---

---

---

"Toga, toga, toga..."

This goddamn Toga line made Emily want to die.

"Toga, toga, toga..."

She hated that Vashti talked her into this, but, to the amazement of many, Emily indeed saw Vashti as an equal and a friend. A strange sister was born through their mutual hatred of Britney Williams and the Old Coven's shitty ass leadership. Vashti was a sister, maybe not through blood but through ten years of trials and tribulations, ruling the 8th Street Coven with an iron fist and crushing all their opposition in the name of Emily's ego. That iron-clad friendship of the most unlikely person was why Emily was dressed in stupid dragon pajamas. Why Emily was here dancing like a fool with a bunch of other assholes. Why didn't she torch everyone here in the worst and most unexplainable mass murder event to ever face this stupid festival?

"Toga, toga, toga..."

However, there was a limit to it all. Emily was dead inside. She wanted to find Lila and toast her like the useless insect she was and show to the world - and that little "Coven" - what happens to those that cross Emily. G. Reed.

"Toga, toga, toga..."

Show Stormy...

"Toga, toga, toga..."

... Luca...

"Toga, toga, toga..."

.. Jasper...

"Toga, toga, toga..."

.. Auri...

"Toga, toga, toga..."

... And whoever the fuck else...

"Toga, toga, toga..."

... That Emily G. fucking Reed was going to be the queen of this goddamn city! If not the whole world. Vashti Nour, Miranda, and Jacqueline Reed would stand by her side when she was crowned! 8th Street will spread its influence beyond St. Portwell as the other bastards who laughed at her would scrub her feet. Though, now that she thinks about it, it wouldn't make much sense to keep the name 8th Street Coven at that point, would it...?

"Toga, toga... Toga? Toga...?"

The Chalice was handed to her. The prized possession of that boar Sully and those sluts just placed into her hands like it was nothing. This was one of the most valuable and prized artifacts in the All-Verse, used by kings and queens, heroes and villains. Just being used as a goddamn party toy. It was insulting. Not just to Sully and everyone here, but the Chalice itself! It was just being passed down. Anyone could have just had just walked off with it, and they would be scratching their heads wondering what the hell happened to the Chalice.

Which is what Emily was going to do.

Without so much as an excuse or a goodbye, Emily let go of the person in front of her with the Chalice in hand and walked out. The gap was quickly closed, and they were none the wiser. Emily power-walked away without looking back; her goal was to be inconspicuous. Well, it wasn't a priority as much as leaving with the Chalice was because if anyone got in her way, they would receive hellfire..

Her destination?

The 8th Street Manor.

This Halloween Festival blows, but at the very least, it was starting to look like she would come out of this with something. Enough to forget about what happened with Lila, though maybe she could leverage the Chalice over Sycamore to get at Lila's neck! Emily dug into her onesie, quickly pulled out her cell phone, and rapid-fired some text messages toward Brianna. All she had to do was open a portal back to the manor, and then everyone else could figure out how they would get home themselves. Well, Emily wasn't going to leave her sisters and Vashti in the open with these sluts.

Emily blew up Brianna's phone with text messages.

"God damn it, Brianna..." Emily hissed. "Where the fuck are you!? The one fucking time I need your fatass, you're not fucking here!"

---

---

---

Adora would have a lot to discuss with Lihn next week - though an Emergency session might be in order.

It would be hilarious seeing Lihn's face when Adora tells her she beat the breaks off one of the wealthiest and most powerful families in the city only to make friends with Greenwood and end up dancing in a goddamn toga line. She chanted "TOGA, TOGA, TOGA!" with the others as she had a toga over this outfit because, unlike Linqian, she was not the type to show off this body she made for herself. However, her costume was coated in blood, dirt, and grass and ruined. Her cute little costume idea was ruined before she could match with Lyss.

Where was Lyss, by the way?

Hopefully, she was not stabbed to death in an alley or something, but like the rest of the Coven, Adora could not get a good read on her. However, she quickly pushed the Coven and all the murders out of her head as she cut loose and felt a sense of belonging that she had not felt in so long. That Greenwood gal, Ruby, had her hands on her shoulders, and usually, Adora would have told her to fuck off - But Adora needed this. She got to cut loose, even if it was in a way that would be very embarrassing in a few years. Emily G. Reed didn't exist to her, and she shouldn't.

Scum like Emily didn't deserve any of Adora's headspace.

However, Adora couldn't help but let the guilt and other bad feelings creep inside as hard as she tried to will them away. There was only so long she could push them down... she looked off to the side, picturing the lil' Lisa there cheering her on before she jumped in. Seeing her in the conga line would have been hilarious because she was practically a midget. She remembered asking Leon to help her get stuff off the top shelf in the old Coven manor, then needing help lifting things...

... A tear went down Adora's face, drifting down her cheek until it fell off and hit the floor.

Nobody noticed it. They were too drunk to notice anything beyond the celebration. Too drunk to care. Maybe Adora should be like that and wait for that damn Chalice to get passed back to her so she could try and chug a glass full of Everclear or something. Then she could drink the bad memories away, exactly how Lihn said she should not. Though, it was weird when the Chalice didn't get passed down...

Maybe someone was getting fucked up with it up there. Adora just shrugged. She saw Emily G. Reed disengage and leave and felt some satisfaction in seeing her leave. However, one of those Greenwood girls - Autumn? The gal with the glasses and frizzy hair ran up, got a few of their homegirls, and took off after Emily. They didn't get Ruby, but she let go of Adora and took off after her, her Toga hardly covering her.

Curiosity almost got the best of Adora.

Almost.

Though, she minded her business and stayed her ass in the toga line.

---

---

---

"... Oh, lawd,"

James laughed as he placed a hand on his forehead.

"Look at these fools!" James said with a toothy grin as he let go of his face, and Naomi's eyes drifted towards them.

"They're having fun," Naomi began. "Leave 'im be, James."

"Just sayin'..." James said, putting on his trademark shit-eating grin. They were meant to be watching Autumn to ensure she didn't get jumped while everyone was off partying. Which was fair; they were a team, and leaving Autumn by herself was begging for someone to steal it from her. Not that James underestimated Autumn Hayes... He wouldn't want to fight her despite her unassuming appearance. Though they were also keeping their eyes on their arch-nemesis, Emily G. Reed! James knew she couldn't keep a lid on it forever.

... And she runs off with the Chalice.

"Heh, called it!" James said with a grin as he reached inside the stroller, pushing past the blanket they had over it to grab the axe... Naomi grabbed his arm with both hands and looked up at him.

"... We have to use discretion," Naomi seethed before she turned her head toward Autumn. "Get Pearl and Amelia."

"Why not everyone else?" Autumn questioned.

"Ruby will go batshit and have the feds all over us, Jess is useless at night - I'm sorry - and Kashmira isn't going to be much help," Naomi explained as she pulled the stroller out of Naomi's hands and shoved it into James hands and pointed at Emily. "Follow her."

Autumn quickly ran off towards the conga line.

"Where will you?" James tried to ask before Naomi took off between some buildings. James watched her quickly hop up a fire escape, run up it, and hop up to the roof. She chased after Emily from the rooftops. James laughed.

"Hehe... what happened to discretion?" He asked nobody as he looked over his shoulder and saw a group of Autumn, Pearl, and Amelia running after Emily in hopes of catching up. James ran behind them, running with this stroller like somebody's pops!

Little did they know, Ruby noticed them disengaging and followed after them.

---

---

---

Suddenly, all the attention was shifted to Lila and her strange arm.

It was magic, no doubt about it. Thankfully, no one without magic should be able to see it... maybe. It was something they would want to keep under wraps. Fiona already brought attention to it, but Lila could weakly ask for help from their healer. "Hmph," Meifeng mouthed. Now, you want our help, Meifeng thought to herself. She looked down at her empty drink and felt a little sad now that her fancy drink was gone.

“We’re good, but let’s get out of here, I’m fine, Emily said something that messed with my head a bit and my power is tied to my emotions. Apparently. Could I borrow your healer, if they are here? We’re cool, we’re chill, nothing else is going on and we’re totally okay and nothing else will happen tonight I promise, and if something did happen tonight it totally won't spiral out of control, I'm not that drunk so you don’t need to worry about me……………please.’

"... It sounds like it's about to spiral out of control," Meifeng flatly said.

"Yeah, reassuring!" Cindy laughed.

"If your magic is connected to your emotions, it is best to learn to steel yourself," Meifeng explained. "Emily is a bastard, I know. However, you cannot let degenerates like her get in your head like that. An insect like her lives off that..." She shook her head.

"But, um, if you think everything is under control, we'll leave you to it then!" Cindy said, "Do you want our number so if it does spiral out of control, we can help out? We won't hold it against you if you say no, though!"

That was when Meifeng snapped her fingers.

"Trevor!" Meifeng got his attention, "Heal her, and don't touch her weird..." Then she rolled her eyes.

"On it!" Trevor said, his voice muffled by his Red Power Ranger mask. He hopped out of his stool and then walked over to Lila. He laughed as he said, "Whooooooooa! Havin' a little bit of magic-incontinence there, buddy? Let Dr. Love diagnose you!"

He put his hands on Lila, grabbing her weird-bird arm. A green aura wrapped around Lila (and she probably felt a strange sense of dread as well) around her as the wounds quickly healed. "And just like that! Good. As. New!"

Maximilian sighed.

"... I know you don't want us at your 'after-party'..." Maximilian Finger quoted. "... And that's fair. But, do you want an escort to the ferry? So Emily and her people leave you alone as you all leave?"

"Either way, please drink responsibly..." Meifeng added. "Magic and alcohol do not mix."

---

Meanwhile, a group of the rest of the PRA agents consisted of Nakala Phillips, Claudette Beaulieu, Helena Page, Sonya Mayfield, and Akira Shinjo.

"... Wow, you guys are a bunch of sourpusses!" Sonya laughed as she stomped her foot on the ground. She stuck both her hands out. "It's a fuckin' celebration! A party! And you all want to walk around and look at stuff?! We can do that anytime! There's only a Halloween festival once a year!"

Nakala rolled her eyes as Sonya continued rambling and put a hand on her hip...

"Who knows what'll happen next fucking year?! Maximilian could fist that snake to death! We could get swallowed whole by it! Anyone here could die! Who fucking knows at this point!? The point is that we gotta live in the moment and build memories while we're fucking here..."

And Sonya naturally went on and on, and Nakala became a freaking senior agent for nothing. Her eyes drifted around, looking for anything to distract herself; however, Nakala's attention was brought to a sight. A certain sight. It was a remarkable sight. What did Nakala see? A simple little white lady in a wheelchair with poofy hair. She had cat facepaint on as she strolled on by in her electric wheelchair. She rolled by (purposely, Nakala knew) and smiled at Nakala, saying,

"... Hi," Then kept rolling, and Nakala stared at her as she drove off.

To anyone else, it was nothing.

To Nakala... it was a big deal.

She took a step forward, telling Sonya,

"Sonya, dial it back. We're still on duty!" Nakala began. "Be professional."

"That's my point exactly, ya'll don't know-"

"Be. Professional." Nakala explained, hoping Sonya would get it.

"Ooooh..." Sonya trailed off, "... Okay!"

The lady disappeared, and Nakala sighed.

"... Toga, toga, toga!"

"What's that commotion?" Helena asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Don't know, but let's find out!" Sonya shouted.

"Better than standing around," Nakala shrugged.

The group moved towards the chanting of the toga party, and when they came across the sight, Nakala could only raise an eyebrow in confusion. A whole ass conga line. People partying and having fun! Interestingly, the composition of the toga party featured members of 8th Street and Sycamore. Nakala figured they would had already started fighting by now but color her surprised.

That lady in the wheelchair was off to the side. She couldn't participate but chanted from the side, raising her arms rhythmically.

"... Can I go?" Sonya asked Nakala with a sparkle in her eyes and rosy cheek.

Nakala facepalmed.

"... Go ahead," Nakala began. "Just keep your damn clothes on."

"Yay!" Sonya shouted as she ran over to the toga line and shouted, "Toga me!"

Someone chucked a cloth on her face and decked her, knocking her onto the ground.

She weakly raised a thumb in the air.

"... I'm okay,"

---

---

---

There was something oddly endearing about Layla and Linqian's interactions.

Britney smiled when Layla invited him in despite trying to flee from the boy desperately. This was a... perilous move because the drunken shenanigans started around this time (Britney should brush Layla up on some street smarts soon... eventually). Then, it was revealed that the damn boy was Linqian's little brother. Wow. Britney didn't know that Linqian had another little brother and wondered if there was a reason for that...

A grin formed on Britney's face as she walked over to Linqian and leaned against her (well, she put some weight on it because Britney didn't want them both tumbling down).

"... Why didn't you tell me you had a little brother?" Britney asked, barely containing laughter. Then she turned to him and said (making sure she was loud enough for him to hear), "He's cute."

She followed it up with laughter as Linqian was probably ready to explode again, then walked away. Turning back towards the group.

“Where's your home, Sabrina?”

"It's not too far away from the Coastal Plaza Mall, not too far away from the beach," Sabrina began, then sighed. "It should only be a ten-minute drive from the ferries... and you can call me Bean like Britney does." She softly chuckled afterward.

”Bean it is.” Layla said with a smile.

"Yeah, let's hurry up while Emily is distracted!" Britney awkwardly laughed as she moved towards the ferries. Fast as she physically could. She hoped the group didn't make the mistake that her desire to avoid Emily was fear.

Everyone followed.

They climbed aboard the ferries, and they left Cracker Island behind...

... for now.

---

Thankfully, the ferry was the lengthiest part of the trip. After they got off, as Sabrina promised, it was a ten-minute drive to her house. This does not account for the slight traffic of people trying to get to Cracker Island. Still, the two different carloads of people eventually met at Sabrina's house... a very fancy and exquisite three-floor house that stood in a wealthy neighborhood in St. Portwell. Hidden behind a walled-off gate, the group was safe from psychopaths like Emily and the Sycamore Tree Coven here! Sabrina, for once, led the group as she walked up the stairs.

"Well, this is my house, the..." Sabrina laughed as she put a hand to her lips. "... 'Sabrina Manor.'"

She pulled a key out of her "pocket" (actually an opening she created with the Silkworm), inserted it, and then opened the door with a gentle hand. "But, make yourselves at home, Trisha - whom you all should be aware of - should still be at the Halloween Festival for a little longer if you're worried about that. My other two sisters are out of town... So we have the place all to ourselves."

She laughed as she held the door open for the group... revealing the fancy living room. She gestured for them to hurry up. "Come in, come in; I'll feel bad if you stand out in the cold for too long," She smiled at them, not revealing any teeth.

”Geeze, Patty still haunting this city? Well pollinated at least. Thanks for the warm welcome.” Edict was quick to accept the invitation in, just like the vampire he knew he could be.
Though, he’d probably not filch anything. It’d look too suspicious, and frankly Bean was Brit’s friend. Not off limits, but certainly not someone he’d choose to steal from primarily.

”There won’t be any bees around will there?” Linqian asked with a frown, quickly stepping inside - she was fucking cold in the toga, and couldn’t risk adjusting her body temperature with her brother right there.

Layla stepped in after Linqian, a disbelieving look on her face. “Bees?”

Edict’s brow furrowed at Linqian's comment.
”Weird thing to say, why would there be bees?” Edict responded with a sarcastic tone, throwing a strange look toward Henri.

”Because beekeeping was Patty’s strange hobby,” Linqian intoned, hitting Edict with a flinty glare.

“They’re in Trisha’s bedroom,” Sabrina answered with a shrug. She then pointed down the hall, towards Trisha’s room. “Unless you want to add bees to the equation… stay out of there.” She laughed.

Layla stared down the hall with an incredulous look. ”Actual bees…”

”Who’s Patty?” Henri piped up cheerfully from right behind Linqian, once again looming over her.

”Patty is Trisha. Patricia. Sabrina’s… What, sixteenth sibling or something? The one she mentioned who may be home later.” he smiled back at the young man, nodding his head as he pulled the dumb hat and half wet suit coat from his head and body.

”Whaaaattttttt?” Henri’s eyes widened comically, and his jaw dropped. Matching Edict, he took off his Mario cap. An absolute mess of curly hair fell in front of his eyes. He looked from Edict to Sabrina. ”Sixteen siblings?! How?!”

”Not something you need to know about.” Linqian turned around and grabbed her brother’s arm, practically dragging him further into the living room and away from Edict. At least properly putting herself between them. The two awkwardly hovered though, not sitting down on the very fancy looking couches.

“My father… Well, he just got around…” Sabrina shrugged. “So… I have a little bit of everything to drink. What would you all like? Or should I just grab everything and we’ll decide from there?”

The silent Britney sat down on the sofa, smiling softly at Sabrina as she said, "White wine if you got any, Bean.”

”Beer for me,” Linqian sighed, looking at Henri. She really wanted to move onto the hard stuff but she shouldn’t while he was here. Then who would protect him from Edict’s dangerous mind probing and Britney’s as dangerous stares (she didn’t trust her after she’d called Henri cute)? She threw a thumb towards him, ignoring his pout. ”Soft drinks for him. I can help you get shit if you want?”

“If you don’t mind,” Sabrina added. “I mean… you all are my guests.”

“I'll take anything!” Layla said cheerily.

”Scotch? Or some kind of grain alcohol, please.”
He took the time to pull his shirt from his belt and get a bit more comfortable before getting a bit closer to Britney. Not in a creepy way, however, but what seemed to be a fairly natural saunter.
”Hey uh… Can we talk for a second in private?” he asked her, low enough that it wouldn’t cause too much of a scene.

Britney smiled at him, then she leaned in, and whispered back, "Awwww, but we just got here… ” She chuckled. "We can - but hold on.”

Britney walked over to the massive, fancy, Bluetooth Speakers Sabrina kept against the wall. She turned them on as if she was here before, pulled out her phone, and turned on some music…



Britney dance-walked after Edict, swaying her hips back and forth as she rolled her shoulders.

---

Edict didn’t want to go too far with Britney, not wanting those in attendance to get the wrong idea. He didn’t need Linqian getting any hotter than she already was, but he also didn’t not want to spend some quality time with her. It was something he’d dreamed about for years.

He looked for an empty room, some place just to tuck away - which ended up being the guest bedroom. It had a very simple setup of a bed, dresser, nightstand… etc. He even left the door open, flicking the light on into some other foyer in the house.
Finally there, he looked her in the eyes. Really looked. His channeler was out in the living room in his jacket pocket; he was completely vulnerable under her gaze.

"I've missed you so much.

Britney sat her behind on the bed and kicked her legs back and forth… wondering if she would break it. "Awwwwww…” Britney said with a smile. "You’re so sweet, Greyson. I hope you know that.”

Greyson held up his finger, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath.
”But that’s not what I want to talk about… Listen. Yesterday, a woman came to see me. She works for dangerous people, and as far as I’m aware, they wanted to hurt you. Because of what happened with her.” he urged out toward the hallway.

"... And here I was thinking you were just trying to get into my pants.”
Greyson bit his lip as the words left her mouth at the thought of jumping her then and there, but the situation was serious. It called for something different than his usual instinct.

Britney couldn’t help but awkwardly laugh before that smile wiped itself off her face. She leaned forward to look out the door to see if Layla was there. "... Do I need to fill you in on her situation? The whole thing with Voidy…?”

"Well, honestly? he stopped for a moment, smiling and rolling his eyes. "Listen to me, talking about honesty… I lost you last time because I wasn’t honest. Britney, I fucking swear to you, you’re the only thing I’ve ever missed!”

He gritted his teeth, closing his fingers onto the bridge of his nose.
"Fuck, anyway: Honestly, I’m in her head right now. She’s high as fuck on the Lotus, and I can confirm it.”

"Wait… why did you…” Britney turned her head towards the door again. "... I figured you did something to her, I was hoping to bring it up privately but you came forward. That’s good on you, at least...”

Britney trailed off. "But, you know I don’t like you using your Pink-Lux on people, but you didn’t just use it for the hell of it, right? Not for some sick game, right…?”

Britney stared knives into Greyson.

”... RIGHT."

Greyson grimaced, throwing his hands back and up as if to surrender.
"Three years ago, I was in my bathroom back home detoxing off coke, all alone with nobody left. I told myself then that if I ever had the chance to see you and talk to you again, I’d never fucking lie to you… I only did this because those people came and threatened you.”

He moved to sit down on the bed next to her, reaching out to take her hand into his.
"I nearly killed their representative. While I was in her mind, I saw the pale one giving you up. You, and Stormy and Jack… Whoever was there and in on that shit.”

Britney’s face didn’t change at all.

”... I figured she would try something,” Britney shook her head. ”I always got the weirdest vibes from her since what happened, but at least I feel justified in plotting her death.”

She let the words hang in the air, before she asked the golden question.

”... Just who is after me? Emily?”

He shook his head, a puff of air leaving his nose.
"The House of Cards Mafia. The local outfit, unfortunately. Pushed my folks out after my Uncle retired, and now the local crews work for them. Phantasia Vorpal.”

”... I thought it’d be the Temple, honestly,” Britney mused out loud. ”I really don’t know what to say… You got them off my back, or are they still gunning for me?”

"Well, if you think you can put a little misbehavior in your rear view mirror, I think I can solve the problem and rotate it back in our advantage. But I need to keep messing with her, and I know other people aren’t gonna like that.”
He shook his head, closing his eyes.

"But I can’t promise it’s done yet. I was hoping you’d let me keep an extra eye on you; get some guys from up North to come down, or let me ask Leon and the Temple to protect you. They owe me; she was gunning after their guys too. For what they did… Creepy shit.”

”... I don’t trust Leon far as I can throw him, first off,” Britney made sure to note as she shook her head ”Second off… I would prefer, if anyone watches over me, it’s you… if what you’re telling me is true.”

She paused for a moment.

”Thirdly, tell me about this… Phantasia, I never heard of her before, and why is she listening to Layla of all people?”

Greyson’s eyes lit up at what she said to him. About wanting him to be around her. He couldn’t think about why, or if it was something else altogether. He wouldn’t know about it unless he got inside, but he didn’t want to. He didn’t want to let her go again.
"The big guy’s folks are creepy, but as far as I’m aware we’re important players in her lore or some shit… But, the Vorpal lady…”

He took a long, deep breath and thought about what he’d seen when he had the chance to rummage through her head.
"From what my Uncle told me, she’s the daughter of some real old blood around here. Italians from a very different age. They were in the Casino business, and still roll with underground groups around here. We can probably link them to Wolfpack and some other lowlifes, but… But when I was in her head, I don’t…”

Greyson took a long look across the room.
"It’s gonna sound weird, but maybe it didn’t have anything to do with her. The lady, she… There was personal pain there, having to do with Andrade Salamente, the Temple Chef. And with you. So, something tells me that they had some sort of connection to Voidy as well. Something personal.”

Britney silently and intently listened.

”Phantasia?” Britney asked out loud. ”Well, I let Auri take the credit, but I was the one that urged Auri to go seal Voidy after Alizee’s… final hurrah.” She awkwardly scratched the back of her neck.

”As it turns out, Voidy was making deals with the Temple. So… it’s possible - well, at this point, plain obvious - that Voidy had other connections than just the Old Coven and the Temple.”

Greyson nodded along with Britney, smiling at her the same way he did as a goofy eighteen year old pretend gangster. But now he was a man, feeling like it was the first day of his life again.
"Yeah, it’s clear… I think they know about us. It’s why they came to me and not someone more known for that line of work. They didn’t want me to just kill you, Brit. They wanted you bodysnatched. Bagged up.”

Britney winced at the thought of what was going to happen to her.

His head tilted back, blood rushing just thinking about that moment where he felt her emotional field snap under his grip.
"I… I implanted a command for her to come and find me again. When the time comes, I think the pistol is the next step. And, as far as me protecting you? Of course. Of course I’ll be there with you. You have no idea how much I’ve wanted that.”

Britney grimaced.

”I get that you’re worried about me, but you gotta pump the breaks, okay?” Britney began. ”This is going to be strictly professional, at least until you show me you really mean what you’re saying and aren’t going to regress back into the old Greyson the second you get what you want… Greyson.”

He wasn’t sure what the right next move was. She was definitely right, he wasn’t doing any of this in a professional fashion. But he wasn’t above calling her out.
"So in this case, is sleeping in your bed considered a professional standard? Or was that just you getting your hopes up to shit on my life?” he narrowed his eyes.

The tone wasn’t aggressive like it would’ve been so many years ago. Now it really sounded like a genuine question despite the little pang of babyrage he felt well up in his chest.

”Oh, come, ooooooooooooon, Greyson…” Britney said with a roll of her eyes. ”I just want to clarify this so there’s no misunderstanding down the line. I know what you want. You don’t need Pink-Lux - or any magic for that matter - to tell. And I know the behaviors you were exhibiting when things fell apart.”

She narrowed her eyes at him.

”I’m not trying to bring anyone down. I never was. You know me Greyson... I build. Not destroy,” She began. ”What I’m saying is that I’m giving you a chance... one more than I fucking should, really. But we all need a second chance. And a third and fourth after that.”

Britney shook her head, laughing. Then she looked at him with a broad smile, one that was joyful—not mocking.

”I know deep down you’re not as bad as they say you are, Greyson… I just want to take things slowly. Build something again so maybe after all of this blows over, we can go on nice relaxing cruises. How’s that sound?”

He did his best to not grit his teeth, giving away any tension in his jaw would be something she could see and use against him. He didn’t want to give that kind of thing up, especially not with his plans.

Greyson couldn’t be honest with her if his intentions remained what they were. It gave him a sense of dread.
"Because you know I never wanted people to think I was a scumbag. And I was. I am. Except they always treated me like it. I kind of knew it was coming, even if I really didn’t want it. But when they did what they did to you?”

His hand came up under his chin, fingers dusting forward and brushing his goatee as he flipped the bird for a flourish.
"The biggest thing they trusted me for was to lock The Memory away. Make it so nobody had it. After that? Poof. Fuck you Greyson. But you? They leaned on you hard, like you were an old person’s walker… Then when they found out you had wheels, they got rid of you too? I mean come on, Brit… We’re all in danger, sure, but fuck it.”

He took a long, deep breath, falling back on the bed.
"Auri’s only involved people like us because she wants the people she actually likes to stay insulated from it. And then people like Drake are gonna take all the credit anyway.”

Britney sighed.

”... Auri only invited me because of my expertise, nothing else,” Britney began. ”So I can’t really argue with you, there. Personally, I always thought they knew what I was doing before it came to light, but kept quiet about it until… you know….”

Britney trailed off.

”... Stopped being convenient for them,” She couldn’t help but laugh a little bit. ”I want to say this is bigger than you. Bigger than me. Bigger than all of us and people who live in their own fantasy worlds like Blackmore and Stormy. And Auri’s my girl, and I know she’s a good person deep down, but as it stands, I don’t have a whole lot of faith in Auri’s… leadership.”

Britney shrugged before she continued.

”She obviously has no clue what she’s doing, and never did. She only got her position before because she was friends with Daisy and Ashley, nothing else,” Britney began, then sighed. ”She wouldn’t have been anything other than another footsoldier if she wasn’t...”

"I think men are prone to living in their fantasies. I’m just as guilty as they are. What I’m not guilty of is being a self serving preachy fuck like they can be, and I never discluded people from being involved in what I was doing.”

Greyson rubbed his face with his hands, taking a moment to think about what he was going to say next.

"Hot take? As creepy as they are, that’s a legit draw toward the Temple in my eyes. As far as I’m aware, in the few conversations I’ve had with Missus Lynette, they never ever turn a magical person away. No matter what you’ve done, it seems like their goal is to include Third Eyes in every aspect of their community.” he commented, sitting up to look at Britney’s reaction. He wasn’t saying it to get a rise out of her; it was genuine. This was the most genuine he could be.

"Better than us. Better than Sycamore. How you have the strength to call any of them your friends still is beyond me.”

Britney narrowed her eyes a little.

”I had one conversation with Lynette…” Britney began. ”... And that was enough for me. I got nothing but bad vibes from her! Leon too. She sent some Temple goons after us while we cared for Voidy.”

Britney sighed. ”I know they take in anyone, but that’s the problem… they’re, as it stands, a chaotic element and I can’t trust them. Leon neither. I’ve been keeping a silver fork in my purse just for him.”

Then Britney sighed again…. She was doing this a lot. Britney looked down at the fancy carpet that she dangled her feet over. ”But, a lot of Sycamore are my girls… and boys. You know, way back, I was befriending everyone. Trying to get everyone’s name. Because, we were losing people left and right, I wanted to be someone who wanted to remember them. Remember their contribution in the fight, even if it was small.”

Then she raised her head and looked at Edict, ”Because everyone else was too busy with themselves. So, I get a lot of them are real assholes and manchildren sometimes, but they’re still my people. I’m unsure how you look at it, but that’s how I see it.”

