The Beast and The Brain.

We stopped outside a two-story building. It was surrounded by homes; all of them were two-stories so the building didn’t stick out or scream ‘here I am!’. However, the closer I looked, the more suspicious I became. The windows were grimy, and strange things hung in the window. There was a sign on the door, but I couldn’t make it out. I had a feeling, though, that it was not a welcome sign.

J was glancing around suspiciously. Her horse picked up his feet a few times anxiously. She finally let down the reigns and dismounted, and I followed her lead. She pulled the cloth up over the lower half of her face. I felt a feeling inside my head. It was a vibration at first. Like a bug, buzzing in my ear, then it rang at a very high pitch, and then it was silent. ”Sorry about that.” J’s voice echoed in my head rather loudly.

I looked at J in surprise. She was staring straight ahead so I decided to do the same. Her voice came again, ”Sorry again.” This time her voice was normal, “I’ve only done this a few times before, and even then it was a long time ago. I just wanted to test it out and make sure I remembered.”

I nodded my head and she took a few steps forward and opened the door. I followed her inside and closed the door behind me. Once inside I took a moment to look around the place. Candles were lit all around, the outside light hardly made it through the grimy windows. The place smelled of incense. A curtain moved aside and a very old man walked through. He hunched over slightly, and he walked with a cane. His long silver hair was pulled back into a ponytail and we wore a battered blanket over his shoulders. “Good afternoon. Shall I peer into your future?” He greeted without looking up. I instantly relaxed, this man wasn’t any threat.

J stood up straighter and her eyes flashed at the old man. “Greetings, Jeremy.”
The man stopped stone still, and for a moment, I was confused. Surely, this wasn’t the dangerous man that J had been talking about. Surely, this old man couldn’t be powerful. But the look in J’s eyes told me otherwise, she was alert, and cautious. I stood up straighter as well; I wouldn’t let down my guard.

The old man recovered from his moment of shock. He stood up straight and placed the cane against the wall, “J, my dear friend. I’m so glad to see you’re alright.” He walked towards us, his face looked younger now, and he walked fine without the cane. He must do the old man act to fool people.

“I bet you are.” J said simply, “I see business is as gloomy as ever.” She commented and looked around the room.

Jeremy laughed heartily, “These noble fools really think I can predict the future! It’s the best thing I’ve done for myself in years.” He admitted happily.

J’s eyes narrowed, “I bet it is, are you going to offer me a seat or do you expect me to stand here all day?” Jeremy’s smile hesitated for a moment, but he quickly regained it.

“Why of course, how silly of me. Please come inside and have a seat.” He showed us through the curtain to his personal living quarters. The stairs were off to the right, but we sat down in the living area where he poured J a cup of tea. The floors were covered in majestic dark rugs, and tapestries hung on the wall. J sat down on a red couch, and I stood behind it. Jeremy sat in a chair across from her and sipped at his tea.

“So, when did you pick up a body guard? Last time I checked you worked alone J. This is very unlike you.” The old man’s eyes flashed to me. I was reminded of a fox, a trickster. My right hand dropped to my swords hilt. He smiled and brought his gaze back to J.

J placed her tea back onto its saucer on the table, “Fool.” She hissed, “I’m sick and tired of your games.”

Jeremy didn’t say a word, he just smiled and sipped at his tea, “Why, I don’t have a clue as to what you are talking about J.”

J slammed her fist against the table. I was shocked; J didn’t show her emotions this readily in front of anyone this quickly. “Don’t play with me Jeremy. Since we’ve walked through that door you’ve been trying to get under our skin. So knock it off, my power is growing each day, you won’t be able to manipulate us. So stop trying.” She took a deep breath and straightened her clothes with a few swift swipes of her hand. “Now. Why I’m here.” She said. Jeremy seemed a little upset now by J’s outburst.

“I’m not here on friendly terms Jeremy. Last time I was here, I came to you as a friend, now I’m back…and I’m not very happy.” She stared at Jeremy unforgiving, “Not happy Jeremy.”

The old man gulped, and he looked older again, “I don’t know what you are talking about J.”

Though the lower half of J’s face was covered, I still tell she had a smirk on her face, “You are more of a fool than I thought. Last time I came here, you gave me some information about where I could gain a good profit. I traveled all the way to long island port; from there I went further to the guarded facility where you promised would be a great profit to be made.” J took a moment to pause. Jeremy’s eyes were darting for a way out, but there was none with J sitting in front of him, and he knew it. “Now actually taking your advice, I scaled the tower with my unique set of skills and guess what I found?”

Jeremy gulped again, “What did you find?” He asked hesitantly.

“I found a man.” She said, “Not a very rich man. A prisoner.” She said, “Now I thought to myself, this can’t be right, I was sure my good friend Jeremy said I would find a profit and I know my good friend Jeremy wouldn’t lie to me. So, I decided to come back here, and make sure we didn’t have a…misunderstanding. After all, my good friend Jeremy wouldn’t have me risk my neck for no apparent reason. Now would he?”

