The Grimoire's Chosen Ch. 17 (Worm)

A/N: Taylor POV~

-x-X-x-

Taylor was well aware that she was treading water here, barely able to keep her head above the surface and avoid drowning. She’d been flying by the seat of her pants for the past week or so, ever since she’d kissed Jason and talked herself into accepting a ‘friends with benefits’ paradigm with him.

Admittedly, she was well aware that what she felt for him was more of a crush than anything truly romantic. They hadn’t known each other long enough for Taylor to fall in love with him or anything like that. She was latching onto him specifically because he was untouched by Emma’s cruelty, and because of how he’d helped defend her from her childhood friend turned tormentor.

Knowing all of this didn’t make it any easier for Taylor to not jump into bed with him though. And so far, doing so has turned out to be a good decision. She’d been able to reinvent herself, to put on an act that had even fooled Glory Girl of all people!


 Except that was also kind of how Taylor knew she was in over her head a little bit at this point. She’d had a threesome with Vicky Dallon of all people. She’d INSTIGATED that threesome. She’d definitely let herself go a little bit too far
 and yet, nothing bad had happened because of it. Everything was working out so far, somehow.

Really, she needed this. After what had happened last month, after triggering with powers, Taylor had needed something else to focus on. Jason and his weird relationship with New Wave had been utterly perfect for that so far.

At the same time though, her costume was almost done. The spiders she had making it were getting closer and closer to finishing it. Then, she would have to go out and do something. She’d been chomping at the bit to go out and be a hero, to patrol and try and help Brockton Bay be a little less shitty. The one compromise she’d made with herself was that she wouldn’t do so until she had a proper costume.

Once she did though
 she was going to do something. She HAD to. Even if bug control wasn’t the most spectacular of powers, even if she wished she’d gotten something better, she was still going to try to use it to be a hero. She owed it to herself to prove Emma wrong about her.

But that was still in the future. For now, Jason wanted to meet with her again for lunch, and Taylor was more than happy to head over to his apartment to see him. Even if it wound up with her on her knees under his kitchen table again, Taylor wouldn’t mind one bit. He was a good guy, and he deserved everything she could lavish upon him.

Only, when she finally reaches his door
 he’s got this look on his face, a look that sets Taylor on edge. And instead of the table, he guides her over to the couch.

“I ordered us some pizza Taylor. Was hoping we could talk.”

The pizza box is already on the coffee table, and its delicious smell hits her nose as he opens up the box. It should relax her, but instead she fidgets a little bit as she sits down. What does Jason want to talk about? Why is he acting like something is wrong?

Hiding her anxiety and insecurity has become second nature over the past week, so Taylor pushes all of the squirming in her gut deep, deep down and picks up a piece of pizza, taking a bit and chewing before looking over at him curiously.

“What’s up, Jason?”

He takes his own piece of pizza and chews for a second before swallowing hard. Then, he looks at her.

“There’s no easy way to say this
”

Uh oh, that doesn’t sound good. Was he going to tell her he couldn’t be friends with her anymore? Had Emma gotten to him somehow and he was throwing her out on her ass? Or maybe he’d finally realized just how much of a fake and fraudster she was, all of his own volition, and he was tossing her to the curb as a result.

“But at this point, I can’t keep trying to tackle this alone. I need a second opinion.”


 Oh, that sounds a little better. But wait, was he talking about Vicky? Taylor had already given her second opinion there
 she’d given way more than her second opinion, in fact.

“I have powers, Taylor.”

Wait, what? Taylor pauses, eyes widening, mid-bite on her pizza as she’d nervously been using it as a sort of ward or shield while he spoke. Now though, it’s kind of in the way. She chews faster than she ever has before, narrowly avoiding biting her tongue, and then just gives Jason an owlish blink and a croaky response.

“Uh
 what?”

He smiles a fragile smile
 and then opens an honest to god portal right in front of her eyes. Said portal clearly leads into his fridge, because he pulls out a can of soda and then another and offers her one. Hesitantly, she takes it from him, even as the portals close up a moment later.

“So yeah
 powers. I have
 powers.”

Holy shit. This changed everything.