He shook his head, unable to consider her feelings. He didn’t understand how she couldn’t feel betrayed, or like she still had a connection to them.
"I have a tattoo. A lot of them that you haven’t seen. But the biggest one on my back… It’s a big sycamore tree getting chopped down.”
He told Linqian because she saw it, but he was telling Britney because he hoped that she’d see it one day.
"I got it because I was hurt that I was betrayed. I felt like I had nothing but revenge left on my mind. I still taste it on my tongue when I see people now. Going to that meeting, I guess there was some part of me that wanted people upset. Like I wanted people to push me so I could throw it back at them.”

His face looked gripped with anxiety. Like there was something bigger wrong.
"But now there’s feds! The PRA! And Kali was with them, God rest his fuckin’ soul. I never wanted anything bad to happen to that kid until he said he had a fucking badge. You know how I feel about those people.”

Britney shook her head.

”Auri said he just walked in there and flashed a badge,” Britney shrugged. ”... Did he really do that?” She awkwardly laughed.

”I wanted to talk about Kali… I mean, I’m sad he’s gone, but I’m not sad he’s gone,” She awkwardly laughed. ”Wasn’t it weird that he was one of the first to get killed…?”

"Hardly weird if you’re just going around flashing a badge to everyone… What, you think there’s a rat feeding the wolf info? Like someone saw that and fingered him-”
Fingered, in the sense of pointing the finger was a poorly chosen turn of phrase. He remembered Britney’s pervy sense of humor, and scrunched his face.

”-If someone saw him with a connection and immediately chose him for execution, that would be smart. Besides him, it’s just Bianca Manalo left as far as I’m aware. She was with the other feds at the raid, and as far as I’m aware, she was at the stripclub when shit went down.”
Greyson grimaced, not knowing how much information he could divulge without Britney starting to question who else’s head he’d been in.

”No, no, no… I mean,” Britney awkwardly looked off to the side. ”I don’t think the killer is one of us… At least, far as current members of Sycamore. I think it’s someone else… something else.”

She let her words hang in the air. ”... This does sound like a government purge, right? Mysterious killer who comes in at the perfect time and leaves zero evidence?”

She narrowed her eyes,

”Kali was just an unfortunate red herring.”

She shrugged.

”As far as Bianca goes… I think she was at the strip club? There was a lot of girls I didn’t know there, but… maybe I can just go have a word with her? Maybe get something out of her.”

Greyson’s face sunk. He definitely didn’t want Britney risking that sort of thing.
”Brit, girl, use your head. You think I want you getting any closer to some magical Feds than I do some magical Mafiosos? Doesn’t matter if she was one of us at one point, they pay her salary now.”
He shook his head, standing up again to move toward the door.

His head popped out of the door, glancing around to see nobody. Greyson wrinkled his nose, listening to try and hear anything going on before he pulled back.
”Let the Hothead out front deal with it, they dated… I’m paying her good money to get the scoop, after all.”

”... Linqian?” Britney gave Edict the dumbest smile. ”Okay, um… okay, she’s my girl, I know. But, you’re trying to rely on Linqian of all people…?” She laughed afterward.

”I’m surprised she remembers to put her draws on half the time!”

”She only needs to see and hear things.” he turned to Britney with a massive grin on his face.
”You thought the Lotus was a pain in the ass before? You should see my spellbook at home, Brit. Ten spells in development. The formulas, the brain chemistry… I should’ve studied medicine… Sometimes, I imagined you being proud of me for working on it so diligently. Helped through the hard parts…”

He bit his lip and took a deep breath before shaking his head.
”Come on. Let’s not be gone too long, I don’t want people thinking we’re in here just plowing, y’know?”
Greyson was about to turn to vacate the room, but his eyes got bright and wide.
”Wait… Do you want to make the evening a bit more fun?” he grinned evilly at her.

Britney winced.

”... Define fun.”

”Like something private. Something we can laugh about later but for now may take some skill and finesse…” he replied, his lip curling into his teeth.

”... God damn it we’re not fuckin’.”

”No, you fuckin’...”
He moved closer to her, offering his hand to help her up off the bed.
”Linqian’s brother? He’s Kindled. And as far as I’m aware? She has no idea. It’d be fun to mess with him a little. And her…”

”Oooooooooh,” Britney mouthed. ”Hehe… my bad,”

”What did you have in mind?” Britney laughed.

”Standard shit? I… I blasted him thinking he was blind and hit his E-Field, so we had a little brain talk. He knows we’re magic, we know he's magic, she thinks he isn't. Person who drops the most subtle hints without getting called out wins?”

At that moment, he heard Linqian talking about his scotch from the other room. His fucking scotch.

”I don't think anyone wants to see my magic staff, Linqian, so you better put the fucking cap on it and have a little FUCKING PATIENCE!” he called out and down the hall with what he hoped came across as a playful tone.

He grinned at Britney.
”One to none… Easy as pie.”

Britney grinned back.

”... Deal,”

Then she extended a hand to him, then looked a him. She gave it a little shake.

”... It’s not going to hold itself, Greyson.

With a grin, hearing Linqian’s desperate pleas from the living room, Greyson took his love’s hand, holding it tight like it was going to be the last time again.

---

---

As Emily committed the heist of the century it begged the question: where was Sully?

Sully was in trouble.

His eyes darted to and fro in near panic, searching for a solution that was not there. His teeth clenched, his knees trembled, and his muscles tightened. He felt like he was about to explode. It was funny how something as simple as an overfilled tank could immediately make him abandon his duties as head of the toga line. How the hell was every porta-john in the world either occupied or nuked to total oblivion? He moved with the energy of a nervous dancer as he threaded through the crowd, further and further away from his friends and the toga party. Alternatives began to play out in his mind. Trash can? No, too public. The last thing he needed was to get slapped with an indecent exposure charge. He was pretty sure that kind of thing could get you labeled as a sex offender, and try convincing somebody that it was only for taking a leak in public when his mugshot had a mustache. Subtly wade out into the ocean? No, he didn’t want to either piss on or piss off Poseidon.

Head further and further away from everyone else until he found a grouping of trees thick enough to cover himself from any prying eyes?

Now that couldn’t possibly go wrong.

Sully did just that. He vanished into the treeline near the haunted house and hiked a couple hundred feet further into the woods, just in case someone spotted his shadow and thought Bigfoot was hanging around the Halloween Festival. He found a decent enough spot, bunched his toga up, leaned towards the tree to steady himself with his hand, and released a massive sigh of relief. Crisis averted. Sully absentmindedly motioned to dump a Chalice full of soapy water on his hands, only to realize he was Dionysus without his cup. He slapped his forehead, remembering that he’d left it with Drake in case he dropped it down the porta-john because no amount of self-cleaning would convince him that it would be safe to drink from the Chalice ever again if that happened. Okay, he just wouldn’t give out anymore high fives until he found some hand sanitizer.

Sully turned to head back to the festival, and then turned again, and then turned back to the tree whose night he had ruined. His eyes narrowed. Right. The festival was over that way, wasn’t it? He began stomping through the forest in a drunken stupor, snapping twigs and crunching leaves.

Dean didn’t care for the festival. He’s aged out of all the bullshit kids got up to, but he’d gotten word from one of his dealers about seeing Sully here. After he found a picture of him on his social media, he spread that around to his people and told them to keep an eye out. He shadow stepped onto the dock. He remembered everything about the place. Island hasn’t changed in thirty years. He kept to quiet places, looking for Sully and found him in a conga line yelling “Toga!” with a bunch of other kids. He waited for him to separate. He was a patient guy. Meant nothing to him if it took hours or minutes. Sully finally branched off to go to the bathroom, he followed behind him into the forest and bided his time. He didn’t want his piss all over him, so he waited for him to finish peeing, before coming up behind him in the shadows.

He grabbed him and threw him into a tree. “Hey, Sully. Good to see you again. You ready to answer my questions this time?”

Sully’s first thought when he hit the tree was that he’d tripped over a particularly aggressive branch. The booze dampened enough of the blow that he wasn’t immediately stunned when he heard the sound of bark breaking behind him as his shoulder cracked into the tree. His second thought was why was it that everytime a strong and handsome biker pinned him to something it was never in the way he’d imagined it happening. His third thought when he realized the man was the same guy who’d shoved a gun in his mouth and kicked him in his teeth was oh shit.

“Oh hey buddy, yeah man, funny running into you here of all places. Questions?” said Sully, his words slurring together. “Oh man, I'd love to answer some questions. Oh but I forgot!”

Sully pushed himself off of the tree and made a poor effort to try and stumble past Dean. He was almost cartoonishly drunk. He moved and spoke in such a way that he seemed less like an actual drunk person and more like a bad actor portraying a drunk in a made for TV movie. All that was missing was some hiccups and he’d be a total caricature.

“I gotta lead a toga line. Hey man, you like to party? Only one rule. You gotta wear a toga, but it’s cool. I got one right here,” said Sully, patting his belly as if to suggest he was offering Dean the toga he was wearing. “Hey what’s your name, man? You still got my jacket?”

Dean chuckled. Oh man, it’s been awhile since he’s had to deal with a drunk. Loved those times quite a bit. A bit of entertainment.

He pushed Sully back into the tree, this time he kept his hand on his shoulder and looked him right in his blurry eyes. Not every day he meets a man that’s as tall and as big as him. Given their first meeting and now, he gets the feeling Sully’s all fluff. Not much of a threat if he’s not gonna throw his weight around to protect himself.

He gave Sully a heavy handed slap to the face. Wouldn’t leave a mark, but it would sting. “Listen, Sully, focus. Now you seem like a nice and reasonable guy. Fucking drunk as hell, but still got your wits about you. How about you tell me where I can find Tayla Choi. About yeh high.” He lowered his hand to below his chin. “Asian, skinny as hell, but pretty cute. I’m sure you’ve seen her. You Coven yahoos had to have a meeting for you all to show up at the club that night. I bet she was there. Tell me what I wanna know and you’re free to go.”

Sully rubbed his cheek. Dean’s instincts were right in regards to Sully not being much of a fighter. Unless they were on a gridiron and a football was in Dean’s hands Sully was about as threatening as an overstuffed teddy bear. Outside of any kind of business involving a certain snake, Sully could count the number of fights he had been in as an adult on one finger and that had been with Dean last week. However, that didn’t mean he was a pacifist, and his hair wasn’t long enough for him to pretend he was dressed as Jesus. There would be no turning of the other cheek.

“There was no meeting,” said Sully. Well, what he actually said sounded like “snow meeting”, but anyone not drunk would be able to get the point. “Is that how bikers do it? Have to have a meeting before heading to the titty bar? Y’all got someone who keeps minutes?”

Sully saw the look in Dean’s eye and changed the subject before another slap came his way.

“Oh wait, you said Tayla CHOI! Iheard you wrong the last time, must’ve been all the sand in my ears. Yeah, hold on, lemme think…”

Sully hadn’t been around when Tayla was at her lowest. He had heard this and that from Ashley and a few of the others he’d stayed in touch with, but his memory of Tayla was firmly isolated in the era before she’d figured out how to bypass the childproof caps on the pill bottles. She was fun and crazy in the good way. He’d liked hanging out with her. Hell, even if he didn’t like hanging out with her, even if he did have to deal with her struggling with addiction and all the lying and guilt and frustration that came with it, even if they had never talked and she was just another rando belonging to the coven it didn’t really matter. He wasn’t about to sell her out to some obsessive and violent loser creep who clearly couldn’t take the hint.

Sully snapped his fingers.

“That’s right! Now I remember where you can find Tayla. You can actually find her right—” Sully suddenly rocketed his knee up between Dean’s legs, looking to give the weirdo his receipt by crushing his pride and joy with a cheapshot. ”—HERE!

Dean got the feeling Sully would try and worm his way out of answering him. He didn’t rise to the jabs about bikers having meetings before they did anything. He let him talk. The talkers usually let something slip. He had hoped he would, but he didn’t. He got a shot to the crotch instead. Pain exploded on his dick.

“Motherfuck-” He grabbed Sully on his way down, gripping his toga so tight it would rip off of him if he didn’t fall with Dean’s momentum.

“Hey! Not again!” yelled Sully as Dean attempted to once again steal his wardrobe.

The world teeter tottered as Sully was pulled down to the ground with Dean, getting mud on his crisp white toga. He was all instinct right now, but that instinct was running on a significant time delay considering he had drank more red wine than what would've been consumed by the prototypical book club consisting solely of affluent suburban mothers. He reached down with his meaty palm, scooped up a load of mud, and slung it at Dean’s eyes. Meanwhile, he chopped desperately at Dean’s wrist with his hand so he could break his grasp, stumble to his feet, and begin to run away.

The longer this went on the more Dean was losing his cool. The dick shot was a low blow. Slinging mud in his eyes, a cheat shot. A man Sully’s size could’ve done a lot more damage if he just punched him in the face. He wiped up the mess and stumbled to his feet. He didn’t bother running after Sully. He wouldn’t waste his energy. He slipped into the shadows and appeared a second before Sully ran passed him, arm stretched out, and clotheslined the fucking idiot. His massive body hit the ground and Dean got on top of him, giving him a good punch to the face.

“Now answer the fucking question. Where the hell is Tayla Choi?” he asked him in a low voice. It matched the quiet of the forest. No one would be able to hear him like a private conversation between close friends.

“I don’t fucking know, man!” said Sully, wheezing from hitting the ground and muffled by his hand that had moved to himself. His face hurt like a motherfucker. Even if he could wiggle out from underneath Dean he was too drunk and sluggardly to beat him in a fight. “I don’t know! Last week was the first time I’ve seen her in like ten years and she left within five minutes. As far as I know that’s the last anyone has seen of her. So c’mon, man, just get offa me. And gimme back my jacket!”

“See, wasn’t that easy? Should’ve said so from the start, so here’s what you’re going to do.” He formed a shadow and stuck his hand inside, pulling out Sully’s jacket. “I put my number in your pocket.” He dropped his jacket in the mud beside him. “You see her, you call me right away.” He grabbed him by the hair and pulled his face closer to his. “You have a week. I don’t hear from you by,” he checked his watch, “10pm next Thursday, then I’ll pay you another visit. Next time I won’t be so nice.” He pushed his head away, letting it slam back into the ground. “We have an understanding?”

“Yeah, absolutely,” said Sully, barely understanding how he’d even gotten here as he stared vacantly at his dirty letterman jacket, his voice flat. “We have an understanding…”

“Good. See you in a week.” Dean slipped into the shadows and disappeared.

Sully grimaced. He understood one thing. He had to warn Tayla.

Lynn chuckled a little at Meifeng. Was she spiraling out of control? Lila? Lila spiraling out of control in the middle of a festival? Never. It was not possible. Lila knew that despite her sudden feathered nature she was still in control, not the maiden, not her emotions, she was. Meifeng was wrong, so so so wrong in her assessment, as was the other maid. How could they think she was spiraling? She just sprouted feathers and had literal claws poke through the top of her fingers. That happens. That literally happened. That literally just happened and it was one of the most painful experiences in her life. Despite that plethora of evidence that she was spiraling, Lila was fine.

Thankfully her confidence and bravado paid off as Meifeng agreed to have her healed and did not drag her off to the drunk monster tank. Lila was awesome at this lying thing. Should she lie more about how she felt to others? She’d need to drink like Lynn to do so and she knew her liver would never hold up to the rigorous training routine needed to drink that much. She could only manage this night filled with happy lies and suffer for it tomorrow. A night of happy lies wouldn’t be the worst though, and Lila looked to the PRA agent who healed her as the healing was finished and her arms returned to normal.

“Thanks Dr. Strangelove,” Lila said with a warmth that only the alcohol could bring out, she turned her attention back to Meifeng and was finally able to look her in the eyes without worry, “she won’t get under my skin again. I hadn’t seen her in a decade and thought she might’ve changed. She did, but for the worse,” Lila shrugged, “and I will be fine, I don’t need any more help than what my friends can do, and-” Lynn’s voice cut out when she saw the first petal fall before her eyes. She watched in wonder before she heard Luca utter a name she hadn’t heard in nearly ten years and it caused her heart to skip a beat and her breath to be stolen from her. Her eyes slowly and carefully followed Luca’s before she finally spotted the man and gasped. She could not meet Ken again with hair that smelled like beer, that would be a disaster of a colossal magnitude. Yet she knew it was too late to take a shower, get clean, or get sober so she needed to be on her best behavior in case he decided to join their group for a drink. Lila pulled herself up to proper posture, her back straight and her chin up, and she crossed her hands over her lap as she brought her attention back to Meifeng.

“-and I am sure we can find help from unexpected places if the need arises.”

---

Lynn smiled as the possible future played out in front of her. Thankfully it was one of the better ones, and the one that she had hoped would happen. There was a small chance that the PRA would have been in a worse mood and taken Lila’s display of power as a threat and dragged her off to god-knows-where. In this reality, the one they were living now, they should be able to make it to the ferry without much worry from the 8th street, without much threat of Lila turning into a bird on them, and with Luca and Jasper keeping themselves well within the personal space of each other. This was the good future, and Lynn took another drink as she leaned back into her chair. She caught a pedal as it fell right on time, and her smile only grew. She was truly better at this seer business when she was at this perfect stage of being drunk. The possible future was easier to navigate, the correct path was much more clear, and she was much more confident in her predictions. She knew that as long as Emily did not do something as stupid as stealing the chalice from Sully the fair would continue without much else happening to her friends here, and the coven as a whole.

“You say that Meifeng but my magic is much more potent with alcohol involved,” Lynn joked to try and pull attention away from Lila, “The possible future is a bitch to navigate but when I drink a little it’s like I have a GPS. Maybe that’s why the oracle of Delphi was high as a kite all the time.” Lynn smiled as she shifted her focus to Lila. Lynn looked at her smile, her posture, and the way she spoke. Lynn would need to sober her up a bit before the after-party. She shifted her focus to Stormy and she hoped that he’d join them for a bit, if for no other reason than to ensure that the two monsters remained as caged as possible. She did enjoy hanging out with the diplomat though, and she hoped they could catch up without the threat of a murder happening. She then shifted her focus to Jasper. Lynn knew that he had driven there, and he would be able to take them to Luca’s nice and easy. She would need to convince him to stop at the local market again to pick up more refreshments, drinks that were not alcoholic, and snacks if the movie night was to be a success. When the tall PRA agent mentioned escorting them to the docks.

“Maybe next time,” Lynn said in mention of the after-party snub, “and as long as Emily doesn’t do something stupid in the toga line we should be fine,” Lynn paused as she took another swig of her drink “like what’s the chance she would do something stupid again tonight?” Lynn blinked a few times before she answered her question. Emily would do something that stupid. Lynn slipped into the possible future and remained there for a second before she came back and frowned. “One second,” Lynn paused as she returned to the possible future, coming back a few seconds later. “The chance is rather high,” Lynn groaned as she leaned back into her chair. “What the fuck is her problem?”

---

”Her problem is she was never loved as a child and has decided to make it all of our problem,” Jasper said with a straight face. His eyes caught the pedals and Luca mentioned it was the man, the myth, the legend himself Ken. A smile fell over his face at the thought of being reunited with the man who could summon the salamander priestesses. Jasper knew that he had changed much over the past ten years, and he wondered how his idol had changed as well. He wondered how the PRA would react to seeing a brazen use of magical power in a public space in front of them. Hopefully, Lynn’s cryptic warning about Emily would be enough to draw their ire elsewhere. ”Ken, my man,” Jasper shouted as he turned his attention fully to him and waved him down,, ”come join us!”

Jasper did not wait for Ken to respond, instead, he turned his attention towards Stormy. “Hey, you going to join us? It has been ages since I saw you, not including the brief time at the church. You free to come have a drink and catch up?” Jasper smiled gently as he finished the thought. His time with the coven had been a whirlwind of emotions and situations that made him regret ever showing back up. However, this was what he missed the most. The people, like Luca, Lynn, Lila, and Stormy, and the calm after the storm. After the Snake would ravage the town in the night, he enjoyed the time he spent with these people in the mornings. Jasper hoped that Stormy would come with them for this reason, and to help Luca and Lila get a break from the monsters. ”There is an issue you could help with as well,,” Jasper whispered to Stormy specifically. This was it. He is in Stormy’s aura and thus Skelly would not be able to use it’s magic on them, and he would be able to tell someone that they were being haunted, and then someone could do something about it. This was his moment to shine, this was his moment to free Luca of one curse, and this was his moment to be the protector he always wanted to be. “Luca and I are being bored to death by someone here and I think a change of scenery is in order…..FUCK.” Jasper threw his hands up in the air as he looked over to Luca, shook his head in defeat, and back to Stormy. Jasper had a defeated look in his eyes, a defeated look that hid a sea of boiling rage that he wanted to share.

Jasper shook the thought of Skelly from his mind, the mention of Emily being the worst resurfaced to replace it. Jasper wondered what stupid action she would be taking that might threaten their return home. ”Lynn, what is a toga conga line, and what shitty thing will Emily be doing?”

“Sully is passing out Toga’s, and they are in a conga line passing my one true love back and forth,” Lynn responded with a warm smile as the thought of the chalice filled her mind, “and Emily might steal it,” Lynn said crypticly. She knew that her coven would understand the reference, and she hoped that the PRA would be none the wiser.

Lila and Jasper looked at each other and then back to Lynn. Lila knew right away what that meant, and if Emily was making a move on the chalice. Jasper, meanwhile, had a dumbfounded expression on his face as the gears tried to turn, not realizing what Lynn meant for a moment. A second later his eyes shot wide, darting from a drink cup back to Lynn as he realized what she meant. Jasper looked to Lila, and the two met their eyes again. The trio then all looked towards Luca. They knew that they could not pull Luca into a possible fight, and they knew that if Lila showed up it would escalate it into a situation that the PRA would not be very happy about. Jasper looked to Lila and shook his head no, and Lila did the same in return.

”Luca, do you need help walking to the ferry? I think we should get out of here.”

“Bianca, it has been a pleasure catching up with you again. You all should go check in with Emily, she is right over there," Lynn pointed towards where she expected Emily to be. “Or don't. Things might get heated though when the toga conga line catches up with her." As Lynn finished her sentence she downed the rest of her drink and flashed Bianca a smile. She stood up and walked over to where Lila was and helped her out of her seat. The two waited for Luca and Jasper, and hopefully Stormy, and began to keep their heads on a swivel for any possible start to a possible fight. Lila meanwhile stopped her search as she spotted Ken once more, her smile grew with drunken intensity as it lingered. She simply waved him down once more, offering him a place within the group and a night filled with possible adventures. “What do you say, Stormy,” Lila shifted her eyes to the side and looked at the coven's protector, “You joining us?”

Ken had said goodbye for now to Auri and her friend Odessa, a large bundle of packed supplies that Auri was trusting him to deliver as safely and easily as possible. He was good at that, as Purple Lux made the moving of objects the simplest kind of task. He wasn't even some fancy portal jumper, rather relying on what he knew best: The Leaping Frog technique. He left his haul of flowers behind, intending to come back for them very soon, as he had plans. For now, he removed the weight of the bundle and tucked the line with one hand under it, then took off in a loud pop that sounded like a firework mortar had exploded at ground level. However there was no light, and absolutely no sign of the supersonic ball hurling through the air on a mortar arch over the city.
Auri hadn't given him the key, rather agreeing to utilize his ability to swap. He knew where she kept his stash of bark in the store, and as he touched down into the near desolate area of the city, where all the businesses were closed and the kids had better neighborhoods to get candy from, he peeked into the window to see if it was there.

It was, and he smiled. Ken's hands flicked together, and in a huff of purple smoke, he had a small bag of bark to summon more of his scouts, while the bundle of supplies, tables, chairs and myriad of other things she'd brought sat precariously on the counter for her to unpack the next day... Or, it would if he couldn't manipulate the still weightless bundle from outside. No, Ken wasn't quite so ignorant that he'd just leave things for her like that. He wanted her to be happy and calm when she worked, and as such he spent a few extra minutes manipulating the bundle, moving things and organizing them on the floor and countertop so that she'd be able to easily identify and store everything in its proper place.
An elderly woman walked by, asking what he was doing staring at the closed flower shop, but when he turned to her and started to blast Japanese at her, she very quickly scrambled away in confusion. It always worked.

Once everything was wrapped up neatly, he made for the island once more to enact his plan of remembrance for their comrades. One last jump across town got him back to the island, and from there he found that Auri had moved on. He didn't waste time then, and scooped the massive bundle of various beautiful flowers, negating its weight and his own. A small hop sent him on an upward trajectory that didn't stop until he formed a barrier of air to catch himself on. The flowers nearly escaped him as well, but he'd never intended to keep them whole. As such, he formed a massive phantom grasp around the bushel of multicolored flower petals, severing the stems before he mulched them into organic confetti.
Able to stabilize himself out, he began to calmly walk thirty or forty feet over the heads of Festival goers, slowly but surely raining flower petal confetti down to brighten the nights of those in attendance. All the while, in his mind he listed out the names of the dead and those who had recently been claimed. Each handful was an offering in their name.

But eventually he heard his name. Someone had bothered to look up, but they knew his name? Who could it be? He stared down at the spot, craning his neck until his face welled with surprise. Luca, out and about on the town! It was a beautiful thing to see, such a wonderfully sweet and gentle person so constantly wracked with pain actually getting out and enjoying their time. Ken found himself happy that Luca hadn't been one of the selected victims. But, he wasn't alone! Ken built a great deal of energy up in a ball with the remaining petals, blasting the entire thing open to send a great explosion of confetti across the sky to rain down on the island. As he did, his figure descended from the sky in a slow fall.

His eyes caught Emily G. Reed scuttling in a toga across the causeway, looking like she always did; up to no good. But he'd address that after. First, Luca and, to Ken's surprise, The Trio!

"You know, I come back to the Shimmer, and somehow every time something surprises me. Luca and the dynamic Trio!?"
While unable to touch Luca directly, Ken always gave the courtesy of a phantom hug for Luca as he bowed to greet the group.
"How are you Jasper, my friend!?" he asked, also exchanging real hugs between Jasper, Lila and Lynn. His Batman makeup was black around his eyes like a raccoon, and he had a warm smile on his face. "I have been told that Kikyo has missed you! No doubt you've kept up with your Gold magic, no? Have you moved on from our dear friends?" he asked with that odd sincerity that he had always been in possession of. Ken didn't ever mince words or avoid hard questions. He waited for a moment before his head turned between them all. A tear fell from his eye.
"Oh, fuck it! Come here!"

His arms lashed out, a telekinetic burst bringing the four of them tight together for him to hug. While he separated Luca from the others with a small barrier of air, his arm definitely wrapped around Luca and rubbed his shoulder and back until Ken could feel the burning pain starting to eat at his arm.
"I'm so happy to see you all. When I got home and filled in, I was gripped with pain... But this monster won't have any more of us: I've come home again."

”Fuck man it’s so good to see you,” Jasper spoke as he embraced his friend back, ”and Kikyo remembers me? Awww she was always the sentimental type. I’ll be sure to let her know how much I’ve missed her when I get to see her next! I’ve been really good, really really good. I’ve got a few new tricks to show you with my gold magic,” Jasper winked with a smile before the smile fell slightly. ”I don’t know if I’ve learned how to move on yet, I’ll always carry a piece of them in my heart you know?”

“Ken, we've missed you?” Lila said with a grin as wide as her face, “with you back all my fear is suddenly gone.”

“You being here changes things,” Lynn said with a grin and then a sigh, “excuse me while I-” Lynn’s voice cut out as her eyes glazed over and she departed for the possible future.

Ken’s brow furrowed at Lynn as she seemed almost frustrated at his arrival. He frowned slightly, but didn’t shy away.
"Well, I hadn’t intended to harm your night, dear Lynn! I’ve missed you, it’s been such a long time!” he called after her, a frown on his face. But he turned to look at the others.

"Well, at least I have you all. Have you seen Emily G. Reed!? Is she still wearing the soot from the smoke bomb I dropped on her earlier!?”

Jasper and Lila looked at each other and chucked. “No, no I haven’t seen her since I covered her face in bird shit earlier. You dropped a smoke bomb on her? I wish I could have seen that, the cunt is being extra shitty tonight. Fucker dead named me in front of the whole festival.”

”Apparently,” Jasper shifted his focus over to Lynn before back to Ken, “Emily is not done being shitty. Sounds like she stole the chalice from Sully.”

“Lynn saw it in the possible future, she’s over there somewhere,” Lila paused as she pointed in the general direction of where Lynn said it would be.

Ken’s eyes went wide. His hand trembled, and he grabbed the mask for his costume. While he’d come from a place out of time where Lila’s (and consequently Luca’s) situation was foreign to him, he’d been very quick on the uptake. He’d always had a great deal of love in his heart for these people whom he fought alongside, and never once had he questioned Lila’s judgment. She was who she was, and he loved her just as much as he’d ever loved the boy named Michael. There was no disconnect for him.

So, hearing this, and the possibility that such a widely known and important artifact such as Sully’s Beer Chalice had been stolen, Ken was in no laughing mood. He put the mask on like it was a superpower, and took a deep breath.

