Glyph 5: Turning the Page (Part 3) by Morpheus

Chicago Il, Saturday morning, Nov 26th 2016

Rats, Scorn's men are learning, so much for getting them all with trap spells. Some is deactivating Bianca's trap spells; it has to be Scorn, this is bad. Or it could be someone else, but the worst-case scenario would be Scorn. And the wards are going down too, coming right here. Good idea, set off the traps before they can be deactivated. At least a chance of catching the magic user, better than nothing.

Darn, they are still coming, and now they're on the same floor as Bianca. Time to rabbit again and hope they can't track her.

“I need a cloak of invisibility,” I grumbled. “But definitely not a ring. I don’t want the responsibility of having to drop it into a volcano.”

The One Ring sure gets a lot of references by the M3. Explosions, runes set off, and women running into the rune traps deliberately. Darn it, Funhouse!

Spotted by Lapis and Funhouse, crud. A fireball, darn it, so Lapis is the magic-user. Good use of the built-in fire spell, forcing them to burn resources too. Darn, only a minute for Lapis and Funhouse to catch up to Bianca. Eww, 4 twisted copies of Bianca, I hate Funhouse's power. Don't make them hurt you, not much of an order when your boss plans to kill her. Nice moves by Bianca, another student learns the benefits of BMA training.

Ooo, so that is what it looks like when she activates her air built-in spell. Brutal, blown right off their feet and into a hallway with traps still active, and set them off. Darn, used up all the power for her built-in spells for that one. Oh, please let Funhouse be dead; without him, the abduction would have never worked. Lapis is badly injured, but still alive, good. It is hard to see, Bianca, but you are fighting for your life. Climbing the stairs to head up, and finding the remains of one of the normal guards, oof.

Chicago Il, Saturday morning, Nov 26th 2016

Darn, silence is more worrying than explosions. Dang, all that to stay safe, Lapis and Funhouse did a number on her previous preparations. Eep, so the spells aren't stable or long-lasting, and she still has to worry about Scorn and his other agents. Darn, darn, darn. No way to escape downstairs due to the magic in place by Scorn and his agents, and limited time to figure out another way.

Rats, no way to sneak around in the ventilation system, movies lied to us!

"You know,” I told myself with a weak chuckle, “if Whateley had a class on sneaking around through the ventilation system, I bet it would be taught by the Imp.”

True, it would probably be one of her offered Winter term courses. Blast through the floors to escape. Why not get to the roof and use a spell to float safely to the ground instead? No, Bianca, I know you want to hurt Scorn more, but your safety should be paramount right now. An hour or two, get out of there already!

“Escape,” I finally decided. I was too tired to keep going, so I’d have to be satisfied with what I’d already done. But then, I chuckled faintly. “But there’s no reason I can’t cause some more trouble on my way out…”

Yes, this is the way to show them that capturing you is more trouble than it's worth. *facepalms* Bianca, that isn't escaping, that is still going after Scorn and trying to at least injure him severely. Following your instincts, I hope they don't lead her astray.

A former conference room and a small pile of stuff, hhm. Her belt, gun, and spell cards, so this is where they stashed her stuff. Crap! It's a trap! Spell circle designed to draw Bianca there and in, Scorn knew she would escape. Glowing runes on the wall and ceiling, Bianca is trapped in the room! Already two goons with devisor ray guns show up, they were waiting for her. Built-in fire spell to force them back, a threat she will burn the whole building down if she has to.

Darn it! Fireproofing spell on the runes on the walls and ceiling, Scorn planned for even this. Great, Robert Grace is here. And Scorn, I hate smart villains who prepare traps like this. Scorn is such a polite villain; it grates to deal with one of those. Good, Scorn doesn't have the essence to perform the ritual. Shoot in the back by Robert Grace and Scorn, cowards, the lot of them.

A spell card, the rust spell! That spell once again saves the day, the guns destroyed as Bianca kicks Robert Grace in the leg to set him off balance. Oh, good, the protection spells on her coat prevented the bullets from penetrating, just some bruising. Aaron opened fire, only to hit the window and melt a large hole in it, then not work at all. Even devisor weapons made of metal can rust, love that spell.

Whoa, didn't expect that. Scorn's mask rusted right off his face.

