Spell, Crook and Handle Pt. 07

"Aw fuck," I cursed again seeing the blazing angelic form inhabiting the girl. "Really, a fucking jet and this is where you want to fight?"

"There will be no fight, only a massacre." She replied as she stood up and the seat belt snapped.

"I drove you out of that other poor girl. I will do it again."

"You took me by surprise. I have made preparations this time." It said as it drew closer.

"So have I," I lied as I removed the watch from my wrist.

"Are you planning on seeing how long it takes you to die?" The angel taunted.

"Less talk more action wind bag," I said trying to rattle the Watcher.

She rushed forward and I dropped my arm willing the watch to take on the form of a shield. I brought that shield between me and the possessed girl. Her fist struck the dark material and there was a brilliant flash of light. I was still standing in the same spot and the girl was a few steps back and looking pissed and confused. I didn't want to have to kill her. It would prove decidedly difficult to explain. What would the Weaver do? Well, she would blast the watcher to bits. Wait a second, a wicked idea flashed into my mind. I needed a weakness and I knew what to do. It might kill me but if it worked, oh if it worked. I willed the shield into a new shape, a simple metal baton.

"You wouldn't hit a girl would you?" She said in her most convincing tone.

"Yeah, actually I would," I replied as she looked me over.

"I can still crush your windpipe before you kill this body." It replied even as I brought the spell into my mind.

The angel rushed forward. I dropped my weapon hand to my side and used all that speed Iyaden had drilled into me to sidestep just enough. The girl's outstretched fingers missed my throat but did find my upper arm. However, even as she squeezed I placed my hand on the side of her face. I discharged the spell fueled with the dark magic. It was kind of like adding nitrous oxide to a fuel mixture. It was loud and explosive. The orgasm hit the girl's nervous system like tempered steel. The dark magic did its work as well. I think she broke the long bone in the upper part of my right arm but she was now kneeling on the floor of the jet. The next two spells were cast in quick succession. The first enhanced her sensitivity to pleasure and the second was a stronger version of the climax enchantment. The angel was now trapped in a body wracked with pleasure.

"Clever worm, I will kill you the next time we meet," she said through clenched teeth.

"I know," I replied.

"Oh god, I am coming," the girl said as three more orgasms hit her in quick succession.

"What the hell is going on," Becca said as she sat up rubbing sleep from her eyes. "Louis, are you okay?"

"No, my arm is broke," I told her. "I need to hit the rest room and try and do some damage control. Can you keep an eye out on her?"

"Will you explain when you come out?"

"I promise," I said.

I slipped into the jet's small bathroom and sat on the toilet. I locked the door and only then did I cry out and let the pain have its way. I shifted and felt the bones begin to knit. Okay, I assumed since the pain lessened that I was doing something right. I pushed my shifting by actually focusing on those specific bones and imagined them whole and unbroken. I alternated between male and female forms and when I could shift no longer I reverted to my original shape. My arm was sore as hell but I could wiggle my fingers without screaming. I unlocked the door and Becca was standing right outside.

"Did you know I was a medical doctor?" She asked as she examined me.

"Nope, but anything you can do will be greatly appreciated," I told her.

"Nyx, scan Louis' arm," she ordered and her A.I. manifested in her sexy nurse avatar.

"The bone is in bad shape but not broken," Nyx said after a long pause. "It shows signs of healing but the bruising indicates this occurred recently."

"What the hell happened, are those finger marks on your arm? Did that crazy bitch do this?"

"Well in order, the girl was possessed and crushed my arm, yes those are finger marks and yes she did this."

"Possessed, Louis what the hell are you talking about," Becca asked giving me that look.

"I made a promise to be honest from now on," I said. "Hold out your arm."

"Okay," she said as she lifted her arm up. "Now what...?"

"This," I said casting the sensitivity spell upon her. "How does this feel?"

"UNNNNN... what the hell," she moaned. "Did you do that?"

"Uh huh," I said fighting the urge to sleep. "Touch your nipples and that ought to prove my point."

