2.3 Initiative 3

"If it's in two years...there's not much time."

This was from Diane. She didn't seem as shocked as I was at hearing the news that the apocalypse was coming. Then I remembered that the young woman in front of me was attending University, with a Major in Trandsdimensional Magic Studies. 

She gave me a small smile when she noticed me looking.

"I'm assisting one of my professors in studying the abnormalities around the recent Breaches. They haven't only been increasing in number, but also size. And they're no longer confined to Fault Areas,  or the borders or Wildlands either. Major City States should still be safe...but if a Wane is the cause of these abnormalities, then..."

"Then nowhere in the three worlds will be safe," Dad finished for her. 

"When are they planning to go public with this?"

"Next week. They plan to give an official statement at the end of the TriWorld Summit." Harry glanced at Dad. "I'm only telling you about this Greg, because you were asking about the rogue Anomaly that attacked Alisa. I poked around and...well, I found out that there was a new Breach in the area. They sent out an elite team to handle it discreetly, but it was outside of their expectations. That particular Anomaly slipped out of the cordon and happened to run into Alisa."

My father's face darkened. "Elite, you say. How can you call them elite if they can't even handle--"

"It was evaluated to be at Rank A-3. At first it was classified as a Breach, but the Anomalies came out almost immediately. They estimated a pack of 40 manticore-type Anomalies at maybe Rank B power." Harry paused, looking sombre. "We sent out a party of five Rank A and one Rank S Anomaly Guards. One was critically injured. Backup arrived,  but one slipped past."

"Forty manticores? And they only missed one. I'd call that fortunate." Madam Josefa gave Dad a warning look, telling him to cool his temper.

"But things will only get worse. Your Guards need to get stronger."

"And that's why we're asking you to come in as a trainer, Madam. A Wane is coming. We need all the help we can get." Harry pleaded to his old mentor. 

Madam Josefa regarded them solemnly.

"No."

This was a very serious matter. Definitely not something that should be discussed drunk. Then again, I could sympathize with Harry. Knowing that in the very near future there was a possibility that maybe half the people currently alive will most likely perish, and you're supposed to be one of the people responsible for preventing it, you'd want a few swigs of beer, too. That's how scary it was going to be. 

Ever since the Gaia Incident, time and space and magic throughout the three worlds had been thrown off balance. It took a while for things to settle down and achieve a semblance of normalcy that could support a proper civilization again, but it did, because the universe has a tendency to balance itself out. But Gaia was a world so dense with magic, even five centuries after its self-destruction, its ripples could still prove disastrous. Imagine an earthquake of epic proportions as the Gaia Incident, and the aftershocks as the Wane. It will shake the very foundation of the world you live in, but you never really know when the next one will come.

The last Wane was three hundred and eighty years ago. The confirmed death toll had been a staggering one-hundred and  fifty-million. And that doesn't include the number of people who disappeared and were never heard from again. Because the Wane is a dangerous period wherein the natural borders between worlds are severely weakened and brittle, spontaneous appearances of Breaches or formation of Gates increase exponentially and of course, so do the number of Anomalies. Most of the deaths were attributed to Anomaly attacks, but the missing people were theorised to have been pulled into unstable Breaches and shot into oblivion. That means they're all most likely dead, but it messes up the statistics if you assume that everyone who is never seen again is dead.

Anyway. 

The point is that a calamity the likes of which had never been seen in three centuries is practically on our doorstep. And the woman whose abilities could possibly be the means of salvation of several thousand people just said no. 

But Dad and Harry didn't seem at all surprised by her answer. 

I studied the old woman. She didn't appear to be saying no out of malice or fear. In fact, I got the impression she said no because she thought it would actually be for the best. How weird.

She smirked at me as if she knew exactly what I was thinking. But her next words were clearly addressed to her previous students.

"Tell them I will give advice and only advice. I am much too old to be taming the unruly cubs you call heroes. Besides, they will need their claws and teeth and everything they have to face what's coming."

"Then if you never had any intention of being persuaded to help, why did you invite us here, Madam?" Harry asked in puzzlement.

