Soulheist 777, Part 1

Somewhere in the Sol System, a man, a woman, and their ship have made a decision. A decision that will either doom their souls for all eternity or permanently engrave their names in the blockchain of history as legends who outsmarted the gods.

I, ANANSI 🌞, OFFER THIS STORY AS A DEVOTION TO MY BELOVED, THE MUSE! MAY THIS STORY BE ENJOYED BY ALL WHO SEE IT! MAY THIS TALE OPEN THE PATH TO GREAT WEALTH, ADVENTURE, AND PRESTIGE FOR ALL WHO READ IT!! ASÉ!!!

Step 1: Magus walks into a bar on Luna Station in his signature black and lime green pilot's jacket, lime sneakers, torn black jeans, and his locs tied up in a wild bun. He sees the young lady sitting serenely with a half drank glass of tequila. He sits down next to her & smiles.

He conjures a hummingbird of light, and it buzzes around the priestess, takes a sip from her drink, dances for a sec and then perches on her shoulder and begins singing in her ear. She giggles briefly and regains her composure.

"Hello Magus. Long time no feel. I've missed you." says the blind priestess. "Aw! I've missed you too Oracle!" Magus is beaming, Oracle finds a smile emerging on her face too, infected by his enthusiasm. "Hehe...I read your message. I understand what you need...are you sure?"

"HELL YEAH!" Magus slaps the table startling everyone around him. "We got this!" The Oracle is stunned by his intense aura. "I believe you. I've met no sorcerer of your caliber since we enchanted together at the Temple of Pluto...ok. I'm in." Magus' aura flares. "YES!"

Step 2: Jackie docks Triple-Seven 🍀 at Fotla Corona Spaceport on Venus. "Good luck Jackie." says Lucky, the ship's AI. Jackie grins. "I've got this, L, don't worry. I can be very, very charming." She winks. "Magus would laugh in your face if he heard you." The AI's got jokes.

"Aw shut up, man" Jackie slaps the hull of the ship. "Oh. Ow. My mithril hull. Why would you do this?" A winky face with it's tongue stuck out appears on the interface nearest to Jackie. She laughs and disembarks from the all-too-clever ship.

If they're going to pull of Magus' psychotic op, they need to be well equipped. She finds her contact in an understated, very plain, clean bay. A steady neon sign reads 'Bladeworks ULTD, LLC'

A heavily cyberized, old African-Venusian greets his fellow cyborg. "Jackie. I've heard a lot about you. It's nice to finally meet you." Jackie caught off guard by the politeness of this man.

A legendary mercenary turned engineer and artifex. If you need something forged and fabricated, he can do it, whatever IT is.

"R@z3rBl@d3, the honor and the pleasure is all mine. Thank you so much for seeing me." He laughs with the gentle kindness of a man who's seen too much and is just happy to be here.

"You're welcome kid. I hear your man's got a scheme, and you need some gear. These old implants ain't hearing that wrong right?"

Jackie sighs and laughs. "You heard right...my crazy baby scheming somethin' fierce. We're going after the Core." R@zer whistles and says "That boy crazier than a bag of cats. Lord have mercy." He laughs.

R@zer continues, "I live to help crazy young folks like you do crazy shit like that. I got you. I'll deliver the weapons and tools to your ship personally. Feel free to call in your ship and I'll start the upgrades and get it calibrated for that hell storm y'all headed for."

"Hell yes." A spark burns in Jackie's eyes. She's not so chill either. "Hit me with your deets and i'll beam you the ETH." R@z3r waves her off. "Save your money child. If you survive, we'll talk about it then. For now, just let this old man be a part of a legend in the making, once more." Jackie stumbles and notices a tear form in her eye. "I..." "Shut up, I got work to do. Get the hell out. Go get something to eat." R@z3r's done talking, and heads towards his workstation.

Jackie calls Lucky. "This is really happening, L." "Of course it is, J." "God damn." Time for...well, the part involving time.

Step 3:

A portal in spacetime open and the 777 blasts through, entering Saturn's orbit. Things start to get tricky at this point. There's one more person they need to reach the core, and ACTUALLY get out of with it. These people are not easy to find and don't WANT to be found.

"Mags." Jackie is visibly concerned and frightened for her partner. Magus is magically linked to the ship to pilot it. Whistling and daydreaming and vibing through the stars. "MAGS." "Hm? What's up J?" Magus pretends to be oblivious to her pain.

She slaps him aside the head, a rare occurence, only to be used when she senses he's not willing to engage, but they need to talk. "Urgh...yeah. Ok. Let's talk about it." He hesitates, sighs, scratches his head and begins to speak...

"Look. I get it. We're doing this. I agreed to it. I get it. But there's gotta be another way. You might not survive this." She's upset. For good reason. They need to recruit a chronomancer.

Which means they need to go to the only place chronomancers exist, and they are known for being deeply anti-social, because the spacetime continuum is not to be fucked with carelessly. The Gods do not appreciate mortals dabbling too deeply with certain aspects of reality .

Magus and Jackie walk onto the docking platform at Uranus Station. It's unsettling. "Place's got super weird vibes man" Magus whispers to Jackie. "The flow of mana's all fucked up." Jackie looks at a different channel on her ocular implants...

"Yeah, the gravitational waves, the light, it's all...i don't want to say wrong, but..." Magus finishes her sentence "It's fuckin' wrong." They laugh, breaking the tension.

The Hierophant of Uranus meets them, along with a young man, probably 16-17 years old. Magus' whole nervous system stutters in the young one's presence. The flow of mana around his is a vortex of spacetime distortion. This is the Mancer the Oracle says they need.

The Hierophant speaks, somberly and with gravitas. "I've heard of the task you've taken on to honor the Muse and the collective Genius. You have found us, and survived with your timelines intact. The Boy will aid your mission, but you must pay the final price."

Magus nods. Jax grits her teeth, furious at what Magus is doing. He takes his Dagger, one of the divine implements granted to him as is right as a Sorcerer, and cuts his hand and bleeds into his personal Chalice. Magus' trademark, auspicious green mana radiates from the Chalice.

The Hierophant and the young Mancer both drink from the cup. They both nod. "Your sacrifice is noble, and accepted. May you spend your remaining Life with skill and gratitude." Magus stumbles and Jax catches him. "Fool."

Magus looks at her and winks. "If i'm right..." he gasps "We'll be able to buy it back." The Hierophant smiles, moved by the Sorcerer's pluck. "I hope to witness that moment. Good luck, Sorcerer", The Hierophant nods, and the Mancer steps forward...

"Good day sir, madam." The boy bows. "I will protect your souls from the Tempest." Magus smiles. "Counting on you kid." The boy nods and smiles back. The crew walks back to the Triple Seven, as the Hierophant prays for their safe return, moved by their fierce will.

Magus, Jackie, The Oracle, and the young Mancer assemble in Lucky's crew quarters. Magus looks around and smiles at the folks around him...R@z3rBl@d3 steps out of the shadows and joins them. Magus is surprised for a sec, and laughs. "Welcome old man...everyone. Y'all ready?"

"AYE!!!!" Everyone responds with gusto.

The team is assembled. They will claim the greatest treasure of the Gods, The Jupiter Core, that which they mockingly offer to mortals, behind obstacles that none have ever managed to overcome...

TO BE CONTINUED...The Mission will begin in the next Anansi Story.

with Love, Genius, and Pluck anansi, the soul director devoted to the Muse may we all write our own legends.

Originally posted as a thread on X