The Society of Geld

Written by MV Sneddon and is a completed piece.

~Part 1~

It was a normal day at the apartment. Bob was confined to his room struggling with the heightened emotions that came along with his curse, Sal was working on a new spell, Jason was preparing a new juggling routine, Karl was running diagnostics on his couch, and Fred was chasing a bug that had gotten in through an open window. Saya, meanwhile, was on her way to Eddie's lab to have a tune up on her Zapper. The trigger had been sticking a bit as of late making target practice a bit of a chore. She slowly descended into Eddie's mischievous lair.

“Eddie? Eddie are you down here? I need you to look at this for me.” She turned a corner at some shelfing and saw Eddie bent over a large U shaped metal structure. “Working on something big there? Chicken containment unit?”

Eddie raised his head but did not turn around. “Don't be silly, Saya. The chickens can never be contained. This is something better.”

Saya stood behind him and looked up at the metal curve. “So then what is it? More importantly, could you stop and fix the Zapper instead?”

Eddie stood and spun around to face her. His face lit up brightly. “Eddie can help Saya?!”

“Yes, Eddie can help Saya. The question is can Eddie do it sometime today?” Saya leaned back and cocked her hip slightly.

Eddie grabbed the gun from her hand almost too fast for her to notice and ran from the giant U over to his workbench, leaving the U unfinished.

Saya began to follow him but stopped. Something about that U structure seemed unnerving to her. She slowly shook her head and walked to the bench to observe Eddie. “Just the trigger, right? It's been sticking, I just need that fixed.”

“I can make it shiny for you! I can add sound effects! Let me just play with it, can I? PLEASE?” He leaned toward her and playfully offered up the biggest puppy dog eyes he could muster to no avail.

Saya put a hand on his left shoulder and slowly pushed him back. “Just the trigger, Eddie. Nothing fancy. You've got two seconds.”

Eddie pouted and popped the trigger off to readjust it. “Oh alright, for Saya.”

Saya half smiled briefly and looked over her shoulder at the U shape. “So what is that thing?”

Eddie finished fixing the Zapper and held it out to her. “I dunno. Had a dream about it so I built it. It looks so shiny! I bet it does something awesome!”

Saya's mouth dropped. “You built it and you don't even know what it IS?” She paused for a moment and grabbed the gun. “I don't know why that surprises me in the slightest...Well I'll leave you to do whatever it is you do.” She turned to leave the lab when Eddie grabbed her hand.

“Wait! Saya should stay! I can show it to you! It's almost done! We can turn it on together!” Eddie dragged Saya over to the machine.

Saya rolled her eyes and sighed. “Fine...Two. Seconds.”

Eddie bent down on his haunches and stripped the ends of two wires. After he was done connecting them together he jumped back next to Saya and motioned at a green button.

Saya arched an eyebrow, “Is that the power switch? So push it already, Eddie, I don't have time for this.”

Eddie leaned in close to her. “Saya should press it.”

Saya's body tensed and she felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. In one step she was at the button and a good foot and a half of space was between her and Eddie. “Gods, Eddie, not every thing's a game.” Her finger hesitated over the button for a moment. “This thing better be safe, jello brain.”

Not a moment after pressing the button, the giant U began rotating and slowly picking up speed, generating a loud humming noise. Electricity buzzed about the room and the wind produced began to develop strength. Eddie pulled Saya back from the machine and held her closely by both arms.

“I'm thinking maybe this wasn't a good idea after all.” He observed as a dark aura started to form above the machine.

Saya's eyes were fixed on the cloud hovering over them and she made no attempts to break Eddie's hold. “You think?! How do we turn it off?”

Eddie's grip loosened and his arms dropped to his sides. “Can't stop it now. Something's coming through.”

Saya's eyes widened and she turned to him. “What do you mean “something”. Eddie what did you do?! We have to stop it! Unplug it! Press the button!”

Eddie winced as the level of Saya's voice rose. “I'm sorry, I didn't know this would happen! No plug! Can't reach the button now! It's too fast!”

Lightening began darting around the room as the machine spun faster. Energy crackled around them as the darkness swelled. The wind in the lab picked up substantial speed and Saya had to lock herself into position to not be knocked over. She grabbed onto Eddie and pleaded, “Eddie, you know things. I know you know things! You can't be the crazy idiot you'd have us think! What is coming through that darkness?!”