"This won’t stand. We’ll not have her insult us and rob us on the same night! While we mourn and attempt to find comfort and solace in our misplaced friendships! Emily G. Reed spits on the honor of the Sycamore Tree Coven! I will handle this myself, I do not fear that… That cunt!”

”Fuck yeah,” Jasper paused as he raised a fist up for a bump, ” when you’re done come join us. We’re doing an after party at Lucas’s.”

“We’ll celebrate your victory with a few drinks,” Lila finished as she put her weight on her hip as she smiled.

“Changes things in a good way holy shit,” Lynn laughed as she returned to the present, “you be safe now, okay?”

Ken grinned, nodding. One coin left, he figured he would need a weapon of some kind at some point. Knowing 8th Street, Vashti Nour was going to unstick herself from a fucking wall and try and rip his head off. He wasn't well equipped, despite having a full enough loadout on his belt. The bark wasn't going to help much, unless he wanted to roll the dice and flood the festival with Toughs. It wasn't something he wanted to risk, not going in alone. Trained in the focus and application of Lux in very specific quantities, everything was a game of numbers to Kenshiro. He'd not eaten, he'd not slept since his arrival, and he'd been sobbing his heart out for the better part of the day.

But he was pissed. That would be enough, he figured, to refuse to die. Sully was somewhere, and he would have his chalice back. Ken remembered where he'd seen Emily, and made a heavy step high up into the air before spotting the bright white toga hiding away nearby. He unceremoniously dropped in front of her, just like his hero Batman would've done, and rose up slowly to stare at her.
"Emily G. Reed... A woman so vile she can only be referred to by her whole name." he intoned deeply, his hands slowly rising to crack his knuckles. "I only get my news from my cryptic dreams, the source I trust most. A fellow cryptic dreamer says you've got something of ours. And I think the owner would want it back now, you-"
Ken had a bad habit of getting into the emotion of a situation and defaulting to his native tongue. As such, what came after was a jumbled mess of Japanese so old in its dialect that a modern day native speaker would even have a hard time understanding him. What it amounted to was a long winded curse, calling her bloodline and lineage a disgrace, and insinuating that she wouldn't be fit to lick the underside of a particularly low-bellied bottom feeding river fish.

"- so hand the fucking cup to me and I won't test the atmospheric pressure difference between low orbit and the bottom of the ocean with your fucking lungs! And no, this won't be like last time where someone will tell me to stop! Because this time I know you have what's ours!"

---

The bear didn't take its eyes off the girl, but that didn't stop her from getting her own look. From Luna's position, it would've been easy to see that Andrade Salamente was far too busy grilling to be handling a knife of any kind. Whether it was hidden away somewhere or not was a different question, as plenty of Chefs liked to bring their own knives whenever they were going to be in a kitchen. It wouldn't be a stretch to say the object of Luna's desire was probably there, but it was just a matter of seeing him use it to confirm.

Mia was too tired to think about much, but she remembered what she was supposed to be doing for dear Lynette. Mother had asked her to make sure the prayer cards got handed out to people. Whether or not they took them didn't matter; Lynette knew any Temple member would, since her words were written on paper. Not all of them knew what that meant, but Lynette's little poem-prayer would be her entryway into anyone who decided to keep it around. It's how they knew who to send solicitors to, who was most likely to accept the Temple in some way.
They were spy cards washed with pure White Lux. Even now, there was a chance that Lynette was spying from the very stack of cards Mia was supposed to be handing out. The girl tensed up, and it caused the bear in Elise's hands to move its head ever so slightly to focus on the little sister. Elise had been scoping Mia out since she'd gotten into St. Portwell, the family hobby of constantly insuring that Mia wasn't high, or in some various state of coming down from a high. It'd been almost a year, but the suspicion never waned.

But it also noticed the shift in the customer's head toward Andrade. It wasn't alarming, as plenty of people were interested in the master chef. Currently he was plating Luna's meal into a small plastic to-go container, which separated one side from the other so the salad wouldn't get soggy because of the steam from the kebab. It was clearly lamb, the gamey smell of the meat wafting along with the spices as Andrade passed it up to Mia.
"Order up for-" Andrade paused as he turned to see the customer, Luna, and her outfit. "Haha, creepy bunny. Enjoy!" he called. It was a bit of PR, making sure he was just as involved with the customer. But still no knife.
"It's from an anime, Uncle Dre!" Mia laughed backward, finally taking Luna's money and gathering the change, a plastic utensil set, and a prayer card for her to take.
"May Charm and Grace guide you, Touka! With love from our Temple to you!" a catchphrase she was meant to say after any transaction. Something she'd said at least two hundred times that evening. She rarely felt the need for the spike these days, but it did cross her mind. Her body relaxed at the very thought.

Elise and her bear stared creepily, however, eyes never leaving Luna's frame as she waited for the slightest hesitation at taking the card. She's got to take it. Mia folded it inside the change, right? Did she give enough money?
"Oh, and your drink, Sister! Absentmind here forgot to ask what you wanted..."
The sleuth had inserted herself into the equation, eyes now more closely examining the girl at the counter.

---

---

Vashti licked her lips hungrily as Linqian was tossed her way like a chicken off the side of a dock in a bayou. That look Linqian gave Vashti melted her, heating the wrist that had been nearly frostbitten by Linqian earlier with a warm sensation that was as painful as it was pleasant. Vashti returned the look with one of dark and even dangerous curiosity. It wasn’t just suggestive, it was a spoiler, a teaser trailer for what was to come once Vashti got her hands on Linqian. The way they could ruin one another would be an absolutely beautiful catastrophe. Vashti was able to squeeze part of herself free from her Drake and Leon sandwich and reach out to Linqian. The tips of their fingers nearly caressed, nothing but a few millimeters of air and one incredible and violently unstable spark between them. Vashti parted her lips.

And Linqian was snapped away, signing Call me as she was abducted.

No!

Fuck. That. Vashti wasn’t going to wait for what she wanted. With a sudden surge of strength that flowed into Vashti from her libido, she was able to wedge enough room between herself and Drake to give chase to Linqian. She was stopped by Leon wrapping his hands around her waist,No!, her eyes fluttering as she felt his muscles tightened and his body pressed against hers, Yes!. Her mind blanked and a wicked smile carved its way onto her face. Her hands slipped down over his, trying to guide them just a little lower. Her head soared and her heart raced as she was hefted up by Leon with ease, Yes! Yes! Drive me into the ground and devour me like a snack!

The situation hit a slight hiccup as she was placed on his shoulders instead of being buried face first into the dirt, but the disappointment shifted as Vashti caught Leon’s eye. In unison with him she raised both of her fists into the air.



She felt high, both figuratively and literally. This was how her life always should be: surrounded by drunken debauchery and half-naked hot people that were all beneath her, with the head of a powerful man pressed between her thighs. Vashti drained the contents of the Chalice as it was passed back to her as Sully stumbled away from the toga line, dropping it to Emily behind her. She leaned forward, pressing her chest against the back of Leon’s hair, her curly hair draping over his face, her eyes drunk with lust, as she slid a hand beneath his chin to guide his focus back up to her. Only her. A finger traced down to feel the pulse in his jugular. She smiled down at him, a warm invitation, the scent of sweet wine on her hot breath.

Her desire to be with Leon was now matched only by one other deeper, darker desire that lurked hidden in the depths of all people, kept locked away until that person was presented with a key. Years ago Britney had been the one to give her the key, much like Lady Lelou had with Leon. Leon looked hot now, but he would’ve looked even hotter on his knees, hands wrapped around his throat, a crimson necktie unfurling over his toga. Her breathing quickened with heated anticipation as she locked eyes with Leon, her finger making a few practice runs across his neck. It might not actually be enough to kill Leon if what she heard was true. That was even more exciting. The two of them locked together in a deadly tango, surrounded by stacks of bloodied sheets of the remnants of the toga party, clawing and biting and ripping and tearing one another apart until the break of dawn.

She let go of his chin. She arched her back, pulling her face away from Leon, and rolled her head as she released a steamy sigh. She watched the moon, the fingers on her left hand working their way through Leon’s hair. She closed her eyes and was greeted to a not entirely unpleasant visual of it being Linqian, not Leon, beneath her. Her eyes snapped open, a clear expression of what the fuck on her face accompanied by suddenly much sharper eyes that scanned the immediate area for her missing gold prize. She didn’t see Linqian. Instead, she only saw Emily scampering away with the Chalice in her hand. Leon would feel Vashti’s entire body tense as she silently swore up a storm at her back, just as surely he would’ve felt Emily let go of him and perhaps take a look at the woman stealing their party favor.

Vashti couldn’t let that happen.

She put her hand beneath Leon’s chin again and jerked it up again, aggression stabbing the previously felt sensuality in the kidneys and leaving it to die on the streets. The lustful desire in her eyes was replaced by a different deadly sin as she moved in for the kill, her jaws darting forward with a sudden snap. She pulled Leon’s attention away with a long and deep kiss. It was passionate, although not in the way it was with new lovers still discovering the mystery of their partner’s body. It was much more like the way that someone stabbing their spouse sixty-seven times in the stomach was considered passionate, delivered in the form of little tiny bites on his lip between bouts of their tongues trying to pin the other to assert their dominance.

Vashti peaked an eye open and only pulled away for oxygen once, from her vantage point, she saw that Emily had moved far enough away to be blocked by the crowd. Her face was flushed and her chest heaved as she looked down at Leon with a wolfish smile, a smile that narrowed as she looked back towards Emily and caught sight of Greenwood and a fucking Batman making a move after her. Her fingers scritched the bottom of Leon’s chin as if to say good boy as she threw her head back and screamed in silence. Always such a fucking cockblock! A dark cloud rolled in front of the moon as she leaned back down and peppered Leon with a line of kisses from his mouth to his ear. She dropped from his shoulders with an acrobatic twist, her hand still wrapped around his hair like a leash so that he’d stoop down so she could whisper in his ear.

“Sorry, fido. Hate to be a tease, but we’ll have to take a raincheck,” said Vashti, her warm breath on his ear as the sky rumbled. She stroked his face one last time as her pupils briefly narrowed like those of a lizard before becoming two dark, focused pinpoints, and patted his cheek. She grinned diabolically as she moved to trail Emily. “I’ve gotta go kill someone.”

It began to rain.

---

---

Why wouldn’t Jack just leave her alone? The corner of Sloane’s left eye began to spasm. Her mouth tightened until her lips all but disappeared, her teeth clenched together so tightly that they threatened to poof into dust. She inhaled deeply and lifted her head to the sky, a droplet of rain splashing upon her forehead which she wiped away with a hand that had balled itself up into a tiny, shaking fist. She closed her eyes tight until she started to see spots. I worry for you. What a stupid thing to say. She said she was good which translated to she didn’t want to talk to anyone. Everybody should just know that.

Her phone buzzed as she got a message from Anya. Anya would understand. If she were here she would’ve grabbed Jack by the shoulders and steer him away. Sloane dropped her a pin with their location.

“You’re just not going to stop, are you?” spat Sloane, glaring at Jack as she wobbled ever so slightly.

Normally she would’ve gone on a full lockdown when someone pushed her so hard to divulge anything about herself, but someone must’ve spilled their drink on the control panel because none of the usual buttons she pressed were able to completely shut Jack out. It wasn’t that she believed that her wants and feelings didn’t matter, even though in the grand scheme of everything they didn’t matter—hell, she didn’t even matter. She just didn’t like sharing them because sharing them made them real and once they were real they were oh so much harder to push down and ignore.

“You know what, fine. Something is on my mind. Actually a lot of things are. All the time. It’s a lot like you in that regard,” said Sloane, her words dragged down by the alcohol. She sneered and elaborated, “It just won’t shut the fuck up and leave me alone.”

It was getting annoying to stand. Her legs felt weak and the stupid world kept rocking back and forth. It was probably drunk too. She inelegantly plopped down in the dying grass, dangerously close to the puddle of paint that she had stripped from Jasper’s artwork. She watched the raindrops create patterns of their own in the paint as the colors spread, mixed, and thinned. Individually, each little droplet did almost nothing to the spilled paint. However, when it all accumulated together it was able to blend everything together into one big muddy mess. For a moment it seemed like Sloane had completely gone away, or that the lockdown sequence had been initiated after all.

Then she finally broke her silence.

“My best friend is dead and I’ll never get to talk to her again, and now her husband hates me and will never talk to me again. My other best friend probably only spends time with me out of pity because she probably realizes what a mess I’d be without her. It’s so unfair to put that on her. I just weigh her down. My dad’s trying to work his way back into my life, which means he’s either working an angle or, worse, he actually just cares about me and I can’t do the same for him. I finally worked up the courage to ask the boy I liked out for a dinner date after ten years and he was murdered before I had the chance to do it. Now I can only think about how much I respected and idolized him growing up, and how much time I wasted fearing rejection, and how he’s now stashed in, in, I don’t know, in some shoebox or something in his sister’s linen closet, and I just can’t even bear to think about th—”

Her voice swelled with emotion and broke. When she found her words again, she was back to her typical text-to-speech narration.

“While you and Anya kept everyone safe last week, I managed to get myself jerked around by 8th street and accomplished nothing. I’m starting to realize that accomplishing nothing is probably the best for everyone, because I destroy everything I touch,” she said, staring at the blank canvas with an expression just as empty. “I lost a bunch of artifacts, including a bunch of knockoffs that I made that could absolutely devastate communities if not entire countries, and I can’t even do anything about it because I’m scared. I’m scared. I don’t know why nobody else acts like it, but I’m so fucking scared that I’m going to die like everybody I ever cared about or continue be a disappointment like everyone else.”

The rain was cold, but it wasn’t the reason why her body began to shiver and quake.

“It’s not just Jasper. Everybody hates me. I don’t even get it. They just hate me. They found the first excuse they could use and kicked me out as quickly as they could. Seriously, like, how did Britney, who robbed so many people of their future, who used innocents as sacrificial pawns, who, for all intents and purposes, was a war criminal, stay in longer than me? Gets welcomed back and immediately forgiven while I’m still looked at with suspicion and disdain? Is allowed to sneak behind people’s backs and make calls she has no right to make that put people’s lives in danger and not get called out for it? It’s unfair. It’s just so unfair. Not a single thing has changed. It’s all just another popularity contest. Fine. Let them hate me. I hate them all, too.”

“And that includes you,” said Sloane, glaring daggers at Jack. “Stop pretending like you know me. Stop pretending that you care about me. I don’t know if you just feel guilty for abandoning us that you have to constantly hovering around like a helicopter parent, or if you’re actually just secretly a good guy, but please just stop. Hate me like everyone else. It’ll be so much easier for you. Don’t do what Anya did to herself. I don’t want to have to carry the weight of being the reason another person is made into a social pariah. I’m a curse given human form. That's just the way it is.”

“So please,” said Sloane, the harsh look in her eyes breaking as genuine concern slipped through regarding Jack’s status as an outcast. “Fuck off.”

---

---

---

---

Halloween Festival, Temple's Booth -> Behind the Haunted House -> Temple's Booth
_{Mentions: @AtomicEmperor}

---

"Oh, and your drink, Sister! Absentmind here forgot to ask what you wanted..."

“Thank you, but no drink for me. What you've given me already is perfect~!” She said in a sweet sing-song voice, giving the very image of a girl in her element.

She accepted the change and the card without much difficulty, and took her container of piping hot kebabs and salad.

What Elise would notice, from carefully studying Luna, were a couple of things. For one, Luna had the quirk of running her thumb along her manicured fingernails, indicating thoughts racing in her mind. Secondly, Elise would observe for a flash as Luna took her food, her sleeve would pull back ever so slightly to reveal a tattoo of a date at least ten years old, surrounded in leaves and tree branches. The leaves had a specific shape, almost like maple leaves.

Luna gave a gracious nod to the master chef, “Creepy bunny, at your service.”

Before she returned her gaze to the girls serving her, and she took a step back. “Thank you for dinner, I won't take up any more of your time~!”

She started to walk away, and found a vacant picnic table still within peeping distance of the Temple's booth. The change was put in her purse, while the card was examined briefly before being placed face-up on the table beside her container. Luna lifted her mask a little, enough to expose her mouth as she opened the container. She took a bite of kebab, and gave a nod to herself. She didn't want to admit it, but they knew how to cook!

As she worked through dinner, she never took her eyes off the Temple's booth. No doubt the girl with the bear was still staring at her. Or, maybe the distance put the girl at ease. That would be preferred. Luna was just an innocent little Touka-chan, after all.

She laughed a little to herself, taking another bite, before her face behind the mask became serious. She didn't see what she needed to see. She didn't see the knife. She couldn't say ‘mission complete’ without that. The look on Mother Cards face if she returned home empty-handed? Well, she wouldn't grace it with a description. It would be a horrible experience, regardless.

What would she do?

Luna thought for a long moment, finishing her dinner, before an idea came to her. A devious, fiendish idea. She set down her plastic fork and pulled out her cell, sending off a quick text to their newest cohort: Layla. It was only thanks to Luna's spying efforts that she even knew Layla had something that could help Luna get what she needed.

I need your abstraction. Send one of your ghosts over. I'll be behind the Haunted House.

Luna sent off the text. It was only a few minutes later that Layla responded.

They don't play nice, but if you're sure, cut your hand a bit. It'll help them find you. I'll try to convince them to visit. No promises, okay?

Luna smirked under her mask, pulling it down to its rightful position over her face. She sent a text back.

Okay.

She gave one last look to the Temple's booth, before she got up and left. She didn't bother binning her container, and the prayer card given to her was also left to its lonesomeness on the picnic table.

---

---

---

---

She waited, breath tense, behind the Haunted House, blood dripping from her hand.

It wasn't long until she felt a presence behind her, and the air became cold. A gloved hand reached for her manicured fingers, black mask pushing to the side so a dark tongue could lap up at the cut.

“Hmm. Sweet, but not as sweet as my treasure.”

Mr. Riil adjusted his mask over his face, letting go of Luna’s hand. She took a steadying breath, trying to hide her nerves before she spoke.

“I need a favour.”

“I don't do business outside of my treasure. Get lost.”

Luna expected as much. That was why she had an idea for the ghost. Favour for a favour, even at the expense of Layla.

“I see you're a busy apparition. But doesn't it pain you to be here? In the Shimmer, I mean.”

Mr. Riil stared, his mask hiding any expression he could have. “Go on.”

“Why haven't you adjoined to your treasure yet? You get more influence and access to her, and you don't have to fight to be in the Shimmer. It's a win-win.”

Mr. Riil placed a hand on his chin, appearing to contemplate Luna's proposal, before he laughed. “And my dear Layla would suffer even more. Now who is more cruel?”

Luna simply narrowed her eyes behind her mask. “Is it enough to gain your favour or not?”

Mr. Riil laughed again. A cold, dead laugh. “It's enough to gain my attention. But you will still owe me… something else.”

Luna got a sick feeling in her stomach. She could guess, but she had to be sure. “What would that be?”

Mr. Riil took a step closer, black trench coat swirling in the wind as he towered over Luna. “A soul sacrifice.”

Luna pursed her lips behind the mask. Not ideal, but finding someone to take the bullet was an easy enough task when you grew up in the mafia. “Very well.”

Mr. Riil seemed finally satisfied, and clasped his hands together. “Now, my dear. What favour did you need my help with?”

---

Back at the Temple's booth, all seemed to be normal. The evening was winding down, people were getting their last orders. Everything seemed good.

All of that changed at the sound of heavy growling. Dark, glinting red eyes stared from the darkness in between two tents on the other side. Then, in swift and rapid succession, pawprints hit the ground as what appeared to be a skeletal black dog launched its way over the table and inside the Temple's tent. It's red eyes fixed on Mr. Salamente instantly. The ‘dog’ snapped its large jaws at the man, growling and barking, before it launched itself forward. Its maw attempted to clamp down on the man's thigh, teeth bared and sharp.

---

Sloane was carrying a lot in her heart, lately. Jack was caught off guard by her sudden outburst, saying he should’ve just left her alone. Was he really being that much of a nuisance by having the nerve to care, when he could’ve simply left Sloane to wallow in her troubles? Jack liked to think that he had enough of her trust that his intentions were obvious. He just wanted to look after someone that he well and truly considered a friend.

And that was why he was grateful that he never forgot how to put on a cold face.

“My best friend is dead and I’ll never get to talk to her again, and now her husband hates me and will never talk to me again. My other best friend probably only spends time with me out of pity because she probably realizes what a mess I’d be without her. It’s so unfair to put that on her. I just weigh her down. My dad’s trying to work his way back into my life, which means he’s either working an angle or, worse, he actually just cares about me and I can’t do the same for him. I finally worked up the courage to ask the boy I liked out for a dinner date after ten years and he was murdered before I had the chance to do it. Now I can only think about how much I respected and idolized him growing up, and how much time I wasted fearing rejection, and how he’s now stashed in, in, I don’t know, in some shoebox or something in his sister’s linen closet, and I just can’t even bear to think about th—”

So, the answer to his question was, “everything.” How did he comfort her through all that? How could he? Jack wished he could, he wished he could go back to being that kid who everyone found weird, but trusted to mean business where it mattered. But here he was, a stranger among his own people, unable to do anything meaningful to help someone for which the bar was low enough to step over.

It made him feel powerless, but he couldn’t let Sloane notice that.

“While you and Anya kept everyone safe last week, I managed to get myself jerked around by 8th street and accomplished nothing. I’m starting to realize that accomplishing nothing is probably the best for everyone, because I destroy everything I touch. I lost a bunch of artifacts, including a bunch of knockoffs that I made that could absolutely devastate communities if not entire countries, and I can’t even do anything about it because I’m scared. I’m scared. I don’t know why nobody else acts like it, but I’m so fucking scared that I’m going to die like everybody I ever cared about or continue be a disappointment like everyone else.”

You kept this entire city safe for a decade, Don’t be so cruel to yourself. It’s just a twist of the knife she stuck in Jack, talking about herself like she was worthless. As if Sloan wasn’t the one who made Jack’s childhood goals into her own and made them happen. His expression was stone, weathering her harsh words like they were but more raindrops from the sky.

“It’s not just Jasper. Everybody hates me. I don’t even get it. They just hate me. They found the first excuse they could use and kicked me out as quickly as they could. Seriously, like, how did Britney, who robbed so many people of their future, who used innocents as sacrificial pawns, who, for all intents and purposes, was a war criminal, stay in longer than me? Gets welcomed back and immediately forgiven while I’m still looked at with suspicion and disdain? Is allowed to sneak behind people’s backs and make calls she has no right to make that put people’s lives in danger and not get called out for it? It’s unfair. It’s just so unfair. Not a single thing has changed. It’s all just another popularity contest. Fine. Let them hate me. I hate them all, too.”

”I don’t-“

“And that includes you. Stop pretending like you know me. Stop pretending that you care about me.”

She hated him. ”Pretending? Sloane, that is not-“

”I don’t know if you just feel guilty for abandoning us that you have to constantly hovering around like a helicopter parent, or if you’re actually just secretly a good guy, but please just stop. Hate me like everyone else. It’ll be so much easier for you. Don’t do what Anya did to herself. I don’t want to have to carry the weight of being the reason another person is made into a social pariah. I’m a curse given human form. That's just the way it is.”

“So please, Fuck off.”

There was a brief moment where the mask cracked. The corner of Jack’s mouth turned downward for a moment, and a moment of sadness flashed across his eyes. It was blinked away as quickly as it could have been spotted. Sloane didn’t want him here, she didn’t want him anywhere.

Why did he come home, if this was waiting for him?

Jack stood and there the hood of his costume over his head. ”The Sycamore Tree Coven was family to me, once. The only family I’ve ever known,” he admitted. ”Brothers and sisters all, for which I would lay down my life without a second’s hesitation. I never turned down an opportunity to aid anyone, or be there in their time of need.” Even when it rewarded him with life-changing injuries.

He turned to leave. ”And you are part of that. You always have been, Sloane. And you always will be. Remember that.”

Jack did not teleport away. Rather, he simply walked off, until he was gone from sight.

If he had left tonight, gone back to the Void to explore its deeper regions, would he be missed? If he finally got around to exploring some of those distant places he had been studying outside of Shimmmer, would Auri try to get ahold of him again? Would Anya pay a visit to his dreams?

Or would the wheels continue to turn all the same without him? Jack felt something in his chest twist into a knot. He didn’t want to leave, back when they were kids. He tried to preserve the coven, tried to push it in a better direction. But there was nothing left to save in the end.

These people were strangers now. But they were all he had left.

---

Stormy might’ve accepted their offer for a drink in return, were it not for the fact that his attention was grabbed by the Maiden acting up again. That wasn’t too surprising. His aura had been running low, and he didn’t think to renew it. Understandably, the whole table was a bit concerned. And he almost succumbed to the temptation to fold Trevor in half the wrong way at his comment. Stormy tapped his hand to his chest, and his Phantombane aura quickly renewed back to normal. The green smoke returned to visible levels. That should hopefully have a good enough effect on the Maiden that she decalamitied her mammaries. Stormy wasn’t about to let that get out of hand again.

Stormy kept an eye on the feathers and the talons sprouting from Lila’s hand. He wasn’t too worried, but he was taking the circumstance seriously regardless. If all else failed, he could offer to give Lila the aura as soon as he was able. That would be as close to it as the Maiden could possibly get. Everyone started talking about an after party, and a healer.

”Lila, I can lend you the Phantombane aura I’m using in about… Fifteen minutes, once it wears off. I’d need your permission first, but the Maiden won’t have anywhere to go.” And it would give Lila some space between her and Stormy after this little “peace talk.”

He kept an eye on Trevor as he walked over to heal Lila. Meifeng did say not to be weird, but surely she’d understand if he flattened the little shit if he did get weird.

”If Emily does try anything,” he cut in, after Max’s offer. ”I’ll handle it. She’s an Adjoined, and I’m good at countering them better than most paranormal.” Was that a flex? Probably not, but it sounded like on- Holy shit was that fucking Kenshiro?

”Good to see you, Toad Man,” he said with a grin.

And then the others invited him to the party. Jasper… Whispered in his ear? That was weird. But if they needed help, who was he to say no?

Oh, there goes Ken. Poof.

”Of course I will,” he answered Lila. ”I’m not sure I want to know what Emily is doing this time, or what a “toga conga line” looks like. I’m not sure I want to find out, either. I’m ready whenever you all are. I’m sure Ken can handle Emily himself. He has friends in high places, after all.”

He turned and addressed the agents gathered at the table. ”Hopefully, we won’t be running into each other too much in the near future. But still, I appreciate being able to talk without violence. Thank you for that.”

---

---

Anya didn’t have to wait long to get a response from Sloane. As efficient as always, sending a direct location pin. She was surprisingly close - perhaps she’d looped around and ended up nearby after walking off her irritation. Anya could only hope she would be in a better mood. Though, Anya was in a very good mood herself, so she could handle Sloane however she was.

It didn’t take her long to reach Sloane’s location… but she paused behind the tent flaps that separated Sloane’s private spot and the main festival when she heard Sloane talking.

There was a hint of… guilt when she heard Sloane called her and Jade being her best friends. Of course, Sloane was Anya’s best friend too, by virtue of being her only friend, but it wasn’t quite the same. Sloane’s friendship was selfless and genuine, hers not so much. Of course, the feeling didn’t last long. It was probably just the alcohol she’d consumed, anyway. Thankfully the rest of what Sloane said about her was nonsense. Anya didn’t spend time with her out of pity. She wasn’t the pitying sort. It was a shame Sloane didn’t see her own value.

She silently listened. Some of it she already knew. Sloane told her practically everything in her life. What she didn’t know must be recent discoveries - Jinhai being in a shoebox in Linqian’s linen closet being one of them. Was that what Sloane and Linqian had discussed at the start of the night? No wonder she’d been so upset. It was an unpleasant surprise. After Sloane, Jinhai had been the closest to being her friend too. While he wasn’t allowed to keep contact with her traditionally thanks to his failure of her sister, they spoke in his dreams often. She had been sad that he’d died, and disappointed but unsurprised that she wasn’t invited to his funeral.

But his ashes being stuck in a cupboard was much worse.

Anya exhaled softly, waiting for Sloane to stop talking before stepping through the tent flap separating them. She stood out of the way as Jack talked, and smiled at him as he went past. Perhaps she’d have to mend what had been broken tonight, but now wasn’t the time.

”You know, I’d likely be hated by the majority of the coven even if we weren’t friends,” Anya finally said, approaching Sloane. She very carefully lowered herself down to be at eye level with her - making sure not to sit on the ground, instead perfectly crouching with her legs pressed together. She shrugged one shoulder. ”I heard the end of what you were saying. I’ve never been bothered by how they view me. It’s not our fault they don’t understand what we do for them. It would be rather lonely to both be hated alone, wouldn’t it?”

They weren’t just empty words, Anya knew her position in the group very well, Sloane aside. While Anya was much better at playing the game of pretend now, adjusting herself to be exactly what was needed, she hadn’t been quite so good at seventeen. It was harder to hide her ego as a child and unfortunately what she’d let slip had solidified poor opinions with a fair amount of the coven. There were some who disliked her more than they did Sloane - Lynn and Linqian, for one. Sloane probably didn’t realise that.

