Chapter 9

My phone rang for a couple times before it finally picked up. "What's up Daryl?" Micheal asked over the phone.

I felt relieved when I heard his voice. "Fucking asshole." I said "Would it have killed you to text Megan back, let her know you were alright?" I gave Megan a smile to reassure her.

The phone was silent for a moment, then I heard a few choice curses. "Shit, sorry bro, things have been hectic." he told me.

"No kidding." I told him. "I have seen the news today." I told him.

"Yeah." he said then went silent. Micheal and I were pretty close, so I could tell he had wanted to say more but stopped himself. "Something else going on?" I asked.

"Huh? Oh, umm, no." he said though I didn't believe him.

"You sure?" I asked. "No long naps, or lights behind your eyelids?" I asked.

There was a long silence on the other side of the phone.

"Micheal you still there?" I asked.

"Yeah." Micheal replied after another moment of silence. "What do you know Daryl?" he asked me.

"You mean other than the fact that monsters are appearing all over the world?" I asked.

"Duh." he replied with a chuckle.

"A bit." I admitted looking over at Enya who was picking at a piece of loose cheese with her beak. She wasn't eating it, just picking at it like a bored child playing mindlessly by pushing a toy around.

"Tell me!" Micheal said excitedly.

"What are you doing Micheal?" I asked. "Why didn't you answer any of Megan's calls? That isn't like you."

Again there was silence on the other side of the line for a while. "It's complicated." Micheal replied.

I frowned as my mind raced. "You passed out, after experiencing a lot of pain in your abdomen, like something was trying to rip its way out of you." I stated.

No reply.

"Courtney and whichever friend she pulled along with her would have panicked." I said thinking it through, "One of them would have called 911, probably got you an ambulance ride to the hospital."

"Enough Daryl." Micheal told me seriously.

I stopped saying it out loud but I couldn't stop the train of thought and wasn't hard for me to guess what happened after that. They either found nothing until after he woke up with powers, or they found something then he woke up with powers. Someone would definitely take an interest in that. "Fine, I'm heading to bed, it's been a long day." I told him.

"Daryl, what do you know?" Micheal asked me seriously.

"It isn't over." I replied. "More awakened, more twisted…" I told him,

"Don't forget the mutants!" Enya called out interrupting me.

"Mutants?" I asked the oversized red crow shaped fire elemental.

"Beasts, the mana will affect them too." Enya replied.

"Great, guess we will have to deal with mutant animals too." I said into the phone.

"Who was that?" Micheal asked.

"Enya, good night Micheal." I said prepared to hang up.

"Wait!" Micheal called out.

"What?" I asked.

"How do the powers work?" he asked me.

I frowned then remembered that I only discovered the interface because Enya had told me how. "Close your eyes and focus on the light you see, once you can see into the core you should know about as much as I do." I replied.

"Daryl this isn't a game." Micheal chided me.

"Just do it Micheal." I told him.

"I am not in the mood for pranks." Micheal told me seriously.

"Just do it." I told him just as seriously, "just make sure you do it while sitting close to a pretty woman you haven't slept with." I added.

"Daryl!" Megan yelled at me while Karen laughed.

"Just do it." I told Micheal before he could object again.

"Fine." he told me though he sounded pretty irritated. Instead of hanging up I waited for a few minutes. "It worked!" Micheal said excitedly.

"What worked?" a male voice I hadn't heard before asked.

"Micheal what color is your core?" I asked.

"Color?" he asked me.

"Yeah. What color is it?" I asked.

"Green." Micheal replied. "Why?"

"Got it. Micheal use your wisps to make more abilities if you can. Goodnight, don't be a stranger, but no visitors in the middle of the night." I told him.

"Daryl, why did you want to know the color?" Micheal asked.

"Curiosity." I replied.

"What color is yours?" he asked.

"Who said I have one?" I asked.

"Daryl!" Micheal yelled.

"Goodnight, remember no visitors in the night, or the early morning." I told him then hung up.

"Was that wise?" Karen asked.

I shrugged. "No idea, but I don't want to get involved with the government." I told her.

"Why?" Karen asked.

Looking over at her she didn't seem angry just curious. Same with Megan.