Madam Josefa laughed. "Idiot. I said I won't train those little upstarts. But I didn't say I was never taking in a student." She turned to me and gently patted my hand. Her knowing gaze sent a shiver down my spine. I could feel the burden of her expectations on my shoulders and it was heavy. 

"I brought you here so you could bring me your daughter. Your daughter will be the bait. The one I plan to reel in is someone capable of changing everything."

I looked at her apprehensively. "Madam...you don't mean..."

Again, she gave me that knowing smile. "Oh, don't play dumb. You're too pretty to be stupid, too. You knew, didn't you? The moment you saw him, you knew he was special. You have a better sense for these things than I do, after all." She laughed uproariously as if she were sharing a joke that only the two of us could understand. Well, yes, I understood perfectly what this old woman meant. But I didn't think it was funny.

I had so many questions running through my mind. 

How did she know? What did she mean by bait? What exactly does she expect me to do? 

My discomfort didn't show on my face, though. I am a phenomenal actress, after all. Hiding my real thoughts and feelings and only showing what I wanted others to see, was as easy as breathing for me.

I made myself laugh. "That's a tall order, Madam. He doesn't even know I exist."

Dad was looking at me with a small frown on his face. He obviously didn't like where this conversation was going. Harry and Diane looked completely perplexed. Madam Josefa took pity on them and said in a conspiratorial tone, "Alisa found herself a young man. A very interesting one. Daddy Bear over there isn't quite convinced he's worthy, though, so he's not happy to hear me praising the other party. But since you've never even met him, I don't think you should judge him too harshly, hmmm?"

I wasn't quite sure whether I should be cheering for Madam Josefa whose opinion is worth more than gold in front of my Dad, even if she's complimenting Jester. I'm happy that she thinks I should pursue a relationship (Ha! Pursue what? I barely even started anything yet) with him, but her earlier comment about reeling him in like a fish obviously means she's got ulterior motives.  

"Who's this interesting fella you're talking about, Madam?" Harry asked.

"Jester Lee." Dad said his name as if it were a bitter candy.

Harry looked at him incredulously, before a wide grin spread across his face. 

"Well, I'll be damned. He was involved in clearing that Breach in Puerto Princessa. So that's why you were nagging me about it! That kid really has a knack for getting involved with things normal people won't dare to. Ahahahaha!"

"Do you know him?" Dad asked, his frown deepening.

"You've been a suit too long, Greg. Everyone's heard of him. He's like the rising star of the Adventurer world." Harry gave Madam Josefa a sidelong glance as he reached for the beer, and when she ignored him, he took a healthy swig. 

"Personally speaking, I've never seen him in action myself. But a lot of people have, and his record is impeccable. And he does all this as a Freelancer, and solo to boot. Although, being a Necromancer, he's not literally alone. I've been told he can summon hundreds at a time."

"A Master Necromancer at the age of twenty-three. And handsome as the devil himself," Madam Josefa chuckled, apparently enjoying my father's sour face.

"What do you want with him, Madam? If he's a Necromancer, it means his abilities are most likely runic and symbolic in origin, rather than mystic." Dad asked her, referring to Madam Josefa's clairvoyant abilities. 

Yes, that was something I wanted to know too. 

But of course the old lady wouldn't give us a straight answer.

"What I want to do with the boy doesn't concern you."

"It does, if it has something to do with my daughter."

"Your daughter is already an adult. As her father you should support her chosen partner."

"Partner?" Dad spluttered. "She's only met him once--!"

"Can you please stop talking about me as if I'm not here?" I interrupted, trying to sound calm and reasonable. 

But inside my head was reeling and my heart was going crazy. Partner? Me. And Jester. Partner. Oh my god. Does that mean what I think it means? This is Madam Josefa we're talking about here. The most accurate clairvoyant in the known worlds. And she said we were PARTNERS. 

!!!

Calm down, Alisa. Calm down. Madam Josefa is just trying to make a point. And maybe she wants to meet Jester so badly she'll say anything to get me in on her plan. But---!!!

"I don't want to get ahead of myself," I told Madam Josefa, quite composedly. "But I admit I do think he's interesting. I want to get to know him first."

Madam Josefa chuckled. "I wish you luck, dear. And if Papa Bear gives you trouble, I'll smack him. Hahahahaha!"