---

---

“Anya…”

Sloane gave her a tiny smile offset by a sad, pitiful look as she pulled the jacket tightly around her body to cover her tattered clothes. It was just like Anya to be there exactly when Sloane needed her. Sloane’s mind was still a mess, having not fully come out of the shock that she had been in, finding it easier to focus on the mud on Anya’s shoes than on the people around her. She huffed a little air through her nose, the best she could muster for a laugh, to Anya’s dry retort to her question, before nodding her head gently at the suggestion that Anya take her home, her nod freezing as Anya suggested Drake join them. Her body tensed further as Jack appeared, offering to teleport them to wherever they wanted to go. She grimaced. Please god no, she already felt sick enough as it was.

Another pair of shoes approached, “Stick with Sully for a minute Sloane, heal up. Feel better, okay?”

Sloane’s mouth ran dry as her body completely turned to stone, the only sign of life being her fast-beating heart that had jumped up to the top of her throat. Besides Anya she was suspicious about all these people caring for her, and then of all people Jasper actually came over and said something to her that wasn’t absolutely awful? If she didn’t know any better she would’ve believed that she was still hallucinating. She felt like she should say something, anything really, an opportunity to prove that his preconceptions of her were misguided, the thought that she even cared about how he viewed her terrifying, the sudden sickness in her stomach misdiagnosed as anger. She remained like a statue until she caught sight of him turning and then subtly raised her head, watching him go.

The others were starting to depart now. Normally this would be the moment where Sloane would point out that they needed to formulate some kind of plan of action to handle 8th Street instead of immediately dissolving into their own cliques again, but she was pretty much fried and didn’t even consider the thought. She just wanted to go home, take a long, hot shower, and have a cup of tea. Sloane held onto Anya as she settled herself to her feet, staring after Drake as he moved to confront Luna. When had she returned? Sloane couldn’t believe that the woman had the nerve to even show her face. Unlike Sloane or even Greyson, Luna was guilty beyond a doubt for working against the Coven back in the day. Perhaps Sloane should’ve felt a kind of sympathy for her fellow reject, but there was nothing there but ice. She didn’t know whether to be proud of Drake for showing restraint and backing down from confronting her or disappointed that he didn’t give her the welcome she deserved.

”Know what? Let's just scram,” said Drake as he returned.

“Yeah, let’s go,” muttered Sloane.

She moved to leave with the others, pausing momentarily to turn back and look at Auri. Sloane did need her. Or rather, she needed something of her’s. The next time 8th Street attacked them all she refused to be defenseless. Petty differences aside, she knew that Auri would be smart enough to do the right thing. However, it could wait. Sloane would contact her once she gathered herself. For now she just turned and stuck to Anya, hanging her head once more.

---

---

The bar was going in full swing by now as Sully, hunched down in the mud, tried to uncrush paper cups and fill it up with the elixir. He hummed to himself a variant of “99 Bottles of Beer” as he passed out the cups, trying to ignore his shaking hands as well as the blood underneath his fingernails. It never got any easier seeing someone hurt as badly as Sloane had been. He could tell himself that he had saved her by being there, but really all he had done was bear the cup. Sully couldn’t think of himself as being the one who had saved her. If Anya hadn’t pulled Sully out of his hallucination then Sloane would’ve been on her way to having a closed casket funeral.

He couldn’t help but think of what would be if he had tripped, or been a little slower to come to, or if he’d lost the Chalice somewhere in the shuffle. There was a reason he had given it to her for “safekeeping” in the first place. Sully couldn’t handle the pressure anymore. He didn’t like bearing the weight of responsibility, knowing that one momentary choke on his end could determine if someone woke up in the morning or not. He might’ve joked about being the “Chosen One” after all those Recollections centered around the Chalice, but the idea of being the only one capable of saving his friends from dying didn’t make him feel special. It made him feel scared.

One of the crumpled little cups ended up being filled with some good ol’ fashioned brown instead of the healing elixir blood red. Sully downed the double of whiskey and then followed it with a second just to be sure, closing his eyes as the burn slid all the way down his throat. His hand was steadier for the next pour.

Tayla’s arrival with Luna was a sudden reminder of the other problems going on in his world. Sully needed to talk to her about Dean. Specifically, he needed to convince her to swallow her pride and recruit the help of the others to beat his damn ass so bad that he’d leave both of them alone. While he would never sell Tayla out to Dean, there were only so many times Sully could get jumped by a guy before he would spill someone else’s tea. If not to Sycamore then at the very least to Greenwood, because while they likely didn’t even know who Tayla was they wouldn’t tolerate someone messing around with one of them. Sully stood up from where he had established his pop-up bar and started to saunter over to Luna and Tayla.

“Hey, Tay—”

“We have an emergency at 7 o’clock!”

“—huh?” Sully blinked, pretty sure it was closer to six in the evening, as his eyes looked over towards the bushes. “Oh shit!”

Aislin and Layla had emerged from the bushes, appearing as if some had replaced their bong water with gasoline. Sully jogged over, his face heavy with concern that twisted into shock as he got close enough to see the severity of the burns, too worn out by all the excitement to remember his bedside manners. He didn’t recall seeing them in the melee, but then again he had been too busy trying to stay alive and not to shit himself. Had they been engulfed in one of Emily’s fireballs?

“Don’t worry, don’t worry, y’all don’t look too bad,” said Sully, breathing heavily through his mouth to avoid the stench of burnt flesh.

Aislin groaned as she crawled out of the bush on her hands and knees, “Y-you’re a terrible liar, you know?”

He flicked the contents of his solo cup out into the grass and filled it with elixir, passing it to Aislin who of the two looked like she could manage to drink on her own. A little burn of the whiskey might still be present and if she was worried about getting Sully cooties then tough luck, but the elixir would be as potent as ever. Aislin took it, sitting back with a wince, before downing the contents. Cooties didn’t even cross her mind.

For Layla, who barely seemed to be with them, he moved to put the Chalice to her lips and to help lift her head so that she could drink. A bit dribbled to the sides before Layla managed to open her eyes and get her esophagus working, sipping like a child, weakly and messily.

Luna could be seen watching carefully, before nodding to herself, spreading her wings, and taking off.

Bit by bit, the burns receded away from both Aislin and Layla. The elixir patched over the remainder of their high as well, bringing both back into their senses. Eventually, the skin had healed over completely, the only evidence that they had been blasted to kingdom come the burn holes evident on their charred clothes.

Aislin clapped Sully on the back, a grateful grin on her face. “You’re a lifesaver, my friend. You get first dibs on my next run. You want the kush, you get it.” She said, trying to make light of a dark situation.

Sully’s eyes brightened. He was so used to being around Ruby and her bogarting ways that he had forgotten there were kind, caring people like Aislin who would happily give weed away. Sure, he could’ve just gone to the dispensary, but that meant waiting in line and having disposable income…or any income, come to think of it.

Aislin’s eyes moved across the remains of Kari’s charred house, to the destroyed front lawn and foliage. “It’s good they left when they did. We uh…” She grimaced. “We didn’t really stand a chance, did we?”

“Hey from where I’m standing we’re all still here and they all ran away. At worst that’s a draw!” Sully watched as a support beam gave out and collapsed another part of Kari’s burning house. “Er, unless we’re counting property loss. Then yeah. They clowned us.”

Layla scowled, half-sitting up from Sully’s hold so she could better see Aislin. “Those losers cheated. I didn’t even get a chance.”

“Hey, you’ll get them next time, killer, now upsy daisy,” said Sully, hefting Layla up to her feet.

He brushed a bit of ash off of her shoulder, which turned out to be the bit of ash that had held the sleeve to the rest of her shirt, and frowned as the charred sleeve slipped down to her wrist like a bracelet. Layla made a face, picking at the fallen sleeve before shrugging it off entirely.

“Good thing this is last year’s fashion…” She said awkwardly.

He glanced between Aislin and Layla. He would’ve offered one of them his jacket to cover up with but he’d already given that to the kid (and frankly he needed it a little more). Fortunately, there were still plenty of Sycamore left behind who could keep them from catching a cold.

“Hey, anybody got an extra jacket?” He turned around to see that almost the entire Coven had already bailed. “Oh, cool. Later then, I guess. Fuck.”

He rubbed the back of his head and turned to Aislin and Layla, “Well, looks like we’re scooting before the police show up and bust us for arson. Did either of you need a ride? I got room in MY TRUCK!!! Sully slapped his forehead so hard that it sounded like a crack of thunder, echoing around the clearing so loudly that for a moment it seemed as if Vashti had returned and restarted her storm. “I left my windows down! They’re cloth seats, Aislin! Cloth! Seats!”

He pulled his beanie down over his face to muffle a scream.

Aislin's jaw dropped before horror overtook her face, “Don’t panic! Uh, fans! lots of fans and wet towels - Do you need to borrow some towels?!”

Layla just stared at the two of them with mild disdain, before she walked in between them pointedly, heading towards her motorbike. “I think it’s time to leave, then.”

She half-turned towards Sully, “I owe you one. You need a favour done, just let me know.”

Before she hopped on her bike, slid on a helmet, and drove off.

That just left Aislin and Sully. Aislin checked her clothes, or what was left of them, before sighing and turning to Sully.

“Uh, listen… I got a few spare fans and towels I can lend out.” Her head perked up a bit. “Could see who else is free and hang out a bit, what do you say?”

“I say we’re gonna have to bum a lot of towels, but fuck it, we’re already soaked anyway. Some buddies of mine had invited me to hit up this local taco truck a little bit, some joint called Los Agavez. I told them I was gonna be busy but if we leave now I think we’ll have enough time to catch them there. And, I dunno, if that bong survived, maybe we could…”

Sully’s voice trailed off as he reached into his pocket. A look of confusion crossed his face as he gave himself a quick pocket patdown: phone, check, wallet, check, keys? His eyes rolled into the back of his head as his jaw dropped, remembering throwing his keys towards a non-present Tayla and then getting too distracted by the bunch of jolly assholes trying to murder them to pick them back up. The beanie came fully off his head now as he stuffed it in his mouth, packing it in with his fist, gagging the followup string of curses. He spat the beanie out and gave Aislin a sad look, his shoulders dropping.

“Maybe we could rain check it,” he sighed, kicking the ground. “You go on ahead without me. I’ll catch up once I figure out where I left my keys. Plus, the storm might’ve put out a lot of the fire, but somebody should probably make sure it’s died down enough that it doesn’t spread…”

Aislin gave a sympathetic look, “A rain check it is... If everyone in Sycamore was as thoughtful as you, we’d have progressed by leaps and bounds by now, just saying.”

Sully smiled sheepishly. He wasn’t so sure about that.

Aislin sighed, giving a little stretch to her arms as she spied her car parked down the way. Unlike Sully, she had triple-checked the windows and doors were closed and locked. It wasted precious minutes, but it was her artistic OCD, she supposed.

She offered a smile, tapping her bag, “I got a hoot with your name on it, don’t forget.”

With one last glance, Aislin headed to her car, set her bag on the passenger seat, revved the engine once, before peeling out of the vicinity.

Sully watched the red taillights disappear around the bend and then slunk his way back into the woods. He pulled out his phone to use it as a flashlight and laughed miserably to himself as he saw the massive spider web of a crack in the screen, crunched by his own body when he’d dived to take the shots for a kid who’d turned out to not even need his help. Sully shook his head and put the broken phone back in his pocket. He got down on his knees, squinted his eyes, and began the long, tedious rummage through the tall grass where he was pretty sure he had thrown his keys, blissfully unaware of the crow looking down on him from a branch up above, cocking its head as if in confusion, the set of shiny car keys held in its beak jangling too softly for the man below to hear.

---

---

---

Linqian looked at Britney’s car, then down towards the road. She really didn’t want to leave her own here… that would be a pain. Even if she was a bit more relaxed now that she knew she wasn’t going to be spending the rest of the evening alone, it would still be another thing to worry about.
”I’ll follow in my car, since I brought it, just-” Linqian went to put a hand in the pocket of Edict’s jacket, immediately realising that it wasn’t hers. Shit. Shit, shit, shit. ”My fucking car keys were in my fucking coat that got destroyed in the fucking fire! Fuck!”

Deep breath. Don’t kick a tree. Linqian clenched her fists, trying to stay calm, and turning towards both Edict and Britney. She decided to go the slightly more diplomatic, not targeting the mafia member among them, approach. ”Neither of you happen to know how to break into and hotwire a car, do you?”

Greyson took a deep breath.
”Oh fuck, I love hearing that. Yeah, that’s fine. Let’s go, I don’t want to take any longer than we have to. Thankfully we just need to get into it.”
With the ice wall gone, there was only rain water and a smoldering wreck of a Cadillac where his beloved car had once been. What a fucking shame. His hands started to shuffle across Linqian, nowhere they hadn’t been prior, but on the hunt for the pocket his phone was in.

”Ummm….” Britney put a fist to her chin as she thought for a moment, pivoting her upper body from left to right as she thought about a solution. ”Is it like a fancy new car? I practiced picking locks with my plants a lot back in the day...”

Getting his phone finally, Edict nodded.
”That should work. There’s a spare key in the glovebox, unless you gave it to someone else Linqian… At least you won’t be up shit’s creek.” he concluded, looking over at Britney and smiling.
”I love when you say shit like that out of the blue, y’know?”

”Just letting ya’ll know I can get in,” Britney laughed.

Linqian rolled her eyes, grimacing at the grossly sappy words coming out of his mouth.
”Fucking hell, Greyson, tone that shit down.” Linqian sneered, gesturing to them both to follow her. ”It’s just a bit down the road… I didn’t even know there was a fucking spare key, you think I have time to rifle through the glovebox? Thank fuck there is.”

As Linqian had said, her car wasn’t really that far away. She’d parked it along the road, not hidden in a bush like Britney’s. She pointed to it, and turned to Britney.
”Do whatever you have to do, I promise I won’t get pissed if you damage anything.” Because she’d probably make Edict foot the bill.

”I can get in without breaking anything, just hold on…” Britney walked over to this fancy car, and then put her finger against the lock, and out of her finger came a thick wooden vine that wormed its way in through the mechanisms. There was a series of clicking, and grinding before the lock popped up. Britney smiled. ”... Still got it!” She laughed.

”Voilà…” Britney gestured for Linqian to get in.

Linqian couldn’t help but grin at her. ”Shit, I’ve gotta learn that some day… Let me check if Greyson wasn’t making up shit about the spare keys.”

She got in, leaning over into the passenger side to pull open the glovebox. It was pretty empty - she pulled out the owner’s manual and threw it in the back, before finding a suspicious plastic bag. Thankfully there weren’t any drugs in it, just the spare keys and registration. She really should’ve looked in here earlier.
”All good,” she popped back out, shaking the spare keys. At the same time, she unlocked the trunk, tilting her head towards Greyson. ”I’ve got a change of clothes in there, want your coat back? Otherwise… I’ll follow you wherever we’re going, Brit.”

”Fuck the coat for now, lets just get where we’re going. I’ll…” he turned to his burning wreck one last time, then to Britney.
”I’ll be in your passenger seat… Fuck, man…” he mumbled, unclipping his bulletproof vest so it dangled loosely as he skulked to the truck.

”So, um…” Britney looked around, awkwardly shuffling in her feet. ”Do you want to get some actual clothes first? I know Bean will hook you up for free if she isn’t busy.”

”Don’t worry about it, I got some,” Linqian popped open the trunk, rummaging around and pulling out what looked to be a pair of shorts and a plain t-shirt. She shuffled around to pull on the shorts underneath Edict’s jacket. ”Gotta be prepared in case I ever need to change before work, so I’m all good. Let’s get going.”

”Bet,” Britney laughed, before looking down at her soaked sweater. ”... Maybe I need to hit up Bean. Or stop by my house. I’m soaked.”

”You won’t hear me complainin’.”
By then, he was on the phone in earnest.
”Richie? Yeah, I’m gonna need a wrecker. — Yep. It’s a sad one, so just ping me and take it from there. And be careful! You may see some shit you don’t wanna see.” he babbled on toward the truck.

Linqian rolled their eyes once again at Greyson’s back, leaning against her open car door as she looked at Britney and lowered her voice. ”The fuck did you see in him? Y’know what, don’t answer that- Let’s go to your place or Bean’s, whatever’s fastest, then hit somewhere up for food. I’m fucking starving after all that shit… or I can cook for us?”

Her eyebrows raised slightly, winking teasingly as she joked, ”then we wouldn’t need to worry about clothes at all.”

”My house is booby-trapped,” Britney awkwardly laughed, before she pulled out her phone - which was also soaked, but it was still functional. She called Sabrina, and near immediately, she answered.

“Brit, how are you?” Sabrina asked.

”Good, good,” Britney said, ”Are you busy right now?”

“... You need an outfit change?”

”... I need an outfit change.” Britney sighed. ”Do you mind if Greyson and Linqian come over, too?”

“Sure,” Sabrina began. “But, I have Messiah with me, so… no cursing, no drinking, you know…”

”That’s fine, I’ll let them know,” Britney said, before she covered the microphone with her hand and said, ”Bean said it’s fine, but she’s got her younger brother there if that’s cool! He’s like, ten, I think.”

”All fine by me, I’m great with kids,” Linqian said, flashing Britney a thumbs up. She got into her car and poked her head back out. ”I’ll just follow behind you.”

---

The time spent driving between the sticks and where Sabrina lived was spent with plenty of Greyson being aggressively passive about his car being destroyed for nothing in between him rattling off text messages to people in Minnesota. He wasn’t even considering that he could’ve killed anyone in the fight, mostly assuming that George had been the one to catch the majority of direct hits.
Wrong guy to shoot at, really.

By the time they arrived, it was well after noon. The cold sun was shining in this part of town, far from the influence of 8th Street’s Stormlizard. Edict let Britney go in first if she wanted, or if not the two of them would be waiting for Linqian who ended up getting a little separated by traffic. When she did arrive at the Vanburen manor’s little parking area, Edict had a cigarette in his hand and another in his lips. One, of course, was for her.
”Figured you’d want one of these before we went inside. Unless you’re too cold, but I think I’d laugh if you said that.”

”Fuck yes,” Linqian took the offered cigarette, and held it up for him to light. She’d taken an extra moment in her car to awkwardly get changed, coming out with a fresh t-shirt tucked into shorts and Edict’s coat over her shoulders. It wasn’t ideal for the weather, but she wasn’t a wimp who couldn’t handle that… plus, she subtly raised her temperature to offset it. ”I was trying to quit, but that shit isn’t easy… lasted two days. Wait. One. Well, whatever, today started and absolute shitshow and only got fucking worse. Fucking hell.”

”Well, what’s the scoop here? The fuck did I drive into?”
After swearing, he ducked a little bit and a grimace slipped across his face.
”Ahhh… Sorry. But, still you know what I mean, Linqian? Like, the house being gone? You mean to tell me you left your shit in there and it’s all gone?” he asked her with a serious, but very quiet intonation.

”I left my shit in there to stop it being fucking setting on fire. But yes, it’s all fucking gone.” Linqian waved her free hand in exasperation. ”It wasn’t like I just stripped for fucking fun. We went to the house, searched, then Emily and her gang turned up. She demanded Britney and Lila- fuck knows why she wanted Lila- and I wasn’t just going to stand by for that shit. You remember that spell me and Aryin used to do back in the day? Puts us at clothing burning temperature, so I sensibly stripped before punching Vashti in the face. Didn’t work out so well.”

Linqian held up her hands in a shrug, before taking a long drag of the cigarette. Fuck, it was nice after all of that shit. ”Emily set the house on fire while I was wrestling with Vashti… Everything gone. Fuck. At least I still have some cash at home. At least no one died, huh? They might’ve gotten Brit or someone if I’d stayed clothed and cool, hah.”

”Listen, don’t worry about the money. I owe you, you really just don’t know it yet. So, reach in the left inside pocket. Take everything that’s there. That’s yours, and for putting yourself in harms way for the people who can’t. Split that shit with Thorne, for going all out like the ‘Coven Anime Club’ used to say. Y’know… Good ol’ CAC.”

He laughed through his cigarette, flicking the ashes and taking a final drag before moving toward the door.
”Now hurry up, cuz we’re gonna need to stay on alert and I don’t want 8th Street targeting Sabrina’s house for Britney’s sweet sweet-... Presence.”

Linqian looked down at herself, then at Greyson, then down at herself again. ”I appreciate the money, but where the fuck am I supposed to put it? If I walk in with the pockets at my ass full of cash it’s going to look a little fucking suspicious. I’ll take it when we leave, alright?”
She also quickly finished off her cigarette, rolling her eyes at his back and following him towards the door.

Edict had left his gun and vest in Britney’s car thankfully, as he wasn’t so disrespectful that he’d bring a loaded firearm around for a kid without at least providing a fake one to entertain them. There was a distinction in the wetness of his shirt from where the multi-face carrier blocked the heavy rainfall and soaked it up.

Walking in, he held the door open for Linqian as she made her way in.
”Hey, back again. Twice in a week, living in the lap of luxury at Casa de Vanburen.”

Sabrina was sitting down on the sofa, wearing a red sweater and some blue jeans and some loafers. She kept her legs together as ahe looked at them, before a warming smile formed across her face.

“Yes, it’s always a pleasure,” Sabrina said, before she gestured to the little boy sitting next to him. He had to be around four-eleven, and had a curly afro on his head. He wore a green hoodie, jeans, and some black and red Jordans.

“... And this is my little brother, Messiah,” Sabrina said. “Say hi, Messiah.”

Messiah raised his hand, “... Hi.”

”Hi Messiah,” Linqian waved to him, walking over to the couch. She took of Edict's jacket before she sat down, careful to keep it off the pristine white surface (since it had gotten rained on). ”I’m Linqian, nice to meet you. Good to see you again too, Bean.”

She made sure to drag out her name, saying it slow enough that the pronunciation should be obvious without being patronising. She smiled gently - likely surprising Edict when just a moment ago she'd been swearing about losing all of her shit. ”How old are you, Messiah? You look like you must be… about twelve? When my brother was your age he was much shorter… absolute nightmare too. Wouldn't sit still, he'd be bouncing off the walls right now.”

“I’m ten,” Messiah answered.

“I made sure that he was raised to be very well mannered,” Sabrina answered. “And behaved.”

”... Right.” Linqian smiled, a little speechless. Was that a dig? It felt like a dig. She didn't have it in her to continue after that.

Edict simply waved at the young boy, not wanting to make too much of a stir. He looked around for Britney, clearing his throat before making way for the kitchen to be out of the way of the child; no need to get yelled at for saying the wrong thing.
As he walked, he peeked down the hall and saw a light on.
”Brit? You down there?” he called.

It wasn’t a tremendous amount of fun acting like he was a lapdog, and moreover he felt like at this point it may’ve been somewhat smothering for the freedom loving woman he knew… But nobody was in danger quite like Britney. Except maybe Kari, but… Well, she was dead. Right? Definitely dead. No doubt about it.

”... Yeah, I’m in the guest room changing!” Britney shouted. ”What are you trying to watch?!”

“Britney!” Sabrina shouted.

”Oh,” Britney shrugged. ”Sorry!”

Edict laughed in turn, shaking his head.
”What’d you say before we got here? Something about behaving?”
He sauntered down the hall further, but didn’t turn into the room. He just wanted to speak lowly.
”No… Just, making sure you’re safe. Never know, some fucker-” he stopped, clearing his throat. Swearing wasn’t even a habit, it was vocab.
”-Some dude like Jack could pop up at any time, right?”

”True,” Britney calmly answered. ”But if someone teleports in here, they are getting the machineel.”

He shook his head.
”Hopefully after the meeting I had this morning, we can at least stop worrying about House of Cards. We have some mutual friends who I think can convince Phantasia that the game she’s playing is for keeps, and she’s the sucker.” he offered her the idea and listened for some sort of reaction.
”I was thinking maybe we could celebrate? Or do you think it’s too early?” he half joked.

”... Oh?” Britney asked. ”Who are these friends? I would love to celebrate to get my mind off that clusterfuck…”

”Some curated uh… Business associates. House of Cards and I both dip into their pockets on occasion, so out of anyone I think they’d be fairly beholden to their profit margin. Does it make sense when I say that, as a Pink Luxer who knows the way the cookie crumbles, they’re people who I desperately want to tell you about but know I can’t? Not until everything is over.” he intoned with a great deal of secrecy in his inflection.

Britney was silent for a moment.

”... I understand.”

She took a few steps towards the door and opened it, revealing to be wearing a blue checkered button up shirt, some jeans, and some dress shoes. Britney smiled and posed.

”... How do I look?”

Greyson grinned genuinely and warmly.
”Like a lifetime’s worth of happiness, Babe. Everytime.”

Britney smiled, a redness filled her face.

”Thank you,” Britney began before she started teasing. ”... But what if I was wearing a diaper? Would you feel the same way?” She stuck her tongue out.

He walked a little closer to her, still half soaked from the rain and mud.
”Not this game again… You know how I feel about you?”
He cleared his throat, speaking quietly.
”I saw you in that hallucination. You were on my mind from the moment I woke up in it until I got pulled out. We had rings, and kids. I saw some beautiful shit in that dream that I want to make real. I’m gonna change my life, Brit…”

Britney grimaced, before she smiled, she took a few moments before she stepped over and grabbed Edict’s hands.

”Maybe we can, once all of this blows over…” Britney said. ”I
‘m willing to try again… If you’re serious-serious… but pump the breaks, just for a moment, thank you.”

He tilted his head back with a slight exasperation before nodding.
”You’re right. It was just intense, is all. Did it hit you? Or… Some trick up your sleeve?” he asked.

”I held my breath!” Britney laughed. ”Almost passed out until I came up with something - I felt sooo smart… Until it went away.”

She coughed, ”... What exactly did you see? Because everyone wasn’t doing so hot afterwards…

He furrowed his brow at the question, thinking about what she had said.
”Well, like I said, I saw you. Really, it was… A warm, inviting dream. Like a real lucid one? I knew immediately we were living in Louisiana. On my tobacco plantation. You, me, two kids, a third on the way. Our son had Kindled the night before. Killed someone. You were taking it hard, and I was trying to console you over it. Understandably.”
Shrugging his shoulders he chuckled.
”Sounds like a lot of people want shit they don’t have a chance of getting back.”

He let the thought linger for a moment before clearing his throat again. He got real quiet.
”You meant, like, Linqian? She did look pretty bad…”

”I mean Sloane almost died,” Britney awkwardly laughed. ”But Linqian, yeah, Adora, Jack…”

Greyson grimaced at the memory of Sloane.
”Oh, yeah… But I mean, if it was that bad? Baggage galore. The cast says it all, I think.” he shrugged, clearly not as concerned about the others.
”I’m kinda glad you missed it; I’d hate to see you down on yourself over something you wished was true. Now, come on, let’s go see if Sabrina won’t mind helping Linqian and I out. Unless… Something else on your mind?” he asked, eyebrow rising to question her.

”... You know she will,” Britney smiled. ”Let’s go!”

When the two of them came back, Linqian twisted around to give them both a look that clearly said ‘save me.’ After a very lacklustre response from the child and what felt like her parenting of Henri being questioned, there'd been an awkward silence. And with a silence came thinking, and with thinking came feeling fucking shit. She hid it a bit better this time - she didn't look that much different than the normal slightly annoyed Linqian. Shoulders tense, lips in a thin line, eyes slightly narrowed. Except she wasn’t annoyed she was spiraling towards the state she'd been in before.

”You took so long I thought you were-” Linqian paused, glancing at Messiah, and quickly switching what she was going to say. It'd be pretty obvious to them what she's planned to say. ”Eloping. Oh hey, Brit, you look good.”

She smiled slightly as if everything was still totally alright, fiddling with the wedding rings on her fingers (which escaped being melted because they were her channeller).
”So, we staying here and hanging with Bean and… Messiah, or we hitting up somewhere else?”

”Um, before we do anything,” Britney began as she sat down. ”Bean, can dry off Greyson’s clothes?”

“Oh, gladly,” Sabrina said, raising a hand, as she manipulated the fibers in Edict’s outfit to wring out the different liquids that were in it. “All better… do you need anything else? Maybe some clothes? I don’t mind at all.”

”I’m al-” Linqian paused, stopping herself from going with her normal answer of not accepting things for ‘free’. This was fine, right? It wasn't money. She could view it as an advance payment for her bringing up Sabrina to the coven when they had a meeting that didn't involve getting attacked in some way almost right away. ”Some kind of thick, winter jacket? I… lost mine.”

Sabrina pinched her fingers together as if she was holding something, and fiber by fiber she created a thick, hooded puffer jacket. It was all black and had a fur lined hood. Sabrina gave Linqian a warming smile.

“Ta-da!”

”Has anyone told you you’re the best lately, Sabrina? We really appreciate the help…” Edict grinned, taking his coat back finally.

”Sh- Wow. Thank you so much, Bean.” Linqian just resisted letting out a torrent of swears, though she muttered a couple under her breath in Chinese. It looked… amazing. Was that real fur? What the fuck. Shit. She almost forgot the cash in Edict’s coat she hadn’t taken yet cause she’d had nowhere to fucking put it.

“It’s no problem,” Sabrina said, “I’m here to help.”

As Edict leaned down to take his coat she caught his wrist, saying in a low voice, ”remember to pay what you owe later, yeah?”

Then she let him go and stood up, taking the new jacket from Sabrina. With the closest to a genuine smile she’d had she put it on, almost tempted to give a spin… but that would be fucking embarrasing.
”This is amazing… I won’t need to worry about freezing to death anymore. I’ll repay you with that thing we talked about last time.” She smiled at Sabrina, before turning to Britney and Edict with a thick bravado to properly cover the cracks that had been forming. ”How’s it look? Wait, not sure I need an answer, I already know I suit anything.”

”You look fine. I’ll pay outside, Mèimei.”
Edict’s voice echoed out of his mouth in an incredibly unlikely string of syllables stretching out into very clear, pronounced and pitch perfect Mandarin Chinese. He cleared his throat, but his head nodded at her, as if what he’d just said was typical or normal for him.
”Just covering.”

He subtly nodded toward her, as if he was still complimenting her and covering the agreement at the same time.

Linqian went from being slightly impressed that Edict could talk a little Chinese, if peeved because it reduced the languages she could secretly shit talk him in, to pissed. Meimei? Oh that fucking asshole knew exactly what he was doing with that. She wasn’t smiling much to begin with, and it turned cold. Just covering? Right.

”Meimei? You want some fucking respect or something? Keep that shit out of your mouth.” Linqian let out a rapid torrent of Chinese, but at a perfectly reasonable level. For anyone that couldn’t speak the language, it didn’t appear that aggressive. But she was clearly agitated, fists clenching at her sides and trembling slightly. It was wrong. She’d heard it from the right person not that long ago and he was fucking gone. And this asshole was ruining it.
”There’s only one person I’d tolerate calling me that, and he’s dead. Thank you for reminding me, asshole… Fuck you- fuck your ancestors to the eighteenth generation, you bastard.”

Edict’s eyes went wide. Right… The hallucinations. Must’ve been something to do with Jinhai, which made him nod and grimace slightly. But, rather than the typical vindictive “burn your favorite bar down” Mobster Prince, he simply accepted it. He remembered that one of the pictures in his own hallucination was of himself, Britney, and Linqian awkwardly holding their daughter. He distinctly remembered the sensation of a strong friendship.

Of trust and love. Like it was somehow finally okay to call her that.

”Okay, yes. That’s probably deserved. Thank you.”
Slipping his coat back on over himself, he dusted the sleeves off.
”I’ll uh… See myself out. Be waiting for you both when you’re done.”
As he turned, he shot Britney a quick glance, eyebrows wiggling as if he knew what he was leaving behind.

“... Should I note that Messiah has been taking lessons in - what is it again? Mandarin Chinese?” Sabrina noted.

“Yes,” Messiah nodded.

Britney almost broke out laughing.

Edict heard them as he hit the door, and found himself unable to hold back a burst of air from between his lips. The door opened, a cold wind swept, and then it shut behind him.

”... You couldn’t have said that earlier?!” Between Edict actually, well, admitting to having fucked up and the kid having overheard a shit ton of the worst Chinese swears she could muster, Linqian’s anger disappeared just like that. The other feelings were more difficult to ignore, but she pushed them down just as she held back laughter. She turned to Messiah and Sabrina with an apologetic smile. ”Please forget everything you just heard. Hopefully you didn’t understand half of it. And if you ever need a conversation partner- well, it’s my first language!”

Messiah just nodded his head. Leaving it open how much of it he understood.

Linqian then turned to Britney with an awkward laugh, jerking a thumb towards the door. It was just like it always was - quick to a volcanic eruption, but always brief if deadly. This time it had been forcefully stopped and now Linqian just felt a mixture of shock and despairing amusement.
”Should we go after him? I may have cursed eighteen generations of his ancestors and honestly, they probably don’t deserve it, even if he does.”

Britney kept laughing, as she got up and gently grabbed Linqian by the hand, ”Yeah, let’s just get out of here! Thank you for having us, Bean!” She gave Sabrina a wave of her hand.

“Anytime,” Sabrina nodded her head. “Let me know if you need anything else”

”Yeah, thanks again,” Linqian smiled awkwardly, more than happy for Britney to grab her hand and gently drag her out. The moment they got outside she couldn’t hold back anymore, raised one hand to the air in frustration (still holding Britney’s with the other, it was warm), keeping her voice low just in case it traveled. ”How the fuck was I supposed to know he knew Chinese?! Now if he starts cursing out his teachers or whatever I’ll be to blame… If I’d used that in China I probably would’ve gotten killed- oh fuckkkk.”

Linqian wasn’t actually that caught up in it, cause all kids learned swearing eventually. But it was a good way to ignore all the other lingering feelings that had come swarming back up after she’d desperately buried them. How she hadn’t even been that annoyed when Jinhai called her that in the hallucination, how she’d let him call her anything he fucking wanted as long as he was back- fuck. Stop thinking about it. She turned slightly towards Edict with something closer to exasperation than annoyance.
”Greyson, don’t call me that shit again and we’re good, okay? I’m just-” She raised a hand to her forehead. Why the fuck was she explaining? He’d been the dick in the first place- right but he was a dick that was paying her and one of her only friends still around. Fucking hell, was this maturing? No, not particularly. ”I’m real fucking touchy about it. But your ancestors didn’t deserve that-”

Greyson had his hands up before Linqian even finished.
”Hey, I get it. Bad time for a joke, that’s my life. And as far as my ancestors, I’d say you just give it a few days and you’ll probably change your mind again.” he giggled to himself, finally reaching into his pocket.
He looked a bit surprised at the large wad he pulled out, furrowing his brow before unfolding it and looking at it for a few moments.

”I didn’t think I grabbed this much when I left my place this morning…”
He started to thumb off hundred dollar bills until he decided to stop at a nice round number before effortlessly forking the small stack over.
”Though, I’ve gotta ask… Because I’m curious about the power, not about digging into your personal trauma… What’d you see in the Pink Haze?”

”Yeah, we’ll keep going round in this fucking circle, till one of us dies,” Linqian said drily - which was just about her saying that she’d stick around Greyson even if he was a massive dick and she continued to blow up at him. She took the stack with a slight smile and shoved it in the pocket of her new jacket. Split with Aryin there should be enough for a new phone and a little extra. It was enough that she was at least willing to answer the question.

”Yeah, I get it, we gotta figure it out to beat it. I saw the apartment we lived in until I moved back.” The one he died in. She spoke monotonously, as if from a book, pushing down the raw pain at just thinking about it and embracing an emotional numbness. ”Obviously Jinhai was there, and Henri. There wasn’t really much to it. We talked. It was as if he was alive and everything was fine. Oh- I also had a partner, I believe. That bit was fuzzy. It changed too, to back when I was… nineteen I think. Just cooking for my brothers. I guess it's something I missed or wanted. I really fucking didn’t want to leave.”

Greyson scrunched his nose up.
”I saw a future, not a past. I definitely saw something I wanted. So, that’s the easy part… Hard part is how you get it to be that strong but that physical.”
He rifled off another grand and practically pushed it into her free hand with the money already in it.
”If it makes you feel any better, I’m certain my ancestors probably deserve it. Just leave my descendents alone, God forbid I ever have any.” he shook his head, laughing through his nose.

”I won’t curse them to be born with hemorrhoids then,” Linqian laughed, seeming to go back to her… more normal self just like that. She shrugged, turning to Britney (who’s hand she was still holding, because why wouldn’t she until Britney let go). ”Dunno about the strength part. Britney’s the brains- uh, magical expert.”

”Clearly,” Britney said, still holding onto Linqian’s hand for no reason. ”That haze pulls out some type of subconscious want or need. I’m not sure if it was the result of an Adept, or some concoction Greta made…” She tapped her chin a few times.

”Greta? God, is every nightmare from the past still skulking around this fucking city?”
He shook his head.
”Oh… Shit…-” he looked between the two of them. ”-Did either of you see George? Or, that black monster thing? I was just shooting, I don’t really know if I hit anyone in the rain. But, you think they’ll be back soon?” he looked a bit concerned at both of them.

”Yeah, who could miss George?” Britney chuckled. ”Black monster? Didn't see that, are you sure it wasn't some undead minion?”

Then Britney sighed. ”But, I’m not sure… It's obvious they want Lila… And Emily doesn't know when to quit…”

”Black monster…” Linqian narrowed her eyes, thinking. The whole situation had been pretty chaotic, and she hadn't seen much beyond the start. Oh, maybe- ”It couldn't be the kid, could it? Ashley’s cousin. When he offered to keep an eye out I saw he had this fucking wound on his stomach- no blood, just black. I figured I was just seeing things after the fucking hallucination.”

She shrugged. Could be him, could not be. ”They’ll definitely be back, Emily’s even more of a raging bitch than before. They're fucking strong too… if it wasn't for the fucking rain I could've hurt Vashti more, but its the one fucking thing that weakens mine and Aryin's spell. I gotta figure out some fucking cold defensive shit… really regretting not working on my spells all these years. Or I'll just shoot her- oh wait. Lost that too.”

”Damn, my pistol!? That's it man, that's it. This time they had me, but next time is grenades and fuckin’ car bombs. I'm not gonna sit and let 8th Street ruin our shit because people feel bad about what happened. And I'm definitely not gonna let them hurt you.” Greyson growled, making eye contact with Britney directly.

”Technically you gave it to me, so it was my pistol,” Linqian muttered, for once not rolling her eyes about Greyson doing something she’d view as ‘sappy’. She also tilted her head towards Britney. ”Yeah, I’ve got your back too. I fucking fought them today, i’ll fucking do it tomorrow- maybe just be a bit smarter about it.”

