Nightmare Realm Summoner

“So,” Teddy asked as they pulled chairs out in the open-air court of a small cafe. It sat on an outcropping on the side of the mountain overlooking much of the Empty Court below. “What do you think?”

“It’s incredible,” Alex admitted. He sat down, and Claire took the chair beside him. “I’ve never seen anything like it. Almost seems like someone crossed Heaven and Valhalla.”

“Right?” Teddy asked with a laugh. “I’m a fan. The decor is great. Not exactly something I can see myself tolerating for a long time, but it’s enjoyable. The food is great. I already ordered. Don’t worry.”

Alex and Claire narrowed their eyes.

“Really?” Alex asked.

“Hey,” Teddy said, raising his hands. “No magic this time around. Not for this. I’ve just been here enough times to order the good shit. I mean, it’s all good. But this is the best.”

A young woman stepped out from the building behind them. She didn’t wear anything even close to resembling a uniform, but the tray in her hand bearing a very large pizza made it pretty clear that she was either a worker or a particularly opportunistic customer.

“Enjoy,” she said, thunking the plate down on the table before them. It landed with a rather hefty klonk.

Alex’s eyebrows rose slightly. The pizza was completely loaded. Meat, vegetables, literally everything. It had practically been piled to the brim. This looked more like a warcrime than a pizza.

“Thanks,” Teddy said. “Appreciate it. Already paid.”

“I know,” she said. Then she jerked her chin down toward the side of the mountain, in the direction of the large colosseum beneath them. “You going to be around for long? I’ve been dying to try my hand at beating you. Heard you beat Rex.”

“I’ll slot you in,” Teddy said. He grinned. “I figure I could move a few less-important fights out of the way to accommodate.”

The girl grinned. “Yeah? I’ll take you up on that. Enjoy your meal. I’ll see you around.”

Then she turned, slipping back into the cafe.

Alex and Claire looked at Teddy.

“What?” Teddy asked. “Don’t look at me like that. Not all of us find a girlfriend in hell. Some of us have to do it the normal way.”

“If you can see the future and you still can’t get a girlfriend, I think you might have even bigger problems than I thought,” Alex said.

Teddy pulled a slice of pizza free from the large pie. He had to hold it with both hands to keep the monstrosity from collapsing. “Hey. That would be cheating the process. Even I have standards.”

“Really?” Alex asked.

Teddy considered him for a moment. Then he took a bite of his pizza.

Alex sighed. Then he grabbed a slice himself. It was pretty clear they weren’t going to get much more from Teddy until they’d eaten.

And so they did.

It was good.

Alex had to admit it. Internally, at least. He had no plans of telling Teddy as much. But, somehow, the cafe had managed to make the absolute demonic existence that was the literal-everything pizza taste quite good. It wasn’t long long at all before the entire thing had been wiped clean.

Claire didn’t even have to touch the meal. Normal food wasn’t exactly her thing, but she’d preoccupied herself by watching Teddy intently the entire time. He didn’t seem too bothered by the attention. His attention seemed to be fully on stuffing his face.

If Alex ignored the heavenly scenery all around them, he could have almost tricked himself into thinking that they were all just back at college.

“Whewh,” Teddy said, leaning back in his chair. “Good, right?”

“It was pizza,” Alex said noncommittally, mentally taking note of the cafe’s location on the mountain.

They’d be back.

Teddy snorted. “Sure. Whatever you say. Look. I know you’ve got a ton of questions. I would too. Some of them are probably even good ones. And I’d love to answer as much as I can, but I really just can’t. There’s too much to do… and too much to make sure doesn’t get messed up. Don’t ask me anything about stuff that I obviously can’t answer.”

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“Like what?” Alex asked.

“The future,” Teddy said. “But the past… fair game. You can ask whatever you want. Not that you’re going to get much more than what I’ve already said. I already gave you the most of it.”

“Why don’t you just tell us what you think we’d want to know, then?” Alex asked. “Because you should know that much. And you know what you can answer. Seems like it’ll skip a lot of the BS.”

Not that I’m so sure I’ll trust anything you say. We’re a long ways from that.

Teddy blinked. “Huh. That’s not a bad idea at all, actually. Sure. Let’s see… your membership is permanent. I don’t control it. For that matter, all I did was invite you. I don’t have influence over your ability to come here anymore. Credits aren’t worth anything here either. It’s all about strength and potential. You’ll figure the rest of that bit out on your own. Honestly, if you want my advice on anything else, I’d say the best way you can spend the time is by letting me show you around more and fill you in on a few of the tips and tricks that will end up coming in handy.”