She carefully considered what to say next. It was difficult to tell when Sloane was drunk like this - it wasn’t a Sloane she’d dealt with before. Best to leave things open. Don’t push her to open up about everything she’d dumped on Jack, but don’t cut it off as if it didn’t matter in case she did want to open up. A careful balancing act.

”Ah.” Anya smiled apologetically. The rain was beginning to wash away the spiders painted on her face, black lines running down her cheeks as if they were crying. ”Sorry for not immediately following you. I wanted to make sure you weren’t going to suffer for ignoring Ezra Vanburen, but it seemed I worried unnecessarily. He was quite reasonable. I also thought perhaps you needed to talk to Jack alone, so that he could make amends, so I sent him after you… a miscalculation, I admit. Even I make those occasionally.”

It was a nice excuse, of course, and one she was sure Sloane would believe. With her business well and truly taken care of, she was quite happy to spend the rest of the night concentrating on whatever Sloane needed to feel better. ”We can talk about all of... that, if you’d like. Or not. There’s still plenty of time to enjoy Halloween. Perhaps we could have another drink, or go back to mine and watch some halloween movies. Whatever you want.”

She stood back up, holding out a hand to Sloane.

”But first, should we get out of this rain?”

---

---

---

The Chalice Caper was a success!

Emily was power walking away from the yoga line, still blowing up Brianna's phone with text messages... until she realized that Brianna had blocked her.

"... That fucking wh-"

"... Emily G. Reed... A woman so vile she can only be referred to by her whole name."

Emily's eyes went upwards as someone dropped in front of her. It was Kenshiro Murakin, the poor bastard the Old Coven robbed and somehow infected with Stockholm syndrome. Those sluts had a talent for finding fellow dumbasses, it seemed like, but the issue was that this dumbass was challenging her. She put her phone away as she stood straight up.

"... Yep," Babylon said as she appeared; she floated behind Emily and placed her flaming hands on her shoulders. "She's a totally depraved son of a bitch." She laughed.

"Babylon, fuck off," Emily hissed, and her Adjoined Apparition disappeared, then she faced Kenshiro.

"I only get my news from my cryptic dreams, the source I trust most. A fellow cryptic dreamer says you've got something of ours. And I think the owner would want it back now, you - so hand the fucking cup to me, and I won't test the atmospheric pressure difference between low orbit and the bottom of the ocean with your fucking lungs! And no, this won't be like last time where someone will tell me to stop! Because this time I know you have what's ours!"

As Kenshiro gave his heroic speech, Emily couldn't help but crack a smile that got increasingly unhinged as Emily G. Reed revealed more teeth. She tilted her head as heat emanated from her body, shooting in all directions, almost making it feel like summer! Emily grabbed the toga with her free hand and threw it off her. However, it ignited in bright-red flames imbued with all the screaming faces of Babylon's past victims, and in mere seconds, it was nothing more than charred ash being carried away by the wind.

"... First, that freak of nature Lila attacks me," Emily stepped forward, and she left behind a burning footprint. "Now, Kenshiro Murakin comes out the fuckin' woodwork to harass me. I thought you fucked off to a different dimension; why now did you decide to come back? Why did you decide to pick on me?"

Emily stopped, putting a hand on her hip and the Chalice in her dangling hand. "Are the rest of the sluts hiding somewhere? Giggling like they always have when one of you bastards pulled one of your lame-ass pranks on me? Or when one of those other retards came to pick on me? I bet you all think it's so hilarious. You call me vile? What? Because all I did was have a problem with getting used by Britney and the rest of those fucking sluts...?"

Emily rambled and raved, and a fire appeared on her body with each word, raging until her body seemed to be some hellish torch. The screams of the damned could be heard by anyone nearby. She raised the Chalice into the air, "I just trying to show this priceless artifact some respect instead of treating it like some fucking party-"

However, someone swung by on a glowing web like they were goddamn Spiderman at speeds so fast she felt like a blur and quickly shot another web at the Chalice. It was snatched out of Emily's hand, and she could only go, "... Huh?!" She looked at her hand, then back to Ken, then back to her hand... before her eyes rested on Kenshiro.

"You know what? Fuck the Chalice. Fuck those sluts, and fuck you! I've had it to here with you motherfuckers!" Emily hissed, slamming a foot on the ground. "You won't be lonely in hell..."

---

---

Emily swiped a hand at Kenshiro, and with it came a red-hot wave of air-searingly hot hellfire. She then screamed,

---

---

Between herself, Autumn, and Amelia, Naomi knew that she was probably the least qualified to take the Chalice from Emily.

However, she is in hot pursuit of Emily G. Reed, though the chase becomes a lot easier because someone has confronted Emily. She went over to the rooftop's edge, knelt, and observed because there was no need to rush in and get herself in a situation. Naomi had zero idea who this guy was or that he was with Sycamore, but he looked like something straight out of an anime! She would have to joke with James about this later! However, she glanced over her shoulder, and James and the others were catching up... then focused on Emily, who seemed to be losing her mind!

Emily raised the Chalice into the air, and Naomi knew that this was her chance! She focused on an overhead street light and stuck her hand out; she shot out a glowing web, and then it attached. She quickly launched forward, going as fast as she could... and she knew she would only have this one chance. She focused on the Chalice, then stuck her hand out, creating a web from the Chalice itself. The ghostly web floated in the air, and Naomi caught it. Unlike Vashti, Emily didn't have any particular strength, so the speed and momentum Naomi was going was quickly snatched out of her hand, hanging from the web as Naomi.

Naomi landed on the opposite rooftop she had started on and caught the Chalice mid-air. For a brief moment, she glanced and saw that Emily had turned her rage on this stranger. Naomi had no clue who that guy was, but that was none of her business! The two could duke it out all they wanted and have the Feds on them.

Naomi quickly darted off because she was not going to be here when it got ugly (Also, Emily could teleport).

---

Jack walked down an empty street, not all that far from where he had teleported away with Sloane and Anya after seeing Drake. He could hear the distant shouting of the Toga Conga Line marching onwards. For a moment, he allowed himself to think that they might welcome him into their nonsense. It was foolish, yes, but foolish in the way that allowed friendships to grow deeper. Jack dismissed that thought as they went off further into the night, away from where he could hear. Tonight was turning out to be a lonely one. He could've gone back to the Shadowzone and entertained himself with the remnants of his house, and all the curiosities he had gathered over the decade. At least there, in the silence of an infinite darkness, he have a place that was familiar.

As Jack walked, he heard a familiar voice. Was that...

He hurried along down the corner of a street, and saw him. Kenshiro Murakin. He was back, just like everyone else. Jack had no idea that he had managed to return... And he was confronting Emily about the fucking CHALICE.

Jack walked forward, about to tear that maggot into pieces before a fucking spiderweb came out of nowhere. Alone with a blur of what he assumed was a thief who had come to steal it. He couldn't recognize that Abstraction, or whoever it was that had just fucked up royally. Jack looked back and saw Emily trying to melt Ken's face off. That wasn't going to do, so Jack made an orb of darkness in one hand. He then teleported behind Emily and her rancid apparition, throwing the orb to hit her in the back of the head. It would initially feel like getting slapped with a huge blob of super glue. The shadow orb expanded and swirled around Emily's entire head like a black tornado, completely blinding her.

His hood slipped off, revealing his face.

Kenshiro! My old friend, it has been far too long," He said, loudly, over what would no doubt be screams of the damned and screams of Emily Reed's bitching. "As much as I would love to make up for lost time, I'm afraid I have a thief to chase! Take care not to get too close to this one, here." He took a few steps backwards, grinning like a trickster at Babylon, who he hoped would recognize it as him taunting her to distract her long enough for Kenshiro to make a move. "Or the vapid excuse human she attached herself to!"

Jack made a dramatic motion with one of his arms, as if he were throw a curtain in front of himself like a stage magician. He cast a spell that adorned him in a cloak of shadows, rendering him all but invisible in the gloom of the late night.

"I will see you soon, old friend!" He exclaimed, before teleporting up to the rooftops. He saw the stranger swinging away, eyed up a spot along her path, and teleported out in front of them. The spell he cast on himself made him blend in with the darkness, like a sort of supernatural camouflage. He quickly stuck out his shadow hand, hoping he could grab the thief with a sneak attack before they had time to react and realize someone was even there.

"That does not belong to you."

Aaron had seen enough. The group in front of him had insulted him and these insults had shook him to his core. Did they not know who he was? Did they realize just how colossal of a mistake they’ve made when they stepped in front of him? The nerve, the absolute nerve of these children among adults. If this was any other place besides the Halloween festival they would be giving them a piece of his mind, right here, right now. Instead, he would be forced to swallow his pride and just deal with this injustice and store it deep inside until a later date when he could let out all this built up, pent up, aggression on a punching bag or some unlucky punk who dared challenge him and his-

“Who gets your vote, Aaron?” Jason asked as he pointed to the group of young children who stood before them. The 317 was holding an impromptu costume contest, the prize being a free course of the winners choosing at the 317. Apparently they had met their goal in sales today and were looking to give back. The children were obviously dressed by their parents, with a few cheap costumes bought at the local target and a few even cheaper home made costumes. None of them really fit, and none of them looked particularly good.

And Aaron had a problem with that. “If I had to choose, I’d pick the kid dressed as Goku,” Aaron lied as he held back the rage. His eyes slid down to his own costume. He had decided to go as one of his recent comic book obsession, Nimona, and had created a faithful adaptation of the live action look to the titular character. Sure, right now it did not fit entirely well because he had made it a few sizes too big just in case he needed to shift tonight. The fact remained that these children had a lot to learn when it came to celebrating this most awesome of holidays.

“A surprise to be sure,” Jason chuckled, “another point to Goku!”

Great, just great. The kid would probably win. That would mean that every weekend, for an entire month, that kid would be paraded through the 317 and learn from the best artist in the 317 simply because they bought a cheap costume from some soulless corporation. Aaron sighed. He was being to harsh, these kids were just here to have fun. And this costume contest was a way to encourage more young people to get into the arts. He was just grumpy. This night was already turning out a bit more boring than he had hoped, he wanted to check out the haunted house. As the new guy on the block, however, he was asked if he was comfortable manning the fort and he incorrectly said yes. The only thing that could turn a boring night into a fun one would be running into some of his friends. The only thing that could turn a boring night into a terrible one was…..

Aaron gasped, “Emily fucking Reed,” Aaron whispered as they spotted the chalice in her arms. “Emily…fucking…Reed,” Aaron spit through grated teeth.

“Hey,” Summer said as they punched Aaron in the shoulder. She looked out into the crowd and saw angry glares from a few parents in the crowd, a few shook their head in disgust at what they just heard, “watch the language bro.”

Aaron looked out into the crowd, saw the disappointment rising, and simply mouthed a “sorry” with a gentle wave. He slid back behind the other artist as he fanned his neck.

“What’s she to you,” Jason whispered as he leaned in.

“One of the old members of sycamore. Pretended she was a part of the leadership. She hated me and I hated her,” Aaron said as he watched her run off with the chalice. If she had that, that means the cup bearer would not be far behind. Would that mean the rest of the coven would be there? Would Linqian, Sloane, Stormy, and the rest of the cool ones be there? Would they fight? Aaron knew he would want to be there if things went south, but he knew he couldn’t if he wanted to remain with the 317. He was making good enough money for the first time in his life, and he needed that money to pay off the mountain of debt that awaited him whenever he logged into his bank accounts. Damn their rule of not getting involved. What’s the worst that could happen? It’s not like the 8th street coven could just force them out or defeat them, right? “I think I saw a few friends out in the crowd,” Aaron lied, “imma go say hi to them real quick!”. He did not leave room for a complaint, or second thought. Instead, he simply slipped out the back of the tent and looked around. He saw not a soul on the other side. Happy, he engaged his power and soon he saw the world around her from a higher vantage point.



Aryin looked down at their costume, it fit their form perfectly now that they were taller and had hips. This was perfect. She did not know if she would have had the chance to truly wear it the way she intended tonight, or if this would be yet another costume that she was forced to wear again at a con. The struggles of being known as the artist Aaron but always making costumes for Aryin alone. Aryin looked back at the tent, knowing that they’d left their new friends out to dry. The thought of going back there to judge those awesome costumes was enticing her to stay, forget what she saw. But she knew if Emily fucking Reed was up to no good, she’d want to be closer to either see her get her teeth kicked in or to help a friend if the need arises.

Aryin looked around again, hoping no one saw their transformation before they took off in the general direction of Emily fucking Reed. They weaved through the crowd, though as always it was just a bit more difficult to do so. Still, they floated their way down the road, saying an occasional “Opps, pardon me,” as they did. Eventually they found their target. Emily was standing off with… Ken? Was it Ken? She listened to him speak and the righteous anger found in his words confirmed it. It was her friend Ken, and he was not happy about her stealing the chalice. “Fuck yes, Ken” was all she could say before she saw Emily erupted in flames and swing a punch towards Ken. A surge in adrenaline, a sudden burst of speed, Aryin sensed their friend in danger and was ready to jump in front to take the hit before they felt a strong hand on their shoulder pulling them back.

No matter how they writhed they could not free themself from this unseen assailant nor could they see them. They were pulled back and spun around, coming face to face with Jordan with a stern look on his face. “Chill out,” he said quickly, “we don’t get involved in any of that bullshit.”

“Fuck,” Aryin whispered back as they turned around. She saw the literal grim reaper working some shadow magic. Was that Jack? “Fuck,” she spoke louder as she gritted her teeth. Her friends were fighting the whore who Aryin hated the most, and she was unable to do anything about it. It was like when Auri put out the call to reform the coven. Aryin wanted to rejoin, to protect her friends once more and to avenge those who were dead. But those in charge of the 317 said she’d have to leave the group. She’d have to pack up her shop and find another job. The debt she was finally paying back would start to run away from her again. And the comfortable life she had now would be replaced by scarcity and boredom once more. “Fuck,” she said even louder than before, “i hate this.”

“I know,” Jordan said as he watched the fight, “but we’re not here to get pulled into their bullshit. I know sycamore has your friends, but don’t get involved.”

“Why do we let that asshole do whatever she wants, she’s not even that strong,” Aryin whispered again as they stopped trying to wiggle our of Jordan’s grasp. There was no point in trying to break free, and the longer they struggled the less of the fight they would be able to see. Instead, they used their hand to pull out their phone and started to record a video.

---

---

She felt odd. Sloane turned her eyes to the ground and watched the rain wash the paint away as Jack got up to leave, a small victory overshadowed by an incredible feeling of guilt. She winced as he referred to the Sycamore Tree Coven as a family just like Auri had stupidly called them one in the first meeting. Families were unshakeable burdens. Families weren’t chosen so much as they were forced onto you. People who liked their families were generally unbearable. Sloane raked her teeth over her bottom lip. Now that she considered it, Sycamore was starting to sound a lot like a family after all. Jack was playing his part of the prodigal son perfectly.

”...I never turned down an opportunity to aid anyone, or be there in their time of need.”

How quick he was to ignore ten years of proof saying the exact opposite. Yet Sloane found herself unable to call out his hypocrisy, tempted by an overwhelming urge to call out for him to wait instead. She looked up and the words died in her throat as she came eye to eye with Anya. It looked like she had been crying. Sloane’s face contorted and twisted, glitching between flashes of abject terror punching through the caster of an expressionless death mask. How much exactly had Anya heard? Enough to hurt her? There wasn’t much that Sloane shied away from telling Anya, but her feelings were one thing that was almost never a topic of their discussions. When Sloane said everyone was a disappointment, surely Anya knew that she was exempt, right? Or what if she never realized how much she was held down by Sloane? Was this the moment where Anya rejected her too? Of course it was. Everybody did eventually.

”...It would be rather lonely to both be hated alone, wouldn’t it?”

Sloane released a choked, staggered sigh of relief masqueraded as a laugh. She closed her eyes tight and sucked her cheeks in like she had just bitten into a lemon to keep herself from smiling like a child. Her eyes were swimming in pools of pure adoration when she opened them again. The drinks and Jack’s endless, insistent prodding had knocked the walls around Sloane’s fortress down, if only for the evening. There was no hiding the powerful and unabashed projection of the love and admiration that Sloane had long felt for Anya but kept tucked away fearing that it would reek of desperation and convince Anya to find a less pathetic friend. She felt embarrassed and warm and stupid and safe and something else, something she couldn’t quite put a descriptor to because it was something she hadn’t felt in a long time if, perhaps, ever.

Sloane closed her eyes again, finding it more and more difficult to keep them open for some reason, but no longer tried to hide her blissful smile. Between making up for Sloane’s faux pas and trying to give her some privacy with Jack, Anya had apparently only been thinking about Sloane’s betterment while she was gone. And, unlike Jack, she offered to lend Sloane an ear without forcing her to actually speak up and talk. Anya said something that prompted Sloane to reopen her eyes, and through blurred vision she saw her hand and grabbed it. Sloane stumbled up to her feet and positioned herself at Anya’s side, and instead of letting go of Anya’s hand she grabbed it with her other one as well. Sloane rested her head on her best friend’s shoulder.

“I don’t want to talk about any of that,” said Sloane.

She had slurred her words more heavily than before. Yet somehow she felt lighter, like she had just taken an overstuffed backpack off of her shoulders. Sloane didn’t realize just how long she’d been carrying around the burden of everything that had been weighing on her mind, and tragically she didn’t even realize that dumping everything on Jack had been the catalyst to improving her mood. She wouldn’t remember how it had been Jack that had come after her first, or that it had been Jack to force her out of her comfort zone so that she would unload. Sadly, she would only remember that it had been Jack who had walked away whereas it had been Anya who had lifted her up from the ground.

Like the Coven before and her parents before that, Jack had abandoned her. But Anya? Anya was always there for her. Sloane didn’t need a family; she already had a sister. Her grip tightened protectively on Anya’s arm. Sloane would keep her safe. No matter what, she would keep Anya safe. She deserved it. For all the kindness Anya had shown her she deserved so much more. So, so much more. What was even better was that Sloane wouldn’t have to do the embarrassing thing and say it. Anya would just know. She would just know that Sloane was fully bought in—hook, line, and sinker.

“But it’s whatever you want. I want whatever you want,” said Sloane with the dreamy cadence of a sleep talker. “But if what you want was another drink that’d be pretty cool. Even though you’re obviously already so drunk. Don’t pretend like you aren’t, either, I can read you like an open, um, like an open…did I leave our tab open? Oh, and my painting. Jack forgot my painting. Sheesh, he’s so inconsiderate sometimes. Don’t forget my painting, okay?”

She shook Anya’s arm towards the blank canvas sitting on a stack of rubbish.

“Jasper made it for me,” said Sloane in a hushed tone, as if she were sharing a massive secret. She let out another bizarrely girlish giggle. “He’s obsessed!”

---

---

That dude was obsessed.

A drop of rain cut through the leaves and plinked off of Sully’s forehead as he continued lying on the ground. He had no real drive nor desire to get up. He had taken plenty of hits when he was younger and had always been able to get back up, but this felt different. He had thoroughly gotten his ass whooped. Hell, he had barely even been able to defend himself. If Dean had just wanted to kick Sully’s ass or if he had been Father Wolf then Sully would’ve basically just thrown himself headfirst into the grave and pulled the dirt over the top of himself. Even if he hadn't been so wasted he doubted he could’ve done much better. Sully groaned, lightly pounding his forehead with his closed fist. What the fuck had he been thinking. What an idiot.

He pulled the jacket Dean had returned to him over his face as the rain picked up. If he was lucky maybe he would sink into the mud and not have to deal with what was to come. Could he really stumble out of the woods with his face all busted open and try to keep on partying? Could he stand having to see Leon, knowing that if he had been in Sully’s shoes he would’ve laid the smackdown on Dean so hard that not only would Dean stop being such a creepy stalker but that he’d turn himself into the police because he would feel safer behind bars than out walking the streets where Leon roamed. Sully breathed in deeply and listened to the sound of rain hitting his jacket. It was soothing. The blood on his face was pleasantly warm. He exhaled. Closed his eyes.

No, wait!

Sully sat up, the jacket falling off of his face and plopping into his lap. His white toga was now mostly brown. A trickle of blood extended his mustache down to his weak jawline that was already beginning to regrow stubble. He fumbled around with his coat and found his phone. He needed to warn Tayla, and to do that he needed to get her number. Auri would have it. The situation was such an emergency that he almost called her but hung up before the first ring, looking over his shoulder. Dean could still be around, watching, waiting. He saw nothing but twisted trees looming over his right shoulder, but over his left! Sully sharply turned, fist raised, ready to slug the whole bunch of nothing sneaking up on his back, and grunted as he felt a muscle in his side pinch. He moaned in pain and sent out a mostly legible text to Auri that only asked for Tayla’s number as well as marking next Thursday in his Calendar.

Sully slowly made his way up to his feet. He needed to come up with a plan for how to handle Dean, but before that he needed a drink, and before-before that he needed to find his way out of the woods. Sully began to stumble ahead, his body like lead, focusing only on putting one foot in front of the other, then the other. He reached out to the trees to support himself as he got mud on his only pair of dress shoes, the remnants of the pilot costume he had started the night in. He no longer felt like Dionysus. There was nothing godly about his situation. Perhaps he was Theseus and the forest his version of the labyrinth, but he didn’t feel all too heroic either. Nah, he wasn’t even Greek. He was just a big, fat, stupid, drunk loser named Sullivan wearing a dirty bed sheet.

When he emerged from the woods he didn’t know where he was, but the haunted house wasn’t in sight. A quiet curse crossed Sully’s lips as he pulled out his phone, forgot entirely about how it offered him access to absolutely every piece of information in the world including a map with his precise location, and turned the flashlight on instead. Cracker Island wasn’t too big. He’d just follow the treeline and circle around until he made it back to the haunted house. He had already gotten jumped once tonight. There was probably some universal law that existed that would prevent him from being jumped again. Yep, this time, surely, nothing bad would happen.

A twig snapped behind him.

And with a shout Sully broke into a dead sprint, running for his life, as the terrified opossum that had snuck up on the curious looking Sasquatch curled up into a ball and played dead.

---

---

---

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Halloween Festival, Aislin's Booth
_{Mentions: @Punished GN, @AtomicEmperor, Everyone still in the toga line}

---

Painted black lips.

Black eyeliner. Temporarily dyed back hair.

And the largest pair of black feathered wings gracing her form, gothic dress falling down in waves.

It was part of her theme. This night being Halloween, Aislin went with dark colors in her costume and paintings that surrounded her booth. Her painted eyes passed over the large portraits - a rose garden on a stormy night, a wolf howling at the moon, a rose dripping in water on a dark cement road. Each crafted in fine detail with oil paints.

She had many admirers who stood for a few minutes to stare at the paintings. Due to their steep price, however, only a handful had sold.

That was fine.

Aislin dragged a palm over her painted lips. She had a lot on her mind. The death of Kali Mahendra weighed heavily. She glanced at the wings she wore, and they obediently came to life, curling around her for comfort.

These murders. They were actually happening. To them.

Why?

What had Kali done wrong? What had any of them done wrong, besides defending themselves from pure annihilation?

Aislin wanted badly to reach out, but for whatever reason, she couldn't find the courage. Her life was busy. She was writing poetry nearly full time for her publisher, and she had deep ties to the 317. That's where she belonged now, wasn't it? She was even here passing out business cards with her name and the 317 stamped on them together. That was family enough, right?

Yet, at the thought of seeing her old covenmates again, the ones she fought side by side with against such a menacing foe - it filled her with undeniable anticipation.

It was just timing now. She would have to clear her schedule and actually reach out, and see if her old phone numbers still worked.

Timing, timing.

Aislin stared at the blur of the crowd, before she heard… chanting?

She stuck her head out of her booth. What she saw in the distance was enough to drop her jaw.

“No way…”

A customer approached the booth, pointing to one of the paintings and asking for its price. Aislin side-stepped her, hastily blurring out, “Sorry, we're closed.” Before she dove into the crowd.

Her wings curling past bodies as she moved on light feet, picking up pace as she got closer, until she was practically running - and ran right into Adora, giving her a big hug. She was momentarily choked up. This is what she had been missing, what she had been ruminating - obsessing over the past few days.

The fates were kind.

She pulled back, giving Adora a big smile and a wink. “Well, well. If it isn't the star of the Sycamore. How ya doing?”

Her eyes glanced over the remains of the toga line, landing on Leon.

“No way, you're here too? Been a looooong time.”

Aislin’s smile grew wider, her heart racing. What were the chances she’d see the exact people she’d want to see, just from her heart wanting it?

See? This was why it paid to meditate. Aislin nodded to herself, chalking it up to harmonizing with the Universe.

Her brows waggled playfully. “Did I just see none other than Vashti getting personal with you?”

She laughed warmly, no malice in her tone. Her eyes fell back to Adora, and she squeezed her hand. “Hey, were you headed back to the drink line? It's ridiculously long, buuuut-” her eyes shimmered, “-I just so happen to have two bottle of wine unopened at my booth. Ya'll can pop ‘em with me and we can catch up!”

---

---

Anya almost couldn’t hold Sloane’s gaze. There was an unconditional love there that brought back that irritating little feeling of ugly guilt. It was overwhelming. She knew that Sloane admired her and viewed her as a close friend, but this open, intense affection went beyond that. It was difficult for her to process how she felt about it. There was a certain sense of security. Sloane was unlikely to doubt her, and their friendship would be safe unless Anya betrayed her… something she didn’t plan to do unless there were extreme circumstances pushing her to it. But there was also that guilt - a tiny, niggling guilt in the back of her mind.

But what was there to feel guilty about? She cared about Sloane as much as she was capable of caring about anyone. It wasn’t her fault that she didn’t feel it as strongly as other people would.

She was still glad when Sloane’s eyes closed briefly.

”Then we won’t talk about it.” Anya reached around with the arm Sloane wasn’t holding onto to awkwardly pat her shoulder. It was supposed to be comforting, but Anya didn’t really know how to do that. Having Sloane holding her hand and resting her head on her shoulder was already a lot, which Anya normally wouldn’t tolerate. But she was feeling quite cheerful, and drunk Sloane was… quite cute. Again, a strange thought.

Another drink sounded good. She'd mostly sobered up while talking to Ezra - well, moved from near drunk to tipsy. Enough that the alcohol wasn't affecting her head, which was how she generally preferred it. But with her business so to get a major investment and Sloane already so drunk, what was the harm in letting loose a little? It was just the two of them now, anyway. The risk of her slipping up and saying something that would ruin everything was very, very slim.

”A drink it is then, I was hoping to get another one, but-” she narrowed her eyes slightly, looking at the actually drunk Sloane. ”I’m not drunk at all, you’re drunk. I’m perfectly sober-” Was there any pointing in arguing about this? ”Your painting?”

Anya glanced over at the painting Sloane had drawn her attention to with strange arm shakes. A completely blank canvas. She highly doubted it, or whatever had been on it, was actually drawn for Sloane. But if she thought so, who was Anya to argue? ”Jasper did? That really doesn't surprise me, you're correct, he is obsessed. After all, you’ve featured in his dreams quite a few times.”

It wasn’t technically a lie, but it wasn’t the whole truth. Sloane had been in his dreams, but only when he was dreaming of the coven itself. It was never just about Sloane.

Anya gently removed Sloane’s hand from her arm, moving around her and bending down to pick up the blank canvas. She then stepped back to Sloane’s side, wrapping her free arm around Sloane’s shoulders - because she probably wouldn’t be able to walk without support with the way she’d barely gotten to her feet. ”Let’s go. They were putting up parasols at the bar just past this tent, so we can get a drink there and be protected from the rain…”

Slowly, Anya led and supported Sloane out of their hiding spot and back into the main festival area. She went straight for the popup bar, pausing for a moment when she spotted some… familiar figures. Meifeng, her second in command, Bianca, and a few power rangers. The PRA. Thankfully, she didn’t spot the one PRA agent she wanted to avoid for the rest of her life. She wasn’t in the mood to talk with them, not when she’d made up her mind to enjoy the rest of the night without thinking about more business. That business wasn’t so important to her personally anyway. So, she would just ignore them.

She took Sloane to a table a few away from the PRA group, as the area was sadly too small to get out of their sight. She made sure Sloane was seated, with the blank canvas placed on the seat beside her, before going up to the bar and getting them both drinks. An old fashioned for Sloane, and a long island iced tea for herself. Thankfully with the rain there were less people willing to stand in the line, so she got them relatively quickly.

”Another old fashioned for you,” Anya smiled, sitting opposite Sloane and sliding the drink over to her. She then raised her glass towards Sloane. ”To us. Let’s enjoy the rest of our night. No thoughts about the boys, or anyone else. Though…” her smile turned just the slightest bit playful. ”I have seen some rather interesting dreams recently, and haven’t been able to talk to you about them yet. I think you'll find them very entertaining.”

