***
After the Ritki War, the hospitals were one of the first things rebuilt, for obvious reasons. To save on time and costs, they were all built to the same model,
which certainly helps. Know one hospital in Paragon, you know them all. And if you're a hero, you've been in the hospitals plenty of times.
So, up the elevators to the third floor, past the security ward for arrested villains with grade A to B magical injuries, the isolation ward, then into wing
for magical beings. As I stepped through the thick timber doors engraved with intricate runic patterns, I stopped at the sight of familiar teenager in blue and
gold armor. "Eva?" I said, looking at the young leader of the Legendary, making her jump in slight surprise. "What're you doing here?"
Evangelia spun, a surprised and concerned look on her face. "You're okay?"
I paused, looking at her oddly. "What, why wouldn't I be?" I asked. Well, I was still sore as hell from the Hellion mess, but that didn't
really count as anything that'd have the most dangerous magical girl I know in a hospital hallway, apparantly looking for me.
The blonde girl seemed to calm down somewhat. "The hospital called the base, requesting your medical files. They said they had your approval, but they
wouldn't tell me why they needed it, even with my security clearance," she said, eyes darting to the ground near me momentarily.
"Usual bureaucrats," I said with a friendly smile. "It's a case I'm involved in, but it's not me directly... I think," I said.
"Still, I appreciate you coming to look into it."
"You're Legendary," she said with an adorable smile. "Of course we came."
Looking around for a moment, I saw no one else. "We?" I asked.
The magical girl grinned. "Space Mage came with me, but she got distracted at the childrens ward," she explained, drawing a smile from me as I
imagined the hyperactive elfgirl doing magic tricks and shows for sick children. Yeah, she'd be all over that. "And Allister," she added, looking
slightly nervous for a moment. Her magical invisible talking penguin mascot was a subject of some quiet discussion among the Legendary, with some wondering it
was a figment of her imagination.
Smiling, I responded "I'd shake his flipper if I could." Heck, Eva read as perfectly sane, and heck, I'd seen weirder reality in the past.
"Now, what say we go get some answers?" I added. Eva nodded, and we walked down the corridor as I explained the Hellions ritual attempt.
"I've never heard of the Hellions trying a summoning before," Eva commented.
"Well, I think it was a summoning. I stink at magic," I admitted. "And I think the Hellions sucked at that spell. Although I wouldn't mind
finding out just what they were aft-" I stopped as we turned a corner and saw Sell-Sword leaning against a wall. "What are you doing here?" I
asked.
The lower-ranked hero looked up at me, posture betraying the boredom he was feeling even if his face was hidden. "Got called up and asked to come in and
answer a few questions," he answered. "Then they asked me to wait here while they checked a few more things."
I was wondering why I hadn't gotten a call when the doors next to Sword swung open and doctor stepped out. "Because I knew you were coming for answers
of your own," she said with a smile before I could even ask. "It's not telepathy, more a form of precognition." I started to scowl.
"Sorry, sometimes I get a little ahead of myself-" She stopped herself. "Sorry." She stepped forward and held out a hand. "Doctor
Melissa Gardener. I'm with MAGI."
There was a quiet snickering from Sword as I realized that not only was that potentially the most annoying form of precognition I'd ever seen, but Sword
had dealt with it himself and had been looking forward to seeing me experience the same thing. "Putting that aside," I said, shaking the Doctors hand
and not giving Sell-Sword the pleasure of an annoyed look, "Do you have any answers?"
"Some, I believe," she said, shaking Evangelias hand before pulling a rather thick tome out of thin air. "But first, I'd like to confirm a
few details," she continued as she opened the tome and quickly turned pages. "Was this the ruby?" the woman asked, flipping the tome around and
showing me an illustration of a large ruby with a pattern of black lines running through it.
"If it's not, it's pretty damn close," I answered as Eva stepped forward. Melissa handed her the book before she even asked, then, oddly
enough, pulled a small fish out of nowhere and held it out closer to ground level. Sword jerked up as the fish was pulled out of her hand, flipped up into the
air and vanished, swallowed by an invisible bird.
"Precognition," she said before Eva could ask. "Not the ability to see and hear, I'm afraid." Both Eva and I looked at her for a
moment, looked at each other, then turned our attention back to the tome.
"Ruby Guardian, Scarlet Sentinel... There's a good dozen names listed here for this thing," Eva said, running her finger down the list. "A
spirit, believed to be bound to the crystal, summoned to serve the will of those that call it..." She turned the page, revealing a number of sketches by
different artists of several different men and women, all dressed in clothes of different eras.