“Why is that?” Claire raised an eyebrow. “Can’t we find out about it from anyone?”

“Yeah,” Teddy said with a grin. “But I know all the good spots. Have a few deals I can get you as well. Everything here is about two things. How strong you are and who you know.”

“And which is it you rely on?” Claire asked.

Teddy’s grin widened. “Both.”

***

Liam rubbed the center of his chest with a pained grimace. It had been a few minutes since Stargazer and his friends had headed out of the room to get food and their tour of the Empty Court. He blew out a small sigh.

This whole mess was far too complicated for his tastes. There were too many moving pieces. So many different ways that something or another could go wrong. But Stargazer seemed to have all of that under control. For the moment, all he had to do was sit around and sooth his aching body.

As a general rule, he quite enjoyed his powers.

But there were times when they became a little too useful… and nothing in this world ever came without at least some cost. All things considered, this really wasn’t all that big of one. Not compared to the price that some others would pay.

He was still massaging his chest when a shimmer passed through the air to his side. He glanced over as Stargazer’s translucent form materialized, turning solid and realistic within moments. It seemed as if the man had appeared out of thin air.

Liam probably wouldn’t have gone so far as to assume that Stargazer was truly here, though. The man seemed to have the ability to somehow be a dozen different places all at once. Liam had seen far too many people assume they were dealing with the real thing, only for another one to give them a very nasty surprise from behind.

“That bad?” Stargazer asked, glancing to Liam’s hand. “Or did the talk of food just make you hungry?”

Liam snorted. He let his hand drop. “Don’t be an ass, Stargazer. You had me transform into a fucker that has a giant ass hole in his chest. Do you have any idea how true transformation works? I had to remove my own heart. I have no damn idea how Absolution does it. He’s got some real nasty magic keeping him alive. And it is unfortunately beyond my abilities. If you dragged that on any longer, we’d have been in trouble.”

“Don’t worry,” Stargazer said. “I was keeping an eye on the time. I always am.”

Liam rolled his eyes. “Sure you were. Wasn’t you that was suffering. Whatever. You got what you needed, yeah? We’re done?”

“Not yet,” Teddy replied. “There’s still more. You should know that by now.”

Liam grimaced. He stretched his arms up, letting out a long yawn before letting them drop back to his sides and shaking his head. “Figures. You know, I’m starting to feel like your errand boy. I have things that I want to do myself. And you didn’t even give me the cool core.”

“It would have killed you,” Stargazer said.

“Me?” Liam asked. “Really? Of all people? Somehow, I doubt it. Save the bullshit for someone else, Stargazer.”

There was a moment of silence. Then Stargazer let out a small laugh.

“I didn’t want to give it to you. I’m saving it for a much better purpose. And I don’t have long to talk. I’m a little busy at the moment. I just need you to do one last thing for me. You’ve got the letter I gave you this morning?”

Liam reached into his pocket and pulled out a small folder. “Yes. You said to hold onto it. I still have it. But, if you continue with your bullshit at this rate, I’m going to ask for a raise.”

“Open it,” Stargazer said, ignoring Liam. “The red one is for you. Deliver the other one. Then go do what you want. Thanks for your help. I appreciate it.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Liam said with a wave of his free hand. He needn’t have bothered. Stargazer was already gone.

Rolling his eyes, Liam carefully pulled the top of the letter open. He’d been tempted to open it a few times already today, but there had been a nonzero chance that Stargazer had rigged it with something. There were some risks that weren’t worth taking the chance over.

From within the envelope fell two smaller ones. The first was small and red, while the second was white with a beautiful golden trim. Liam’s eyes widened slightly. He gingerly tucked the larger envelope the two smaller letters had come from away, then pulled open the red one.

From within it fell a thin platinum coin. It dropped to the floor with a very heavy thunk for something its size. Liam drew in a sharp breath. He quickly crouched, grabbing the coin and stuffing it into his pocket. Then he glanced back at the opened letter.

There was only a single sentence written within it.

Your raise.

“Asshole,” Liam muttered, shoving the letter into his back pocket despite a growing grin on his lips.

He looked at the other letter. Then he flipped it over.

There was a single word written on its front.

Absolution.

“Gods,” Liam said. “He really is a two-timer.”

Then he shook his head, slipping the letter into his pocket and striding down the hall.

It would have been a shame to keep Absolution waiting for long when there was an invite to the Empty Court with his name on it.