---

---

”I’ll catch you another time!” Bianca waved to Lynn as she and the rest of the coven left, with a brief appearance from Ken. She shrugged and went back to her drink. It had been nice to catch up with them for a little while, at least. She wasn’t sure what Lynn had been talking about with respect to Emily, and she wasn’t planning to jump up and find out. If Meifeng wanted to, sure, but otherwise? She’d keep her ass sitting right here.

Then, two more familiar faces appeared. Bianca raised an eyebrow as Anya and Sloane came out from behind a tent flap.

”Hey, Trevor!” She hopped up and moved over to Trevor, nudging him with a devilish grin and pointing over to where Anya and Sloane were sitting a few tables away. She didn’t speak loud enough that they’d hear her, but the rest of the PRA group would. ”Isn’t that the girl you went on a date with last week? You should go talk to her!”

Of course, Bianca knew her name, and knew very well who she was with. While Bianca would say she was neutral towards Sloane nowadays, she’d always disliked Anya. So what was the harm in making her night a little more… unbearable.

---

---

After Ken went off to deal with Emily G. Reed, Luca, Stormy and the trio made their way off the island. Thanks to Stormy tagging along Luca didn’t have to worry about the Rot coming back yet, using Jasper for support the whole way.

The ferry journey was uneventful, and they headed for Lila’s place first - so she could shower and change. They’d hopefully have time to hit a shop on the way to Luca’s, since they didn’t have many snacks left… Then they could have a proper party! Luca couldn’t wait!

Luca turned to the two girls once they reached Lila’s house, and got out of Jasper’s car. ”Why don’t you two stay at mine for a while? You can have Olivia’s room, she has a really nice double bed! Me and Jasper will figure out the rest… It’ll be safer, y’know, after the stuff with Emily.”

He then turned to Jasper, eyes narrowing slightly. He really wanted to ask who Kikyo was… it had been playing on his mind since they’d seen Ken. Maybe he could ask Ken when he arrived later instead. No, he could just ask Jasper, why was he worried about asking Jasper? She was probably just a friend. A friend he didn’t know about. Or something else? No, no… anyway, he couldn’t ask right now, when they were all there.

Instead, he turned to Stormy with a grin. ”I’m really glad you’re coming along, Stormy, the more the merrier! Oh- we can crack out the good furniture from Olivia’s room since there’s no risk of me damaging it! She has this really comfy looking beanbag I’ve always wanted to try out.”

Lila looked to Lynn and raised an eyebrow. Lynn returned the gaze, tilted her head and smiled. The two looked back to Luca as they exited the vehicle. “A slumber party, at Lucas?” Lynn laughed as she began to walk towards the door, “I think that sounds grand!”

“Amazing idea Luca, who knows what floorboard Emily is hiding under. Safety! Safety,” Lila spoke somewhere between a chant and a drunken slur as she walked over to Lynn and threw her arms around her shoulders, draping her body onto Lynn’s back. “Take me to the shower! Boys, follow. Make yourself at hooome!”

Jasper chuckled at the sight. He knew Lila was in for a night when she downed both of Lynn’s flask on the ferry ride over, and that night was only just beginning. He looked around the area and smiled. He had been in Victorian village over the years but it had been far too long since he set foot at Lila’s. Jasper looked back to Stormy and Luca, ”I know where Lila hides the good snacks,” he waved for the boys to follow.

“Don’t you dare, Jasper, I want those” Lila pleaded as Lynn pulled Lila onto her back and carried her inside.

Stormy didn’t have a lot to say until now, as they walked inside. He made sure to keep his Phantombane aura up this entire time, so the Rot didn’t do anything stupid, and was mostly focusing on maintaining it for as long as possivle. ”We won’t eat everything, don’t worry.” He waited for Lynn and Lila to wander off before speaking up about something.

”Jasper, you said you could use my help with something. What was it?”

”It’s,” Jasper stated as he looked up to the sky above, ”super easy to explain,” he winced as the words were already stolen, ”we’re trying to fight off a swarm of bee’s and all we have to kill them is our bare hands,” Jasper sighed as he looked over to Luca, ” You want to try?”

"I guess," Luca took a deep breath and steeled himself for not being able to say what was actually happening. "Everytime we relax and start enjoying ourselves-" oh so far so good, "- the bees invade my flat and start stinging us! They can even resist the rot- ah, fuck."

Luca groaned, leaning in against Jasper and hiding his face in frustration. "Maybe we should just ask Stormy to stay, and drop the aura so the bees…" he whispered.

”can sting us,” Jasper sighed as he placed his hand on Luca’s shoulder. An interesting idea, if they could somehow coax the skeleton out while someone was nearby they could possibly get help.

”…What?” Bees? Stormy could see it on their faces that something was off about this. ”Is this some kind of metaphor for something?”

"Yes!" Luca got immediately excited and popped back up from his hiding place against Jasper, nudging him multiple times. Maybe they could explain it like that, without directly mentioning it. But how could they get it across? "It's a metaphor for something that's really been bothering us. It's as painful and as annoying as bees, it's…" Luca's face visibly screwed up as he tried to say something about skeletons or bones or even ghosts. "... Unresolved sexual tension!"

No! Luca turned bright red, shaking off Jasper's shoulder and distancing himself so both him and Stormy didn't get the wrong idea.

Jasper’s face went beet red as Luca said something that was somewhat correct, for him at least, but not what was intended. ”Oh wow is it hot out tonight? It feels hot out tonight” Jasper paused as he took a deep breath in, and flashed a quick look towards Luca before going back to Stormy. ”The bees may not be the best metaphor, this is more like a hornet,” Jasper started as he spoke plainly, ” one that liked to show up and sting us,” he groaned as his words were changed again, ” basically we can only talk about the bees and the hornets and not about the crazy clown that likes to pie us in the face.”

Stormy’s eyes narrowed at both of them. “Hornets” was one step away from this sounding awful, but then “pie us in the face” was two steps back to it.

”Luca… Has the Rot made you so intolerant to alcohol that you’re going delusional?”

”I haven’t even-” Luca cut himself off, hanging his head. There really wasn’t any point in explaining it, was there? They’d just have to hope Skelly appeared at some point tonight… then they could point them out to everyone. ”Yeah. There’s a lot of things I can’t handle anymore because of the rot, alcohol being one.”

”So, you can be straight with me about that, but not about… Whatever it is you’re talking about,” Stormy was picking up that something was up here. Were they trying to keep a secret?

”Are you being spied on by something?”

”Oh, sort of! It’s more like-” being hunted, is what Luca wanted to say, but it came out as- ”a parent walking into the room whenever you’re trying to kiss.”

What the fuck, why were all of his forced lies ended up like that?! Why did Jasper get to talk about clowns and he was being forced to talk about kissing, something he really would love to do with Jasper but Jasper wouldn’t want to do with him and… Not the point right now. Luca sighed. ”Maybe if you stay over at mine tonight we’ll be able to show you? The bees, not the kissing.”

Not the kissing? Jasper frowned a little at those words. ”Hopefully Luca and I can hold hands while the bees come out to sting us,” Jasper said honestly but winced to sell the fake out. ” That way if we get dog pilled by clowns you’ll be able to see it for yourself, Jasper winced again as his words were stolen from him. ” Let’s get some snacks, I think some snacks are in order.”

”Yeah there’s no point talking about this,” Luca waved a hand, looking around Lila’s house curiously. He hadn’t actually been properly inside before… and he could without worry since Stormy was there and the Rot wasn’t! ”So where does she keep her secret snack stash?”

”She needs to hide them from her grandma, and from the crows,” Jasper pointed to the murder which dotted the landscape, ”so she puts them in a spot where neither can get to it,” Jasper spoke as he led the group into the house and then into the kitchen. The kitchen was outdated, and it looked like the group had walked into a kitchen that belonged four decades prior rather than modern times. It was neat, and clean, but it had a certain rustic charm to it. There were cabinets and a pantry on the one wall, and cabinets that filled the one corner along with the sink. Jasper walked over to that corner and leaned down. ”If you grab onto this corner just right,” Jasper said as he pulled on the edge of the corner, pulling open a hidden cabinet, ” you’ll find treasure inside,” Jasper paused as he pulled out a variety of fancy European chocolate in a bowl. There was more snacks in there, mostly stuff that Lila bought from the various Asian and European food stores in the area.

”Whoooaa,” Luca looked at all the fancy snacks with wide eyes. The hidden cabinet was super cool. ”Are you sure we should be taking this? It looks kinda expensive, we could just hit up the shops on the way…”

Stormy followed them in. He made sure to keep near Luca. ”Or both.”

”Oh, yeah, both sounds good,” Luca tilted his head back to grin up at Stormy, then Jasper. ”We’re gonna need to grab some alcohol to keep the girls happy, we don’t have any in the flat, since Jasper and I don’t really drink.” He paused, cheeks heating up slightly. He was speaking as if he and Jasper lived together… Which they temporarily did, but it was a flatmate situation! Sort of! Definitely not a domestic, cute living together that he’d like…

”How much could they possibly drink,” Jasper wondered aloud, ” they’ve had so much tonight,” Jasper turned to Stormy, tossing him a chocolate before he tossed one to Luca, ” but who am I to judge.” he paused as he heard a shout from upstairs. He fixated his hearing on the source, and it appeared to be coming from the shower. He turned back to the group and shook his head as he opened the wrapper on the chocolate in his hand and tossed it into his mouth.

”Well, we don’t have a single bottle at home, so if they want anything to drink we need to buy it,” Luca shrugged, catching the chocolate. He popped it in his mouth with a grin. ”It’s so nice eating food without having to worry… Oh, we never got proper food! Maybe you could cook us something, Jasper? Oh, oh, can we have something with loads of fresh vegetables for once, since I won’t rot them!”

Stormy caught the chocolate thrown his way. ”I don’t have a spell to protect anyone against a hangover, fair warning.” He probably should have made a spell for such a thing. But then again, how often would it be used? ”It’s getting late, most places will probably be closed.”

”We can still grab some from a gas station,” Jasper whispered as he walked over to the fridge, ”or we can have the girls supply it with what they already have,” he paused as he opened the fridge, spotting an entire shelf filled with beer. His eyes lingered for a second as a singular eyebrow raised. ”I think we should still stop for some variety, I don’t know if Ken will join but he seems like a wine kinda guy.”

”That’s a lot of beer,” Luca had followed Jasper, and peered around him to stare into the fridge. He hoped it was between the two girls and not just Lynn who… seemed to be drinking more often than not. ”Oh yeah, I have no idea what Ken drinks… wine is probably right. Or some fancy Japanese alcohol? What’s it called… Dunno, I’ve never drank before, so I don’t know this shit. What I do know is we’ll need popcorn and ice cream if we’re going to watch movies.”

He grinned, looking at Jasper and Stormy. ”This is really great, you know. I haven’t been around so many people in years, and having a whole party in my place… well I’d never really imagined it.”

”All will be in hand soon,” Jasper said with a smirk. He knew that Luca had missed out on much that life could offer due to his condition, and he knew that Emily Reed robbred him of a good night away from it. Tonight would need to be special still, and if that meant he cooked the best meal of his life and bought a lot of popcorn and ice cream than so be it he would cook the best meal of his life and buy a lot of popcorn and ice cream. ”I don’t know how long it will take to get beer out of her hair but I don’t imagine we’ll be here for much longer.” The sound of the water turning off upstairs echoed through the kitchen and it was soon followed by the sound of a blow dryer being used.

”I’m always grateful for a chance to spend time with my friend,” Stormy grinned at Luca. ”Maybe I should start teaching my spells to others so you can have people over more often,” he joked.

"Start up the Stormy School of apparition banishing," Luca laughed, smiling brightly as them both. He was truly happy and grateful to be able to spend time with them, and honestly didn't mind if it was the only time he ended up with a larger gathering at his house. Though, even with the rot around he could have people over… there was just some distancing required. "Or you'll just have to come along every time."

He glanced towards the stairs. "Should we start gathering Lila's snacks and the beers then, so we're ready to go when they're done?"

”I can teach you a spell or two in return, and I think that’s smart,” Jasper said as he walked over to the sink and opened the cabinet underneath it. He reached in a grabbed a few plastic bags and returned to the group. ”Let’s fill these up with the beers, i think Lila is almost finished by the sounds of things.”

”I can only offer my wonderful company when you guys learn spells!” Luca laughed, taking one of the plastic bags from Jasper. His fingers gently brushed against Jasper’s before he withdrew his hand. He turned to the fridge and stuffed as much beer as he could into the bag, wincing a little as it got heavier and heavier. His arms still ached, wounds scabbed but unhealed. But he could totally carry this bag! He had to show that he was perfectly fine and strong! ”We better grab some of her snacks quick, then, before she gets down!”

”Oh yes,” Jasper said as he walked over to the cabinet and grabbed a few of the snacks and put them in a bag, ” I’ll replace them, of course, but tonight they’ll make quite the treat!”

Stormy walked over and helped to put things in a bag, raiding the cabinets with Jasper. ”If I thought we were going to have a party at Luca’s house, I would’ve just gone straight there and skipped the festival,” he joked.

”You gotta go through the festival shitshow to truly enjoy a Luca party,” Luca laughed, eyes lighting up and scrunching up in sheer joy. He’d finished putting the beer into a bag, stepping back and lugging it with a grunt. ”Next time we’ll just skip the rest and start the night at mine!”

Ah, but there might not be a next halloween festival… but it didn’t just have to be for that. ”No more coven meetings, just Luca house parties.”

“You got my vote,” Lynn said as she appeared from around the corner. Gone was the costume, instead she simply wore leggings and a cropped hoodie, “we should be ready in a minute or so. Just gotta pack some supplies for the sleep,” Lynn’s eyes narrowed at the snacks in Jasper’s hand, “-over. Dangerous game,” Lynn said with a laugh, “just like ten years ago.”

” You know it” Jasper said with a wink. ” And you know I’m down for that Luca, as long as we don’t invite Sloane!”

”Pack for a few days,” Luca said, smiling at Lynn. ”Just in case. Honestly, you guys can stay as long as you like- And hey. I wouldn’t invite Sloane if it made you uncomfortable but…” Luca trailed off, trying to think of how to say this. “You need to stop dwelling on that negativity so much, Jasper! Sloane isn’t that bad! Why bring it up when talking about something fun?

” You’re absolutely right, Luca,” Jasper said as he smiled genuinely. As long as Jasper could see Lucas’s beautiful smile it did not matter who was there, that was the lesson, ”I doubt I’d even see her with you by my side,” nailed it.

”Gay,” Lynn thought with a smile. ”I’m good to go, Lila is finishing up selecting the wardrobe. I’ll go help her finish!”

”Luca’s right. Sloane isn’t so bad when you try and get to know her,” he hasn’t spoken to her much since their reunion. Though, most people in the coven didn’t seem to change much at all, and he remembered thinking she was alright back then.

Stormy hefted some bags of pilfered snacks and drinks up and stood near the others, keeping close for safety reasons. ”Ready when you are.”

Luca was standing there, holding a bag and staring at Jasper. His cheeks were burning again. Did he really mean it? That having Luca there would be enough to ignore his hatred for Sloane? Of course it would be, since they were such great friends! It wasn’t anything else! No point getting embarrassed. ”Yeah, everyone deserves a second chance, anyway! Especially after two years.”

He held up the bag he was holding with a grunt. ”Should we get these in the car and meet the girls out there then?”

”Sounds like a plan!”

A few minutes later they were in the car. Jasper made sure all the bags containing the high value treats were placed up front, away from the prying eyes of Lila and her crows. The crew did not have to wait for long. Jasper opened the trunk allowing two women to put their bags and stuff in, and a moment later they were in the car. They quickly found the open seats and got buckled in.

”Alright, let’s go!”

---

---

---

The plan had gone off smoothly, and all Naomi had to do was go and give the Chalice back to Sully and make sure he didn’t lose it again! She almost made it to the rooftop's edge, which meant all she had to do was make it, then she could hop to the other side…

… Someone grabbed her.

No, something. It began to yank her back, and Naomi quickly stuck out her hands. The glowing webs emerged from the ground and affixed her to the rooftop by her free hand. Try as he might, Jack would be having difficulty breaking these webs - he’d probably tear Naomi’s jacket first. She glanced over her shoulder as she couldn’t get a good look at him, though she could hear him juuuuuust fine.

"That does not belong to you."

“... Yeah, I know,” Naomi rolled her eyes. “I’m trying to get it back to my homeboy; now let go of me before you fuck up my costume.”

”I don’t believe you.” He asked. ”Do you think I'll let you leave that easily? What is his name?” Jack didn’t trust this thief to just conveniently want to return it to Sully, especially when he didn’t recognize her.

“Sullivan McPherson. A member of the Greenwood Coven,” Naomi answered as she tugged against the arm, as if it was a test of its strength. “I was keeping an eye on the little toga party in case that wacko does something.”

The arm holding her had a grip like a bear trap, but it let go when she mentioned Sully. ”Like stealing from a drunken fool parading around like a child? And almost setting someone on fire for stopping her?”

“Thank you,” Naomi said, as she twisted around to see if there was any damage. “Taking the Chalice… Ion mean to be a dick, but what business those two got ain’t none of mine.”

No damage. Jack stopped his Night Terror spell, and the shadows that obscured him vanished. ”Ken is one of us, I’m sure he just happened to have the same idea as you. How did Emily steal the Chalice from him? He can be an idiot from time to time, but I didn’t think he would let it out of his sight long enough for that.”

“No clue,” Naomi shrugged as she held the Chalice in both hands. “I just saw Emily walking off with it… Wait, when you say ‘one of us’ you mean…”

Naomi paused.

“... You’re Sycamore, aren’t you?”

He nodded. ”Yes, I am. My name is Jack Hawthorne, do we know each other?”

“No, we do not,” Naomi began. “I’m friends with Sully, though… And I met quite a few members of your Coven last week.”

She began to laugh.

“I hope you have more sense than that crazy bitch with th-”

James flew on the rooftop surrounded by fire like a fireball, and he pounded the rooftop, creating a burst of fire. He stood straight up as the fire dissipated…

… He aimed the axe at Jack.

---

James ran up to the scene, stroller in hand, and someone had already confronted Emily. He had zero idea who this mothafucka’ was, but he was something straight out of a Japanese Anime! Though, given that its Emily, it was probably someone she pissed off, but far as he could tell, this had nothing to do with the Greenwood Coven. So, he saw no option other than staying out of this. Pearl, Amelia, and Autumn ran up to him… and at this point, Naomi had swiped the Chalice out of Emily’s hand.

“Booyah!” James said, sticking his hand up for a high-five, only to get left hanging. “Aw…”

Autumn’s eyes went up to the rooftop, however…

“... There’s a Purple and Red Adept up there,” Autumn noted.

“Wait… Did Naomi get off?!” James asked as his heart skipped a beat.

“I’m not sure,” Autumn answered.

“Fuck discretion,” James said as he immediately reached inside the stroller and pulled out his axe.

“Wait, James, don’t go up there!” Amelia shouted.

“Wait, James!” Pearl said.

“James, no!” Amelia said.

And it all fell on deaf ears as he flew up to the rooftop. Autumn summoned the Apparition of Geneva Benard, and she was able to float up to the rooftop.

“Hold on,” Amelia said, wrapping her arms around Pearl and floating up to the rooftop… Autumn could still see his aura, and as long as he was in her range, Jack wouldn’t be able to hide from her.

---

James aimed the axe at Jack. The right side of his body was surrounded by electricity, and the left side ignited like a torch! He grinned as he stared Jack down.

“Hey, Robert Pattinson,” James said, “Take a big step back and explain the fuck were you thinking trying to jump my girl!?”

Jack calmly turned around and looked in the direction of the burning, sparking man with an axe. ”...Who?” He didn’t seem to give much of a fuck that he was holding Shango’s axe.

“... James, no!” Pearl shouted as she was hoisted onto the rooftop by Amelia, and Autumn landed on the rooftop. Amelia released her, and she ran by his side (well, far enough away so she didn’t get electrocuted/burned). “We are not having another repeat of the situation with Alizee…” She shook her head.

His head snapped around, and looked at Amelia like she just grew a second head.

She took a step forward, then asked.

“What’s going on here? Did anyone get hurt?”

”No. No one was hurt,” he answered. ”I saw someone running away with the Chalice, and apparently we are both friends with its owner. So this was a misunderstanding.

“Yeah, he’s one of Sully’s friends,” Naomi said. “We good.”

“James,” Pearl turned to him, “Power down.”

James rolled his eyes as the fire was extinguished, and the electric dissipated. He crossed his arms as he looked at Jack. Then he walked over to him,

“Sorry for the misunderstanding, bro!” James shouted, before he stuck his hand out. “Dab me up!”

Jack had absolutely no idea what the fuck that meant. But he assumed it was some sort of handshake-advancer thing. So he rolled with it, and stuck his hand out in return, and got the most awkward dab in existence.

“… You don’t know how to dab, do you?” James raised an eyebrow.

“Clearly he don’t, dickhead!” Naomi laughed, grabbing her stomach.

“Yes, I apologize for the misunderstanding, Sully is one of us and Emily…?” Pearl began, “She’s our sworn enemy, but allow us to introduce ourselves, I’m Pearl.”

“Naomi!”

“James,”

“Amelia…”

“Autumn,”

”Jack,” he repeated, introducing himself to the rest of them.

”Sully is one of us, as well- The Sycamore coven. What’s left of it, at least. If you are friends with him, I don’t see any reason to be suspicious of you. I apologize for almost attacking you,” he said to Naomi.

“Shit, I thought he was w-“ James tried to say before Naomi ran over to him and put a finger to his lips and whispered something into his ear. Then turned to Jack, “It’s no problem, don’t worry about it!”

”Good. Now, I have a question for all of you. What do you know about Alizee’s murder?” All Jack knew was that she was killed by bikers.

They all looked in between each other.

“… You want the short version or the long version?” Naomi asked.

“Let me do the talking,” Pearl shook her head.

“Do the talking then, boss!” James laughed.

Jack crossed his arms. He didn’t have anywhere to be right now. ”The long version, if you wouldn’t mind.”

“Hmmm…We were at Veni Vedi Veni on our own mission to kill Judas Bennet,” Pearl began her explanation. “We had one of our friends, Jessica Rosefey, be in the club itself as a lookout. She was just at the bar.”

Pearl then shook her head, “I heard all of this second-hand, but she began acting unhinged, and when she was about to get thrown out, she walked out with Jess.”

“She probably thought Jess waa bad and was aching to-“ James joked until Naomi jabbed him with her elbow.

“That was when we stepped in, Naomi, Autumn, Amelia, and Kashmira - who you haven’t met - and myself went to confront her. The former three went first as they were far more agile than myself and Kashmira… but by the time I got there, they were already fighting,” Pearl explained.

“That’s because she was acting batshit crazy!” Naomi said. “She squeezed Jess like a chewtoy, so I did what I had to.” Her eyes landed on Jack.

”You shot her?”

“No,” Naomi said. “But, if she didn’t back down… I would’ve had to do something.”

“Irrelevant,” Pearl said to Naomi before she spoke to Jack. They attacked her, attempting to free our friend. After we exchanged blows, we managed to get her to back down and release Jess.”

“Don’t forget the Wolfman!” James said.

“… And there was a Wolfman,” Pearl added.

”That would be Leon,” Jack offered. He hadn’t spoken to Leon since he came home. Maybe he should.

”Alizee was… Sick, to put it lightly. She was adjoined to something that fed off of humans to sustain itself. And it did so through her,” he explained.

”That parasite of hers had a tendency to drive her mad, occasionally. She wouldn’t have attacked someone unless there was a reason for it, or unless she didn’t have a choice.”

“We are aware an Apparition was influencing her actions,” Pearl flatly answered.

“Well, I know Jess, and I know she wouldn’t have given Alizee a reason,” Naomi shrugged.

“Wasn’t she asking ya’ll about the Wolfpack?” James asked.

“Oh yeah!” Naomi pipped up. “Almost forgot.”

“She said that she would let Jess go if we told her what we had to do with the Wolfpack,” Amelia noted.

“Well, I had no clue who she was, and going around telling wackos that you’re trying to ice one of the city’s biggest crime lords’ is…” Naomi trailed off. “... Okay, dumb as fuck. But I stand by my decision to jump her.”

Jack thought about something, before speaking again. ”Someone called Father Wolf has been hunting us down, and murdering us. We thought it was the same Father Wolf leading the Wolfpack. Alizee must have been there because of that.”

”Unfortunately, we were wrong.”

“Hey, it happens, bro!” James said with a wide-smile. “Ruby thought one of the pet Nazis Judas has under his wing had something we wanted! So…” He laughed.

“I mean,” Naomi shrugged. “It’s a fair guess because Judas occasionally does something… weird.”

”What?”

“Like, he usually just sells fet and smack to the baseheads around town, but occasionally they like rob a place or attack someone,” Naomi began. “... And I don’t mean like a convenience store or someone that owes them money, but like randomly roll up to Seattle and rob some artifact collector of their supply. Or attack someone who, otherwise, had nothing to do with the Wolfpack.”

“Maaaaaaaan, you’re putting too much thought into it,“ James laughed. “Judas was just some fuckin’ loser that watched too many movies. Nothing more… nothing less.”

”He was paranormal, that alone makes almost anyone a credible threat… Do you know what artifacts he went after? Any specific ones?”

Naomi shrugged.

“I’m not sure, but whatever he got, he didn’t keep,” She began. “Which was extraaaaaaaa weird, if you ask me. Because wouldn’t someone like him be keeping them to use or give to his biker buddies?”

”Or to someone who would consider him useful if he was passing along artifacts.” Interesting information, but not terribly useful since Judas was confirmed to be dead. Allegedly thanks to the PRA.

Plenty of people would be more than glad to put up with drug-peddling bikers if they could deal in artifacts. He’d have to talk to the others about that.

”People like Judas make many enemies. He could’ve had someone else funding the Wolfpack in exchange for artifacts. They might be powerful, but the Blind understand money more than magic.”

“Who in the world would be working with them, though?” Naomi asked. “You probably ain’t have to seen or interact with them, but they’re not…”

“They’re a buncha dumbasses!” James laughed.

“... A ‘buncha dumbasses’ that gained some remarkably powerful Abstractions,” Pearl also added.

“Yeah, that too!” Naomi noted. “They don’t fall out of the sky you know!”

“... Didn’t yo Apparition literally just pick you out of the blue?” James asked with a raised eyebrow.

Naomi was silent.

“... That’s besides the point.”

”Perhaps someone who was clever enough to manipulate Judas. Keep him in line, make sure he didn’t do or say something that went against their wishes,” he mused. ”If Judas was as stupid as you think he is, someone else may be pulling the strings.”

“I didn’t say he was stupid per se…” Naomi shrugged. “Most of his followers are, though.”

“That’s what happens when you surround yourself in baseheads!” James shouted.

“... Though, I have to admit that Shayton sticks out like a sore thumb,” Pearl noted. “Though, I think we’ve gotten off topic… you wanted to know what exactly happened to your friend, correct?”

”Correct.”

“Okay,” Pearl said. “Where was I?”

“You’re forgetting that weird-ass kid that just walked in the middle of the fight and went “I’m lost”!” Naomi laughed. “It was kinda crazy at first, but now that I think about it, it was funny as fuuuuuuuck!” Then laughed, then James rolled his eyes.

“Okay… after Alizee backed down and released Jess, Kashmira began healing her, and then more members of your group showed up, I didn’t quite get names…” Pearl said.

“Sully was one of them - we all know Sully - we also know Britney showed up,” Naomi said. “Then there was that one bitch that was with 8th Street. Then there was that tall MF with the beard and the hero complex!” Naomi laughed again.

“Yes… Sully helped heal Jess, while Britney asked for an explanation and…” Pearl’s eyes landed on Naomi. “.... Then Stormy and Naomi ganged up on Alizee, and she flew off the handle and attacked both of them.”

“Hey now!” Naomi shouted, “I was only hard on her because she pissed me off with that! I mean! If I had known the Apparition was pulling the strings….”

“... It's not important anymore; what’s done is done,” Pearl shook her head. “She attacked Stormy and then attempted to attack Naomi, but Sully pushed her out of the way and took the attack for her while Britney was trying to talk her down.”

“Broooooo! I had to keep Ruby from going down there!” James shouted with a grin, “She was ready to shove her staff directly up Alizee’s ass!”

“As much as I would love to see that… the Wolfpack then showed up,” Pearl noted.

”You only tried to stop her, then. I see,” He’d have to ask Britney about how true this all was, some other time.

”Was there a specific reason for the Wolfpack to arrive? Were they responding to the situation?”

“I mean, there was a huge ass fight in their turf, at one of the businesses under their “protection,” that also so happened to be their favorite club,” Naomi shrugged.

“I’m not sure, but when they arrived, they asked about who killed a member of their gang named Joe Skinner and one of them asked for Alizee specifically,” Pearl explained.

“The Viking-Nazi, boul,” Naomi laughed.