”Yeah, tear those bastards a new one, Greyson,” Britney grinned, before she turned to Linqian. ”I mean… you did the best you could, I think almost everyone turned their back on magic, even me...” She rubbed the back of her head awkwardly laughing, before she clapped her hands together.

”But, I mean, your Lux is red, riiiiiiiiiiight?!” She smiled at Linqian.

”One of them,” Linqian laughed. ”Honestly, I’m not so good at the side. I struggle with shit if I’m not using my body- fucking not like that- and the little I’ve developed since is green Lux. Jinhai did more cause he had time. You should’ve seen it, Brit, he learned how to turn himself into crystals and was suddenly dropping that shit all round the house. Would’ve been great if it was valuable, but nooo.”

Linqian gave a rueful smile. ”So I might… need a bit of help with that shit.”

”Don’t worry!” Britney said. ”I got you, sis! I just need to teach you to connect to Gaia, and channeler her-” She paused for a moment.

”... I sounded crazy as fuck right there, didn’t I?”

”A little bit,” Linqian smiled, holding her hands up. ”If we're gonna do this we should invite Aryin- I need that bitch to teach me some kinda durability shit, and they'll be down to connect with Gaia too.” She winked, then glanced at Greyson.

”I guess Greyson can… watch, if that's the shit he’s into.”

Greyson shrugged, giggling a little bit.
”She’s not wrong. Even in principle, Britney helped me when I was learning how to deal with my own spells. It's about the roots.” he tugged at his hair. ”That’s what the Pink Lotus is all about. Now, we were gonna go celebrate some good news. Are you coming?”

”The fuck you got to celebrate?” Linqian looked at them suspiciously. Had they gotten back together? Nah, that didn't seem right. Well, whatever. ”Yeah, I'm coming, when would I say no to celebrating shit? I can't drink too much cause I got a ten hour shift tomorrow, but plenty of fun can be had without that.”

”C’mon, girl,” Britney grinned as she put a hand on her hip. ”You tellin’ me the great Linqian Han is defeated by a hangover?” She stuck her tongue out, before turning to Edict.

”... What did you have in mind, Greyson?” She began. ”C’monnnnnnnn, the suspense is killing me!”

Greyson looked a little thoughtful at first.
Don't say the worst thing, don't say the worst thing.
Taking a deep breath, he tapped his finger against his chin before grinning widely.
”Let's go to fuckin’ Christiansands tonight. I can get us in, we can party, get fucked up, head back to my place after since its close by there?”

”I mean there are better clubs,” Britney shrugged. ”But, let’s par-tay! It’s been a lil’ while since I clubbed.”

”No idea where the fuck that is, but sounds perfect,” Linqian smiled, before tilting her head towards Britney. ”Since now I gotta get fucked up to prove that a hangover doesn’t do shit to me- I can work those shifts feeling like shit just fine. So long as you’re not too precious about the furniture in your fancy as fuck place, Greyson.”

”What? Are you gonna piss all over his crib?” Britney laughed, sticking her tongue out.

”Can’t rule it out,” Linqian shot back.

Greyson just laughed at the two of them, slowly rotating around and wrapping his arms around Britney before putting his chin on her shoulder.
”Hey, if there’s better clubs? Show me. Because honestly, I’m pretty homesick for *my* club. Some lights and sweat are enough for me, I don’t care where.”
And then he looked back at Linqian.
”Just call off your fuckin’ shift. I got’chu.” he grinned.

”Eh, let’s just go to Christiansands,” Britney shrugged. ”Or at least start there. Most of the clubs are on the same block or in walking distance anyway!”

”My boss- _{the other one}- is going to fucking kill me, but I won’t turn that shit down,” Linqian grinned. She didn’t actually have any way to contact Andre right now but… She’d figure that shit out later. ”Hey, gotta start with the shit clubs, then we can go to a better one . If you start with the best it’s gonna be fucking disappointing later, right?”

”Butttt…” she pointed a finger at them both, eyes narrowing slightly. ”If we go back to Greyson’s and you two go fuck or something while I’m left twiddling my thumbs, I’ll be real pissed.”

”Awwwww… If that happens you can hold my hand so you won’t feel left out!” Britney stuck her tongue out again.

”You mean you’ll make me watch without letting me join in? Now that’s just fucking cruel!” Linqian laughed, gesturing in mock exaggeration.

Greyson couldn’t hold back his laughter any longer, pulling away from Britney and letting one of his hands climb to his forehead. He playfully smacked Britney on the thigh as he slightly staggered away.
”Girl you’re rude as hell!” he laughed aloud. ”Come on, you know I ain’t ever been worried about nobody else in the room.” his eyebrows raised playfully, his giggling mostly subsiding.

”Fucking hell, be more sappy, why don’t you,” Linqian rolled her eyes.”Can we get going? I need a few drinks to deal with this shit.”

”I need to change into something more appropriate, and make myself even sexier,” Britney laughed. ”But let’s meet at Christiansands arooound, then?”

Greyson grimaced a little bit. He definitely had to freshen up again, even with dry clothes he wasn’t clean anymore. But they could probably get some other things done in the meantime.
”Yeah, fine. I’ll take our friend here out and get her hooked up with some replacement shit. Like your phone, maybe we can hit the Warehouse and get you a new bag and shit.”

”Yeah, thanks, I need at least a fucking phone before hitting a club,” Linqian nodded, putting a hand on the top of her head and frowning. Her hair felt horrible but that would take hours of washing to fix… thank god it was tied back at least. ”We’ll go do that then while you’re getting ready, Brit.”

Britney clapped her hands together.

”It's a plan then!”

Mention: Luna @Estylwen, Sully @Atrophy

Tayla couldn't be happier to have her feet on the ground again, until the smell of rot from Sloane hit her in the face. Holy shit. A lot happened over here and she'd taken her headphones off awhile ago, so she didn't know what went on. She didn't care to find out. Tsukino didn't get the warmest welcome. She knew she wouldn't, but she hoped that would change after her plan to get her help in exposing Greyson for the snake he is.

She'd just caught Sully about to call her name, when Tsukino pulled his attention towards other members that were injured. Whatever he wanted to say, they could talk about later. For now, she needed Tsukino's number. She didn't ask for it, until Drake and Auri left. Last thing she needed was Drake jumping down her throat.

The Coven members broke up and left in groups or one by one. She stood close to Tsukino and pulled out her phone. She handed it to her with the contacts open to NEW CONTACT to get her information. "I got something I want to talk to you about. Give me your number. I'll text you later."

She pocketed her phone once she got it back. "Thanks for the save. I'll see you tomorrow, maybe."

She kept their conversation quick, before moving on to Sully. She figured he had something to say, since he's approach her twice already. Most likely something about Dean, but at least there weren't many Coven members around to hear them talk about him. She followed Sully back into the forest. He was looking through the grass for something.

"What are you doing?" she asked him, arms crossed and shivering. The adrenaline of the day wore off and now she's cold from being soaked through. She's skin and bones under her baggy outfit. She's prone to the cold going right through her.

Outside Kari’s charred house
_{Direct Interaction: Drake (@Shin Ghost Note), Tayla (@silvermist1116)}

---

”But, I'm looking at the fact that you were spying on us, and nothing else. So, get lost.”

Luna closed her eyes shut, hating the image in front of her. Her perfect plan was falling away, bit by bit. Nothing ever got under her skin, but this- this did. Silently, she drew in a slow, long breath, reminding herself that Drake was headstrong, always was and always will be. It would take more than a day’s effort to win him over, but she was nothing if not persistent. She wouldn’t give up.

"I understand how you feel, Drake, but we should leave. There is no way all of that went unnoticed!"

Her eyes cracked open to see Auri talking down Drake, and the electric gun dematerializing. A flicker of hope burned in her chest as she stared at Auri, slowly dropping her hands. Auri didn’t specifically say Luna was or wasn’t welcome. She kept it vague and didn’t address it. That meant… maybe there was hope for Luna after all.

She watched Auri and Drake walk off, and blinked as Tayla approached, holding up a phone.

"I got something I want to talk to you about. Give me your number. I'll text you later."

Luna, with about as much hesitation as a thirsty horse does eyeing up a river, plugged in her details. Hers was a burner phone, yes, but one she planned on keeping for some time. It would work.

"Thanks for the save. I'll see you tomorrow, maybe."

Luna nodded, her face hiding the inner glee of making a connection within the Coven. Hope was not lost, after all. “Don’t mention it. Tomorrow, then.”

Her eyes fell on Sully in the process of healing Aislin and Layla. She blew out a quiet sigh of relief, then, with a stony look on her face, her white wings appeared once more as she took to the skies, disappearing into the horizon.

November 2nd, Evening, Before the Kari House Incident

Hearts Club Casino Warehouse, Industrial District
_{In collaboration with @NoriWasHere}

---

---

---

---

Isabella's cool gaze glanced at the crumpled man on the floor, before inspecting her watch. They were set to move in five minutes. That meant getting the sacrifice ready for transport.

Isabella glanced at the suited men surrounding her, and waved her hand to the warehouse door. The men nodded, one reaching down to grab Bruno by the collar of his bloodied shirt.

“Wait.”

The garage door slid open, the piercing headlights of an SUV illuminating the men and Isabella. One suited figure stepped out of the passenger seat, door slamming shut behind her as she approached the group.

“Let me inspect him first.”

It was none other than Valencia Vorpal, the consigliere. Isabella's face gave nothing away as she stared for a moment, then stepped to the side, letting Valencia get up and close to the target. Valencia ran a finger down the man’s cheek, before grabbing his chin roughly, forcing him to look up at her.

“Mr. Arno, do you know what's happening to you?”

Bruno trembled under her gaze. “N-no ma'am…”

Valencia huffed a strand of hair out of her face. “‘Ma’am.’ What bullshit.” She wrinkled her nose, like she was touching the scum of the earth, and let the man's face go.

“You're about to pay for your crimes against the innocent women you killed, Mr. Arno.” Her silhouette against the headlights darkened the cold smile on her face. “By the time we're done with you, you won't even be recognizable!”

The man whimpered. “Please, no, d-don't hurt me…”

Valencia cockily grinned. “That's what your wives said before you mercilessly killed them, isn't it?”

“That's not-”

“Isn't it?!” She slugged Bruno across the face.

The man was reduced to muffled whimpering. Staring with a look of disgust on her face, she nodded to Isabella and whistled. “Get him outta here, gentlemen.”

Bruno was roughly hauled to his feet, ziptied as he was, and thrown in the back of the SUV. The rest of the men, Isabella, and Valencia, piled into two other SUVs, and the convoy moved out, disappearing into the night.

---

The Cards convoy rolled to a stop in front of the designated place, men filing out and dragging the whimpering Bruno into the open. Isabella led the group, Valencia at her side, as they entered the building.

Inside the building, a long way away from the physical home of the 317 Faith, Octavia, and Sypha stood ready to do what was needed to ensure the survival of their collective. Around the room were Summer, Jordan, Jason, and Alex. They each knew that this dirty work was needed once again to ensure that they had the supplies to continue building more automatons, and the money to continue their expansion through the old industrial district. The three had selected an old, formerly abandoned building on the edge of town for the site of their ritual, and the supplies were ready and the location was secure. What the mafia did not know was that there were monsters that lurked in the dark corners of the house, and if they tried anything they would learn just how monstrous Faith’s spellbook could get.

“Welcome,” Sypha said, “let’s get this over with,” she whispered briefly to her two coven mates.

“Hope we didn't make you wait.” Valencia smirked, thumb brushing against her lip as she appraised the group gathered in front of her. From her information pull on the 317, she recognized the leadership in front of her. All three were present. Four more helpers on the other side, though she didn't pull up anything on their names or abstractions.

They were here for business, and appeared ready. Maybe even sincere. But Valencia wasn't taking any chances, and signaled to her men. They filed out, filling the entrance of the room, many carrying briefcases, others with their hands clasped cooly in front of them. Their eyes were watchful, appraising the movements of the 317 and the dark corners of the house with vigilance.

Last to file in were two suited men dragging Bruno Arno by the arms, unceremoniously dumping him in the center of the room. Bruno weakly crumpled to his side, movement inhibited by the zipties.

Isabella’s eyes glanced to Bruno, before crossing the room slowly, her gloved hand extended out for a handshake. “Sypha, it is a pleasure to see you again.”

Her face was set in a neutral visage, ready for business just like any other day.

“We've brought the remaining amount we owe you, as well as the proofs you requested.”

She waved over one of the men, and presented a briefcase filled with all of Bruno’s dirty little secrets. Intercepted texts, emails, diaries detailing how and why he was murdering his wives, and how to hide it so he could live his extravagant life.

“How would you like to proceed?” Isabella asked.

Faith rubbed her temple. “Take his shirt off, and strap him to the table,” Faith said as she lazily pointed towards a table. This would not take long but Faith had already regretted taking this deal.

“Once he’s on the table you all will wait in the side room until the ritual is finished,” Sypha responded as she pointed towards a room off to the side.

“This service is off limits to all but my crew. There will be no video recording, and no outside presence allowed,” Octavia crossed her arm, “we’ll know if you try.”

Isabella glanced at Valencia. They exchanged a look, before Valencia's eyes narrowed the slightest. She glanced at her men, and jerked her chin toward the table. Bruno gave a surprised whimper as he was dragged towards the table.

“Don’t move.” One of the men said in a disinterested tone, pulling out a knife. One could see the uneven breaths shaking Bruno’s chest as he tried to stay as still as possible. The sound of a knife sliced through cloth, and Bruno’s dress shirt was removed in shreds. More men placed their hands on Bruno, hauling him onto the table, slicing his cuffs to pin his hands to the table. By the time they were done, Bruno was a sad, sniffling mess strapped to the table.

Isabella glanced at Valencia again, and the silver-haired woman whistled, gesturing for the men and Isabella to follow her.

“We’ll be waiting for the good news, friends.” Valencia bit out as she stepped into the side room with Isabella and her men. The door slid shut.

Faith watched with anticipation as the mafia left the room..

“Okay,” Jordan said with a sigh, “let’s get it over with yeah?”

“Agreed, Faith?” Octavia said as she began to bite her nails.

“Someone stuff his mouth with a sock,” Faith sighed as she moved to her bag and began to pull out her jars filled with the salve that would change the man on the table forever. “Summer, verify their information.”

“On it,” Summer said with a sigh, “Bruno I’m about to either save you, or be the one to sign your death certificate.” Summer paused as she plugged her laptop into one of her homunculi. “I really hope their intel was wrong, Bruno, I really do.”

Jordan began to move towards the sniveling man with a ball gag. He could not look the man in the eyes.

“I’m innocent, you gotta believe me!” Bruno whimpered on the table, watching with strained eyes as he went white, seeing the ball gag. “Please!”

Unfortunately, as Summer looked, the information kept checking out. There were five wives: Lorenza Ordo, 21, cause of death: poison made to look like a heart attack; Talia Bueno, 25, cause of death: locked in a car while a train T-boned it, made to look like an accident; Evelin Dwight, 29, cause of death: pushed off a building, made to appear like a suicide; Amelia Armstrong, 22, cause of death: Negligence to frail state, died of ongoing medical conditions, made to look like it was her own fault; Olivia Johnson, 24, cause of death: murder, made to look like Bruno hadn’t hired the assassin.

“One final chance Bruno,” Summer said as she sighed. She knew he was guilty, she knew the law failed all those women when they let the killer walk free. It did not make what was to come any easier. Summer reached into her bag and pulled out a butterfly homunculi. A golden glow extended from her hand to the butterfly and it spurted to life in an instant. It took off from her hand, and flew across the room to Bruno and landed on his chest.

“Did you kill Lorenza Ordo?” Jordan asked as he took another step forward.

“N-no! I didn't, I swear!” Bruno said, trying to keep the lie out of his throat.

The butterfly erupted with flashing red lights. “Did you kill Talia Bueno, Evelin Dwight, Amelia Armstrong?” Jordan took three steps forward.

“I-I don't wanna answer!” Bruno squeaked out, sweating on the table, his eyes on the flashing butterfly.

“That’s okay Bruno. You don’t have to answer any more questions. We’ll make this quick at least,” Sypha responded as she pulled out her knife and cut across her palm. A moment later several tendrils of blood shot out and impacted Bruno all across his body. Sypha infected Bruno with her fast acting blood based disease. In an instant he would feel chills, and have a cold sweat break out across his body. A second later, he would feel dizzy and disoriented.

“F-fuuuck….” Bruno moaned on the table, his eyes rolling in their sockets.

Jordan walked over and put the ball gag in Bruno’s mouth. He strapped it on the back of his head holding it tight. Bruno only gave a muffled whimper in reply, too dazed to resist. He gave Faith a thumbs up as he did. The butterfly flapped its wings and took to the air and flew back to Summer. Summer pulled back the golden energy from the butterfly. She grabbed a ball from the bag and transferred her energy and it took to the sky.

“Light Out ready,” Summer said as she had the ball fly directly into the center of the room and a low hum filled the air. Any electronics, cameras, and even peeping eyes would suddenly go fuzzy, and any listening ears would only hear a jumbled mess.

“Who are you calling out,” Sypha asked as she grabbed a few containers of the salve.

“Tralvo, the horror of the deep,” Faith responded with a fit tone as she opened the first jar of the salve and began to paint it on his skin. She worked fast but the line work was precise. “He killed his wives in life, and she’ll probably kill more in this next life. But poor Bruno won’t go on to the next place, so I don’t think he’ll care.” Faith knew that there was a powerful ingredient in the creation of a monster and that was the soul of the person who was used in the creation of it. Bruno would be no more, and Tralvo would be born to wreck havoc on the world.

“Failsafe,” Octavia asked as she chewed at her nails.

“Always,” Faith asked as she grabbed the artifact from its carrying case, “a monster will always listen to their mother.”

Faith gave the signal and the rest of the 317 seven began to chant. “Tralvo, horror of the deep rise through our offering. Rise, rise, Tralvo horror of the deep. Tralvo, horror of the deep we compel you to rise to the land of light, rise rise horror of the deep” The group kept chanting. As they did, lights began to flicker and an unnatural wind began to spin through the room.

As the coven chanted Faith raised up the sword slowly and with purpose. She walked over to the head of Bruno and brought the sword to its zenith. She held it there for a moment before it began to vibrate, signaling that it was time. Faith
spun the blade in one quick motion, pointing the tip towards Bruno’s heart and plunged it downward.

Bruno tried to scream, but the gag muffled his cries. Instead, his muffled cries subsided to gurgling, as his eyes slowly grew glassy. A blessing in disguise, for what was to come next…

As the blade pierced his heart the sigils drawn across Bruno’s body seemed to constrict at once and begin to pull inward second by second forcing Bruno’s skin to give way inch by inch. Faith twisted the blade and pushed it in deeper which caused the sigil to move all across Bruno’s body. Seemingly moving faster and faster, causing the skin around the sigil to begin to crack and flake away into the wind. As it spun more and more of Bruno was lost to the wind, and as more of Bruno was lost the faster the wind became. Soon, as Bruno’s skin was completely gone a form began to form in the center of the wind. At first it was nothing more than the decayed remains of his skin just forming together but soon, as the entirely was connected a sick sight began to take form. Tentacles, and lots of them. They began to take form using the sacrificed remains of the serial killer himself. Soon, Bruno’s internal organs, bones, and every last fabric of the being that was became pulled away and the true form of the monster took shape.

Several tentacles shout out and grabbed Jordan, pushing him through the wall, sending him into the room with the mafia members. Jordan tried to fight through the strength of the monster but no matter how much he pumped his magic into his muscles he could not push away the the raw strength of the monster.

“Faith,”Jordan eked out as his veins began to bulge and a terrifying rage began to fall across his face. His stature began to change, and he began to move some of the tentacles away from his body. His strength surged as the calm, collected man that was Jordan was forced aside in this sudden, and unexpected moment of fight or flight. The tentacles simply gripped down harder on Jordan in response. An instant later more tentacles shot out from the room targeting all the male members of the mafia.

“Oh shit.” Valencia exclaimed, pulling Isabella to the side as a tentacle shot past them, constricting around one of her guards.

Isabella's eyes betrayed a hint of fascination, “This is the monster? Our monster?”

Valencia grit her teeth, staring at her men gasping for air under the tentacles. “Oggle later, we gotta do something about this!”

Valencia summoned one, two, ten, twenty needles from the blackness, The slivers of metal shining as they hovered about her.

Isabella yanked on Valencia's shoulder. “Don't hurt it, are you mad?”

Valencia shrugged her off, eyes locked on Jordan. “Why do you think I'm going in so small? Minimal damage, maximum pain, yeah?”

With a wave of Valencia's hand, the needles shot forward. Some stabbed deep into the meat of the tentacles constricted around Jordan. Others stabbed the tentacles holding her men. Just enough to make the monster twitch, to release her men so the ones attacked could try to escape…

A groan could be heard but the monster still pushed to constrict all of the men present before, as suddenly as they appeared, the tentacles released their victims and was pulled back into the other room. A moment later Sypha, Faith, Octavia, and Alex emerged unscathed but shaken by what they had just seen. Behind them, walking on the writhing mass of tentacles that made up the creatures arms and legs, the monster followed. It chittered, clicking its teeth as its face scared the men in the room. It began to drool with hunger.

“Tralvo seems to have an intense hatred of men. Do well to remember that,” Faith said as she held out the artifact. The artifact was a well crafted, balanced, and sharp gladius styled sword. “She will obey the commands of anyone who wields this but,” Faith said with a dry tone, “no men.”

Valencia lowered her stance, needles disappearing as the situation de-escalated. She stepped forward, accepting the artifact with a nod, “Duly noted.”

Jordan looked to the monster with a magical rage in his eyes. He wanted to rush it, he wanted to to kill it, he wanted to eat each tentacle while the light left the monsters eyes. But he was able to pull back. His muscles returned to normal, his height did too, and moved towards Sypha as he grabbed his head. “You never know what they are going to do at first.”

“I did not know it would hate men,” Sypha responded.

“The soul can affect how a monster is born. The kind of evil that permeates it. For Bruno, his evil was directed towards women, and the new monster’s rage is directed towards men in response,” Faith paused as she titled her head and listened to the chittering response from the monster, “no, no that’s not it. She just hates men.”

“Interesting.” Valencia said in response, her gaze on Faith. “You can communicate with her?”

She moved her gaze upward, and addressed the monster. “Pleasure to meet you, Tralvo. I will ensure I have everything I need from Faith to take care of you.”

Valencia weighed the sword in her hands, admiring it for a moment before her gaze flickered to Faith. “Does she need any special care, besides ensuring she never takes commands from men? What does she eat?”

Valencia’s eyes flickered to Isabella, “We’ve paid up, right?”

Isabella nodded. “I believe we have, the briefcases have been handed over. They can count it while we wait.”

“Don’t feed her after midnight,” Faith chuckled, “she’s a monster, she does well on any source of red meat. She won’t eat much more than a normal person but she does like her meat a bit more,” Faith shrugged at the next word, “decayed.”

Summer pulled another device out of her bag. It appeared to be a metallic monocle with a yellow glass frame. Summer transferred her power to the monocle and examined the briefcase. “We’re good,” she said as she pulled back her power.

“We’re good,” Faith said as she looked back at the destruction and sighed. She’d have to fix this mess herself.

Valencia nodded, then offered a half-grin. “Well, it’s been a pleasure, ladies.”

She gestured with the sword, looking up at Tralvo. “Time to go home, honey.”

And with that, the House of Cards and Tralvo made their way out of 317’s building and into the night.

---

---

”Thank you, Jack, but we’ll take my car,“ Anya smiled at him as he offered his teleportation services. She didn’t want to leave her car behind, and she’d rather take the less disconcerting mode of transport. There was no way Sloane could handle the teleportation anyway, with the state she was in. That would just be cruel after she nearly dead.

Anya carefully supported Sloane, with one arm around her back without gripping onto her too tightly. If Sloane, for some reason, decided she could walk entirely on her own, Anya didn’t want it to become a thing.

”Yes, leaving is for the best,” Anya’s slight smile didn’t waver, gaze flickering between the remaining coven members and slowing on Luna before she disappeared. Ah, Luna, such an idiot. What use was a spy who always got caught? As much as Greyson had seemed concerned about the House of Cards, how strong could they be with someone like her among their ranks? ”My car isn’t too far away.”

Still supporting Sloane as much as she’d allow it, Anya led her and Drake back down the path. She knew that Sloane wasn’t too happy with Drake’s involvement but… she was being good willed enough to give them an opportunity to talk. More to the point, for Drake to apologise. Anya didn’t care for him, but he could be useful - and if Sloane wasn’t talking to him, she wouldn’t be either.

”Here we are.” Just a bit down the road was Anya’s small, but sleek, car. She opened the passenger door for Sloane with a smile, and turned to Drake.

”Before we go anywhere- well, I imagine you just want to go home, Sloane- I believe you have something to talk about,” Anya said with a pointed look at Drake, smile unwavering. ”Now’s a good time.”

It was left unspoken that if he didn’t apologise he wouldn’t be going anywhere with them.

"Lynn!? It's Ken! I'm real, it's... It's all an illusion, come on! We've gotta get the others and get out of here before something worse happens!"

Ken’s words forced Lynn further into the depressive pit. She knew she was out of the illusion, she knew she was back in her reality. She knew that everything she just saw, felt, and was teased was nothing more than a cruel joke that was an 8th Street get-out-of-jail-free card. And it worked. Lynn did not know what words could be used to describe how she felt in this moment, and she knew that was the point. How can a group fight back if they are trapped in their most wonderful desire? How could they have any hope of finding Kari? Would every fight from here on out play out like this? The group starts to get the upper hand, 8th street deploys their pink mist, and runs away like fucking cowards. The Future was already clear in the present, there would be many more fights to come their way.

“I know Ken,” Lynn said as agree buried her head in her arms, “I can’t help the others right now, I can’t…I can’t do anything,” Lynn choked out.

Lynn needed to get out of here. Everything was beyond fucked with no hope of it getting better. She needed a drink. She needed to get so drunk that feelings became dull, so drunk that the painful memories faded away into blissful peace, so drunk that she gets that sweet free trial of death where one moment she’s somewhere and the next she’s waking up somewhere else. She needed to get far away from the headspace she was in currently, and she needed to get there right now. Her hand, trembling, shot to her pocket and grabbed her flask. She quickly pulled it out, feverishly twisted the cap open, and pressed it to her lips ready for the sweet relief that it promised. She felt the tears fall harder as nothing came out. It was empty. Her eyes went wide as she held it in front of her and shook it to confirm. No, no, no no this couldn’t be. She was always so careful to not leave it open after a drink, how could it be empty? She pressed it to her lips again in some vain hope to manifest a single drop more but the flask did not yield to her wishes. She must’ve left the cap open just enough that the flask was leaking, or the explosive force that rocked the house jostled it loose, or the various falls must’ve pushed it open. There were a million reasons why Lynn did not have alcohol in this moment, and none of them made a difference.

“FUCK,” Lynn shouted, her voice suddenly angry, as she stood up and cocked her arm back. She turned her body and launched the flask into the inferno that still ragged. She looked at Ken, back to the fire, and back to Ken. “We find Kari, and we make those fuckers pay,” Lynn said as she looked over and caught Lila being carried, “They think their fucking safe, the future will prove them wrong,” Lynn paused as she began to grip her fingers together, balling them into a fist before releasing them and repeating that process. Her breathing was sharp, quick, but that did not stop the steady stream of tears from falling. “We have to find Kari and-” Lynn paused as her words finally broke through the anger that filled her mind, “we have to find Kari.” Lynn looked towards Ken again as she chuckled. It was a nervous chuckle, but it still caught Lynn by surprise. “I’ll need your help Ken.”

---

Aryin was on top of the world. There was nothing that she couldn’t do. There was no one she couldn’t fight. No scarcity, no troubles, and nothing but one good time after another. And it was all a lie. When Aryin came back from the twisted vision she nearly fell to the ground in shock. Gone were the bright lights, the adoring fans, and the ability to enjoy the life she was destined to live and back was the mud, the grime, the pain, and the suffering that her life was rife with. Her eyes saw much happen quickly with the group, she saw Linqian reacting as expected, she saw the crowd gather around Sloane, and she saw that everyone was hurting like she was.

She gagged, and then vomited up some blood. The blood left its mark around her face, and mixed with the muddy water beneath her. She was hurt, extremely bad. She felt her whole body start to radiate as such. Her joint cast with Linqian had weakened her durability, and while she was still able to tank George’s hit and keep fighting it seemed that it did not prevent massive damage to her body. She looked down her chest and noticed a massive red and black spot that ran the entire length of where he had connected the strike. She coughed again and more blood came out. She needed a healer, but she couldn’t look weak right now in front of the coven. Her vision was her at the strongest, and she wanted her former crew to not see her as wounded as she was. She needed the chalice, but she also needed them to always know she’ll be able to take a hit and keep fighting. Aryin was not weak, Aryin was tough and strong and always willing to put herself in the face of danger. She could not let them worry about the potential that she’d never be strong, and durable enough to keep going. As such, she quickly began to limp away from the scene and towards her car, her arms holding the jacket closed to make sure none got a look at her wounded form.

---

“Sypha,” the door to Sypha’s office was thrown open as Jason quickly entered. His head shot back around and locked onto Jordan as he carried Aryin into the room. Aryin was clearly not completely present, her eyes were nearly completely closed and her arm dangled and swayed as Jordan maneuvered the room and placed her down. The bottom half of her face was caked in blood as was the jacket that now failed to hide the wounded, naked body underneath it.

“What the fuck happened,” Sypha shouted as they grabbed their knife and quickly cut their palm. Several tendrils shout out in an instant but hung in the air harmlessly.

“Don’t know,” Jason responded, “we were outside as she drove over the curb to get here.”

“I’ve never seen her this hurt before,” Jordan said as he rubbed his temple.

“I can’t heal her in this form,” Sypha said as they retracted the tendrils, “we need to get her to swap.”

“We’ve tried,” Jason responded back as he ran over to Aryin’s side and leaned next to her ear, “ARYIN, come on I know you can hear me. You need to swap, man, you’re in a bad spot right now. You need to get healed.”

Aryin simply groaned in response as their eyes flickered a few times at the light.

Sypha walked over and looked at Aryin and sighed. They then slapped Aryin right across the face with every ounce of strength they had but their hand simply hit the brick wall that was her jaw.

“Let me try,” Jordan responded as he channeled a lot of his magic to his strength. He raised his open palm, high into the air as he crossed the distance to Aryin, and with a sudden move he brought the slap down connecting with the jaw. The room, hell the whole building, shook as the couch exploded as the force of the impact moved through Aryin’s body and into the ground below. The paintings hung in the room shook violently, as any hidden dust that escaped the relentless perfectionism that was Sypha’s cleaning entered the air.

”Why did you hit me I’m trying…trying to sleep,” Aryin groaned as their eyes finally opened a hair more.

“ARYIN,” the trio shouted as one, “SWAP.”

Aryin’s eyes blinked three times before understanding kicked in. They swapped their form back down to Aaron. As a result, their covering now had Aaron shirtcocking it right in the middle of Sypha’s office. Jason quickly took off his shirt and tossed it on the offending sight before him. The blood tendrils once again shot out from Sypha, impacting all across the site and the healing process began. Jordan sighed as he rubbed his hand. His healing factor had already healed the damage the slap had done to his own hand, but he never quite got used to the pain hitting Aryin brought.

“Okay, I got this boys,” Sypha looked up, “they’re really hurt though and they’ll be here a while. Get a spare change of clothes for them, and grab Octavia.”

“Where am I,” Aaron weakly asked as he tried to lean up but a new blood tendril shot out and hit his head, and forced it back down. Life was already returning to his eyes, his face, and his body in general. He groaned as the pain radiated ten times as strong as his internal body began to let itself back together again.

“Your back at the 317. The better question,” Sypha said as she shooed Jordan and Jason away to their tasks, “What happened to you?”

“I,” Aaron paused as he sighed. Fuck. He was about to reveal he joined up with sycamore again. His breathing began to increase as the crushing realization of a sudden trip down poverty lane was ahead of him.

“Hey don’t worry, we know who you were with. Rules are going to be changing so you’re good,” Sypha smiled. They did not like the rule change but it was needed, and if they were going to join up they needed all the able bodied soldiers they could muster. “Just tell me what happened.”

“I joined up with sycamore,” Aaron groaned in pain as his broken ribs continued to move inside his body, “wanted to figure out what’s killing us, you know? And we were at a dead friends house when 8th street,” Aaron paused as Octavia entered the room with a set of clothes that should fit in hand. She had a concerned look on her face. “When 8th street attacked us unprovoked,” Aryin pointed towards their wounded chest, “courtesy of George once again,” he coughed up some more lingering blood.

“Twice in one week, you’re crazy,” Octavia responded as she tossed the clothes onto Aaron’s feet. “How did George get you this bad though, last time was not like this.”

“A good friend and I used to do a duo spell,” Aaron started.

“A joint cast,” Sypha responded.

“Yeah, it’s called a joint cast,” Jordan responded as he entered the room again.

“A joint cast,” Aaron rolled hood eyes, “gave me some more power but,” he paused as he sighed, “I may have forgot the downside to my durability.”

The blood tendrils retracted from his body as Sypha steadied herself. Octavia ran over and held Sypha upright. “You’re out of the scary zone but you need much, much more healing. I’m tapped. Let’s take a quick fifteen, let you get dressed, let me regenerate” Sypha paused as she pointed towards the door. Octavia began to help walk her towards it.

“What’s changing, what’s changed,” Aaron asked with a smirk.

Jordan looked to Octavia with a grin, and Octavia returned it before the duo looked to Aaron. “Rest up big man,” Jordan joked as he left the room. “We have much to talk about tonight,” Octavia smiled as she did the same with Sypha in tow.

@Atrophy Sully
Kari's Yard

---

Clancy had kept his silence as Britney had subtley rejected his offer on Linqian's behalf. He doubted she wanted him keeping tabs on her, given his expressed opinion. If she hadn't before, she likely knew his nature. They all did, most likely. He'd nearly torn out a man's entrails in response to being shot, and had doubtless left a few un-animated corpses after being punted into the water-logged crater, a sight not unlike something his grandad would've seen in the war, out past the snaking line of trenches, barbed wire and unexploded shells.

Or so he assumed. He'd never been there himself, and his family seldom spoke of such things while they were around to tell the tale.

Instead, he watched a bunch of them disappear down the road, filing into Britney's SUV and taking off. Elsewhere, they'd seen off a white-haired, almost fae-like girl by the name of Luna, a former spy. Spying for who he didn't know, nor did he care. She wasn't anyone of consequence to him. Yet.

The night was a bust, and the rest of the group were disappearing into their little silos. That left him with a newfound anger for 8th Street, given their antics...

... and the hunger was gnawing at him again, that biting agitation tugging at the seams of his consciousness.

He wouldn't find anything of substance here, not anything or anyone that he was willing to expend. Pacing away from the smouldering remains of the cabin, he caught Sully still marauding through a thicket of overgrwoth, and returned the favour offered earlier.

"Thanks."

By the time Sully had turned to hear where the voice had come from, the boy was gone. But the jacket had been folded and left just a few feet away.

---

On account of losing most of his worldly possessions, he had almost been out of luck save for a spare phone he'd left near his old stomping ground. It was no means top of its line, and while he didn't care to keep up with the latest innovations, he guessed it would've been worth less than the cost of a family meal even without the cracked screen and scratches across its lime green frame. But it worked for what he needed.

As it stood right now, he was out a place to stay. The RV had been trashed in a way that would've got him noticed, and he didn't want to surprise anyone doing a night patrol of the lot. There were a few underpriveleged projects, but they had people living there as-is, and not all of them needed to be bothered.

Instead, he'd lined something up with a local. Some lonely fourty-something holed up in an apartment not too far from the area that he'd come to view as his preferred stomping groun, with an interest in the welfare of young boys like himself. That much, he was certain about the man.

Clancy had taken steps to ensure there was no ambiguity about that.

With this, at least, he'd have a place to stay, a change of clothes, and a warm meal. The latter, he needed more than anything else.

A few characters cropped up across the phone's display, slightly distorted by the crack snaking across the center.

looking forward to seeing u bud ;)

Moments later, Clancy keyed the words back in a well-rehearsed motion, then hit send.

see u soon

By the time the night was done, he wouldn't be hungry anymore.

The Devil's Den
_{In collaboration with @Shin Ghost Note}

---

A cigarette was pressed in her lips as she walked up to the establishment. An old nightclub in the seedier parts of the city, once upon a time having a proper name lit in neon signs that had since been vandalized, leaving the building unmarked. Word on the street had it go by a different name - the Devil's Den. Where partygoers came to let loose and under-table deals happened in the VIP lounges. You could get anything you wanted here, if you knew where to look.

Valencia gave the front doors a long look before she grunted under her breath, stamped out her cigarette, and walked in.

---

---

---

---

The music thumping off the subwoofers hit her first. The bouncer eyed her as she walked up to the curtain, and he pulled it aside, revealing a lounge and a dance floor lit up with dim neon lights and strobes.

Valencia didn't care for the floor or the bodies moving to the beat. She made straight for the bar, ordered a shot of vodka, and sat in one of the stools.

Her eyes glanced around the bar and lounge. Her contact would know she was here, had probably already spotted her, and meant she could get down to business quicker.

She took her shot stone-faced, and waited.

“... Ms. Vorpal,”

The information broker, Isaac Allen Kane, walked up to her, tapped on the bar, and took a seat next to Valencia. “... What can I do for you today? I didn’t imagine you showing up in a place like this.”

He dug into the pockets of his brown suit jacket and pulled out a cigar. "Do you want one?”

Valencia held up a hand, pulling out a pack of cigarettes instead. “I’m good, Boss. But there is something you can help me with…”

She pulled out a fresh stick with her teeth, shoving the pack back in her pocket and popping a light. Blowing out a thin trail of smoke, she paused a moment before fishing into her suit jacket. She pulled out a small envelope and, with the cigarette smoking between her lips, she opened it and pulled out a small picture of a girl.

“Know anything ‘bout a Kari Wilson?”

Isaac took a puff of his cigar, put it back in his mouth, as he grabbed the picture. He looked at it for a few moments, rubbed his chain, before he said, “...Doesn't ring a bell. She’s cute, though.”

He gently set the photo down, before he grabbed his cigar, “Tell me who she is… And who she is to you. Maybe I can do some digging for the right price.”

“Some Sycamore who died, apparently. Got into the wrong sorta crowd, but no one seems to know who.” Valencia said, flicking her cigarette off to the side. “Mother is very interested in her. Or, more exactly, what she represents. That girl has a secret, and Mother wants her hands on it.”

She smirked. “Are we talking the regular fee, or a little something extra?”

“Just the fee,” Issac took a puff of his cigar. “I take tips, though.” He smirked.