Becca reached underneath her top and lightly pinched her nipples. The reaction was priceless and would keep her occupied for a while. I found a seat to recline in and almost instantly dropped off to sleep. I slept for eight hours and woke up to find Becca and the blonde still asleep. There was a definite scent of sex in the air. I recovered Jon's gift where it had fallen to the floor of the jet. I restored it to its watch form and put it back on. I checked on Feng and she was fully charge. I woke her from her cybernetic slumber.

"Hello Feng," I said as the sphere took flight and her hologram surrounded it.

"Hi Louis, did I miss much?" She asked looking at the two sleeping women.

"Just a second attack by that fucking angel," I cursed. "I am afraid the third time will be my last. I cannot keep on tricking it. The first time it nearly broke me by flinging me at an oak tree. This time it latched on and broke my freaking arm. If it wasn't for using shifting to heal I'd be in a world of hurt. If she had gotten her hand around my neck, well we wouldn't be having this conversation."

"We are in Japanese airspace," Feng called out. "ETA twenty seven minutes until we land and there is a limo waiting at the airport. Kat has called ahead and we are staying at the Asakusa Estate. I am sure that Yuki will be pleased to see you back."

"Can you run facial recognition on the blonde," I asked and Feng just smiled.

"The blonde as you refer to her is Tiffany Barnes. She is the daughter to none other than Jeremy Barnes, the U.S. Ambassador."

"Be a doll and wake them up, I am going to throw some water on my face and try for a mulligan."

I was favoring my left hand for now but there was no helping it. The range of my right arm was severely limited until such time as I finished healing it myself or Doc Becca came up with a solution. I looked at the logistics and decided I would put up with this situation until we reached the estate. Then I could shift to my heart's content and sleep it off. That seemed the most solid plan I could think of. If I really looked as bad as my reflection I was going to start things in a weak position. There was a knock on the door and I yielded the bathroom to the hung over hussy from Tallahassee. As I passed her I realized one good thing, I didn't look nearly as bad as she did. Chalk up one for the home team.

We landed and I felt the unrelenting stare from Becca. I told her for the umpteenth time that I was fine. You know what fine stands for right, Fucked up-Insecure-Neurotic-Emotional. The jet landed and as promised there was a limo waiting. We all climbed aboard and the quiet and demure Tiffany was dropped off at the embassy before we headed off to the estate. It took us another forty five minutes to get there because of traffic and what had started out as a dull ache became full-fledged agony. I was holding my upper arm now to keep its movements to a minimum. Becca looked downright concerned by the time I got out of the limo. The house staff was assembled and their smiling faces turned to panic when I nearly face planted from the fever I had developed.

Becca barked out orders and the staff complied without hesitation. I was drifting in and out of consciousness as she operated. Apparently a shard of bone had been dislodged, found its way into the muscle and had become infected. The possessed Tiffany hadn't just broken my arm she had shattered it. While I had managed to repair most of the damage I couldn't do it all on my own. My fever broke and I was given a ton of Master Nick's private stock of bottled water. The regenerative abilities saved me from losing my arm and my life. It had become real fucking personal now. But how the hell was I supposed to beat a being like a Watcher? I would always be dealing with it possessing another human being, an innocent. Even if I killed the host the Watcher remained. That was my last coherent thought that I had for a while.

I opened my eyes and was staring up at the elegantly decorated ceiling. The serpentine dragon looked down at me and my first clear thought was this.

"Is it smiling at me," I mumbled.

I looked around and the pain that had haunted me was gone. I tentatively wiggled the fingers on my right hand. No shooting white hot pain followed so I continued. I lifted my lower arm from the futon I was lying on. The lack of pain made me bold and I lifted my entire right arm up and off the mattress. It felt a little stiff but not a single hint of irritation. I was about to sit up when I realized there was a naked girl on top of me. I lifted up the blanket expecting Becca but it was Yuki, my former bodyguard, sleeping there. She stirred and opened her eyes.

"Hello Louis," she said groggily. "How are you feeling?"

"My arm doesn't hurt if that is what you mean," I told her.

"It was touch and go for a while," Yuki said.

"Tell me what happened," I asked and she nodded as she recounted the events.

