Gleam - Chapter 161 (Patreon)

Fortunately, even though Chance didn’t recognize the area, Jade turned out to live quite close to Shikari Lane and they didn’t have to use the Old City to navigate over to the Whiteheart House. He didn’t fancy having to figure out how to explain Ocie to Jade quite yet. They arrived after just a few minutes of walking and headed inside.

“Pete?” Chance called as he pushed the door open and took a step inside. “We’re back!”

There was no response. Yeo squeezed past him and padded over to the counter, swiping a piece of paper off it and raising it to the light flowing in from outside. He lowered it a second later. “He’s off on a job. Paying off debt.”

“Again?” Bella asked with a wince. “I swear he just doesn’t know how to turn on his Ward. This happens literally every time.”

“What does?” Jade asked hesitantly. She glanced around the inside of the house uncomfortably as the rest of them piled inside, making no move to step through the doorway.

“Pete — that’s our mentor, by the way — tends to destroy portions of the city every time he’s on a job,” Yeo said with a laugh. He slid the paper back onto the counter and returned to the doorway to give Jade’s arm a yank and pull her through the door.

Jade glared at him. “What’s your problem? I don’t need help walking inside a building.”

“It certainly looked otherwise,” Yeo replied with a chuckle. He closed the door with the tip of his foot. “And you were letting flies in. They might have been following you. You really need that shower.”

Jade’s eye twitched. She raised a hand, probably to sock Yeo in the arm, then hesitated as she sniffed the air and grimaced. “Oh, god. That’s not good.”

“Come on,” Bella said. “You can use my shower. Chance, keep Yeo from pissing on any rugs while we’re gone.”

“Hey! I’m not a dog,” Yeo protested. “Never once have I pissed on a rug. Now, I have eaten a few shoes, but they had it coming.”

“You ate — why?” Jade asked, baffled.

Bella grabbed the other girl by the arm. “Come on. You’re welcome to pry him with all the questions you want to later. Maybe you’ll keep him distracted for long enough to let the rest of us regain some of our sanity.”

She dragged Jade off. Yeo snickered and the sound of their footsteps heading up the stairs echoed through the house until the two reached the second floor. There were a few seconds of silence. Then Wren cleared his throat.

“Did you actually eat someone’s shoes?”

“No,” Yeo replied without a hint of shame. “But I can’t say I haven’t considered it, if only to see the looks on people’s faces.”

“That sentence tells me much about you. Your humor is as unpredictable as your fighting style.”

“That was a compliment, right?” Yeo asked as he tugged his shoes off and flopped down on the couch, stretching his arms over his head and yawning. “I’m going to take it as one.”

“Is there anything you don’t take as a compliment?” Chance asked.

Yeo grinned. He held his hands before him in two L-shapes, making an imaginary picture frame and twisting it. “Not much. It’s all about attitude. Loosening up never hurt anyone. There’s enough seriousness in life as it is. Don’t need to make it worse, you know?”

“I’d agree with you more if half of the attitude you were talking about wasn’t just prodding Bella. I’d swear you two were siblings if I didn’t know better,” Chance said with a shake of his head. He sat down in one of the plush chairs across from the couch and Wren claimed the other.

Yeo observed Chance for a moment, his smile faltering slightly as his features flattened slightly. “That would have been nice. Much better than the lot I got dealt with, and that’s saying a lot. She was a real stick in the mud just a few months ago. You’ve just got a way of pulling people out of their shells.”

“Perhaps Chance has pulled you too far, yes?” Wren asked, the corner of his mouth curling upward.

“Hah! As if I could be influenced. I’m far too cool for that.”

Chance and Wren both stared at Yeo. The dark-haired boy cleared his throat and scratched at the back of his neck.

“Too much?”

“A bit,” Chance said, holding two fingers close together. “Not that I’m saying you aren’t cool or anything. You might just be laying it on a tad too thick.”

“Noted,” Yeo said.

They all fell silent for a few seconds. Then Wren leaned forward and braced his elbows against his knees. “So, Jade has hopefully been recruited. I trust Bella will bring her up to speed on the situation while they are in the bathroom. Who else do we need to recruit? Do you have more trusted contacts in the city?”

It was Chance’s turn to clear his throat awkwardly. They weren’t exactly swimming in allies. He hadn’t even been entirely sure that Jade would be willing to help them. Aside from her and Wren, they hadn’t had any extended contact with Shikari other than Pete that Chance was willing to trust with his life.

I suppose I could try to use Karma to find someone worthwhile. I’m a little hesitant to let the universe guide me right now, though. I did just kind of poke it in the eye. Might be better to stick to the things I can control a little closer for the time being.

“Aside from Ocie and our mentor, we’re kind of out of allies,” Chance admitted through a sigh.

“Ocie?” Wren tilted his head to the side. “Ocie… the Old City? You referred to the pathways we walked through as such. It is a person?”

“Something like that. You’ll probably meet her soon,” Chance said. “She’s still resting up. I need to get her some food pretty soon, but I haven’t had a good opportunity to do it. Her diet is a little expensive.”

