22 Moons- Hunt For The Stolen Child (Final Night, Trail End)

  --- Jon ---

  Technically speaking, now that he had Kenneth with him, the best thing to do would be to drop him off at a police station and let them take things over from there. After all they were the professionals, and could tie up any loose ends he might’ve left in his wake.

  Morally speaking, now that he had Kenneth with him, the best thing to do would be to drop him off at the hospital Ms. Valentine was staying at. After all he’d promised to take the toddler to his mommy, and didn’t want the mother and child to spend one more moment apart than they had to.

  Which is why he was going through the effort of slipping through the hospital without being seen. A task made somewhat difficult by the fact that by the time he made it to the hospital Ms. Valentine was staying at, visiting hours were long over. Making it so that he had to find one of the less than standard entrances and slip in, while having Pix use what magic he still had to hide them from the various cameras throughout the hospital.

  A strategy that given her own skill level and the fact they were working around machines, meant that the anomaly would be detected when the police went over the footage to find out how Kenneth got into the hospital the next day. (But by then I’ll be long gone.)

  Ducking past the nurses station, where a single nurse (who is clearly over worked) was shifting through paperwork, he finally made it to Ms. Valentine’s room.

  “Alright, Kenneth, mommy is right through this door.” He told the toddler, who’d been remarkably quiet as they broke into the hospital.

  “Mommy?” Kenneth asked, beginning to squirm as Jon removed his scarf from around the toddler.

  “Uh-huh, but it looks like she’s sleeping right now.” He warned, wrapping the scarf around the helmet he’d taken back on the way to the hospital. “But I also know she’s been missing you all week, so here’s what we’re going to do. I’m going to pull up a chair right next to your mommy, and then you can lay down right next to her, that way you’ll be here right when she wakes up, okay?”

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  “Okay.” The toddler nodded, being too sweet to wake up his tired mother.

  “Good.” Jon smiled, slipping into the room as quietly as he could.

  “Pix.” He whispered, jostling his backpack to rouse the exhausted fairy. “You mind helping Kenneth get to sleep?”

  The little fairy looked at him and then the toddler he was setting down in a chair, before nodding once as she began pulling on the last dregs of his magic to send a faintly glowing cloud towards the toddler. And given how exhausted he already was it didn’t even take a full minute for Kenneth to fall asleep where he sat.

  “Good…” He sighed in relief. “Think you can give him a few dreams to help cover this whole mess up too?”

  Pix bit her lip for a moment before giving him a ‘maybe?’ sort of shrug.

  “Then do what you can, before patching up Ms. Valentine that last little bit.” He told the little fairy, running a finger between her antenna.

  While Pix did that he took a step back before slinging off his backpack. Back before he left his apartment to take care of everything he’d filled his backpack with some of the money he’d had laying around from Blackwell and his previous run through a Dealer warehouse. The idea being that given how much he had, he could give a portion of it to Ms. Valentine to try and help with her hospital bills. Something he knew could devastate her finances thanks to his ma’s frequent complaints about how some victims ended up getting hurt twice over because not only were they injured, but they also had to pay for a predatory healthcare system on top of it.

  He also knew that was the exact reason his ma brought home less money than she actually made, due to her habit of making anonymous donations to try and help with said bills, a secret he was happy to help his ma keep.

  And while he was sure his ma would happily help Ms. Valentine with any hospital bills she developed from this whole mess, he was also aware of the five grand he was sitting on hiding inside his closet. Five grand that could very easily fit into an ever so slight legal loophole about money left behind by Masks to the victims they helped. (One I have no problem exploiting.)

  With that settled, he turned back to Pix just as she finished healing Ms. Valentine of whatever injuries she still had from the week prior.

  “Alright… Let’s get out of here Pix.” He didn’t need to be here when the Valentines were reunited. As long as they were together, that was good enough for him.

  Scene Choice

  How much help should we give the Valentines?

  []-After tonight, we’ve helped enough. (No income change.)

  []-Help with Ms. Valentine’s hospital bills. (Weekly income -$20)

  [X]-Completely cover Ms. Valentine’s hospital bills. (Weekly income -$40)

  []-Pay for Ms. Valentine’s hospital bills and a little extra. (Weekly income -$60)

  []-Give as much help as we can. (Weekly income -$105)

  Quest Breakdown

  -Gained 1XP to Computers for using the internet to find warehouse blueprints.

  -Gained 1XP to Psych Warfare for using Dealer relationships to start a fight between them.

  -Pix spent 16MP keeping the warehouse yard under illusions.

  -For pushing her illusions so hard Pix’s Deception has leveled up to Lv. 4.

  -Kenneth didn’t like that all the lights turned off.

  -Gained 1XP to Stealth for successfully sneaking through the Warehouse.

  -Gained 1XP to Childcare for successfully calming Kenneth down.

  -Kenneth Loves that Jon came to take him to his mommy.

  -Andre liked that Jon tried to legitimately be nice to him despite being an enemy.

  -Jon lost 1 Health State from being thrown off the second floor.

  -Kenneth hates that the big man made Jon go away.

  -Jon used Self-Care to restore 1 Health State and fix his arm.

  -Jon spent 2MP and gained 1XP to Contracting for summoning Wolf.

  -Andre hates that Jon refused to fight him.

  -Wolf spent her own MP for Wolf Pack and ??? abilities.

  -For fighting guards on the Walkway gained 1XP to Combat, Throwing, and Knives.

  -Andre liked that Jon beat the guards so quickly.

  -Andrea is disappointed Jon still refuses to fight him.

  -Wolf had to use 8 of Jon’s MP to cut loose against so many enemies.

  -Gained 1XP to Contracting.

  -Gained 1XP to Mobility for escaping the Warehouse with guards attacking.

  -Kenneth disliked all of the loud noises.

  -Andre hates that Jon got away without fighting him.

  -Guardian of Childhood trait overrode kill command, dealing mental damage.

  -Jon has taken mental damage due to realizing he was willing to kill someone and repressing it.

  -Kenneth hated seeing Jon so sick.

  -Jon spent 1MP so Pix could heal him.

  -Jon spent 2MP so Pix could hide them from the cameras.

  -Gained 1XP to Stealth and Mobility for sneaking into the hospital with Kenneth in hand.

  -Kenneth loves that Jon brought him to his mommy.

  -Jon spent 2MP so Pix could put Kenneth to sleep and help him forget.

  -Jon spent 1MP so Pix could help Ms. Valentine finish healing.

  -Jon spent 2MP so Pix and he could get out of the hospital unseen.

  -Gained 2XP to Stealth, Mobility, and Contracting.

  --Stealth Lv. 6 (10/14)

  --*Skill Level Up* Mobility Lv. 6 (1/14)

  --*Skill Rank Up* Contracting Lv. 4 (1/10)

  ---New Perk Available

  -Gained 1XP to Combat, Knives, Throwing, and Childcare.

  --Combat Lv. 5 (9/12)

  --Knives Lv. 3 (3/8)

  --Throwing Lv. 3 (2/8)

  --Childcare Lv. 7 (6/16)

  -Pix spent 16 MP.

  -Jon spent 18 MP

  -Pix’s Deception has leveled up to Lv. 4.

  -Andre Reputation: Andre really wants to fight Jon.

  -Dealer Reputation: Dealers are now aware of a magic user with a wolf attacking them.