Valencia nodded at that, biting her cigarette a bit as she sifted through her inner jacket pocket again, pulling out a thickly padded envelope. See placed it on the counter, sliding it towards him, before adding one more to the pile.

“The tip,” she explained, the end of her stick glowing cherry as she inhaled.

Isaac grabbed it, opened it up, and laughed.

“… Mother Cards must really want her,” He contained his laughter. “Give me… two days. And I’ll see what I can dig up.”

Valencia nodded. “Good, good. But, since you’re here, I have one more I need looking into…”

She pulled out another small photo and laid it out on the counter. She propped up on an elbow, side-eyeing the broker. If he dropped any hints of surprise, or recognition, she’d catch it.

“Lionel Hunter, anything you can tell me about ‘em?”

Isaac laughed.

“Lionel, my boy… He was a client of mine,” Isaac began. “He was waging a one man war against all the crazy bastards that roamed into the city. He fought the Elite, 8th, even those crazy skinheads. Though, not surprised he got axed. Everyone was gunning for him ”

Isaac awkwardly laughed, before taking another puff of his cigar. “Anything specific you need knowing?”

Valencia gave a nod, “So he had skin in the game.” She was silent a bit before her gaze caught Isaac’s. “Know anything ‘bout the circumstances around his death?”

“I heard he was tracking a serial killer… Downtown you know,” Isaac scratched his chin. “He got stabbed to death outside of the Port-AWE club? Maybe he was just trying to get his freak on and tried sticking his dick in crazy…” Isaac laughed, taking a puff of his cigar.

Valencia let out a half-chuckle before her eyes narrowed, and she asked. “Any of his personal files survive?”

“Not sure,” Isaac shrugged. “8th ransacked his office and house.”

Valencia grinned at that. “My man, you have made my day.” She slipped a hand in her jacket pocket again, pulling out one more fat envelope and sliding it across.

“I think that’s all the questions I have for now. Unless you want to stay for a couple of drinks?”

Isaac smiled.

“Of course,”

Valeician’s smile twisted, and she turned to the bartender. “Couple ‘o drink this way, Boss. Make ‘em strong.”

---

The Apothecary
_{In collaboration with @Shin Ghost Note}

---

“No, I told you, we’re gonna get what we want.”

“What if we don't, Mother? What then?”

Two women sat at the bar stools in the center of the Apothecary, dark and ruffled dresses a contrast against the rich mahogany and red plush accents of the speak-easy. Mr. Roosevelt stood behind the counter, idly polishing a glass. The patron seated on the left seemed agitated, though kept this behind a mask of placid calm - Isabella Blackthorne. The one on the right, recognized as Phantasia Vorpal by her wide brim hat, stared hard at the e martini set in front of her, hand rimming the crystal.

Her chin turned towards her Under Boss. “Then it’s back to business as usual, Isabella.”

She glanced behind her. Some of her men were idly smoking, playing cards in the booths near the steel front door. But even they could feel it. The ominous clouds that hung over the House of Cards ever since Phantasia made that deal with Edict.

What would come of this?

The doors were thrown open.

“... HOOOOOOOOOOWDY!”

Natalie screamed as she threw the double doors open. She had a wide grin on her face.

Behind her was Shaquita, and besides her was Luis on one side… and the enigmatic third in command of the Dollhouse organization: Heinrich Thormer. Appearing as a tall mannequin-doll-like thing, he stood over twelve feet tall and barely looked as if he could stand up straight.

“Ding, ding! A surprise visit from Dollhouse!” Natalie shouted. “Would Phantasia kindly have a talk with us? We have to discuss everyone’s favorite Coven!”

The suited men in their booths immediately snapped to their feet, unholstering guns, pistols gleaming silver. But they froze the moment Phantasia raised a hand. She turned in her seat, only the lower half of her face visible as she appraised them.

“Isabella, take a walk.” She said in a low tone to her number two. As Isabella bowed her head, Phantasia half-turned her head to the Cards bartender.

“Mr. Roosevelt, we have guests. Please make them comfortable.”

Mr. Roosevelt stood a little taller, “Yes, Mother.” He moved to the side door, holding it wide for Phantasia and the Dollhouse. Phantasia slowly got off her stool, patted down her dress, and gestured to the back room.

“We can discuss matters with a little privacy, yes?”

Luis looked to Shaquita, who gave him an affirmative nod. He clapped his hands together, as he said,

“Gladly,” He said before he walked in, followed by Natalie, Heinrich, and Shaquita.

Phnatasia followed closely behind them, hand hovering on the handle of the door. She turned back to the main lounge, and eyed her men, chin jutting to the front. With hurried nods, the men left out the front door.

Mr. Roosevelt pulled out the cushioned seats around a poker table, now cleared with only the lingering scent of alcohol and cigarette smoke. The room was dimly lit, not as polished as the front, yet held all the privacy in the world. Not a window in sight. Mr. Roosevelt hovered by the last chair, waiting for Phantasia to take her seat before he pushed it in slightly.

Phantasia pulled out a cigarette and her holder, lighting it quick as cherry smoke suffused the room. Her hands, momentarily busy, hid the slight tremor.

Mr. Roosevelt stood courteously to the side, “Any drinks for the young masters and ladies?”

“Some whiskey, please,” Luis said, taking a seat at the poker table, before he looked at Natalie.

“... I’m good,” Natalie rolled her eyes, taking a seat. Heinrich and Shaquita remained standing…. Not saying a word. Mr. Roosevelt nodded, leaving for a moment. It was only about a minute later that a whiskey was placed on the table in front of Luis, and Mr. Roosevelt took his leave.

Phantasia kept silent, taking another inhale of smoke before leaning forward at the poker table. “I imagine you want to get straight to business. I’m all ears.”

Luis grinned.

“... A little birdie told me that there is a little… Issue,” Luis began, taking a sip of his whiskey, “An issue between the House of Cards, and Sycamore… Would you mind telling me what that's all about?”

Phantasia thought long and hard about not giving Dollhouse the scoop. They had no business trespassing and sticking their nose where it didn’t belong, after all.
But something kept her mouth from running off. That little seed of trepidation, that dry throat, that metallic taste in her mouth. There was House of Cards, large, fearsome. And then there was Dollhouse. A group so secretive even she had no idea what their aim was, or what they wanted here.

Instead, she relented, her voice dropping a note. “Some thought it wise to seal a close friend of mine - an apparition, goes by the Void Heart. I was prepared to enact due revenge but… I’ve recently been told there’s a way to recover said apparition. As long as they keep their word, Sycamore and I have no issue.”

As she spoke, there was a faint rustling in the vents above.

“I heard about the Void Heart, and his late host…” Luis began. “I also heard plenty about their last hurrah at Veni Vedi Veni.”

Shaquita leaned in and whispered something in his ear and he grinned. “Maybe you can see why we find the Void Heart… problematic.”

As Phantasia connected the dots, her lips curled into a frown. “I see how it is… Edict is your little birdie, isn’t he?” She leaned back in her seat, palm running across her mouth as her face darkened. “...That son of a bitch.”

A pause, before dropping the hand to her lap. “So what, you're gonna intimidate me into not pursuing this? Is that it?”

“No, no, no…” Luis shook his head, putting his hands together. “Here at Dollhouse we don't intimidate, we don't threaten, we don't menace… We understand.”

He paused for dramatic effect, “So help us understand each other. Then we can come to a mutual solution for this issue. No blood spilled, no bullets fired.”

Natalie rolled her eyes as Shaquita and Heinrich stood in silence.

“So, maybe you want to hear our perspective and maybe understand why we would want to keep the Void Heart sealed?” Luis asked.

Phantasia couldn’t help but bare her teeth a little at that. There was a long silence, Phantasia eyeing the vent through the brim of her hat for a brief moment before her head lowered once more.

A sigh. “Very well… Let’s hear your perspective.”

“Well, the best way to put is; the Void is…” Luis trailed off.

“... Bad for business, serial killers always are,” Natalie added, shaking her head and staring Phantasia dead on with her arms crossed. “Having something running around sucking people dry without giving a fuck who it is….?”

She shook her head as she said, “... Yeah, I can’t see why anyone would want a motherfucker like that running around. I know he’s your buddy, but he’s also a liability. And here at Dollhouse we don’t like problems like him. We remove similar Apparitions from the equation every chance we get.”

“Because… you heard about what started the whole mess at Veni Vedi Veni, right?” Luis added. “I ask myself: what if that had been a Dollhouse employee Alizee and Void Heart attempted to kidnap?”

Natalie laughed.

“Mr. Meatball would regret all the choices that led him to that point,” Natalie snorted.

The muscle in Phantasia’s jaw clenched a bit as she listened. This would be when things would start to get serious.

She leaned forward, every inch of skin a livewire.

“Let’s say I listen to you, and forget about the Void Heart… There’s still a debt to be paid by the Sycamore, by the Temple. Their involvement in Void’s sealing, betraying its new host… Someone has to answer to that.”

“And… how do you expect that debt to be paid? With blood?” Luis asked, taking a sip of his whiskey, and putting it down. Touching his fingertips together, he gave Phantasia a very flat look. “You do realize that this has a chance to escalate further?”

“And not in a fun way,” Natalie rolled her eyes. “We know you have interest in Sycamore, but have you ever considered that they won’t take too kindly to you icing their membership when they’re already getting iced?”

A pause. Phantasia’s hand slipped under the brim, squeezing the bridge of her nose. The slightest sniffle. Dollhouse painted a vivid picture of the future. Was she really going to walk them there?

Did she really have a choice?

Her voice was low. “Did anyone consider the Void Heart before sealing him away? Did anyone consider the ripple effect on his new host?”

Her palms pressed against the table. “You say you want to understand, but I feel you’re whitewashing the real victims here, and I refuse to sit here idly and listen to any more of this.”

Her eyes snapped to the vent.

“Long live the fighters.”

The moment she spoke, a boot was heard smashing through the horizontal grating of the vent over head. A small canister was thrown down, suffocating the room in a smokescreen as men started jumping down.

Phantasia stood, edging towards the door.

“... Holy shit!” Natalie coughed, as she hopped to her feet. However, in a flash of a light-purple light, an AA-12 popped into her hands. “You crazy motherfucker!”

“We really have to ask who did the architecture,” Luis said in between coughs. “... Shaquita.”

“Hmph,” Shaquita shook her head, pulling an M1911 out of her suit jacket. “... That wasn’t wise, Phantasia.”

Shaquita raised her hand in the air, and suddenly every one of Phantasia’s men began convulsing… as Shaquita puppeted their bodies with her special brand of magic. They turned all their guns toward where Phantasia was attempting to flee…

… Before they opened fire.

Phnatasia saw it coming, and could only smile. Her eyes, a lifeless grey, stared glassy-eyed at the ceiling as she fell.

The Boss of the House of Cards was no more.

The men turned their weapons on themselves, pulling the trigger.

“... Awww, fuck!” Natalie hissed. “... I wanted to have some fun.”

“Let’s go,” Heinrich said in a whisper.

“Fiiiiiiiine!” Natalie rolled her eyes, as she stuck her hand out, and a portal opened.

All four of them fled through it.

It was after a few minutes the door to the backrooms opened, and there was an audible gasp. Mr. Roosevelt knelt beside his Mother, surveying the damage with a trembling lip. He gently laid a hand over her face, closing her eyes.

The only sound to be heard was that of weeping.

---

---

---

---

---

The night hardly even started!

Britney was the first to approach the neon-lit street, wearing a black dress that fit her plus sized body well with a purse hanging off her shoulder. She stood in front of the line to the club, and naturally, it was huge because it was a Friday night, and people wanted to par-tay. Though she wondered where Edict and Linqian were, she forgot the unspoken rule among black people: never show up on time for something. There was no way they would miss her in high hell, so she pulled out her phone and started scrolling Instagram.

”Heyyy, what’s someone as good looking as you doing out here alone?” After about ten minutes of waiting, Linqian finally appeared (with Edict in tow), awkwardly trying to put an arm over Britney’s shoulder and giving up because of the height difference.

Linqian was obviously in a good mood, grinning up at Britney. Edict had replaced all of her shit - the most important being her phone, which had allowed her to take most of her shift tomorrow off (and make sure her brother wasn’t causing trouble anywhere). She’d also changed, again on Edict’s dime, now wearing a lowcut black crop top and tight black shorts.
”You been waiting long? Traffic was a fucking pain.”

”Eh, not that long,” Britney shrugged, before she smiled at Linqian. ”It’s Friday, you know all those fishermen gotta try to dive in a different kind of ocean, if you catch my drift.” She laughed at her own joke.

Edict had gone for some nice, freshly pressed slacks and a button down shirt with a fairly interesting, if not a bit gaudy, repeating print on it. It was kind of hard to discern that it was all roman numerals for some reason, cascading down the shirt like the fall of a mathematical empire. In the lights of the neons, the multi-colored shadows cast by them, you couldn't tell what they were at a glance.

He had his coat on still, and a pair of wing tips that matched his shirt in color.
“Y'know, this city does fucking suck for parking. Old cities usually, like Boston. No parking, no room for big lots, just density.”

He took his spot at Britney's side, craning his neck slightly to kiss her cheek.
“Wassup Goddess? Ready to go shot for shot?” He asked, grinning at Britney.

”Goddess? That’s new.” Britney chuckled as she let Edict kiss her on the cheek, before she gestured at the long ass line. ”Yeah, I am, but we’re going to be in line for hoooooooooours at this rate.”

She laughed, ”I would have said we should gotten here sooner, but we didn’t want to sit in a dry-ass club.”

”Maybe I can flirt with the bouncer a bit so we can cut the line,” Linqian suggested, twisting around to try to eye up whoever was on the door.

Edict grinned, popping his collar in a comical way. He was here to entertain as much as he was here to enjoy himself, so acting like the sad clown wouldn’t be so hard. Especially not for the clientele.
”Ladies? I know it’s kind of tough to keep up with what I do. Because, y’know, I just do so much. But, don’t worry. Edict’s got you both. Come on, let’s go, fuck-a-line.”

As they walked, he made sure to make a big thing of it to the Blinds who had clearly been waiting for quite a while now. There were jeers and stares, but it only served to inflate the man’s ego as he made it to the front of the line and locked in in front of the VIP ropes.
”Well well well! You boys miss me?” he asked, seeing familiar faces on the door crew. ”Or am I gonna have to call the Boss like last time?”

The two men, clad in black suits with red ties, looked at each other. Then, they pulled the stanchion’s hook, unclipped it, and gestured for them to go inside.

”... Thaaaaaaaaaaaaaaanks, ya’ll!” Britney excitedly said as she strutted inside. She loves it when Edict pulls through! As expected, the club was bouncing, and they could hear the music blaring inside far more clearly. The only thing on her mind was the bar, so she grabbed Edict’s hand and Linqian’s hand with the other. She was briefly curious about the VIP section up the stairs, but a tall lady was staring at her with crossed arms that Britney didn’t recognize, but Edict wouldn’t mistake.

”Shit, you banging the boss or something, Greyson?” Linqian teased, very easily allowing herself to be dragged by the dick towards the bar. To her, this place was fancy as fuck. When she went to clubs - which wasn’t often with how busy she was - it was the shittest, cheapest ones. She narrowed her eyes as they reached the bar, squinting in an attempt to figure out the prices of things. ”So, shots? I’ll drink fucking anything, so one of you choose… If I do it’ll be the fucking cheapest shot on the menu.”

Edict laughed when Linqian mentioned fucking the boss, but his enthusiasm quickly diminished as he looked up the VIP at a glance and saw the most irate face imaginable staring back at him. She was ghastly, and obviously unmistakable as the bodyguard who, just that morning, he’d been making some pretty Greyson-Core passes at.
He could only pray that she wasn’t going to make his life miserable tonight. He figured that things were going to go just fine between Dollhouse and HoC, but… He didn’t want to speculate further and ruin the night, so he was happy to get back to the bar.

”Come on, Linqian, I own a club myself! You think people in my line of work don’t talk? I know the owner personally, he’s been a great mentor.”
He leaned across, calling for the Bartender whenever they were able.
”Now, I’m getting a couple bottles. Brit? You want your wine? Or something else?” he asked.

”Yeah, let’s pop some bottles!” Britney stuck her tongue out. ”Get tequila! Just don’t get that nasty shit!” She looked over her shoulder, and she swore she could see that lady that was staring at them by the VIP entrance for a second.

Maybe it was just nerves?

Getting terribly close, Edict whispered into Britney’s ear.
”You’re so cute when you’re having fun.”
He was a sappy leech, and doing his best to put the thought of Shaquita out of his head. The bartender arrived finally.
”Getting a couple bottles; Patron, the Platinum. And a D’Yquem, white, as old as you can get me for a thousand.”

The bartender looked a little taken aback by Edict’s candor and, more precisely, the request itself.
“Oh, Sir, if you want bottle service, you’ll have to buy Up for the VIP. There are tables available for walk-in, and if you’re asking for a thousand dollar bottle of wine, I can assure you that you don’t want to be drinking down here.”
”Woah, uh… What if I do?”
“I mean I’m happy to take your money down here, but we’re not cracking open a fifteen year old bottle of wine so you can foam the crowd like it's a music video. We’ve got more class here at Christiansands.”

Edict looked flatly, then turned his head to look at Shaquita, then back to the bartender. A nervous laugh escaped from his throat.
”W-well, yeah! I mean if there’s tables open, by all means!”
The bartender, with instant professionalism, slammed the card reader on the counter and grinned.
“Alright! Eighteen-hundred and forty four dollars after tax, go ahead and slide or tap.”
He did his absolute best to hold back the grimace as he pulled out his phone and tapped the payment. When it confirmed, the bartender reached down and grabbed a ticket that he handed to Edict.
“This is good for three bracelets! Head over to the VIP stairs, show this to Ms. Shaquita, and you’ll be all good! The bottles will be waiting at your table, and I believe… Marcos? Will be your server? Shaquita will know, so ask her if you care! Enjoy!”

And like that, he was gone, receding into the claxon of drink orders around them.
Edict cleared his throat, shot another look at Shaquita, and then did his best “I’m not worried” impression.
”You know? Special night, special place, special ladies in my life? Sounds like a VIP moment to me, lets fuckin’ gettit!” he grabbed both of them around their waists and jostled them all back and forth in a playful manner before forging ahead toward doom.

”What the fuck?” Linqian damn near exploded at the price, staring at the bar like it’d killed her parents. That was almost what she earned in a month… she could cover most of the mortgage with that… Fucking hell.

”My no-no square!” Britney shouted.

But it was pretty clear Linqian wasn’t suddenly, out of nowhere pissed at Edict when she didn’t throw his hand off her waist or get super hot over the jostling. In fact her exposed skin was slightly cool to touch - she was semi actively casting to balance out how sweltering that actual club was.
”And here I was thinking about flirting with the bartender to get us some cheaper drinks- fucking thousand dollar bottle of wine! VIP section! Fuck… please tell me the tequila ain’t worth that much.” Wait, why was she so worried about that? ”You know what, fuck it, sure! I won’t fucking complain.”

”C’mooooooooon, Greyson…” Britney placed her hand against his chest as she said, ”You don’t gotta do all that… it’s just a night at a shitty club, you don’t gotta blow all this dough...” Her face dropped a bit as she looked Greyson head on.

”Let him waste the fucking money if he has it, Brit,” Linqian interjected.

”Listen, whether I got it or not ain’t the question. I’m about to spend a lot of money at a lot of places; it’s customary to be polite when you’re patronizing someone else’s club. My own reputation’s on the line. Hell, depending on how long we stay here? I may blow through another ten or fifteen. The owner of this place, last time he was in my Club, spent forty large between pickin’ up tabs and blastin’ the house.”
Edict spun and shrugged his shoulders as they made their way to the stairs for the upper floor VIP section.

Of course, there she was. In all of her looming figure, Shaquita was there. He could only hope she didn’t mention the morning as they entered.
”Oooh, Shaquita! It’s bumpin’ tonight, what’s goin’ on up here?” he chattered, handing over the ticket for their VIP bands.

Shaquita stared at him with a blank expression. It seemed like it had been ages… before she cracked a smug grin and took them.

“... You’re bold,” Shaquita began. “You know that, Devola…?”

She followed that statement with a short laugh as she grabbed the stanchion rope, unclipped the hook, and held it. “The bosses aren’t in right now, so it’s dead up there….”

Shaquita stepped aside, “... However, the bar is fully staffed and stocked. So, enjoy yourselves….”

She paused for a moment.

“... Just don’t have too much fun,” Shaquita said.

”Dead?” Linqian whispered (though it was closer to a hiss). ”What’s the fucking point if it’s dead- guess we can get fucking wasted then hit the downstairs dance floor.”

At the thought of all the alcohol waiting for them, Linqian quite happily began to make her way up the stairs, pausing as she got out of earshot of Shaquita. Her voice was still kept to a low whisper. ”Just me or is she fucking hot in a could easily kill me kinda way?”

”She’s definitely built. I uh… I don’t know, I like wider curves, y’know?” he commented back, safe in his secure omission not becoming an issue.

Edict did his best to laugh off what Shaquita had said, quickly coming to the realization that, yes; it was fucking dead up here. No, Luis and his crew weren’t here.
”Shiiiit… Bunch’a broke motherfuckers down there - Ain’t nobody poppin’ bottles lookin’ for the good life?”

Their server was already waiting for them, as were their bottles at a table.
”Alright! That’s what we’re lookin’ for. Can we get a couple shot glass-”
Getting closer to the table, he found them already waiting. Three, even! And three glasses for wine.
”-Damn, y’know that just makes me want to go home and get my own shit squared away! I like my VIP like I like my wrestling matches, but this is so organized!”

“Well, it’s a little slow up here. Not too tough to cover four or five covers, Mr. Devola!”
Edict’s ego inflated as the man knew his name. His hands swept toward the booth for the girls to slide in.

”Fucking hell, I’ve never even been in a VIP section before.” Linqian slid into the booth first, forcing herself not to look around as if she was in a zoo or something. How dead it was wasn’t really her thing but… it could be nice for a while, let them catch up and get a bunch of alcohol in them before hitting the drunken masses.

”I worked in a real fucking fancy club four years back, but they only let you serve up there if you’d worked there a year or more. One of the worse places I worked at too, fuck, they expected you to bend over backwards just cause the clients were rich, while paying fuck all. I only stuck with it cause my ex recommended me-” Fuck, why did she go and mention him. Whatever. ”Then I got fired anyway.”

As she talked, she automatically poured two glasses of the wine, pushing them towards Britney and Edict, then filled the three shot glasses… rather than waiting for the server to do it for them.

”Today’s a first for everything, I suppose!” Britney playfully said, grabbing her glass of wine and downing it. ”But I wouldn’t count that as a loss. Maybe I can get you into modeling.”

Then she snorted, ”I mean, you clearly don’t have a problem with going around booty-out naked. So why not get paid for it?!”

She laughed, before glancing at the entrance… She saw Shaquita standing guard by it. Though, Britney swore that she was staring at them. She just shrugged.

”Let’s bump it up to something a little bit stronger.”

Edict raised his shot glass up.
”As hard as you wanna go, Babe! Lets get smashed and go back downstairs before people think we’re squares!”
He knocked the two hundred dollar tequila down like water, hardly feeling it even as it hit his gut to sit like a slick atop the acid.

”You really give a fuck what people think?” Linqian snorted, downing her own tequila shot, and trying not to think about how much it cost. It was pretty fucking good. She then turned to Britney, lips pulling up into a slight smile.
”Hey, you really think I could make it in modeling? That shit must pay more than bartending… Cause you’re right, I really don’t give a fuck about getting it all out in front of whoever.”

She waved a hand. ”But fuck thinking about money, let’s drink to forget the mundane shit.”

Britney smiled.

”Now that’s what I want to hear!”

---

Some time later.

Britney was thrown out on the street outside Christiansands. Followed by Edict, then Linqian. All by Shaquita who stood in the doorway, all eyes were on them…

”... Bish!” Britney slurred as she tried to push herself to her feet, only to stumble forward and end up back on her hands and feet. ”... The fuck?!”

“... I’ve had enough of your shenanigans,” Shaquita shook her head. Before turning to Edict, “Mr. Devola, you set a bad example.”

”B-bish!” Britney hiccupped as she turned around, aiming her backside at Shaquita. ”Only thing bad here is me! Tell her Greyson!”

“I-” Shaquita tried to say before Britney began shaking her ass at her, sticking her tongue out.

Which left Shaquita in a state of stunned silence.

There was nothing quite as disorienting as being thrown out onto her ass while drunk. The world was fucking spinning and it took Linqian a moment and Britney's very sexy shaking ass for her to reorient herself. She pushed herself to her feet, stumbling, and pointing a finger at Shaquita.

”Heyyyyy we didn't fuckin' do anything you hoe,” Linqian bit out, getting louder with each word. It was incredibly clear to anyone that knew her that she was well on the way to explosive, pissed off Linqian. Not only had this bitch thrown them out, she'd fucking thrown Linqian onto her precious ass! ”I’ll fuckin'... burn your fuckin' hot ass off…”

Linqian stumbled forward, hand rising and clenching into a fist as she tried to get super hot. Except she was just soooo hot already and her magic wasn't responding properly. Her body temperature ticked up until she was… like a toasty human hot water bottle, squinting angrily and very visibly gearing up for a swing.

Edict had, for the last few minutes, been doing his absolute best to sober up for the occasion, blasting himself with a quick Power Word before things got out of hand. As it turned out, the VIP floor bottle rule could be circumvented with one cheap trick: Walking behind the bar like you own it (preferably after spending thousands of dollars on floor shots for the entire club) and just handing shit out. At the time, he figured that so long as he paid afterward, there wasn’t going to be a major issue.

But people must get rowdy. People must get handsy. The same shit that was a nightly occurrence at his club was being treated like a crime by the security crew, and the perps were getting thrown out. Truly, a high-end place.
Now he was standing up after being tossed out, and nearly back to a functioning headspace. His limbs were still ropey, however, and he took a gating step toward Linqian, snapping her up before she could throw any big blows.

”Woah woah WOAH! N-no fisties. Capice?” he said calmly and quietly to her, his brain at least able to properly dictate his actions and follow through on a basic level.
”Now… Yes. Shaquita is right! I’m a bad influence.-”
Linqian still in his arms, he patted her back as he looked toward Britney breaking it down.
”-But she is… A certified Baddie! Look at that ass, Shaquita! Go Brit-ney! Go Brit-ney!” he laughed finally, looking back at Shaquita with a smirk.

Linqian pretty pathetically struggled against Edict's hold in an attempt to continue on her self righteous path to revenge over her poor ass hitting the cold hard floor. Except she was drunk as fuck and she needed her magic to overpower Edict anyway, and it wasn't fucking working!
”I’m not a fucking child,” she muttered when Edict patted her back like she was some kid need placating… except it actually worked. She stopped awkwardly flailing limbs that weren't quite listening to her, scowl turning into a pout and going completely limp. She was only still standing by virtue of Edict holding her up.

”You… you fucking show her, Brit,” Linqian slurred, managing to find focus on Britney's ass in an otherwise spinning world, uncomfortably twisting her head around to look at it.

Shaquita was stunned into silence. Wordlessly slinking back into the club, where she probably reevaluated her life choices. Britney managed to force herself to her feet and hopped around so her back was facing the club.

”.... AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!” Britney screamed as she shook her behind again. ”Showed that bitch! Let’s go to your place, Greyson! This place is corny as fuck anyway.”

Edict laughed aloud at Britney’s antics, and he wondered for a moment about where the connection was between the reserved and regal woman and that same aggressively energetic young lady was. He fell in love with a different Britney for sure, but this one… She was shaping up to still be his type.

All the more reason to make things right. His sobering brain echoed the sentiment, and he let go of Linqian up to the wrist, which he gently grabbed to keep her wrangled. He managed to tangle her up into an actual holding of hands.
”Alright, c’mon… Troublemakers.”
His other hand reached out and took Britney’s, wrapping their fingers together tenderly.

”We’re hittin’ the most exclusive Club in this entire city.”

---

Thankfully it was a short walk to the Cabstand, and Edict was able to wrangle a cab back to his place. It was only a few blocks, but he figured his fine company would find some sort of trouble in that amount of time walking down the street.
This part of the city was always high energy on Fridays and Saturdays, and all it took was one Blind giving a drunk Witch a reason to cast a spell. Piss the Warlock off, he’ll make you dance. Piss the Witches off, you end up being branded like a cow or… The Manchineel…

The elevator climbed directly into the entry foyer of Greyson’s apartment, the dim lights and warm wood floors giving it a cozy cabin vibe despite being a penthouse suite overlooking the Bay and the Old Town. All masks came off across the threshold, and Greyson immediately went for the liquor cabinet.
”Aaaanything you want, Ladies. All yours. There’s still food in the fridge, Linqian, if you… Y’know, felt like cookin’.”
He grinned, doing his best to look cute as he turned back to look at her.

His hand pulled up a tall, thin bottle of amber colored booze. Whatever container it came in initially was gone, instead this strange and fancy looking slender decanter glowed like a vial of Godly nectar.
”Twenty-five year vintage rum. Technically like, twenty six.” he bragged, pulling a glass out and filling it up, only to summarily begin taking long draws from the decanter itself.

”You’re fucking pushing it… you’re lucky I’m so fucking good natured,” Linqian rolled her eyes at Edict, but there was very little bite to her tone. She’d both sobered up slightly and calmed down on the way over. She brushed past him, playfully smacking his arm on the way past and leaning over to snatch up the glass he’d poured then not drunk from. She took a sip on her way towards the kitchen, opening up the fridge and crouching down. She swayed slightly, eyes squinting at all the ingredients without being able to process it. It was fine, she wasn’t that drunk! She’d cooked feeling worse, and she was fucking hungry.

”What do you guys want?” Though she asked, her hands and mouth didn’t quite sync up, as she started grabbing random ingredients. Shit that looked appealing. ”Eh, I’ll just do whatever. Fucking anything I make is great.”

And with that she started hunting for a knife, stumbling from drawer to drawer.

Without a second thought, Britney snatched another bottle tequila, popped it open, and shoved it into her mouth. She downed as much as she could, pulling the bottle away from her mouth, then wiping her mouth. She loudly burped before saying…

”... You really gonna cook right now?!” Britney laughed, before she leaned over the sofa, bracing her hands against it. ”What I want is to party! Play some music!”

Then began shaking her behind again.

”Hey, it ain’t a party without some party food!” Linqian turned around brandishing a knife she’d finally found, laughing. She was really a pretty functional drunk, had to train herself to be at old workplaces… And the swaying of her legs was definitely just her shaking her ass along with Britney and not struggling to stay standing. But even though she was unstable, she turned around and started chopping up vegetables like she was completely sober. It was like a full autopilot mode, veg chopped, oil heating up, ass properly shaking along as she just about managed to stay standing.

”Don’t knock the Han special drunk noodles till you try em!”

Greyson was still laughing. It was almost too much energy, but he was so used to a different pace of life. His private places were usually private for a reason. But, these two were fine. It was fine. So, he made his way to the stereo system and began to pick through everything.



Taking another swig of his own, Greyson made his way to Britney.
”Don’t even act like you ain’t gonna be hungry in thirty minutes. All that dancin’ you doin’... Got an ass that’ll get a dude kicked out the club, my Lord…” he laughed his ass off, getting into the groove with her.
”Come on, lets dance in the kitchen… Be gatekeepin’ the dancing and shit.” He attempted to slowly manipulate Britney by the hips toward the kitchen so the three of them would be together.

”... It’s DARE!” Britney loudly, and obnoxiously screamed as she, as Edict wanted, moved into the kitchen. She ceased shaking her asss until she got in there, then she placed her hands against the counter and continued. She turned towards Linqian, and asked, ”... Whatcha’ makin, bacon/”

”The most amazing fucking noodles you'll ever eat,” Linqian grinned. She'd finished chopping a bunch of vegetables and had moved onto chicken, moving over to playfully bumping her hip against Britney before continuing. In reality she was just making simple Lo Mein noodles - something she could do in her sleep… or while drunkenly swinging her hips along to the music. She mixed most of the sauce ingredients and threw some ginger into the hot pan, not reacting at all when some of the hot oil splashed across her wrist. She tilted her head back towards Greyson.
”You got any dry Sherry- really any dry white wine will do.”

She then took a step back, fanning one hand in front of her face, grimacing.
”Also, why’s it so fucking hot in here? You got the heating on full blast or some shit?” It would be obvious to anyone with a single, sober brain cell that the reason Linqian was overheating was she’d forgotten to lower her body temperature back to normal rather than toasty warm after trying to attack Shaquita. Gentle heat still radiated out from her. She glanced between the two of them, shrugged, and decided, fuck it. They’d seen more.

Before just straight up pulling off her top, revealing the black, lacey bra underneath.

”Oh but I’m the only one who can’t control my powers…” he leered, moving away from the countertop to pull a bottle of shitty dry from a nearby cabinet.
”Good cooking families keep the shit wine with the oils.”

But when he turned back around, Greyson realized that Linqian was already taking clothing off. He wasn’t worried about her burning herself; more worried about the gradual escalation that Britney would be queued toward. She’d been staying pretty modest while he was at her house, but Greyson was well aware of her proclivity toward nude living. Now, Linqian was just opening the door to naked drunken noodles.

He didn’t mind necessarily; only that he had to keep his hands and his magic to himself unless otherwise prompted… And that was hard. Extremely hard.

”Good cooking families normally know how to cook,” Linqian shot back, grabbing the wine and pouring some into the sauce she was mixing up.

Greyson put his hands up playfully.
”Ayyy, you don’t know my Momma. She got the curry goat in the pot, and the jollof… Y’know, cookin’ is sexy isn’t it?”

Linqian laughed, throwing the chicken, lightly coated in sauce, into the pan.
”Oh, sure is, especially when I’m the one doing it,” Linqian winked, giving a little booty shake towards both Greyson and Britney, still laughing. ”Though I only bring out the sexiness in certain company.”

Britney loudly smacked Linqian’s behind, then laughed as she put her hands on her hips. However, she started playing with the tag on Linqian’s bra.

”... Viiiiictoria’s Secret! We had a shoot with them awhile back, you know!” Britney laughed. ”See, you’d make a great model!”

”You think? I do make even Target bras look hot,” Linqian grinned, easily moving her arms to toss the vegetables in the pan with the chicken without shifting the rest of her body. She flipped the ingredients a few times before spinning around, leaning back and to the side on the counter. She put one hand behind her head with her elbow on the counter and the other on her hip, which she shoved out to one side.
”You gotta pose all sexy and shit, right? How’s this?”

”You look like- I mean it’s alright, gurl!” Britney laughed, releasing her hands from Linqian’s hips. ”We can work on it! Greeeeeeeeeysoooon! What do you think?”

Greyson was, obviously, staring without care as to who was looking. It wasn't like Britney didn't know he and Linqian had been together; his only hope at this point is that he'd be able to scrape together the best of both worlds at once.
”Tha'ss a loaded question, ain't it? You gonna hit me for answering?”

”We turnt,” Britney said with a grin. ”Everything I say is going to be loaded.”

Edict grinned, sliding away from the counter and skulking off for a moment before coming back with a couple more sealed bags.
”It don't help, she picked the lamest looking set.”

Slapping the bags down on the counter, he slid one to Brit and one to Linqian.
”Bordelle. These are like six hundred bucks a set. I bought ‘em cuz I like looking at ‘em… But when they shipped, they shipped here. Not my house in Minnesota, so I ain't seen ‘em yet.”

He’d also pulled his jacket and shirt off, exposing his chiseled arms and neck muscles, as well as the tattoos on his arms - and Britney purred. Looking between them, he grinned for a moment.
”If y’all wanna put ‘em on for me, I’d love that… Hate to think I wasted money.”
As he leaned in across the counter, one hand went for the bottle of tequila and dragged it closer, the other tapping the set he put in front of Britney.
”Big tiddies… I can’t lie, I was thinkin’ about you when I bought this one.” he leaned in, staring into her eyes. ”And, maybe I sent it here cuz of that… But, you’ve got no evidence that it’s true.” he bit his lip finally.

”Fuck, six hundred?!” Linqian had flipped back round to continue cooking, something she was both unable to leave unfinished, but regretted slightly. Whatever. She threw in the noodles, flipped it all together, turned off the stove and turned back around. She decided to ignore the whole… sort of romantic vibe that was going on. Sort of. She picked up the bag near her and peered inside, eyebrows raising. Shit, it looked fucking good quality - obviously. Her gaze moved up from what was in the bag, to Britney, with a smirk.

”Well…” Linqian leaned forward so that she was pushing into both of their space without interrupting their eye contact. ”I’ll put it on if Brit does.”
It was pretty obvious she wasn’t planning to do it for just Greyson.

Britney returned the eye contact… wrapping her hands around Edict’s waist.

”... I know, you remembered my fuckin’ measurements!” She laughed. ”I’ll put it on… just for you, though, one time thiiiiiiiiiiiiiing!.” Britney followed that statement with another laugh as she broke eye contact and walked over to the bag, grabbing the bag.

”To the back, friiiiiiiiend!” Britney said, slapping Linqian on the behind again. ”We gotta build excitement! If we change our here Greyson might bust!”

”Girl, I ain't bussin nothin’ unless you tell me to. Actin’ like I don't see naked women every night of my life… Go on, get sexy for the Don.” Greyson split between them, slapping a cheek of each on their way toward changing.

”... Ooooh,” Britney purred.

Linqian just whistled, smirking and snatching up the bottle of tequila on the way out.

”Anywhere but the locked room. You don't wanna see the bodies.” he laughed, moving over toward the pan with the noodles. He opened a cabinet to get some plates and cutlery before trying to dish out portions for everyone to eat if they wanted.

”You mean the plant fertilizer?!” Britney laughed as she disappeared.

It took them a while to get changed - probably because both women were drunk (Linqian’s cooking induced soberness quickly wearing off). When they came back out, they’d changed into the lingerie like promised.

Linqian was pretty comfortable in it, even if the sheer lace and embroidered wave design didn’t leave much up to the imagination. There were lots of extra straps, giving it a slight BDSM look without actually being anywhere near it. Linqian would know.

She leaned in against Britney, wrapping an arm around her waist, fingers lightly rubbing her skin.
”How’s it compare to all those naked women you see every night, Greyson?” Linqian smirked, gaze equally playful and taunting.

”Guuuuurl, that’s a loaded question, ayyyyyyy!” Britney laughed, sticking her tongue out. ”You know we’re better! We’re us!”

Greyson was half-tucked into a plate of noodles with a fork in one hand and a cloth in the other. He didn’t look up until he heard Linqian speak, at which point his attention was taken entirely by the beauty and grandeur before him.