“Ah, yes. My master told me of such things.” Wren gave Chance a sage nod. “Your love cannot be shown through wealth alone. She may be a woman worthy of great respect, but she will appreciate your handmade cooking far more than any expensive restaurant dish. I must say, attempting to woo two women at once is a bold move. I had not expected it of you, but I wish you luck. Such a feat would be beyond my own powers.”

Chance choked on his own saliva and Yeo doubled over cackling.

 “I’m not dating Ocie, Wren. And I definitely wouldn’t let Bella hear you insinuate otherwise,” Chance managed through a coughing fit. “And her tastes aren’t just expensive. She eats artifacts.”

Wren squinted at him. “She… eats artifacts? I fear you may have found a gold digger, my friend. Women do not eat artifacts. They eat food, just like us. I know it may seem difficult to believe given their grace and beauty, but I can assure you that they eat the very same meals that you and I do.”

Chance paused. Then his eyes narrowed. There was a miniscule grin on Wren’s face. “You’re screwing with me, aren’t you?”

“Me? I would never,” Wren said, pressing a hand to his chest with an affronted look. His act was betrayed by the twinkle of amusement in his expression. He finally let out a snicker and let his hand drop. “Though I have never been one to turn down an easy target.”

“Damn. You even had me going,” Yeo said with an approving grin. “You’re good.”

“The key is to know when to do it,” Wren said, tapping the side of his head with a finger. “Now, we return to the topic at hand. What other allies can we get? The scale of our challenge may still exceed our abilities.”

Chance shook his head and blew out a small sigh. “When we came back to Gleam, I was fully expecting to just relax and cultivate for a while. Our reputation is still in shambles. The Shikari could be corrupted from within. Wandering around randomly finding people might work with my Essence, but the universe and I aren’t exactly on speaking terms at the moment. We should probably save that as a last-ditch resort.”    

“I see,” Wren said with a thoughtful nod.

All of them fell silent in contemplation. Even Yeo’s features were serious for once. Minutes ticked by before anyone spoke again, but Wren finally broke the silence.  

“This Ocie you mentioned. Is she powerful?”

“Very,” Chance said with a nod. “Especially within Gleam.”

“Then, if we have no more logical leads to get allies, perhaps we should prioritize getting her those artifacts she needs,” Wren mused. “It is generally wise to avoid building a group too quickly. We must learn to fight together. Perhaps starting with a smaller team is advisable, and we should simply just improve our own strength rather than trying to get a horde of allies.”

“I’ve always been one for small teams. They feel cooler. Not as cool as doing everything on your own, but a small team means I’ve got people to show up and gawk at me after I defeat all our opponents on my own,” Yeo said. He cleared his throat. “So, Ocie. How many artifacts does she need?”

“I’m not sure. A lot. The more, the better.”

“That’s a tall order. Where would we get a bunch of artifacts? I don’t suppose Bella or Jade are just sitting on a stockpile that’s burning a hole in their pockets? I sure know Pete isn’t. He’d have sold them already.”

“Unfortunately not. I’d buy myself a better house if I did,” Jade said.

The three boys turned as she stepped down from the stairs and headed into the main room. She headed over to the couch and flopped down on the other side from Yeo. Bella emerged a few moments later and made her way over toward Chance.

He made to rise and vacate the chair for her, but she just rolled her eyes and sat in his lap, pushing him back into the chair. Chace let out a surprised grunt, then quickly decided he had no interest in complaining.

“You know, a lesser person might get jealous,” Jade said, sending a glance in their direction. “You don’t have to rub it in.”

“Isn’t that half the point?” Bella asked with a wry grin.

“I, for one, am not jealous,” Wren supplied. “I have my polearm.”

“That makes absolutely no sense,” Jade said. “But I don’t think I actually want to know the explanation.

“I’d be jealous if it wasn’t Bella. She scares me,” Yeo said. “And with all due respect to Chance, I’d rather have someone with a little bite. Imagine getting into an argument with him. You’d just feel bad.”

Jade grimaced. “That’s a good point.”

“Perhaps we can get back on topic?” Chance asked meekly.

“That’s a good idea,” Yeo said. He thrust a finger in Jade’s direction. “You were eavesdropping in on our conversation.”

“It’s not eavesdropping when you’re speaking loud enough for the whole house to hear,” Bella said, resting her head against Chance’s. “I told Jade what’s going on, by the way. She’s in.”

“That’s a relief. This was starting to turn into a sausage party.”

“Your power will be greatly appreciated, Jade.” Wren inclined his head. “Do you have any allies that we may recruit?”

“No.”

“Great,” Wren said without missing a beat. “To the artifact idea, then.”

“You’re skipping over the part where we don’t have any way to actually get those artifacts,” Bella said. “Growing our own strength is a good idea, but unless you’ve—”

“I do.”

They all turned to look at Wren.

“What?” Yeo asked. “You’ve had artifacts we could use this whole time?”

“No. I don’t have any artifacts,” Wren replied, a small grin crossing over his lips. “But I know where to get them.”