Chapter 193: Chapter 162

Sonya came to a stop just beneath the balcony and peered up, smiling as her eyes shifted in her head, adjusting to the sunlight beating down on her face. The wind picked up a little around her and her hair fluttered. She cracked a grin as the woman in the brown cardigan planted her hands on the rail and with a single movement, hefted herself off the side with a ‘hup!’. Black Lotus and the woman in the blue robes both turned to her in exasperation and reached out but were, ultimately, too late. The wind picked up again and the air around Sonya dried up almost instantly, the humidity fading to nothing as tiny blocks of snowy ice formed in the air. She hopped down them one at a time before landing with delicate grace and looking up at Sonya with an almost blinding smile.

“Guildmaster Evergreen, reporting!” She chirped, bringing her hand up in a casual salute.

Sonya beamed at her, “Brigid! It’s so good to see you, hun! How are you? How’s Seattle?” She laughed and stepped forward, scooping the slightly taller woman into a hug which was returned enthusiastically. She took a step back and looked her over. Brigid had fire-engine red hair worn long into two absolutely massive braided ponytails. If one looked carefully, they could see several streaks of white going through it. Her eyes were milky white, reminding Sonya a bit of Charon’s eyes.

“Fantastic actually, snatched up a few pretty amazing recruits from my camp,” She said and waggled her eyebrows, “Gonna give the scamps around here a run for their money.”

“Yes, I met Crane and Magnus,” Sonya laughed.

“We’ll see how they do,” Another voice chimed in and Sonya glanced up to see the woman in blue robes descending on a platform of blue light. She had her hands crossed behind her back and was giving Evergreen a steady look with one perfectly trimmed raised eyebrow. “I’ve heard some impressive things about the recruits for this camp as well.”

“Bluestar,” Sonya said merrily, “You’re looking fabulous.”

Bluestar tilted her head in a polite gesture and smiled back, “It’s good to see you, ma’am, it’s been too long since you visited headquarters.”

“I’ll be back in the thick of it after the ceremony. I wanted to make sure everything went off without a hitch, you know?” Sonya said with a shrug just as the third personage on the balcony jumped down without any assistance from her abilities. Black Lotus stood up tall, towering over the other women present, her long black hair fluttering around those deep black eyes that alway seemed to take Sonya’s breath away. Bluestar glanced over at Black Lotus, “I’m also happy that we’ll be getting Black Lotus back, she is our ace after all.”

“Don’t let your dear Bandit hear you say that,” Black Lotus said with a smirk in her direction.

Bluestar pursed her lips and gave Black Lotus a terse look, “He’s looking forward to the competition. None of the others can keep up with him,” She said defensively.

Bridgid barked out a laugh, “You two are so cute together!” She laughed, “A lady and her noble archer,” She said wistfully, holding a hand up to her cheek and swaying left and right. She made a lazy gesture and ice gathered in front of her hand, taking the shape of a woman in a gown dancing with a man with a quiver on his back. It quickly exploded in a blue flash. Brigid whipped her head towards Bluestar, “Hey!”

Bluestar looked away with a huff, her face a bit red, “Enough out of you.”

Sonya burst into laughter, “Ah it’s so good to see you all again,” She said, holding her sides, “It’s a shame that Amos had to head back to headquarters but they can’t be without him forever.”

“How’s the new place coming?” Bluestar asked.

“About done, just handling the interiors now. Maybe another week?” Sonya said with a shrug and put her hands on her hips, “Now, on to business if you three don’t mind!” She said as Marta fell into her usual spot behind Sonya, hands on her lap and eyes closed as a patient maid. “Tomorrow we’ll have a lot of guests! The graduates from the West Coast camp are going to be joining us here in Green Bank for the ceremony. All three of you are in charge of security and making sure everyone is comfortable,” She said, “I’ll have some of my own security present as well but not nearly as much force as you all can provide,” Her eyes narrowed, “I do not want any trouble during this event.”

All three heroes straightened and nodded, “Yes ma’am!” They said.

“Good!” Sonya said quickly, “The families of the graduates are VIPs as far as I’m concerned, let's make sure they feel like it.”

“Speaking of the graduates,” Bluestar said, “I’d like a word with one of them.”

Sonya nodded, “I’ll make sure John gets to you as soon as possible, he’s been eagerly awaiting a chance to talk to you as well.”

Evergreen cracked a grin, “I want a look at the top three here,” She said and reached up to flick a strand of hair from her face, “Maybe get a taste of what they’re made of that impressed you so much?”