His mouth opened wide with the grin of a kid getting a new Playstation for Christmas. It was the surprise new car look, the profit at the end of a long night look.
The work was worth the reward, and it would be rendered unto him. In that moment, every empire in his bloodline coursed with power. Pink Lux filled the room, the veins in his throat turning bright pink as the Lotus’ roots spread across the room. A hand slipped into his pocket, desperate for his channeler as the Lux escaped through him in a great choking pain.

A pain he was used to. A pain he liked. But a brush of the metal rim on his finger was all he needed to direct a shot directly at a poor Blind on the next floor below them.
The hand still holding the rag wiped his mouth, and he blew out a curl of pink smoke from his mouth. Wordlessly, he rounded the counter.

”Y’all wanna ask me stupid questions? How’s it compare? How about rather than telling you, I just show y’all.” he bit his lip, a hand now resting on his belt while the other one pointed down the hall toward his bedroom.
”I’d run… Cuz if I catch you before the room, it’s goin’ down in the hallway.”

”Ohhh, is that a challenge?” Linqian’s eyes narrowed seductively, and she shifted towards Edict so that she was facing Britney. Both arms went around the other woman. ”Why not here? Maybe you’re the one that needs to run, before me and Brit have so much fun you’re no longer needed.”

”Before we do anything!” Britney said to Edict, as she approached. ”I know this coochie gon’ make you you fall in love but don’t ramp up on that lame-ahh lovey-dovey shit you been on before!”

Britney laughed, as she stuck out her pinky, ”Piiiinky promise?”

Greyson’s face shifted from lust to sentiment. Actually, a little embarrassment. His hand reached out, about to wrap his pinkie around hers before he paused. His forehead pressed forward, into her own.
”We’re talking more about it tomorrow, and I pinky promise I’ll leave it tonight.”

”Yes, we’re going to talk about how good it was and how it changed your life!” Britney laughed, wrapping her pinky around Edict’s harder. ”Can’t lie when I say I haven't been thinking about it - but broooo you gotta let it happen naturally!”

What else could he do but smile?
”Then I can’t be drinkin’ no more girl, get yo’-”
Still holding her tight by the pinkie, he lifted her arm up and spun Britney in place so she was looking back at Linqian. His free hand smacked against her ass with a loud clap.
”-ass in that bedroom… Talkin’ mad shit like I ain’t about to rock the both of you. Go! Go!” he cackled.

Linqian snorted, walking backwards at a leisurely pace. Her narrowed, suggestive gaze moved from Edict to Britney, then she smirked. ”Fucking acting like you’re the centre of this shit… So, Brit. Is that cactus available?”

”Of course! It comes in spineless and spine-y assortments!” Britney laughed as she did a dramatic high-kneed run towards the bedroom. ”But run Linqian! He gon get us!”

Then she disappeared into it, followed by Linqian and Edict...

---

---

---

---

---

The waves were Adora's only company out here... she stood at the edge of the boardwalk, the full moon shining above her, with her arms crossed. She had on a blue hoodie blue sweatpants, and some running shoes, and she had her ears wide open. She took in a deep breath, then exhaled; the boardwalk was completely empty at this hour because it was technically closed. However, she was out here for a reason.

She heard footsteps that ended at the bench behind her, and she glanced over her shoulder to see Greta Faust. Instead of her usual punk attire, she wore a grey hoodie (which she had up), grey sweatpants, and sneakers.

Just like Adora. Almost made her crack a smile.

"... I'm here," Greta said, both hands on the bench, and she sneered, as she said, "I'm surprised you answered 'the call'," Greta said, finger quoted, chuckling.

”Why's that?” Adora narrowed her eyes.

Greta was silent, a mocking smile creeping up on her face.

"... I think you know why," Greta answered. "Now, let's cut to the chase, I have work to do."

Adora sighed.

”I wanted to hear it from you,” Adora began, pivoting on her foot to face Greta head on. ”Why are you following Emily around? How can you be okay with that shit she pulled at Kari's house? How can you be okay with her trying to kill Lila over some bullshit she started?” She narrowed her eyes at Greta, taking a step forward.

”We... we used to fight alongside each other. We used to be friends. How can you help her be a piece of shit?!" She hissed the last words out, before letting out a sigh and putting a hand on her chest.

Greta sighed, looking at the boardwalk underneath her feet.

"We used to be friends, but you left," Greta said before raising her head and facing Adora head-on.

”... I had to,” Adora weakly said.

"Did you really now?" Greta said as she raised an eyebrow.

”This isn't about me!” Adora shouted, slamming a foot on the ground. ”Answer my questions, Gretchen.”

Greta sighed.

"Honestly, these days; I cannot give you an honest answer, Appie," Greta began, chuckling at the nickname. "Ten years ago, I could tell you I rolled with Emily because I was so hurt... Oh, did you know the details of my departure from the Old Coven? Or did you just not care."

”They accused you of running around St. Portwell, making monsters,” Adora said. ”Turned out you weren't, but you left for some reason.”

"... Do you want to hear my perspective, then?" Greta gave Adora a sinister grin. "I'm sure it'd help you with everything."

”Yes.”

"You remember all those potions that you drank that made you strong enough to fight the Stygian Snake? Drive it off a few times?" Greta tilted her head, maintaining that sinister grin. "Or all those healing potions that saved countless lives?"

”... Yes,”

"... Did you know that I'm the only person that could make them?" Greta began. "Did you know I slaved away in my own lab near endlessly, making potions that would help in the fight? I know before I thought it was the best way to save my own ass, but in time I began to..."

She sighed.

"... I developed a soft spot for you all. It was the first time I had friends or people I cared about. You, Lisa-" The mention of Lisa made Adora's skin crawl, but she remained resolute and did not so much as flinch. "-Luca, Olivia, Britney... You all at least tried to be my friend, instead of treating me like a potion factory. So, I made sure to go all out, no longer because I just wanted to keep myself alive, but as many of you alive as possible. I had help sometimes, but I hardly got any sleep most nights because I was working so hard."

Greta narrowed her eyes at Adora, before she continued, "... How do you think I felt getting accused by the people I did so much to help? Getting treated like a monster that hurt people...?"

She gritted her teeth before shouting, "... How do you think I felt having all my hard work - that I did from the kindness of my heart - just thrown away because some stupid cheerleader jumped to conclusions instead of using her goddamn head!?"

She exhaled, slinking back on the bench. "You'd be hurt by it, too, Adora. You'd feel betrayed."

Adora laughed.

”... You sound so cute when you shout with that nasally, high-pitched, voice, you know?”

"... Don't diminish my feelings, Appie," Greta growled.

”I'm not, trust me,” Adora began. ”But, none of that explains how you fell in with an open hate-criminal.”

Greta sighed.

"Look, I was angry, lost, confused; many things," She began. "Emily gave me solace with her new Coven, one I thought would be better - though, I thought anything would be better without those three dumbasses around. She gave me something that I was missing... 8th Street wasn't all that bad at first. We just practiced magic. Had adventures. We were something that Sycamore should have been."

Greta turned her head away from Adora. "However, in time, Emily got worse. Vashti, too. They started turning us into their footsoldiers in their game. Lynette tried to stop them, but there was only so much she could do, and she had no choice but to leave for her own sake. Other people left, too, including Luca and Olivia, and I don't blame them."

Adora silently stared at Greta.

”So, why didn't you leave?” She asked.

Greta grinned.

"... And go where?" Greta said. "I made the sad, sad, mistake of making my entire life this Coven... but I know your little Coven would never agree with this, but we are only fighting the worst threats in St. Portwell."

”... Like us?” Adora said, putting a hand on her hip. ”A group of people who are only trying to stop a literal serial killer.” She raised an eyebrow.

"I didn't agree with any of that," Greta said. "We had better things to do. I have better things to do."

”... But, you still went along with it anyway,” Adora spat out. ”By enabling Emily, you're just as bad as she is! Matter of fact, you're worse.”

Greta sighed.

"... Is this all you wanted to talk to me about?" Greta said. "You only came out here to shame me?"

”I came here for an explanation,” Adora began. ”I know you're better than that. Better than her. You are easily one of the most useful people I know. So why don't you drop Emily's sorry ass and make yourself something?”

"I-"

”... And don't give me that 'this is all I know' bullshit because it's just an excuse,” Adora said. ”You... you have power. You have control. You have the ability. We all do. So, that's all I want to know.”

Greta was silent.

"... 8th Street is more of a Coven to me than Sycamore ever was, or ever will be," Greta said, tears rolling down her face. Her voice cracked "I... I just can't turn my back on them now, you know!"

”Tears aren't going to sway me, Gretchen,” Adora firmly said. ”Emily and 8th Street are all toxic. You. Are. Better. Than. This.”

"... Do you really think you know everything, Appie?!" Greta shouted. "You're still the same self-righteous bitch that you've been ten years ago!"

Adora grit her teeth, putting a hand on her chest.

”'Self righteous?' Gretchen, I'm trying to help you! That's not fair!”

"You know what's really not fair?" Greta sobbed, "How you, our strongest, abandoned the Old Coven - boxed us out - and now you're acting like you can just come back and act like everything is fine! I looked up to you, Adora. Because you were everything I wish I could have been! Confident. Strong. A fucking anchor. Instead, I was just the potion-gal that was to be used and tossed away when it stopped being useful! I was just a tool! You and everyone else always treated me like that."

Adora sighed, taking a step toward Greta, and putting a hand on the side of her face.”Gretchen-”

"Greta." She corrected.

"Greta." Adora said, surprised by Greta's interruption. ”Girl, I never knew you felt that way... I can't speak for the rest of them, but, you know, you were never a tool to me. I valued everything you did because, without you, that... memorial would be way longer.”

"I should have done more to help Li-"

”... Look, don't say it,” Adora interrupted. ”I know I hurt you by leaving. I know it looks like I'm just waltzing in here, but I'm not acting like shit's cool. I know it isn't. I'm just trying to help you. The others are bunching you up with the rest of those monsters, and I don't want you to go down with the rest of them.”

"... Do you really think I want to be with 8th Street, Emily? Under Emily and that psychopath Vashti?" Greta sighed, wiping her tears away. "I would want nothing more than for them to be gone. For better people to take their place. But, they're all I have. I have no family. I have no friends. I have nobody."

”No,” Adora said, shaking her head. ”... They're all you're familar with.”

"Maybe you're right," Greta said, looking off to the side. "I'll... have to think about it."

”... And you don't have to have it all figured out right this second.” Adora added.

Greta kicked her feet back and forth as Adora took a seat next to her. However, Greta faced the opposite direction.

"... How is Luca doing?"

”I'm honestly not sure,” Adora said with a shrug. ”Didn't get a chance to talk to the lil' guy...”

"I'm certain he hates me now," Greta continued to kick her feet back and forth. "I wouldn't blame him for it, though."

”Why would he?” Adora asked.

"I told him I wasn't going to help him if he left 8th Street," Greta sighed. "I... I wish I hadn't said that to him. I have been secretly working on something. Just for him."

”Wait, what does he need help with?” Adora asked, and Greta looked blank.

"... You don't know?" Greta asked. "Well, I imagine you wouldn't...."

”About what? Get to the point.”

Greta pushed her glasses up her nose as she said,

"Well... our favorite Britney was going around adjoining people to Apparitions to Shanghai them into the Coven," Greta answered. "I was mad about it at first, but I understand that things got a little... desperate. That memorial is proof of that. I know my Covenmates hate her, but I can understand some of the logic behind her decision."

”You...” Adora trailed off. ”... You are joking, right?”

"I'm serious."

”I don't believe you.”

Greta pulled out her phone, went through her contacts, found Luca, and said, "I can call him right now."

”Do it,” Adora said with a nod, and Greta called Luca.

”Greta?!” Luca picked up immediately, sounding surprised. ”What’s up? Has something happened?!”

“Um, no, dork,” Greta laughed. “I’m with Adora right now… She wants to ask you a question…”

Greta put it on speaker and Adora sighed,

”... Heeeey, Luca,” Adora began. ”I know we ain't talk much, how you doin’, buddy?”

”Oh yeah, I'm good! Got a lil sick again, but that's just life…” Luca trailed off, coughing. ”How bout you? What did you want to ask?”

Adora was silent. She honestly didn't know how to ask thi-

“... Adora wants to know what Britney did to you, Luca,” Greta chimed in. “She doesn't believe me, so she wants to hear it from you.”

”Oh…” Luca didn't say anything for a few moments. ”Yeah, she adjoined the Rot to me. But I really don't hold it against her anymore! It’s been years, after all…”

”I…” Adora put a fist to her mouth as she held her mouth. How could Britney do this? Why did Britney do this? ”... I’m at a loss for words, sweetie. I… trusted Britney. I am so sorry. I can’t believe it.”

”We all trusted her,” Luca said softly. ”It looked like she saved all of us, y’know? Technically she did- I can understand it a bit. So there’s no need to be sorry, I’m really as fine as I can be… But…”

There was silence on the other end of the line, as if Luca seemed to be deciding whether to continue or not. Eventually, he spoke again. ”Since you’re with Greta, she’ll just call me out on my bullshit. So I’ll be honest. You just have to promise to not tell anyone else in the coven. Especially not Jasper, Lila, and Lynn, alright?”

Greta stared at Adora head-on. Her look told Adora that she knew exactly what he was going to say next.

”... Come now, Luca,” Adora awkwardly laughed. ”Do I look like the type of person to run around airing out people’s business like that?”

”Welllll… it’s just pretty shocking!” Luca laughed. ”I’ll just come out with it then. I’m dying. The Rot is killing me. I found out a few years ago. It’s- it’s gotten a lot worse recently. Some days I struggle to get out of bed. Magical healing doesn’t help. I’m rotting inside, and that can’t be reversed. I’ve accepted it.”

He spoke as if he was just talking about the weather, rather than his own death. ”All the people who care in 8th know- I couldn’t hide it from Greta, haha, but I’ve kept it from everyone in Sycamore. Almost everyone… including Britney. I don’t want her to know.”

“You couldn’t hide anything from me even if you tried, Luca,” Greta laughed.

”... You… I…” Adora trailed off, at a literal loss for words. That was beyond fucked up. And somehow it got even more fucked up. ”... Britney is going to fix you. I’m going to make her.”

”No, no, no, if Britney finds out, everyone will find out!” Luca said, with a hint of panic in his voice. ”I doubt she’ll be able to. I’ve tried everything - we even tried to use the Apparition Killer ten years ago to cut the Rot out. It didn’t work. Even if we get rid of it… well… the damage is already done. I’ve made my peace with it. But I’m sorry for burdening you with it.”

”What do you mean you made your peace? You are literally dying,” Adora scoffed, putting a hand on her hip as she couldn't believe it. ”It's her mess to fix. I’ll do-”

“... I’m still working on something,” Greta interrupted, putting her glasses up her nose. “If he doesn't want you to do something; you have no choice but to respect it, Appie, regardless of how much you disagree with it.”

”Thank you, Greta,” Luca said warmly. ”When I say I’ve made my peace I mean I’ve accepted that I don’t have long left. I’m at peace with it. I just want to make the most of the time I have left, alright?”

He paused, before saying, ”Wait, Greta, I thought you said you stopped working on that when I left?”

“... Do you think I’m dumb enough to say that in front of George and Carol?” Greta asked.

”Ohhhh… Of course! You’re the best, Greta.” Luca’s grin was practically audible through the call. ”But I’m sure Carol would just say a bunch of shit but not actually care- ah, well, she probably wants me to come back. Either way… Thank you both. I might need your help in the future, Adora, when I get worse.”

”... What do you need, Luca?” Adora asked, pinching her nose. ”Please tell me it's not what I think it is….”

”No! It's not,” Luca said immediately. ”It’ll just get to the point where I'll struggle to leave my place… Jasper, Lila and Lynn are living with me for safety just now, but they'll probably move out when this thing with Father Wolf is solved! Just like, some company then… maybe bringing round some food. And a bit of help keeping it hidden from the others if it gets it more obvious! Nothing major…”

Another sigh escaped Adora.

”... I got you, Luca,” Adora said. ”But, trust, I’m going to do something about it. I have to.”

”... alright, I can't stop you,” Luca laughed slightly. ”Maybe you'll find something I haven't managed to!”

Adora sighed. She knew that the best bet was Britney, but Luca clearly didn’t want her involved - there wasn’t much that she could do on her own. She wasn’t a magical expert, she hardly had magic herself!

”I’ll be damned if I don’t try,” Adora said. ”I’ll find something. I promise.”

”Mm, I’m sure you will,” Luca replied cheerfully. ”... ah, I should let you know, Sloane also knows. She found out during the… hallucinations.”

”Ye-yeah… don’t remind me,” Adora sighed, wiping her head. She knew Sloane probably didn’t give a shit no how. ”But, can you trust her not to say anything…?”

“… He can’t,” Greta chimed in.

”And I don't,” Luca laughed awkwardly. ”She’ll definitely tell Anya… but I didn't have a choice! She overheard me saying about it when we were- well we were near enough she heard. I didn't tell her like I told you. But nobody trusts them. Hopefully they just won't believe it…”

”Look,” Adora sighed, ””If they bring it up to the Coven - I know exactly what to say. Trust me.”

”Alright, I will!” Luca said. ”Thanks again… I know it's a lot to take in.”

An exasperated sigh escaped Adora’s lips, because Luca was right; it was a lot to take in. She took a few steps forward, ”Yeah, let me know if you need anything.”

”Will do! You can get my number from Greta!” Luca said cheerfully. ”Also, Greta? It was nice to hear from you again.”

“It was great to hear from you again, too, dork,” Greta said. “You have my number.”

Adora put a fist to her lips as she said, ”Luca… just… hold on… I’ll find something to help you.”

”Thanks again, Adora,” Luca said quietly, before his tone turned more cheerful again. ”Catch you guys later!”

”Yeah,” Adora sighed, as she hung up the phone, and sat down next to Greta.

“So…” Greta asked. “What do you want to talk about now, Appie?”

Adora shrugged.

”Let’s just sit here,” Adora began. ”And watch the wave.”

Greta was silent for a moment.

“... I’d like that.”

---

---

---

Oh what the hell did Greta know?

Adora internally seethed as she lay down on her bed. In the privacy of her own home, Adora dresses far less conservatively, as she has nobody to leer at her. She wore just some booty shorts and a tank top, and she played on her phone as that meeting with Greta played in her head over and over again. She just shook her head as she decided not to think about it. She was just making herself angry. Adora put the phone down and crossed her arms.

Greta was right. I have boxed people out.

While she would rather show up to the next Coven meeting naked than ever admit it, she was lonely. The life of a forced recluse does that, but she so desperately wanted something… it didn’t even have to be a romantic connection; she just wanted to talk to somebody. Anybody. Right now, Adora was stuck in a paradoxical contradiction: the only social group she had right now were the same people that were mildly triggering to her.

She should get out more, find a hobby, find the first guy she sees, strike up a conversation, or start clubbing. Being stuck between a rock and a hard place was terrible, but she had to stop. She had to think. Before she sighed, pulled out her phone, and sent Auri a text…



Moments later, she had Stormy’s number… and she stared at it for a few moments. Before she just mustered the courage to just up and hit call, and it was too late to back out then. She was going to face this.

After a brief moment, the call went through.

”Adora?”

Adora gulped. It was the moment of truth. That quelling anxiety in her chest was something she had to ignore. She sighed… before she realized that she had just signed into the phone.

”... Stormy! Stormy! How are you doing today, buddy?” Adora just spat out. Oh God, he probably thinks I’m weird. She thought to herself, her hand shaking as she worried that he was going to hang up.

”I’m as fine as I can be, after yesterday,” says the voice on the other end. ”And you? That entire thing was horrible.”

”I’m… fine,” Adora scoffed. She tried her best to play off how useless she was in that confrontation. ”I was wondering what you were up to today? If you wanted to grab something to eat.”

”I was going to take it easy today, so that sounds like a good idea. Where?”

”Are you by the boardwalk? Have you ever heard of the Salty Seagull? Very good sandwiches… On me.”

The line is silent for a moment. ”Give me thirty minutes, and I can be there. That doesn’t sound familiar to me, though. Was that after the disaster?”

”It opened up a few years after…” Adora tried to say before chills crept down her spine. ”... Yeah. I’ll be there. Food’s real good, I promise.”

”I’ll be there.”

”See you soon,” Adora said, sighing as she finally hung up. She sank back into her bed, relieved but realized that she would have to interact with people. One of the people who brought up bad memories, but the feeling of loneliness was more overpowering than those feelings. She hopped off the bed, and while Stormy might appreciate the show, she had to get dressed. There was that part of her that wanted to dress cutesy, but she filled her cutesy attire quota from the Halloween festival.

She also didn’t want Stormy to get it twisted and think she was trying to date him (An idea that she had to take baby steps with). Though, Adora quickly threw on some grey sweatpants, a red hoodie, and some white Air Force 1’s. She quickly maneuvered outside until she made it to her car, and then to The Salty Seagull.

---

It was a relatively short and peaceful drive to the Salty Seagull. She parked, and got out - but before she walked up, she took in a deep sigh. Adora wondered if Lihn would approve of this, but Adora saw that it was a sign of strength, and getting her power back - even with bloodied hands. She threw her hood up, and walked up to the front door, and she was immediately assaulted with the smell of fried food, seafood, bread, etc. She sighed, as she looked around for Stormy, only to see that he wasn’t there… thus, she helped herself and sat in a booth as she waited for him.

An old, off-white Cadillac rolled up into the parking lot. It wasn’t the kind of car people drove very often these days, and there was a bit of a story to it, attached to the story of the Sycamore Coven itself through Stormy. He hadn’t been to this part of the city in, well… A decade. Not since he was fighting for his life, and the lives of others. He stepped out in a dark buttoned shirt, and a cargo jacket. Nothing particularly extravagant, and it was getting colder out. He liked to dress practically.

He walked in, looking at the place before spotting Adora, and walked over to sit down.

”Something smells wonderful in here.”

Adora cracked a half-smirk (not a full one, just a half).

”What are you talking about the food- or, uh, me?” Adora tried to flirt but there was that stumble that probably made it come out more awkward than it sounded in her head.

”I’m not sure yet, I just sat down,” he said, without hesitating or missing a beat.

Smooth.

”Let’s, uh…” Adora’s eyes drifted to the side. ”... Forget about that.” She punctuated that with a cough.

Stormy nodded. ”Forgotten.”

Adora blushed… thankfully, her skin tone made noticing that harder. Backpedal. Think girl, think! Something! Anything! Adora thought to herself as she tried to come up with something to make this less weird, and awkward. There had to be something.

”... Why didn’t you say hi to me at any of the meetings?” Adora asked. She couldn’t blame him for not approaching a clearly unapproachable person—or for looking like she was ready to throttle Sloane at the first meeting she went to (another regret of hers).

Stormy leaned back in his side of the booth. ”Well… At the first one, I almost killed Britney, so I suppose I was too busy seeing red to say hi to anyone, but I don’t think you were there for that. The second one, you were occupied. And then I wanted to apologize for nearly turning Auri’s shop into a war zone.”

”And then 8th Street happened at the third.”

”Ehhhhh, yeah, weird shit follows us where ever we go, right?” Adora said, resisting the urge to say that Stormy would have been justified in putting Britney down for what she did to Luca and the others. However, she felt a pang of regret for making a scene at the second meeting without even saying hi to anyone herself. What a hypocrite she was. Not that she was ever going to admit that. ”I wasn’t at the first meeting anyway. I… had work.”

She shook her head, hoping Stormy wasn’t perceptive enough to see through her lies. ”But, the first thing I thought of was getting my rings back from Sloane-y so we’d have some type of edge…” She rolled her eyes. ”... Having Trinity back would be great, would it not?”

”It would, but is it that simple? Just get all three, and carry on like last time? I don’t think I remember exactly how it works, did they need three people for each thing?”

”You do,” Adora awkwardly laughed. ”But, I don’t think it’d be hard to find three people to use them in the Coven, right?” She kept it to herself that she was not going to share her rings with anyone that are not Vanessa and Clem. Adora then laughed as she decided to add a joke.

”We could have shoved Emily’s monster right up her crazy snatch!”

”True,” he nodded. ”Maybe we can find them, I could possibly guess to how. Another time, though.”

”I mean…. No time like the present,” Adora shrugged. ”What is your ‘guess’, if you don’t mind me asking?”

”You’ve been in St. Portwell longer than me, right? How many people outside the coven can you think of that would want the Trinity Rings? There are groups of people outside the city that would love those, too. I mostly stick to mundane history these days, but I’ve always been good with paranormal history as well.”

”None that come to mind, ho-” Adora tried to answer before it hit her and she got it. No one outside the Coven should even know that the Coven has the Trinity Rings.

”Every now and then, some paranormal near where I work will contact me and ask me about things. Usually, it’s to check facts about an artifact or a big event that happened in the past. Like the Necromancer Purge or the Oni Wars,” he explained. ”Sometimes, I hear about artifacts that I actually recognize. I might be able to ask them about the rings, if they’re willing to talk.”

Adora raised an eyebrow.

”Please tell me if you get anything from them,” Adora asked, before curiosity got the best of her. ”... And Necromancer Purge? Oni Wars? Sorry, I turned my back on magic a long time ago - what are those?”

”The Necromancer Purge was recent, more or less. By that I mean we and our parents were alive for if. Louisiana used to be the United States’ capital for Necromancers, they were everywhere down there, and then someone with a vengeance purged all of them, to put it politely. Very few people made it out. If any.”

”And the Oni Wars happened centuries ago. The latest of them taking place in the early 1500s. They were a series of campaigns by demonic Apparitions looking to take over Japan. Most of them were during the time when samurai were common, and they failed every single time,” Stormy said. ”Sometimes they would win ground, other times the old demon hunters of the era would win it back. But they never found any footholds that lasted more than a few decades. That’s why there were multiple. The Oni Wars weren’t very well documented early on, so the best records are from the later ones when most of the Oni Clubs were accounted for in what is today the outskirts of Osaka.”

”... Didn’t that one girl have something like that?” Adora tapped the side of her head a few times as she tried to remember. ”Shit, forgot her name. You know... The short Japanese girl - well, no. The real tough-looking one with the short hair.”

”Amy Nakamura? I remember. Most of the Clubs were kept hidden by paranormal families throughout the centuries. Feudal lords, certain samurai who earned the right… Anyone who knew what they were doing in terms of magic. I’m not surprised she had one.”

”Yeah, her!” Adora confidently said - even though she wasn’t confident that was the correct person. ”Whatever happened to her?”

Stormy thought about it for a second. ”I’m not sure. Maybe she never returned Auri’s call. I hope that’s all there is to it. Someone like her would be very hard to kill, considering the way the Clubs work.”

”A lot of people never answered Auri’s call, it seemed like,” Adora chuckled, and almost Adora herself was one of them. Though she was curious as to why. Did that many people not like Auri? Or were they that disillusioned with the idea of a Coven?

”Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that, she didn’t seem like a bad person, you know.”

”I don’t think I remember her much. It would be nice if she suddenly appeared again, deciding to help us figure everything out. But wherever she is, hopefully she’s fine.”

”... Hope so, too,” Adora laughed. Though, with all the murders going on, Adora couldn’t help but assume she’s been murdered. Not much she can do about it, either. Though, there was a question on her mind. ”What do you think of the Coven’s current lineup?” She couldn’t help but end that question with a chuckle.

”I mean… I know people probably have strong opinions of me there.”

”To be completely honest with you, it worries me,” Stormy admitted. ”As kids, we beat a god into submission. But there were over a hundred of us. Most of us didn’t come back, and I’m worried the ones who did are going to get themselves killed.”

”I mean, it’s obvious a lot of people just don’t give a shit,” Adora said with a roll of her eyes. ”Either they’re acting like this is some pow-wow, or just care about themselves - Auri is hardly doing anything to keep anyone in check or focused.”

”It’s not entirely her fault, when some of us just refuse to take this all seriously. There’s a difference between having a life and acting like what’s currently happening doesn’t mean anything.” He was willing to let a lot of things slide, but what really got under Stormy’s skin was the way some people just didn’t give a fuck about the serial killer hunting them all down.

”You’re right but,” Adora awkwardly laughed. ”Tweedle dee, and tweedle dum rushed out there, tits-out, and dragged the whole lot of us into a fight - and Auri just sat on her ass.”

”True. But I can’t blame people for that. That’s what I would’ve done, and I damn sure wouldn’t let them drag anyone away just because they had a giant flesh… Thing with them.”

”I…” Adora stopped herself because there was no way that she could see herself disagreeing with that response. Especially since, if she had the ability to, she would have shoved Vashti’s head up Emily’s ass. She sighed. ”You’re right. It wasn’t Auri’s fault. It wasn’t even those two goof-balls fault for not wanting to be pushed around by Emily.”

He nodded. ”It would be different if they walked up to us and… Politely asked to settle something with those two,” Stormy had to suppress the urge to laugh at the notion. But let’s be honest, “polite” isn’t in Emily’s or Vashti’s vocabularies. And maybe we could have handled the fight better, made less mistakes. But a lot of us were done with magic entirely. I think we did the best we could with what we had.”

”... Me included,” Adora chuckled, as she never intended to put the Trinity Rings on again. ”I’m glad to see that Emily hasn’t changed at all… she’s still a complete bastard, but I, uh, can you keep this between us, okay?”

”What is it? I’m listening.”

”I convinced Gretch- Greta, to come meet me at the boardwalk last night,” Adora began. ”I tried to convince her to leave 8th, but I can tell what happened hurt her. She is in too deep with 8th St.”

”Too deep? What’s stopping her?”

”She claims 8th St is ‘all she knows’ but I told her ass it was all she was familiar with,” Adora began. ”I was trying to get her to realize that she’s better than this. But she said she was going to think about it.”

”I think that’s about all you can do in that situation. Didn’t most of her coven choose it?” Stormy asked.

”I don't know them,” Adora shrugged. ”Who knows what their situation is.”

”I’m sure someone does. If you’re trying to convince some of them to turn their backs on Emily, we could try to ask the others. Some of them have been here longer, after all. Drake and Sloane never left, Luca’s always been close by.”

”Hey now, let’s take a step back,” Adora put her hands up. ”I’m not trying to convince them to turn their backs on Emily; I was trying to help an old friend see the light before someone hurts her.”

”Right. Okay,” He metaphorically backed up. ”You know her better than me. What do you think it would take for her to leave? What did she have before 8th Street?”

”From what she claims, not a whole lot,” Adora awkwardly laughed, ”She saw me, Luca, and… You know who, as her true friends.”

She sighed, ”... She may just have to find out the hard way how bad 8th St is.”

”Hm… Back in the old coven, Emily rounded up Britney’s victims, promising them an outlet for everything that happened,” he said. ”Did Emily offer her something in return for loyalty?”

”None that I am aware of, but to me it sounded like Greta was more pissed at Daisy than anything.” Adora answered.

”I think I’d be angry too, if someone accused me of making apparitions after what we all went through. That lab was expensive, wasn’t it? I remember driving some of us around to find things for it when Greyson couldn’t source anything with his connections. But Daisy isn’t here anymore… I think you’re right,” he concluded. ”I don’t think there’s an easy way to convince her.”

”... Well, sounds like there is nothing we can do about it right now,” Adora sighed. ”But what have you been up to lately? You said you left St. Portwell… Where did you go? go?”

”I moved to Reedsport, half a day from here. I’m a college professor, as of four and a half years ago. History. American, world, and others depending on the year.”

”Sounds… Fun,” Adora said, she was a little bit jealous, she had to admit. ”I work as customer support for some computer company. I spend all day trying to teach oblivious old people how to unfuck their computer… At least they let me work from home.”

”I haven’t ever tried that, working at home. I usually enjoy being there in person, it keeps me distracted. Though, I moved everything to online classes so I could come back. Is it difficult, trying to get through phone calls with people over something like that?”

”Eh, it’s annoying,” Adora shrugged. ”... It works best for my situation. That's what matters to me.”

”That’s always the important part,” he said, grateful she didn’t notice that he mentioned being distracted. ”I take it you don’t get out much, because of that?”

”I’m…” Adora trailed, ”... A homebody.”

”Mm. That must be perfect, then,” he says.

”I wouldn’t say its perfect…” Adora said, before throwing back up her walls. ”... But, it works.”

There was an awkward silence.

”... I just realized we haven’t ordered anything.”

”...Right. I forgot we were here for a reason,” he chuckled. ”I’ve never ate here before, I hope it’s good.”

---

---

---

Amara liked to tell herself she could take on anything that life had to throw at her. Mundane life? Manageable. Armed combat? Just had to keep your head down and your eyes open. Solving a murder mystery? Well, she had help for that.

But after that tragedy of a fight a few days ago, with those punks that made Britney’s problem everyone’s problem, She came to the conclusion that this was going to be a challenge. The coven wasn’t really a coven anymore. Hell, it wasn’t even organized. Auri wasn’t experienced enough with this like Ashley was. And Ashley might’ve been a nepotistic ass at times, but at least she could keep people on the straight and narrow. But Ashley wasn’t here, and neither was Daisy. So Auri had to fill those shoes.

And Amara’s memories hadn’t gone so far to hell that she forgot how she contributed back in the day. If no one else was going to step up, then she’d fill the shoes herself. And, she thought, maybe she could help Auri with that.

And that started by taking some initiative. After asking Auri for a few phone numbers, she dialed the first one on her list. After a few rings, someone answered.

”… H-hello?” Adora answered.wered.

”Adora? Remember me? It’s Amara, from the shitshow at Kari’s house a few days ago?”

”… Describe yourself,” Adora began. ”My memory ain’t that good.”

”Bitch who made plans back in the old coven? Whole army of ghosts for an abstraction?” She explained. ”You and I worked together a few times back then.”

”… I meant what you looked like, goofball.” Adora laughed. ”Don’t take this the wrong way, but I don’t remember you. The Coven gave me a lot to forget.”

She awkwardly laughed before she added, ”… But, from the way you’re talking, you’re definitely one of us. So how can I help you?”

”After what happened, I figured it would be a good time to try and get things into some kind of working order. So I’m calling around, touching base with people about things. Trying to help make everything easier, y’know?”

”Sure,” Adora began. ”… Do you want to meet in person?”

”If you don’t mind, yeah,” Amara said. ”Doesn’t matter much to me where.”

”I was just hanging out with Stormy,” Adora said. ”I’m not too far away from the boardwalk. Is that good?”

”Yeah, I’ll be there in… A bit. On my way.”

”I’ll be there chilling, take your time,” Adora answered. ”See you soon.”

---

Adora was sitting at the bench, staring at the waves, hands in her pockets and a hoodie up. She was blissfully unaware that Amara’s greatest desire was her yams.

Amara walked down the boardwalk in sweatpants and a light gray hoodie. The boardwalk felt odd to her. In that strange area between familiar and foreign, where a lot of things seemed to find themselves these days. There weren’t many people out, with the days getting shorter and the weather getting colder, so Adora wasn’t very difficult to spot.

Amara walked up to her, hoping she didn’t scare the girl off by doing so. ”Didn’t keep you waiting too long, did I?”

”Oh no, not at all,” Adora said,
”I hardly have anything going on, anyhow”

She gave the spot next to her a few pats. ”… Have a seat.”

Amara nods and falls into a seat on the bench. ”So, like I said, I’m trying to pitch in around the place. Trying to reconnect some so I can do that. So I’m just gonna ask the hard question and you can reel it back if you don’t feel like answering.”

She paused, and then gently asked, ”Why’d you give the rings to Sloane of all people?”

Adora was silent for a moment.

”… I didn’t,” She succinctly answered. ”’Nessa and Clem did when they left the Coven.”

Adora then shook her head, ”I tried to get ‘im back before all this craziness went down, but Sloane didn’t want to give them up. Probably already lost them.” She shrugged.

Amara didn’t fully remember Vannesa and Clementine. Blurry faces in a mirror that was cracked to hell. ”But there were three of them. You handed yours in?”

Adora just raised her hand, revealing the ring she kept on her finger.

”Well… Okay. That’s a start. Ever try finding the other two? I heard that Sloane lost them.”

”I mean… Where do I fucking start?” Adora laughed, leaning forward and putting her hands on her face. ”St. Portwell is a bigass place - if they’re even in St. Portwell!”

”There are ways, girl,” Amara said, thinking about it. ”I’ve got at least two ways to start. One, I use abstraction to figure it out. The other… Promise not to freak the fuck out?”

”Well, long as you’re not torturing kittens…” Adora chuckled.

”Well…” She began. ”I was in the PRA for most of the last ten years. Quit around a year ago. I knew people that could probably find the rings easier than me… And I could keep them quiet about it.”

Adora smiled.

”... You were expecting me to flip out over that?” Adora scoffed. ”You got the wrong idea about me. Though, I don't trust them.”

She crossed her arms, ”They ruined one of my hoodies.”

”Yeah… They ruin shit. It happens. But they know a lot about paranormal things. I was kind of a big deal, and I never heard about your rings. Not once.”

”... Good, we shouldn’t be airing out all our secrets to the Feds anyhow,” Adora said. Before she signed, ”I’m not sure if I want their help though…”

”If they know I’m the one asking, I’m sure I can get them to mind their own business. I was around before the guy currently running the place was. They take whoever they can get, since they’re always underfunded. That means I had to keep people from doing stupid shit more times than I can count. As long as it’s not someone like Liao or Keagen, I can likely handle them.”

”... I’m still not comfortable with the idea,” Adora answered. ”How about we see what Sloane knows, then we hit up the feds.”

”Yeah, that’s fine if you’d rather do that.”

”... She has me blocked.”

---

20 minutes ago, Amara shot Sloane a few messages, asking if she was free for some in-person conversation. She made sure to phrase it as “coven business” and “proactive planning,” which was neither a lie nor different from Amara’s idea of the whole thing. Sloane was allegedly the last person to know the whereabouts of the rings, after all.

An elevator ride with Adora later, she knocked on Sloane’s front door.

”... You told her I was coming, right?” Adora asked.

”Well yeah.”

A moment later, announced by the sound of a series of deadbolts being unlocked, Sloane opened the door. She was dressed bizarrely casual for herself, wearing an old pair of jeans and a t-shirt from the Halloween Festival, her hair pulled back in a loose ponytail. There seemed to be a small, thin streak of paint on the edge of her tightening jawline as her tired eyes looked from Amara to Adora then back to Amara.

“You didn’t say she was—whatever, come in,” said Sloane with a huff, her eyes rolling as she turned to lead the two into her penthouse’s living room. A silver platter with a porcelain teapot , two cups, a saucer of cream, a few cubes of sugar, and a handful of tiny sandwiches made with smoked salmon and cream cheese sat on her coffee table. Tea for two. Two. Not three, two. Sloane glared at it. “Have a seat wherever. Help yourselves. Just…just…just give me a second.”

