Carlos took a bite, "Yeah that's not great." He grinned and went to his phone and after fidgeting with the password and the voicemail command for a minute he checked his voicemail.
"Are you sure about this? Even tinkering with Reality a little could have serious side effects. Right?"
Now that Kaitlyn wasn't affecting Creation on such a large scale as when she was keeping Ethan alive, she tentatively reaches out with her Angel Sight to see how bad Reality was being twisted.
Jessica can...feel the twist in the world, but the change is minor. Reality groans, rather than screams. The burger looks both as delicious and as horrible as food can to Jessica now. It manages to make her feel a little queasy.
Carlos calls his voicemail. He hears from the other line that the burger itself was definitely not tasty.
"Wait."
He scratches his head and sighs. There was no way to tell.
Kavax simmered thoughtfully.
"So, I'm guessing that means it's retroactive? At least that's the main thing I could gather from what was probably the test here."
"Sorry," Kaitlyn said, and let go of the ability. "It's only one fact, but it's pretty definitive. Even the world seems to remember the new version. Sometimes I think I only remember so I can put it back."
Jessica turns a little green as she clutches her stomach. "Ugh. Put that thing away," she says, gesturing to the burger in Carlos' hand.
When Kaitlyn returns everything to normal, the tension leaves Jessica though she still remains agitated. "The world still knows something's wrong," she says, harsher than maybe she should have said it. She hugs her shoulders and walks away, trying to ignore an instinct to just smite her and be done with the whole affair.
Captain remained neutral throughout the experiment, more watching the other werewolves and their environment for reactions than on the experiment itself.
At Kaitlyn's hypothesis, Captain returned her attention to the young woman, "It's possible. Hopefully someone with more experience can help you figure more the mechanics of it.
Things like this regularly needed a lot of testing and working to start scraping the surface of the details. Captain had more experience of working with people after this part, having stopped training people this green a long time ago.
He looked at it, it wasn't that tasty anyway. "Sure. I didn't really want it."
Without using any major magic, he didn't know how he could help solve the problem. There was probably some Big Magic that could handle it, but he only offered up his thoughts.
"I can be that expert but it would require some massive magic here. I don't exactly know what yet but..." He looks at Captain Rose, "It isn't exactly the most reliable nor the most scientific method. I'll leave the choice in your hands of course, unless someone can figure out something else."
Kavax scratched his chin thoughtfully.
"Hey, you were able to make me understand myself better. Have you tried tweaking things so you understand your own powers better? Or would the feedback give you a migraine?"
"I've never tried to alter myself," the girl replied, considering. "It never occurred to me to try. I don't think I should, though. I mean, what if I forget I change myself and can't undo it? That seems like it could go wrong. Or if it went right, it would go wrong eventually."
"So our best choice is to find a teacher. Alright. Any suggestions for who?" Emile looked at Keefer, who found something in the forest to keep his attention.
Captain looked to Keefer and the other Alphas as she tried to gently repeat her opinion, "As competent as Carlos is with his own magic skills, someone within one of the Packs or a member or relation of one that you trust who can spent long stretches of time over the next few years would have the most benefits, fewest risks that I can see."
He nodded, "Ideally yes. I can only offer at most a patch for a leaky boat but that's really it."
Carlos did note that Captain Rose in fact thought his magical skills were up to snuff and grinned internally.
Jessica had been in the process of walking away when something Kaitlyn said catches her attention. She spins and strides back up to her. "Seriously? You've never tried to change something about yourself? You mean you never tried to see what you'd look like as a redhead, or a bottle blonde, or, heck, six inches taller, or ten pounds lighter, or a bra size bigger?" Jessica shuddered to think of how much time she wasted staring at herself in the mirror wishing for minor and even major tweaks to her appearance. If she had had the power to cause tweaks to reality... there's no telling how much she'd have experimented.
Her eyes narrow at Kaitlyn in disbelief.
Kavax continued being thoughtful.
"It's possible she instinctively knows that it would be dangerous to target herself... or maybe something else. Can't say I know too much about this kind of magic, beyond that it is risky to use it on too large a scale. And that's more that I have good instincts for ways to cause chaos and havoc."