“I don’t know if Otis or Gravitic will be receptive but I think Chunhua’s apprentice would be happy to engage in a spar if you asked,” Sonya said casually, getting a blank stare from Evergreen.

Evergreen blinked a few times and looked up at Black Lotus who nodded with a smug smile on her face, “Don’t tell me, she fights like you too?” She asked with a deadpan expression.

“Oh she’s far more brutal than I am. She prefers a broadsword and heavy-handed strokes,” Black Lotus said, her smile widening as she peeked down at Evergreen out of the corner of her eye. “With her ability I expect her to catch up with me in the not-too-distant future.”

Evergreen threw her head back in a groan, “Now there’s two of them? Really?” She grumbled and rubbed her shoulder, “My arm still hurts thinking about our last go at it.”

Sonya raised an eyebrow, “You two fought?”n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

The two of them whipped their heads towards Sonya with wide eyes. Black Lotus scratched her nose and looked away innocently while Evergreen looked down at her feet, shifting a bit. Sonya crossed her arms and glanced at Bluestar who shrugged at her, “It was an exhibition match at headquarters, ma’am. Inside the mana-isolated training room. No risk of runoff.”

Sonya tilted her head, “I appreciate that, but that’s not the problem!” She said and squinted at them both, “They didn’t invite me to watch!”

The laughter carried for a little while as they made their way inside.

–

He wiped his brow irritably with a handkerchief, flicking his hand as they stepped beneath a copse of trees. The jungle was thicker than he had imagined it would be, even after doing a bit of research ahead of time. With a murmured word the hound that leaped out of the trees was shredded to pieces, its ruined corpse falling to the ground as he continued walking. He let out a sigh and stepped over yet another thick root. “Who in their right mind would live this far out in the middle of nowhere?” He griped and brushed a leaf off of his suit coat before checking his skirt and stockings, frowning at a tear in one of them. “And now my stockings are torn, ugh.”

“You could leave some for me, you know,” The woman behind him said. He glanced back at her as she walked past the corpse with a frown on her face. She had a distinct punk-rock look about her, off-gray hair highlighted with violet. Her absolutely absurd figure made him wrinkle his nose a little bit as he stared at the additional unnecessary weight. He rolled his eyes and turned back to what he was doing. “Oh come on!” She whined, “I’m so bored!”

“Your job is to deal with our quarry if something happens,” He said patiently, “Not fry every hound we see and set the entire jungle on fire. We’re trying to avoid attention, not spark an ecological disaster.”

“Mephisto!” She complained, “You’re such a bully! I miss Blackrazor!”

“Trust me, Kera,” He said patiently, “I’ll be happy to return you to your fuckboy when we get out of here.”

“You mean it?” She asked.

He groaned, Why did the mistress pick her of all people to imbue with godlike powers? He winced as another tree limb caught him on his slender leg and he scowled at it. “That does it!” He barked and took a deep breath, “Clear the way.” He bit out as a surge of mana rushed into him and out in a wave. Before him, the trees, debris, rocks, insects, and any creature unfortunate to be in that general direction was annihilated, the entire forest ahead of them cut clean as if an invisible cube had raced through it. He huffed and straightened his tie, “There.”

“What was that about ecological disasters?” Kera asked as she sauntered past him, her hands cupping the back of her head.

He glared at her back and huffed, muttering a few words to repair his clothing as he kept moving along the new path they had created. “This Drastic person better be worth the Mistress’ time, if Masque was any indication the Pandora Committee has no idea what they’re doing as far as the villain rankings are concerned. At least with Mint in charge now they’ll have better direction.”

“I heard he’s strong,” Kera said, “But kind of a loner or something.”

“Really?” Mephisto asked, glancing around the rainforest jungle, “What gave you that idea?”

“Just a hunch,” She said, “Say, you think they’ll have food for us? I’m getting hungry. Blackrazor has really gotten me into fruit tarts, gosh I could go for an apple one, or cherry, or…”

Mephisto rubbed the bridge of his nose, this was going to be a long mission.

–

The steaming tart was set down on the table beneath the cafe, the waitress smiling at the small group before quickly making her way out of the room. Hellion shifted in his seat a bit, looking down at it as he looked up at the others. They were merrily digging into their respective meals and sipping at coffee as if it weren’t the strangest thing in the world. He couldn’t understand it, they were just talking about what amounted to assassinating heroes and vigilante behavior but no one seemed to pay them any mind. He rubbed the back of his neck, not that he minded, he was happy about it, he just didn’t understand.