Sloane loudly sighed and stormed off to the kitchen. Her practice of having “proper hosting etiquette” echoed down the hall—the rattling of condiment bottles on the door of the fridge, a quiet “shit”, the opening and shutting of cabinets and cupboards, the hissing of a tap, and the clicking of a stove followed by a whoosh of flames.

”Huh… I thought that second text went through,” Amara said, checking her phone after Sloane stepped away.

”Oops. Forgot to hit send.”

Adora facepalmed.

Sloane returned with an opened bag of potato chips and a third tea cup. She carefully set the empty teacup down on the platter, turning the little handle ever so slightly that it lined up more aesthetically with the entire presentation, and then unceremoniously dropped the big bag of chips onto the table next to it, likely smashing up a good chunk of the chips.

“I’m out of bread,” Sloane said matter-of-factly, then poured herself a cup of tea. She sat on the edge of an armchair, looking ready to rush back off to the kitchen the moment she heard the kettle whistle. She gestured to Amara, letting her know it was time to start explaining why she was being bothered. “Well?”

”Like I was saying earlier,” Amara began, sitting down gently across from Sloane. ”I’ve decided to be proactive about the state of the coven. Talking to everyone, fixing the little problems that add up into major ones. First on the list was the Trinity Rings. And you were the one to have them last. Adora thinks discussing that with you was the better idea, so we’re here.”

Adora sat down next to Amara,grabbed the teacup, and sighed, ”... And I was hoping to apologize for my behavior at the second meeting.”

“I believe you owe an apology to Anya, not to me. If anything I found your behavior…typical,” said Sloane.

”... And my actions were not directed at her at all,” Adora narrowed her eyes. ”So, she’s unimportant right now.”

Sloane turned to Amara, “I take it this list has yet to be properly organized? As I’ve already told Adora, the two Trinity Rings given to me were stolen alongside the rest of my collection. If I had any leads or information on where they might be I would have them already.”

”You’ve been sitting on a whole system of leads since your collection was taken,” Amara retorted, blunt and concisely. ”I asked around, to make sure I wasn’t missing anything. The way I heard it, you had more than just the Trinity Rings. You even had mock versions of most of the big name artifacts we all used. You’ve always been meticulous,” She continued. ”So it’s only natural you’d keep everything locked up tighter than the Pit.”

She leaned back in her seat. ”You were robbed, and there’s a pattern when people get robbed. Sometimes it’s as simple as realizing they got in through the window by hitting the latch with a screwdriver. Sometimes the locks can be tripped with a high powered magnet. It’s no different when you’ve got magic involved. So the way you have your vault set up is a clue to how it was breached. You following me?”

“I understand how theft works,” said Sloane, hiding a sneer by taking a sip of tea. “I didn't just have a vault. I had my collection spread out and reinforced by my hexmarks to protect them–at home, at work, at the bank. There was no sign of forced entry, no prints, no hair, no…anything. My hexmarks were gone, but none of the effects had been triggered. If not for the missing artifacts it was as if nobody had been there.”

”Which means whoever was there was the type of person who can one, leave no trace when they rob someone, two, nullify magic in some way, and three, gather up a lot of information,” Amara said, thinking. ”Magic isn’t just raw power. It’s rock paper scissors, attack and counterattack. So the logical jump there is it’s likely you were robbed by multiple people coordinating. How many people knew about your collection before it was taken?”

“Apparently too many,” said Sloane. It wasn’t like some grand secret. A handful of former covenmates had taken up her offer on storing their unwanted artifacts, and many more had refused her but were aware she was asking around. A kettle hissed in the background. “But you’re wrong about magic, Amara. It plays by the rules until suddenly it just doesn’t. Sure, logic would dictate that it was likely a group of people working together, but it’s also possible that it may have been one person working with multiple versions of themselves. Excuse me.”

Sloane returned moments later with another pot of tea. She sat back down in her chair, “Let me ask something before we get ahead of ourselves. Say we get the rings back. Who do you plan on having them?” She gave a dismissive glance towards Adora. “Surely not her?”

”... Oh yes, not the person they belonged to,” Adora rolled her eyes. ”Now, Sloane-y, I know you’re not taking these murders - or even that fiasco at Kari’s house - seriously, but we need every asset we can get right now.”

Sloane choked on her tea. Yeah, she was notorious for not taking things seriously.

Adora narrowed her eyes, ”... Britney - as hard as it is for me to say her name right now - said that the rings are one of the most powerful artifacts in the All-Verse: what good are they sitting around in your house, your job, or where ever, right now?”

”They might not be of any use sitting around in your vault, but that goes for anyone whose hands we keep them out of as well,” Amara said. ”That’s the point of locking them down when they’re not needed, right?”

“Something like that,” muttered Sloane.

Sloane didn’t like the idea of Adora having the Trinity Rings, and she wasn’t the only one: there was a reason Clem and Vanessa had given them to her instead of Adora. Adora couldn’t handle the responsibility. She shutdown in the face of pressure. It was ridiculous that she even had the nerve to bring up Kari’s house—Sloane didn’t recall Adora doing anything to stop 8th Street from overrunning them. The temptation to verbally smack Adora down was enticing, fueled further by her having the nerve to call Sloane “Sloaney”, but there was something holding her back. An annoying, filthy four-letter-word: tact.

“You two make a fair point. We need every asset we can get, and we need to keep them out of the hands of people who shouldn’t have them,” said Sloane. She gently set down her cup of tea, held her palm out, and stared blankly at Adora. “Give me your ring.”

”... Hell. No.” Adora sharply responded.

Amara… Laughed. This didn’t surprise her.

“Calm down, you’ll get it back. But with it I can remake my Counterfeit which will destroy the previous one. An asset for us, less useful toys for our thieves,” said Sloane. She curled back her fingers, closing her hand. “Or is that not what you want?”

”Would you be able to make three of them, to fake the whole set?”

“Not quite. Well, not always,” said Sloane. “Again, magic doesn’t always do what you think it should.”

Adora was silent for a moment. Before she sighed, ”... How long will it take?”

“Long enough that we should probably order an actual lunch,” said Sloane, frowning at the untouched sandwiches. “So? I’ll even pay.”

”I can pay half if you’re gonna insist on it,” Amara said. ”And I figure that since we’ll be here that long, we can talk about what else needs to be unfucked in this town.”

”I just ate so you don't have to worry about me,” Adora shrugged. ”The list of St. Portwell’s problems is so long that we’ll all be old ladies by the time we make some headway.”

“You two can talk, just keep it down,” said Sloane, putting down her phone after quickly ordering some Indian food for the three of them. Despite what Adora said, she’d definitely want some once she smelled the garlic naan. “I’ll need to concentrate. And I’ll need that ring.”

Adora sighed as she took the ring off and presented it to Sloane. She took it, then left, then Adora awkwardly smiled at Amara. Before she leaned in and quietly,

”... I didn't want to say it front of her ass,” Adora asked. ”But, do you know any ways to get the Rot out of Luca?”

”…Not off the top of my head,” Amara admitted, quietly. ”I know there are some Agents, capital A, that work solely with sealed Apparitions. Binding them and unbinding them whenever they need, but I’ve never met anyone like that. It’s… It’s not impossible to force an Apparition out of someone, but… We can’t do that with what we have.”

”There has to be a way, something, anything,” Adora threw a hand up, ”I told the lil’ guy I’d do something but I don’t know where to start…”

”Speaking from experience, us paranormals usually do better in groups. It sounds pretentious coming from me, but you can’t really do everything alone. You could try asking some of the more bookish members of the coven. The ones who did all the research back then. Like that guy with the magic hand… I forgot his name.”

”... Jack,” Adora shuddered. ”Is there anyone else? So I can just do a full sweep?”

”Britney. Anya, if she can be bothered. Maybe you could ask Linqian if she has any of Jinhai’s books and promise you’ll treat them right. That’s the best I got.”

”Anya’s an automatic no. I’m certain Linqian still doesn't care for me, and Britney…” Adora shook her head. ”... This is her mess to fix. So best start with her.”

”I don’t think she appreciates me being around, but I can come with, if you prefer that.”

”Sure,” Adora said.

Amara nodded. ”Maybe Britney can tell us a thing or two about 8th St we don’t already know while we’re at it.”

---

---

---

Amara was at Adora's side.

They reached the top of the hill and reached the Stone Altar that rested at the end of the pathway to Mellon Collie Hill. It was a touristy spot where witches met and shit, but now Adora wondered how much of it was bullshit. Legends say it was neutral grounds for witch Covens and other groups in the past, but it had nothing to do with Sycamore far as she could tell. This was a location where Britney suggested that they meet as a sort of symbolic "neutral area" for the two parties to meet. Adora wasn't happy with Britney right now, but she was also the best bet to solving the Luca problem - even though he didn't want her getting involved. Of course, there had to be a way to help Luca before he fucking died.

Once they made it to to the alter, they found Britney. She had a blue bonnet on her head, her skin was moist, and it looked like she just tossed on a grey romper and hauled ass over here... just sitting there on the steps. All by herself, and Adora couldn't look her in the eye. she just turned away as she said,

”... Why are you sitting here by yourself?” Adora shook her head. ”Are you trying to die?”

”Jack's watching over me,” Britney responded. ”You just haven't noticed him yet.”

Amara looked around, through the trees and down the path behind them all. She usually had a good sense about this sort of thing, when it came to getting the lay of the land. But she couldn’t see the edgy fucker anywhere.

”…So, is he gonna show himself or- Oh.” Amara turned back around and saw Jack sitting on top of the stone altar, above and behind Britney. Jack wasn’t there a second ago, so he must’ve been making another one of his stupid entrances. He stood, and dropped down to the ground, landing on his feet with a dull thunk, walking over to the other.

”I saw you two on the way here, we are alone, and no one is searching for us here, that I know of,” he said. Jack was in his usual outfit, with a long wool coat thrown over dark Autumn-appropriate clothes… Did he ever change that style up? Probably not.

Adora kept her arms crossed as she stared at Jack, a scowl on her face. She sighed as she said, ”Let’s get this over with.” She looked up at Britney. ”... We need to help Luca, and you’re, at the moment, the best option to do that - even though you created this mess in the first place.” She rolled her eyes.

”I did, there’s no getting around that,” Britney sighed. ”Let’s cut to the chase… It’s incredibly difficult to force an Apparition to unadjoin from its current host, but there are some ways.”

”... Lemme guess,” Adora put a hand on her hip. ”We don’t have access to those ways.”

Britney nodded her head.

”Typical.” Adora crossed her arms.

”If we had a Black Lux user, they could devise a spell to torture the Apparition out of its host, unfortunately we don’t have one.”

”She’s dead.”

”It is what it is,” Britney shrugged. ”There’s a sort of artifact that can do something similar… but last I heard it fell into The Pit.”

Britney shook her head.

”Thus, we should cross that off as an option.”

”Nothing in magic is truly impossible, though…” Jack trailed off for a second. ”There are other options. More feasible ones. Yellow Lux could, in theory, guard one’s soul against the bond of an Apparition. Black Lux could bind it into something other than Luca. But my understanding is that we have neither in sufficient form.”

”So… Some other artifacts we could look for?” Amara asked.

”Kenshiro and I have been thinking of making trips out of Shimmer to look for artifacts that we know the definitive locations of. But we want to discuss that with Auri first.”

Adora slid her hands into her hoodie pockets. ”That’s swell, but I came out here to talk about helping Luca.” Adora shook her head. ”... Ain’t Stormy a yellow-Adept?”

”I am, but I don’t think I’m that powerful.”

Stormy made his appearance behind everyone, wearing faded jeans and an old gray jacket. ”Got here as soon as I was able. The thing about Apparitions is that they can usually choose to unadjoin themselves to someone, but sealing them is an entirely different subject.”

Adora turned towards Stormy, and grinned, ”... It’s been a long time, Stormy. How have you been?” She chuckled to herself.

”Didn’t we just meet up yesterday?”

”... That was a joke, sweetie,” Adora rolled her eyes.

”That is also true,” Britney said, ”It was… a fucked up thought, but maybe we can goad the Rot into adjoining to something like a rat, or perhaps even a blank homunculus. Most Apparitions would rather be Abscised than Adjoined.”

”The hard part is getting it out, though,” Amara said. ”It’s one thing if we could do that, but we can’t do anything while it’s trapped. And what if the Rot likes being trapped in Luca? Some Apparitions have a preference.”

Adora turned towards Stormy, and asked, ”... Can you make it not like being trapped in Luca?”

”Technically, I could make any Apparition not like being in any host. Phantombane makes Apparitions feel like they’re submerged in lava, burning alive and slowly dying. Back at the festival on the island, Babylon started screaming in agony when she got caught in it,” Stormy explained.

”But… The Rot’s different, somehow. It was winning during that thing with Emily. It got through Luca’s walls and had him right where it wanted, dead to rights and ready to take over. I stopped it, and it just gave in. I don’t think it just “likes” being sealed in Luca. I think Luca is ideal, or outright perfect for what it wants.”

”... So, our only option is to find some type of artifact to get rid of it?” Adora asked, turning to Britney. ”C’mon, Brit, this is your fault. You gotta know something.”

”Right now, we don’t have a lot of options, if I knew one, I would have helped Luca by now..” Britney just shrugged. ”I don’t suggest we go to the Pit under any circumstance. Our only Black-Adepts are dead…”

Adora bared teeth, ”... You’re an ‘expert’-”

”Yet, like Jack said, nothing with magic is truly impossible,” Britney cut her off. ”There is a way. There is always a way.”

”I will name a few. One: We convince Sloane well enough to develop an orange Lux spell capable of producing artifacts of that magnitude, rather than counterfeit versions. Two: We outsource the problem to someone, anyone who comes to mind, capable of acquiring or fabricating an artifact that powerful, or an Adept with appropriate spells. I knew one such Adept long ago, so that may be possible, but I would not count on that.”

Jack continued. ”Three: We find a way to strip Luca of his Emotional Field, which he benefits from through the Rot. By extension, the Rot would be vulnerable to magic that can target it without targeting Luca. If we can access such magic.”

”Most of that sounds damn near infeasible.”

”Who’s this Adept?” Adora asked Jack, uncomfortably shifting in her feet. ”More importantly, will he or she do it without hurting Luca or putting another target on our backs?”

”There are organizations beyond St. Portwell,” Britney noted. ”Like, St. Portwell ain’t the only supernatural hotspot. There’s… LA, Las Vegas, Mirage Springs, Miami, Philly… and so on. It might be a stretch but maybe we can reach out to one of them?”

”Mortimer Zapata. An orange Adept who could create virtually any artifact he wished. In theory, he would never need to even know Luca. Either by name or by meeting him. He works, or worked, by selecting specific materials relative to what he made.”

Jack reached into the collar of his shirt, and pulled out a small prism of something black, connected by a chain of small dark beads. ”I owed him a great deal of paranormal research, in exchange for this once. But that was years ago,” he said, holding it up where the others could see. ”I don’t know if he is still alive, but it would not be difficult to confirm.”

Adora shrugged.

”... Well, what other options do we got right now?” She asked.

”The Army might be able to reach out to other places outside Shimmer, see if there’s any extra-dimensional shit we could exploit. But that might take awhile to get back to us.”

”... The Army?” Adora tilted her head, saying in astonishment before she smacked herself on the forehead. ”Oh, wait, your ghost thing, right.”

”... And I know this might be an unpopular opinion,” Britney added on, staring at Adora. ”But, first and foremost, we should worry about stopping Kar- Father Wolf. It won’t matter if we help him if he just gets axed in the end anyway...” Britney sighed.

”And that won’t matter if the Rot gets him killed,” Stormy cut in. ”And there are already enough lunatics in this city who would love to wring our necks, so what is stopping us from protecting everyone from both?”

”... That is true,” Britney sighed. ”Speaking of lunatics, that reminds me… ” She awkwardly chuckled.

”... I think worrying about one lunatic trying to kill us made me forget about the other group, but Greyson told me that the House of Cards mafia is after us - well, after everyone that participated in Voidy’s sealing…” Britney sighed. ”Like dead, they want us dead.”

Jack and Stormy stared at Britney silently for a moment.

And then Jack sighed, breaking the silence. ”I knew I should have killed them all before the coven disbanded.”

”What?”

”You heard me.”

”I’m not sure if it’s Greyson being… Greyson,” Britney shrugged. ”But, it’d be stupid to blow them off.”

”Who the hell are they again?” Amara asked. ”The big ass artifact hunters? Wait, no that in Arizona… Remind me.”

”I’m fucking lost myself!” Adora laughed.

”... Do you remember Luna Inuoe?” Britney asked.

”Don’t ring a bell,” Adora shrugged.

”Well, the House of Cards is a mafia that operates out of one of the casinos downtown,” Britney explained. ”They were led by some lady named Phantasia Vorpal who had a hell of a hard-on for us back in the day, but Voidy saved her life back in the day, and she harbors some fondness for the bastard. Though she got iced the other day, I’m unsure if they are still after us - we have to assume they are….” Britney shook her head.

”They were the group that Luna sold us out to - Layla’s selling us out, too… which is one more person who’s pushing someone else’s agenda when we’re fucking getting murdered.” Britney ended it with a huff.

”You have got to be fucking kidding me. What are we doing about Layla, then? Is this a double-mole thing? Are we waiting to kick her out? Using her to lure us to them? What’s happening?” Amara asked, more than a little tense about being spied on.

”Honestly, I haven’t had a chance to talk with Auri about it,” Britney shook her head. ”If it was up to me, she would have hit the door by now…”

”Look, fact is, if what you’re saying is true,” Adora shook her head. ”We need to get rid of her soon as possible. No if’s, and’s, or butts.”

”When we went to search Kari’s house,” Stormy said. ”We found Luna spying on us in the trees. I had to keep Drake from vaporizing her. They have more than just one person keeping tabs on us.”

”We need to cut the dead weight. It’s one thing if someone in the coven can’t contribute a lot, but it’s a whole other ballgame if they’re actively working against us. That’s not good for the whole “let’s save our lives” thing. Get her, and anyone else we think has an ulterior motive against us, and toss them, in my once-professional op-”

”No.”

Amara stopped and looked at the edgelord. ”What?”

”Let’s assume, for just a moment, that Layla is not the only “traitor” in the coven.” Jack’s whole demeanor seemed to shift, at the notion of booting people. ”Linqian, Anya, Drake. Or even our “leader,” Auri. Anyone you can think of who might have a reason to defect, I don’t care. Then what? Do we throw half of our surviving members to the wolves? Let them fend for themselves when we are already spread thin? Layla will have nowhere to turn to, other than a criminal organization that only cares for her abstraction, if we remove her.”

He crossed his arms and looked around at the others. ”Should we vote Auri out of the coven because she has a life in the mundane world? Linqian, because she cares more for avenging Jinhai than solving a murder?”

”I think you’re getting ahead of yourself just a little, there.”

”Jack, I get what you mean, but let’s use our heads here,” Britney poked hereself on both sides of her forehead. ”There is a world of difference between Linqian wanting to avenge her brother, and Auri having a life outside the Coven, and someone actively working against us. Yes, there are probably other traitors, but we’ll be better off without the liabilities.”

”Yeah I mean…” Adora shrugged. ”... It seems like Layla picked her people. And if it don’t work out for her? That’s her problem.”

Adora gave Jack a narrow look as she said, ”Fuck around and find out, that’s what I say.”

”We are playing a dangerous game by making those choices… Fine,” He relented. ”I won’t object, but I do not approve of this.”

Adora rolled her eyes before she turned to Stormy and asked, ”So what happened to Luna? Did you and Blackmore run her ass off or what?”

”She ran off on her own when 8th Street decided to make a move on us. I don’t know where she is now.”

”Hopefully she just fucked off,” Adora shrugged. ”Any other information ya’ll holding onto? Any other burning questions?”

Jack had something on his mind, actually. ”We haven’t had the chance to do this, but Greenwood suggested an alliance between them and us after I thought they stole Sully’s Chalice.”

”Greenwood…” Adora mused. ”... They seemed cool.”

”I mean,” Britney shrugged. ”We can use as many friends as we can right now.”

”I told them I would make it happen, if Auri or the others wanted. I’ve been keeping contact with them when I have the opportunity.”

”Before we forget,” Amara interjected. ”We need to talk about 8th Street. Britney, you know more about them than me. I know a lot about one guy in particular, so before we leave, why don’t we get each other up to speed- I can’t remember everything about them. Some of them grouped up because they were pissed at you, right?”

Britney sighed.

”... Yes, but I don’t have a whole wealth of information on them, unfortunately. I know the people who were in the Old Coven, and that’s it,” Britney answered. ”I do know who the former third-in-command was for them, Lynnette Domingeuz.”

”Doesn’t ring a bell. I’m listening.”

”We can hit her up and see what she knows.”

”Can we? They didn’t exactly seem willing to play nice the other day,” Amara noted.

”I can be on standby, or be there in person. If they try anything,” Jack offered.

”... Lynette isn’t with 8th Street anymore,” Britney flatly noted. ”And she’s my girl. We can trust her.”

”If you’re sure. Just don’t go alone. I wouldn’t put it past them to tail her after she defected. Or quit. Whichever.”

”I’ll have Auri there with me,”

”Good. Good.. Not trying to make a big deal out of it. Just…” She trailed off for a second. ”Dealt with plenty of assholes like them. Back in the PRA.”

”You can come if you like,” Britney said, ”I hung out with Lynette plenty of times, and I haven’t seen a single member of 8th Street.”

”Then…” Adora shrugged. ”We know what to do next.”

Adora nodded her head, as everyone went their separate ways.

---

---

---

Night had fallen.

Adora's day began with feeling lonely, followed by hitting Stormy for lunch, questioning Sloane about the Trinity Rings, brainstorming ways to help Luca, and meeting with the previous third in command of 8th Street. At the very least, Adora doesn't feel lonely anymore! The three rode with Britney in her giant Sedan - rich bastard. Adora threw her hoodie up as she climbed out of the car. She tailed behind Amara as Britney led the way through the park downtown. They walked over to the section with the outdoor chess tables and chairs... and sitting there was Lynette Domínguez. She wore jeans, a blue hoodie, a New York Knicks baseball cap, and... some timbs. Aggressively, New York, if Adora had never seen it herself. But Adora didn't know much about the gal; she was glued to Britney's hip in the Old Coven. They hung out a few times, and Lynette ain't change in appearance much - still got her poofy ass hair.

Lynette smiled as they walked up.

"... Hello, hello," Lynette said before she looked up at Britney. "Big butt!"

”Lynette!” Britney said as she walked over and hugged Lynette; after a moment, she released her.

"You know, I thought it was a little late for our usual chess matches, Big Butt," Lynette laughed.

”We're not playing chess tonight, Lynette.”

"Aw." Lynette feigned disappointment. "Though, we never had spectators before... Amara, Adora, it's been so long... I'm glad to see you, especially Adora. How have you two been?" She laughed.

”I’ve been okay,” Adora shrugged, standing over the chess table.

”I’m afraid I don’t remember you, if we’ve met before.” Amara took a seat across from Lynette at the chess table. She could, in theory, whip Lynette’s ass at it if they had the time. But alas, they didn’t.

”Have we?”

“Wow, rude,” Lynette laughed. “We were both in the Old Coven… How could I forget ‘General Amara’?”

”I dunno,” she shrugged. ”Probably the way I forget things all the time.” Not that anyone knew just how much she was forgetting things…

Yet.

”Anyway- We came by to talk. You were in 8th Street for a while. Britney told us you’re out now.”

“Yes, and yes,” Lynette said. “I was the… ‘third-in-command’ of the 8th Street Coven for awhile. Had a lot of good times with them… I kept Emily and Vashti in line. At least before they went full supervillain!” She laughed.

“... What do you need to know? And why?”

”We need to know about them,” Amara said. ”Things we can use against them. How their magic works. Where they go to lick their wounds. Whatever you can tell us. And we need that because, well, I’m pretty sure you were there when they damn near killed us all recently.”

Lynette was silent momentarily as she leaned forward and put her hands on her face.

“... Now, Amara, are you accusing me?” Lynette simply asked. “Because I have nothing to do with whatever Emily does with the 8th Street Coven. And as long as she and Vashti are in charge, I want nothing to do with them either.”

”If you weren’t involved with that,” Amara pressed. ”Then you have to at least know about it. Something like that doesn’t go unnoticed when you hang around them. I’m not here to throw blame around, but we need to know what we’re dealing with.”

“Again,” Lynette shook her head. “I’m more than willing to help you all out. But I don’t hang out with them anymore. The only people I still have contact with in 8th are Emily’s little sisters - now the new third in command. This is the first time I heard about Emily attacking ya’ll… but it isn’t out of character for her.”

”Then do you know anything about her sisters’ abstractions?” Amara asked, not letting up. ”Anything at all that you know about them helps. The more we know about them, the easier it is to put up a fight if they try that kind of thing again.”

“Well, her one sister, Miranda, is a healer,” Lynette began. “She has a super strong regenerative factor. I saw her regrow her arm in seconds one time. She’s next to impossible to kill. As for her other sister… Jacqueline….”

Lynette paused for a moment, rubbing her chin. “She has an Agent that let her shoot lasers; each has a different effect. Freeze. Heat. Teleport to different locations. Et cetera.”

”That is a weird abstraction to have, but alright… Some sort of artifact? Apparition she’s got sealed?”

“Sealed Apparition,” Lynette answered.

”Cool, cool… Are Emily’s sisters as batshit psychotic as her?”

“No, in fact, they are not,” Lynette answered. “They are sweet girls… Like less melanated sisters to me. They are just blind to how horrible and toxic Emily is.”

Amara’s eyes narrowed substantially at the sound of someone in the Reed genepool being a functioning member of society. ”How does that add up? Third in command, not aware of the shit Emily gets up to?”

Lynette gave her a blank look.

“Now look, Amara,” Lynette began. “You asked me to come out here to help you out, but all you seem to do is second-guess what I’m telling you.” Lynette narrowed her eyes.

“... It's obvious you don't trust me. And still think I’m with 8th St despite that phase of my life being over. So, I’m done talking to you. Enjoy the rest of your night.”

”... Look, Amara, let me do the talking,” Britney stepped in. ”This is going nowhere.”

“Awwww,” Lynette smiled. “Big butt coming in for the clutch, how can I help you?”

”Look, let me start from the top, and explain everything,” Britney began, putting her hands up, taking a brief moment to pause to explain this. ”It starts at the Halloween Festival with Lila, Lynn, and Emily and her sisters - now, it’s beyond me why they were engaging with Emily in the first place. Still, Emily said some fucked up, bigoted bullshit, and Lila flew off the handle and beat the tar out of her.”

“I heard about that,” Lynette said with a laugh. “I would have made a video!”

”Lila humiliated Emily and George, and now they’re back for blood… We went to Kari’s house, and they ambushed us. They had this giant ass undead monster which fell out of a portal. Emily and Vashti, Carol, and George were there too. This chick with an Aegis Piercer, this Asian girl, and then this fine-ass guy… wish he wasn’t with 8th, hehe....”

Britney laughed before awkwardly tugging at her romper.

”They threw up this ice fortress in the background. It was… kinda crazy, so I didn’t get to see everything that happened, but they opened a portal, and zombies fell out of it. Then they threw up this pink mist it made everyone see things they made them happy...”

Adora winced, awkwardly grabbing her other arm, and shuffled in her feet.

”What can you tell us about 8th Street?” Britney said. ”How can we beat them? How can we stop them? Because I’ll be damned if they hurt Lila...”

“Hmmm….” Lynette paused for a moment. “Well, a lot, but since ‘General Amara’ over here wants intel about them, I’ll start with the members. You know about Emily, Vashti, Carol, and George, so I don’t need to review them. I have zero idea about the pink mist, the chick with the Aegis Piercer, or that fine boul - ^{but if you want me to get his number, I can get it from Miranda and Jacqueline}.” Lynette whispered the last part, and Britney gave her a thumbs up.

“The undead monsters were created by a woman named Nadine King… you may remember her from the Old Coven - I’m not saying she was a member, but we ran her out of town when she came trying to scam people after the Stygian Snake. Emily plucked her up, and, for some reason, she works with 8th Street. She’s their resident Necromancer. She’s dangerous and cunning… might be among their most powerful members.”

”That tracks. That thing smelled nasty.”

”... Sure it wasn’t your upper lip?” Adora laughed.

“Most undead things typically do, ‘General Amara,’” Lynette cracked a grin. “The Asian girl is Maya… She can shoot sand and manipulate sound, but not all that bright. She is easily tricked, distracted, and-or manipulated. She usually doesn’t follow instructions, but don’t underestimate her. Usually, she hangs around her bestie Phoebe… who was probably the one that threw up the ice wall. Green-Red Adept, she can create and transform into ice. She may seem stupid like Maya, but it’s all an act. She’s way smarter than she appears.”

”Okay. Good to know, I’m guessing they’d stick close in a fight.”

”I didn’t see them together,” Britney noted.

“She’s like a… tallish, skinny, black girl, she has yellow and green dreads,” Lynette explained. “Definitely couldn’t miss her - but to my knowledge, Maya and Phoebe have some joint casts, I just forgot what they were. Oh yeah, Greta and Brianna are also in 8th, and, uh, yeah…. There’s Cynthia… she’s, um, a monster from the Pit that someone else took, turned into their personal attack dog, and we convinced her to turn against her previous “pack leader,” and I still have nightmares about it!“

She awkwardly laughed, “Cynthia is a man-eating monster; she’s strong, fast, tough, and worst of all she’s capable of attuning her Emotional-Field to your abstractions, which can make them half effective. She tanked a full-forced punch from George before… but she also has a perfect sense of smell - before I forget! Glamour is applied to her, so she typically appears as a lil’ black girl with a blonde afro. Cynthia is extra dangerous when the other members of 8th are backing her up.”

”I didn’t see her out there with Emily,” Britney noted.

“So she was probably guarding Greta and Brianna like she typically does,” Lynette raised a finger. “There’s Stanley - well, we call him Lee - he’s a white guy that's average heightened, well-built, has a golden gauntlet on his left hand. The Hero’s Gauntlet.”

”Heard of that…” Britney mused.

“So, you should know everything he can do, Big-Butt,” Lynette smiled.

”He can create different weapons, swords, a bow and arrow that explodes into fire, a dagger that can summon powerful winds, a hammer that can cause an earthquake, and a barrier that reflects any magical projectiles…” Britney explained to Amara.

“There’s Malik, the tall black guy with the glasses… last I heard, he can shoot stars and fly,” Lynette said. “Then… last member I know about is Annabelle Heart, an Agent that could control birds and teleport - but… I saw her recently, and um….”

Lynette awkwardly laughed.

”What’s up?” Britney asked.

“She’s cursed,” Lynette said. “Something has happened to her; I’m not sure what.”

”I’m not really a curse expert,” Amara said. ”What happened?”

“Not sure,” Lynette shrugged. “All I was told was that 8th got into a fight with Greenwood, and Annabelle got cursed in the crossfire.”

”That’s rough,” she commented, without any sympathy. ”But… That’s useful to know. All of this helps, thanks.”
“You’re welcome,” Lynette said. “I know we got off on the wrong foot, but maybe things can be better from here on… do you know when the next Coven meeting is? I may go.”

”No idea. But we can ask Auri.”

”I mean, I don’t think it should be that long,” Britney shrugged. ”We have some type of a lead, and for once, we didn’t get knee-deep in some shit but….” Britney loudly yawned.

”I’m getting sleepy,” Britney began.

“Do you want my number, in case you have any other questions, ‘General Amara’?” Lynette cracked a grin.

”Sure.”

Lynette stuck her hand out, “Phone, please.”

Amara reached into her pocket, pulled her phone out, and handed it to Lynette.

“Well…” Lynette asked the group, “Is there anything else I can help you with?”with?”

Adora turned to Amara, then Britney.

”Nothing I can think of,” She said with a shrug. ”Thank you.”

Then Lynette turned to Britney,

“Big Butt…” Lynette laughed. “Would you like to play a game of Chess?”

”Another time, I’m sleepy, I’m not sure if I should take another shower or not...” Britney said, before she turned to Amara and Adora. ”Let’s go.”

The four went their separate ways.

The Apothecary
_{Interactions: None.}

---

“Alright, what the fuck is this?!”

Luna came crashing through the double doors, then the back doors, holding her phone in her hand. It still had the text she received from Valencia, calling for an ‘emergency meeting’. Luna saw most, if not all of the heads of the Family had gathered, speaking in hushed tones over a room covered in white cloths, and a gaping hole in the vent.

“You better explain this shit or-”

Luna froze, noticing the cloths covered something…

Her stomach twisted in a knot, eyes glancing around the heads of the Family for anyone to give her an in, an explanation. None returned her beseeching eyes, until she finally turned to Valencia, at the head of the room.

“Val, the fuck is going on?”

Valencia glanced at Luna, gave a long sigh, and gestured her head towards the cloth. The one in the center of the room.

“See for yourself.”

Luna’s eyes narrowed, before pursing her lips, and approaching the table. She pulled the cloth back, and sucked in a sharp breath, visibly recoiling. It was Phantasia Vorpal, cold as ice.

“Fuck.” She glared hot at Valencia. “The fuck happened?”

Valencia stared cooly back, before lolling her head to the side, in the direction of Mr. Roosevelt, who was still dabbing his eyes with a handkerchief.

“Mr. Roosevelt heard the whole thing. Apparently, Dollhouse came sniffing around, determined to box Mother in. Mother, as tradition would serve, refused, attempted to flee, fight back… Hell, it doesn’t really matter.

“They killed her, Luna. Her and four of our men. In cold blood.”

“W-well we gotta fuckin’ do somethin’.” Luna exclaimed, but Valencia simply raised up a hand.

Instead, Valencia turned her attention to the group gathered around Phantasia Vorpal - Mother Cards. She placed a hand on the table, addressing the heads of the Family.

“You know why I’ve called you here. In the absence of our Mother, we are in need of a new Boss.”

Isabella Blackthorne, hat lowered to her chest, side-eyed Valencia. “By way of hierarchy, you are in place to become the new Boss, Valencia.”

Valencia nodded, crossing her arms before regarding each face in the group. “I need to hear it from each of you. I doubt I’ll have to wrestle any of you for the chair, but let’s follow Mother’s formalities…”

A new voice spoke up, growling as he chewed on a cigarette. “Let’s just be fuckin’ honest about this.” He tossed back his blond hair and pointed a hand at Valencia. “This has always been your power play, hasn’t it? Lying in wait - hell, you probably caused Mother to die, huh?!”

“Silence!” A voice on the other side of Valencia spoke, a white-haired man with ice in his eyes. He lifted a hand, and a tiny speck of darkness appeared in front of the blond man, tugging him dangerously into its infinite depths. “You will not speak to my wife, the new Boss of the House of Cards, like that, Lorenzo.”

Lorenzo grumbled, sweating a bit, before he held up his hands in waved surrender. “Fine, fine.”

The speck threatening Lorenzo disappeared, and the white-haired man lowered his hand. His eyes slid over to Valencia. “Please continue, Mother.”

Isabella spoke up next. “You have my vote, Mother.”

Luna grimaced, before she nodded her head. “I’d follow you anywhere, heir of the Cards.”

Other voices rang out. “Here, here!” “I’ll follow Mother!” Before every head and capo had, in turn, pledged their allegiance.

Valencia nodded, her face serious and resolute. Her eyes glanced to Isabella. “Isabella, I’m promoting you to consilierge. Please serve me well.”

Isabella nodded.

Vanelcoa then turned her gaze across the room of capos, before her eyes settled on Luna. “Luna, step forward.”

Luna did as she was asked, sweating a bit. Valencia ignored it, staring through half-lidded eyes. “You have a little Boss in your head, loyal to our cause. Your plans and advice always hit their mark. I’m promoting you to UnderBoss.”

Luna’s jawdropped, before she forced a neutral gaze on her face, and nodded. “I’ll serve you well, Mother.”

Valencia nodded back, before tilting her head back and sighing. “Someone get me the orphan. Layla needs to be informed.”

A deadly glint appeared in her eyes.

“We have… much to plan…”

---

The Hearts Club Casino
_{Interactions: None.}

---

Layla found herself standing in front of none other than the Hearts Club Casino, the lights shining bright, promising a place where you could forget your pain.

Yeah. Definitely something she could use. Though she wasn't sure how effective gambling would be compared to the itch growing in her mind, the sting of withdrawal from Mr. Devola's medicine.

Trying to wipe away the haggard look from her eyes, Layla entered the establishment. She wore a blue sweater dress, attempting to look put together for the meeting. Attempting to look like she simply wasn't just trying to keep her head above water.

A hostess approached her. “Miss Hyacinthus?”

“Y-yes?”

“Right this way, please. You're expected.”

Layla was led past the shiny slot machines ringing with enticing jolliness, some promising fantasies, others promising fortunes. She could see the enraptured of the guests, well-dressed and enthralled with every pull. Layla was brought up to the second floor, where she could see guests wholly focused on card games, hollering with glee if they happened to win. Finally, Layla was taken to the third floor, where a yawning, long hallway with bold colors beckoned her. The hostess opened a side door, and Layla saw an empty conference room.

“Have a seat. They'll be with you shortly.” The hostess said, before softly closing the door behind her.

Layla blinked, before she walked up to one of the leather swivel chairs in the center of the large oval, and took a seat. Several minutes of biting her nails went by, before the conference door opened again.

In walked Valencia, white hair swept back, earrings gleaming and suit looking trim. two body guard in matching dark suits, lapels shining, took up the rear. They stood behind Valencia as she took a seat opposite of Layla.

“Layla… You look like shit.” Valencia stated plainly, head tilted at the girl.

Layla narrowed her eyes. “Things haven't been easy for me, thanks.”

Valecnia's head rolled slightly, eyes never leaving the girl, before she leaned back in her seat, head propped on a palm.

“Phantasia's dead.”

Layla sat there, blinking a few times, the shock evident on her face. When words failed her, Valencia continued.

“She was found shot in the back of the Apothecary. Which means I've taken over the family business, and your business.”

Valencia looked bored at her, inspecting a nail as she spoke. “Now, I don't care much for revenge, or magic-stuff. It's not what makes us money, or at least hasn't for many years…”

“But…” Valencia leaned forward. “I'm nothing if not loyal to my Mother, and that means seeing out her vision to the end. What she wanted for you…

“She didn't want you involved with the Void Hard thing, but I beg to differ. I think we can use you, and I think you want to be used, yes?”

Layla blinked in silence, before slowly nodding her head.