-x-X-x-

For a long moment, Jason watches Taylor after his revelation. She stays quiet, even going so far as to pop the tab on her can of soda and take a long drink. Which
 fair enough, honestly. He’s dropped a massive bombshell on the poor young woman, and she clearly needs time to process it. He just hopes he’s not making a mistake in telling her-

“I have powers too.”

Wait, huh? Jason’s jaw drops open as Taylor smiles hesitantly. Then, she points up and when Jason looks, he watches a single spider slowly descending down on a strand of webbing from his ceiling, until eventually, it lands right on Taylor’s fingertip. Then, it begins to move like it’s dancing almost, in a pretty unnatural manner for a spider.

After a few moments of this, she lets it crawl onto her shoulder and just
 sit there. Then, she grabs a second piece of pizza and chows down while side-eyeing him for his reaction. Jason knows Taylor well enough by this point to know that her calm façade is just that
 a façade. But at the same time, the fact that she has powers too
 well, it’s a weight off of his shoulders. They both have a secret of each other’s now. They’ve both showed their hands.

“That’s
 amazing, Taylor. You control spiders then?”

Swallowing her latest bite of pizza, Taylor shakes her head.

“All bugs, actually. Range is
 a few hundred feet in every direction.”

Well damn. Maybe on the face of it, that wasn’t the most spectacular power in the world. But Jason could already think up half a dozen uses for it with Alchemical Prodigy, things that would make Taylor quite the terror on the battlefield. He gives her a broad smile.

“That’s awesome, Taylor. I’m
”

Here, he hesitates. Honestly, he’s not sure if he should give Taylor the full details of his powers. But lying to her doesn’t seem like it would be very helpful in the long run, especially when the whole point of this meetup was for him to get her honest advice. Wasn’t like she could really give him true advice if she didn’t have all of the information, now was it?

“My powers
 are a bit of a mess, to tell the truth.”

Taylor furrows her brow at that, prompting Jason to launch into an explanation of what he has going on. Everything from how his original power works, to a quick overview of most of his current powers. He doesn’t tell her about the fact that he’d actually summoned some demons already, however, leaving that bit out.

He DOES tell her about his ill-fated first patrol and how he’d wound up saving a hooker only for her to freak out and run away the moment she saw he was a Cape. Jason expects Taylor to laugh at him for that, but to her credit, she just winces instead, looking actually sympathetic for him. Then


Feat Achieved: Tell someone the unvarnished truth of your abilities! 100 Points Earned!

You now have 400 Points saved up!

Jason’s eyes almost widen as that comes in. He wasn’t expecting it, but he supposed it made sense. Looking over at Taylor, who seems like she’s doing a pretty good job of processing all of this information, he quirks up the corner of his mouth.

“I actually just got some more points, just for telling you all of this.”

Taylor blinks at him, before letting out a little laugh of disbelief.

“Jason
 your powers are bullshit.”

He half-heartedly chuckles, even as he looks to his Banked Power, Bind and Seal. Time to buy it
 except before he can pull the trigger, he reads it again and winces.

“Actually
 uh, might need your help in a second, Taylor.”

She pauses at that, furrowing her brow.

“Oh? With what?”

“Well
 when I bought the Blood, Death, and Demons power, it kind of laid me out for a while. Long enough that Vicky was able to call in her sister to come check on me. The next power I’m buying, Bind and Seal, might do the same thing, since it’s another information download. So I might pass out for a while
 but I should be fine.”

Now Taylor looks downright concerned for him.

“
 Are you sure this is a good idea, Jason?”

Jason nearly blows her off with a smile and a simple ‘I am’, before remembering that the whole point of bringing Taylor into the fold was to get second opinions on all of this shit that he’d been dealing with by himself up until now.

That said, he pauses and actually assesses things for a moment. In the end though, he still gives Taylor a resolute nod.

“I am, Taylor. I
 I think that this new power, called Bind and Seal, might be an answer to the Endbringers. And even if it isn’t, it’ll be a nonlethal answer to any villain I find myself face to face with. Right now I’m more likely to cause a hooker to break a man’s jaw with a single punch than anything else. But with this, I could just lock down the situation and figure out what’s going on afterwards.”

Taylor just smiles and laughs a little as she shakes her head at him.