He looked to Mimir who was staring at him with those eerie golden eyes of his, “There are a lot of people that agree with what we’re doing, Hellion,” Mimir said patiently and sipped at his coffee, “Not everyone likes how the Pandora Committee is handling things, it's not a lot of people, but it’s enough that we have people to rely on.”

“With Mimir’s eyes we know who we can and can’t trust too,” Faux said with a wave of her fork, “So no worries kid, take it easy and enjoy.”

Hellion cleared his throat and nodded, cutting a piece and popping it into his mouth. It was delicious. It felt like hadn’t had a proper meal in weeks which, in truth, he hadn’t. He hadn’t come out of his room for nearly a month it felt like and he was honestly surprised he was alive. He remembered eating meals he found at the foot of his door on occasion now that he thought about it a little but it was all such a blur. He scooped another piece into his mouth and chewed slowly before looking at the board.

There were eight names on it, some pictures attached to them, some without. One of them had a big red x over it. That’s An Set, he was the guy who attacked Las Vegas, right? He turned to the next one, And that’s Liberty, I’ve heard of her. She’s that crazy lady that attacked The Hague or something, right? He wiped his lips on his shirt and pointed at the board as he checked the other names, “Aren’t these people heroes and who’s this Otis guy?”

The others looked at one another and then looked at Mimir who was slowly sipping at his coffee. He looked up over the rim at Hellion for a heartbeat before setting it down. Next to him, Faux leaned forward and rest her elbow on the table, her chin in her palm. “Yeah, it’s about time we hear this grand plan of yours, right?” She said with a smirk, “What do they have to do with the Queen of Villains?”

Mimir set his mug down and let out a breath, “Major? Can you start us off?” He asked.

They all looked with surprise at the red-haired woman who was busy chewing on a sandwich. She frowned at him before nodding, “Okay, so before we start we need to get something out of the way, something pretty important so we all understand how much of a challenge this is going to be, even in the planning phase,” She said, “Mimir has met Ishtar and has seen her face beneath the mask, he knows exactly who she is.”

Everyone went deadly quiet. Hellion put down his fork as he felt a chill run up his spine. He knew he was powerful, he was strong, the testers from the Pandora Committee had said he was a rare Mythic-tier light-touched. Yet from what he heard, this Ishtar person played with mythics like they were children. She was a monster above all monsters. There were even rumors that she was secretly a monster and had arrived with the flash. Faux and the old man who had introduced himself as Max glanced at one another.

“Explain,” Max said quietly.

“From what I’ve been able to gather, Mimir was forced into a deal with Ishtar that awakened his ability. In exchange, he can’t say or do anything that could lead someone else to learn her identity. He will literally choke if he tries,” She began, “She killed his partner in Vegas and he’s been on the warpath ever since.”

Mimir nodded, “What I can talk about are her goals,” he said, “She intends to save the world, in her own mind, even if that means massive casualties in the process. She has no qualms about the destruction she causes and has convinced herself that she’s the only person that can do it. She already controls a great deal of territory on the planet and no one knows about it, on top of that she has her claws in the Pandora Committee,” He finished before letting out a gasp and reaching for his throat. “That’s as far as I can go.”

“So she’s nuts,” Faux said.

“Basically,” Addison said, “So the idea is this, we’ll go after her targets and force her out into the open.”

Mimir nodded, “That’s why I came here to France in the first place,” He said and pointed at the board, “One of her targets is someone we all know in one way or another, Lucien DuCast, Astaroth. She’s convinced he’s a ‘Herald of the Apocalypse’ or something to that effect. We can all agree he needs to be stopped, but she wants to be the one to do it, she gets power from killing these people somehow.”

“So we put a stop to him first and piss her off,” Faux laughed, “Alright! Not a bad plan.”

“He is not an easy man to get to, and even if we do deal with him, the Pandora Committee could style him as a martyr to make him look good,” Max pointed out, “We need to discredit him first. It’s a damn shame that place collapsed like that.”

Mimir nodded, “Agreed, so we’ll have to take a different approach,” He said, “Here’s what I have in mind…”

Hellion took it all in. He’d joined up because he wanted to stop his uncle, but this was so much bigger than that. They were going to take down Ishtar? He swallowed hard and glanced down at his fork before picking it up and looking back at the tart. He stabbed it and leaned forward to listen more carefully. If there was anything he could do to make the world better than the one that took his brother from him, he’d do it.