I frowned as I wondered why myself. It was an instinctive thing. Maybe it was because I had read too many stories about corrupt governments taking advantage of those with power. Probably a stupid reason to base a decision like that off of, but I really didn't want to work with the governement.

I shrugged, "No idea, I just feel it would be a bad idea." I told her. "Maybe that will change later, but right now I don't want to deal with them. We can even call this a test, if they come bother us tonight even after I told them not too, it would prove that it is a bad idea. If they leave us be, then I might reconsider." I told her.

"What if they are just that desperate?" Karen asked.

"I am sure Micheal and I weren't the only two to awaken." I told her.

"Maybe that is the problem." Karen pointed out.

I winced, that could very well be true, but it didn't change anything. "Sleep first. We can talk about it again tomorrow." I told her.

"Why did you want to know about Micheal's core color?" Megan asked.

"Oh thanks, almost forgot." I said then looked over to Enya. "Enya, what does the differences in color mean?" I asked.

Enya tilted her head to the side for a moment. "The color denotes the ability of the core. Each increase in grade changes the color. I don't know what changes with each grade increase but I know the order of the grades." she told me happily. "It is supposed to help me understand how much of my services a summoner can afford."

I was curious about what those services were, yet worried at the same time. "And those are?" I asked.

"The lowest is red, then orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple. Those are the primal colors, after the primals are the metals, copper, silver, gold, platinium, mythril, and finally orichalcum." she explained.

"So orichalcum is the best?" I asked.

"No, there are more grades above it, but I didn't bother to learn them. I haven't even heard of anyone having an orichalcum core let alone something better." she told me.

"So my gold is pretty good." I said with a smile.

"Don't get a big head." Karen told me.

I frowned at her but didn't say anything.

"What about your new abilities?" Megan asked.

I yawned suddenly feeling fairly tired. Seems like being unconscious for eight hours didn't count as sleep. "Physical, a basic ability like my mental." I told her then yawned again. Frowning after the yawn I wondered what was going on, I had stayed up three nights straight after the release of WoW's last expansion. I shouldn't be that tired.

"And the other?" Megan asked.

"Spatial Storage." I replied.

"So a inventory?" Megan asked.

I nodded. "yeah, something like that." I said then stood up and yawned again. "Where do you girls want to sleep?" I asked them. I could only attribute the exhaustion to gaining powers, and with my stomach full again I was exhausted.

"Your bed." Karen replied seriously.

I frowned then nodded, I could sleep on the couch I decided looking over at it.

Karen chuckled, "No Daryl, Megan and I are still pretty freaked out. You are sleeping with us." she told me.

That caught me off guard, I looked at the pair of women. I was tired, but I wasn't that tired.

"Pervert." Megan commented.

Karen just laughed. "I can't do that for a few days, just remember that before your hands get too frisky." she warned me.

I stared at Karen stupidly for a moment making her roll her eyes. "Don't be dense Daryl." she told me.

I was too tired to figure out what she meant by that. I just shook my head and headed for my room. I shucked off my pants and shirt then climbed into the middle of the bed and laid down on my side. The girls could do whatever they wanted. I was sure I would curse myself in the morning, but I really was tired.

Moments later the light switched off then the covers on my bed shifted. Then two warm bodies pressed into my front and back.

Instantly I was wide awake. Not because either woman was getting playful. Instead I was able to tell that both women were topless at the minimum. The woman at my back pressed her breasts into me then wrapped her arms around me. The woman in front of me pressed her back into my front then pulled my arms around her, one under her head while the other over her waist.

Unable to resist I curled my arm up to cup a breast. The woman in front of me moaned then wiggled her ass into my crotch. "Just remember I can't do anything for a few days." Karen said from in front of me as I groped her full breast.

I stopped massaging. Was it worth getting myself worked up if I wasn't going to get relief?

"Unless you can talk Megan into it." Karen told me.

"Not ready yet." Megan said from behind me.

I sighed, I finally got to sleep with two women at once but wasn't able to do anything. Talk about a pyrrhic victory. I squeezed the full breast in my hand once then tried to get comfortable. I wasn't going to be able to sleep with them both pressed into me, at least not for a while. As if to prove me wrong the exhaustion rolled over me and dragged me down into sleep.