Glyph 5: Turning the Page (Part 1) by Morpheus

Whateley Academy, Wednesday afternoon, Nov 23rd 2016

Thanksgiving Break, I wonder how many students will be left on campus due to various circumstances? Aww, Bianca and Janine are dating, but have to keep it secret. Ouch, Janine is not going home for the holiday, due to the expense of tickets for both this and Christmas. Darn family politics and making Bianca have to go back to deal with them.

As Marcus and Tessa had told me over the phone, I needed to remind the Family of my existence and continue building more connections among them. That, and I needed to demonstrate that I wasn’t running away from Chicago and hiding…even if that was exactly what I was doing. I needed to make a show of not being afraid of Scorn and his people…though I definitely was.

Just get proof that Scorn was behind a previous attack on you since you have become a Whateley Academy student, and Whateley will send him a message he won't forget. Janine and Bianca carry firearms, dangerous ladies to cross. The school teleportation platform, did they have that in Gen 1, or was that added since then?

Back Sunday afternoon, that is a quick Christmas vacation for Bianca. They are such a cute couple, I wish they didn't have to hide it. Charon, interesting name, is that her real name or a codename? Looks only a few years older than Bianca, but with mutants, she could be Imp or even Mrs. Carson's age. Cute password and response.

“We are traveling through another dimension,” Charon answered me with the same professional tone that she’d been using. “Distance works differently here, so I can travel large distances in a short period of time.”

Now that is a cool form of teleportation, almost seems like Doctor Who's Tardis and the time stream. Aww, not a part of the Family, but I like Charon. I hope she shows up again later.

Yes, being a part of M3, without them, I doubt you would survive Whateley with your sanity intact. 5 minutes for a journey of thousands of miles, I want that to be commonplace! Tessa and Marcus are waiting for Bianca. Oh, good, she is taking Bianca back to Whateley on Sunday, no plane trip issues.

“It was an easy trip,” I assured him with a faint smile of my own. “But the flight attendant never brought me any drinks or peanuts.”

Good to see Morgana's sense of humor is rubbing off on Bianca.

Chicago Il, Wednesday evening, Nov 23rd 2016

Boy, to have a library like that and the ability to read everything in it. Ouch, after reading all the stories, it is easy to forget it hasn't even been a full year yet since that incident for Bianca. PTSD and dealing with those memories are going to take a lot longer, and a lot of help for Bianca to begin to heal from them. She needs to send a message to Scorn, but not at the expense of her own mental health and well-being.

Rats, no idea where her grandmother's secret library of magical books is. Who or what tripped one of Bianca's wards? Nope, it isn't paranoia if they are really out to get you. Well, Bianca is one of the most prepared students in Whateley's history for trouble arising at a moment's notice. No sign of the intruders, another ward goes off around the corner. Huh, so Bianca's built-in light spells can cut through illusions, now that is a potent ability. Someone was trying to steal a painting, and they had been hidden by a spell, probably invisibility of some sort.

The costume, the mask with small white devil horns, she seems familiar.

“I’m actually more of an anti-thief,” the woman responded with a smirk. “After all, this is a stolen painting, and I was hired to recover it and return it to the rightful owner, whom it was stolen from.”

“So, you’re not here to kill me?” I asked, not lowering my guard.

“Nope,” the thief responded in an almost cheerful tone. “Killing people isn’t my thing, and especially not a kid. Honestly, I planned to be in and out of here without anyone knowing.” She shrugged. “I guess I got overconfident.”

Good grief, stealing a painting seems like low-brow crime for Bianca's grandmother.

I gave her a skeptical look. “And you expect me to let a bad guy just walk away after robbing me?”

As soon as those words left my mouth, I realized how stupid they were. After all, I was technically the head of the Family, so most people thought of me as being the ‘bad guy’. In fact, I probably sounded just like one of the Spy Kids at school, and that thought made me a little nauseous.

“I’m not bad,” the thief responded, still looking amused. “I’m just drawn that way.”

*does spittake* I can't believe she quoted that line. And Bianca, what you said wasn't as bad as the Spy Kids. Wait a minute, getting into a little harmless mischief, she was invisible, she did a quote like Imp would, is this Mischief all grown up? A smoke bomb as a distraction and an escape, it has to be Mischief! Bianca, with Mischief's powers, your wards wouldn't do much to keep her out.