Jeremy jumped up and locked eyes with me, “You want to draw your sword, and she’s not your friend!” He yelled at me. J jumped to her feet.

“None of that Jeremy!” She said forcefully.

“She’s not your friend, kill her! She’s going to betray you!” My mind suddenly swam, my heart sped up, and my hair on the back of my neck stood on end. Half of my mind wanted to believe Jeremy; J could betray me. After all she didn’t even want to help Gavril and Jake. She’s trouble. But then the other half of my mind saw only reason, No she is my friend and partner. She came back to help me fight those bounty hunters. And she saved me from prison. I turned my back to Jeremy and closed my eyes. Maybe it wasn’t the best idea since I was leaving my back exposed, but I had a feeling that if I kept my eyes on him I was screwed. Beside, J was there to protect me if necessary.

My head stopped spinning and all the doubts in my mind washed away, my heart slowed down, and my hairs went back to normal. I opened my eyes, “You can turn around Asher.” J told me. I turned. The old man was on the couch hold his head. A small trickle of blood was running down his face. J had hit him.

“What was that?” I asked her.

She shook her head, “He’s a manipulator, he puts idea’s into your head and makes you think they are real.”

“Sort of like a Brain?” I asked.

She nodded, “Only not as strong and there powers are limited. They can only plant seeds of doubt, but if a person has a strong mind, then the person can overcome it, unlike a Brain’s power. It helps the manipulator if they have eye contact and if they know your voice and facial expressions. That’s why I told you not to speak, but it’s ok now. He won’t try it again.”

“You bet I won’t.” Grumbled Jeremy, “Why did you go and hit me?” He whined.

“What else did you expect me to do?” J asked perplexed, “Ask nicely? You were going to turn him against me.” J sat back down. In the rush to attack Jeremy, she had spilled her cup of tea, which was now dripping off the small table and onto the floor. But no one paid that any mind.

“No…but did you really have to hit me?” He complained more. He pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and pushed it against his head. “You even made me bleed, I see you haven’t lost any of your strength.” He grumbled childishly.

J pulled the cloth off from the lower half of her face, stretched her legs onto the table, and shrugged, “It was the only way I could get through the barriers in your mind.” She said.

I was now very confused as to what was going on. When we had first entered J and Jeremy had an air of caution around them, a tension that felt as if there was going to be a fight at any moment. Now she was chatting friendly with Jeremy, and he was acting like a child. It was a complete turnaround in character for him and a complete turnaround in body language for J. “Umm….J?” I asked a bit hesitantly.

“Hmm?” She turned her head and looked up to where I was standing
.
“What is going on?” Jeremy started laughing and I looked up at him, “What?” I demanded.

“He’s not very bright is he?” Jeremy giggled.

“Hush Jeremy, he’s got more brains than you do and far more strength.” I looked at J surprised, but she paid me no attention. She had actually backed me, J actually stood up for me. “Besides, he’s new to all of this. Did you not hear me explain to him what a manipulator was?” She asked him impatiently. I had a feeling J lost her cool quickly with this man. I don’t blame her, he did act rather childishly.

He averted his gaze and hmmphed like a child would. “I have nothing to say to that.”

“That’s what I thought.” J nodded her head and turned to me, “Now, to answer your question. Jeremy and I go way back, he’s an old friend and I knew he wouldn’t put me in any unnecessary danger. So when I arrived at the prison to find you, well as you could imagine, I instantly became suspicious. So that’s why I came back, to see what was going on. Sure enough, when I got close enough to his home I could feel the taint of a power that wasn’t his own. I knew someone; either a Brain or a very powerful manipulator had done something to Jeremy’s mind. His thoughts were not his own, and he wasn’t acting like his normal self. So ever sense we arrived I had been trying to get through that barrier in his mind, but they were placed strongly, I hit him and his mind weakened for an instant and I was able to break the bond on his mind. Make sense?” J finished explaining.

“I think so.” I nodded, “Let me sum up just to make sure.” I cleared my throat, “When Jeremy first told you of the profit to be made on Long island prison you didn’t suspect a thing, since you trusted and old friend. You arrived there only to find me, which instantly set your mind into suspicion on Jeremy. So you came back here to find out what was going on. You found out that his mind was bonded by someone else’s power, and you broke it and now everyone is better?”

Jeremy had his mouth open slightly and I will admit he looked rather stupid; J was looking at me with a blank stare; I really couldn’t tell what she was thinking but her blinking was exaggerated. I shuffled my foot, “What? Is that everything or did I miss something?”

“I guess in idiot terms you got everything, yes.” J finally said shaking her head. She turned back to Jeremy.

“So, back to business.” J rubbed her hands together, Jeremy nodded, “I think you have some explaining to do.”

Jeremy pouted, “Must I? It’s rather embarrassing.”

J smiled slightly, “Yes Jeremy, you really must. After all, most of your stories tend to be embarrassing anyways, it’s nothing new.” She grinned and I decided to take a seat.