The teenager looked down at her modest bust. "Do you think I should-"
"No!" her boyfriend and parents said with various degrees of certainty.
"But, no, it's never occurred to me," the slightly red faced teenager said. "I guess maybe the scaly gentleman is right, and it's probably some kind of block to stop me doing something I shouldn't? Or maybe it just won't work on me."
Shaking her head for a moment, Emile asked, "OK, so no self-explration in regards to magic for a while, until we can find a teacher. Any suggestions other than not Carlos." Keefer looked away even more. "I'm not going to put the girl with you, you old coot! Stop worrying about it." Keefer turned and glared with a mixture of relief.
"Why not?" Carlos asked the question that had been weighing on him, "Is there something you know Keefer?"
At Jessica's question, Captain glanced over in slight confusion. The question seemed more a test of Kaitlyn's common sense than anything Captain could fathom - using something so dangerous as magic for aesthetics, particularly ones that could draw unwanted attention or risk on-going discomfort, didn't make sense to Captain.
At Kaitlin's question, Captain shook her head, a ghost of a smile at the chorus of nos. She glanced around to see how much of this was being picked up by others.
Keefer's reluctance did raise her curiosity, but Captain chose to give him a potential out in case it was a private matter, "It is a big responsibility, when you all likely already have a lot of your plate. Maybe someone in the family lines would be suitable?" looking to Kaitlyn and Ethan's parents.
Jessica nearly laughed out loud when Kaitlyn proved her point by asking if she thought she should change herself. She didn't know anyone her age who didn't stress about her looks. Kavax's suggestion made the most sense to her -- some kind of defense mechanism in Kaitlyn's power prevented the temptation of using it on herself. Regardless of the dangers, vanity was a powerful force in a teenaged girl's life.
Jessica sighs and steps back when the discussion turns to finding a teacher. She sure didn't know anyone who used magic, except for the hunters she'd met recently. "Oh, there's also Charly and the cat. Cheshire, I think his name was?"
Carlos waited. It wasn't like he didn't have ideas but this was a delicate matter that could very well end with the world becoming something it wasn't. It reminded him of a Stephen King novel.
"Yeah Jessica, there were the two of them; though it would be the same problem with I. It would be experimenting and trying over and over." He had no good ideas.
"Keefer knows some magic," Emile responds as the other Alpha studiously ignored this. "He just hates admitting to that part of his nature. But he thinks we'll drop the girl with him, and he doesn't like that idea."
"In the family..." Kaitlyn murmurs. "We could ask my dad to help? The Fae know a lot, and they can be a problem, but he wouldn't let them hurt his grandson's partner."
"Hmmm, reality-tweaking does seem like it might be fey-type magic, but I'm no real expert. Know enough to say that training with fey might be risky though. Still might be your best bet at finding someone who actually knows how it works."
Jessica chimes in. "So who's your dad? You said the Earl King is your grandfather. Is he like, the Earl Prince?"
"Prince would be an apt description, yeah. He married into the whole Erlking thing - my mother is the Erlking's daughter - but dad has a few tricks of his own even before the more borrowed traits." She smiled a little. "His name is Herla. Some of the legends are kinda mixed up, so sometimes history has him as the Erlking, or as Odin. He's not Odin." She considered. "I'm pretty sure he isn't, anyway."
Captain gave a slight sympathetic smile at Keefer's discomfort and Sarah's almost-certainty, "These things can get... muddled. A family link to the Packs that you trust could be a good option to consider. Slightly riskier than someone within the Packs, but not as risky as going further to those you don't know as well or only know through reputation."
Beyond giving basic frameworks to help the werewolves, how good any option would be for Kaitlyn wasn't something Captain could make an assessment on. There were too many factors and things Captain would rather not be told, so she stuck with helping them work out a framework to make their choices.
Carlos' eyes went wide. He had heard about this of course but to get so close to a source. It was interesting enough.
"Muddled is right. It seems at least we're moving somewhere though." He wondered why that each time they asked a question this web got more and more confused.
"Okay so maybe we should gather some of the leaders up here and see what they know. What else is hiding about? Don't tell me one of you might be a descendant of Krampus or something."