Scorn was an old man who looked to be in his sixties, with a large rune tattooed over most of his face. It was much like the magical tattoos that my grandmother had given all the Loyal in order to enhance their physical abilities. And while I wasn’t familiar with this particular rune, my power translated its meaning for me, not that I really needed it to. Scorn’s tattoo was a powerful magic spell, and it was radiating it’s meaning to everyone nearby. Contempt. Disdain. SCORN

So we finally know the source for his chosen codename. The spell makes everyone else feel that, I wonder if even Robert Grace will listen to his orders right now. Nope, Aaron and Robert react just as the spell makes them.

Good, nothing in her belt was hit by her rust spell. Two more men burst in, Bianca activates her spell cards and tosses them towards the center of the room, then leaps out the window and activates her built-in air spell to slow her fall. Just how far up is she that the spell won't last long enough to get her safely to the ground? Good idea, push towards a shorter building nearby and hope to land on the roof. Ouch, rough landing, but at least she landed on the roof.

There was fire and smoke coming from one of the windows, the very window I’d just jumped out of. The sight made me chuckle as it confirmed that my explosive spells had gone off.

I hope that draws the attention of some local heroes. Bruised and scraped with bleeding from the knuckles on one hand and from her jaw, after everything she went through, she is in better shape than I expected. Darn, people run away from her due to her appearance and her own blood on her. Good, cell phone to call Marcus to come pick her up.

Chicago Il, Saturday evening, Nov 26th 2016

Another day or so, that regeneration sure comes in handy for quick recovery. Your translation power is something scholars would fight and possibly kill to have. Tessa knows Scorn's real name, Philippe Dumas, and Marcus thought he had died decades ago. All that happened before Marcus was even born, just how old is Scorn?

“Nobody in the Family talks about him,” Tessa explained with a thoughtful look. “Most don’t even remember that he ever existed. Your grandmother preferred it that way, though every Hand and Loyal were told the story.” She shook her head at that. “He’s the reason we don’t allow men to become Hands. We share his story as a warning about what could happen.”

Ouch, the betrayal of one man ruined it for all men in the Family who wish to become Hands. Darn, Scorn survived, but not without injuries. At least it might stop him from retaliation for a while.

Scorn is Uncle Andre's father. Uncle Andre is 80, just how old is Scorn!?! Scorn thought Bianca was his great-granddaughter and tried to kill her; he is truly a monster. I wonder who Tessa and Marcus are calling. I hope Whateley is one of them to tell how the accords have been broken by Scorn kidnapping and trying to murder a student.

Chicago Il, Sunday late morning, Nov 27th 2016

Whateley is a vacation from home, and yes, the Spy Kids are a joke compared to Scorn and his men. Charon will be here soon to take Bianca back to Whateley. How I wish teleporters existed so I could avoid traffic.

“Sorry for my delay,” Marcus told me. “I was getting an update on the situation with Scorn.”

“Oh?” I asked, eager for the news.

“We already knew that Scorn survived,” Marcus told me. “But he was injured and some of his own people saw him without his mask. It seems that they immediately rebelled and sent him into hiding. His entire organization is now in complete chaos.”

Goodie, now we just have to tell on Robert Grace's son as the leak at Whateley to deal with that end of the threat.

I hope they take down Scorn's organization so the next time Bianca has to deal with Scorn, it will be just him, alone with no backup. Good, give Stones a chance, just because Scorn turned rotten doesn't mean all males who become Hands will. Until Christmas, why do I suspect Bianca's Christmas vacation is going to be exciting as well? You've earned that confidence, Bianca.

Charon's form of teleportation is something I would love to see more of in fiction; not instantaneous, but travel compressed greatly. Bianca is still dealing with the PTSD and trauma of the death of her family, and it is easy to forget how much time has passed for her since then. Seeing Mischief again was fun. I'm sure the recovery agent was Mischief all grown up.

I hope Bianca has some free time, what with the additional study materials or 'homework' that Tessa seemed to be arranging for her when she returns to Whateley.

The ambush outside the pizza parlor was well executed; the individuals involved made it nearly impossible to figure out Bianca had been taken until they were long gone. If not for Lenore showing up to give Bianca her rust spell card, she never would have escaped. That familiar is mysterious in so many ways.

