The Known/Unknown Quantity

Chapter 140: Castle in the Clouds

Chapter 140: Castle in the Clouds

Never trust any structure half-buried in a hill. Chances are there's more of it stashed away, like an iceberg peaking 5% out of the waves.

That was Gary's thinking. Hadn't been proven wrong yet.

After thoroughly studying the blueprints and setting the drone down the traditional paths, he followed his gut and made marks on the sheets every time the camera panned on a suspicious alcove or wall.

Then there were the other things. What Olivia called the hidden snares. His gift wasn't like hers. It lent to some viewing, but not much else. He was merely a crossroads. Oliva's friend was a telephone operator with a lot of "feelings." The ballsy little witch was an unknown quantity, and expected to be followed, so he left her behind. But Olivia...could see in pictures.

He trusted pictures.

He also trusted someone who knew to just use a gun once, and only for a kill shot.

But he didn't ask, and he didn't care, how she learned to handle herself. He could count on her to act. And he could count on Shadwell to be Shadwell. Best of the bunch.

As they finished their visual surveillance, he proceeded to thermal imaging, and then audio sensors, and last checked for any digital signals. Then he took out a small yew box like the one Anathema had, and pulled out a few odd implements of his own. He took colored beads out, and a small hand broom, and covered his body in what looked to be a bright red toga. A few things were burned, and few words said in a language only Aziraphale would recognize, and then he put it all away very efficiently. He looked up into their curious eyes.

"My grandfather," he explained levelly, "was certified by AMETRAMO, back in the old country."

"Ye mean a witchdoctor? Oh, laddie, I bet ye family had stories about good ol' CSM Narker."

"Not good ones."

"He's what you would call a traditional medic," Olivia stated. Gary nodded. "But what you did there wasn't.... completely traditional." He shrugged.

"I'm not. I tweaked it to work for me, borrowed a few things here and there. It works."

"What do ye mean," Shadwell inquired, "not traditional?"

"You take on a spirit. Once that spirit enters your body, you give up your career and move on. My family stopped doing that years ago. Instead, we kept our jobs and let the spirits move on. Got it?"

Shadwell nodded, but pondered that bit. So, Gary moved on to Olivia.

"My grandfather's way. My father's way. Both were....too long off the land, right?"

"It goes that way sometimes," she offered cordially. He smiled widely at her.

"Ambulance drivers in the city. Then the spirits come, and Granddad says," No. I think I'll try to make this work here. Better a taxi than a vessel he always said. And two generations later," he held his empty hands out and acted to hand over something," here I am."

"But you," she crossed her arms, the pistol stored away at her hip, "took it a little further, I see."

"Just expanding on my skillset, dear lady," he grinned with his voice. "I learned to sense vague dangers, and to bless or luck them, however you see it, without the aid of spirits. Again, I'm different. I don't seek their aid. I give it."