Following

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28 Chapter 29 Chapter 30 Chapter 31 Chapter 32 Chapter 33 Chapter 34 Chapter 35 Chapter 36 Chapter 37 Chapter 38 Chapter 39 Chapter 40 Chapter 41 Chapter 42 Chapter 43 Chapter 44 Chapter 45 Chapter 46 Chapter 47 Chapter 48 Chapter 49 Chapter 50 Chapter 51 Chapter 52 Chapter 53 Chapter 54 Chapter 55 Chapter 56 Chapter 57 Chapter 58 Chapter 59 Chapter 60 Chapter 61 Chapter 62 Chapter 63 Chapter 64 Chapter 65 Chapter 66 Chapter 67 Chapter 68 Chapter 69 Chapter 70 Chapter 71 Chapter 72 Chapter 73 Chapter 74 Chapter 75 Chapter 76 Chapter 77 Chapter 78 Chapter 79 Chapter 80 Chapter 81 Chapter 82 Chapter 83 Chapter 84 Chapter 85 Chapter 86 Chapter 87 Chapter 88 Chapter 89 Chapter 90 Chapter 91 Chapter 92 Chapter 93 Chapter 94 Chapter 95 Chapter 96 Chapter 97 Chapter 98 Chapter 99 Chapter 100 Chapter 101 Chapter 102 Chapter 103 Chapter 104 Chapter 105 Chapter 106 Chapter 107 Chapter 108 Chapter 109 Chapter 110 Chapter 111 Chapter 112 Chapter 113 Chapter 114 Chapter 115 Chapter 116 Chapter 117 Chapter 118 Chapter 119 Chapter 120 Chapter 121 Chapter 122 Chapter 123 Chapter 124 Chapter 125 Chapter 126 Chapter 127 Chapter 128 Chapter 129 Chapter 130 Chapter 131 The Phone Call Louise's First Costume When Keyla was Here A Day at the Garcia House The Keeper Sibling Bonds Once Upon a Time in High School Lillie's Recipes Lightning the Mentor A Miraculous Medical Aide Louise's Day Off An Ethereal Fairy Eternal Youth A Miracle Manifests Three Generals Deep Thoughts Over Lemonade A Miracle of Science Three Branches, Three Days Dreams of Heroes The Makings of a Thief Girl Time Wishing for More Courtney Larsen, Age 15 A Greenhouse Tour Odin's Evening The Keeper's Evening Cleo's Seventeenth Birthday Never to Thaw Again 2617's New Arx Techs Payday Party Prime's Board Game Party Temperature-Regulating Potions

Arx Nubibus
Ongoing 1687 Words

Chapter 15

5979 0 0

"Ngh..." 

Courtney slowly lifted her heavy head from the desk she'd fallen asleep at and looked around, blinking slowly. It took a moment for reality to sink in again, and she wished she'd never woken up. 

No. Those thoughts were no good. She lifted her head a bit before letting gravity make it thunk against the desk, and repeated the process several times as she tried to get herself together for the thousandth time that week. 

Two weeks ago Courtney Larsen was a military officer in the 3rd division. Nobody especially important, just someone who did the footwork for the organization. But even so. Even if she hadn't been special or anything, she was proud of the work she did. It was something she could go home and brag to her brothers and parents about. 

Stuff like catching a purse snatcher, or finally cracking a murder case. She couldn't always give specific details, but that didn't matter. Within the military, she'd had friends, frenemies, acquaintances...

And now that was all gone. 

She cursed her stubbornness. If she wasn't so stubborn, Medina and Colonel Evans wouldn't have gotten rid of her. She wouldn't have been fired. 

Or if she'd never found the evidence of Evans' embezzlement. If she'd remained blissfully ignorant, she'd still be a proud officer of the Arx Nubibus Military Force. 

No! Bad thoughts. 

Cursing her lack of integrity now, Courtney hauled herself over to the bed and stuck her head under a pillow. 

She wouldn't be who she was if she was willing to just let something that big slide. The military needed officers who were held to strict integrity, who would do everything by the spirit of the rules and do everything in their power to protect Arx and its citizens. All of them, from the poorest person to the richest. 

Was that a naïve ideal? Courtney believed in it wholeheartedly, but maybe it was asking for too much. Maybe humanity would never be capable of producing enough individuals of character to run the military. Or were those individuals of character smart enough to stay out of the politics? 

She moaned again and burrowed under her blanket. Somewhere out in the apartment the front door closed. 

"Court! I'm back. How's the job search?" 

Courtney's response was a groan. 

"That great, huh? Let's look at stuff together." 

All too soon Courtney's door opened and Lillie stepped in. 

"Hey, roomie. Up from the bed of misery and back to the computer." Lillie grabbed Courtney's shoulders to pull her up. Since Courtney was so much bigger than Lillie, it was a bit of a lost cause. 

"I've stared at job sites for two hours a day for the past two weeks; please don't make me suffer more." 

"How long do you think your savings will last, Court? And I really don't want to see you like this. What happened to my best friend who was always bright and vibrant? Maybe a touch too serious at times, but I'm willing to pay that price for someone who never compromises on their morals." 

"Look where never compromising on my morals got me." 

"Idiots, all of them! C'moooooon, Court. Get back on that horse. Or I'll call your brothers and tell them just how pathetic you're being. Also you're seriously heavy. How can so much weight fit in one body?" 

"It's called muscle. Not that I need it anymore." 