“Good. Now, nothing’s for free, but I think you’ll be willing to make the trade if all goes well... Meanwhile, here's what I want you to do. It's essential for phase two. And who knows, you might get lucky. Lucky enough that we don't have to get things messy…”

---

Nautical Cafe
_{In collaboration with @silvermist1116}

---

It’s midday and Tayla sat in the Nautical Cafe across the street from Coastal Harbor Mall. It’s the day after 8th Street attacked them. She took the day off to handle business. Earlier that day she met with Greyson to kill him. That didn’t go as planned, but his death is still the first thing on her list if shit goes wrong. For now, she’s meeting Tsukino. She set the date and time the day before after they flew away from the conflict.

She had a plain bagel with plain cream cheese. The food here was big and she definitely wouldn’t finish it, but she hadn’t eaten that morning so call her eyes bigger than her stomach. She paired it with hot green tea. She sent a text to Tsukino saying she was there and waiting.

It was then Luna walked up from behind, dressed well for the occasion in an elegant black dress with matching silver adornments. It was always best to be well-dressed for situations like these, and Luna was no stranger to business.

She took the seat opposite of Tayla, placing her phone back in her clutch and setting it to the side on the table, “Good to see you again, Tayla.”

She blew air through her teeth, recounting how they met last. In the middle of a shit storm of a fight. “I hope you’re well. Not sore or hallucinating still from the fight, I trust?”

Though she didn’t have any food, she had a small bottle of water with her, which she took a sip from. “You got a look in your eye. What’s on your mind?”

Tayla gave Tsukino a once over. Girl’s dressed like she’s on a date. Tayla was still in her overalls she wore when out on the boat, a black long sleeve shirt, a baggy white jacket, and her headphones. Nothing special. She made a show of touching the side of her headphones twice to ‘pause’ whatever she’d been listening to.

She broke off a piece of her bagel and spread cream cheese on it, taking a bite of it. She ate slow, her stomach never did well when she rushed, before she answered.

“Greyson’s been into some serious shit lately and I want to reveal that to the group. The original plan was to have you out him for his shit by saying you’ve been stalking him. Drake, Sully, Stormy, and I would’ve been the ones to say that it’s plausible considering how you were in the tree watching us, but things have changed. It’s a lot more dangerous than I thought and we need as many people aware as we can get. More than just Father Wolf is out to get us.” She paid close attention to her thoughts, hoping that what she’s about reveal wouldn’t backfire.

“What do you know about the Dollhouse?”

Luna stared for a moment, before her lip twisted in a frown. She tried to keep it off her face, but her mind immediately became a hurricane of raw emotion. Quickly, thoughts flashed in her mind, retro in style, but still fresh. A cellphone in her hand, reading about an ‘emergency meeting.’ Flying like a mad women to her second home. And, in the dimly lit back rooms of the House of Cards' sanctuary, white cloths, blood and bodies strewn about, all cold as ice. Screaming at a short-cut white-haired woman about ‘what the fuck’ was going on. Pulling aside one of the cloths to see none other than a woman with dark hair, who no longer had her signature hat. A woman Luna knew as Phantasia Vorpal. How the white-haired woman, Valencia, explained how forced negotiations had gone wrong. Horribly wrong.

And Dollhouse was to blame.

“...I know they’re a bunch of bastards that think they control the city.” Luna said in a cold tone, her voice laced with venom. “What about them?”

Tayla bit into her bagel to quickly hide her shocked expression. Phantasia was dead? But she just met with Greyson a week ago. Holy shit. The Dollhouse works fast. They need to come up with a way to get both her and Greyson off their roster of cronies.

“Greyson’s in hot water with them. They think he can restore our memories of where the Sycamore Tree is, but he can’t. He’s stalling for time. Once they find out he’s useless, they plan to kill him. Don’t get me wrong, normally I wouldn’t care, but I’ve seen the truth of him. And try as I might, I’m not heartless enough to leave him hanging. Can you help us?”

There was a long pause before Luna leaned on her elbows, resting her head on interlaced fingers. Her eyes had a hungry glint to them. “You know you’re proposing suicide, or mutually assured destruction… right?”

More thoughts raced through her head. The thought that she was being used for her connections. The sick pleasure in feeling used by her objects of affection - they didn’t know she’d happily die for the sake of the Coven.

She felt sick to her stomach going toe-to-toe with the Dollhouse, and she knew Valencia would need coaxing to get on board, but this suicide mission would be do-able with everyone’s help. Dollhouse was the monster that would eat them all up eventually. That’s how power-hungry madmen operated.

Tayla ate her bagel again. The chewing helped her school her expression from hearing Tsukino’s thoughts. She got pleasure from being used for the Coven’s sake? She’d die for them? That’s fucked. She’s seen fucked shit during her stint with the Wolfpack. This isn’t like any of that, but whatever floats her boat. At least she’s willing, despite feeling nauseous at the thought.

There was just one thing she needed in return for going ahead with this.

“Well… I’m going to be honest with you, it’s fucked you wanna do this. But Greyson is a friend, _{even if his work is messed up.}” She leaned forward a little more, her voice dropping to a whisper. “But I’ll need a favour. Help me make good with the rest of the Coven, and my connections and I will do everything we can to help.”

Her head tilted. ”Deal?”

“I was going to offer that anyway, so deal. I’ll let Greyson know, but don’t do anything towards them yet. We don’t have a solid plan in place on what to do, and I don’t want them tipped off too early. Poking around before we’re ready will raise alarms. Getting you in the Coven won’t matter if they come for all our heads prematurely.”

Luna leaned back, waving her hand dismissively, “Relax, we’ve suffered a heavy lose from those bastards already. Anything we do will be done with at least a hundred hours of planning put into it first.”

Her lips pursed, before her shoulders slumped a bit, and she exhaled a string of curses in Japanese.

“...Alright.” She leaned forward a bit. “I’ll let you in on something I learned. Why going toe-to-toe with ‘em monsters is literal suicide unless we can find a way to counter it.”

Her gaze went cold, eyes sharp as flint. “They got body possessors. All done with the mind, from what my associates said. Nothing you can do about it, either. Like a puppet on strings.”

She leaned back, eyes half-lidded. “Still thinking of a way around it. Otherwise whatever you or I do will result in an untimely death.”

Kinda hard for her to relax when if this all goes belly up, she’s dead and her son will be without a mom. She kept her expression chill. Didn’t want to draw anyone’s attention by seeming distressed. That was harder said than done with Tsukino dropping a massive bomb like them having something that can possess them. What the fuck? She should be safe with the headphones on. Dollhouse assured her nothing can get through. Everyone else is for sure fucked. She broke off a piece of her bagel.

“We lay low. Continue on like we know nothing, then they won’t feel the need to use those possessors. Maybe we’ll find something out about them with the Coven still looking into Kari. A lot of weird shit happened at the house.” She’d gotten some information during the battle. A lot of it was jumbled up and didn’t make much sense to her. Whatever they uncovered in the house will probably be the main topic in the next Coven meeting.

“We’ll worry about that later. For now, let’s work on how I’m going to get you good with the Coven. I can vouch for you all I want, but Drake and Auri didn’t want anything to do with you yesterday. It’ll cause a fight when I bring you next time. We need to give them some type of information to butter them up. I’ve felt your intent with my Lux, but that might be a hard sell. I’m not as good at it as Greyson.”

Luna’s mind burned with a vivid possibility. The Sycamore, sitting around a table. Luna across from Drake, passing over some type of information, and him actually cracking a smile across his stony face.

It was possible. And because it was possible, she wasn't adverse to getting her hands a little dirty.

“There's one way…” Luna started, head tilting slightly as she sat there. “From the visions, it's obvious 8th Street knows something. If I were to get ahold of one of them…the information I could get could prove to be incredibly valuable. Enough for everyone to realize I'm a boon, not a bane.”

Tayla’s eyes widened. She wants to interrogate or infiltrate 8th Street? Considering she fought them yesterday and left running, she’s not sure if that’ll be the best thing to do. Not that she had a better idea, ‘cause anything else she knew would be the things they can’t tell them yet.

“Jesus Christ. And how will you do that without ending up dead? From the way you turned tail yesterday, it doesn’t seem like that’s a good idea.” She held her hand up. “Not to say you running was cowardice. You were outnumbered. That’s why I’m concerned.”

Luna looked at Tayla for a moment, studying her face. Concerned? Was she really… concerned?

A hint of a smile crept on Luna’s face. “I appreciate the concern, but you don't need to worry. This time it would be done proper, with the right firepower.”

She leaned back in her seat, uncapping her bottle to take a sip. “I’ll see if home base can’t figure anything else quietly about Dollhouse. Just intel…”

Her eyes slid over to Tayla. “I’ll do everything I can to help Greyson. He don't deserve it. They're a bunch of-” Her gaze darkened. “-bastards.”

There was a pause, before Luna tilted her head. “Anything else you wanted to get off your chest, Tayla?”

She wasn’t a fan of Tsukino poking around or about her hitting 8th Street, but if she can get some intel, why not.

[color=DE198A]“You’re cracked,” she said with a straight face. [color=DE198A]“Be careful with both 8th Street and Dollhouse. I’ll let you know when Greyson and I have a plan. We gotta figure out how we’ll tell the gang about Dollhouse. Once you get info on 8th Street, hit me up. We’ll plan on how to present what you found out.”

She read Tsukino before she asked her if she wanted to get anything off her chest. “Nope,” she answered, short and sweet. “We’re done for now.” There’s not a thing about her she wanted to share with Tsukino. There’s already three people in the Coven that know too much; one she volunteered information to, one went rooting through her head, and the other had the unfortunate opportunity of meeting her ex. That’s more than enough.

Luna nodded, before she gently stood. “It's been a pleasure, Tayla. I appreciate your help. And your trust.”

She picked up her clutch and her bottle, before half-turning away. “Let's keep in touch, yes?” Before she waved, and walked away.

Tayla waved goodbye and watched her go, wondering if this would all work out or if they were working themselves to an early grave.

---

---

An unmarked letter with elegant cursive arrives at Edict's door.

You have been cordially invited to
Phantasia Vorpal's Funeral
To be held on November 4th, 2:00PM, at Saint John Baptist Church, St. Portwell

Edict, still unsure of his footing in the situation involving his Mafiosa counterpart, opens the bespoke letter with a feeling of fear and dread. Unfolding the paper, revealing the contents, his hand trails up to his mouth as he's brought back to the conversation with Luis.
"Dollhouse doesn’t jump to the nuclear option unless strictly necessary…"

Thats what Luis had said... So...
”Phantasia... What the fuck happened over there?"
He took a deep breath, folded the letter back up and stuck it in his pocket before heading for his phone. Calls needed to be made. Condolences.

---

---

Saint John Baptist Church
_{In collaboration with @AtomicEmperor}

---

The clouds were a dull, grey mist overhead, hung heavy and low. At the Saint John Baptist Church, black vehicles, slicked with rain, filled the stalls in front of the church. In the back, where the cemetery spread out with its pegs of stone and mounds of earth, a small group had gathered in front a casket, held by ropes over a freshly dug plot.

Valencia stood there, black suit and a thin veil over her face, as the priest began talking about the afterlife, and giving the deceased their funeral rites. A man with white hair held her umbrella, Isabella Blackthorn stood on her other side, Luna Inoue a bit behind her, and many of the Cards men loosely clung together, heads bowed though no tears were shed.

Edict was almost sure it was a plot to get him away from Britney as a confirmation, but when it wasn’t just Valencia there, he was a bit more sure that the worst had really come to pass. He had been under the impression from the getgo that Luis only wanted to set them straight: It was actually a bit surprising that he hadn’t sent anyone to represent their interests and show face, which only made Edict feel more at odds with what had happened.

But he knew how to mourn, and arrived much like the others draped in black. It was cold, and he’d taken the shawl he got at a thrift shop as it matched the austere occasion with its equally dark woolen fabric. His Uncle, who knew of Phantasia and their crew but stayed well out of their way, as well as over a dozen of the Devola family’s top earners and soldiers were there to recognize her death.
Edict stood at the head of the pack next to his Uncle. They didn’t say anything, but the dark-skinned pudgy man hung his head low as the priest spoke. He couldn’t help but shake his head slowly as he stared out at the coffin.
What the fuck happened? What’d you do that got Luis to kill you? You… Really wouldn’t bend even a little?
He knew what the score was: Revenge wasn’t going to end. It was just going to transfer from group to group until everyone’s heads were gone, or until they got exhausted and couldn’t swing anymore. His eyes narrowed at Luna Inoue, vaguely remembering her presence during the 8th Street Raid earlier that week. He wondered if she was like him… If she struggled as badly with how things ended.

He decided he’d try and connect. Another person on the outs wanting back in could mean trouble, but it could also mean a stronger bond. Even if the outward impression of the two of them working together was anything but a good thing.
But still, he listened to what the priest had to say, wondering if the Holy Father even knew a lick of what he was talking about.

Luna’s eyes glanced at Edict, feeling his gaze on her for a moment. He was special, she knew that. A fellow mafioso, but with a unique connection. A connection that changed everything - Sycamore. And due to that reason, Luna held a quiet admiration for him, like she did for all of Sycamore. An unreasonable, illogical obsession that her Mother had quietly nurtured.

Now that her Mother was dead, Luna struggled to hold onto that admiration. Was Valencia right, after all?

Valencia, in question, briefly glanced towards the white-haired man before gesturing towards the newcomers with her chin. As the priest spoke, Valencia and the man slowly made their way over to Edict’s side of the coffin, and Valencia stood on the other side of Edict, staring solemnly at the coffin.

While the priest spoke, she spoke in a low, neutral tone. “Heard a lot about you, Mister Edict. Heard some of Mother’s last words too. Not all of it kind. She said something along the lines of… ‘Edict… that son of a bitch.’”

Valencia side-eyed him, her face showing no hint of malice, but also showing no hint of warmth. “Kind of strange, isn’t it? After calling you a friend, too… Any reason why she’d be cursing you in her final moments…?”

Edict stood straight, taking a deep breath as he listened to the new Capi speak in an accusatory tone.
”Let’s take a walk, Val… You and me.”

His hand reached into his pocket, pulled out his cigarette case, and offered one to Valencia after taking his own. If she took one, Edict would in turn light it as the two of them made way away from the ceremony proper. The trees had given up their leaves, and the ground was cluttered all around them with gold and brown.
”I told your Mother the same thing I’m going to tell you. We live by a code. Fuck the magic, fuck the craziness, fuck the magical testicles, fuck it! La. Cosa. Nostra. Does that track? You can ask my Father: This was a hit from outside, and I have a good idea of who it was and why it happened. Not that I think you’re gonna like it, but it’s just a hunch at the end of the day anyway.”

Valencia took a puff on the offered light, smoke curling around her face. The smoke helped settle the anger she held tightly behind a visage of neutrality. She was interested - a morbid curiosity, really - if Edict would be the man to dig himself a deeper grave.

“You really think we were born yesterday, huh?” Valencia paused in her step, eyes focused ahead on the road paved between gravestones. “We had a man on the inside when it happened. We know who targeted Mother, where, and why.”

She turned to Edict, her sharp eyes wholly focused on him. “Real question… is why a pretty birdie like you sang…”

Edict shook his head slowly, not wanting to make this a bigger problem. It was already solved, fixed, finished. Why dredge up more feelings?
”I'm not sure if you're hearing me, Val. I don't know what you mean, there are no birds, there is no singing. There's a dead Capo and a very dangerous group of people out there who are trying to kill us.”

Valencia watched him for a moment before sucking on her cigarette, staring out at the gravestones. He shook his head again, exhaling a long drag from his cigarette and stuffing his thumb into his eye to rub it.
”Now, if you want to talk about inside men and things like that, you may as well be candid. Luna over there saw me yesterday morning… I know she did because we were at the same Coven event. Have you asked her about the 8th Street Members I killed defending Sycamore?”

Valencia bit down on her cigarette a bit, staring out at the colours of grey skies and grey stones. She knew it. There was no point interrogating this man on a hunch withot Mr. Roosevelt here. It was dangerous to make any more of a fuss over it. Not like she was looking to fight Dollhouse and the Devola Crime Family.

No, she needed far more tact.

Valencia blew out another stream of smoke before gazing at Edict. “My apologies, I’m a little high-strung ‘bout my Mother, you know?”

She rolled her head slightly, feeling the little droplets of face on her face. “I thought I’d have a lot more years of being under her shading wing ‘fore all this.”

Valencia sighed, before side-eyeing Edict. “So, Boss man? Did you figure out an in for us for getting Mother’s Void Heart back?”

Edict’s nose scrunched up tightly at the mention of Void Heart.
”Jesus Christ, Val… You don’t know how to put two and two together without her, do you?”
His whole posture shifted, body turning to face her directly. Both hands reached out, gently gripping against her shoulders.
”Whatever happened to her… I don’t doubt it had to do with this ridiculous fucking obsession. You are not doing her memory justice by trying to let that fucking monster back out. Stow it. Lock the memory up, throw away the key. Sometimes it's better to do that… Take it from me, Sis. Please. Stick to what we’re all meant to be doing: Making money for the Firm. Let’s just be rich, and fuck the problems of yesterday. Capice?” he asked, shade covered eyes being opened to an unobstructed view as he pulled them up to look at her properly.

Icy amber eyes met striking green as Valencia looked up at Edict. She listened, trying to keep the flicker of resistance off her face. Before she smiled. Smiled wide, revealing bright teeth. Sharp teeth. A slight wrinkle around the eyes, a resignation.

“Capice.”

She waited for Edict to look away and let her go.

He let her go, but wouldn’t make the mistake of looking away.
His face was serious, in a rare way.
”They’re going to kill us all if we don’t do things right, Val… All in due time.”
Regardless of her suspicions, he knew they had at least one agent that could hear direct thoughts. Best not to give a second one any chances… But the allusion was fairly direct. It was only because he didn’t want any of this to happen; he wanted Valencia to back off and get the hint, because if she didn’t, business was only going to get worse. It would make things move faster, and he couldn’t see a world where things move any faster than they already do.

It would be a nightmare if they did. It can’t happen. You won’t take her from me. You won’t.

Valencia’s cold smile only widened. “I’m a businesswoman, Edict. I’m concerned about the same things as you, overhead, assets…”

She took one savoury pull of her cigarette before tossing it, grinding it under her heel as she shoved her hands in her pant pockets. “We should get back, huh? Don’t want to miss throwing my rose on Mother, all that..”

---

“Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace. Amen.” Said the soft words of the priest.

“Amen.” echoed around the funeral congregation, Valencia and Edict having made it back to the fold just in time.

Demos eyed Valencia, returning to his position of holding an umbrella over her head. “Everything okay?”

Valencia nodded, her face a careful mask, before a flicker of sadness washed up over her features. Demos passed her a rose, and she approached the casket first. It was nearly time to say goodbye, and bury Mother under the earth. Before that, roses were being passed out, allowing people to say their piece.

Valencia hovered in front of her Mother’s casket, her face flashing with unwilling emotions. Gruffly, she pushed them down, and cleared her throat. “Mother always had her people in her heart. Even her enemies, she tried to understand them, give them the respect and dignity they deserved. We have lost someone near and dear in our hearts, and she will be missed.”

Annoyance crossed her face. ”No. No. I’ll be a bit more frank with you. Today we all lost a Mother, but I lost my mother. But she left me with an example, how I want to lead the Cards moving forward…”

Her eyes looked up from the coffin, looking over the group, lingering on Edict, before she looked to Mr. Roosevelt, dabbing his eyes with a handkerchief. She spoke, words coming out strong. “Mr. Roosevelt had the honour of hearing her last words. The words we live by as a Family: ‘Long live the fighters.’ That only means one thing. She went down with a fight, and that is the best death any mafioso could ask for. She died with honour, something we can only hope to achieve in this lifetime. Today, we honour the bravery of my mother.”

She placed the rose in the center of the closed coffin, and slowly stepped back.

Edict headed the Devola procession, each of them leaving a rose on Phantasia’s grave until the very last man. The typically soft spoken Mario Devola, acting boss of the Devola Family as his brother Luigi sat at the apex of their world. A King on his throne couldn’t be bothered to make the event knowing his son was there.

But Mario came. And as he shuffled at the back of the procession, he held a large bundle of flowers; carnations, white lilies, roses of all sizes and colors, gladioli and of course forget-me-nots. See, Mario was an old school gangster, and one who had gone through some terrible courses in his life. There were people out there whom he cared for like blood. Not least of them being Phantasia Vorpal, who had run with the crews since she herself was a young girl.

He’d known her so long now, it was hard to think that someone he saw like that was gone. She was a niece, or a sister even at the best of times. And he was truly mourning a loss the cause of which he would probably never fully grasp.
And he stood in front of the woman’s casket, and he let a tear slip.
“Oh, you poor fuckin’ Bambina…”

Turning to the crowd, he cleared his throat.
“Boy she… Really was magical, wasn’t she?” he tried to chuckle, his vague understanding of the spiritual world around him tenuous at best. But still, a joke was a joke.
“I met Phanny when she was ten years old, runnin’ dice with a bunch of little scooters by the Shore. At the time, we were just told that there were games we wasn’t cut in on. We were the little guys then, and we pull up to bust heads. But we find this little Queen. Sharp as a knife, she had us wonderin’ how she got all the kids in the neighborhood hooked on gamblin’...”

The old, portly man paused himself for a moment. He took a deep breath and shook his shoulders a bit.

“I was there when she was Made… I was there when we toasted to the first Casino. I was there when it burned down. The Agreeable Night, the merging of the Castle and the House… It was my voice that spoke up, that weighed where her’s wouldn’t… Because I believed in her. I still believe in her. And I believe that we’ll figure out who the fuck did this to her. I swear by the Code.”

Greyson’s jaw clenched tightly. He had a lot of respect for his Uncle, and he hadn’t realized they knew one another like that. It certainly didn’t make him feel any better about what's been done. If anything, he felt his carefully cultivated shell crack ever so slightly… It’d be better not to think about, however, so he stowed the emotions for later use. For now, respect and care; after all, he knew it wasn’t his problem unless he really wanted to make it his problem.

Valencia bowed her head a bit as Mario spoke. An old face that she knew Mother was familiar with. She wasn’t aware they were that familiar, however. It begged the question why they didn’t have a formal alliance.

She noticed the flowers, of course. Mother had taught her that. From Mario’s bouquet, he had pulled meaning in a thoughtful way. ‘We remember the innocent Phantasia as she departs, we are grieved, and we are your friend in this time. We are devoted to Phantasia, now and forever.’ Valencia pulled the veil a little further down her face to hide the dust in her eye.

After a few moments of silence, one more figure approached the casket with a single rose. None other than Luna, her face an unreadable mask. She stood there in the rain, her hair matting to her face. She seemed unbothered by it, perhaps as a way to hide any tears being shed.

“Mother… was my grace, and my salvation. She understood my obsession with the Sycamore. How they’re unique in the world - no one else exists that are like them. She understood that. Supported me. Held me up when I was kicked out. Kept me busy with jobs so I wouldn’t cry.”

Luna pressed a hand to her face, wiping down in a slow manner, wiping the rain and the tears away. “...I have lost the light in my life. Mother, I will always miss you… Anata ga tsuchi ni mamirete iru no o miru no wa tae raremasen. Te o nobashite, izen no yō ni watashi o kangei shite kudasai. Onegaishimasu... (I can't bear to see you covered with soil. Just reach out your hand and welcome me like you used to. Please…)”

Luna hovered a moment longer before placing her rose on the casket, and turning away. She moved past the House of Cards and left the ceremony, too torn to bear seeing the rest.

The priest watched with sad eyes. ”If there’s no more flowers to be placed, we will commence with lowering the casket.”

When the congregation was silent, the priest nodded and gestured to one of his helpers. The young boy, dressed in black, pressed a button on one of the rollers that held the rope. Silently, the ropes began to unroll, slowly lowering the casket into the grave.

Valencia, Demos and the rest of the House of Cards watched with silent, sad eyes. Mr. Roosevelt was beside himself, continually wiping tears away.

Eventually, bodies slipped away, until all that was left was a grave and a slight drizzle.

---

Elder Lamb
_{Incollaboration with @FernStone}

---

The Elder Lamb, with its hide-away atmosphere, comfort fare and solid drinks, had struck Valencia as a good place to do business, despite the fallout her Mother experienced not that long ago. The Devola’s had it right. No one would come sniffing around that wasn't suppose to. Just a good neutral place to discuss business.

Valencia reclined in one of the booths, chin propped on a hand as she surveyed the smokey room. She was dressed for the occasion, a formal suit tailored to her figure. Silver dripped from her ears and neck. She blended in with the other up-do’ed patrons nicely.

House of Cards men were dispersed in a few of the other booths, mainly for Valencia’s own protection. Lord knew she needed it with the attack recently.

Her other hand idly rimmed the crystal of her double shot of vodka, eyes staring at the door. A new business opportunity, a Sycamore, no less, would be walking through those doors any minute now.

Exactly on time, the doors to the Elder Lamb opened, and Anya stepped inside. Dark eyes skimmed over her surroundings, taking note of everyone there. Her gaze paused on Valencia, alone and clearly waiting, and her crimson lips pulled up into a smile. With a slight nod, she made for the bar first. As she walked the light caught off the black, halterneck dress she wore, showing off the subtle, gold embroidery threaded through it. The tight bodice flowed into a loose skirt that fell below her knees, swishing as she walked, high heels making a pleasant tapping sound across the floor.

It was always best to dress to make an impression, and Anya made sure to do so, choosing out something both formal and well suited to her. She quickly ordered a glass of red wine at the bar, pleasantly surprised by the speed of service, before making her way over to the booth Valencia sat in.

”Valencia Vorpal, I presume? I’m Anya Baksh, it’s a pleasure to meet you in person.” Anya smiled, sliding into the booth opposite Valencia, and holding out her hand. Valencia mirrored her smile, grasping Anya's hand in a firm shake.

“Pleasure, Anya.” Valencia said in a cool alto.

Of course, they’d already spoken over the phone, but it was best to be polite when it came to first in person meetings.

After all, they were giving Anya the in she needed. ”You’ve chosen a lovely location for our meeting. I appreciate the privacy.”

“Good drink here, and everyone keeps to themselves.” Valencia said, pulling out a cigarette.

She offered one to Anya. “You don't smoke, do you?”

”I don’t, but thank you,” Anya smiled.

Valencia took a long drag, smoke curling around her. There was a tactful, intrigued look in her flinty eyes.

“I hope you don't mind me getting right to business, Anya. I understand you run a dreams gig. Can you tell me a little more about that?”

”Of course.” Anya was more than happy to get straight down to business. It was, after all, part of why she was here. ”At its basic, I run a highly qualified dream interpretation business. People come to me with their dreams, and I help them understand more about themselves thanks to that. I also offer a service where I give people the dreams they would like to have. It’s a complicated science, primarily done via subtle manipulation of electrical impulses to the brain via a device I programmed, to control what the brain will show someone while they’re asleep.”

Valencia ran a thumb across her lip as she listened. She leaned forward slightly. “By any chance, are you able to see these dreams yourself?”

”Under specific circumstances, yes.” Anya's smile widened slightly, watching Valencia with a genuine expression that didn't give much away. Of course, the circumstances weren't that specific. She just needed to meet someone, and then for them to be asleep and dreaming. But giving the illusion she couldn't just slip into anyone's dreams was much more beneficial in most situations. And without magic being explicitly mentioned… well she'd keep toeing the line between it being that and a scientific process. ”I need the… target, let's say, to have a specific object near them when they sleep, and preferably to be someone I know. This allows me to tap into their dreams. Since I cannot just slip in, it tends to be a consensual process… after all, I have no ability to slip something into someone's room.”

She lied easily, near impossible to non magically tell that behind every small bit of truth was a lie covering her true capabilities. She reached into her bag to pull out a small, black cube. It was unassuming, without much to it - in fact, it was just a metallic square infused with a dream inducement spell. She put it on the table between them. ”Something like this.”

Valencia was quiet for a moment, eying the cube, but not touching it. She swirled the vodka in her glass before taking a sip, and setting it down. “...Hmm.”

Her head slightly rolled to the side, eyes narrowing. “...So, say I were to get you to see someone, and I managed to slip this device into their room. Would you be able to tell me their dreams?”

”I could, quite easily. Getting the device in place is the most difficult step for me alone, as it's outside of my expertise.” And entirely unnecessary. But it would prevent them from requesting too many dream visits from her, while ensuring Valencia didn’t know Anya could visit her dreams. She took a long drink of her wine, eyeing her over the top of the glass. ”For a price, of course.”

“Price is no issue,” Valencia stated, propping her chin on a fist again. “However, I would like to test your… science. How do you feel about giving me a sample. Traversing my dreams, and we meet again here tomorrow to see your accuracy.”

”Of course, I wouldn’t expect you to buy a ‘product’ with no guarantee that you’ll see results,” Anya agreed easily. It was to be expected when it came to business meetings with any of the… smarter possible clients, rather than the ones who would gladly buy crystals and believe they worked magic. She tapped the small cube. ”If you take this with you, I’ll easily be able to prove the accuracy to you tomorrow.”

Valencia stared for a moment before nodding, picking up the cube and slipping it within her inner suit's pocket.

“Feel free to order whatever you like from the menu, Anya. I'll have them forward the bill to me. Can't have my potential help work on an empty stomach.”

With a small, wolfish grin, Valencia stood from the table, downing the rest of her glass and setting it against the wood. The cigarette was between her lips once again as she half-turned towards the door.

“Until tomorrow, then.”

She gave a low whistle, and men stood from their booths, forming a group around her as Valencia walked out the front door.

---

---

Ken had brought Luca closer to Lynn, ensuring that they’d be close enough to hear. At first, all he could do was wrap his arms around her in an attempt to give some sort of comfort. But the fire in her eyes matched the flames that were still raging in the remains of Kari’s home.

”If that’s your passion, then I think we can make things happen, Sister… We find ourselves at a unique crossroad. I need to know what you saw.”
He looked back at Luca, patting the bubble with his arm.
”Let’s get you both where you need to go. We’ll talk on the way.” he offered his hand to Lynn.

”Oh, we’re going back to the same place,” Luca said from inside the bubble, voice slightly hoarse. ”Lynn’s been staying at mine… safety in numbers and all that.”

“I will,” Lynn said with a sniffle. “And yeah, safety in numbers.. Father wolf is still on the prowl,” Lynn sighed as she moved closer, “I’m good to go. We have much to discuss.”

Ken scooped her into a bubble similar to Luca’s, linking them together with a thinner membrane that the two would be comfortable to talk through without the risk of infection. Still remembering Luca’s place from Halloween, he forced the three of them high into the sky and gave a lazy bump.
Traveling at the speed of a car on the highway through the air, this was a lazy cruise compared to the speeds he usually hit. Assuming the Rot would simply be blown away by the wind, Ken opened up a few sections near the front, where he sat and looked down at the two non-fliers.

”Sometimes I like to fly like this and get my thoughts cleared out…” he called over the din of the wind. He had angled everything to push most of the air away, but the noise was still considerable.

”Whoa, everything’s so tiny down there,” Luca said, head tilted down to look underneath him, smiling slightly. He was still clearly not quite himself, curled up into a tight ball with his legs against his chest in the bubble, but the views were nice. ”Thoughts literally cleared out by the wind, it’s a good technique, Ken!”

“Your thoughts are cleared by this?” Lynn shouted as she wrapped her arms around her body. She was really high up. Like really, really high up. And she was moving fast. And she was too sober to truly enjoy the view. She instinctively reached for her flask and groaned when she remembered that it was gone. She would need to make up for this grave injustice later on tonight. “Ken we’re going to have our discussion over a drink.”

He grinned at both of them. But he could take a hint occasionally, and decided he’d do his best to help Lynn out as well.
”At least Luca gets it! We’ll do more flying; I think it’d be therapeutic for you, Dear Brother! Just relax, and enjoy.”
Closing them both back in, he jostled them slightly to ensure there were no weak points, and formed a blast that accelerated them to the point that the trees and the eventual streets below them flew by in blurry greens and greys. It wasn’t long before they were decelerating just as fast.

The scariest part, at least for passengers, was the fact that they were in zero control at the end. It was ominous to hear the noise simply stop as you approached the ground at terminal velocity. But just like ninety-five percent of the time, the landing was devoid of accident or injury.
”Destination arrival!”

Lynn was immediately released from her bubble, and he pulled Luca in to look at him.
”Would you like to be let out? Or are you still weakened?”

Luca stretched out his arms and legs, wincing slightly. He still hurt, the energy expended in rotting away someone else and being rotted in turn was… a lot. But he was also used to it. He grinned at Ken from within the bubble.
”I’m good! You can let me out, I’m not going to collapse or anything.”

“That was something,” Lynn said when a chuckle as she took a few wobbly steps to regain her balance. “Thank you for the ride, Ken.,”

The support slowly faded around Luca as he was stood upright by the unseen hand.
”Of course… Now, this alcohol? Upstairs?” he asked. ”Or, should I return at a later point? I know things got… Strange. But, I’d really love to uh… Well…”
He gave a sad look to them.
”I guess I don’t want to go back to my boat alone. Tennogama is there, sure. But, he’s strange. He’s not a lover, really. He gets why I’m sad, but he can’t relate. I’d like to be around people who may.”

”Oh, of course, you’re welcome to come over, you can even stay the night if you want- Wait, do we have any alcohol left in my apartment, Lynn?” Luca turned to look at Lynn, furrowing his brow thoughtfully. ”Didn’t you complain last night we were out?”

“I may have said something,” Lynn paused as she looked to Luca and smiled through the emotional pain, “Ken, there is a store around the corner,” Lynn paused as she rubbed her arm, “I could use a drink, walk me to the store and we can talk about what I saw?”

Ken was covered in swords and gear and mud. He’d been blasted through a floor’s worth of dirt at the end of things, and crawled his way out mid-hallucination. He shook his body.
”Right, right. Wait here. I’ll be quick; I should go get clothes.”
The man bubbled back up into the sky until he was high enough up that launch wouldn’t damage anything. Then he was gone like a UFO into the afternoon sun.
It left Lynn and Luca enough time to idly chat before he rocketed back with some very comfortable looking clothes. Loose pants of a foreign material, a scarf that seemed to hum a little tune, clacking wooden sandals, and a North Face hoodie that Kari had gotten him for his birthday one year.

He hit the ground with a clacking noise, readjusting his ponytail as he approached.
”That was good. Tennogama was shocked at the speed. Come now.” he waved. ”We shall journey to the liquor.”

Lynn motioned for Ken to follow. “I saw several possible futures at Kari’s house,” Lynn started with a sigh. How to explain what she saw without sounding crazy? “There were a few possibilities that were shocking, but I want to tell you them all the same. There was one where we learned that Lyss was wrong, and summoned the wrong Kari. Another where Kari swapped bodies with another universes Kari to save herself, another one where she swapped to live the life she always wanted away from all of this, another where she accidentally swapped and is stranded, Lynn paused as she looked around, making sure no one could hear how crazy she sounded, “one where Kari was father wolf, one where she was father wolf but doing this to stop a great evil, one where she was being controlled by the snake. A few more like those and lastly,” Lynn looked to Ken and let her eyes linger in his, “I saw Kari alive and she faked her death to stop a monster,” Lynn exhaled finally and took another deep breath.

As Lynn went on about the futures she saw, Ken simply listened. Shiro-Nin were always listened to in his culture, no matter the potential depravity in their visions. Students of the Ten Paths were taught to cut through what was impossible and what was truth. But, so often were the portents of potential future marred by the veil of insecurity; one simply took it all for face value after a while.
It was the only way to not panic. He’d seen what he wanted in the pink mist. His course was, somewhat, readjusted. It was just good to hear there were so many options where Kari was alive.

”How many futures was she dead, Lynn?”
His eyes hadn’t really met hers until her head shifted. He felt comfortable, which probably wasn’t good: Tension needed to exist to keep him on the razor’s edge of anticipation. It was the only way he could keep his Murasaki soul alight with the flames of war.
So asking the worst possible question placed him upon a tall cliff with crumbling rock beneath his feet. He was ready for the bottom to fall.

“Very few, she’s killing us in more futures than ones where she’s dead,” Lynn Lynn sighed, “If she’s alive, she’s either killing is for the greater good, killing us because she’s fallen victim to the snake, killing us because of a grudge, or she’s trapped somewhere else, left for somewhere else, or is actively trying to stop whoever or whatever is killing us. If she’s alive, she probably watching us right now” Lynn paused as she looked at Ken again, “the question is,” Lynn looked around and down to the ground, “If she’s alive, what’s the end game?”

Ken found it incredibly difficult to imagine that there were actually less futures where she was dead. Surely, it had to be her wanton desires running amok and affecting her visions.
”I usually tried to time my investigations with upswings in her mood. But the last time, there was… No way, really. She was so down, she kind of told me to just go. Like, in that loving way she does. Like she didn’t want to be a burden to me.”

He fiddled with a coin in his pocket, footsteps clacking against the concrete sidewalk.
”If I know her, she clammed up to save herself. But, I doubt she’d do anything to hurt us, but… She’s a real control freak these days. If things aren’t going perfect, it gets dodgy.”
There was an unconscious grin that came over his face.
”I’m not talking too much shit, am I Darling? I’d hate for you to get the wrong idea.” he said into the air, doing his best to give off the tough guy attitude he liked to put up for her when she was feeling low.

”Don’t worry; we’ll get you back. I’m floating in anticipation.”
The clacking suddenly stopped, Ken’s wooden footsteps replaced by gentle pops that pushed dust away on the sidewalk. A smirk drew across his face as he ceased the playing and impacted the ground again.

”Truthfully, Lynn, I can’t rule any of them out except the accidents. She’s too sharp for accidents, even these days with her attitude. Too tight laced. There’d have to be serious duress for her to make a mistake.”
He nodded as they came to a stop at a crossing.
”Now, the one where she’s killing us? Not on her own. She’s not Batman; she doesn’t have a plan to kill everyone. She’d need serious backup, which means she’s somehow being empowered by a force that’s probably not her, or she’s found a crew of like minded individuals without asking me. Which would be cool, but also shitty.”

“We need to find her, Ken, and the two of us together,” Lynn pointed between them, “will draw her attention, you know? She’s really smart, and if she is killing us I’ve just made us both targets. If she’s not? If she’s out there trying to protect us from the sidelines,” Lynn paused as a tear welled in her eyes, “If she’s protecting us, i just want her to know that she’s not alone in this. She can have help. I know a spot, and if Kari is paying attention she’ll know exactly where my safe space is,” Lynn smirked, “maybe she’ll come say hello.”

