Page 7 of All Out of Flux
I might have been imagining it, but I thought I felt the ground tremble. Bakunawa had done something similar, demonstrating his power when we first met, when I got too mouthy. But this was different. Bahamut carried the world upon his back. What great miracles and disasters could I conjure by Emanating his power?
“Before anything — with all due respect — I do have two questions. Tiamat? I haven’t heard from Bakunawa since the, ah, incident. He had to absorb a huge amount of water to save my life, and he said he needed to sleep it off.” I gestured at myself. “Well? Is he still in there?”
She smiled, sharp teeth glinting. “I am pleased to report that my brother has vacated the premises. It would be quite unwieldy for you to carry two great dragons within your body, would it not?”
I looked down at my stomach. “And he never even said goodbye? Dang. As for my second question — Bahamut, no offense, but I’m curious about what your true form would look like.”
When the man in the robes chuckled, I thought I heard a distant rumble. Great boulders tumbling from a mountain, rocksscraping and stirring to life. And yet it could have just been the deepness of his voice.
“No offense taken, little one, and take no offense from my words when I say this in turn. If you were to gaze upon my true form, it would drive you mad. If I raise my head to the heavens, the stars shall fall. If I shrug, nations shall crumble.”
I raised my own head, looking past his body, trying to conceive of just how enormous Bahamut actually was. Tiamat sniffled as she flipped a lock of her hair.
“Not for nothing, but I, too, maintain a majestic form. Some of us still remember how to manifest in ways that would not shatter the fragile human mind.”
Bahamut held a hand to his chest. “And some of us have forgotten, or have never learned.”
“Indeed.” Tiamat extended a single clawed finger. “And it is through your generosity and talent, little lion, that we are able to experience this reality without breaking it. Step onto its soil without cleaving the planet in twain.”
The promise of power. This time, a dragon so colossal it would fracture my mind if I attempted to fathom his greatness. Would I earn the gift to make the earth shake with fury? To call on stone to erupt and break the bones of my enemies?
Would I earn the power to make the Quartz Spider quake in terror, the power to put an end to his sorrow and madness?
I extended my hand to Bahamut. “Allow me to be your gracious host. My name is Leon Alcantara, and I’ll be your guide on this journey.”
Tiamat laughed softly, because no one could resist an Alcantara’s charms. And Bahamut smiled as he reached for my hand.
“How very kind of you. I pray you survive our binding.”
“Survive our what, now?”
His hand closed around mine, the roughness and warmth of strong, weathered fingers brushing against my skin. The breath left my body. I wheezed, gasping for air. Why did I always forget about the pain?
And a different flavor of it, every time. Tiamat’s flames, the stinging salt as Bakunawa’s oceans entered my skin. And now, Bahamut’s sands scouring my body from the inside out, grating and scraping at my flesh as it raged through my veins.
Every time. Every goddamn time.
I fell to my knees and screamed.
4
MAX
They say that white lies aren’t supposed to hurt anybody. Then how come they hurt so much to tell?
I’d told Leon that I was off to run some errands after dropping him off at his place. I needed to pick up more of that peanut butter and chocolate ice cream he loved so much, stash it in the freezer to make sure he had an ample supply. Witch Boy had a sweet tooth and a bottomless pit for a stomach.
But I didn’t tell him that I was also going to spend some time trying to scope out what Tío Gustavo was up to. Lying to his stupid, earnest face with those big brown eyes and that brilliant smile? God, it wrecked me. This was really all Leon’s fault, actually. His fault for being too cute to lie to.
It’d be easier this way, going on my own. Tío Gustavo wouldn’t try to hurt me upfront, but I didn’t need him knowing that Leon existed, either. The things I’d do if the Brillantes ever laid a finger on him. The faces I’d break. The blood I would shed.
I parked across the street from the shop, face partially hidden behind a pair of aviator sunglasses, and then again by ducking a little behind the steering wheel.
Leon once tried to explain to me that the aviators only drew more attention to me, but what did he know? I had to cover my eyes, which were among the most stunning of my features. I couldn’t walk in there being too handsome and radiant.
“But maybe he has a point,” I muttered, reaching over to the glovebox, pulling out a baseball cap. Someone would have to hold me at gunpoint to get me to wear a cap on regular days, but this wasn’t a regular day. This was me trying to be something of a snoop.
I held the cap over my head, hesitating. If only I could get my Dissipate spell to last a little longer, turn myself into an invisible hunk of diamond for more than a minute. If only I wasn’t such a visible hunk instead.