Eddie's face looked pained as he thought. “Nothing I've ever seen before.”

Saya searched his eyes for answers. “What about your dream? You said you dreamt this thing up, what was your dream?”

Saya had backed Eddie to the wall and was holding his shoulders tightly. He slid down to the floor and stared down as he thought. “I don't really remember. It was a strange dream. All about the process. It was like a mental blueprint. No, like an instruction. It left me just wanting to build it. I had to.”

Suddenly the machine stopped. The darkness was concentrated in an oval shape above the U. The entire lab was still but the electric buzz could still be heard. Eddie rose from the floor and stared into the void. Saya looked at Eddie and then at the machine. “Eddie...I think someone's been using you.”

Eddie stepped passed Saya and approached the machine.

“You idiot! Get away from that thing!” Saya began to step towards him but before she could place one foot before the other a bolt shot straight into Eddie's chest and went clean through him.

Eddie's body fell to the ground and lay still, a single whisp of smoke rising from the fresh wound. Saya's heart sank and her face betrayed her. "Gods no." She managed to softly whisper before falling to her knees in front of the still figure. "E-eddie?" She ventured one soft touch and grazed the small of his back with her palm. The wound was hot. She pulled back a reddened hand and felt such a violent amalgam of fear and pain that she could not feel sorrow or loss. All she could feel was rage.

Saya slowly grasped her blaster, the blaster Eddie had made. She raised it to eye level and mentally debriefed on her new task. Raising her eyes to darkness from whence came the blast she stood fast and strong. "Eddie, if you can hear me, wait here." Locked in determination she entered the unknown to face an enemy she could not fathom.
 

~Part 2~

A small green light began pulsating from a small idol statue on the dresser of a tall dark haired woman. She turned her head to the light and nodded. “Looks like he finally breeched a dimension...right.” She stood and crossed the room to a small orb. Touching it lightly it began glowing multiple colors. “Team, I'm gonna need you here now, Terrance is on the move, he's hopped dimensions on us, we need to track him right now.”

The ball made a small chiming sound and voices transmitted from it. “Got it, Phil, be there in five.”

“Great, Madison. Liv? What about you.”

“I'm already there, O.”

The woman touched the ball again and it deactivated. She turned around and two other women were standing behind her. “That was fast, you two. Good. Alright, I just got notification of Terrance's materialization on another plain. I think it's safe to say we still have time to catch him before he does any real damage, but there's no way to tell if he's encountered natives yet. Olivia, I need you to do a necromantic scan for any sign of his powers so that we can find the portal he used. Madison, I need you to be ready to hurt or heal when we get there.”

“I'm on it Ophelia, it might take me a second to get a lock on him but a moment of meditation should do it.” Liv sat on a floor cushion and a purple light surrounded her. Her eyes fluttered while she meditated. Meanwhile, Madison pulled out a dagger inscribed with runes. She pricked her palm and a bead of blood formed in her hand. The blood lifted above her palm and swirled while she chanted words in a strange language.

“Liv, got a lock yet? I'm ready to infuse Phil's pendant for the incantation.”

“Hang on, Madison.” Liv replied without opening her eyes. Suddenly her eyes shot open and were solid lavender. “Got him! O, he's in a pretty distant dimension but I have a lock on the portal he used.”

Ophelia turned to face Liv and handed a red coral tooth necklace to Madison. While Madison infused the stone with the blood from her hand, Ophelia laid her hand on Liv's forehead and began to chant an incantation in an ancient language. Madison placed the necklace on Ophelia's neck and it lit up immediately. In the center of the room a black portal formed.
 

~Part 3~

Saya approached the U portal with her gun at the ready. Slowly, a very tall dark man stepped from the darkness dressed in all black adorned with chains, spikes, and skulls. He first looked at Eddie, slumped on the floor, then to Saya. “Pity, I wanted to thank him for his help.”

Saya scowled at his quick dismissal of Eddie. “You better be ready to pay for what you did!” She yelled as she leapt into the air with a kick.

The man grabbed her leg in the air and held her there. “Don't be foolish, girl.”

