

It would be quite helpful for him to know, what they knew. He could work with that and plan accordingly.

“We’re in accord,” Warner declared, still feeling his power coursing through himself. “Now… questions for you to ask me. Let’s begin.”