“... The Viking-Nazi,” Pearl explained. “Far as I can tell, none of us killed Joe Skinner. So it was either Alizee, or someone else. The point was that they thought that someone there killed him. And they wouldn’t let anyone leave until they got an answer.”

“... Then they capped a kid and all hell broke loose,” Naomi said.

”They- Wait. There was a child there… Did he seem aggressive? Unwilling to let anyone talk to him for more than a few minutes? Was he paranormal?” Could it be the same kid that was at the church?

“I’m not sure. I didn’t pay much attention to him, but some other girl there talked to him for a moment,” Pearl said.

“The Orange-Adept,” Autumn said. “She helped us out a bit in the fight.”

“The kid seemed a little goofy,” Naomi rolled her eyes. “But, I dunno, the one chick that was there just up and blasted him. Then that was when man’s with the beard made a shield.”

“... Then got teleported away!” James laughed.

“Then got teleported away…” Naomi rolled her eyes. “Honestly, we would have left if they didn’t grab Sully.”

“That was when Wolfman went Super Saiyan and ran off with Alizee,” James added.

”If they left, who was it that shot her?” He asked. That was the part he was most concerned with.

“I’m not fully aware of what happened,” Pearl said.

“... They came back,” James rolled his eyes. “Well, Alizee went after the bitch that held Sully hostage, and she rag-dolled him and then went after her.”

“That was Elodie,” Pearl noted. “I’m not sure what exactly happened because we were fighting for our lives there. But eventually… Cyril Noctis of the Wolfpack shot her dead.”

“I saw it at the corner of my eye,” Naomi said. “She was trying to save that spooky testicle for some reason and walked out in the open. That was when Cyril capped her.”

Jack sighed, she died in the most disappointing way imaginable. Trying to save something that would just manifest again, she should’ve known better. ”They will be held responsible for what they’ve done,” he said. It was more of a promise to himself than to these strangers. ”As you said, what’s done is done. I hope no one else in your group was injured badly,” he assumed they were some sort of paranormal group. They all seemed to have Abstractions, after all.

”Regardless,” he continued. ”I don’t blame any of you for defending yourselves against her. Even if she wasn’t fully aware of what she was doing, which she likely was not, I would’ve done the same thing in your position.”

“She wasn’t giving us a lot of choices, sadly,” Pearl said. “I would have loved to avoid that whole situation.”

“I think we all would have!” Naomi awkwardly laughed. “Say, there’s nobody else in Sycamore that likes to kidnap people, right? Right?”

It pained Jack to have to genuinely think about that question for a moment. ”Not to my knowledge, there isn’t.”

“Then I think, from here on, there shouldn’t be any problems,” Naomi laughed.

“Yeah, we chill… well…” James looked to the side. “... Except for our fearless leader. But, she’s more goofy than anything for-real, for-real.” He laughed.

“It’s mostly the other assholes we got problems with,” Naomi said.

“I would like to touch ground with Sycamore so we can avoid anymore incidents like that,” Pearl said. “I know Ruby does too.”

”I cannot speak for the others, but I am open to that, personally. We are not as unified as you might think,” Jack admitted.

“Sully was like ‘Sycamore kinda reformed’ and Ruby was all ‘either you’re a Coven, or you’re not’!” Naomi said, making her best impression of both Sully and Ruby. “Something I agree on, but it ain’t my place to say anything.”

“You all reformed to solve the murders, yes?” Pearl asked.

”In a way, yes. I wouldn’t call the coven “reformed,” given the state that we are in, but that is why most of us have returned.”

“Perhaps we can help each other,” Pearl suggested. “We can share information and work together, as we do not want to lose Sully no less than you do.”

“And we can party!” James shouted.

“Only if you lose the 8th Street broad!” Naomi added with a laugh.

”Emily? She is not one of us,” he assured. ”We removed her from the old coven for a reason.”

“Oh no,” Naomi said, “Eve. You know, the dusty bitch with the blonde hair. She’s one of Emily’s lapdogs.”

”You mean the other shadow magic user, aside from me, who the PRA arrested last week? Are we thinking of the same Eve? I… Was not aware that she was working for 8th Street.”

“Well, the Eve in the strip club parking lot,” Naomi said. “She used shadow magic, and other shit.”

“I believe we are referring to the same Eve,” Pearl said.

“Weren’t a couple of former members of Sycamore in 8th?” James raised an eyebrow, asking Jack.

”Yes. Emily is one of them. I have never had many negative things to say about anyone in Sycamore, but Emily always had been, and always will be an exception to that,” he answered. ”Paige Auclair, Vasthi Nour, Lynette Dominguez… There were quite a few who broke off from us after we fell apart.”

“Auclair…” Naomi laughed.

“That’s funny,” James said, laughing himself. “But, we’ll talk about that another time.”

“Regardless of who they are or why they joined 8th Street,” Pearl said, “They have chosen to terrorize St. Portwell under Emily G. Reed’s command. Which makes them our sworn enemy.”

Jack’s eyebrows shot up for a moment. ”Is that so? You consider yourselves responsible for this city? I’m surprised I have not heard of you, then.” He would’ve imagined Sloane or the PRA mentioning them. Though, the PRA hadn’t been around him much, and Sloane…

That wasn’t likely, either.

“Sort of,” Naomi said. “They’re just assholes that like to wreck shit.”

“Our fearless leader likes to say we-” James laughed as he finger quoted. “-’Protect nature’ but that’s really just bullshit.”

“Yeah, she just wants to get high, party, and have little adventures,” Naomi chuckled. “But, hey, I guess the name Greenwood ain’t as big as we thought!” She said as she looked at her friends.

”In my defense, I only returned to Shimmer last week,” he said. ”I have missed more than a few things about my home city. But, trading information and working together would be wonderful. We don’t have many options or allies, at the moment.”

“Well, we don’t got any allies right now,” James said. “It’s hard making friends when every other faction in the city is a psychopath or a cult!”

“There’s the 317…” Naomi said.

“Well, we’re kind of cool,” James shrugged.

“I would love to make this alliance formal… however, we must speak to Ruby and the rest of Greenwood - who aren’t here - and I presume you must bring this up to the rest of your Coven?” Pearl said.

“Tell ‘im we party hard and smoke weed, hahahaha-” James laughed before Naomi jammed an elbow into his side.

”Assuming anyone in mine would be willing to discuss this more formally. If not, I’ll see to it myself.”

“I’m certain they will,” Pearl said, before she looked back at Naomi, “We’re going to get this back to Sully before he gets worried… I presume your friend can handle Emily?”

”He should be fine. I’ll check in on him, just in case. If he hasn’t changed any more than the rest of us, Emily won’t stand a chance. I’m sure we’ll see each other soon.”

“You want my phone number?” Pearl asked.

“Awwwww Pearl’s tryna’ get booed up,” James said, putting his shoulder on Naomi’s with a shit eating grin on his face.

“Awwww, isn’t that sweet?” Naomi put her hands together as she smiled.

Pearl rolled her eyes.

“... So we may have a line of communication,” Pearl said.

”Yes, that would help.” Jack reached into a pocket and pulled out an iPhone 5 to type the number in.

Pearl gave him her number and then nodded her head. “Ruby wants us to lay low, but when the time is right, we can meet and hopefully forget about that dreadful mess at that strip club.”

”I think we would all appreciate that,” he said, putting his phone away once he got the number. ”Until then.”

“Until then…” Pearl nodded her head as she walked over to James, whom wrapped an arm around her, and then the two of them floated off. Amelia and Autumn floated off the rooftop behind them. This left Naomi, who dug into her pocket and pulled out a blunt, “... You want it? Also don’t accept any blunts from Ruby, because she eats ass.”

”Pass. I have places to be, and that would make me teleport into a wall,” he said.

Naomi shrugged.

“Suit yourself,” She said before she took off in a sprint and lept off the rooftop. “... Until next time, Jackaboy!”

Jack teleported to the other side of the street, checked on Ken quickly, and then vanished into the night.

This festival was a waste of time.

---

---

---

”Hopefully, we won’t be running into each other too much in the near future. But still, I appreciate being able to talk without violence. Thank you for that.”

"Wait, hold-"

Cindy reached out to Stormy as the group left—after some chattering and some mysterious stranger showing up. As they left, Fiona waved Jasper off. However, Cindy couldn't help but shrug as they went, then muttered, "Damn?"

Meifeng deviously grinned as she leaned in and whispered into her ear, "What? Were you trying to get some white boy tonight?" Then laughed.

Cindy rolled her eyes and said out loud, "No... well, not this time. I was trying to give him my number so he could call us if another disaster like last week happened."

Meifeng shrugged.

"We're going to run into them again," Meifeng began. "That is preordained at this point."

"True," Cindy said before she smiled. "But enough about those weirdos. Let's turn up."

"I thought you'd never ask..." Meifeng smiled as she raised a finger to get the bartender's attention. "Heeeeeeeey... Could we get another Pineapple margarita, please?"

"We should have gotten Storm-man to buy us another one before he left," Cindy said, "But nooooo... you had to be all 'I cannot in good conscience.'"

"I probably make four times as much as him," Meifeng laughed. "I just couldn't. Felt like he was trying to show off anyway."

"To whom, though?" Cindy asked.

"You know how some men be, anything with a vagina, probably." She shrugged.

”Hey, Trevor! Isn’t that the girl you went on a date with last week? You should go talk to her!”

Everyone looked at Bianca.

Then everyone looked at Sloane with Anya.

"... Speaking of anything with a vagina," Meifeng muttered as she facepalmed.

"Oooooooh!" Trevor excitedly said as he waved at Anya. "Hey! Hi! How are you doing?! Remember me...?!"

He got off the stool and dramatically removed his helmet, holding it underneath his arm as he twined his hair. He smiled at her and said in his most obnoxious, flirty voice, "Funny how we keep runnin' into each other. It's like fate."

He wagged his eyebrows.

"If I knew you were comin', I'd dress up as a knight... Because I'm your knight in shining armor." He purred.

"T-Trevor... I..." Cindy's mouth was agape, and she was shaking as she attempted to muster out the words. She almost fell out of her chair.

"That boy ain't right..." Samson shook his head.

"... I'm so sorry," Meifeng began, shaking her head. "I mean... Yes, I was the one responsible for it. But I took
a good look at your friend there, and I just thought to myself..."

Her eyes widened as she held the straw in her hand.

"... 'She is going to annoy the hell out of me,' so I just thought I'd give you to someone even more annoying - and I don't mean "give you" as I was trying to play matchmaker. I meant it as..."

She paused, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Know what? Forget I said anything..."

---

---

---

“Alright, I’ll be right back… Linqian, was it?” Sabrina turned her head towards Linqian. “You said you were going to help?”

"Yes to both." Linqian turned to Henri, pointing a finger at him. "Don't do anything stupid."

"Yeah, yeah," Henri held up his hands with a grin, carefully taking a seat on one of the sofas.

Linqian didn't entirely trust him, but from the looks of things Edict and Britney were going off somewhere together (gross) and she could probably leave him with Layla. Probably. She walked over to Sabrina, smiling slightly. "I work in a bar, so carrying drinks is my speciality."

“Noted,” Sabrina answered as she led Linqian through the kitchen to the “wine cellar.” She threw the door open to reveal a fancy case of different liquors. It had wines, whiskeys, vodkas, and even some weird stuff. Sabrina walked over and traced her fingers across the case window, and then opened it. “Great, my alcoholic sisters didn’t waste it all in one night.”

She grabbed two of the requested drinks—white Wine and Scotch—and handed them to Linqian. “We don’t really have much beer because my sisters aren’t the wine-drinking types,” Sabrina awkwardly chuckled. “But, we have a wide selection of other things, so… help yourself.”

"I can see that." Linqian held the two bottles she'd been handed carefully, while looking around with slightly widened eyes. Of course, she saw a large selection of alcohol everyday - but never anything this fancy. She knew what the expensive shit was… and this was it. It really made her not want to drink it, even if Sabrina told her to help herself. "Doesn't surprise me with what I know if Trisha- y'know what, I'll share the Scotch with Greyson for now."

She held up the bottle, still looking around at the selection. "Then after maybe I'll be up for trying some of your more interesting drinks…"

“Are you sure?” Sabrina asked with a shrug. “ really no skin off my back if you want to try a bottle or two. This isn’t anything to a Vanburen.”

"Must be nice," Linqian muttered, biting her lip to clamp down the more visceral reaction that jealousy threatened to bring out. She needed to not snap at someone as rich as Sabrina, who she'd only just met. As much as her financial situation fucking sucked, she would hate having sixteen half siblings even more. Still, she'd stick to the Scotch… because if she had the same drink as Edict she could maybe control where he sat a bit. Primarily away from her brother. But the option of something else for after was tempting…

"I'll have the Scotch first, but no harm in bringing another bottle in case I want to swap right away." She said louder. She looked through the case, gaze pausing. It wasn't an unusual drink, to her, but it was one she hadn't had since Jinhai graduated from his bachelor's and they bought some to celebrate. She pointed to a bottle of Baijiu with a smile. "I'll have some of that as well, since you're offering."

Sabrina shrugged as she grabbed the bottle, and carried it herself along with the other drinks. “Let’s head back,” Sabrina slowly sauntered back to the others. However, she had a question, “So… I hope it’s not an intrusion on your business, but Sycamore is trying to put an end to the murders, right? How’s that going?”

Linqian couldn’t help but laugh at that. But she didn’t have any issues with answering the question, it wasn’t like they’d gotten anywhere at all. ”Awfully. So far we’ve followed one ‘lead’ that got some of us shot, and the meeting after didn’t even start before the PRA came down on our asses. We’ve learned shit all about it, besides ‘Father Wolf’ only targeting people when they’re alone- which I’ve known for fucking weeks. Nothing else.”

“Oh dear,” Sabrina rolled her eyes. “I was hoping you all would have made some progress by now… but I can say that maybe things will go up from here, yeah?”

She shook her head.

“I… who is the leader of the Sycamore Tree Coven - if you don’t mind me asking?”

”It can only get better, coven meeting wise,” Linqian derisively. ”Auri Auclair… Some leader. She fucked off when the PRA raided us before telling us shit. Not that anyone else could do the job. Britney, maybe, but people aren’t too happy with her.”

“I heard..” Sabrina trailed off, “Well, I have plenty of resources, and I was considering offering some help to Sycamore.”

She began, letting that hang in the air before she asked another question.

“How receptive do you think they will be of me?”

”As Britney’s friend? Not particularly,” Linqian shrugged. It was difficult to say with how they struggled to even accept their own members. ”As a Vanburen with plenty of resources? Well… They’re more likely to hear you out, so long as you distance yourself from Trisha. She was pretty fucking nasty when she left. But if they- we- could stop bickering for a bit, and you had some solid help, I’m sure they’d be receptive. Probably.”

“Oh, Trisha won’t have anything to do with it,” Sabrina laughed. “Could you - if you don’t mind - bring it up the next time you meet? ”

”Thank fuck,” Linqian smiled slightly. ”Sure, I can try. Can’t promise anything… I’m less likely to get kicked out than the other two, but I’m not that popular either.”

“Don’t worry,” Sabrina said, “I’m sure it’ll work out… do you all have anything you could use in particular? I’m no miracle worker but I do have my ways…”

”Well, I could use a shit ton of cash,” Linqian joked, smiling more to make it clear she wasn’t being serious. Just in case. Much as she had money problems, she wouldn’t stoop that low. ”Main thing we need is something to bring us together… You’d think a bunch of us dying would do that. Aside from that, leads. Literally any information about it. And maybe somewhere to meet. Auri’s banned us from her shop and Greyson burnt down the last place.”

“Hehe…” Sabrina laughed. “I can’t help with bringing you all together, nor do I have any information - that is up to you all - but… I can easily give you all another lair.”

She paused.

“... Long as you all don’t, you know, burn it down.”

”No promises,” Linqian laughed. ”But I’ll try my hardest to keep Mr Pyromaniac under control.”

“You’ll have to,” Sabrina shook her head. “The place I have in mind can not be destroyed… but, let’s get back to the others, yeah? They’re probably worried sick.” She laughed.

”Yes… I need to make sure my brother hasn’t done anything stupid while I was gone.”

---

It didn't settle with her at all, watching Britney and Mr. Devola slink away. So, when Sabrina and Linqian went off to grab drinks, Layla stood from the couch and hastily said with a smile, “I gotta use the bathroom.”

And she slunked off. Down the hall, where the lights were on and a bedroom door was left open. Murmured talking. This was it. Layla crept closer, careful to keep out of sight.

“...hurt you. Because of what happened with her...”

Layla immediately stiffened, despite feeling silly and untouchable. Were they… no, the couldn't be… Was Mr. Devola talking about her?

Feeling a bit sick to her stomach along with incredible delusions of happiness, and knowing she absolutely couldn't risk getting caught, Layla slunk back, trying to hide her shaking hands.

---

When everyone else left, and Layla made her way back on the couch, Henri turned to Layla with a massive grin. "Soooooo… how old are you? Oh man, I don't mean that in a creepy way, just you look a lot younger than the rest! Like closer to my age… I'm eighteen, by the way. A lot younger than my sister, I know, but that's just how things work. Her and Jinhai practically raised me anyway! Anyway, I'm just surprised cause Jie always talked about the group of friends she was with like they were all the same age… hanging out, supporting each other, having wild parties. Studying. Did you have like siblings there? Or do you just look really young?!"

Henri said all this with a massive, friendly grin. Once he started talking, he really didn't know when to stop.

Layla sat there on the couch just trying to collect her thoughts, feeling her heart race while she couldn't shake the smile on her face. She felt ecstatic. She felt unstoppable. The logic simply didn't work that she could be in danger.

Mr. Devola spilling all her secrets? Were they really such bad secrets to begin with? And Britney was a friend, wasn't she? Layla didn't have to have her guard up around friends, right?

Despite the alarms of dread ringing around in her head somewhere, Layla felt the wonderful weight of a stoned feeling racing through her body, assuring her everything was fine. Made it especially hard to concentrate.

So, while Henri spoke, Layla slowly felt her body reluctantly slink towards that fight or flight feeling. A feeling of anxiety that one can get when their THC hits just a bit too hard. A dizzying euphoria that tied her down to her seat, waiting to face whatever dreadful fate awaited her for when Mr. Devola and Britney returned.

Was she scared of Britney?

With how she had witnessed Britney wield the Noble Vow, she wouldn't be surprised.

Layla took a long, deep breath, and tried to collect her thoughts as Henri looked at her expectantly.

“Uh, not at all! I'm uh, twenty, I think. You know, these things you just kind of lose track of,” She said with a laugh, trying to settle her nerves again.

For a moment, her face grew soft, staring at Henri. He seemed to really admire his sister, but wasn't included in the ‘know’. That was fine. She wouldn't say too much, then.

He made her think of her old ties in the coven. It made her smile in a forlorn manner.

“I did have close family in her circle of friends, a cousin that was older than me, bridged the gap, you know, that sort of thing. His name was Nick. Nicholas. He's been gone about, ah, ten years now.”

She smiled, starting to unwind a bit at the thought of sweet memories, and Mr. Devola's influence came back full force, paralyzing her sweetly to the couch.

“You know, Henri… I think I could eat a whole house. I'm famished. What's your favorite food? I like any fast food myself. It's totally terrible, I know, but I… it's tasty.” She admitted sheepishly.

"Ohhh, I'm sorry for your loss. It's difficult. I lost my parents ten years ago too, though I don't really remember them," he rubbed the back of his head with a sheepish smile.

Layla gave an understanding look. “That’s terrible, I'm sorry to hear that.”

Henri continued. "Oh, I'm starved too, if it's food you want I can hook you up."

He raised his eyebrows, grinning mischievously. Linqian had stupidly left her handbag right next to him so he crouched down and opened it. Thankfully for Linqian the gun inside was completely covered by her clothes, with the remaining tupperware and beer at the top. Henri grabbed both along with the chopsticks, swiftly closing the bag without revealing what else was inside. "Here!"

He sat back down, right beside Layla, and opened the container. Inside was a noodle dish, similar looking to chow mein with loads of vegetables in it. He held it and the chopsticks out to Layla. "Go on, have some. Jie made it, I swear it's amazing. Do you know how to use chopsticks? If not I'll show you, it's pretty easy! And let's share this before they get back!"

He shook the can of beer, before opening it with one can. He took a long drink and grinned. "Oh yeah, my favourite food- uh, don't tell anyone, but it's fast food too. If Jie finds out she'll kill me that I didn't say her cooking."

Layla gave a hearty laugh, looking a bit dazed as she stared at the dish. It really did look amazing, it made her mouth water just staring at it. Henri was really okay sharing this? And Linqian had made it? Layla's smile only widened, her cherry-coated happiness turning to hungry enthusiasm.

She looked at the chopsticks held up to her as she moved closer to the held out dish, and hesitantly took the utensils. She had only seen others use these, and didn't really have much experience herself. Dismally, she attempted to pick up anything in the container, and only managed a single noodle, which she slurped up.

Her eyes widened.

It was delicious.

“Your sister knows how to cook. It's no wonder she wouldn't let you praise any other food, as good as fast food is…” She said, then let out an exasperated laugh, holding up the chopsticks.

“Chopsticks, uh, aren't my strong point. How do you hold them, again? And please, have some yourself! All that walking around the festival is tiiiiring, right?”

"Yeah, she really enjoys cooking, I missed eating her food when I was at college!" Henri laughed, watching her use chopsticks and realising he'd never explained it to anyone else… he went back into his sister's bag, and thankfully there was another pair. Perfect. He pulled them out and turned back to Layla.

"So, if you hold one between your finger and thumb," he demonstrated, putting one chopstick between his pointer finger and thumb. He curled his other fingers so it rested on his ring finger. Then he put the other one between his pointer finger and thumb too, rested on his middle finger. "And the other one like so. Then you use your first two fingers to move it."

He demonstrated by going in for some noodles, moving the top chopstick with his middle and index finger and grabbing a large amount of noodles. He stuffed it in his mouth and grinned, swallowing it quickly. "Yeah walking around was exhaustingggg, I went around the whole festival like twice… I'd never been before, so it was pretty cool, but tiring! Nothing that can't be fixed by food, though! Did you get to see much of it?"

Layla watched carefully, mirroring his moves with her own chopsticks. She adjusted her hand so the chopsticks lined up a bit closer to the right places, and she tried again. After a few empty attempts, she managed to pinch a few more noodles, which she heartily ate with a smile.

She bobbed her head along to the music playing as she took another biteful, listening as Henri spoke. As he mentioned the sights of the festival, Layla made a playfully pained face. Nothing could get her down at the moment, after all.

“Well, to be honest, not really! We were about to head to the haunted house, but we were uh, stopped. By someone who doesn't really get along with our group of friends.”

“Damn, that sucks, but there’s always next year!” Henri said.

She ate another mouthful, then motioned for the can of beer, hopeful that Henri would share a bit of that as well. Her head tilted curiously as she swallowed some vegetables.

“If you don't mind my asking, how much of Linqian’s group of friends did she talk about?” She tried to laugh off her prying.“She talked well about us, right?”

"Oh yeah, her and Ge- uh Jinhai, you know her twin, my brother, who was also in the group- talked about you guys all the time! Always good stuff!" He took another drink of the beer before holding it out for Layla to take. Layla eagerly took a sip and returned it. "Who did she talk about… well I asked about it all the time, I loved hearing about them. She'd mostly talk about some guys called Sully, Drake and Jasper, oh and Greyson- oh! That's this Greyson! Ge got a funny look on his face when she mentioned him, must've been cause he's so cool. And he'd always talk about Britney, and Jack, Sloane and Anya… oh Jie would get a weird look on her face when he mentioned the last two! Like she'd eaten something real sour. Normally she had, I think."

Henri took another portion of noodles after dropping a lot of information very haphazardly. "Oh, they did complain about this guy called Leon. Dunno I once overheard Jie saying he had a 'stick up his ass' or something. They'd always talk really well about the whole group! I think they both missed everyone a lot."

Layla's eyes warmed at the mention of familiar names. She found herself nodding along. The great Sycamore. Yes, the great, truly. Sully got along with everyone, Drake had an endearing hero complex, Jasper was an artist. Her eyes widened at the mention of Greyson - Mr. Devola. Yes of course, a cornerstone of the Sycamore.

“Yeah, everyone calls him Greyson, but I met him when I was really young, always called him by his last name, myself.”

Layla's expression turned to a mix of fear and uncertainty, with just a glimmer of hope when Henri mentioned Britney. Her friend. At the mention of Jack, Layla actually turned her face away, eyes closed and chin up in aloofness. Sloane and Anya, well. Sloane, it had been years since Layla had really spoken with her. And Anya seemed to be on Layla's side when Layla suggested a change in leadership.

At Void's suggestion.

Then Henri mentioned Leon, and Layla's face took on a unique completion as she nodded eagerly. Leon was good. Yes, he may have had a stick up his ass, but he had been trying to help her.

“Leon… that's a special one there. I have a lot to owe to that big guy,” Layla said with a calm smile.

She chuckled. “Wow, she really- they both, really talked well of us. That's, well, nice to hear. It's been a bit of a rocky road to get to this point, but some of us would give up anything for the other, ya know?”

She nodded to herself. “I guess that's what being friends is all about. Doing anything you can for them, right?”

She took another portion of the noodles. There was only a little bit left now, to her shock and theatrical horror. It was so delicious. She wished the container had a never-ending bottom, so she could just eat this forever.

Yes, the perfect thought. Eating Linqian's food for an eternity. Layla sat there, holding her cheeks as she murmured sweetly to herself, totally lost in her daydream of eating delicious food forever.

Before she snapped out of it.

The container was empty.

“Ahhhh, that was so tasty.” Layla said with a huge smile, placing her chopsticks in the container.“Now I'm not dying. Thanks, Henri. You and your sister and lifesavers.”

”Glad you enjoyed it! Maybe I can convince Jie to cook for you sometime… Oh man, when she has time to make a proper meal it's amazing,” he grinned, putting his chopsticks and shoving the container out of the way.

”I get it with the friends thing, though. It’s why we’re back here. After Ge was killed… Well, I think she wanted to be around people she’d been through a lotta shit with. Not to get all sappy ‘bout my sister, but she’s really done a lot for us- me over the years. Like, she thinks I don’t know, but she’s working two jobs just so I don’t have to. She never lets me do anything… But it’s nice to know she’s got you guys! That, y’know, you’re all a big group that’ll look after each other.”

His expression swapped from strangely neutral at the mention of his brother’s death, to full of sunshine again.

”Everyone’s going through shit, yeah, it’s the people you’ve got around you that really help you get through it. I dunno where I’d be without her, that’s for sure! I’m sure she’d do a lot for you guys too.”

"What’re you saying about me?" Linqian reappeared, holding two bottles of alcohol - Sabrina was right behind her. She placed the white wine on the centre table, while keeping hold of the Scotch. Her gaze flickered over to the empty container, lips twisting down onto a scowl. She glared at Henri. "Han Huanyi, that was my fucking dinner."

”Shouldn’t have left it unattended!” Henri replied cheerfully, leaning in towards Layla to say in a hushed tone, ”she’s using my full name to pretend she’s mad, but she’s not.”

Layla nodded quietly as Henri spoke, suppressing a burp as Linqian's dinner settled in her stomach.

"You think I can’t hear you? I’m not mad, but I’m annoyed." Linqian rolled her eyes.

“Well, uh, it was really quite tasty, Linqian.” Layla said shyly. “Sorry about that!”

Linqian grabbed her bag from beside Henri and looked around for a glass. Finding one, she took a seat a fair distance away from her brother - in the opposite corner of the practically circular couch. Her bag went at her feet and the bottle of Scotch stayed in her hand. Her thinking was that it would force Edict to sit next to her (and not near Henri), or at least go through her to get a drink.

“We can just… buy some pizza,” Sabrina shrugged as she poured herself some scotch whiskey. She had a seat. “Or Uber something. Whatever you’d like, on me.”

Layla gave an excited gasp.“Pizza?! Again?! Sign me up.”

"I'm good with anything, so long as it's edible." Linqian poured herself a glass of scotch and drank half of it in one go. The alcohol burned as it went down her throat, but it was a nice feeling that followed. The warmth of the alcohol and instant relaxation it brought led her to finishing her first glass in seconds, pouring another one. An additional benefit of keeping hold of the Scotch bottle like a hostage to keep her brother safe. "You weren't talking shit about me while I was away, were you?"

"Noooo," Henri held up his hands before turning to Sabrina with a grin. "Ooo, I vote for pizza!”

“Pizzaaaa.” Layla echoed.

"You just ate my fucking dinner," Linqian glared at both of them.

"Heyyyy, I'm suggesting pizza cause I know you like it," Henri defended himself with a shit eating grin. "Pizza's easy, everyone likes it."

“... We can order other things, you know?” Sabrina said as she pulled out her cellphone. “Everyone in here don’t eat pork? Anything you all don’t eat? I can order a couple different pizzas… maybe just a bunch of cheese pizzas?”