Saya smiled and pressed her Zapper into his side. “Spoke too soon, I believe.” She pulled the trigger and the gun let out a burst of energy into the man's side sending him flying and dropping Saya to the ground. She stood and began to approach the strange man. “What did you do to him! You better be ready to fix it!”

The man groaned as he picked himself up. He lifted his left hand and began chanting. A dark green smoke emanated from his hand to the floor in front of Saya. “I'm afraid it is now your turn to pay.” He grinned as five grotesque creatures made of muscle and bone lifted out of the ground.

“What the fu-” Saya lifted the gun and shot three times into one of the creatures. One of it's arms was hit and burned off, the other two shots landed in it's midsection and left smoldering holes. Saya sneered at the pungent smell coming from the burning wounds. “Oh Gods that's awful. What are they?” She backed away a bit and shot two more of them as they approached her. Not one creature fell but the wounded did slow.

The man laughed as he rose to his feet. “They're hell minions. Basic incantation really. Novice necromancy to tell the truth.”

Saya continued to back away from them and stand in front of Eddie to guard his body. She unloaded a few more blasts into the first of the injured until it stopped moving and melted into a green puddle of acidic goo on the floor. She then proceeded to do this to the rest until all five were dead. “That's just disgusting.” She turned her gun on the strange man, “Enough with the magic crap, if you wanna have a gay little spell fight I'll go get Sal. Why not fight me like a man?”

He cocked a brow at Saya's comment, “Sadly, I must refuse. I'm a busy man you see and as my mental link to this world seems to be indisposed I'm afraid I'll just have to do things myself. It was nice playing with you but I must be going.” The same green gas as before now enveloped him and before Saya could fire or reply he was gone.

She dropped to her knees at Eddie's side and winced as her eyes welled with tears. Alone and dejected, Saya dropped her defenses. “I couldn't help...I couldn't fix you.” She touched the wound on his back again. It was cold now. Her eyes widened. “No. No Eddie, you can't be dead!” She turned him onto his back and placed her ear to his heart. Silently she waited, pleaded for a beat. A soft rhythmic sound came to her ear and she wrapped her arms around him. She softly whispered to him, “Please hold on Eddie. I'll get help. Sal probably knows a spell that will keep you alive till we can get you to a hospital.”

As Saya held onto Eddie the portal began crackling with energy again. Determined to not fail again she quickly returned to her feet and readied the Zapper. As the crackling died down three women emerged from the darkness. Without hesitation Saya fired at the new intruders. Before the blast could reach them, a blue shield absorbed the energy.

“We are NOT hostile! I repeat! We are NOT hostile!” Ophelia announced as the shield dissipated.

“Well your friend certainly was.”

“Shit he's injured a native!” Madison exclaimed as she hurriedly moved toward Eddie with her dagger ready.

Saya quickly pointed her sights to Madison. “Don't you touch him.”

Madison raised both her hands above her head and faced her palms to Saya. “I just want to help him. I'm a blood mage, I can heal him.”

Saya's eyes widened with shock. “I'm not letting you take his blood!”

“No, the knife's for me. See?” Madison motioned to her scarred palms.

Ophelia approached the two of them as Liv began to scan the lab with her aura. “I know this is all very odd but you need to trust us. We're a sort of law enforcement.” She displayed a badge made of obsidian for Saya to inspect. It had a strange crest and read “The Society of Geld.” “We're looking for a fugitive necromancer who came through that portal. All Madison wants to do is heal your friend.”

Saya slowly lowered her gun. “He's very weak...be careful. If I see anything I don't like I'm not gonna hesitate!”

Madison lowered her hands, “Fine by me.” She stepped over to Eddie and slid the blade down her palm. The blood swirled around her open hand and she lowered it to Eddie's injury and began chanting.

Liv returned from her scan and pulled Ophelia over. “There's a lot of different energy here. A lot. I can't even tell how long his signal's been cold.”

Saya turned to her. “It can't have been long, only a few minutes before you got here.”

Ophelia nodded then looked at Saya. “We're going to need you to tell us everything that happened and where that portal came from. My name is Ophelia and this is Olivia. Madison, you've already met.”