Ken thought about where exactly Kari could be led to that she'd actually go to free of her own will. She wasn't exactly a traveler or much of an adventurer.
”We'll do what we have to…”

He started to think about what it was that he was really chasing. It wasn't easy for him to separate his feelings into different categories, and they simply lived in a squalid pit together. Only Pride and Anticipation were standouts, the constant Lux exposure truly coloring his emotional spectrum in swaths of purple and gold.
”You know… Where I come from, we don't date. Arranged marriages, targeted breeding and intermingling of the clans; rarely do people like me choose who to love.”

Targeted breeding? Lynn knew that Ken came from an interesting backstory, but that…..

He stared up at the light for a moment, anticipation for the sign to cross welling inside him.
”When I came here, I was fascinated by th social dynamics. Like, I never saw two Feminine-presenting people kissing, or being accepted as a pair. It was strange to me, and I couldn't understand.”

He frowned at Lynn.
”Being here so long now, I understand that you're simply free to love who you come to love. So, I guess… You still love her? Probably just like I do? And you're free to, and obviously if it helps finding her that's good. But…”
Trying to think of all the things she'd explained to him, Ken tried to imagine what Kari would say.

”I… What I mean is… That is to say, hoping, or knowing…”
The light switched, and Ken quickly pushed across the road as he stammered to find his footing in his own mind.
”I am… Insecure. She's told me so. I am not quick to jealousy, so much as I am quick to despair. And she would be upset at me for even considering this. But I have to ask: Do you wish to remain with her? When we do inevitably find her, and ensure her safety and the safety of our Coven, will you pursue her?”

Lynn thought long and hard about the final question. There was a part of her that so very much loved Kari. A part of her that was very much in love with the idea of potentially getting back together. “No,” the tears welled a little more, ”no, our ship has sailed,” Lynn said as she wiped a tear from her eye, ”long ago. I stayed on the docks and watched her steam away from me. I had so many chances to get on board with her, you know? I could’ve stayed with the most amazing person I have ever known.” Lynn paused as she looked at the ground, “I won’t stand between you two, Ken, that’s not why I want to find her. I still love her, but I want her to be safe,” Lynn paused as she held back more tears. In truth she wanted nothing more than to be back with Kari, but too much had happened. Too much had changed. Too much had changed, but not Lynn. Lynn was still the very same person that ruined that relationship.

Ken took a long, deep breath.
”Until this return, I don't remember speaking much to you. We hardly know each other, so you probably don't realize how useless I am…” he admitted.
”Honor binds me to a duty: To hunt the Fiends who slaughtered my family and left me empty. Eight years ago, I had a wife. A child on the way. I… Can never give myself to her in a way that she deserves. I'm full of pain and loss. She needs someone dedicated to her, Lynn. Not to vengeance. And I've said that to her countless times, but she cares so deeply that she won't… Won't let go.”

Clearing his throat, Lynn would easily be able to tell that Ken was also getting emotional.
”But she's no safer with me. No better off. I've even brought up… What is it? Polywog Love? Where, multiple people are in the relationship? I just feel so wretched… So, maybe now's your chance to make things right?” he finally suggested.

“Polywog Love,” Lynn eyes were suddenly bright but confused. What could it mean? Lynn thought long and hard about the context of Polywog Love before a single loud, sharp gasp filled the air. “Do you mean polyamory,” Lynn asked with a bemused tone, “If so, that’s a whole beast in and of itself,” Lynn smiled. “I’m a lot alike you I’m coming to learn tonight,” Lynn cleared her throat, “some evil apparition is out there ensuring that my bloodline is cursed. I’ve lost my entire family to this fucking thing. My parents, my siblings, my cousins, my aunts and my uncles, and grandparents, great grandparents, so on and so forth going back to when my ancestors made a deal with a devil,” Lynn looked at Ken, a thought entered her mind forcing her to both smile and shake her head, “what I’m hearing is Kari has a type. Emotionally damaged, emotionally unavailable,,” Lynn chuckled as she began to count the traits on her fingers, filled with so much anger for what the world took away from them but still kind enough to want to make a difference anyway.”

Ken was a bit shocked to hear it. He wondered if it was really an apparition, or some trans-dimensional monstrosity towing the line between that and true creature. It was difficult to know without experiencing it.

But what she was saying held weight. Stopping in the middle of the sidewalk, Ken spun and wrapped his arms around Lynn.
”She never told me…” he held her tight. ”But, who knows? Maybe this is our chance to do better. And when she's back, and everything settles down, maybe we can show her that she can have the best of both worlds? I'm not opposed, really, to… Polyamory. I think she has that kind of love to give. Don't you?”

Why admit he didn't feel like he was enough? It paid, Ken assumed, to brighten her spirit more than it paid to imagine the nerves and hurt that would come from knowing that he had to share… But he was desperate to please without breaking his oath. Settling meant that it was all over.
But this could be a loophole. They may all be able to have their cake and eat it, if he just let go even a little bit.

“The future is, as always, uncertain,” Lynn said with a genuine laugh, “I’ve had my chance and I blew it, I don’t want to step in and ruin it again. I don’t think it’ll be pretty for anyone involved, and I don’t want to ruin it for you. I’m not opposed either, but I am not trying to push my way back in at the expense of you,” Lynn hugged Ken back all the same, “but I guess we’ll greet the uncertainty of tomorrow in a drunken stupor tonight” Lynn pointed to the store that was just up ahead, “do you want to get drunk and reminisce about the ones we’ve lost,” Lynn asked with a raised eyebrow.

”Too drunk, I begin to summon my allies from Gama. This is bad for multiple reasons, so I will exercise a modicum of restraint.”

He touched his pockets weakly.
”Shimmer is a bureaucratic hellscape-”
Pulling one of his gold coins out, he held it up.
”-Just about anywhere magical, you hand someone gold and they give you what you want. Here? You hand someone a gold coin and they have a conniption…”

“Plastic is king here,” Lynn said with a smirk, “drinks are on my friend.”

After a quick trip through the store, Lynn emerged with two twelve packs of a strong IPA in hand and several bottles of vodka in two bags hanging around her wrist. As the duo approached the apartment complex she spotted two familiar souls. “Hey,” Lynn spoke to Jasper, and Lynn, “you guys just….” Lynn paused as she saw Lila’s wings once again, “just get in?”

“Yeah, yeah we did,” Jasper said with a fake smile, “I’m going to run up real quick and talk to Luca, can you give me a five minute head start?”

“Sure thing.”

Lila simply nodded her head. Jasper turned towards Ken and threw a quick wave as he headed into the building.

Watching Jasper head in, Ken gave a big wave. But, he was more happy that Lila was okay. He moved toward her, wrapping his arms around her and wobbling back and forth for a moment.

Oh this is nice. Lila allowed Ken to embrace her and in that moment she forgot about the maiden, the vision, the claws, and the wings. Instead she let her head rest on his chest, wrapping her wings around him for a prolonged moment before she released them. This was nice.

”I’m happy to see you too… It was a little scary hearing Emily calling you out like that; so it’s good to see you in one piece. I’m only sorry we didn’t end it for good.” he said calmly, his hand rubbing her shoulder as he pulled out of the hug.

“It’ll take more than Emily to bring me down,” Lila thought as her mind flashed images of Emily’s mangled corpse, “Thank you though, Ken, it’s so good to have you back,” Lila finished with a smile.

”It’s good to be back in the presence of friendship. I often miss everyone’s antics, but your memories do help me. Occasionally, I pop back into the shimmer if I’m close to a door, just to see if anyone is using the land. The camping is year-round, so I always encourage people to use it!” he expressed to her, his lux sending little bubbles of telekinetic energy through her feathers.
”But, I’ll be here for the foreseeable future. I find it so strange that now all we can do is wait.”

“Well at least the waiting is better with company, right?”

---

Luca had gone up to the apartment as soon as Ken and Lynn went off for some drinks. His thoughts were calmer now after the time he’d spent with the two of them, and the time in that little air bubble. He pushed back down the Rot’s influence and began to feel a bit more himself.

It was difficult to get over what he’d done to Sloane. It wasn’t something he could view in any positive light. While he could understand while Jasper shot Carol, as much as he disliked it, and accepted that he and Sloane would be better for each other… There was nothing good that would come from how much he’d hurt Sloane. Apart from it bringing her and Jasper closer together, maybe.

Something he was fine with. Completely fine with. There’d been no chance with Jasper anyway. He was straight, and why would he want to be with someone he couldn’t even get close to? Luca was happy enough being friends and keeping the warm, fuzzy feelings he had to himself.

He sighed softly, pulling his legs up to his chest where he sat on the worn couch. He’d need to reach out to Sloane later to make sure she was alright and properly apologise… But not right now. His head drooped onto his knees, hair messily falling across his face as he closed his eyes for a moment. He just needed to rest a bit, and everything would be fine.

---

After what felt like an eternity Jasper was walking up to Lucas’s door. He had driven Lila here, which was difficult given her newfound wings, but left her outside with Lynn and Ken.. Jasper knew that Luca was more than likely feeling a thousand terrible feelings and he also knew the reason he left early and without him was because of them. He needed space, he needed alone time, so Jasper did his best to accommodate them. But he did not want to leave Luca alone all day. For that reason, Jasper had made sure to stop at the store on the way home and grabbed a bag full of Lucas’s favorite snacks and a giant tub of ice cream. As Luca taught him so many weeks ago, when someone is sad there’s nothing like ice cream. Jasper grabbed the key to the apartment and opened the door.

“Hey,” Jasper said as he walked through the door, “I brought you the snacks that you like.”

”Oh, hey,” Luca looked up with a smile - it wasn't quite as bright as normal, so it was obvious he still wasn't feeling great. The time alone had let him at least gather his thoughts a bit, and get everything under control… but seeing Jasper again was a different thing. He'd brought Luca all of his favourite snacks. He was so thoughtful. Of course, it was what you'd do for your best friend. He shouldn't let it give him more false hope.

”Where are the girls? You didn't leave them behind, did you?” Luca asked, quickly moving to a topic that wasn't him as he stood up. He awkwardly hovered a distance away, looking at the bags, then at Jasper. There was an awkwardness that hadn't been there before. Things Luca had to talk about but wasn't sure how to… Carol, what happened with Sloane. A lot. ”They both… didn't look so great.”

“They needed a moment to talk about what they saw,” Jasper said as he rubbed his head. So did he, but how to speech approach that conversation? “They’re in my car, and should be up in a few minutes. They’re better but nowhere near good, that whole fight was messed up,” Jasper sighed. He quickly scanned over Lucas’s body, checking for signs of injury or pain and smiled when he saw neither.

“How are you feeling by the way, Luca?”

”I’m… well I'm as alright as I can be! What happened with Sloane was…” he grimaced. It was difficult to not still see it. To not imagine it happening to all the other people he cared about. He knew it was always possible. A risk he'd tried to avoid until the coven got back together. ”It was bad. But I'll reach out to her and make sure everything's alright!”

He smiled again, moving to the kitchen - making sure to give Jasper a wide berth - to grab himself a plastic bowl and spoon for the ice cream. ”A lot happened, huh. I saw you… managed to make the rifle useful.”

Shit. “I, uh,” Jasper started as he rubbed the back of his neck. He walked towards the counter, giving Luca a wide berth as well, and began to pull things from the bag. He knew that Luca was very fond of Carol and he knew that Luca would not be happy that he semi-murdered his friend. “I did yeah, I did get it to be useful and I think…I think I was the one who took Carol down. Did you want to talk about that?”

”Yeah,” Luca said softly. He reached out for the tub of ice cream, quickly heaping it into his bowl, then also took a big chocolate bar. He broke up the pieces and mixed it into the ice cream - easier to carry, less risk of losing some of it to his abstraction. He then went back to the couch with the bowl, rotting fizzling at the plastic exterior slowly, and turned to look at Jasper. He wasn't sure how to word things. He wasn't mad at Jasper. He understood. But it didn't mean it didn't upset him.

”I’m not- I'm not really upset at you… I understand. Carol can heal any of them, but…” Luca trailed off, shoving a spoonful of ice cream in his mouth to give him a moment more to think. ”It still hurts her, and she didn't ask to be like that. Unlike the rest she's there because she has no other choice… Emily promised to help her. I just don't like seeing one friend hurting another, you know? I still hope we can settle things by talking…”

“No I get that,” Jasper said as he turned around and leaned back on the counter, crossing his arms as he did. “Normally I would never do something like that, you know? And I didn’t want to kill anyone who could actually die. I figured that if I took out their biggest healer, we could force them to run away. In the moment I did not think of how Carol would feel, and you’re right. She did not ask for this, she’s just trying to get fixed and Emily is stringing her along because she’s more useful broken.” Jasper paused as he rubbed his temple. “and I know you two are really close so I know it must’ve hurt you too. I am sorry Luca.”

”Its alright, I'm not the one you should be apologising to…” Luca smiled slightly. ”I understand that you just did what we needed to, and that I'll need to get used to it if 8th Street keeps coming after Lila… I'm going to try talk to Emily’s sisters as well, see if there's anything we can do. But, would you mind apologising to Carol? I have her number.”

“I know, I know,” Jasper paused as he checked the time, “it was midnight right? When Carol respawns? I can shoot her a text in the morning that way she can have her night without the chance of fuming over her killer, you know? But I will apologise, give her the ‘hey, I murdered you and I’m sorry’ and see if she’ll forgive me. I can do that.”

”Yup, midnight, I'm surprised you remembered,” Luca said, smile widening. It was difficult to stay upset at Jasper… not that it was really at Jasper. More the circumstances. They really sucked, and the main person at fault was Emily… ”Thanks for being willing to do that! She'll probably call you a motherfucker a few times but that's just Carol…” he trailed off and laughed, reaching up to rub the back of his neck. Jasper really was a great… friend. ”How was Sloane after I left?”

“I did not stick around Sloane as much as I could’ve,” Jasper trailed off. She had Drake, Sully, and a few others to look after her. “I spent a lot of time with Lila and Lynn. Lila needed a few rounds of the chalice to close her wounds, and I did my best to lighten the mood for her,” Jasper paused as he leaned his head back, “Lynn needs a lot of support right now after what the mist made her see,” Jasper paused as he looked over to Luca, “You can say no to this, but do you mind if I ask what you saw in the mist?”

Luca's eyes widened for a moment, cheeks darkening slightly as he remembered what he saw - it was enough to temporarily push away his worries. Of course he couldn't tell Jasper… even if Jasper did somehow like him back, the hallucination had been way too embarrassing! That painting… with the heart cloud and the rose arch… it was too much. ”I didn't have the rot with me anymore, and everyone was happy. You were there- uh, and so were Olivia and Carol! They didn't have their apparitions either. It was just really nice and calm…” Definitely didn't involve Jasper pseudo proposing to him. ”What did you see? You don't have to answer either!”

Please don't say Sloane.

“I saw…..” Jasper trailed off, his eyes shooting to the ceiling to think of the words, “something I’ve been wanting for a while, something I didn’t ever really think would be around again you know? I thought that part of my life was well and truly closed, but since I’ve been around you.... all again it’s become clear that I have a lot of introspection to do, you know? So it showed me what’s at the end of that journey.”

”Oh…” Luca smiled, even as his thoughts raced. Something Jasper had been wanting for a while, that was around again? That had become clear after being around everyone? Around the coven? That he needed to do introspection for? It must be Sloane. He'd realised his feelings - seen a future with her - and it was pushing him to think about why he ‘hated’ her. Of course. That made sense. Who else could it be about? Definitely not him… haha, that would be too nice. ”Well… I'm glad you got something out of it! Sounds like we both had good visions, at least. Something for us both to work towards. Me towards being rot free,” and able to touch Jasper, even if that wouldn't happen even without the rot, ”and you with that… something you want. I'm glad.”

“Yeah…Something,” Jasper said as his eyes shot over to Luca and he flashed a warm smile. Jasper knew he wanted to talk to Luca about these feelings but right now was not the right time. With everything that happened with Sloane, Lila, and everyone else he wanted to wait venue he brought them up. He had his suspicions about Luca, and he was certain he felt the same way, but he did not want the worst day of Luca’s life to be overloaded like that.

“How about a chill ending to this day. I think the girls will be down. I can cook us all dinner, we can watch movies together, and we can rest up all weekend long and recover,” Jasper said with a smirk.

”Sounds good to me… I think we all need it after that,” Luca smiled softlya at Jasper, seeming to relax more. He ate another spoonful of ice cream. ”Let’s just put on something easy to watch… maybe another bad one? Something we can chat and laugh through. Oh, we might need to think about sleeping arrangements if Lila still… has the wings.”

“She’s still got them….. how do we go about making her feel better? Do we pretend the wings aren’t there, acknowledge them, I don’t know what to do,” Jasper said in response, “What would the sleeping arrangements look like what do you think?”

”I think we should pretend they’re not there,” Luca said, thinking about his own situation. He didn’t want certain issues brought up. ”I don’t enjoy the rotting being brought up, myself… And sleeping wise, I don’t know. I don’t think she can share Olivia’s bed with Lynn anymore. Maybe Lynn can take the couch and you…” sleep in my room, is what Luca wanted to say. ”I don’t know.”

“How about-” Jasper started but was cut off from the sound of the girls and Ken entering the apartment. Lynn lead the way and turned back to make sure Lila got through fine. Lila, still not fully in control of the wings, struggled to fit through the door without catching the door frame. She sighed as she turned to the side and shimmied into the room in full. Once inside she flapped the wings twice on accident and sent a gust of wind through the apartment. “How about I grab Lynn and Ken and go get my camping set from home, my sleeping bag and mattress pad. Maybe I can camp out in your room tonight?”

Luca was glad he was sitting down, because the gust of wind was strong enough it might have knocked him over… since his legs were once again feeling weak. He stood up after, one hand on the arm of the couch to support him, with a smile towards the girls. As if he hadn’t almost killed someone, and Lila wasn’t stuck with wings. ”That sounds like a good plan, Jasper… there’s plenty of space in my room, you should be able to sleep outside of my aura!”

Though having Jasper sleeping in his room was… something Luca really wanted, but also didn’t. He wanted it under different circumstances. Would he be able to sleep with his crush right there?! Maybe being so sick would be a blessing, since he’d eventually pass out anyway. He pushed the thought away, cheeks slightly red, and looked over at Lila. ”Me and Lila will pick out the movies while you’re away… but if you take too long there might not be any ice cream left!”

“I’ll have Lynn check if we need to stop,” Jasper said as he shot a wink Lucas’s way, “Lynn, Ken, you’re with me.”

Lynn looked every part of a person who had just stopped crying. Her eyes were bloodshot, swollen, and her makeup had run completely and there was no salvaging the kind of damage her tears had done. She looked to Luca and flashed the weakest smile, then back to Jasper and simply nodded. Lynn led the two out of the room, and Jasper turned around and faced Luca once more. He flashed him a big smile as he closed the door and left with Lynn and Ken to hopefully begin the night of recovery for everyone.

---

When it was just the two of them, Luca sat back down. He went to suggest that Lila sit next to him, but after a moments thought realised it… wasn’t really feasible. She’d have to properly stretch out her wings, and then they’d touch him and… he didn’t want to find out if they could rot too. ”Do you… want to talk about it? I understand if you don’t. But I’m happy to listen. I understand how shit dealing with an Apparition is.” As if to prove his point, he accidentally rotted another hole in the arm of the couch.

Lila found a chair and tried to sit down near Luca and struggled to figure out how to actually do it. The wings seemed to get in the way of a comfortable position no matter how she tried to avoid it. She had been given a white tank top that did little to hide the feathered chest beneath them but for whatever reason it made her feel less exposed to the world. Eventually she simply wrapped the wings around herself and leaned forward in the chair to get the stem off then pressure point. “For whatever reason all of this,” Lila paused as she looked around her visit, “is only like really really scary,” Lila paused as let out a nervous chuckle. She was terrified. She did not know how to properly communicate this and instead tried to deflect with humor. “I thought I was done, you know? I thought that Britney would be able to help me and steal away the apparition before it got to a bad spot,” Lila paused as she hugged herself tighter with her wings, “but she still here. She still is in my head, her body is coming out of mine, and that mist…. That fucking mist, made it perfectly clear that she wants to bring death and destruction to the world. I thought Britney would be able to help me,” Lila paused as she looked down to the ground, “and I got her drunk and let her try to do the sealing anyway,” Lila paused as she felt her tears coming to life once more. “I don’t know what to do Luca.

”I’m sorry, Lila,” Luca said softly, looking at her with a knowing sympathy. He understood too well. He’d spent ten years trying to get rid of the Rot as he destroyed everything around him, and it ate away at him. But at least he still looked normal. He couldn’t live normally, but for now he looked… mostly human. ”I wish I had an easy answer. I’ve spent years trying to look into a way to get rid of the Rot. They don’t make it easy, do they? I’d hoped you’d been able to seal her but… I guess not.”

He shook his head, smiling at her and wishing that he could offer some kind of comfort. If only he could at least hug her. ”Even if Britney didn’t help, maybe someone else can. I know you won’t want to, but Greta was working on something for me before I left 8th… maybe once things die down we can talk to her? Either way, I’ll do all I can to help you… We’ll figure it out.”

“Let’s make sure you get the cure first,” Lila joked, “one month in and I’m going crazy, I can’t imagine ten years,” Lila cuddled her wings into her even tighter once more. “I have fucking wings that can glow green, I have fucking wings man. I could get rid of them but the bitch didn’t tell me how.

”You get used to it… and hey, worst case we get a little cottage in the middle of the forest and become the local cryptids,” Luca joked in return, trying to alleviate the… shit situation. Even if that wasn’t something he could do, because he wouldn’t be around there for it. ”If there’s a way for you to get rid of them… maybe it’s like how I can suppress my rotting touch. I had to figure that out myself too. Its… hmm. How do I describe it? I have to put all of my energy into willing it away, and concentrate on not rotting things… Aha, that isn’t very helpful, is it?”

“That was…. One of my hallucinations. I had one, and the maiden had one. In mine, I was in the middle of the forest. I had a home, a life there and I never really stayed in one spot for long. Everyone still came to see me though. No matter how I looked, they still came and treated me like a friend. You tackled me. So yes. We could become the local cryptids, maybe cause a bridge to collapse on Emily who knows,” Lila joked as her wings no longer hugged her as tight, “what did you see in the mist?”

”That one sounds a lot nicer than the death and destruction one… I’m sure we can make that happen. And no matter what, you’ll always be my friend, and hopefully one day I can tackle you,” Luca said. Then, his face turned bright red when he thought about what he’d seen. It was just so embarrassing! But at least he could tell Lila about it… maybe it wouldn’t feel so bad if he did? ”Well, obviously I didn’t have the rot. Jasper was there and we… hugged. Fuck. This is so embarrassing, but he got out this painting! It was of us and I had a literal sunbeam smile, there were roses everywhere, and even the clouds were in the shape of a heart! He got down on one knee with it and asked me to be his boyfriend… Lila, it was so cringey! I can’t believe my mind came up with that.”

“Oh my,” Lila said with a smirk as her wings unfurled completely and spread out, “that’s the cutest one yet! Do we know what Jasper’s was? He didn’t look too beat up like Lynn so probably wasn’t with his friends again,” Lynn paused as she tried to lean back in the chair but stopped when she hit the base of her wings. “Luca that is so cute though,” the conversation pulled her away from the doom and gloom for at least the moment, “You should tell him,” Lila crossed her arms with a satisfying smirk across her face.

”No way!” Luca’s eyes widened, and he waved his hands in front of him, clearly very flustered. ”Jasper’s straight! He said his was about something he’s been wanting for a while so… I think it must’ve been someone else. We’ve only been in each other's life again for, what, a month? I can’t- imagine! ‘Hi Jasper, the mist made me see you pseudo propose to me with a sappy painting and a ring you pulled out of it, do you actually like me?’ I think I’d die of embarrassment before I even finished speaking!”

“Honestly…. Yeah I’d rather out the maidens plan to raze St. Portwell then tell a guy that now that you mention it,” Lila chuckled, ““I can talk to Jasper for you, if you are okay with it? I won’t tell him how you feel, but I can see if his wrist is a little limp you know what I mean?

”Yeah, it's super embarrassing,” Luca groaned, covering his face with a hand. He peaked at Lila through his fingers with a half smile. ”I mean maybe… test the waters. Nothing too extreme! I don't want him to get suspicious, in case it ruins our friendship. That's more important than anything… imagine how awkward it'd be for all of us.”

“Don’t worry Luca, I am sneaky,” Lila paused as she looked around, “I will be like “Yo, bro what’s up? You like men right? What’s that like?”

Luca’s shoulder started shaking as he tried to hold back laughter, but he couldn’t help it, bursting out into a laughing fit that ended in a series of harsh coughs. ”That’s- Fuck, Lila, haha that’s not subtle at all! You can’t just… say that to a straight guy!”

“Trust the process my friend,” Lila joked as she couldn’t contain a laugh. “I won’t be that direct. I’ll take him out in the next week, once we’re all recovered from the attempted hate crime, and work my magic,” Lila laughed again, and as she did she accidentally extended her wings out. She did not freak out this time. Instead she looked at them in detail for the first time with clear eyes. “Fuck the maiden and all but these are beautiful,” Lila took in a deep breath. Her wings were indeed beautiful.

”They are,” Luca agreed with a smile. They really were nice to look at, and he was glad Lila could at least see that a little bit after the pain she’d gone through when they came out. ”Maybe you can see if you can keep them when you deal with the maiden… But like, wings you can just pop in and out as you like. It’d be a cool party trick!”

“Only if they don’t break my back open every time. Like, imagine you’re the unlucky person who stands behind me at a party. Just a face full of blood and skin,” Lila gagged at the thought. Her eyes went wide. “Oh fuck I totally got a few of us with the wings arrival,” she placed her hand over her mouth. “I need to text them and say I’m so so so so sorry for splattering them.”

”It probably smelled better than those Zombies, so really it isn’t so bad?” Luca tried to joke, rubbing the back of his neck. ”But yeah, we both have apologies to make… Bit of a shitshow, huh? We really can’t catch a break.”

That’s putting it lightly. Lila pulled her wings in as she closed her clawed hands into a fist. “I’m going to get Emily back for all of this,” Lila paused as she looked at Luca, “this shit show is entirely on her shoulders,” an idea entered her head. She reached out to the murder and began to issue commands. As she did, her eyes went black in an instant. She commanded dozens of them to monitor the 8th street from afar. Just to see if Emily made the fatal mistake of leaving her mansion. They would be spread out all across the town and in the countryside. Once one spots Emily, a second murder would converge on her location and shit all over her. She commanded her crows to stay safe, away from those who could hurt them, but to cover Emily in shit. Then, another idea entered her mind. She sent out a third command, to the murder at large not in the second group. Once a day they would shit all over the mansion, on the steps, on the roof, in the bushes, and on any car parked nearby.

Lila’s eyes returned to normal as she severed the command. “Don’t worry Luca, I will make the transphobes afraid again,” Lila joked.

”Oh yeah, they’ve been way too confident lately,” Luca laughed, hiding his concern at Lila’s eye change. She was in control right now, that much he could tell so… he put it to the back of his mind. ”Emily’s… a bitch. She deserves whatever comes her way. But… I’m going to try and talk to her sisters about some stuff. They’re nothing like her. I want you to know, because, well, Emily’s clearly targeting you.”

Lila smirked at the words. Emily was targeting her, but Lila knew she had much more versatility. Lila hoped that her murder would prove to be quite the thorn in Emily’s side. Lila would need her murder to do much. A war was declared, and Lila would do well to keep the bitch in her sight. “She’s going to get a lot coming her way,” Lila said with a smirk, “I don’t want to hurt them, though, they seemed lovely and tried to stop Emily.”

”They are. I honestly don’t know how they’re related to her… At least they didn’t come along today. They always tried to help me back when I was in 8th… Greta and Carol too. They’re not all bad but-” He coughed, smiling awkwardly. ”While I hope we can talk it out with most of them, Emily and Vashti… well, while they’re in charge, 8th won’t improve.”

“How are you feeling,” Lila added to change the subject. They had talked enough about her problems, it was time she returned the favor for Luca.

”I’m alright, just a bit tired after everything,” Luca smiled, rubbing the back of his neck. It wasn’t really a lie, because he did feel alright. Upset that he’d hurt Sloane, but it had happened and he was moving forward from it. He just had to not let it happen again. ”I’m really hoping that something like that doesn’t happen again… Or that next time no one tries to hug me, haha.”

“Yeah,” Lila knew that the best way to ensure that it never happened again was the painful death of Emily, “I hope that we never have to experience something like that again. It was cruel,” Lila paused as she looked at Luca, “I hope you know that none of that was your fault though, hug included. Emily is the one who holds responsibility for Sloane getting hurt, and Emily is the one who will be paying for it. You had no control, and neither did Sloane. I know you, and I know it’s eating away at you, but just remember that. For me. Okay?”

”I know, it was part bad luck from me being so close to Sloane when it hit…” he shook his head. What Lila said wasn’t quite right. He wasn’t entirely blameless. If he hadn’t been there Sloane wouldn’t have gotten hurt. Just going out he risked hurting people. He should have control. ”I can’t really pretend it didn’t suck, but I’m not going to let it get me down. I’ll talk to Sloane tomorrow, apologise, and move past it. It’s just after managing to avoid it for so long… Well, you’re right. Emily’s fault.”

“Let’s find the movie for the night, do you need anything? I can do my best to scoop out some ice cream,” Lila offered.

”Some more ice cream would be great, but don’t push yourself! Grab some as well… or other stuff, Jasper got loads of snacks!” Luca grinned. He slowly pushed himself up and went over to get his desktop turning on stick. It took a moment to control the rotting, but once he did he used it to turn the computer on. Once it was on he brought his keyboard and mouse over to the couch. He didn’t have much time before he’d rot through them, so he started searching immediately… he’d hand it over to Lila if he didn’t find anything before.

”Ooo, what about this? I bet Ken will love it.” The cursor hovered over a movie called ‘Samurai Cop.’

“Oh I don’t think I have ever seen that one,” Lila said as she walked into the kitchen. She grabbed the tub of ice cream, and attempted to pull it open but her claws simply sliced through the lid. “Fuck. Well how about we wait until the lover boy is back,” Lila said as she used her palms to grab the tub and place it back in the freezer.

”Lilaaaa,” Luca jokingly groaned, once again holding his head in his hands.

The door opened after a few knocks, and in came Jasper, Lynn and Ken, who in tow had a bubble full of camping stuff.
”Arigatooooo, thank you for having me Luca!”
Ken’s face was a little flushed. Clearly he’d given into Lynn’s earlier suggestions and had, at the very least, a few sips of something between leaving and returning.

”Ken! It’s no problem!” Luca looked up at the three entering with a grin. ”The more the merrier! There’s plenty of space… Me and Lila were just choosing a movie- oh, Jasper, mind helping with the ice cream. Me and Lila… well, apparition problems, y’know.”

He stood up with a slight grimace, gesturing to the large livingroom-kitchen. It was mostly an empty space, though there were a few more undamaged chairs since Ken had last visited, courtesy of Luca ordering them for the other three. He’d made sure to avoid everything but his ‘side’ so the rot didn’t start destroying immediately.
”Just put the camping stuff anywhere, Ken. We’ll figure out where everyone’s sleeping later!”

”You’ve got it, my friend. LUCA! My Brother; I may not be able to help Sister Lila with her… Apparition issues… But! Yours, I can potentially assist with. It will keep my mind off of utilizing my Kin abilities. And I would like to test.” he offered, putting the camping things in a secure and out of the way corner of the open space.

“Apparition problems,” Jasper raised an eyebrow as he walked over to the freezer and opened it, noticing that the lid was sliced cleanly. “That’s not a problem, I got you Luca,”

Lila walked to Luca and mouthed a “I got you” with a grin.

Lynn took a big drink from her beer as she found a nice spot to sit. She looked at the movie selection and smirked. A fun choice.

”Thanks Jasper, bro!” Luca grinned, shaking his head at Lila with a laugh. She really didn’t need to do anything, it was fine. But with the ice cream (and possibly his love life) being sorted, he could give Ken his full attention.
”Of course, if you have something you think will work… Well, I’m willing to be the test subject. It’s not like it can get worse?” He laughed.

Ken shrugged.
”If I remember, the Bastard’s trouble is radial… But, I wanted to see if I could force it back. I didn’t know if concentrating it in a Lux shell would concentrate it upon you, or if it would just… Let us be close to you for once. I’ve made a way to hug you at any distance, but… How tight can we get it?”

As he finished, Ken lifted his right hand and directed a great deal of Purple Lux into a phantom hand that closed itself around Luca’s arm. He could feel the weak particles being rotted in the air, and he started to close the gap tighter and tighter.
”Tell me if it hurts you or anything… If it doesn’t, we’ll spread it across your body. See how it goes.” he said, tugging the rot closer and tighter toward the center of it’s infection.

Luca watched as the phantom hand wrapped around his hand, and started to squeeze inwards. At first, it was just tight and uncomfortable. Like an intensified prickling against his arm and a squeeze from the pressure itself. Then, as it got closer, it started to hurt. Like sharp nails were scratching across his skin, then they became burning hot. It was a pain he felt when the rot went more rampant, or the days where he wasn’t doing so well physically. Not quite the constant background ache that came with his condition, but not to the level of the rotting of his insides either.

Luca’s scale of pain was incredibly skewed. On a scale of one to ten, he’d rate a badly broken bone at a five. Yes, it hurt, but being able to let people close was worth suffering through it. Maybe not risking hurting others, only himself.
”It feels fine, you can spread it, I think,” Luca smiled, no signs of pain visible across his features. He was well practiced at hiding it.

Ken grimaced as he felt a great deal of the particles slipping around from one edge to another. He was certain they were bounding directly through Luca with little care as to the thickness or shape of his flesh. Microscopic holes. But Luca was telling him it was fine.
So Ken faked a smile, and let the sleeve of telekinesis wrap around Luca, slipping its way under his clothes and coating him until there was a strange sensation of suction. The layer disappeared, slipping just under the first few layers of skin.

The result was a seamless subdermal coating, trapping the rot just below the skin and leaving Luca the freedom to see, hear and breathe at the cost of a constant low powered vibration echoing through his body.
And more pain… Whether or not he could handle it on such a scale, Ken waited with baited breath to see.

”Whoaaa,” Luca held out his hands, turning them, before touching the couch without rotting it away. He grinned. ”Ken, this is awesome.”

Of course, it was also incredibly painful. The rotting aura was trapped and pressed against his already rotting skin, all of the decay that affected around him suddenly trapped. It was bad. The vibration through his body amplified it as it forced straining joints to move slightly. But… it still wasn’t the worst pain he’d been in. This was the level of pain where he could still get out of bed, to eat and go to the toilet and maybe watch a movie. He wasn’t doing much more tonight. He could bear it. It was worth it.

”Thanks, Ken!” Luca said cheerfully, pushing to his feet and going over to hug his friend. It was the closest to a proper hug they’d had, different from the normal ones that Luca had always appreciated too. Standing was more difficult. His legs felt like they were being ripped apart, his muscles slightly trembling. But he was already in so much pain, he reached this level of pain while destroying everything.

Letting go of Ken, Luca spun around towards the kitchen, eyes locking on Jasper.
”Jasper, look, I can actually get close to people!” Luca’s smile was bright as he went towards Jasper, slightly faster than the sluggish walk he’d made towards Ken. His chest constricted, breathing difficult as the rotting penetrated through his skin. Another step, and his leg went out from underneath him, sending him falling in Jasper’s direction.

Jasper was stunned. Luca was walking, and he could actually move without worry of the rot. Jasper put the bowl filled with ice cream down on the counter and crossed his arms. It was incredible, the power of Ken, and Jasper wondered if this meant… “Oh shit,” Jasper thought to himself as he saw Luca start to fall. He reached out, shot his hands under Luca’s arm, and pulled him steady. However, he pulled him a little too hard and brought him in nice and close. They were practically hugging.

“Well how about that?”

”Pretty… neat…” Luca panted out, chest heaving up and down. He automatically leant in towards Jasper, furrowing his brow. Maybe he couldn’t handle this after all… no, he’d just exerted himself too much by walking. It was just a bit… a whole lot of pain. Really hard to breathe. He could feel the rotting underneath his flesh, scraping away at his insides. No, this was getting worse. It still wasn’t the worst because… he was in control. There was no visible damage.

Just his heart’s weak thudding slowing down. His lungs being scraped by shards of glass. The distinctive feeling of his organs rotting. A feeling he was accustomed to and in tune with enough to know when it was worse, when it was killing him faster.

It was bad. He’d made a mistake.

”Ken…” The single word came out as a weak whimper. Shit, this was really bad. Now everyone was going to be worried.

“Ken, take it away,” Jasper said to Ken with a panicked tone in his voice.

Panicked, Ken instantly released the spell to a comfortable distance, being sure to bump Jasper and anyone else away from being too close. He’d been extremely happy to see Luca so excited, but now it was far more sour.
He opened a hole in the bubble and began to circulate air through it to try and give Luca some extra comfort as the Rot’s influence expanded again.
”I knew it! I felt it, the way everything was so weak… Like it could all crumble! I should not have kept going… I’m so sorry, my friend… What do you need? Can I make it better!?” he pleaded against the barrier.

Luca had slouched to his knees, not able to keep himself up, one hand on the plastic flooring beside him as he took deep, heaving breaths. The intense pain subsided, and the pressure on his lungs and heart reduced. Blood, already rotten, pumped around his body again. It still hurt. It still hurt a lot, but it had reduced back down from a level of actively damaging… At least, just the normal amount of internal damage he was constantly suffering.
”It’s alright, Ken, it wasn’t your fault,” he said when he finally had enough air in his lungs to do so, holding up the hand not supporting it and shaking it slightly. He didn’t want Ken blaming himself. He was the one who’d said it didn’t hurt and decided to risk it. He hadn’t expected it to be so fast or deadly. ”I just need a bit of time to recover… It’s not that bad. Just a bit of rotting under my skin- aha, I’ll have to hit the gym again to get those muscles back.”

He coughed rather than laughing at the poorly made joke, holding up an arm that clearly hadn’t had much in the way of muscle strength in the first place. Of course, it had rotted much more than that. Luca knew that of all the people here, unless Lynn had peered into his future, Ken had the best idea of how bad it was. It was difficult for Luca to hide fully from one of the few people that had visited him over the years. But, still, the internal damage wasn’t so obvious. He’d like to keep it that way.
”What I really need… is to lie down on the couch when I can move, with some ice cream, and a movie, and friends.”

”Don’t move! I know I’ve got tricks that won’t… Won’t hurt you.”
His hands flicked between one another again, and Luca’s body simply floated. It didn’t cover him in the same way, and having been affected by Enlighten before, Ken figured Luca wouldn’t struggle.
With a phantom hand, he patted Luca’s head and floated him to hover in place just over the couch. He touched him down softly, half smiling as the whole situation settled.
”There… I wish there was more. Jasper, maybe, will feed you ice cream so you can save the spoon.”