Chicago Il, Thursday morning, Nov 24th 2016

Tessa examines the coat Bianca bought and put protective spells on; the magical education at Whateley is 2nd to known with Circe in charge. Dragon skin! Nope, not happening. Good, Bianca realizes she needs to improve her skills before using the expensive stuff to make a better version of the coat. Too many students think they can handle things rapidly and mess them up instead of being patient. House Cosgrove or the Enchanter, I wonder if she could find out about the place where Vic's gift was made.

I was getting the feeling that she was putting together a list of additional study materials, or maybe even some ‘homework’ for when I went back to school.

As if the school doesn't give the students often to work on already.

Eventually, Tessa told me, “Thanksgiving dinner will be semi-casual, and there will only be a few of us present.” She gave me a forced smile and admitted, “Unfortunately, you won’t be able to get off so easily for Christmas. For Christmas, you will probably need to make a more formal social appearance for the high ranking Family members.”

Thanksgiving dinner is easy mode, before Christmas, where they throw her into the deep end of social engagements for the Family.

“I think that is a problem for future Bianca,” I announced, which seemed to amuse Tessa a little.

At least start planning 2 weeks before Christmas, or you will regret it.

Marcus shows up with Olivia, a woman who needs to lose the sour expression on her face. James, a member of the Loyal who sounds like someone I wouldn't want to cross, but nice if you aren't a threat to those he is protecting. And Michael, who has come to start training, hhm.

That earned Michael several odd looks, though Olivia was the one who announced, “Only women can become Hands.” Her tone was dismissive, as was the look she gave him.

Michael already looked self-conscious and this reaction only made it worse. Still, he said, “Aunt Marissa taught me a little magic… Just some basics, but she said I have a bit of potential…”

Okay, that tradition needs to end, let men become Hands if they have the skill and ability to. Aww, Michael, why are you looking at Bianca so much?

Finished reinforcing the wards and added motion detectors and extra patrols; that won't help with someone like Mischief. Good idea, never know when a rat might be a shapeshifted spy or assassin. Michael asks Bianca if he can get someone to teach him magic, brave boy.

“I don’t see why not,” I answered carefully, still trying to keep my White Lady persona in place. “As long as you can find someone who is willing to teach you.”

Olivia practically hissed at the suggestion. “Traditions…”

“Our current rules may not allow him to become a Hand,” Tessa said, cutting Olivia off, “but magic users can always be useful.” She hesitated a moment t before adding, “Especially when we have so few Hands left.”

Thank you, Tessa. Anyone willing to learn a skill to help the organization should be allowed to; traditions shouldn't stifle progress. James gave Michael the nickname of Stones, appropriate for his courage.

Chicago Il, Thursday evening, Nov 24th 2016

Bianca talks to herself in a mirror. Hey, you aren't creepy. Bianca, it can vary, but once you get used to your new appearance, your old one will become nothing but a faint memory at best. Boy, when Tessa said it would be a small group for dinner, she wasn't kidding. Ouch, those kinds of memories about Thanksgiving dinners, but she still misses her parents and sister.

Hair under control and out of your face, an external chase. Huh, only a couple of runes Bianca doesn't know from the wards around the house, she really has learned a lot at Whateley. James leads Michael around as he teaches the kid the job. 6 of her own wards from spell cards set up around the room. I hope someday Bianca won't have to be this cautious.

Chicago Il, Friday early afternoon, Nov 25th 2016

Black Friday, one of the few days a year to avoid stores because the risk of injury or even death is too high. Ouch, traffic jam and an hour drive just to get to her favorite pizza place. Going stir-crazy in the mansion, I can understand wanting to get out. James, Michael, and Sebastian are her guard detail for this trip. A 2nd car with 3 more guards, with Scorn and his crew, you can never be too careful.

A table in the back, good idea, I wouldn't put it past Scorn to have a place attacked in broad daylight. All that and no trouble during her lunch, just some odd looks her way. Who is the guy in the weird outfit? Don't tell me Scorn already sent one of his crew to capture Bianca. Some grenade, voice of James saying he has Bianca, but someone has grabbed her. Shit! They have someone who looks like Bianca, and James has her. Bianca has been captured by an enemy!

What the bleep! Who is the girl who looks like a 7' tall, stretched-out version of Bianca? Has someone been making messed-up clones of Bianca, or is something else going on? More copies of her, but each oddly distorted, it seems like the messed-up clones theory might be on the mark. 7 clones of her, including the one that James took, thinking it was Bianca. Who is this man in the black uniform, who warned him about Bianca?

