TheWisdomOfTheFoxThe rigors of being a champion have finally led Vincent to try and learn more. From the “Fight for Life” event in Bangkok, to the “Showdown in Sweden” playing to a packed house in Gothenberg, the last year has been an endless ordeal that has pushed Vincent’s limits. Not just the limits of his skills, which has been trial enough, but his endurance, his nerve, his determination, and his very soul. And so here he is today sitting in the Pearl Dragon, a noodle shop in Chinatown Los Angeles. Two days after arriving back in L.A., a phone message told him that Master Ting expected him to be, at noon, at this very restaurant. Oddly enough, if the prompt Master Ting was coming here, it is now more than twenty minutes after the noon hour. These thoughts are interrupted by a soft hand on his shoulder. The hand is not that of Master Ting, but rather a young woman, of Middle-Eastern descent. Her English, when she speaks, is with a distinctly British accent. “Excuse me, are you Vincent Chen?” "Rumor has it that I may be Vincent Chen." Vincent smiles up at her. "Why do you ask? She smiles. "If you are the Vincent Chen who studies under Master Ting, then I was directed here to meet you," the young woman replies. "My name is Aliyah Morris. Forgive me for my delay. I was unused to the traffic." "May I sit so that I might explain?" Aliyah adds. Vincent hooks the chair across from him with his leg and pushes it out to the side for her to sit down in. "I think you had better." "Thank you," she says, sliding into the seat. "I am finally glad to meet you, Mr. Chen," she says, trying a smile. "Master Ting thought that you might be searching for the next level, the next thing to continue your education. He thought you might be ready for a new challenge, and a revelation of, to use his word, your true path, your true destiny. "Thus he made arrangements for us to meet at last. I can provide that for you. In fact, a higher power than just Master Ting wishes me to do so." "Your words intrigue me," Vincent admits, "but this is not Master Ting's way. He would not use deception to place me where I needed to be when the trust between us would send me there on his word. Who are you, lady? Whom do you really represent?" Vincent demands. "It is true that Master Ting has been used, perhaps a bit basely, in this matter," Aliyah concedes, letting out a breath and pushing backwards slightly in her chair. "You should not fault him for the awkwardness of this meeting between us. There is often no good way to do this, especially in this modern secular age. "You see, Vincent, I represent a relative that we have in common." She pauses a beat. "Our mother." Vincent studies Aliyah's face for a long moment. "Your first story was better," Vincent says at last. "Far more believable." Aliyah shakes her head, a disappointed look on her face. "Neither of the things I have told you are a story, Vincent Chen," she says. "They are the truth. As Bast is my witness, I have not played you false. "Have you never wondered, brother, why you are faster and stronger than any you have ever fought in the squared circle?" Aliyah adds. "No," Vincent says simply. "Natural ability combined with disciplined training. What's to wonder about? And stop calling me brother. I do not accept that title from you." Vincent pauses a moment as he examines her features. "Yet." "Very well, Vincent," Aliyah responds. "If you do not think I have gained enough honor to call you brother, I shall refrain from doing so. It changes the truth of the relationship not at all. However, it recognizes your right to not accept me as your kin. "Your training and your natural ability come from your gifts. And once you meet your true parent, more of your potential will be unlocked," she continues. "There is more. Undoubtedly, you have noticed that ... unusual events seem to happen around you, perhaps more than most you know? That, too, is a consequence of your heritage. As are those who will hunt you for who you are." "Those who would hunt me?" Vincent looks amused by the notion. "I have always been the hunter and never the prey." He considers for a moment. "That is almost appealing for novelty value. So who are those that would hunt me?" "Titanspawn," Aliyah says. "Children, servants and agents of a race of beings that we call the Titans. There is no good way to say this to engender easy belief, Vincent, but the world was created by a race of Gods we now call the Titans. Those Titans were overthrown and imprisoned by their children and inheritors, the Gods. "After millenia, those Titans are now freeing themselves, enough to allow their agents into the world again. They seek to return to power, and make the world the plaything of theirs it once was. The Gods are their targets, to revenge on them for their coup. And they target those who serve the Gods." She pauses a moment. "And especially those who are children of those Gods. "Like ourselves," Aliyah adds, simply. By the conclusion of the conversation with Aliyah, if Vincent is not completely convinced by Aliyah's story and tale, it is not by lack of her trying. She tells Vincent of the various Scions being assembled (like the Avengers!) by their various divine parents. Aliyah, along with a son of Aphrodite named Flavius, were entrusted with helping gather them together. A son of Hachiman. A daughter of Epona. A daughter of Frigg. A son of Brigid. Daughters of Hecate and Athena. A son of the Morrigan. And the children of Bast. The real kicker comes at the end of the conversation. "We've two choices at this point," Aliyah says. "Three, if you really want to go and meet Mother. Although if we are doing that, we should choose the first of two possible options. "We go find Felix and inform him of his nature." Aliyah has explained that Vincent, too, is a Scion. It's like a bad soap opera, but all of this makes a heck of lot of things made more sense. "Or we find the nearest group of Scions that's part of our party and hook up with them that way. That would be Sedona. We did have someone on the West Coast here with us, but he flew out East." She giggles slightly. "Given how we Scions bump into each other, it would be amusing if he ran into Vincent, no? Or perhaps the Irish assassin." It is the prospect of finding Felix and getting them all to meet Bast that finally convinces Aliyah to fly with Vincent out East. In short order, they are in a rented car out of LaGuardia, heading across the Throgs Neck Bridge into Connecticut. "Epona's Chancel is connected to Connecticut," Aliyah says conversationally. "It doesn't surprise me that Felix's job took him to Connecticut too. It's even possible he might be drawn there. Oh, and now we're in the right state, we'll need a bit of my blood to track him. Or yours." |