Saya looked back at Eddie, “He said he dreamt it, that's all I know. Then before that man came through the portal some bolt shot right through Eddie. After that that weird guy came through the portal and we fought. He made these weird things...what did he call them...hell minions?” She motioned to the goo on the floor. “I shot them and he left. Then you showed up. That's all I know. Look, my friend is a witch, wouldn't you rather talk to her?”

“So you do have casters here. Maybe he won't stand out so much then.” Ophelia considered this.

Saya sighed. “Not exactly, it's a rare practice, but if he keeps the freaky green crap to a minimum people will probably just think he's a goth weirdo. I can go get her.”

Ophelia shook her head. “No, we need to keep this very confidential. We-”

Eddie slowly sat up with Madison's help. “Saya, look out...”

Saya spun around and helped him to his feet. “It's fine Eddie! I'm fine.”

Madison joined her team and they turned to inspect the portal. Ophelia looked to Saya, “We'll be over here when he's ready to talk.”

Eddie looked down at Saya. “What happended?”

Saya looked at the floor and struggled with herself to not look upset. “A man came through the portal you made and hurt you very badly. I tried to fight him but-” She stopped. Saya was overcome with her emotions. “He got away. Those women saved you, they want to know about your dream.” Saya's eyes welled with tears once again and she tried to hide her face.

“What's wrong, Saya?” Eddie grabbed her hand and offered her a smile. “Don't be sad! The bad man's gone! Why are you sad?”

Saya fought back tears. “Because I thought you were-”

Eddie reassured her, “No, no. I'm all better see?” He held her hand to the bare area of his chest where the injury had been. “I'm fine.”

Saya's fingers traced where the wound had been as tears streamed down her face.

Eddie searched for words to calm her. “Saya...Saya I'm fine!”

Saya leapt forward and pulled Eddie into a passionate kiss. After the first moment of shock Eddie closed his eyes and pulled her closer. When they finally parted he breathlessly uttered, “H-hundred percent.”

Saya buried her head into his chest to avoid embarrassment and to compose herself. Without warning she pulled her arm back and punched Eddie across the face. “Never! NEVER do anything that stupid again! Don't build things you dream about when you don't know what they are! Don't just stand there when lightening comes at you!”

Eddie held his jaw where Saya had punched him. “Owies.” He rubbed his jaw then placed his hands on her shoulders. “I won't do anything to make you sad again. I promise.” He smiled at her in his innocent way. Saya's anger left her face as she considered his mad sanity and unmovable kindness. Eddie looked over to the portal. “Who are those ladies?”

Saya looked to the women from the society. “Those are the people who saved you. They need to know whatever you can tell them about the portal. They're after the man who came through it.”

Liv was analyzing the machine while Madison surrounded it with a red field. Ophelia was leaning over what was left of the hell minions on one knee. She held a hand out and whispered something similar to what the man had said before and the goo sunk back into the ground leaving no trace of them. Liv looked over to her. “I haven't gotten to analyze that yet!”

“It's better to not let it be around, that residue is dangerous.” Ophelia stood and turned to Eddie and Saya. “Is he ready to talk? We need to get moving.”

“Yeah he's ready. Not sure how much help he'll be though.” Saya motioned toward them to Eddie.

“Well, a few nights ago I started getting these dreams about the portal. They told me how to build them and that it would be good to have and that it would do wonderful things. So last night I built it. When we turned it on bad things happened, the bad man came through.” Eddie looked between the women and Saya.

Ophelia thought for a minute. “Alright, from the sounds of it he's been working you down for a while now. Do you have any prior experience with dimensions and portals like this.”

Saya scoffed, “Saying yes would be an understatement. We frequently find ourselves in other worlds.”

Eddie perked up, “Yeah we have to find artifacts for Vladic!”

“Artifacts, eh? Well it seems your exposure to multidimensional travel exposed Eddie to Terrance's mental invasion.” Ophelia reached into a bag on her hip and pulled out a small crystal. “The best way to fix this is to use one of you to bring him back and trap him. Liv, scan them for magical energy.”

Liv walked over to the two of them and used her aura to analyze them. She looked back at Ophelia and Madison. “I have no idea what's going on with Eddie, but Saya seems to have a magical bloodline.”

Saya held up her hands in protest. “Wait a minute, I don't use any magic.”