“Honestly Jason, you had me convinced at ‘answer to the Endbringers’. But it’s good to hear you think it through. I guess I’ll just
 watch over you then?”

She’s clearly still a little worried, but Jason just gives her as reassuring a smile as he possibly can and nods before situating himself on the couch in such a way that he shouldn’t fall off if he does pass out. Hands laced across his chest, he reaches inward
 and buys Bind and Control.

Keep!

Bind and Control Purchased. 0 Points Remain!

Feels a little weird not to have anything in his Banked Slot afterwards, but he was sure he’d get another pull soon enough. For now, Jason braces himself, waiting for the knowledge that this new power promised he would gain. There’s a brief moment where nothing happens
 and then it hits.

He clutches at the arm of the couch as a grunt leaves his lips. This time around, he doesn’t pass out
 but it’s still a close thing. It’s a fucking lot to go through, and frankly, he almost wished he did pass out by the end. Alas, it would seem his brain is getting better at taking the influxes of information his power can sometimes provide. Hell, maybe Alchemical Prodigy helped with that somehow.

Regardless, soon enough
 the knowledge that Bind and Seal promised has been downloaded into his skull. He understood everything that the White Wizards of the Light Order were capable of. He could make his own Vaults now if he wanted to, just as good if not better than the ones beneath the Pyramid of Light.

And not only that, but he was also well-versed in the sealing spells of Teclis himself, High Loremaster of Hoeth and Warden of the White Tower. The greatest High Elf Archmage of his age.

A slow, shuddering breath leaves Jason’s lips as he sits there on the couch, taking it all in. He was pretty sure it was in fact possible. He could do it. He could Bind and Seal the Endbringers. Only because of the decisions he’d made so far. Honestly, he’d gotten super lucky as well with these pulls. Because from what he could tell, the Staff of Magnus would make the higher techniques of Bind and Seal possible.


 He would need to summon a hell of a lot of demons though, pardon the pun. He would need to drain a whole lot of power if he wanted to have a chance of successfully casting a spell that actually bound an Endbringer. And sealing one
 well, that would take dedicated facilities. He would need a place to build a proper Vault.

There were a lot of steps between now and then to go through, but it was possible. And that alone made this worth it.

“Jason? Are you
 okay?”

Blinking, he belatedly remembers Taylor’s presence and feels a little guilty for a moment that he had forgotten her. Giving her a wan smile, Jason nods.

“I’m great Taylor. I can do it. It’ll take time and resources I don’t currently have, but I think I can actually seal an Endbringer.”

Taylor’s eyes widen and then she smiles right back, lunging over to hug him around the neck.

“That’s amazing, Jason.”

He hugs her back, just luxuriating in her presence for a moment. That said, this does bring up an entirely new dilemma
 one that he’ll be glad to have Taylor’s input on.

“I really don’t know what to do next though, honestly. I was originally going to ask you if you thought I should go get a proper costume commissioned from Parian or if I should just stop rushing into danger so much. But now
 can I really risk myself anyways? This changes everything, doesn’t it?”

Jason hesitates for a moment, even as Taylor pulls back, watching him quietly.

“
 I’ve never really feared death, necessarily. But now if I die, a chance at getting rid of the Endbringers dies with me. So is it
 irresponsible to go out and patrol? To try and be a hero? Except, at the same time, I get Feats for doing things with my powers, apparently. I could get so many more points and so many more powers if I kept hunting Feats
 but it might be dangerous. No, it WOULD be dangerous.”

At a loss, Jason looks at Taylor a bit helplessly.

“What should I do, Taylor?”

-x-X-x-

A/N: Will try to keep this up to date at the end of every chapter, get on me if I forget please. Though if it gets too out of hand, might have to change it at some point.

Jason's current banked points:

0 Celestial Points

Jason's current banked power:

• N/A

Jason's current powers:

• Flash Air (Gained in Chapter 1)

• Transformation Pendant (Gained in Chapter 4)

• Keen Eye (Gained in Chapter 4)

• Blood, Death, and Demons (Gained in Chapter 6)

• Alchemical Prodigy (Gained in Chapter 8)

• Staff of Magnus (Gained in Chapter 13)

• Bind and Seal (Gained in Chapter 17)