"Oh shut it! What if you got a job as a bouncer? You'd be good at it. I mean, sure you're a girl, but dress right and you'd be more intimidating than half the male bouncers. You're certainly built for it." 

"I appreciate you reminding me exactly how unfeminine my body is." 

"You're welcome. Now would you get that muscle back to job searching? Or literally anything but burying yourself in that mattress? How about we do cake? Or ice cream?" 

"Goody, sugar I'll need to burn off when I don't want to stand up." 

"Fine! A nice lean cricket steak? Help me out here." 

"No. Let me die in peace." 

"Courtney!" Lillie forcefully turned her over and sat on her abdomen, pressing her hands into Courtney's shoulders. 

"I could knock you off easily," Courtney muttered. 

"So do it! Do something! I don't care what! Just stop being depressed. Sure, you lost the career you've been dreaming of since before I knew you. But is that all you are, Courtney Larsen? There are other ways to help people. You could go back to school and become a gym teacher or something! Shaping the next generation and all that. 

"You could become a technician and keep the city afloat. You could be a professional athlete or something. You could do smaller repairs. You could work at a gym, or I dunno, be a dietician or something. You're a wellness nerd. There is so much more to the world than what you saw. Just. Look. Up. And stand up!" 

Courtney shoved Lillie onto the floor and sat up, glaring at her. 

"You think I'm not trying? I don't have the money to go back to school and keep living here with you, so at the very least I need a job. Even if it's a cashier or something. But nobody wants to hire an ex-military officer who was fired. Just leave me alone, please." 

Lillie stared at her for several moments, tears in her eyes. Then she nodded, stood and walked out, closing the door behind her. 

Courtney flopped over on her bed again and went back to moping. She didn't have the energy to do anything else. 

 

"Yikes, was that a fight or what?" 

Courtney didn't know what was happening, but the voice had pulled her out of her misery. For the time being. 

"Who's there?" she asked cautiously, searching for a weapon. 

"Just someone who thinks you need something special. Don't worry about stabbing me with that key. I can't directly affect the physical world anyway." 

"I asked who are you?" Courtney tossed the key to the side and searched for something bigger she could use. 

"Someone with a present for you. Officer Courtney Larsen. Or rather former officer - those fools had no idea what they threw away, did they? Don't worry. I'll give you the power to make them take you back." 

"This sounds hella sketchy, pal." 

"You don't have to take out Colonel Evans or Lieutenant Medina with it. I'm just saying you can. You can do whatever you want with it really. Prove yourself in public service so the military sees that they were wrong about you. Join Achilles and his vigilante brigade. Tear those vigilantes down to dust. Tear the military to dust. All up to you." 

"I ain't listening to you, you creep." 

"You don't have to. I just find that if I give gifts without any explanation, it causes a lot of stress. Easier on both of us if I give you a warning that your world is about to change." 

"Shut it, you - !" Courtney's body felt strange. She stumbled and knocked her monitor over, and it fell in slow motion. 

She froze as she watched it. Why was everything moving like molasses? Before the monitor hit the floor, she grabbed it and put it back in its proper place. 

"What did you do to me?" 

"Hm. Seems you take to this gift quite well. A little too well, in fact, which means you'll struggle to control it for a while. I wouldn't slow the world down for too long if I were you. It'll just exhaust you." 

"What are you..." Courtney put a hand to her head as she started to black out. She stopped feeling the new strange sensation as she plunged towards the floor. 

 

When she opened her eyes again, she was lying on the floor with a pillow under her head. Lillie was frantically pacing back and forth, her head in her hands. 

"What do I do what do I do..." she muttered, glancing at her phone every few repeats. 

"Lillie?" 

"Court! What happened? I heard a thump and when I got here you were out. I couldn't pick you up so I just did the best I could and I didn't know if I should call an ambulance, or if I should just leave you, or if I should splash water on you or what." 

Courtney struggled to recall what had just happened, and it slowly filtered into her addled mind. 

"Some creep told me to get revenge." 

"Ew! Also how? Nobody came in or out. Omigosh did they use the window? But you don't have a window. Please tell me that was a hallucination." Lillie started panicking and Courtney sat up and gave her a hug. 

"Probably. It was a voice in my head." 

"Wait, are you gonna go for revenge? On who?" Lillie looked terrified when Courtney let her go. 

"I'm not getting revenge. The very idea disgusts me." Courtney paused to think and the world seemed to slow down again. Lillie's blinks were the main indication, but at least this gave her more time to think. 

Should she tell Lillie about the strange thing happening to her? Or would that just freak her out? Courtney didn't understand it herself, so how could she explain it properly? If she didn't tell Lillie right away, she'd be mad if Courtney revealed it later. But...

The world went back to normal and Courtney inwardly breathed a sigh of relief. Blacking out might be a side effect of slowing things down for too long and Lillie did not need to be freaked out again. 

Right. For now, Lillie didn't need to know. 

"I'm fine now, Lil. Thanks. I think I'm gonna look at job sites again. You need help with supper?" 

Lillie smiled brightly. "It's all good. I'm just heating up yesterday's leftovers." 

"Right we had those, didn't we?" Courtney laughed. 

"Glad you look better, Court." Lillie stood and left. 

Courtney glanced at the computer. Was she feeling better? Not really. But the adrenaline had maybe snapped her out of her funk. Whatever came next, she'd face it head-on. 


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