"Something covered in meat!" Henri said immediately. "Wait, that's the pizza I want, not something I don't eat. I mean, I eat pretty much anything, but if it's got too much veg on it what's the point? I was forced to eat soooo many growing up. Supposedly meat's expensive, but it's so much better than vegetables. Whenever we got pizza it was always what Jinhai wanted first, then me… so it was always covered in vegetables! Awful!"

"I'm not drunk enough for this," Linqian muttered, even though she was the only person in the room used to Henri's inane tirades. She finished her second glass of scotch and poured another one. "... Maybe some cheeses, a vegetable one and a meat one? Keep everyone happy or whatever."

“See, that’s all you had to say,” Sabrina laughed… awkwardly looking to the side and typing in a few different things before she dramatically placed the send-order button. “Alright, it should be here in about twenty minutes. I got pizza, wings, mozzarella sticks… Maybe I should have gotten some dessert, too…”

"It's fine, this is a party, not a fancy dinner," Linqian waved her half empty glass. "Pizza is plenty."

"Ohhhhh but some cookie dough would've been real nice, or some cake-" Henri started.

"Yi-er," Linqian glared at him. She then looked over at Sabrina tiredly. "Sorry about him, he's… a teenager. You know how they are. Always pushing the boundaries."

"I'm just asking for dessert!"

“I know a good ice cream spot that does Doordash…” Sabrina shrugged. “... But my generosity ends there, unfortunately. What flavors do you all like?” She asked.

"You don't have to indulge him," Linqian said.

“I could go for some ice cream myself you know…” Sabrina answered.

"Mint choc chip!" Henri cheered, completely ignoring his sister. "Thank you sooo much… Sabrina?"

“Yup, Sabrina Vanburen,” She answered. “It’s a pleasure to meet you a second time.” She smiled.

"You too!" Henri grinned, rubbing the back of his neck. "Sorry, I ain't good with names, and there were quite a few."

“Britney calls me Bean, if that’s easier,” Sabrina answered.

Layla blinked as she listened.“I uh, can help with the order if it's too much. This is quite the big party after all,” She said, smiling sheepishly at Sabrina.

It was no lie that she was eagerly looking forward to the party food headed their way though. She stood from the couch, found a glass in the kitchen, shrugged a bit, and poured a bit of white wine for herself.

“What a treat… Uh, Bean, I think you're spoiling us.” She said with a wide grin, staring at the wine as she sat before taking a sip. It was crisp, fresh, and made her smile even more as she sat there in a giggling mess on the couch.

[Maybe later idk. Depends on if you want to respond or not]
“Oh!” Sabrina suddenly said, “Would anyone like to get out of your costumes…?”

Sabrina awkwardly paused.

“... I mean,” Sabrina coughed into her hand. “My abstraction allows me to change someone’s clothes with their permission. I can change you all to something else? Maybe a different costume? Maybe we can have a whole pajama party…”

"Oh, a pajama party! Sounds like loads of fun, I'm in!" Henri jumped up, before looking at Sabrina in confusion. "Wait, whats an abstraction?"

Sabrina’s jaw dropped.

“Nothing,” she answered. “I said I have plenty of clothes you all could change into… you just need my permission. That’s all.”

"Ohhh, I see," Henri nodded, seeming to be completely fooled. Linqian was very glad in that moment that her brother was, in fact, a fool. "I would love to change outta this outfit, it's cheap and itchy."

"I'm good," Linqian said. She'd been panicking for a moment, ready to grab her brother and drag him back home, but it was fine now. "I put in all that effort changing into this toga, I'm not getting out of it."

“Yeah, I’m shocked you just… bared it all there for a moment,” Sabrina laughed. “Well, some are just more bold than others, I presume… ha…”

"Well, you know what they say, if you have it, show it," Linqian smirked. She didn't have many qualms when it came to stuff like that… and was more than happy to talk about it now that she was multiple drinks in.

"Jie, that's not what they say. It's if you have it, flaunt it, and they don't mean about…" Henri giggled. "Stripping."

"Whatever," Linqian shrugged, finishing off yet another glass. And pouring herself another. The first one had been enough to push her to that point of tipsy when she had no inhibitions about drinking anymore. "Point still stands. I'm hot enough, so what's there to hide?"

“I mean…” Sabrina’s demeanor returned to that somber one. “You’re confident. That’s all that matters.” She shrugged.

Layla's eyes were glowing as she sipped her wine on the couch. A pajama party?! It had been years since she had indulged in anything so fun, so simple, so… free from the worries and burdens of life.

She watched Linqian hammer away her drinks, and couldn't help the giggle that escaped her throat. Linqian seemed to he enjoying herself, despite having her dinner devoured. That was good.

Her eyes turned to Sabrina.“If it's alright, I'd like to get out of this bee costume. Pajamas sound really, really nice right now. Can you uh, hook me up, Bean?”

Her gaze flicked to Henri. Did he… Was he in the know about abstractions? From his comment earlier, Layla had to assume no. So, her head tilted as she added, “We can use a different room, if it's easier.”

"Yeah, use a different room," Linqian half waved her glass, eyebrows raising slightly. She wasn't sure how to signal that her brother was Blind, but hopefully him saying he didn't know about abstractions would be enough.

"Oh yeah, I'm a guy, you shouldn't be changing in front of me!" Henri piped up, nodding.

Sabrina flatly looked at him.

She reached into her pocket and - created a black sheet in her hands - seemingly pulled a giant black cloth that would bulge out of the pocket of this dumb bee costume. She quickly threw it at Henri, and it covered him.

"Gwah?!" Henri let out a confused sound when a black sheet was thrown over his face from nowhere.

She laughed for a moment before she faced Layla and said, “We can go into the kitchen real quick, the guest room is… occupied.” She glanced at the room Edict and Britney were talking in. She quickly led Layla to the kitchen… and then she stuck out her hand, and Layla’s stupid bee costume was replaced with some probably more comfortable pajamas.

Layla heaved a sigh of relief, shifting around and flapping her arms a little in the new pajamas. A striped pale green and white color. Soft material. She smiled, “Oh wow, Bean. These look so nice!”

"Yeah, they're taking their SWEET ASS time in there!" Linqian said, raising her voice loud enough for Edict and Britney to hear her. She finished off her… well she'd lost count of the number of glasses, but another glass of Scotch. Shit was surprisingly good when she got into it. "Better hurry up before I finish the wholleeee fucking bottle of Scotch."

“There. Like the color? Need any adjustments?”

Layla softly shook her head as they made their way back to the living room, giggling at Linqian's outburst. Her eyes glanced at Sabrina. “No, no, these are perfect. I feel much more in the spirit for a slumber party now, thank you.”

“Anytime… Let’s head back,” Sabrina calmly walked back over to the living room and back to the party.

”I don't think anyone wants to see my magic staff, Linqian, so you better put the fucking cap on it and have a little FUCKING PATIENCE!” Greyson called out and down the hall, a playful tone in his voice.

Layla had sat back on the couch with her wine, and half spat out the contents of her mouth at Mr. Devola's rebuke.

"Get that out in front of my brother and you know exactly what'll fucking happen to it! Save that for later, yeah?" Linqian shouted back, rolling her eyes and laughing loudly. "I'm afraid the literal cap's already fucking off, and there's maybe about, hmm, half left?"

That was a lie, of course, she'd only had about five glasses. But there was no harm in making him worry.

Layla stared down at the Scotch bottle, a plan forming in her head. Yes, a great plan. the best plan of plans. With a grim playfulness about her, Layla dutifully peeled off the rest of her wine glass before approaching the scotch bottle. The bottle was cracked open once again, and another glass was poured for herself, filling her wine glass up to a crazy amount.

She stood there triumphantly, holding her glass up to the hallway, and yelled. “Less than half!”

She tossed back her glass, and her face held the most exquisite reflextiveness that only a non-drinker could possess as she held the brew in her mouth, and swallowed, tears beading in her eyes. A hissing groan escaped her lips as the world swayed, and Layla sat back down, her hurrah at a standstill momentarily with the mix of wine and Scotch in her system.

“They'd… better hurry up… or I'll drink… all of it.” She said shakily, raising her free hand defiantly before it flopped back down on the couch, and the world swayed.

"What the fuck?!" Linqian considered jumping up and grabbing the glass, but then couldn't be bothered to. Whatever. She rolled her eyes, leaned forward and grabbed the bottle of Scotch. She hugged it against her like she was cradling a child. "I'm keeping this, alright, fuck- you just drank way too much. I'm not watching you when you choke on your own fucking vomit!"

“... You know I have another bottle,” Sabrina flatly noted. “My sisters are alcoholics.”

Layla half-laid there on the couch, waving a hand as nonchalantly as possible. “I'm fine, I'm fine.”

A few moments passed before the Scotch started to hit her system, mixed with the wine and the Pink Lux. Layla drew herself up on the couch, glass held carefully in hand, before her eyes locked on Linqian.

“Linqian, Britney's my friend, right? Bestest of friends, riiiight?”

She paused, before she set her glass down and crawled over to where Linqian was sitting, holding herself up by the couch.

“You're my friend, right? Riiiight, Linqian?”

"What the fuck?!" Linqian shook her head, tilting herself away from Layla. She did not like dealing with drunk people like this. The drunk people she liked dealing with were a all over her in a completely different way- and that was fine! Normally she was just as drunk. "Yes, yes, I'm your friend!"

Layla stared, glowing at Linqian. “Really? Really, really?!”

Layla was just a radiating ball of joy after hearing Linqian's words, like everything in the world was right again.

”Yes, really!” Linqian twisted away, setting her glass down on the table. In a quick, very much not sober decision, she opened the bottle of scotch and took a big drink. Then she hugged it against her body, twisting away from Layla just in case she tried to go for it again. "GREYSON! BRITNEY! Come sort out your fucking- just come fucking in here right the fuck now!"

"Can I take the sheet off yet?" Henri said quietly, confused about the whole thing.

“I got you…” Sabrina said as she walked over and lifted the black sheet off of him, and neatly folded it into a square, and left it on the table. She sat back down on the sofa, put her feet together and her hands over on top of that.

”... Hey now, we were just fixing the sheets!” Britney laughed as she walked out… holding Edict’s hand.

Layla turned and stared, half in the grip of trying to gun for Linqian's bottle, jaw dropping at Britney and Mr. Devola. Namely their hand-holding.

“Please tell me you weren’t…” Sabrina groaned, and got a wink in response from Britney.

”Oh my goodness,” Britney began, giving everyone a wide smile. ”We step out for like oooooooone minute and it turns to straight up pandemonium!”

Edict was still holding Britney’s hand right up until he managed to put two and two together. Linqian, the bottle, boozed up Layla…
”Linqian, what the hell!? She’s still not old enough! God dammit, fuckin’-”
Moving to his coat, Edict pulled his channeler from the pocket and palmed it, but figured it’d be a bit too subtle for the group. He could at least give them the courtesy of not bullshitting them tonight.
So he slipped them onto his forehead, up and away from his eyes but still touching enough to cast.
”Layla! Homegirl, let me see the cup. You’re drinking my booze all up, and it ain’t fair.”

Layla Instinctively pulled back, moving to hug her cup, “Noooo, it's miiiiine.” She waved her hand at Mr. Devola in a weak attempt to keep him from her precious glass.

She piped up, not realizing she may be throwing Linqian under the bus with her next sentence. “Linqian said I can have as much as I want!”

”Are you fucking with me?! What the hell?! I didn’t let her fucking drink it, she just took it, look I’m preventing her from drinking any fucking more!” Linqian gestured to the Scotch bottle that she was holding tightly against her chest, like it was the child she’d always wanted. Linqian’s scowled, shooting a heated glare in his direction. ”You fucking go into another room to get all fucking lovey dovey and suddenly it’s all my fault one of the two minors are drunk, fucking hell, Greyson, go fuck yourself.”

She then spun around to glare at Layla. ”And you- I said you could have as much as you wanted? I did? Fuck off. I wouldn’t waste expensive fucking alcohol on a kid- fuck, does my brother look drunk to you, I’m a responsible fucking adult- I’ve actually raised a child, fuck!”

Layla shivered in spot, getting absolutely throttled by Linqian’s words. “B-b-b-but…”

”Uh, you let me have a beer earlier,” Henri very unhelpfully said.

”Huanyi, keep your fucking mouth shut.”

Sabrina facepalmed.

“... There. Is. Another. Bottle.” She shook her head. “And it’s fine if Layla has a drink or two… long as it all remains here.” Sabrina pointed both of her index fingers downward.

”Oh lord,” Britney rolled her eyes. ”Everyone. Chill out over some fuckin’ drinks…”

”It’s not fucking about the fucking drink,” Linqian hissed, using her free hand to point at Layla then Edict. ”It’s about the false fucking accusations.”

Layla pouted, clearly at a loss and oh-so-very-wounded in her daze-like state. “Bu-bu-but, you said at the island I could have some.”

”Look,” Britney began, letting go of Edict’s hand to raise both of them, ”Everyone just chill. We don’t need this kinda energy right now.” She rolled her eyes again.

Layla simmered down a bit, eyeing Britney and Linqian, before her smile returned as she beamed at Sabrina. “Beaaaan, you're the best. Of course it’ll stay here, where else would it go?! I'm not gonna go tromping around in the back yard with the Scotch…”

She got sidetracked, eyes widening in disproportionate and slightly sloshed glee. “But maybe if we make a toga line-”

“... I’m good,” Sabrina said.

Edict frowned at the situation. He hadn’t really wanted Linqian all pissy like this, but that’s how the booze worked. Turning to Sabrina, he held his hands up and shook his head.
”I guess another bottle probably isn’t the thing we need, since some people, Layla, can’t manage a whole lot of responsibility when they’re given the chance. Big difference between a drink or two and guzzling an eighth by herself.”

He grabbed the drink right out of the drunken girl’s hands, sitting down next to her.
”Now, for the sake of a good night, I’ve got homegirl here. Linqian?” he said, frowning.

“Noooo…” Layla said, watching Mr. Devola take her drink.

”I’m sorry for getting accusatory. If I had a magic wand, I’d wish that comment away, but now I can only apologize. So, please forgive me, and can I please have the beer I paid for back on Cracker Island?” he asked in a slightly playful tone.

”Fine. Apology accepted.” Linqian pinched her nose, taking a deep breath in. She really wanted to enjoy tonight… fuck. She’d lost it and she’d sworn at her brother too. Double fuck. She uncurled herself from the fetal position she’d ended up in around the bottle of Scotch, putting it back on the table. ”Let me just get it-”

Linqian froze as she bent over and looked through her bag. There was no beer. She then looked up and spotted the empty can… right beside Henri. Stay calm. Stay fucking calm. Gritting her teeth, she grabbed the two bills Edict had paid for them and held them out instead of the beer. ”It looks like my darling little brother drank it, so here, a full refund. I guess you’re just going to have to drink all this fancy as fuck alcohol rather than the cheap ass beer I wrangled from my ot- my boss.”

Edict grinned wildly at the development, and he rumbled his communication spell across to Henri. It was a very simple image: A fistbump. He held his hand up to Linqian..
”Don’t worry about it, dude. It’s… Honestly the money is worth the giggle.”

Henri’s eyes widened at the fistbump - he couldn’t respond! He glanced at his sister, who wasn’t looking at him, so he subtly moved one of his hands into a thumbs up. So cool!

Layla had to giggle a bit. But then she felt bad. As bad as one could get under a rainbow sun. The beer she had shared with Henri was, in fact, Mr. Devola's. The realization elicited a small gasp, and Layla raised her hands to her lips.

”Seriously?” Linqian raised her eyebrows. She didn’t really want to accept the money, because it felt like it was for free, but he was refusing to take it back. What should she do about that? Linqian shrugged and put it back in her bag. Then she picked back up her glass, shifting around the sofa to get to the Baijiu she’d picked out. She poured herself a glass, and then paused. ”Ah, does anyone want a glass? It’s considered rude to drink this alone back home.”

“Meeeee!” Layla said without thinking.

”Me, Jie, I want to try Baijiu!” Henri grinned.

”Anyone except Layla and Yi-er,” Linqian forced a smile at both of them. She held up the bottle. ”It’s pretty strong, meant to be a toast and then drink thing. I’ll drink it alone if not- isn’t like there’s anyone to know any better.”

”Jie, you just explained the whole thing, so we all know better,” Henri pointed out. ”You could’ve just had a drink.”

“It’s my bottle technically,” Sabrina chuckled at the whole thought. “But sure,”

“Never had that before, but I’m always down to try a new thing!” Britney chipped.

“Aww.” Layla said, a slight pout to her face before she simply leaned back, eyeing her old glass Mr. Devola currently held hostage. Eh, maybe if she was patient enough, she'd get it back. For now, she let the world spin while the ‘adults’ enjoyed.

“What's the ETA on that pizza, anyway?” Layla asked, a grin creeping over her face once more.

“Oh yeah,” Sabrina pulled out her phone, and checked. “It should be here in about five minutes… give or take.”

Edict pulled the drink back, downing the wine glass full of scotch in three clean, smooth gulps. He grinned at Layla, finally handing her back the empty glass.

Layla looked at Mr. Devola, then down at her empty glass, then back up.“Welllll, at least my plan worked.”

She shot Linqian a mischievous look. “And the Scotch bottle is all the better for it now, much lighter in weight. A worthy sacrifice!”

”Eh?” Linqian gave Layla a confused look. What plan? Honestly, she didn’t care. She just wanted someone to either have a drink with her, or everyone to say no so she could feel like she wasn’t going to have all of her ancestors haunting her dreams for daring to breach drinking Baijiu etiquette. She awkwardly shook the bottle as if that would help her, or anyone, understand. ”Sure it did.”

”Hey, Layla, quit antagonizing. It’s not nice.” he gently batted her arm. Layla only giggled, hiding her face as she was found out.

Pulling himself up off the couch, he pointed his fingers at the two younger people from his eyes, the classic “I’m watching you” imagery. But he sat down next to Linqian and patted his legs.
”I will drink the psycho chinese rice liquor. I hear it's strong as hell.”

”It’s not that bad, this one's only 50%,” Linqian’s lips curved into a teasing smile. She poured another glass - since she hadn’t bothered to find any shot glasses, she was only pouring a small amount into the normal ones. She took her own and held it up in her right hand, clearly indicating for Edict to do the same. ”You have to down in it one. 干杯... don’t try repeat it, just do it in English.”

Edict held up his right hand with the glass in it as expected; he’d seen a few different Asian drinking ceremonies, and while he didn’t know the intricate details, he’d certainly seen a man beaten to death for using his left hand.
”A toast to… A magical evening?”

Layla watched on, eyes full of drunken awe.

”Right… to a magical evening,” Linqian narrowed her eyes at him questioningly, but decided to go with it… because drinking was more important. She tapped her glass against his, with hers just slightly lower, before knocking it back in one shot. It burned slightly as it slid down her throat, but it was a feeling that she was used to. She smiled, carefully watching how everyone else would fair with their own.

Britney grinned, as she raised her glass of wine. “… Every day is magical when you are one of us!” She glanced at everyone here, before she said,

“A toast to friends, old and new,” Britney said. “May our adventures from here on be extraordinary!”

Sabrina tapped Britney’s glass, before she said, “I really look forward to seeing you all again and getting to know you.”

She paused, “Let me not get ahead of myself, let’s enjoy the night first and foremost.”

”Yeah, let's have a fucking good night, after all that shit at the festival,” Linqian grinned, clearly in a good mood again. Her mood swings, it seemed, were quicker when drunk (though she'd argue she wasn't there yet). She held up the bottle again, leaning forward as if to pour into everyone's glasses again. ”Another? Technically your glass is never meant to be empty.”

"Is that why you came home drunk all the time when you worked at that bar… the uh, I don't remember the name. The place where most of the staff were Chinese too." Henri furrowed his brow as if trying really hard to remember.

Linqian winced. That hadn't been a good workplace. ”Yeah… but it did teach me to hold my alcohol.”

Layla wanted to try some. She really wanted to try some. So she did the most logical thing. She slid off the couch and leaned her elbows on the coffee table, shooting the biggest puppy-dog eyes at Linqian. “Linqiaaaaaannnnnnnnnn…”

It was clear Layla needed a toy of some sort. Perhaps if the pizza arrived, she would be properly occupied instead of feeling left out while the ‘adults’ partied.

”What?” Linqian glanced over at Layla, eyebrows raising. The puppy-dog eyes didn't work on her - she'd spent the last ten years raising Henri, master of puppy-dog eyes. Layla's had very little effect on her. She didn't care if she was bored or wanted the alcohol. But it was beginning to feel like she'd gained another fucking little sibling, with all the annoyances that came with that. ”You're not getting any.”

Layla intensified her puppy dog eyes to no avail. Linqian was an iron fortress.

"Hey," Henri 'whispered' at the same volume as his normal voice, following Layla's lead and sliding off the couch. He knelt beside her. "I've got a technique that always works."

“Really?” Layla gaped, watching as Henri came to join her, physically and metaphorically. “What is it?”

A shit eating grin pulled up his lips. "Call her Jiejie- it means big sister. It always works. Repeat after me, Jee-eh Jeh."

He tried to draw out the pronunciation, but it wasn't quite right. It was difficult to describe sounds that came so naturally to him, being brought up with the language.

Layla gave an excited gasp, mimicking him as best she could under her breath. “Henri, you're a mad genius.”

"Hehe, I know," Henri grinned, giggling.

She tried it. She put on her best sweet grin, scrunching her eyes, and said nice and loud for Linqian, “Jeeeee-ah Jeeeeeeee~! Please can we have some? Just a liiiitle bit? Pleeeeeease?”

Shs raised her hands in a pleading manner, like a beggar asking for a scrap of bread.

Edict took a long sideways look at the two younger people as he held out his glass for Linqian to add more to.
”Guys, come on… Moderation: You've both got your whole lives ahead of you where you can get shit faced whenever you want. Consider your current privilege, and be happy that Ms. Bean is kind enough to let you drink in her home.”

This was entirely uncharacteristic of Edict, who was usually the absolute worst influence ever. But with Linqian drinking, he didn't want to deal with the aftermath.

"Aww but I've only had a couple of beers! Layla had way more than me!" Henri pouted.

”Your pronunciation is off, anyway, not happening, come back when you've perfected Chinese,” Linqian laughed, before pouring Edict and herself another glass. She clinked his glass against his immediately, and knocked hers back. She was solidly drunk now, but it wasn't obvious - she was sitting and talking no worries. "干杯. Fucking feels like I've got a second adult kid now. One was enough!”

She rolled her eyes, glancing at Layla, then Edict. ”Didn't picture you as a fucking strict dad, though.” Wait, shit. That sounded like she was suggesting… they were parents together… no fucking way! ”I mean of Layla. Hua-Henri's mine. Well not actually, but legally- fuck, anyway, that's why you've not had a bunch of Scotch, Yi-er, because I'm a responsible parent.”

Layla just kind of melted there on her knees, staring up at Linqian and Mr. Devola. Did… did she actually mean it?

No. It was the feeling Layla was getting. A strict dad and mirroring mom. Patching over something in her heart that she had lost a long time ago.

Her eyes misted over, hiccuping back the tears that threatened to fall. She was just so emotional!

Edict glared at Linqian.
”You know, he's kind of right though. Henri did drink quite a bit less than Miss Troublemaker over here. Besides, all young Warlocks need good memories. Let them split one? he suggested, face tilting slightly.
He scattered an image across Linqian's Emotional Field of the two of Henri and Layla passed out on the couch, leaving the elders to have a nice relaxing evening eating pizza and watching movies.

Layla listened, blinking back the tears as she fist pumped the air. “Yes, yes, that's a great idea!”

She paused, before her bottom lip stuck out a bit. “I'm not a trouble maker…”

“Yeah, I agree!” Henri also fist pumped the air. “... wait, is Warlock some kinda slang I don’t know.”

”Also, Layla? Isn't it just about time for your medicine again?” he asked, tilting his head lazily to look at the young woman.

Britney shot her gaze towards Edict.

Layla froze there like a deer caught in the headlights, her heart skipping a beat. Nothing quite explained this feeling. But it was true. The rainbow sun was fading a bit, and the embrace she felt, the security blanket was losing its hues of color. Had so much time passed already?

Her gaze dropped to the floor, hesitant and nervous for the briefest moment, before she swallowed and looked up.

She could trust Mr. Devola, right?

The alcohol swirled around in her system, softening any logic she had into hot butter. Of course everything was fine.

She nodded her head, a somewhat tense smile on her face. “R-right. Yes, Mr. Devola. I suppose it is about that time…”

She swallowed again and tried to relax. That's all she needed to do. Everything would be fine. And hopefully no one would question her about this. She was sworn to secrecy, after all.

Linqian raised an eyebrow. She knew exactly what Edict planned to do, and she really couldn't care less if he was going to go smooth Layla's brain out more. Maybe it would make her quieter. Maybe he could smooth the loudness out. But she didn’t trust the image he’d shown her. It was appealing, sure, but her brother’s safety was more important than anything. Sure, he would be coming home with her… She glanced over at Henri, who widened his eyes and tried to look cute.

Of course, it worked better than normal with the amount Linqian had drunk. ”Fine. One between them. I’m pouring it.”

She got another glass, and poured a small amount in the bottom. A bit less than she’d been pouring for them, as she’d likely been pouring more than a normal Baijiu glass amount. She then held it out to Henri first. ”Don’t even think about drinking more than half. I’ll know, and I’ll cut your allowance, got it?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Henri grinned and took it from her. Once the glass was out of her hand, Linqian poured herself yet another glass and clinked it against his, before downing it. She then watched her brother with hazy eyes. Henri followed suit and drank half as best he could, expression scrunching up at the strength of the alcohol. “Ewgh, I prefer beer.”

He then held the glass, and the remaining alcohol in it, out to Layla with a grin.

Layla grinned back, momentarily forgetting her trepidation at their shared small victory. She wasn't just holding a cup of Baijiu, she was holding the hopes and dreams of all minors when left to their own devices.

“Bottoms up,” She smirked, and toasted the glass in Henri's direction before tossing it back in one full gulp. The shivers that wracked her body after from the strong taste were to be expected, as well as the scrunched in face. It was strong. In a completely different way than the scotch.

“T-to family.” She cracked out in a hoarse whisper, gently setting the glass on the table. Then she crawled back onto the couch, and let herself deflate a bit, head spinning.

“Thaaaanks, Jee-ah jeeeee.” She mumbled happily, quite content to relax there on the couch until the end of time. Or at least until Mr. Devola decided to move forward with ‘medication time’. Or when the pizza arrived.

”I really wish you hadn’t taught her that, she’s really butchering it,” Linqian muttered at her brother, with a half hearted glare.

“Oh, the pizza’s here,” Sabrina said as she got up. “Could someone give me a hand? I know I’m tall but there’s only so much I can do.”

Linqian was about to volunteer herself, putting a hand on the table to push herself to her feet. But as soon as she did she was hit by a wave of dizziness, swaying slightly. Ah, fuck. How many drinks had she had? Like… eight glasses… maybe. She immediately sat back down.

“I’ll help!” Henri jumped up, surprisingly fine after drinking the half shot of Baijiu. “I’m taller, so I’ll be able to carry even more! Let’s go!”

“Henri, you're my hero.” Layla called from her deflated position on the couch, entirely focused on how, exactly, the world was swaying as she half-slumped there, comfortably.

While that was going on, Britney pulled out her cellphone… with a glass of wine in the other hand. She decided to change the song since she was still connected to the Bluetooth and, and nobody had protested yet. So, she decided to play a little something…

---

---

As Henri and Sabrina left the room to get the pizza, Edict nodded and slid his glasses on. He didn’t need to look at the girl or anything, rather it would be much easier this second time to just get things over with. He’d developed a power word specifically for situations like this.

”Alright, Layla… We’ll clear some of the alcohol poisoning out too, bring you back to your senses a bit. Anyone else want a bump?” he grinned at Britney and Linqian.
”Just kidding. This is for business, unfortunately.”

”Pink Lotus’ Guiding Principle: Power Word Refresh.”
The spell crawled into her brain through the same opening as before; a backdoor installed since he figured this would be happening again tonight. Tendrils roamed around, though with no reason to suspect her, he didn’t check her recent memories to catch her spying.
The effects of the spell bubbled up again, suppressing Layla’s fear and anxiety over her powers and reinforcing her feelings of friendship and love toward those present. In addition, he managed a quick scrub of the front part of her brain, cleansing the haze of drunkenness she was hitherto locked up in.

And then it was done, and Edict pulled his glasses up again before the pizza had even been paid for. He cleared his throat.
”All done!”

Layla blinked. In an instant, she felt it, and it was. Over. It seemed easier for him this time. That was strange. Would it always be like this?

She took a breath to steady herself, feeling the smile creep over her features again, and a sense of relaxation that wasn't marred by drunkeness. This was who she was, wasn't it? Just a friendly girl among friends, strong, confident. Just friendly. Why had she ever felt so scared and anxious long before this?

The new information shone through her eyes, a new Layla, piece by piece, being formed.

