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The Hatbox
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Comments
This is getting intense.
Ok, more intense than it was. That black archon would have been really bad news if it had gotten loose. Amber keeps learning new things and working with her own power.
Maggie
Big Evil
Yeah, I tried to make the black archon as scary as possible for someone trapped in a chair and all drugged up. Hope I succeeded. But Wu Lok won't be in the same helpless situation. Our girl's got her work cut out for her.
VERY BIG Q, what did he "take away"?
I agree with Amber. No matter how great their cause. No matter how well Mr. Calvin treats her now she has been subject to his confinement, abuse, perversions for a year and a half.
Oh sure part is due to that lust Archeron but even if true can Mr. Calvin ever be totally normal in a relationship? Has he been permanently tainted to some degree?
He said after she had the child he would restore HIS body and life.
Kept that promise didn’t he.
With his powers the complications of Amber’s former girlfriend could have been overcome and his disappearance explained but no...
Loyalty and love must be earned not manufactured by magic.
What Mr Calvin did to control her could be used against him.
And what of Taylor?
Still don’t know if she somehow killed her mom or what.
So what did he remove?
If he has any compassion it would be the semen addiction and love magic. That and he should restore her fertility.
If he won't or dare not restore his male life the least, the very least is give her freedom and a chance at having her own life and children.
He was a good teacher and Amber seems all the more dedicated despite all the shit she has suffered.
She would likely stay and fight by his side out of devotion to the cause. But to love Mr. Calvin seems too great a stretch, not after all she has suffered. I see that some of what he did was meant to toughen her for the upcoming battles but he went too far.
Mind you IF she were to become Taylor’s new stepmother and given how rapidly she has learned about Archerons and how to fight /use them....
Though I fear the only way to save Taylor is to take away her natural ability to syphon Archeron energy. She needs to be made into a mundane and do penance. She needs to realize to harm she has done and to regret it, learn from it.
Perhaps with time she could have her powers restored and be trained to control them and not be controlled by them. But I doubt it.
As to Courtney and Amber… jury is still out. Courtney is too compulsive and too easily led by Taylor for Amber to ever truly trust/love her I fear.
John in Wauwatosa
John in Wauwatosa
Good questions!
You have a lot of great speculations going on, as always.
First, I have to LOL at Amber becoming Taylor's stepmother! Taylor would LOVE that!
That's a good strategy for helping Taylor, but may prove difficult. It would definitely take Amber and Don together to do it. I do know at least one other way it can be done, but keeping my lips tight on that one. ;)
It's plain that Mr. Calvin's treatment of Amber is far and away too evil for him to receive any sympathy, but there is a reason she takes the brunt of his evil nature. The next few chapters will explore that, and also much about his past and possible future with the archons.
Finally, I can say most of your questions will be answered soon. But more will pop up, too ;) So stay tuned!
- Ken
I long suspected something is odd about how quicky Amber has...
grasped the use and detection of Archerons and their power.
Remember on several occasions Amber has overcome Mr. Calvin's prohibition on her telling other's of what he is making her do.
I doubt the original girl Amber is a copy of had this innate talent,
Clearly much of the reason Mr. Calvin kept her is he sensed she had this gift, this extremely rare power to see and use Archeron energies. One rarer and potentially more powerful than his or his daughter but one with its own dangers.
Is there a family history of similar powers in the former man’s bloodline that Mr. Calvin has discovered?
Is Amber some distant blood relative of himself or his beloved late wife?
Is this a case of once his soul/spirit were trapped in a woman’s body long enough... and given how her baby died… she grew into this legacy?
As to helping/curing Taylor either her powers must be suppressed for a time or she must be tricked into bonding with the power of some better Archeron. Not one based on hate.
An Archeron of sadness or of kindness?
Hell even one of lust would be a step-up from the depravity and cruelness she is descending into.
Still wonder what Mr. Calvin removed from Amber. Beyond that of being allowed to hurt/kill others if necessary -- IE he removed that inhibition Taylor forced on her to protect herself and to torment Amber.
If he fears he might die in the next battle has he given her back her freedom? Her self-determination in hopes she will choose to stay and fight at his side willingly?
John in Wauwatosa
P.S. IE what is he has seen in Amber’s past or what does Mr. Calvin see in Amber’s future that makes her so special yet too precious to let her go free?
P.P.S. I LOVE the idea of Taylor being under the total yet “loving” authority of her new and powerful step mother Amber. Maybe stepmom could have two plain looking daughters and they make Amber live in the kitchen…
More seriously. Perhaps as this power was used to transform him --- an adult male -- twice into a copy of the girl she believed was her rival, perhaps Taylor could be given a do over, a reversion to early childhood and a chance to grow up right.
Though that would put a huge and burden on Amber. It skates close to identity death for Taylor.
Though what Taylor and co have done to Amber IS all but complete identity death to be fair.
John in Wauwatosa
Cool! Some Q's I can answer.
Now, you've found some questions I can answer without giving away too much of the story! ;)
The girl Amber resembles is Brooke Hallen, and I had no plans to give her any magical gifts. I'm coming around to the idea of having sensitivity to archons run in families, but I'm just not sure yet. So far the Calvins are the only family with more than one, and Taylor is the only revealed "natural" with an innate gift. Mr. Calvin was trained. Evan/Amber is not related to the Calvins at all.
Yes, Amber, as a seeker, has more natural ability and more potential than Mr. Calvin. She just can't control as much yet. The story will tell whether she reaches that point or not. Also, she had the gift before the baby died. She saw the light in her room beforehand, during the confrontation between Taylor and her dad. And Mr. Calvin believed that Evan was fated by the universe to become Amber to help his daughter. That, along with her abilities as a seeker, makes him value her so much. Plus his lust for her, which I will expand on soon. >:)
Balancing Taylor's hate with another archon is an idea I had, but you'll have to wait and see if I go that route. Naturals that can bond with more than one archon are extremely rare, and she doesn't have the patience right now to learn the traditional, learned route to being a vessel. By the way, you may have seen the Archon Journal entry for "The Balancers." It has some information regarding human sensitivity of archons.
Regressing Taylor's age is another idea I hadn't thought of, but I like it! It's rather just considering what she did, too. That's another one that will take a combined effort to force her, since I doubt she'll go for it willingly. Plus they'd have to find a way to block her connection to the red hate. She's broken through her father's previous attempts (as stated in chapter 11, I believe). ;)
Other answers coming in the next chapter and more! I hope to get it posted later today.