Bianca's escape, sneaking around, using the resources she had and found, setting up wards and trap runes. It shows a level of planning and discipline rare for a Whateley student, let alone a freshman just there for a few months. Even when she was forced to flee again, she thought things through, figured out how to deal with her opponents with minimum risk, and was brutal when she had to be. Funhouse and Lapis deserved what they got. How she finally escaped, despite being lured into a trap, was risky, but ingenious.

Scorn. I never expected his history with Bianca's grandmother and the Family to be so intimate, or the reason for their falling out due to arrogance and power hunger. Almost 80 years later, and still, he wishes to destroy her legacy. I now understand why there is a rule about no male Hands, though it is extreme and born out of pain. I can only hope the next time Bianca has to face Scorn, he will be alone, and she will finally get to avenge her family.

I can't wait to read more of Bianca in the future, more of the Family, and hope to see Scorn finally taken down.

Before I start reading, a note on something that's been rattling around the noggin. How would Whateley react if they learned that Crysis' father was involved in the kidnapping? On the one hand, it would show that Scorn's organization knew about Whateley neutrality. On the other, it might cause other problems by bringing an outside issue on-campus. A related conundrum for Glyph will be whether it's leverage she could use on Crysis. She theoretically could offer to keep his name out of her report, in exchange for Crysis' oath of loyalty to her, but is that a lever she'd feel comfortable pulling? I suppose it all depends on how far Scorn's organization falls as a result of the play.

Onto the story.
Well, the traps may not have taken out as many of Scorn's people as Glyph may have wanted, but she definitely bloodied them. I guess we now know that the Funhouse manifestations would be picked up by the spells, That's good in that they can be damaged by magic with ease, bad in that they are inherently expendable. I wonder how much effort it takes to manifest a set.
And we meet one of Scorn's mages. I wonder if it was easier for Scorn's crew to deactivate some of the runes because they were crafted with borrowed essence.
Lapis and Funhouse taking a whirlwind trip down memory lane. Loosing Funhouse will be a blow to Scorn, but I wonder how much. Hopefully she wasn't too casual in counting them out.
The Imp teaching a class on sneaking through vents. I could see her doing that (winter term?), though she'd probably require a PK ability or equivalent for students.
Nice to see Bianca's calculus on her options and the tradeoffs in the path she took. Grimes did have a point about Bianca also needing other methods of casting.
Seems the Scorn isn't without traps of his own. Upside is that Bianca has her stuff back. Let's see what she can do with it.
Scorn was able to recreate the trashed ritual site (and set up the trap Bianca got caught in). He seems to be able to work fairly quick - probably why he was a hand.
Good job on the spellwork on the coat - and the use of the rust spell. Scorn and Robert didn't learn from the earlier escape. Also, seems that BMA was rather useful.
Rusting out Scorn's mask - an unexpected benefit of the spell. It seems my internal musing about the origin of his name were somewhat on the right track. If the mask was ordinary, he may be able to recreate it with minimal effort. However, I'd imagine there's a magical component that might be harder to recreate. And magic it was.
52 card pickup with active spell cards. Hopefully Glyph didn't set off any shields, but everyone who was in the room is probably going to feel the whiplash.
I think you're going to want to learn that falling spell Bianca. Perhaps Morgana will be able to get some pointers from you on the art of falling (and missing?)
Mid-fall adaption. At least you landed on a roof and not the pavement Bianca. And not in horrible condition either. Now, the trek home.

Wouldn't be a fight without a postmortem. This one's just a bit more complex than typical. At least everyone's filling in the blanks. I'd imagine the loss of Scorn will create a hole in the local underworld. Ok, so he isn't dead, but he did come off second best. It'll likely take him time to replace his mask. And it'll probably be very difficult for him to rebuild until he does. Good to hear that the Family is considering letting Stones go down the mage track.

I wonder if Robert Grace made it out of the trap. Probably isn't too likely (and it'd be a blow to Scorn's organization if he was lost), but stranger things have happened.
Turning the Page was a good name for the story arc. Bianca certainly isn't finished with Scorn (If the vendetta wasn't personal before, it is now), but the balance of power has obviously shifted.