Chapter 54

“You should have just shocked his ass.” JJ said as the two of them moved away from the mall. They’d decided leaving the scene before anyone really noticed too much, was the best possible idea. JJ had assured him Crow had departed the moment his aid was needed, meaning there was no purpose in Henry trying to keep people away from that portion of the mall. And with the fight concluded, the masses were leaving as well. Granted, before they’d left, they’d positioned the unconscious Vet against one of the walls, making it look like he’d just fallen asleep. He’d wake up…eventually, and Henry didn’t want to be around him when he did.

“Yeah, well.” Henry sighed. “We aren’t supposed to use our powers against other Exorcists.” Henry’s voice dropped. “The Branch Director was very, very clear about that one.”

“Oh, right. Emelia. As far as exorcists go, she’s actually not a bad one. But yeah, don’t go pissing her off. Dad apparently knew her when they were younger, and he spoke highly of her. Even though she was an exorcist.”

JJ’s hate of the exorcists was generally pretty clear, so Henry took note that he seemed to actually be a fan of Emelia. So far, everyone seemed to either respect, or fear her, and no one had said anything negative about her. Which, Henry guessed, had to mean she was a good person. Maybe he should bring up what he’d seen thanks to the Storm Crow, with her? Someone as obviously powerful as her could surely help.

“Still,” JJ continued, “you’re not a fighter man. You’ve been in some scuffles but taking on that guy in hand to hand was dumb.” JJ chuckled. “Though, I’ll give you props for using your D.E.D. to buff you. That’s Demon Hunter level thinking.”

“Yeah, thanks for that.” Henry shook his head. “I didn’t really know what else to do. I’d promised to keep you and Crow secret, and that idiot was going to investigate. Something about believing the Exorcists were hiding something from him, and not trusting leadership.”

“Interesting.” JJ mumbled, glancing back, even though they’d long passed a point they could see him. The mall happened to be near a couple fast food restaurants, and they were walking across Academy to grab some Subway. Technically Henry was still on duty, but as it stood, there were so many exorcists in this area that he figured they could afford to grab a quick bite to eat before he left JJ.

“All that aside,” Henry turned his focus back to JJ. “What exactly happened back there? We would have lost a lot of D.E.D. if not for that flaming fox, but why the drumbeats?”

“Really? You can’t figure it out?” JJ laughed and shook his head. “Man you’ve got so much to learn.”

“You keep mentioning that.” Henry replied. “I’ve been at this for like a week man. Give me a break.”

“Alright, alright. I suppose I’ll cut you a little slack. Especially considering for just going on as shortly as you have, you’ve gotten a pretty decent roster so far. I know you and Jewel have been power leveling, so I’m sure your Drakeling and Storm Crow are nearing evolution. And snagging a Chimera at your experience level is downright record worthy. Even if it’s going Charizard on your ass.”

Henry laughed at that. A legit, tension lifting laugh. “Just call me Ash I suppose.”

“Haha, does that make me Gary?” JJ smirked. “I am the better looking, more popular of the two of us.”

“Jerk.” His words were followed with a playful punch into JJ’s shoulder, and the two continued on across the street, completely falling back into their friendship.

“So, as you know, all of this has to do with frequencies and resonations, yeah?” His best friend continued after they’d finished their moment of joking.

“Yup. Though the science still seems impossible to fully comprehend.”

“Yeah, don’t do that. You’ll hurt your brain trying to figure it all out. Just know, there are ways to amplify the resonation of D.E.D. when you call them forth. Doing so, will strengthen your connection with them, and also empower them, though it’s more a temporary boost than anything.”

It was starting to dawn on Henry what had happened. “So, the drumming was meant to amplify the power of the D.E.D. Crow summoned?”

“Exactly. Honestly, it’s an old technique. He learned it from his father, who learned it from his father, and so on through their tribe. But it’s been used in different cultures as well. Hell, some of the first orchestra’s were used by Exorcists to empower entire units of D.E.D. for battles.”

“If this is such a handy technique, why not use it more?” Seriously, if there was a way to boost D.E.D. powers, why not take advantage of it?

“Multiple reasons for that. First, Exorcists are dumb. Second, running around playing loud instruments and music kind of blows the cover of a secret organization, don’t you think? And third, it only really helps if the Exorcist in question has a powerful enough resonation with the other dimension to handle the amplification. You could handle it, I obviously can, and so can Crow. But it’s really not that common.”

“Just how strong are you?” Henry asked. He’d been curious. He knew JJ had fused with a D.E.D. given the fact his best friend utilized D.E.D. powers even when he had none summoned. However, Henry still had no idea what D.E.D. JJ had at his disposal. Nor did he know what his Resonation Tier Potential would be.

“That’s not something you need to know.” JJ said with a wry smile. “After all, while you’re my best friend, I can’t go giving an exorcist that type of information. Last thing I need is getting randomly ambushed by a combined force greater than I can handle.”

“You know I would never share your information.” Henry started. “Your secret is safe with me.”

“Oh, I know.” Henry said. “But even though I trust you, I can’t, you know, trust you? Trust gets people killed.”

The way he said it, his words had a weight to them that told Henry all he needed to know. JJ had a feeling his father had been murdered because of someone he’d trusted. And that had left a wound in JJ that Henry couldn’t heal.

“Now, after we get our subs.” JJ changed subjects quick. “How close are you to evolving your D.E.D.? I’d love to see an evolution before you get back to being a dog for the exorcists.”

“Uh,” Henry glanced back as his D.E.D., and then at his phone. His thumbprint activated the app, and after a split second, his eyes widened. He’d, assumed this was like Pokemon. Apparently, it was not.

Evolution Possible for (2) D.E.D.

Proceed to Evolution Screen? Y/N

“Looks like you’re in luck.” Henry put his phone away quickly, excitement flooding through him. He’d known his Bladed Drakeling would evolve at level 25. But the second option, he figured, was his Storm Crow. Somehow, they’d met the requirements, and Henry was excited to see what both of the D.E.D. became.

“Neat.” JJ stepped inside of Subway as he spoke, the door jingling slightly. “This calls for celebration cookies.”