“Thanks. Uh, Mr. Devola.” She said with a smile.

Britney’s eyes narrowed at Edict… However, she was silent. Dead silent.

In a very delayed action, Linqian flipped Edict off. Anyone else want a bump, fucking asshole, as if. ”You are never fucking getting in my head again, I’m not a fucking-” she gestured to Layla. ”You know.”

Wait, shit. She glanced at Britney. ”Pretend you didn’t fucking hear that.”

”Oh no, I heard everything,” Britney said, before she looked at Edict.

Layla blinked at Linqian, utterly confused. “What do you mean? You've… you've taken the medicine before too?”

”Fucking hell no,” Linqian lied with a very forced smile. ”I’m just joking around. My life is fucking perfect, my mi-body healthy as shit, no fucking way.”

Layla tilted her head, before her eyes squinted for a long, long moment. She wasn't entirely convinced. Was Linqian- Jiejie, hiding something…? She let her silence hang in the air, hoping Linqian would continue talking.

Edict shook his head toward Layla.
”Nah, Linqian’s never needed the help.” he waved her off, furrowing his brow at her reaction. A little snappy, not exactly what he’d expected.

Layla stared for another long moment, before she sighed and smiled, letting it go.“Alright.”

Her gaze glanced from Mr. Devola to the front door, sitting up a little straighter in her seat. There were more important things to worry about. Like how delicious this pizza was going to be.

Britney smiled at Edict, baring her teeth.

”... Greyson, could we have another little private talk?” Britney tilted her head more and more as she spoke each word.

Layla's eyes widened a little. She'd never seen Britney like this before.

”Heh, someone’s in trouble,” Linqian side eyed him and smirked.

Edict quickly stood to join her, closing his eyes in vague frustration.
”Of course, whatever you want.”
He didn’t bother reaching for her hand; Linqian was right. Clearly, even though it was for her sake, Britney didn’t want him using his magic so brazenly.

However, at this point, Sabrina came back inside the room with a stack of pizzas in hand, and Henri was behind her holding some food himself. She placed the stack on the table, and then separated each box into its own stack depending on what type of pizza it was. “I got pepperoni, plain, supreme, meat lovers…” Sabrina trailed. “And some sides like mozzarella sticks, wings, garlic knots, et cetera…”

She stood straight up, and then clapped her hands together.

“Dig in. You can take home what’s left over.” She shrugged.

“Thank you!” Henri grinned, grabbing a piece of meat lovers and immediately stuffing a large amount into his face.

“Wow, this looks amazing. Thank you so much, Bean!” Layla immediately pulled out her phone and started snapping photos of the pizzas, before she got a cool idea and snapped a few candid photos of Linqian, Mr. Devola, Henri, Britney and the rest. For the memory!

”Really?” Linqian’s eyes went wide as she glanced over all the pizza. She started to mentally calculate how much everyone would eat. Henri had a large appetite, but he’d also had some of her actual dinner before… he’d probably eat about half a pizza. Edict had cleaned the plate when she cooked for him, so she estimated half for him too. Britney and Sabrina, she had no idea. Hopefully Layla wouldn’t eat much after having her noodles… Perhaps a pizza between the three, and a little more of another? If she only had one piece tonight, she could maybe take a whole pizza home. That could be her lunch for three days. Even half could last two.

Linqian reached out for a piece of plain mozzarella pizza. This would be enough to sustain her for the night. She’d gone on less. She took a bite, and immediately regretted it. No, it was fine. She ate another couple of pieces then stopped, putting the slice down. Intense nausea hit her. She gritted her teeth, and turned to look at Sabrina, asking in a strained voice, ”where’s your bathroom?”

Layla was halfway through a cheese pizza slice herself, looking up in surprise at Linqian. A chew and a swallow, before her brows furrowed. “You don't look good, Jee-ah jee.”

”I’m fine,” Linqian waved her hand at Layla, pushing down the nausea. ”Just need the toilet.”

“It’s right there,” Sabrina pointed at a door that was at the start of the hall. “… Clean up when you are done. Please and thanks.”

”Don’t worry, part of my job,” Linqian managed to get out. She stood up with help of the table, swaying very obviously, before beelining for the toilet. Well, it was a very not straight line. The bathroom door slammed loudly behind her, obviously not locked, and muffled retching could be heard shortly afterwards.

“Oh fuck, not again,” Henri said, gaze following his sister. He held out his hand towards Layla in case she tried to follow. “She won’t want you to go check on her, believe me, she barely let Ge in whenever she was sick. Shit, I’m making her sound like an alcoholic, it hasn’t been like that recently. She used to work at this place that’d make everyone go drinking… She’d never eat during work, then when she got home drunk would have dinner and get sooo sick.”

He rubbed the back of his neck. “Sorry about this. She’ll be fine, I promise!”

Layla tensed a bit, staring at the hallway and bathroom door, before dragging her eyes over to Henri. What he was describing sounded awful.

“I… I didn't know it was that bad. That sounds… Really rough.”

She bit her lip, hesitating, before gently shrugging Henri's hand aside and stood. The world didn't sway nearly as much thanks to Mr. Devola's intervention.

“I'm gonna check on her.” She glanced at Henri, and frantically waved her hands. “I won't go in, I'll just knock.”

And she took off down the hall.

---

Fuck. Linqian leaned back against the bathroom wall after slamming the toilet lid closed, making sure to flush it multiple times. She’d give it a proper clean when her head stopped swimming… fuck, what a pain. She shouldn’t have tried eating. This always happens. Should’ve just drank herself into a coma!

She groaned, head falling onto her knees as her chest tightened. This was the bit she hated the most about drinking. The inevitable fucking shitty feelings that welled up as soon as she was alone. The crashing waves of hopelessness and despair that her sobriety held back.

There was a sudden knock on the door, and a soft voice spoke. Layla. “Jee-ah jee? You okay?”

"Fine, fuck off," Linqian snapped, not really caring if it upset Layla. She just needed a moment alone… well she didn't fucking want a moment alone, but she needed it to collect herself. It was easy to make herself sound normal, voice not shaking even as she felt her mood dropping. Just in case, she reached up and locked the door. She frowned, forcing herself to say something else. "Pizza just didn't agree with me.'

Layla paused for a moment there at the door, then spoke again. “Alright… if you're sure.” And she retreated, returning to the couch.

Linqian let out a slight sigh of relief, burying her head back in her knees. She needed to not fucking be like this. At least the nausea was a good excuse, no one would know she was curled up in the fucking bathroom trying to hold off a drunken breakdown that was long overdue. Jinhai, Henri being here... fuck.

She should’ve gone back to the toga line. Dealt with the temporary embarrassment for something that would help her forget everything. She knew just where she’d be if she had - with Vashti, getting so utterly destroyed and she did the same in return. She’d be embroiled in a pleasure so violent that there’d be no room for thoughts in her mind.

But she was here, in Sabrina Vanburen’s bathroom, trying not to cry and trying not to throw up again. Fuck. It was fine. She’d get her shitty emotions under control, go back out, and drink herself into a coma.

---

Britney led Edict back into the same room they had their conversation in, and she scowled as she crossed her arms and shook her head. She faced out the window, looking at the sky - or what little of it she could. ”Greyson… Greyson, what the fuck? Okay, I understood why you happy-pilled Ms. Deeby-Downer - and maybe that’s for the best - but I’m not going to sit here and let you mind-fuck all of our friends, okay?”

She shook her head. ”This stops.”

”What, with Layla!? I told you, it's for your sake - your safety!” Greyson paused, looking at Britney with dispondance in his eyes. He’d pocketed his channeler knowing how important it was that he distance himself from his magic when talking to her.

”Whatever you want me to do, fine! I’ve got no interest in arguing or-or… Or being a dick. I don’t wanna fight with you, Brit. Just… What? Who friend? Linqian?” he finally asked, eyes narrowing as the alcohol started to dissolve through his bloodstream.

Britney facepalmed.

”Look, Layla… I don’t care about, keep her high as a kite long as she’s not causing problems,” Britney began. ”Linqian? I care about her. And I don’t want this to go any further than that, alright? That’s it.”

Greyson closed his eyes, nodding like a child caught in the cookie jar.
”Listen… Alright. No sex, nothing like that, but… Technically she’s my employee. I promise we won’t hook up, I won’t even look at her. Nothing like that. Purely professional. But… We did spend a night together. I know she doesn’t want anything serious and you know I wouldn’t either! But, it's important for me to have eyes and ears that aren’t mine, Brit! You know people won’t just let me in like that, it’s like I’m some fucking goon to most of them!”
He put his finger up, closing his eyes. Deep breaths.

”I will not hook up with her and I will not use my magic on her without her consent. She’s plenty capable of denying me, and we had one night of nothing: But I know for a fact that she needs the extra employment, and I need the help. If you can’t accept that, then I will dump it for you because you are what matters most to me. So make it clear as day to me right now how you feel, because a no from you means changes to a lot of plans.”

“Look, I mean far as digging in people’s head with your Pink-Lux,” Britney shrugged. “It’s not my place to tell you what you can do with your penis.”

”I’m not dig-”
Greyson gripped his eyes, rubbing the bridge of his nose as he took a deep breath.
”-You got it. No digging, no rooting, no nothin’. I was only in her head in the first place because we were in the middle of things; you know how it is. The Lotus Blossom must unfurl.” he gave Britney a sideways grin.

”Now, is that all?

”... Do you want to try my new herbal tea?” Britney asked with a devious smile. ”If so, that’s all.”

A lot more thought and effort had to be put into the answer of this question than Greyson felt it deserved. If it were anyone else, the answer would be a no-brainer: Yes, I want your new herbal tea. I love tea.
With Britney, new herbal tea could mean a leaf that constipates you and leaves you buckled over the toilet hurling shit out of your mouth. It could also mean falling asleep for the next forty-eight hours and losing contact with the outside world.

It could also be the best damn tea you’ve ever tasted in your life. There was a chance it was real tea, and it was good tea.

But why would she offer such a thing up right now?
He took a deep breath, tilting his head back as he felt the alcohol pump through his system. It was in his brain… He hated it in his brain.
”Only if you’re drinking it too, Brit… And I pour…”

”Well, there goes my plan to lace it with laxatives!” Britney laughed. ”Let’s get back out there; I don’t want Bean to think we’re fucking in here again. She’s probably itching to dose the room with Lysol like she’s got a firehose!”

”Ahhh, same old Britney. I told you a dozen times you were meant for The Life. You’re like a razorblade.” Greyson proudly declared, ushering her back out to her friends and the cast of teens they’d managed to pick up along the way.

---

After Layla returned to the couch, she felt a ding in her pocket. Patting down her pajamas to find her phone, she pulled it out and saw a text from someone she wasn't expecting contact from so soon.

I need your abstraction. Send one of your ghosts over. I'll be behind the Haunted House.

Layla's heart skipped a beat. How did Luna know about her curse? Well… Layla stopped and thought about it logically as she sat there on the couch. Luna was always known as a spy, wasn't she? Did they have intel on her?

…How far did that intel go?

And how was she even going to convince-... No, no she had to be strong. Her medicine told her that she could handle her powers, she would find a way to convince the entities somehow. If Luna needed them, it must have been serious.

Tilting her head in thought, Layla sent a quick text back.

They don't play nice, but if you're sure, cut your hand a bit. It'll help them find you. I'll try to convince them to visit. No promises, okay?

Layla waited for a reply, which came a few moments after.

Okay.

That was the confirmation she needed. Taking a breath to steady herself under the rainbow sun and sugar-pop joy, Layla stood from the couch once more.

“I uh, need a smoke break. I'll be right back!”

A terrible lie, but she was hopeful her friends would only think Layla needed some air. If Linqian was faring poorly, it wouldn't be too suspicious if she suddenly felt poorly too. Slipping on her shoes, Layla opened the front door and stepped into the cold street.

Alone past the gate, Layla kept walking until she was out of view of Sabrina’s fancy house, and came to a stop under a street light. It felt a little awkward to be standing there in pajamas, but she figured people would assume it was yet another costume on this auspicious night.

Layla raised her hands together, cupping them, before a tiny seed began to form. It grew, glowing white, before a single, thorny stem burst from the seed, bulb opening up into a beautiful crystal rose.

Near instantly, the light from the street lamp cut out, plunging Layla in darkness. She shivered there, her breath coming out in puffy white mists, before she felt a gloved hand on her shoulder.

Layla gave a strangled shriek, spinning around to see Mr. Riil standing there, trench coat and hat looking blacker than pitch. He tilted his chin up arrogantly, arms crossing over his chest.

“You call with no sacrifices. You know what that means.”

Layla stammered as she stood there, then clamped down hard on her tongue. No. She wasn't weak. She wasn't scared! The medicine told her that she didn't have to be afraid of this!

Heartbeat pulsing in her ears, Layla clenched her fists and spoke.“I need your help.”

Mr. Riil stared, then laughed. “My help? You think you're in the position to ask for my help.”

“It's not for me, it's for someone else. Please, it's urgent!”

Mr. Riil stood there, unamusement radiating off of him. Before he got an idea, and a wicked chuckle emanated from his chest.

“Beg me.”

“What?”

“Beg. Me.”

Layla stood there, stunned. Would she really stoop so low? Would she really beg the entity that had near full control over her life and her bloodline?

Layla grimaced as she stood there.

Luna was counting on her, wasn't she?

Layla’s grimace increased, and she quietly knelt in front of Mr. Riil.

“Please.” She whispered.

“Louder.”

“Please!”

“Please what?”

“Please go to Cracker Island and find out what Luna needs.”

“I'm not convinced.”

Layla gritted her teeth and gripped the hem of Mr. Riil’s coat. “I'm begging you, please.”

At that, Mr. Riil chuckled. A dark, arrogant chuckle. He gave Layla a soft pat on her head. “Fine. I'll go and see her. Now go back to your party, my dear.”

Layla held her breath until Mr. Riil disappeared, then blindly made her way back to Sabrina’s house. She let herself back in, took off her shoes, and curled up on the couch once more, trying to hide the tremor in her hands.

“I’m back… What did I miss?”

"Not much!" Henri shrugged, glancing down towards the bathroom. "Jie's still in there but she texted me to say she's just worried she'll be sick again, and doesn't want to get it everywhere. Just been me and Bean and the pizza."

He held up his fifth slice with a grin. “Want anymore?”

“Maybe one more slice for now, yeah…” Layla said, trying a smile as she reached for another slice of cheese pizza.

“We were just… relaxing,” Sabrina began. “Say, Layla… you were apart of the same group that Britney, Linqian, and Greyson were apart of, right?”

Layla seemed to relax a bit at the question, leaning back into the couch with her pizza slice. “Yep! I was real young at the time, though. So it's not a surprise they still uh, treat me like a… Well, child.”

“Oh man, I get that!” Henri piped up, munching on his pizza. “Jie still treats me like a kid even though I’m eighteen… I mean I moved out and everything! Sorta. Like I’m back home now, but that’s because of… y’know. Anyway! I think we should rise up against them treating us like children! Show ‘em we’re not!”

“I feel like there’s a reason for that…” Sabrina mused.

Layla felt her tension melt a bit more, giggling at Sabrina's comment, and half-heartedly pumped the air with her fist. “Yeah! We can handle responsibility like everyone else! The best way to show that, though?”

Layla lapsed into thought for a moment, before her eyes sparkled. “We could polish off one of the bottles! Truly the epitome of responsibility.”

“Yeah! I like your thinking!” Henri grinned, the alcohol he’d had completely destroying the tiny amount of common sense he had. “Showing we can handle our alcohol is truly responsible… but not the Baijiu. Jie will kill me if I drink all of that without letting her have more. Let’s finish off the scotch!”

“Scotch it is!” Layla said with a triumphant whoop, beelining for the remaining scotch bottle and bringing closer to their side of the coffee table.

“I uh, don't want Jee-ah jee feeling even more worse than she already is, so yeah, we won't touch her Baijiu.” She said with a beaming smile.

She cracked the bottle open, poured a half glass for Henri, and the same amount for herself, set the bottle aside and gave Hanri a quick toast.

“To responsibility!”

“To responsibility!” Henri grinned, raising his glass.

Her eyes glanced at Sabrina cheerily, “You wanna join in on this toasting, Bean?”

“... You’re definitely not showing a lot of responsibility right now,” Sabrina quickly laughed. “You all should be toasting to not vomiting all over my furniture. I dealt with enough alcohol-fueled tomfoolery from my sisters to last a lifetime, heh…”

“We'll be careful, I promise!” Layla laughed.

“To not throwing up all over your couch!” Henri laughed, knocking back about half of the Scotch in his glass. He winced a bit at the burn against his throat, before taking another sip. “Don’t worry, I learnt from the best, Jie,” he gestured down the corridor towards the bathroom, “always makes it to the bathroom before spewing.”

“See? Absolute pro.” Layla mused happily as she sipped slowly on her own scotch, careful not to rush this time. She was feeling much better after her medicine, after all.

Britney, and by proxy Edict, returned to the living room as Sabrina was dealing with the two younger adults. He stared at Layla, then at Henri, and shook his head at the both of them.
”If there’s any kind of throwup on these couches by the end of the night, it better come from a person who can legally drink.” he barked at them, harkening back to his younger days as a teen getting harped on by the older Made guys.
Hypocrisy came naturally as breathing air.

Layla immediately felt the strictness in his tone, and felt a bit sheepish with her glass. Still, she couldn't help but smile. “Yes, boss!”

Britney sat down next to Sabrina. ”Yeah, I can tell you two ain’t drink before… I know she’s going to be regretting her choices in the morning, ha!” Britney laughed as she threw a thumb Layla’s way.

Layla vigorously shook her head, giggling, “Never, not at all!”

“Heyyyy, I already promised not to throw up on the couch!” Henri grinned, completely unaffected by Edict’s tone - after all, he wasn’t really as scary as an angry Linqian (or the rare angry Jinhai he’d witnessed). “And Jie already avoided throwing up on the couch by getting to the bathroom in time, so surely it’s alright if I do it in her place! I won’t! But I totally could, she’d be fine with it, I swear.”

”Henri, you know damn well she’d explode. Now, scooch a cheek and lemmie sit down.” he playfully bumped into Henri, jostling him around. As he did so, Edict got a bit closer and held him steady. Nice and close.
”So she doesn’t know, huh? How long?”

“Ohhhh, of course she doesn’t know, how would I tell her that I have magic?” Henri whispered, leaning in closer and glancing at the others. “She wouldn’t believe me! It’s been, hmm, two months or so. Happened back in September, whoa, it was wild.”

”Listen Kid… I’m gonna blow your mind. But we’re gonna keep it a secret, okay?” Edict patted Henri’s shoulder like a friend would. ”She’s a witch. I’m a Wizard. Everyone in this room knows magic. There’s a room in this house full of sixty thousand bees magically controlled by some dickhead somewhere out in the city right now.”

Layla's eyes shimmered over her glass as she watched for Henri's reaction. He would finally be in the know.

“No way,” Henri’s eyes widened and his mouth fell open rather comically. He just stared at Edict for a while, seeming to be processing it. It was a lot to take in. “She… what? Is that what she meant about the bees- wait, so this whole time she’s- and Ge- uh, Jinhai- too?”

Edict waggled his eyebrows.
”Jinhai was one of the best of us. Skilled and powerful.”
He spun his head slightly to look at the hallway, then back to Henri when he knew for sure Linqian wasn’t just hovering there.
”Listen… I’m a Warlock first, okay? But, my business outside is… Unsavory. Linqian won’t want you hanging out with me. But, I think you deserve to know more about our world than what’s been hidden from you. So, let’s meet up some time, eh? I can tell you stories, take you to people to learn about your powers… What do you think?”

Henri considered it for a moment. He didn’t want to do something Linqian didn’t want him to… but she protected him too much! If she’d hidden magic from him this whole time, she wasn’t about to start teaching him it. He made his decision, looking at Edict with shining eyes. “Yeah, I’d love that! I’ve just been figuring it out myself so far, which is hard when I was living in dorms till last week- And I really want to hear more about what Jie and Ge got up to with their magic.”

Edict proudly smiled and patted his shoulder again.
”I’ll show you everything I ever saw in high definition, Henri. It’ll be good for you. How about you give me your number, and when I know I’ve got a bit of free time I’ll give you a call and we’ll talk about what comes next?”

“Sure!” Henri grinned, before listing off his number just like that. “Oh, should I write it down, would that be easier? Also, I’m free like all the time, though Jie does want me to go to therapy… But right now, I don’t have anything on! So I’ll definitely be available. Well, I sometimes hang around her work, but I’m sure I can make an excuse and leave… heh, she’s too busy to pay attention anyway.”

Edict grinned and shook his head.
”No paper. In fact, you’ve gotta learn to make sure that she has no idea we’ve talked ever after tonight. I bet you when you’re sober tomorrow, she’s gonna give you a big lecture about how you shouldn’t ever talk to any of us. She’s real protective of you, y’know, you’re all she has left, Kid. Be good to her.”

“I know,” Henri rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m gonna become responsible enough that she doesn’t have to protect me- but just now, I won’t tell her. Promise.”

”Good, then you can start by not drinking anymore tonight.” Edict finished, finally sliding away and leaning his back against the couch to relax. However, meat lovers pizza hit his nose, and he tore open a box like a ravenous animal to devour the remaining slices of it.

“Responsibility…” Layla murmured under her breath. Mr. Devola was stepping back into his father-like role, and she quietly held onto her own glass, hand half hiding it. She preferred her own sense of responsibility, after all.

Henri pouted, but nodded slightly and put down his half drank glass of Scotch. It was perfectly timed, the sound of the bathroom door unlocking coming from down the hall.

Linqian reappeared, looking a lot worse for wear. The skin underneath her eyes was flushed and slightly puffy, her lipstick smudged, and her hair now tied back in a single, messy low ponytail with a few stray curls falling over her face. She silently made her way straight for the Baijiu bottle, crouching down to grab it and an empty glass. With the bottle in hand, she slumped against the sofa near Edict, immediately pouring herself a glass and downing it without much care. Her goal was very clear - drinking as much as possible as quickly as possible. There was no way this group would be able to distract her from all the fucking annoying thoughts she was struggling to ignore, and she needed a little bit more to even engage in conversation with them again.

“Jie, should you really be drinking more?” Henri asked.

”Absolutely. I need to replace what I threw up.” Linqian poured herself another glass. Her nose wrinkled at the smell wafting over from the pizza, but she was just about able to ignore it.

“... Should you really now?” Sabrina rolled her eyes.

Layla stared for a long moment at Linqian before she shrugged, holding up her own glass with a smile. “Cheers, Jee-ah jee.”

She took a small sip. Maybe this was what responsibility was. Going slow as heck with your alcohol. Fates knew she didn't want to mess up the refreshing Mr. Devola had given her.

She stared between Linqian and Henri. A smirk played at her lips. Now they all shared a secret that excluded Linqian, directly involving her own brother. Guidance was always helpful, and she remembered her own induction into the coven. Mr. Devola’s help was exactly what Henri would need.

Her mind drifted briefly, and she pulled out her phone. No response from Luna. Just what was going on at Cracker Island now?

Layla repocketed her phone, reaching for a mozzarella stick. A single bite, and she sighed happily. “This is the best. Good food, good company.”

”... And good people!” Britney said with a smile as she poured herself some wine and raised.

”And good booze,” Linqian added, holding up her glass.

“And hoping this night doesn’t go south...”

Layla smiled, surrounded by friends. It was comfortable, like she was where she was supposed to be. She took a sip of her drink before passing a palm over her lips, lost in thought for a moment.

“Well, there's a way we can test that theory about our night…” A mischievous grin passed over her lips. Oh, they'd love this, surely.

“Truth or dare, anyone?”

And the rest of the night continued like this, warm and friendly among companions.

---

---

Sloane was grateful that Anya had been courteous enough to wrap her arm around her shoulder to help her walk, as her legs had suddenly felt like they were made out of jello. It wasn’t because she was drunk—again, if this hadn’t already been made clear, Anya was drunk. Anya. Anya was the drunk one. Sloane was as sober as a judge. It was because something Anya had said, a secret she had let slip due quite simply to how belligerently shitfaced she was right now. Why, Sloane was quite certain that Anya was leaning on her for support and not the other way around! However, that was neither here nor there. Something massive had just happened. A revelation. A confirmation. Vindication.

She had been right: he’s obsessed!

Sloane didn’t know how she thought she would feel knowing that she had been right about Jasper, but right now knowing that he dreamed about her made Sloane feel sick. Her stomach tightened, twisted, and filled with a fluttering sensation as if she needed to vomit. She felt feverish as her face flushed, the yellow scarf around her overheating throat suddenly becoming so unbearable she had to pull it away with a trembling hand. The blood pumped in her ringing ears as she felt a sudden sharp pain in her chest. Her mind was flooded with visions of her catching Jasper’s verdant green eyes darting away from her, only ever getting a taste of his disparaging glances. God, what was his problem? What was his deal? What did Anya exactly mean by “quite a few times” and what kind of dreams were they?

What kind of deviant imbecile spent so much time obsessing over another person that they obviously hated? Damn it, Anya. She needed the details!

Where even was Anya? Before panic could set in, Anya slid a drink across the table to her as she magically reappeared exactly when Sloane needed her. Finally, she had been dying to ask her about Jasper. Sloane’s mouth opened and ”...No thoughts about the boys…” closed as she raised her glass to meet Anya’s toast and then buried her face in the cup to keep her from blurting out the undesired question. She drank deeply and gave Anya a warm smile as she set down her cup.

If they couldn’t talk about Jasper—no, what she meant was that why would anyone want to talk about Jasper—nevermind, the point was that she wanted to hear Anya talk about the dreams. Sloane enjoyed hearing about other people’s dreams. They were always so much more interesting than her own. She leaned forward with rapt attention and glossy eyes, putting her elbow on the table in a breach of etiquette to proper up her chin so that her head would stop bobbing.

And then from a couple tables over Jason Lee Scott went, "Oooooooh!"

Sloane immediately slumped forward onto the table with a soft thunk as Trevor unmasked himself, burying her head in her arms and hiding beneath her hat. Why was he here? Sure, he was supposed to be surveillancing them, but not like this. He shouldn’t be talking to them in person, or at all. From underneath her cover her muffled voice could be heard, saying something against the idea of fate and something about government tracking, something that got further impossible to understand as he dropped his pickup line on Anya that was as smooth as a gravel road. From underneath Sloane’s hat, the muffled words were replaced by the sound of a whistling tea kettle as she screamed into her jacket.

She just barely caught Meifeng’s words, but it was enough to make her head snap up and, whoa, one second. Sloane blinked rapidly, looking past the two red rangers to the red ranger’s boss. What was that? It had sounded like Meifeng had just admitted that after unjustly raiding Sycamore’s headquarters in a complete display of an abuse of power and unprofessionalism she had intended to just blow them all off with a stupid prank despite Sloane’s earnest attempt to offer her their cooperation. All because Sloane was going to be annoying by, what, asking her to do her job? Sloane seethed, her shoulders shaking. Her best friend hand been traumatized—Sloane had been traumatized—because this irresponsible bitch didn’t want to…ERGH!

“Hey!” shouted Sloane, slapping her hands against the table as she shot up with a stumble. That was it. She was going to give Meifeng the dressing down she deserved and she was going to get her badge number so that she could file an official complaint.

As Sloane was about to turn and earn herself the top bunk in Eve’s cell she made eye contact with Anya and hesitated. In the week since Anya’s sacrifice none of their colleagues had been murdered by Father Wolf. She would never forgive herself if something she said made the PRA pull out on their part of the deal. She gave Anya a sad, apologetic look that said, “Trust me, this is for the best. I’m sorry, I love you.” She slammed her drink and closed her eyes tight, squeezing them shut so hard that her entire face scrunched up and looked as if it was about to pop, letting out a sigh instead. She stepped around the table to take the only available spot next to Anya and gestured towards where she had been sitting.

“Please, join us,” said Sloane to Trevor. She was unable to make eye contact with him. Somehow, impossibly, her voice sounded more hollow than it had ever before, as if saying those three words had obliterated whatever husk of a soul she had rattling around inside of her. She pulled her cup up to her lips and faked surprise in the stiffest performance ever when she “discovered” that it was empty. “Oh. No. Anya. Our drinks. They’re empty.”

Anya’s wasn’t. Sloane lashed out like lightning, grabbed the long island, and chugged it. Immediate regret slashed its way across her face. She covered her mouth with her hand, worried that she was going to let out an unladylike burp or worse.

“Oooh, yep, they’re both…they’re both empty. Anya, could you grab anot…another?” And run, letting the future generations know of Sloane’s sacrifice. “Trevor will keep me company. W-won’t you?”

Sloane couldn’t think of what would be worse—spending any amount of time alone with Trevor, or getting rejected by someone like him. She hoped she wouldn’t have to actually find out. The one time she needed Jack to give her an emergency teleport and he wasn't there! Thunder rumbled above. Maybe if Sloane was lucky she’d be struck by lightning.