Madison looked at her, “Do you have any magic using relatives or ancestors?”

Saya rolled her eyes. “Technically? Yes. Why?”

Ophelia showed Saya the crystal. “Madison is a blood mage, Olivia is a seer, and I am a ritualist. I use crystals and ancient chants to cast complex spells. The spell I am going to use needs a medium to be executed. In this case we need someone tuned to this worlds magical energy so that we can find Terrance as his energy will be different. We need to use your body to channel the spell through.”

Saya uncomfortably glanced to Eddie and back to the women. “What will happen exactly?”

Ophelia drew some characters on the floor in a circle. “You'll sit in the center of this circle and I'll hold the crystal to your back while chanting. Once the incantation takes effect a field of energy will surround you and draw Terrance back here. At that time we can take him down and into custody.”

A concerned look came across Eddie's face. “Who is going to detain him?”

“If you have a reliable way of stopping him, be my guest. Just remember that he may be bound but we're not entirely sure what he's capable of here.” Ophelia helped Saya into the circle.

Saya grabbed tightly onto Eddie's arm. “Eddie if something happens to me I want you to hurt them, badly.”

Eddie put his hand on her arm as she held his, “I wont let anything happen to you, but I am going to stop the bad man.”

Saya sat on her legs in the circle. “Be careful.” She turned to Ophelia then faced forward and took a deep breath. “I'm ready. This better work.”

Ophelia closed her eyes and began chanting with the crystal pressed against Saya's back. Soon Saya began to glow a soft purple. As the chanting increased the color grew brighter and brighter. Eddie watched on intently to ensure her safety.

“How much longer?” He asked Madison.

“I think the incantation is almost finished so you need to be ready to attack him if you can. I'll prepare a blood bind and Liv will scan for hostile energy.” Madison cut her palm again and focused a ball of blood in her hands.

Eddie stepped forward in anticipation of the fight. As they all prepared the same purple glow that engulfed Saya appeared in the room with Terrance in the center. He looked down at the group and grinned.

“I should have guessed they'd send you, Ophelia; but you haven't stopped me yet.”

“Last I checked you were fairly bound. I believe you've met Eddie?”

As Ophelia said this Eddie produced his large mallet out of thin air and swung back with great force. “Hi. This is for using my brain!” He laid a swift blow against Terrance's body, knocking him to the floor. Eddie reared back for another shot. “And this is for killing me in front of Saya!” This time Eddie's blow knocked him fully unconscious and shot him across the room.

Madison let out the blood bind so that it could restrain Terrance for the trip back to his own dimension. Once Terrance was properly bound Eddie returned his mallet to the air he had pulled it from and the purple aura faded from Saya's body and she dropped to the floor. Within seconds Eddie was by her side.

“We did it, Saya. We beat the bad man.” He picked her up and leaned her against him.

“I just need to rest, Eddie.” Saya lifted her head to Ophelia, “Is that it then?”

“Now we just need to bring him home and sentence him. We'll have to file a report on this but I don't think we'll be needing you two for that since we've kept contact to a minimum. You've been a great help. Look...” Ophelia opened Saya's hand and placed the crystal in her palm. “If you ever need anything from us, if we might have one of those artifacts things, just activate this crystal. It's tuned to you now so it shouldn't be a problem.”

Saya stood with Eddie's help, “And those people? Those necromancers? Will any of them come back? Will Eddie's mind be safe?”

Liv walked up to them. “We're going to sever unsanctioned ties to this dimension. I'd like to say that your friend's mind is safe now but it's one of the most complex systems I've ever seen. He just needs to try to keep his guard up.”

Eddie looked to Ophelia, “Will Saya be ok?”

“She just needs to rest. If she ever did use magic her abilities would be drained for a few days but since she doesn't she should be fine. Just keep an eye on her.” Ophelia waved her hand over the U shaped machine and a new portal appeared. “I hate to leave so abruptly but we do have a fugitive on our hands. Once we leave the machine will self destruct so you wont have to worry about it. Remember if you ever need us, the Society of Geld will help you.”

Once the women stepped into the portal the U shaped machine fell apart. Eddie and Saya stood alone in the middle of the room. Eddie holding Saya, Saya holding the crystal. Both of them glad the other was safe, and glad the ordeal was over.