Chapter 43

“So,” Henry couldn’t resist. “Are you stronger than Loki?” He immediately regretted the question, as pain rushed over his body. He swerved hard, trying his best to keep going straight on the road, and glared at Jewel, who was currently glaring at him. “Oy, you’ll get us killed.”

“I told you not to mention that individual around me.” She said sharply. “But, if you must know. No. Loki wields one of the Legendary D.E.D. My Yuki-Onna is strong, but still young compared to Fenrir. Plus, as I explained earlier, because I’ve bound myself with Yuki, the power is limited to what my body can handle. Fenrir, when summoned, can utilize its full power. Though, that particular D.E.D. is notorious for burning through its users.” She laughed darkly. “Meaning each use, puts Loki closer to death.”

As promised, Jewel had explained everything to him, and confirmed, sadly, the fact that Henry couldn’t wield the power she and the others did at this time. Or more appropriately, he shouldn’t try. The process involved willingly allowing a D.E.D. to possess the user. Once begun, the D.E.D. would transfer its full essence within the Exorcist’s body, and then begin to intertwine their beings together. The stronger the Exorcist, the stronger the D.E.D. they could bond with.

The process had the perks of, once being completed, not requiring D.E.D. points to utilize the D.E.D.’s power. Instead, based on how strongly the Exorcist matched the resonation frequency from the other world, they could harness that much of the power of the D.E.D. with which they’d fused. If they drew too much power though, they risked ripping themselves apart, which would result not only in their death, but the shattering of the D.E.D. with which they’d combined. Which, according to Jewel…would result in a rather large explosion of force and matter and could cause long term danger to the world.

According to Jewel, Chernobyl, wasn’t a nuclear meltdown, but a failed fusion attempt by the Russians, that still emitted hazardous energy to this day.

From what she’d told him, this process could only happen once, because it involved the combining of the human and D.E.D. It was similar in process, to fusing two D.E.D. together, but because humans and D.E.D. were different on a molecular level, it didn’t result in the same circumstances. Additionally, once the fusion was conducted, the D.E.D. and Exorcist, forever bound, would share the same body. The Exorcist, in theory, would maintain control, but there were cases of the D.E.D. overwhelming the Exorcist, and seizing full control from the human. In those instances, they were hunted down, and promptly destroyed.

Needless to say, the power was a double-edged sword, and something that one shouldn’t undergo recklessly. Additionally, because it could only happen once, it was imperative the exorcist only execute it with a D.E.D. that was not only powerful, but also, agreeable, personality wise, with the Exorcist. Henry had gotten himself slapped…for making a snide comment about Jewel’s icy persona matching that of Yuki-Onna.

“Next question then.” Henry said as he focused on the road. Jewel was looking at her app, scanning for the approaching rift. An alarm had sounded from her phone, signaling one was forming. “How did you get an Ultra-Rare D.E.D.” Jon had seemed impressed he had two uncommon D.E.D. Yet, from his research, Henry knew they weren’t all that high on the list. It went common, uncommon, rare, ultra-rare, and then Legendary. Or at least, he figured legendary was separate from Ultra-Rare, especially after Jewel’s comment.

“Fusion.” She said simply. “As you know, you can fuse your D.E.D. together, to create a new one. Fusions that have taken place have their results recorded, as you know, in Exorcists logs. When I was strong enough, I made it my goal to get the D.E.D. needed to make Yuki, and did so.” She said it so matter of fact. However, Henry also knew not only did the types of D.E.D involved in fusion effect the outcome, but their levels did to. If he had to guess, creating Yuki-Oona had required some high level D.E.D. Which, given her…attraction to murdering D.E.D., probably hadn’t been a problem for her.

“Was it that simple then? You just looked through the records, found reports of a D.E.D. you wanted, and then you just went out and got it?” He laughed. “That sounds a bit too convenient and easy.”

“It took a bit more than that.” She said, her tone going strangely distant. “I’m not proud of what I had to do, to get her. But it was necessary.” Henry shivered, as a thought crossed his mind. The warning from Loki. Had Jewel slain other exorcists, to get the D.E.D. she wanted? Was that a thing? Or had she…convinced them to trade with her. Was that something he would have to worry about, within the organization? Thinking on it, he wondered if that was another reason why the Exorcists had been after JJ’s father. Had the Demon Hunter possessed D.E.D. the exorcists needed? He didn’t like where this train of thought was going.

“Alright. That’s not ominous at all.” Henry said. He tried not to think about it as he turned off Powers, heading towards the upcoming rift. From a glance at her phone screen, Henry could tell it was just a standard rift. He wondered, what would come through it? And also, what types of Ultra-Rare D.E.D. were out there, that could be created? If he just started forming pacts with D.E.D., could he fuse his way into an Ultra-Rare?

“Like I said. The process is permanent. You need to resolve yourself to your goal, and do whatever you can, to achieve it. If you waiver, for even an instant, you’ll fail.” She said. “Everything you do, you need to be sure of. If you’re chasing power, if you truly want to survive, you need to have your goals, your ambitions, and your convictions, all figured out. If you half-ass anything, you’ll die.”

“And,” she continued as they parked. “Like I’ve said, countless times. The sooner you learn all these things, and figure out this isn’t a game, the better. Wasting time on things like your Evil Eye, or flaunting your D.E.D. about, will slow you down, and keep you weak.”

She slammed the door as she got out, and Henry did the same. She may be powerful, ridiculously so, but at the same time, he couldn’t help but feel she was close minded. All of the exorcists, it seemed, were. They focused on just pure, raw might. From what he could tell, they were a might makes right type of group, but he felt, there was just so much more to everything than that. And, following what he’d seen from his D.E.D., and the visions the Storm Crow had shared with him, he couldn’t justify their way of thinking. He needed power, but there was more to it than just that.

“I promise you,” Henry said as they headed towards the rift. “I’ve got my goals figured out, and I know what I need to do. However,” as they walked, he couldn’t help but feel the tension between them. As much as he wanted her power on his side, he wasn’t sure they could work together fully, just yet. Meaning, he wasn’t going to trust her with what he knew at this time. “I’ll get to my goal the best way I see fit, and I won’t throw away D.E.D. or make pointless sacrifices to get there.”

He was on the ground before he knew it, Jewel’s foot on his throat. If he hadn’t just been shown the fact she’d fused with an Ultra-Rare D.E.D., the sudden, explosive speed and power from her, would have been confusing.

“My sacrifices,” she said, her eyes completely cold as her heel pressed down on his throat, cutting off his air. “Were not pointless.” His vision waivered. “And if you ever, cross this line again,” his consciousness was fading, “I will kill you.” Her foot left his throat just as he was sure he was going to pass out, leaving him on the ground, paralyzed by fear and uncertainty. Sure, they may be utilizing demonic creatures from another dimension, but at that moment, Henry felt, deep in his core, a new primal fear form. Jewel, he realized there and then, was terrifying.