"It's believed to predate humanity on this world," Melissa said. "MAGI has been looking for it for some time, to try and answer the
questions of its origins." I looked up at her curiously. "We thought it was a summoning," she continued. "But the spirit isn't bound to
anything save its purpose. Right now, the crystal doesn't exist."
"It's the spirits bound form," Evangelia realized, looking up. "It doesn't leave the physical world at all." I glanced over at her,
then decided it was easier to let her talk, as she seemed to have a clue about this. "It sleeps until the ritual awakens it."
"But from what was found at that warehouse, it wasn't the right ritual," Melissa commented. I glanced over her shoulder at Sell-Sword, who merely
shrugged. "It was similar to the Pantheons binding of otherworldly totems, but..." she passed Eva several photos. She looked at them for a moment,
then rolled her eyes.
"But it has runes that are improperly engraved, at least one circle missing, and some of the worst grammar I've ever seen," she said. I looked
over her shoulder at the photos of what was left of the warehouse floor. Whatever she saw made no sense to me whatsoever. I really need to research some magic.
"At best, nothing would have happened. At worst, they would have blown themselves up."
"So, how did this..." I looked for the right words. "Guardian spirit wake up?"
"It came into contact with someone whose purpose matched her own," Melissa said. Eva nodded, while I... Well, I had a blank look on my face.
"Think of it as a spiritual key," she explained. "Her purpose is to defend and protect. Would you describe that as your purpose?" I
blinked. Well, I did take being a hero seriously...
"And since the Hellions had already started to wake it, that was enough for it to transform to its active form," Evangelia said in understanding.
"Using Knight as the template."
"Template?" I paused and looked at Sell-Sword, who had matched my question and confused tone exactly.
"That's why you wanted Knights medical file," Eva continued. "You needed to do a comparision."
"Comparison for what?" I asked, giving Melissa a look asking her to just give me an answer.
She considered her response for a moment, then nodded. "The transformation has granted the spirit a fully organic form, using you as the template. Tests
showed her DNA was almost a complete match for yours. In legal terms, she might well be considered your daughter."
After the Ritki War, the hospitals were one of the first things rebuilt, for obvious reasons. To save on time and costs, they were all built to the same model,
which certainly helps. Know one hospital in Paragon, you know them all. And if you're a hero, you've been in the hospitals plenty of times.
So, up the elevators to the third floor, past the security ward for arrested villains with grade A to B magical injuries, the isolation ward, then into wing
for magical beings. As I stepped through the thick timber doors engraved with intricate runic patterns, I stopped at the sight of familiar teenager in blue and
gold armor. "Eva?" I said, looking at the young leader of the Legendary, making her jump in slight surprise. "What're you doing here?"
Evangelia spun, a surprised and concerned look on her face. "You're okay?"
I paused, looking at her oddly. "What, why wouldn't I be?" I asked. Well, I was still sore as hell from the Hellion mess, but that didn't
really count as anything that'd have the most dangerous magical girl I know in a hospital hallway, apparantly looking for me.
The blonde girl seemed to calm down somewhat. "The hospital called the base, requesting your medical files. They said they had your approval, but they
wouldn't tell me why they needed it, even with my security clearance," she said, eyes darting to the ground near me momentarily.
"Usual bureaucrats," I said with a friendly smile. "It's a case I'm involved in, but it's not me directly... I think," I said.
"Still, I appreciate you coming to look into it."
"You're Legendary," she said with an adorable smile. "Of course we came."
Looking around for a moment, I saw no one else. "We?" I asked.
The magical girl grinned. "Space Mage came with me, but she got distracted at the childrens ward," she explained, drawing a smile from me as I
imagined the hyperactive elfgirl doing magic tricks and shows for sick children. Yeah, she'd be all over that. "And Allister," she added, looking
slightly nervous for a moment. Her magical invisible talking penguin mascot was a subject of some quiet discussion among the Legendary, with some wondering it
was a figment of her imagination.
Smiling, I responded "I'd shake his flipper if I could." Heck, Eva read as perfectly sane, and heck, I'd seen weirder reality in the past.
"Now, what say we go get some answers?" I added. Eva nodded, and we walked down the corridor as I explained the Hellions ritual attempt.
"I've never heard of the Hellions trying a summoning before," Eva commented.