"You staggered out of the limo and you were so pale. We knew something was wrong immediately. That's when Becca-san began shouting orders. We carried you to a room that became a makeshift operating room. It was luck that Nick-sama had the estate stocked for any and all emergencies. The surgery kit was one of those items that he demanded be kept in house. It was that and the blood supply that saved your life. I don't have all the details but apparently a shard of bone nicked an artery and an infection arose from that. Becca-san was shocked at how fast the infection had developed and spread. She actually used the word malevolent. She operated and removed the bone fragment as well as taking care of the bleeding. She closed you up and they gave you several units of blood. Over the next twenty four hours she checked her work looking for further signs of infection or blood loss. Louis, she found no signs of your surgery. The skin is unmarred and that's when she began drinking rather heavily. Feng overruled any scans, tests or further treatments short of food and water."

She finished her narrative and closed her eyes again. A hint of movement next to me and I looked to my left and there was a sleeping Becca. She looked like she had been through hell and back. I sniffed the air and her breath reeked of alcohol. I closed my eyes and decided sleep wasn't such a bad idea right now. I would get up when Yuki or Becca got up. My body seemed to like that idea and I was asleep in no time at all.

"Wake up Louis, I have prepared coffee for you," Yuki whispered in my ear.

"How is Becca," I asked and a grumble sounded next to me.

"I will live," Becca said with a hint of doubt in her voice.

I sat up and used my arms to prop myself up. That's when I discovered there were lasting effects from the Watcher's attack. My right hand was numb and would not hold my weight. I fell back and to the side. I stared at my hand as if it had betrayed me. I wiggled my fingers again this time the tingling sensation as if it were asleep was strong. I managed to sit up using my left arm. Yuki had tears in her eyes and Becca was ominously silent.

"Nerve damage," I said and Becca nodded. "Great... "

Yuki sat opposite of me and held the porcelain coffee cup as I drank from it. I was numb inside. How could the wound heal without a sign and yet I had somehow suffered nerve damage? Wait, the memory of Yuki's narrative hit me. Becca had called it malevolent. Had the Watcher cursed me somehow? That made a sick sort of sense. That feeling of violation just got that much worse. I grit my teeth to keep from screaming. This was not going to slow me down! I would find a cure and pay the angel back in spades.

"Yuki, can you get me a water bottle and put some coffee in it for me please?"

"YES Louis," she said smiling brilliantly.

"I know that look," Becca said. "What can I do?"

"I got Yuki's take on things. Can you tell me what happened, from a doctor's point of view?"

Becca nodded and launched into a very technical and detailed series of events. I asked for the layman's term from time to time to get a clearer picture of how things progressed. That's when she told me about the blood. How the first unit of blood had been absorbed by my body at what she described as an alarming rate. The more blood that was used the faster I healed. She actually had to stop giving me blood so that she could remove the shard before the flesh grew over it. Her narrative ended with my arm being stitched up and fed three bottles of Nick's miracle mineral water.

"Feng, I want a high resolution scan of my right arm. I need a live full spectrum view of what is going on."

"Yes Louis," she said popping into existence.

The holographic screen appeared and there at the sign of the wound was a dark area of neural activity. I moved my arms and watched how the damage affected the range of movement and strength. Feng zoomed in and what I feared most was confirmed. The damage was spreading. It was excruciatingly slow but it was getting worse. Feng thinking ahead showed me a time lapse display of the eventual spread of the condition. In one week I would be dead. I could cut off my arm and end it or I could seek a solution.

"If I have the limb removed will it stop the progression," I asked Becca and Feng.

"I give it an 80 percent chance of success," Feng said after a short pause.

"Only 80," Becca said surprised. "Why only 80?"

"I suspect Louis' blood has been compromised. If the limb is severed I think the attack will manifest elsewhere."

"You know something I don't," Becca said her eyes narrowing. "Out with it."

The display changed, this one showed an entire body scan. It was color coded and navy blue dominated most of the image. Feng explained this was a scan showing the cellular change since I had been injected with the two vials. The navy blue shows what has been altered by the substance from the vials. Becca and I were equally shocked by the level and depth of infestation. Feng zoomed in on my upper right arm. The black area stood out on the scan and then Feng zoomed in even more. There were thin tendrils extending from the damaged area and Feng highlighted them and they were everywhere.

"Severing the main mass might destroy the filaments," Feng said.

