Page 44 of Dark Stars
"A grain of sand worth stealing from," Alejoreplied. "So you've pissed off a relative who's a primordialpsychopath slash serial killer, basically."
"Basically," Jones echoed. "We need to findand destroy all the runes before something more comes through todiscipline you and restore the siphon."
"I know where all thirteen in this areaare," Harold said. "They were already wiped, but I'll make damnedcertain of it."
"I'll go hunt down the thirteen aroundMarsh," Bobby said. "Now that I know what to look for, it should bean easy matter. I don't think they'd have made more than two rings,it would start to draw serious attention at three or more."
Alejo gave him a look Bobby alreadyrecognized as Stubborn. "I'm going with you."
"It won't be safe. They could send anynumber of creatures at me."
"You can whisk us away if it comes to that,but you should have support. What if you pass out again?"
"You left that part out," Harold said. "Wasbreaking the altar that taxing?"
"The marble itself is thousands of timesstronger than anything you'll find on this planet, or even in thisgalaxy. It was the power that made the breaking difficult, though.That altar has seen a great deal of offerings. I suspect it's notthe first time it's been used this way, and that history of worshiponly made it stronger and stronger." Bobby rubbed at his temples."I thought I was going to deal with a bunch of stupid cultists, notpiss off the Deep Dark itself."
"Why would something like that want yourpower?" Jones asked.
Alejo laughed. "Because it's new and younganddifferent. If they really are that old, thatancient, then nothing is new or different. They've seeneverything a thousand-fold. Then along comes agreat-great-great-great grandson who is half-human,half-primordial, who commandslight. That's unusual, right?Dark stars, primordial dark, the Deep Dark…there's definitely atheme with your family. Except you."
"Except me," Bobby repeated softly."Something new, something strange, a power even the Daemon Sultanhimself does not possess."
"Surely you can't be the first humanhalfling," Harold said.
Bobby shrugged. "I am, though, so far as Iknow. Sure, my relatives will fuck their worshippers, but any spawnthey birth they usually wind up eating or giving to others toconsume in one way or another. You don't appreciate just how out ofcharacter it was of my mother to fall in love with my fatherandbear his child, let that child grow and become part ofthe family. I've always been the black sheep in my mother's family,but I didn't think I was so unique as to draw the attention of theLord of All himself."
"I don't think it's all that different thancrazy people who like, bathe in the blood of virgins to maintaintheir youth, that kind of thing. Young, fresh,uniquepowerbound to light, the antithesis of all that your family is," Jonessaid thoughtfully. "Yeah, I could see it. So we gotta stop thesiphoning and appease your however many times great granddaddy." Hesighed. "Easy as pie."
"I wish," Bobby said with a laugh, but hefelt a bit better despite all that was now weighing on them. Theyhad a plan, he had something he coulddo. "I need torejuvenate; breaking that altar really did take it out of me, and Igave all the power from it to my mother."
"Oh!" Alejo said, squirming out of his lapand practically lunging for the counter. "You never opened the box!It appeared between the broken pieces of the altar just after youpassed out."
Bobby blinked at the box as Alejo placed itin his hands. It gleamed dully, like moonlight under a thick veil.It shielded whatever was inside, but he could feel a thrum ofpower.
Carved into the front of the box, notvisible to ordinary eyes, was a sigil of a many-tentacled beast,each tentacle lined with barbs that were so venomous, a single dropcould kill an entire city. "Mother…" he said softly.
The box opened at the front from the bottom,flipped up and all the way back, the sides falling down too,leaving the contents fully bared. Said contents proved to be asingle glass bottle, wide at the base with a thin neck, smallenough to just fit into the palm of his hand.
Inside the bottle was a dark purplesubstance, faintly shimmering, with the tiniest specs of somethingsuspended in the liquid. "Mother…" he said again, softer than ever."Thank you."
"What is it?" Alejo asked.
"Venom of the Secret Daughter," Harold said,voice trembling ever so faintly. "One of the most sought-aftercomponents in arcana and alchemy in the world. People wouldliterally destroy entire countries for just a third of what's inthat bottle."
"Jeez," Alejo said. "So it's a big fuckingdeal she gave you some?"
"My mother has the gift of prescience, likemuch of her kind, and while it's seldom enough to move her one wayor another, she must have decided to help me in appreciation of mygifts—my power to her, and the Milk to Cthulhu."
"So she knew all of this was going tohappen?" Alejo asked.
"Not that simple." Bobby tucked the bottleaway in the pocket of his jacket. "Prescience isn't seeing thefuture so much as seeing all, or at least most,possiblefutures."
"Prescience is being given a Choose Your OwnAdventure novel, but you see all the choices all at once," Haroldsaid. "Would give me a fucking psychotic break, but for primordialbeings, it's no different than admiring a landscape."
"So my mother saw a lot of this happening,yes, and when I made the choices of gifting, instead of whateverother choices I might have made, she rewarded me. I can only assumeI'll need this poison at some point." Between this and the giftfrom his grandfather, he had more power than ever, and he'd gainedit by giving power away.
He rolled his shoulders and neck. "Time toget to work I guess. Want to work clockwise or counterclockwise, mysweet?"