"Krampus? I don't think so." Emile looked bemused at the idea. "You're free to talk to whoever, but you've only got-" she glanced over at the eating werewolves - "About 15 minutes before the food is gone and the talk begins. I'll need you suggestion by then."
Carlos hated being on a timer. Usually when he was hired to do an exorcism (real or fake), fortune telling (real or fake), or birthday parties (again, real or fake), he had time to prepare. While he had a sense of improvisation and adaptation, he had seen enough of what happens when magic was used with reckless abandon.
"Okay. Let's summarize what we know."
"One. We have two lovers of different packs who want to be together. One must be on the move and the other isn't sure. Sadly the one who isn't sure can warp reality and this is causing minor hiccups." That was a lot for point number one, "Two. We need to get someone to help control this magic or else we have zero idea what will happen." Turning to the others he looked distraught, "This is quickly turning into some HBO show with all of it's diverging plotlines."
Jessica appreciated Mr. Garcia's succinct summary, but it didn't give her any ideas about what to do. She finds herself wishing for another bottle of the ambrosia-laced mead.
That gets her thinking. "Kaitlyn, did you ever drink a whole lot of Albert's mead? Or eat his special ingredient?"
Captain considered Carlos's summary, showing little concern. To her, Kaitlyn's ability and Ethan's heritage gave possibilities that could suit them, the Law, and her own ambitions well.
She turning back to the werewolves, particularly the teens and their parents who Captain felt she needed to be on side the most "If Herla, or another familial or similar connection, is willing and able to take on Kaitlyn's training and care for a time, they could possibly be willing to train them both. Even if Ethan doesn't present with any unique abilities, it could be useful for him to have further understanding of that part of his line and for them both to have that time. Would a training time period under a...an alternative Alpha for lack of better concept for them both, allied with yours and still under the wider protections such alliances give, fit within your concerns and the Law? They could re-integrate later where they find fits best, details would have to be very clear for your concerns and to prevent the issues that come from multiple loyalties but a solid arrangement to maintain undivided duty to a teacher for their well-being and the Law for a time...it could give Kaitlyn what she needs, them both additional knowledge, skills, and time to find the best place for them, and maintain order if you can find someone you trust enough to make those arrangements and be allied with to maintain the same protection from other groups that they have here - not that I would expect many would want to mess with your family, Sarah.
"What were the kids' plans after Ethan recovered?"
Jerry asks in the third person, but he's looking directly at the two kids in question when he does so.
"Not to dismiss the Captain's idea, but if they both can't be with the same teacher... it sounds like they may have to go long-distance for a while so Ethan can travel and Kaitlyn can train. Keep in mind the goal here is to stop a pack war, and to get what you want, sometimes you need to give something up for a bit."
Kaitlyn looked confused. "I might have the mead at some point? I don't really drink, so I haven't drank it often. That's the honey one, right?"
Emile considered the Captain's proposal. "Could work, maybe. Nothing in the law about not going to other packs. There's some rules and the like about joining, and re-joining - it gets iffy if you switch pack a lot - but if you have someone in mind, it might be doable."
"If Kaitlyn needs to stay somewhere I can use that as a homebase," Ethan suggested. "It's not impossible. We all need somewhere to call home, even if I can't stay there half the week." His mother did not look thrilled, but kept her mouth shut behind them.
Captain considered, looking to Sarah, "Do you think your father or other kin could provide them a moving homebase while training? That or another nomadic Pack with experience and willingness to do so could work," she turned to the teens, "I know you said you were undecided how to solve the Law issues before, but he's right to ask if you had any ideas on what you ere going to do before we showed up once Ethan eventually, hopefully, healed. with a nod towards Jerry and the others who had enabled that healing.
"Several," Emile confirmed after a moments thought, "But none that would work or be applicable now. The questions changed, even if we can't really speak out about what's going on - it ain't where do they go because they're in an illicit relationship anymore, is it? And there ain't no problem sending them both somewhere because now she don't have the need to be checking on her beau, him being healed and all." She looked at the pair for confirmation, and got a subdued nod.
"The question is now where are the safest, is it better to split them, and where would be the best place to get the training? Will Option A offer more stability, or will Option B provide more variety? So with the question changed I ain't got a damned clue."