Crap! Not anti-mage cuffs, those things suck. A magic-absorbing collar to prevent her from using even her built-in spells. Scorn, you will pay for this. Robert Grace, aka Crysis's father. Scorn wants to talk to Bianca, the ringmaster mime is called Funhouse.

The strange man, Funhouse, held his hand out and a figure began forming into the air in front of him. A couple seconds later, there was another twisted copy of me, one who looked like her features were melting like warm wax. I shuddered at the sight.

Okay, that is some twisted form of manifestor ability. An attempt to yell for help, but Robert Grace clamps a hand over her mouth. I hope James and the others figure out the truth fast. Bianca needs all the help she can get.

Last we saw Glyph in a story of her own, she had been given a tome by Lenore. This one is set before thanksgiving, and ... after Unladen Swallows. Never hurts to figure out where things stand in the timeline.

Day before thanksgiving, and everyone is getting out of dodge. At least Janine and Bianca are settling into their relationship. Janine, if your relationship survives through to graduation, you may need to get into the mindset that there will be someone out to get to Bianca through you. The fact that you're packing heat does suggest that you're slowly coming around to that mindset. If the current Mastermind leadership weren't so self-centered, you might be able to pick up some survival tips from them. Bianca grew up with that level of awareness to some extent, so she probably does fit into the Bad Seeds spiritually, even if she has her beef with that leadership.

Not heading for the airport or the train station. Definitely sounding like a warper trip. And the theatrics of Chicago mob politics seem to be worse than the theater at the airport. A warper trip has to be expensive, but it's almost certainly more secure than more common means of long-distance travel.

And warper it is. Charon - Ferryman of the damned souls if I get the reference right. Hopefully not a bad omen. Hopefully she hasn't been paid off to redirect her destination. It'd be a bit brazen for Scorn to do such a thing, but he does seem to have a fixation on certain ends. Transportation facilitated by a third party. That actually seems a touch more reliable than someone purely financially motivated, as a double cross would start all sorts of dominos falling.

Home sweet home, even if it's probably going to be hard to settle into the master suite. Yes, you're still dealing with PTSD Bianca, even if it isn't paralyzing. If you had Scorn's head on a platter, it might ease the paranoia, but he's just one figurehead with his eye on you.

And as the line goes, just because you're paranoid, doesn't mean they're out to get you. Someone claiming to be an asset recovery specialist is probably better than an assassin, but would an assassin actually claim to be one? One problem with asset recovery is that you only know what the client tells you. Some clients could be lying out of their ass (though if they do, they run the risk of quickly being blackballed). I'm certainly getting 'Imp' vibes off of the intruder.... Might this grey hat go by the code name 'Mischief'? For some reason, I'm wondering what's on the back of the painting. If It is Mischief, I'm almost certain the Imp didn't tell her about a certain painting she acquired about a decade ago.

Critiquing of Bianca's study in self defense. Certainly sounds like she's going down the right road. I think part of the reason Tessa is advocating for outsourcing the project is so that there's less essence expenditures, and more available for the hands. Bit of a tricky balancing act there. 

Speaking of balancing acts, the followup meeting feels like one. Olivia does seem to have a bad case of sour grapes. Hopefully she won't be a vector of scorn for the family. The new candidate going through the rite of passage to join the family is an interesting one. The fact his aunt taught him the basics of magic (likely despite the edicts of the previous white lady) is curious. Olivia put forward tradition as a reason the hands are only female, but I wonder if the reason that there has been no white lord might not also play a part. I understand Bianca's desire for equality within the ranks, but I have the suspicion that it might not be possible.

Seems like Glyph and the Imp had similar experiences with turkey day growing up. As a dry run for the December festivities, it sounds like things went fairly well. It also sounds like Bianca's experiences at Whateley have put her in good standing for setting up/checking wards around the house.

Bianca getting a bit stir-crazy on Black Friday. Can't blame her, really. Stones seems to be settling into the role. Good for Bianca, trying to think of her people. And it's a hambush. Decent strategy (catching them while the guard is down). I wonder what James and friends will do when they realize they have the wrong white lady. Scorn certainly sent some serious firepower on this ambush. I can only assume he had it planned for a while, as it doesn't feel like the sort of thing you pull together on short notice.

Robert Grace took off his mask. Whateley security isn't going to be happy if word of his involvement gets back to them. I can only assume Funhouse is on Scorn's payroll (or on loan from a third party), as I don't think you could get that level of talent on a moment's notice.

anti thief, imp grade puns and jokes invisibility, smoke bombs, Hi Mischief.

Oh and of course shit hits the fan soon after