"Well, I think it was a summoning. I stink at magic," I admitted. "And I think the Hellions sucked at that spell. Although I wouldn't mind
finding out just what they were aft-" I stopped as we turned a corner and saw Sell-Sword leaning against a wall. "What are you doing here?" I
asked.
The lower-ranked hero looked up at me, posture betraying the boredom he was feeling even if his face was hidden. "Got called up and asked to come in and
answer a few questions," he answered. "Then they asked me to wait here while they checked a few more things."
I was wondering why I hadn't gotten a call when the doors next to Sword swung open and doctor stepped out. "Because I knew you were coming for answers
of your own," she said with a smile before I could even ask. "It's not telepathy, more a form of precognition." I started to scowl.
"Sorry, sometimes I get a little ahead of myself-" She stopped herself. "Sorry." She stepped forward and held out a hand. "Doctor
Melissa Gardener. I'm with MAGI."
There was a quiet snickering from Sword as I realized that not only was that potentially the most annoying form of precognition I'd ever seen, but Sword
had dealt with it himself and had been looking forward to seeing me experience the same thing. "Putting that aside," I said, shaking the Doctors hand
and not giving Sell-Sword the pleasure of an annoyed look, "Do you have any answers?"
"Some, I believe," she said, shaking Evangelias hand before pulling a rather thick tome out of thin air. "But first, I'd like to confirm a
few details," she continued as she opened the tome and quickly turned pages. "Was this the ruby?" the woman asked, flipping the tome around and
showing me an illustration of a large ruby with a pattern of black lines running through it.
"If it's not, it's pretty damn close," I answered as Eva stepped forward. Melissa handed her the book before she even asked, then, oddly
enough, pulled a small fish out of nowhere and held it out closer to ground level. Sword jerked up as the fish was pulled out of her hand, flipped up into the
air and vanished, swallowed by an invisible bird.
"Precognition," she said before Eva could ask. "Not the ability to see and hear, I'm afraid." Both Eva and I looked at her for a
moment, looked at each other, then turned our attention back to the tome.
"Ruby Guardian, Scarlet Sentinel... There's a good dozen names listed here for this thing," Eva said, running her finger down the list. "A
spirit, believed to be bound to the crystal, summoned to serve the will of those that call it..." She turned the page, revealing a number of sketches by
different artists of several different men and women, all dressed in clothes of different eras.
"It's believed to predate humanity on this world," Melissa said. "MAGI has been looking for it for some time, to try and answer the
questions of its origins." I looked up at her curiously. "We thought it was a summoning," she continued. "But the spirit isn't bound to
anything save its purpose. Right now, the crystal doesn't exist."
"It's the spirits bound form," Evangelia realized, looking up. "It doesn't leave the physical world at all." I glanced over at her,
then decided it was easier to let her talk, as she seemed to have a clue about this. "It sleeps until the ritual awakens it."
"But from what was found at that warehouse, it wasn't the right ritual," Melissa commented. I glanced over her shoulder at Sell-Sword, who merely
shrugged. "It was similar to the Pantheons binding of otherworldly totems, but..." she passed Eva several photos. She looked at them for a moment,
then rolled her eyes.
"But it has runes that are improperly engraved, at least one circle missing, and some of the worst grammar I've ever seen," she said. I looked
over her shoulder at the photos of what was left of the warehouse floor. Whatever she saw made no sense to me whatsoever. I really need to research some magic.
"At best, nothing would have happened. At worst, they would have blown themselves up."
"So, how did this..." I looked for the right words. "Guardian spirit wake up?"
"It came into contact with someone whose purpose matched her own," Melissa said. Eva nodded, while I... Well, I had a blank look on my face.
"Think of it as a spiritual key," she explained. "Her purpose is to defend and protect. Would you describe that as your purpose?" I
blinked. Well, I did take being a hero seriously...
"And since the Hellions had already started to wake it, that was enough for it to transform to its active form," Evangelia said in understanding.
"Using Knight as the template."
"Template?" I paused and looked at Sell-Sword, who had matched my question and confused tone exactly.
"That's why you wanted Knights medical file," Eva continued. "You needed to do a comparision."
"Comparison for what?" I asked, giving Melissa a look asking her to just give me an answer.
She considered her response for a moment, then nodded. "The transformation has granted the spirit a fully organic form, using you as the template. Tests
showed her DNA was almost a complete match for yours. In legal terms, she might well be considered your daughter."