Chapter 40

Henry really wasn’t sure how to process what he’d just heard. He’d been through a lot this past week or so. He’d seen a lot, he’d learned a lot, and he’d experienced a lot. That was a lot of a lots for a single person to go through, but he figured he’d been doing quite well with it. Considering the fire kitty D.E.D. he’d watched get defeated earlier, the partner of another brand-new exorcist, he figured he was actually doing better than most. But like, how was he supposed to process this? What the Storm Crow had just showed him, made everything else suddenly feel a lot less significant.

“So, what are we supposed to do?” Henry asked as his vision returned to normal, his presence once again fully situated in his house. Judging by the ashes at the top of the hookah bowl, he’d been in the Storm Crow’s vision for longer than he’d expected. But now wasn’t the time to bemoan a wasted bowl.

THAT’S FOR YOU TO DECIDE, AWAKENED ONE. The Storm Crow was back to it’s normal way of talking. The loud, obnoxious, screeching way. GIVE UP AND DIE, OR STRUGGLE AND FAIL. It looked at him, tilting its head. BOTH LEAD TO MISERY AND DEATH.

“Are you sure you’re not a raven?” He asked dryly as he looked at the bird. Ever since it had joined him, it had all been doom and gloom. Granted, from what he’d just seen, the crow formed D.E.D. definitely had a good reason to appear that way. That being said, if there really wasn’t a chance, then why did D.E.D. keep forming bonds with humans? Why had the storm crow agreed to join him? Come to think of it, the storm crow had mentioned something that made him curious. Though, he wasn’t going to keep having a conversation with the bird given it’s grating way of speaking.

“What can you tell me about the betrayers?” Henry asked as he turned to his Evil Eye. Of his three D.E.D., it was the most concise, and helpful. No matter what all the other exorcists said, Henry’s Evil Eye was definitely the most helpful in his opinion.

The betrayers, as the Storm Crow put it, were a group of powerful, ancient D.E.D. who were some of the first to make contact with humans. They were incredibly powerful already, and had gained massive amounts of essence through their lifetimes. While not quite Gods themselves, their power nearly rivaled the Gods, and often times, they worked together. However, for some reason, they turned on the Gods. They were sent here, to eliminate your species, and prepare the way for our kind to come over. Instead, they shared secrets with your kind, and gave them the power to not only form bonds with D.E.D. but to fight back, over and over, against any forces that came through.

The evil eye glanced towards the Storm Crow, who was preening his feathers, seeming uninterested in the conversation. The bird had, after all, done what it promised to do. Now, as it had mentioned previously, the rest was up to Henry.

“If these betrayers had powers to rival the gods, can’t they aid us in standing against what is to come?” The story was similar enough to what he’d learned during his time with the exorcists. Powerful D.E.D. coming through, teaching humans how to interact with their species, giving humans a way to defends themselves. Of course, the bit about them being nearly equal to the beings the D.E.D. called gods, had been left out.

No. The Evil Eye responded, and its voice seemed to actually hold a bit of sorrow in it. The D.E.D. of old, who first offered their aid to the humans, are no longer capable of fighting back. Because of their immense power, it was difficult for them to maintain their forms within the human world, without causing a dangerous amount of damage. As such, they split themselves, dividing their powers over and over again. The D.E.D. created by this division were still powerful, mind you, capable of taking down D.E.D. such as Larpen in a single blow, but no where near the power they once wielded. And, as time went on, their unique essence trials waivered, and the bits of them fragmented even more.

“Meaning?” Henry had an idea of where this was going.

The old D.E.D. who aided the humans are gone. As far as we can tell, their offspring still remain within the human realm, as occasionally we could sense a brief flash of their old powers, but they are shells, husks of what they used to be.

“Well then,” Henry let out a heavy sigh, looking at the three D.E.D. in the room with him. While he would be lying if he claimed to say he understood all of this, there were a few things he’d at least made up his mind on. First and foremost, he was going to level his D.E.D. how he wanted, and that meant keeping his Evil Eye and leveling. Second, he didn’t trust the Exorcists, though he wasn’t sure if he should trust Loki, or not. That was still up in the air. Third, he was a fan of how much he was going to make by being an exorcist, and honestly, while it added some chaos to his life, it also made it a lot more interesting than it had ever been. Meaning, he wasn’t ready to have it all gone yet.

Which brought him to his fourth understanding. The world was in trouble. Of course, the Exorcists already knew that, and recognized there was a threat coming. Henry didn’t know if they knew what exactly they were up against, but it was crystal clear they were trying their hardest to grow their forces as quickly as possible. However, he had a sinking feeling that mere numbers, weren’t going to help humans out. Which meant, last, but certainly not least, he would need to begin seeing just how powerful he could become. And, on top of that, figuring out who he could trust not only with this knowledge, but also with what would come next.

Henry hadn’t been a slouch in life, but he’d also not been a crazy go getter. However, here and now, he’d created a stronger resolution than ever before. Starting tomorrow, he was going to begin a new page in his life. Starting tomorrow, along with leveling up his D.E.D., he would begin trying to figure out who could help him gather the power, knowledge, and who knew what else, that would be needed to keep this new threat to humanity at bay. It might not work, they might fail and die trying, but Henry knew, at this moment, that he’d found a purpose. The Exorcists, the D.E.D, both told him he had essentially unlimited potential, and so, it was time to start putting that to the test.