"I've only seen this once before," Becca shaking her head. "Charlie has an infestation like this. But his has a beneficial nature while this one... well this one is a fucking parasite."

I closed my eyes tears ran down my cheeks. My first thought was to attempt using shape shifting to rid myself of his thing. I could improve my condition or it could have been the cause for the spread of these filaments in the first place. There was only one way to find out. I told Feng to maintain the scan and stood up. I looked at Becca and I contemplated asking her and Yuki to leave the room. I knew Yuki would keep my secrets but Becca was an unknown. She was a doctor so I asked her if I was her patient. The withering look she gave me confirmed my trust in her. I began the change as they looked on. Feng monitored me closely and it was determined that it had no affect either good or ill on the infection.

"I got to think this thing through," I said as my bladder decided, upon that moment, to inform me it was full. "Shit, I need to pee."

I crossed the room and as I opened the shoji and shifted back. After my bladder had been attended to I decided a dip in the onsen was required. A good long soak in the hot springs would do me some good. Even if it was only emotional, I needed time to contemplate a solution. There had to be one and I was going to find it. All problems have a solution, even if it demanded maiming himself. I sat in the shallow end of the onsen and closed my eyes. I accessed the neural implant for a quiet place to contemplate uninterrupted. I told Feng not to speak with me unless it was an emergency. I entered my Silent Temple. It was the single aspect of the implant that I had made my own. I had created it when Lily went missing. It was plain, austere and designed for meditation. Even the waterfall fell muted to the pool below it. I step onto the balcony that looked out over the holographic landscape and I was surprised to see new structures. The single most impressive construct was a stark white pyramid with a jet colored capstone.

"That's new," I said breaking the quiet. "I am guessing Jon placed that here."

I teleported to the front of the pyramid and there were two guards carrying wicked looking halberds. The most astonishing thing was they appeared to be twin versions of the god Anubis. They parted and allowed me entrance into the building. The interior appeared to be a massive library and the librarians were other Egyptian goddesses. The majority seemed to be clones of Bastet, the cat goddess. While the jackal god guarded the cat goddess maintained the pyramid and its contents. There was one figure that stood out over the others, the phoenix goddess. Was she the head librarian?

"Greetings Master," she said as she approached. "I am your primary interface. How may I be of service to you?"

"I am ill," I said. "I am looking for a treatment."

"I will access appropriate medical records one moment please," she said and her face darkened. "You seem to have a malfunctioning monofilament neural device. I will attempt a third party interface."

"Third party interface," I said. "I don't understand."

"This node is not allowed to compromise its safety but directly interacting with any type of infected software or hardware. I will construct a... a probe if you like. The nano-probe will interface and attempt to repair the damage."

"That's amazing," I said and she smiled.

"I am Bennu, high priestess of this place and your humble servant."

Bennu raised her hands and the air shimmered as she built the nano-probe she mentioned. She spoke the entire time as she described her work. To be honest the finished product appeared like a sperm cell. The data package would be delivered once the probe pierced the damaged area. The probe was launched from a tear duct and its progress was observed through a holographic display. The bright blue blip flashed as it moved through my blood stream and headed for its target, my right arm. The anticipation grew as it got closer and closer. After god only knows how many nanoseconds the probe struck its target and was absorbed and destroyed.

"The probe failed," Bennu said smiling.

"If it failed why are you smiling," I growled.

"Even in failure a fraction of success may be attained. I now know what we are dealing with. It is a psychic parasite and tailored to kill you very slowly. Your enemy wishes you to suffer. I will run simulations until I find a solution. If you wish to peruse the library until then please feel free. I will assign you a Librarian. She will help guide you and explain how this node functions."

"Thank you," I said.

One of the librarians walked over and took my arm. Here at least my right arm followed my commands. The full majesty of the library began to dawn on me. There was a massive chamber dedicated to every subject known to man and a few that appeared to be alien. I was drawn instantly to the runes marking the chamber dedicated to Iyaden's people. The two of us stepped inside and my mouth dropped open in surprise. There were no books; the hemispherical dome was covered with gleaming jewels. The center of the dome was a single massive obelisk carved of glowing amethyst. It was polished to a mirror bright surface.