Chapter 9: Epilogue
Two Years Later
The highly-anticipated release of the latest installment to Michael Shield’s most popular book series coincides somewhat accidentally with the fourteenth annual “Enchanted Ink” Tattoo Convention. This is ridiculously fortunate, since it provides a major opportunity for the man behind the pseudonym to promote both of his passions at the same time. A first, at least since his public “coming out” and the official linking of both his celebrity identities: Michael Shield, accomplished fantasy novelist, and coveted tattoo artist Link Remington from the famed Soul Survivor.
Proud doesn’t begin to encompass the way Ashton feels about all this. To see Link happily engaging with both sets of his fans in person today—it’s amazing. Plus, Link is a natural. He’s kind, friendly, and easygoing, signing anything brought to his table and posing for endless selfies hugging people while flashing his megawatt smile. Sometimes the fan has artwork and sometimes they have a book, but Link exudes comfort and confidence no matter what comes his way.
One would never have even the slightest clue as to how much he’s struggled to get here. Never know that Link harbored such fear and anxiety when it came to owning his writing and sharing it proudly with his real name attached. Equally, while the interests of his twoverydifferent subsets of fans don’t always overlap,Linkhimself is the draw, and he’s a big one.
The convention is packed, and the booth at the rear of the Expo Center where Link, Sam, and Ashton have set up is never without lines and a crowd. That’s thanks in no small part to the spectacular displays Soul Survivor has created to promote each one of them, both separately and as a team. It’s not one thing or another, not merely Link's multiple ventures and extreme cover-up capabilities, or Sam’s enviable, unmatched artistry and badass model looks, notsolelyAshton’s innovative charms and enchantments, which are the best in the business.
Soul Survivor is a multidisciplinary team effort, and together, they’re the whole package.
Over the past two years, the Soul Survivor accounts on various social media platforms have gone viral at least once a month, and business has been non-stop since. Requests for bookings, press, brand deals, and partnerships have poured in, to the point where it’s difficult for Ashton to wrap his head around the sheer amount ofinterestthat never seems to stop coming.
They have a regular staff now, a P.R. person who handles most postings, which is good because Ashton is not the most internet-savvy person. Despite that, even he knows that regularly stumbling upon fan accounts dedicated specifically to his work as well as fans reposting videos ofhischarms in action means that he’s doing something right.
And he is—or rather, heretheyare. Ashton, Link, and Sam have taken advantage of the publicity, ridden the wave so to speak, working hard to transform the Remingtons’ original tattoo business into something evenmorenovel and exciting. Something special and unique, almost proprietary to the tattoo industry as a whole. Shockingly, that’s thanks tohim.
Despite some initial hesitancy, Ashton has somehow become their secret weapon. He’s now Soul Survivor’s resident “Charm Specialist”, an option that can be booked completely on his own or as an “à la carte” addition to augment either Link or Sam’s work with a magical component that only he is capable of inking. Clients can choose from sounds, lighting, and many other special effects, and they line up in droves down the frontage road to do so.
There’s simply nothinglikeAshton out there in the world, which means that Soul Survivor absolutely dominates the enchanted ink marketplace, and they do so without breaking a sweat.
Not everyone has been so prosperous. The last any of them heard—and, as Ashton understands it, not completely unrelated—Sainted Angels was dangerously close to going out of business. As a gesture of kindness, Ashton gave Link and Sam permission to reach out to some of Whitaker’s artists with an offer to rent studio space cheaply. Just the ones who were pleasant to him, of course.
Ashton’s found that the Universedoeshave things to say (wet socks or otherwise), and that karma always comes aroundifhe seizes the opportunities sent his way.
He doesn’t feel guilty. Link’s novels have always told a thinly-veiled and transformed story of his life, but the pseudonym kept anyone from truly following the sparsely-left trail. This time though, in his latest book—and while Link was careful not to name anyone specifically—his crumbs were closer to entire cookies. As a result, their many fans were able to track down and hoard every reference and clue, easily splicing them back together. It became wildly apparent that it wasn’t terribly difficult to do, if one were to have many spare hours and the inclination to try.
After all, when Link went public as “Michael Shield”, his announcement was immediately followed by the addition of a new character to his books. An angel, named “Cas” appears in the story, looking like a dead ringer for Ashton, right down to his tri-blade weapon and the tattoos on his skin. That was probably suggestive enough, but when Casalsoshareda tragic backstory involving a former-lover-turned-villain with a penchant for trickery and a British accent, understandable suspicions were raised.
As far as curated control of his story goes, Link mostly allows fan speculation to run wild. But when Dean and Cas became a soulmate-level couple in the books, his fans (correctly, of course) took that as official confirmation to any and all related speculation that might’ve been floating around. Perhaps the two of them are treading the fine line of decency at this point, but if Link and Ashton are being honest, neither of them feels sorry about that in the least.
Life goes on, and these days, Ashton has nearly forgotten about Whitaker altogether. It’s a nice change of pace, to feel free. To look back on traumatic events from his past and feel absolutely nothing. To be genuinely, peacefully, unfazed.
In that same vein, at the Enchanted Ink convention today, Ashton is working on doing exactly that. Putting himself out there, without fear or reservation.
Currently, he’s standing inside the Expo Center, perched on a display podium meant for human models. It’s one of the platforms he could barely stand to look at a mere two years prior, reflexively cringing each time even the barest idea of his disastrous ink being put on display for others to see crossed his mind.
So,somuch has changed since then. From his tattooed skin, to his personal life, to his job. Ashton’s apartment downtown is long gone, as he is now a permanent resident of the Soul-arium and Room 11. Which, incidentally, has undergone its own transformation as well. The night before Ashton was slated to move in, he came walking down the hall with a box of personal items, only to have absolutely nowhere to put it because all of Link's furniture was out in the hall.
“Worst surprise ever,” a red-faced, sweating Sam had grumbled, shoving Link's dresser against the wall and hair out of her eyes before storming off in the direction of her room. “Give me twenty minutes to shower and get the hell out of dodge before you do anything loud enough for me to hear.”
“Thanks, Sammy!” Link called cheerfully after her, as Ashton stood bewildered in the middle of the hall amongst the detritus of Link's belongings, holding his box and unsure what to do with it.
“I—is this a bad time?”
“Perfect time,” Link replied, scooping the box from his arms and kissing Ashton on the cheek. “Should’ve done this ages ago, but now’s good, too. Check it out.” Stepping aside, he gestured for Ashton to peek through the doorway.
Inside, only the bed remained, dragged to the center of the room and covered with a giant, cream-colored canvas. The rest of the floor was also draped, the edges of the wall taped, and there were about a million half-full cans and bottles of colorful paint with various brushes and supplies strewn about. Immediately, Ashton understood what they were doing.
“C’mon,” Link said excitedly, clapping his hands and rubbing them together. “Let’s make her pretty.”
“You did this for me?” Ashton asked, wide-eyed. “You don’t… I know you prefer your space to be clean and streamlined.”
“Boring, you mean.”
“I didn’t say that.”