Carlos listened, it was something he had to do a lot of today. "I think they need to make that choice themselves. Anything less and it would strain their relationship and the integrity of the choice made here." He hoped that was the wisest course of action.
Jessica looks around at all the others, wishing she had something to contribute. I'm no help. I hardly know what I am, much less where a reality-bending werewolf should go to train. She stays quiet, knowing that throwing out the names of random places wasn't going to help.
Kavax shrugged. "I think I've said my bit. Just try not to warp things too much. Oh, and try to learn fast if you can, because things are likely to get bad sooner or later."
The food gone and the drink in the process of being consumed the wolves began to filter into a building that might have been a barn if this was a farm, hidden by the trees to the side. Here it was clearly a meeting hall of some kind, the floor sunk well below ground level to grant more seating and stands.
The Hunters are invited to see to one side of the centre floor, and the Alphas take seats on the other side. Each one is close to a throne, and is clearly carved with the iconography of there Pack. It gives off the impression that they were something of a contest to see who could do it best. Emile's chair was the plainest, oddly, until you noticed that the thing was literally part of the floor, making the whole building something of an extension. It was probably cheating. But Werewolves seemed to respect a certain level of cheating.
Emile led the Hunters and other Alphas to a small side room. "Alright, we got five minutes before I go out and tell the nice people there ain't gonna be a trial. What I'm not saying is what happened or why we changed things. But I gotta tell 'em something. So, where we putting these kids?"
Carlos thought, it wasn't his place to really tell them where they needed to go. It wasn't that he didn't have an opinion, but he honestly had no idea what could make them happy. There were so many snags and problems that could arise, and more importantly, there was the fact that one was a reality shaper.
"I want what would let the two of them to stay together, whether or not that means that some rules need to be broken, some cheating needs to be done, I can't go tell them otherwise." The pieces started falling into place once he began talking, "In fact, if we don't let them we all know that the consequences will be dire."
He skirted around the subject, hopefully being able to judge the crowd before talking more.
Kavax just shrugged.
"Just keep them safe and get them some training. Doesn't matter to me too much where. But things are likely to get worse in the coming days, and the little lady's power just might be what you need to save you when things go down."
"Keeping them together as much as they be kept, alright." Emile looks around to see if any one else disagrees, which doesn't seem to happen.
The alpha looked over at Kavax. "Don't suppose you'd want to go into more detail on that point?"
Emile looks around to see if any one else disagrees
Jerry shakes his head at her glance.
"You called us here to adjudicate, but it turned out that you didn't need us to decide which solution was best. A new solution was needed once all the information came to light.
"And since we're Hunters, you had to also know that our main concern was that any conflict that came about didn't hurt those outside this community. And even if we extend that concern to those inside your community, you're all taking care of this concern sensibly. It's very commendable, considering how these things sometimes go."
Jessica continues to hang back and watch. Things seemed like they were moving toward a peaceful resolution, and while there were always the chances that something will go wrong down the line, she figured that would always be the case.
She doubted anyone would need her two cents, so she stays quiet.
Carlos listened to Jerry's words, He was right. We came here to adjudicate... but we really just needed to do some detective work.
"Jerry speaks wisely."
Captain considered the crowd. She mostly agreed so far, but one person's wise words can too easily be another's patronising BS. Hopefully, the food & other fun had them more seeing the positive.
She expanded, "Potential conflict is a main concern, but so is wellbeing and your right to your Laws & nature. Divided loyalties has been a threat to all of those that no one should ignore, so - with consideration of that, their abilities, heritage, and current wishes, I suggest a trusted someone with a familial or similar close link to who can meet both of their needs become their Alpha, allied with your packs, to train & take on the responsibilities of Alpha for them & they the responsibilities of members to that person. After completing training and any desired higher education, they could apply to join one of the Packs here with further knowledge of how their talents could be an asset & how they wish to continue their relationship with each other & the rest of the packs. Sarah's father seems the best option given so far, but you'll likely know other options if needed. While it may to some be seen as a stretch of the Laws, there is precedence - some with results better than others, that we can use to help ensure their and others safety& wellbeing and with no needs for anything to be broken or cheated."