”Thanks Ken, you’re the best,” Luca smiled brightly, as if he hadn’t been dying moments ago, and it hadn’t taken a further toll on his life. His cheeks darkened slightly at the suggestion, furtively glancing over at Jasper. ”That would be… nice. Y’know. My best friend helping out.”

Lila simply found a bar of chocolate, broke off a small chunk as best she could, and ate the chocolate with a smile on her face. She looked at Luca, flashed her eyes over to Jasper, then back to Luca and simply raised her eyebrows twice in quick succession. Lynn, meanwhile, downed another beer and watched the scene unfold in real time for the first time. This was apart of one of the possible futures she’d seen, and she knew that Luca and Lila were going to try and sus out Jasper. She could spill the beans ahead of time, but she much preferred letting everyone take it at their own speed. She turned to Jasper and tapped her fingers on an imaginary watch.

“I gotchu bro,” Jasper said with a wry smile. He grabbed the bowl of ice cream, a spoon, and walked over near Luca and sat down to his side, just out of range of the rot, and scooped a small dollop of ice cream and held it out.

”Thanks, man,” Luca blushed slightly but tried to play it out with a casual response, leaning forward to eat the spoonful of ice cream. He smiled at Jasper afterwards. It wasn't like it meant anything… Jasper was just helping him out! Totally straight friend ice cream feeding. Ken had suggested it too so that just made it a normal friend thing.

”Oh, does someone want to start the movie? I already picked one out with Lila,” Luca pointed to the keyboard and mouse sitting on the floor some distance from the couch. He turned his head slightly to look at Ken. ”I think you'll really enjoy this one, Ken, it's… got some kind of Samurai in it.”

Ken clicked his tongue between his teeth, settled up on the floor with his sandals off and his legs twisted into a pretzel. He sat upright like a board, and had pulled his sweater off to sit in a tank top with his abnormally toned shoulders and neck on display. As well as what looked to be a tattoo; the curse mark in the shape of the Fiend’s Teeth.
”Samurai? Poor guy. What do you mean by some kind?” he questioned flatly.

”Well, the movies called Samurai Cop and,” Luca forced himself to look away from Ken's muscular shoulders (it was a respectful look) towards the large screen, which was showing the movie title and poster. He gestured to the white guy with long hair prominently in it. ”I’m pretty sure that guy is the Samurai so it's… not very traditional? But it looks fun!”

As soon as the shirt was off Lila’s eyes went black. Her vision focused on the muscular definition, getting a much more clear visual thanks to her enhanced vision. She immediately shook her head, returning her eyes to their normal color, and looked away from Ken. As she did, she fumbled with the chocolate bar in her hand and dropped it to the ground. She struggled to pick it up with her talons. Lynn just took a sip from her beer as she reached over and hit the play button. Jasper meanwhile had his eyes lingering on the muscular frame of Ken. He did not let them linger for long, returning them back to Luca with a smile, but he did enjoy what he saw.

“I’ve watched so many interesting movies since I started being around you Luca,” Jasper chuckled as he looked over to the screen with a schule, “I think this one will continue that trend.”

For once, Ken found himself silently staring in awe as this movie played out in front of him. The warning and everything, it all just passed by as he listlessly stared into the screen as though he was taken in by it all. He was a cop, mostly. Ken failed to see how he was a samurai, mostly because it didn’t really go over his financial or social situation beyond being a cop. He trained, sure, but Ken was just waiting to see what was going to happen.
The truth was, he wasn’t exactly a high-minded individual. Concept building, subtext, implication; they didn’t sit well with his straight forward brain. Most of the time, rather than getting hung up on it, he just let it roll away.

So he found no reason it couldn’t be the same here. He was a samurai simply because he had a sword, and that was all the audience needed. Sure.
Ken found himself laughing aloud, not thinking about anything besides being entertained by the goofy spectacle. A phantom hand popped the fridge door open, bringing over a bundle of beer for everyone to have.
”Kanpaiiii!” he took one and raised it up as the cap magically peeled away.

Luca wasn’t quite as engrossed in the movie as Ken, turning towards Jasper to get spoon fed more ice cream here and there, but he was enjoying it enough that it was easier to ignore his aching body. He laughed quietly - because some of it was so ridiculous, rather than a good comedy. But it was fun… and it was fun because he was watching it with his friends.

”Oh, Ken, mind grabbing me a soda?” Luca asked, grinning brightly over at him. Then he looked back at the screen in time for yet another amazing reaction from Frank, now his favourite character. He pointed. ”Y’know, I think I should start just pulling faces like that in the back of coven meetings… I think it’d really improve things. Whenever someone says anything stupid…”
He laughed.

“Compared to me, you’re all nothing,” Lynn did her best Anya impression and pointed to Luca for the face.

Luca pulled his lips into a thin, slightly downward pointed line, eyebrows raised and eyes slightly narrowed. Then he turned his face more towards Lynn, eyes widening and lips forming a silent ‘oh’ of disbelief.

A can of soda lazily slid into Luca’s point of view, snapping open and pouring itself into a little canless bubble for Luca to slurp it through, courtesy of Purple Lux’s most useful of Telekinetic principles.
All Ken could do was smile as he held one hand in position to channel the spell. His headband, and channeler, was tied tight around his right bicep, which it mostly hid from view.

“Can I get another, another beer Ken,” Lynn asked with a slight hiccough.

“Me toooooo, I would get one myself but,” Lila moved her clawed hands and sighed.

”Having you around is great, Ken,” Luca grinned, drinking from his little canless bubble… It was nice not having soda mixed with rust. ”I think we’ll all forget to walk if you keep doing things like this for us.”

Ken was fixated on the movie before him, just giggling at the absurd banter and actions found within. In his head, he found himself being strung along by anticipation’s strength. This translated into his Purple Lux manipulations being strongly on-point. The beers floated about the room now, dancing their way from the fridge to be popped open cold and fresh before the requesters.

”You know…-”
Ken shifted on the floor to a kneeling position. From his sweater pocket, he produced a sheathed Tanto blade covered in strange, reptilian motifs crawling up and down its scabbard. Another beer floated on, and as Ken placed the knife down, he cracked open the beer.
”Tennogama will like this movie.”

His hands flicked, and from the sword, a faded figure grew more and more solid in the room. It got a little humid even, as through the mist, Tennogama’s figure and form were scaled down to sit perfectly alongside Ken.
Those who had seen the massive toad previously on Ken’s property would recognize that he was, unlike usual, clothed in what was some incredible robes that resembled the pants that Ken was wearing.

Big golden eyes blinked around the room, and he cleared his throat before letting a croak rumble through the living room. He did not speak, but the sides of his mouth curled up into a slight smile, and he raised one padded hand to wave at the attendants.
”Did you see, Tennogama?” Ken asked, putting the beer down in front of the sword as an offering.
Magically, a tankard appeared in Tennogama’s hands. He simply croaked again in response. Ken’s head spun around to smile at the others.
”See? Very excited reaction.”

Luca twisted around slightly to look at Tennogama with slightly wide eyes, raising a hand to wave. He’d seen him before the few times he’d been able to visit Ken’s, but had always made sure to keep his distance. His touch may not be so deadly for an Apparition, but it weakened them.
”That’s-” Luca didn’t want to say that the croak didn’t sound excited at all, just like… a normal croak. Well if Ken said it was an excited reaction, it must be. He grinned. ”Good to have you, Tennogama! Glad you’re enjoying it too.”

A light tap at the window caught Luca’s attention. It was the perfect volume that only he and Jasper, closest to the window, would be able to hear it. He carefully turned his head away from Ken towards the window. At first all he could see was a single, skeletal finger. Then, glowing eyes. When they caught Luca’s eyes, another hand raised to wave. Luca’s heart started thumping in his chest. They were back- but why now. Wait. This was an opportunity to show everyone else, even if they couldn’t talk about it!

”Jasper,” Luca whispered, nodding towards the window. Jasper would understand. He’d know what to do.

Tennogama, without true physicality, was little more than a presiding ghost among the group. But he was keen, and still ready to read aura. Eyes twisted in the socket, moving toward the window in the search for prey. After all, though many may not recognize, Toads are predators in their environment. In the microcosm on which they most often feed, they are behemoths. Goliath, threatening with their ear shattering war cries as they amble and trudge through the mud toward whatever insect they’re eating.

He felt an insect rattling at the window now. There was another croak, but Ken was already too distracted by the movie and the beer to come about. His phantom-like frame stood, trudging toward the window slowly.
Thankfully for Luca, the projection was just a projection. The rot couldn’t do what it wished to the deific creature, for all of its physicality lay within the blade that sat on the floor with a beer. Rather, he stuck his ethereal form through the wall without struggle, eyes narrowing at the intruder outside.

Skelly’s eyes narrowed as what would’ve been lips curled downward. They pointed to the giant toad and quickly pointed behind themself with their thumb. They then pointed to Jasper, and Luca, and used their thumb to point to their own chest, showing the giant toad that those two were theirs. Using their top two hands Skelly showed the giant toad that he wanted to strangle them.

Tennogama’s throat was consistently growing the entire time that the entity tried to mime out what it wanted to say.
By the time it was finished, his upper body had practically doubled in size. The fabric of his robes was pulled taut against his frame, and he began to shake slightly. Eyes glazed over, padded hands tightened their grip on the wall.

The croak that he released would’ve shaken the building if he had physicality…
But then the tongue flew out of his mouth, causing Skelly’s mouth to go wide with fear.

---

---

Sloane eyed joggers with suspicion as she made her way to the entrance of Tranquil Haven Park. She had been one of them once, dressed head to toe in pricey athleisure, running in motion at a crosswalk waiting for the hand to become a little green guy while checking her fitbit, enjoying the fresh air while feeling the burn, just annoying the piss out of everybody else who woke up with an aching hip and a bad back. Since Father Wolf she had condemned herself to the treadmill, suddenly finding the prospect of going out alone and running through parks with heavily obscured sightlines a bit more terrifying than before. It’d be a lie to ever say that she had felt safe, but back then she had at the very least felt prepared. Now uncertainty clouded her mind, making everything grayer like the autumn skies above.

Sloane wrapped her arms around her as the wind blew, the brown leaves rustling past her through the iron bars of a creaking gate, as she posted up against a stone pillar next to the entrance. Slow anxiety gripped her stomach, a feeling she thought would go away when she saw Luca round the corner and half-raised her hand to get his attention, falsely believing that company would be the cure. The feeling didn’t vanish; if anything, the sight of Luca amplified it. She was scared, actually, a natural response to seeing something that had almost killed her, but it wasn’t instinctual self-preservation that put her on pins and needles. She wasn’t scared because of Luca, she was scared for Luca.

“Hey,” said Sloane, managing to steel herself enough to make eye contact.

They should probably move out of the entrance, if only to keep Luca away from the Blind. Tucked away off to the side of the park, in the opposite direction of the gazebo where they had their first meeting, was a small amphitheater where occasionally local actors would recite Shakespearan sonnets or a ten-person folk bands would perform covers of Wagon Wheel to a crowd of mostly empty stone stands. Sloane only knew about it because she had attended what she had been told was going to be an auction there before, realizing quite quickly by the amount of people in denim overalls that it had really been more of a rummage sale and having to excuse herself after becoming involved in a heated discussion that just because something had belonged to a grandparent and had sentimental value didn’t also immediately mean it had any kind of material value. Given the weather, it was probably unbooked for the season.

“Thank you for sa—” she started, wincing ever so slightly as she pivoted what she was going to say and turned abruptly, heading off in the outdoor theater, as she said, “Thank you for coming. Let’s find somewhere that’s not so busy.”

When Luca appeared at the entrance of the park and spotted Sloane, he smiled warmly as if the last time they'd met hadn't nearly killed her. He ignored the anxiety eating away at his stomach - or perhaps it was just the rot. The tingling pain was difficult to differentiate, sometimes, as was the harsher breathing. He wasn't entirely sure what they were going to talk about. He'd apologise as much as he had to, of course... And make sure she was alright. She did look fine, at least.

”Of course! I'm always happy to meet up, and have plenty of time,” Luca said cheerfully. It was obvious at first glance that he'd dressed to cover as much skin as possible. A worn jacket which revealed skin-tight long sleeves underneath it as it moved, and gloves sealing any gap. His pants were almost too long, ragged edges occasionally brushing the ground, and the light scarf around his neck was stifling in the autumnal weather. Underneath his chin was a surgical mask - just in case.

He followed Sloane towards the amphitheatre. It was quiet - very few people would choose to sit around in the colder weather, and even less on stone seats when there were slightly more comfortable benches dotted around. Luca found a spot on one of the lower steps. He glanced at Sloane, and tried to figure out if he should stay standing to take a seat... Well, he wouldn't be able to stay standing for long. Even after some healing from Sully, yesterday had taken a toll on him. It was thanks to Sully's healing that he was able to get out of bed at all.

”Mind if I sit down? My knees aren't great these days,” he shrugged, still smiling, and took a seat on the stone steps anyway. It was a good material - more difficult for him to get through, though he wasn't so concerned with the amount of layers he was wearing. He couldn't quite hide the grimace as his legs protested under the sudden bending, his arm moving out to support himself on a higher step on the way down. He straightened them out when he was sat, alleviating the aching slightly, and looked up at Sloane. ”I'm really sorry about nearly- for hurting you so badly. I should've been more careful. Are you feeling better now? I know it's a lot of pain to deal with, even if you got healed after...”

“Stop,” said Sloane, dismissively waving her hand. She stood away from Luca, arms crossed, staring at the empty stage. She chewed on the inside of her lip, having noticed the pained expression on Luca’s face as he sat down. “You don’t owe me an apology. What happened wasn’t your fault.”

It wasn’t entirely true. They could easily blame 8th Street or even go as far back to rightfully point a finger at Britney, but the Rot should’ve been sealed a long time ago. She didn’t understand how after all of these years Luca still carried the Rot with him. She lowered her head, wondering if she maybe just did not care until it had affected her. She shifted uncomfortably and glanced sideways at Luca.

“In fact, I’m sorry. I should’ve been the one to have reached out, and I definitely should’ve been the one being careful,” said Sloane, turning towards Luca. Her hand tightened on her sleeve, remembering how much of a burden she had become once 8th Street had unleashed the undead horde. She hated how useless she was in a fight. “I’m only alive now because of you, so thank you. Seriously. You saved my life. Anyway…”.

Sloane sighed, a genuine look of concern breaking through as she asked, “Are you okay?”

”It's what anyone would've done, but... You're welcome, I'm glad I was able to help you out." Even if it had resulted in him hurting her afterwards... Saved, and then nearly killed. Ironic, wasn't that what Britney had done for him? But he was grateful for the ten extra years he'd gotten.

Luca tilted his head, a hint of confusion crossing his dark eyes at Sloane's question and concern. Had he been obvious about the pain when he sat down? Or did she... Figure it out? No, he was good at hiding the reality. Maybe she was worried he'd be upset that he found out she liked Jasper? No, it wasn't like he made his feelings obvious either.

”Yeah, I'm good! Having a reason to go outside always makes it a good day,” Luca smiled, lying easily. It didn't feel so much like a lie. This was just how his body was - constantly hurting and deteriorating. Since he'd accepted his death he'd really become alright with it. Maybe his 'okay' wasn't the same as other people's, but that was fine, right? He'd learned it was better not to dwell too much on the negatives. Today, he was outside. He was able to walk. He truly was okay.

But... Sloane's genuine, visible concern confused him. He wasn't entirely sure where it had come from. And for someone as expressionless as her to show it, she must be really concerned. But why? Unless... ”You, uh, didn't hear anything I said while affected by the mist, did you?”

“I don’t know. I thought you were—well, it doesn’t matter,” said Sloane. “Look, there was some concerning stuff I noticed when we had all met up at Auri’s, and then last night I thought I heard something.”

Sloane took a seat on the same stone stand Luca was on, giving him a generous amount of space. She recalled the off things she had noticed at the first meeting: Luca’s aversion to hospitals, the prescription pill bottles he had dropped when his bag had disintegrated. Honestly, given all of the burner phones she had at first thought he’d just decided to deal drugs and perhaps even sampled some of his own supply. At the time it had been the easiest way to explain why Luca had seemed so chill when his wrist had been broken.

”When I asked if you were okay I didn’t mean if you were good. I’ve known you long enough to know that you always just say that you’re good. Let’s pretend that I didn’t hear anything you said while confused by that mist,” said Sloane, blinking away the sudden panic she felt at the realization that if she had actually heard Luca then that meant Luca could’ve heard her. “Given your question, I now refuse to believe that there isn’t something else. If it’s none of my business you can just tell me it’s none of my business, but I want a real answer this time.”

“Luca, are you okay?” asked Sloane, staring at him, looking for any signs of further lies.

”I…” Luca’s smile wavered slightly. Technically it was none of her business - but it was also coven business. He was like this because of Britney… Which was part of the reason why he didn’t want anyone to know. They’d pity him and hate her more. So, he’d tell a different half truth. He didn’t want to just brush off Sloane’s concern. He glanced away as he continued. ”Not always. I’m basically chronically ill. I have good days and bad days, but it's manageable-”

”Shut up. I know that you’re dying.”

Luca froze, lips slightly parted around his next words and eyes widening. She had heard… and she knew. Something that he’d managed to hide from everyone in the current coven, and nearly everyone in his life. Shit. He hadn’t wanted it to get out at all. "Yes, I’m dying. The Rot’s killing me slowly… I haven’t known for long. Not properly, at least."

He looked back at Sloane with a peaceful smile. There were no signs of distress or blame in his expression. Since she already knew, he would be completely honest. Sloane could… probably take some of the details he generally tried to withhold. "I managed to keep the Rot suppressed long enough to get a short checkup at a hospital. They couldn’t figure it out, because I’m rotting from the inside. But they could tell me that I’m dying… They said I probably only have a few years left. But with the rate things are going, I think I’ll be lucky to have one."

Luca looked up towards the sky, letting out a soft sigh. In a way, it was nice to talk about it. The only person he’d really spoken to was Greta, who’d figured it out before he could even try to lie about it… and then it had spread a bit in 8th Street. But he’d hidden it from even Olivia. "The real answer isn’t so nice, is it? But I’ve accepted the inevitable, after doing what I could to get rid of the Rot."

“Sounds more like you gave up,” said Sloane mechanically.

She exhaled in frustration and leaned forward with her hands folded and her elbows resting on her knees. A curtain of black hair fell over her face and hid her expression from Luca as she angrily stared at the ground, grinding a dead leaf into dust with the toe of her boot. While everyone else was banding together to take down Father Wolf out of the hope of securing their own future, Luca was doing it knowing that he had none. It was admirable. It was unfucking fair. If anybody deserved to be rotted alive from the inside it was the psychopath that had adjoined the apparition to Luca. Sloane sneered. No, nobody deserves something like that, not even Britney. She wiped her eyes and tucked her hair behind her ear, staring forward, unable to look at Luca.

“Sorry, I’m being a bitch. Don’t listen to me. That just…sucks. I have no idea what you must be going through,” said Sloane. She scoffed and shook her head, almost as if she were laughing at herself. “What am I saying? Last night wasn’t the first time I’ve almost died, but it was the most pain I’ve ever been in. To have something like that drag out for years…”

She covered her mouth with a hand, trying to comprehend how long he must’ve been in pain, becoming indignant that he hadn’t said anything sooner, rather frustrated with herself that she hadn’t spoken to him sooner. Her eyes darted around the amphitheater as if she was searching for a solution that someone had carved into the stone. The others had sealed Apparitions before, but as far as she was aware the first step in the process was coaxing the Apparition out of its host. She couldn’t recall a time she had ever even seen the Rot.

“Yeah the real answer is not so nice, but being nice usually doesn’t come to a real solution either, ” said Sloane, sitting back up and turning her head to Luca. A hint of heat radiated off of her words. “How long have you known?”

"Two years."

“Two…two years? And you didn’t tell us? Luca you’re a…you’re a fucking idiot!” yelled Sloane, punching her own leg for emphasis, idiot, idiot, idiot echoing off of the amphitheater. “You’re not dying from some terminal illness. You’re being poisoned—murdered—by something Britney Williams did to you and you haven’t said anything? Why?”

"Was anyone around?!" Luca snapped, eyes flashing with uncharacteristic anger and flecks of green around the edges. He grimaced, twisting away and raising a hand to massage his forehead. Taking a deep breath, he was able to push down the sudden irritation. It was getting harder to keep a hold of his emotions… shit… it was progressing faster than he’d hoped.

When he turned back towards Sloane, he was calm again, the normal Luca with a smile and optimistic outlook. "I understand why you’re angry, Sloane, but what’s the point in telling anyone? I’ve spent ten years looking for a way to get rid of it. I know people would help even without this… detail. I don’t want to worry the people I care about… and I don’t want everyone to turn on Britney even more. We don’t need that.”

While he hadn’t forgiven her, he didn’t want to hold onto that resentment either. He had for a while and it had only fueled the Apparition inside of him. "I just want to live the rest of my life peacefully. If I told people, they’ll spend the whole time worrying and treating me like an invalid. I don’t want that."

Sloane had recoiled in surprise when Luca snapped at her. She couldn’t recall a single time she had seen him get angry before. It was the only thing that had kept from immediately opening her mouth again to retort. The words settled in instead. Was anyone around? Certainly. Probably. Just not her. Ten years and outside of a chance run-in or Merry Christmas text she had never even bothered to check in or even think about Luca. She was a bad friend.

Hell, until now she wouldn’t have even considered Luca to be a friend. Sloane had dehumanized him by identifying him only as a victim. On occasions she had worried about him but only in the pitying way one worries about a dog locked inside of a hot car with the windows rolled up on a summer day but takes no action to help, immediately forgetting about the sad sight the following day, only ever thinking about it on some restless nights where it’s three hours before her alarm and she still hasn’t fallen asleep, mixed in with a storm of other past regrets that fade once more by the morning time. She had been doing everything he was afraid people would do to him if they found out before she had even found out. It made her feel gross.

But the thought of letting him continue talking like this felt even worse. Any further silence and she would feel as if she was condoning his behavior. Maybe she was doing the wrong thing here, but the other option was inconceivable.

“You’re full of shit. You are so unbelievably full of shit,” said Sloane, jumping up to her feet. She approached Luca, stopping just as the hairs on her arm began to tingle. “You wouldn’t be here if you wanted to live the rest of your life out peacefully. You’re not that selfish. I saw the look in your eyes last night when Sullivan was putting me back together. You were terrified. You didn’t want me to be hurt. You don’t want anyone to get hurt.”

“Let me explain something to you. Earlier I said that last night was the worst pain I’ve ever been in. I lied. The worst pain I ever felt is a recurring one that comes whenever it wants, regardless of where I am or what I’m doing,” said Sloane, shoving a trembling hand into her coat pocket, her voice breaking for a second. “It’s the pain that comes whenever I think about Jade or Jinhai , knowing that not only will I never see them again, but that I never even really had the chance to say goodbye. It’s funny. I’ll eventually learn to accept that they are dead and never coming back, but I don’t think I’ll ever get over the fact that I didn’t have a chance to tell them how much they actually meant to me.”

“You said you don’t want to worry people who you care about. If you actually care about those people then you’d do the right thing and tell them what’s happening to you,” said Sloane. “Because that pain I feel is chronic. I’ll have it until I die.”

Luca’s eyes widened, and he shuffled backwards when Sloane approached him. There was that fear in his eyes again - the fear she’d get too close and he’d hurt her again. He didn’t want that. His hand shot up to his mask, going to pull it over his face but pausing when Sloane stopped just outside of his aura. ”Of course I didn’t want you to get hurt… or anyone else. I don’t want to hurt anyone.”

He looked away, recoiling as if Sloane’s words had wounded him. His fingers dug into his pants, scrunching up the fabric. He knew, deep down, that she was right. The kinder thing would be to tell people and let them prepare. Was not telling them selfish? Yes, probably. He didn’t want to deal with it. The crying, the worrying, the coddling. Having to deal with everyone else’s preemptive grief while his own mental state deteriorated. ”But isn’t it cruel to make them suffer for longer? Do you feel like by knowing, my death will be easier?”

Luca turned back to Sloane with a sad, sympathetic smile. ”The pain would still be there. Maybe you’d have more closure, but the pain would always still be there. That’s just grief… and I’m sorry you have to carry that.”

”I know you’re right. I should tell everyone. And I will, eventually. But there’ll come a point where I can’t be around anyone. You know what I’m more scared of than dying? Losing this,” he tapped his head. He felt that he owed it to Sloane to at least be as honest as he could be, when she was being so honest with him - even if it was in a rough manner. He got it. He could see it all came from a place of concern. ”And I will. My body isn’t the only thing that’s rotting. Eventually, I’ll lose myself, and I don’t want anyone to be there when it happens. If I tell everyone… it’ll be more difficult to just disappear.”

A heavy silence fell between the two as Sloane held her tongue. The first thought she had was to hit Luca with a harsh counterpoint: if he had already given up and accepted that he was going to one day lose his mind, then what did it matter what he wanted seeing as how he wouldn’t even remember it happening? The second thought was that she was a terrible person for even thinking about saying that. She imagined that if she was in his situation she’d do the exact same thing. She wouldn’t bother telling anybody too, knowing that she’d be driven insane by the pantomime of people pretending to care about her just so that other people would think they were kind.

Of course, she would never be in his situation. It was just one of the many privileges that came with having access to Lux. Her fingers brushed against the frayed edge of her old tarot card channeler. The pain would still be there. Her brow furrowed ever so slightly, an almost imperceptible change in her expression as she balled up her channeler as if it were a piece of rubbish. Sloane scoffed to herself, realizing that for a moment she had almost let someone suffering from brainrot to convince her to listen to him. Luca was wrong. Her pain wasn’t grief. Grief was inevitable. The deaths of Jade and Jinhai had been preventable. She suffered from regret, and she knew that she would regret it forever if she allowed Luca to make her believe for a second longer that his rotten end was inevitable.

“Luca,” said Sloane, sharply slicing through the silence, her face softening as she stepped back to her spot and took her seat again, giving Luca more than enough personal space. “I’m sorry. I want to say that I understand, but that just would be belittling. I doubt that I could truly comprehend all that you are going through. All I really know is that you don’t deserve this. Sometime ago I may have suggested that sealing an apparition to never use it again was an act of cowardice. Given what I know now, I think it’s safe to say that I was extremely, horrifically wrong. As an apology, I promise to stay silent about this. You may tell the others when you think it is right.”

Sloane fished the crumpled tarot card out of her pocket and smoothed it out on her lap, the wrinkled Queen of Swords looking as if she got a fresh injection of counterfeit Botox. She shifted herself to sit cross-legged and turned so that she was directly facing Luca. She gave Luca a soft, almost shy smile.

“No, that doesn’t feel like it’s an appropriate enough apology, especially considering that I still owe you my life. What if I just make it so that you don’t have to talk to anyone about it at all?” asked Sloane rhetorically. “So, how have you tried to get rid of our Rot problem? I don’t want to go down any paths that you’ve already found to lead nowhere.”

”Thanks, Sloane, I appreciate you trying to understand, at least,” Luca smiled warmly at her, feeling relief when she promised not to tell anyone. He had never been hung up on her implying that many years ago - in fact, he’d understood where she came from. It was reasonable to see magic as a gift when to many it was, and to see it as something they should use to help others. He would if he could. He’d come back in the hope that he could help.

”Hey, I’d hardly say you owed me your life, after I almost ended it right after- surely that makes it even?” Luca waved his hands in front of him but, at the end of the day, he couldn’t really say no to her offer of help. Because he did want rid of the Rot. He’d spent ten years trying to figure that out, with help here and there. He didn’t want to be a burden on others by making them help him, but he’d also gladly work with them. Sloane seemed to genuinely care and want to help… Well, of course she did. She was a good person, even if she was a little rough about the way she went about things.

”I won’t say no to your help.” Luca smiled, the slight tension still held in his frame disappearing as he relaxed. He didn’t have to defend himself anymore, or talk about his inevitable death. Even after accepting it, it didn’t get easier. ”The most obvious method is sealing, but that requires the Rot coming out of my body. It never does that, and it never takes over if there’s a risk of that. It’s too smart for it to be that easy. Back… before the coven dissolved, after you left, we tried using the Apparition Killer on me to get it out. It started to rot the tip of the blade as soon as it touched me. Since then I’ve mostly been looking into methods to drag it out. Talking to people, researching… Kari was working on something before we fell out. Greta too, before I left 8th. She’s made me potions but none of them have worked yet. I’ve been looking for any kind of artifact that would help, and I’ve tried asking around the friendlier factions. It's been difficult with limited resources and movement.”

”Basically, it needs to be something that will force an Apparition out in a way that it can then be sealed.”

Sloane leaned forward, elbows on her knees, fingers bridged in front of her lips, and listened. It was news to her that Ashley had tried to help Luca back in the day. She had always assumed their old leader was so far up her own ass that she was unable to even see the problems that others were having. Ashley had never bothered to bring it up when Sloane had demanded she hand over the Apparition Killer a few days before the woman had been murdered, arguing that it was wasted in her incapable hands. The corner of her mouth twitched as if it had been hooked by a feeling of guilt, thankfully hidden from Luca. As for Kari? Well, it wasn’t a very big surprise that she had turned out to be a disappointment. Sloane had a similar experience where Kari had suddenly shut her out of her life, too.

But that wasn’t what mattered now.

“The Rot being strong enough to tarnish an artifact like the Apparition Killer is…quite something,” said Sloane, unable to say what she truly thought: it was absolutely terrifying. She spoke softly, thinking out loud, “Perhaps something could be crafted with Orange Lux to remove the Rot, but I don’t know what that would be…”

Sloane wasn’t a creator. She was a plagiarist. Her magic took something someone else made and corrupted it. Even with Anya’s help she doubted they would be able to craft a spell, let alone then create an artifact, in the time Luca had left. Sloane’s face soured. There was the slightest possibility that Sloane’s mother might know something, but the door for learning from her had been closed, locked, sealed over with brick and mortar and followed with the slaughtering of the masons to keep its location a secret so that it would never be unearthed many years ago. It would be nothing but a painful waste of time.

“The likeliest of ways to exorcise the Rot would be with Black Lux. Maybe Lyss—” Sloane suddenly stopped and glanced away. Another preventable loss. Sloane shook her head.

“I don’t know. I’ll think of something. It’s not like you’re actually an idiot. If the solution was so simple you would’ve already found it.” It was pretty much the closest to a complement Sloane was typically capable of making. “In the meanwhile we can focus on taking preventative steps. Slow the Rot down. Keep you being you. Stormy might be able to keep an abjuration aura on you, although he’d basically have to be attached to your hip the entire time. Plus, he’d undoubtedly ask questions. Sullivan, then? A daily dose of the Chalice could greatly extend the time we have, and he’s so thick he would believe any excuse you feed him.”

“Would you be willing to do that?” asked Sloane.

”I would be, as long as it can be done safely,” Luca said, nodding. He decided to ignore the derisive comment she made towards Sully - who was also his friend, but there was no point starting an argument over it. “I can’t drink directly from the Chalice without damaging it too, but we had our methods… I’m sure they still work! I’d rather that over Stormy… I think he’s already a bit suspicious, and he has his own life to live.”

He smiled genuinely at Sloane. While he hadn’t wanted her to find out - because he didn’t want anyone to find out - he was glad she’d been willing to hear him out and help. Some of the others would only panic, or get overly sympathetic. He appreciated actions more than words. “Thank you, Sloane, seriously. It's been quite lonely looking for a solution by myself after Olivia left… and then I’ve been too sick to do it at all recently. Something the Chalice will help with. It’s mostly physical, thankfully. The mental symptoms… are minimal. Memory loss, and the like.”

Luca put a hand on one of the higher steps, bare fingers peeking through fraying gloves. As they came into contact with the stone it started to visibly erode beneath them. Grey dust formed and was quickly carried away by a light breeze. Luca didn’t even notice as his fingers sank down into the rock. Sloane stared at the step, her pulse quickening, but she did not say anything.

“If you find anything you have my number- oh, but since I have to change phones a lot I’ll sometimes miss messages. If I don’t respond… Well, Jasper’s probably your best bet,” Luca gave a knowing smile, ignoring the knife stabbing into his chest at the thought of them being in contact. “Maybe you can get closer too.”

“W-w-what?”

Sloane’s eyes snapped back to Luca, wider and more alert than he would ever have seen them, as her cheeks reddened. Why would he say something like that? Had Jasper asked him to—a wave of horror swelled over Sloane, her pupils tiny like pinpricks, as the crashing realization flooded her private beach, the undertow dragging her out to sea. If she could hear Luca in his hallucination, it only stood to reason that Luca had been able to hear her. It felt for a moment as if she were truly drowning. A shaky hand rubbed at her flushed throat.

“O-oh, shoot! I’m going to be late for my meeting with Auri,” said Sloane, glancing down at her wristwatch. She sprung up to her feet, frighteningly animated for someone normally so reserved. She looked as if she was a deer about to bolt, but then the reality of their situation set in. The park was a nice place for a private conversation, but the secludedness was a double-edged sword.

“Walk me to the gate?” she asked. Requested, really. How could Luca not oblige?

The pair left the amphitheater the way they came, separated by a healthy amount of space, although as they walked back a peculiarly lively Sloane protested all a bit too much.

“I can tell you right now that Jasper is anything but my best bet, I mean, I swear, he just has it out for me for no reason, it’s absolutely ridiculous, he probably wouldn’t even answer the phone if I called and, anyway, I don’t know what you think you heard but it’s was probably just part of a hallucination, or even if I did say anything it’s not like what I said actually means anything, like it did with your situation but that doesn’t necessary mean it would with my situation, not saying that I’d have a situation, honestly, if anyone has a situation it would be Jasper, I mean, did I tell you how he painted a painting about me, like who even does that, he’s got like some weird kind of obsession, I mean get this last night I’m like,”

She finally took a breath, “Almost completely naked, not by choice (not to bring up a sore subject, but anyway) and he just waltzes over after not saying anything to me at this meeting or the last one and just goes, feel better, okay, like why would he even do that, and besides, my point is that I don’t understand why you would think we should get closer, like even if hypothetically I was interested in him, which I am most certainly not, but let’s say that if I maybe was it isn’t like he’s single anyway.”

“Is he?” she finished, having blabbered the entire way to the gate, a hint of hope in her voice.

”Sloane, you obviously like him,” Luca said bluntly, laughing slightly. He tried to ignore the tightening in his chest as it got a little more difficult to breath. It was just an ache that came with his decaying body, that was all. He'd accepted last night that Jasper was more likely to like Sloane than he was to ever like him. They'd look good together... And as a friend of them both he should help with that, right? ”I heard some of what you said in the mist… don’t worry, I won’t judge you, I get it. I’m rooting for you guys.”

Jasper had even painted something about her. That hurt more than anything else. Jasper had painted Luca when they became friends again as a gift but… it had been stolen by the skeleton haunting them. But it wasn’t about him, it just was him. He was sure the one about her came from deeper in Jasper’s soul. Maybe it showed his true feelings? ”He said that because he was concerned for you… And yeah, he actually is single.”

Luca smiled tiredly - hopefully Sloane would just figure it was from his sickness of the body rather than the heart. He pulled up his surgical mask to cover it up anyway. ”Well, I won’t keep you from Auri. Thanks again, Sloane.”

“Nuh-uh, thank you, Luca,” said Sloane, smiling slightly, her defenses immediately shattered by his bluntness, her silence serving as admittance, the bubbling anxiety eased by his support. Jasper was concerned about her? She wanted to believe that was right, and for the first time wanting that didn’t make her feel so perplexed. “See you later.”

The two parted ways, Sloane feeling a little less weight on her shoulders despite choosing to bear some of Luca’s burden and walking with a bit of spring in her step. Luca was a really nice guy, a good friend, and proof that she needed to curb her growing indignation to the rest of the Sycamore Tree Coven. Sloane came to a crosswalk and turned to look back at Luca, watching him go away from her in the opposite direction. Her good mood shifted as he turned the corner, disappearing from her sight. She realized something. She didn’t want to see him go. No, no, no, that wasn’t quite it.

She was afraid Luca wouldn’t come back, or that he would come back but it wouldn’t actually be him. Sloane rubbed her hand where the Rot had eaten through her flesh the other night, reimagining the pain coursing through her body. Luca had said something that in the moment she had glossed over it, but in hindsight it terrified her: ”My body isn’t the only thing that’s rotting. Eventually, I’ll lose myself, and I don’t want anyone to be there when it happens. If I tell everyone… it’ll be more difficult to just disappear.”

Her hand tightened into a fist. It didn’t make any sense why he would want that. If his mind was destroyed, then what took over his body? She clenched her teeth, her jaw firm, her eye twitching. Running away when the Rot could take over his body at any moment was absurdly dangerous. An Apparition strong enough to resist the artifact that had allowed them to take down the Stygian Snake? Something like that just couldn’t be let loose in the city. Her whole body burned as visuals of a rotted city flashed before her eyes. She told herself that she shouldn’t even waste her time thinking about it because it wouldn’t come to that. She would save Luca. The little red hand became a green man. Yes, she would save Luca, she knew she could, there had to be a way, but if that failed, if it was what he wanted against the safety of everyone else…

She’d cross that bridge when she came to it. She would cross it without a moment’s hesitation. For now, however, she just simply crossed the street.

---

---

After what happened at Kari’s house, and setting up yet another new phone, Luca got back in contact with Jacqueline to meet up. After a bit of back and forth they agreed to meet at Dairy Queen on Saturday. There was enough outdoor seating that there wasn’t a major risk of Luca accidentally touching a Blind.

Luca had arrived a bit early, finding a table away from anyone else who’d chosen to sit outside on a cold November day eating ice cream. Thankfully, it was just a few people here and there. He’d dressed as if it was twenty degrees colder - hat, scarf, gloves and most of his skin covered. He even wore a mask on the lower half of his face, which he pulled down to his chin as he took a seat. Better to be safe, after what happened with Sloane.

”Was it her that did it to you?” A familiar voice spoke up from the booth behind him. The boy was tucked into the corner, wearing an oversized raincoat and baseball cap that just barely fit, with no sign of the

”Huh?” Luca spun around, thin frame tense until he spotted who was talking to him. He let out a soft sigh of relief. The ‘it’ was obvious, the her… just as obvious. But as Luca smiled at Clancy, he didn’t quite give a direct answer. He didn’t know why he was asking. ”If you mean the person that adjoined my Apparition to me… I have no hard feelings towards her, so it depends why you’re asking.”

”And you're okay with that?” Clancy's expression crinkled, betraying his confusion.

The last time they'd met, he’d been a smoldering patchwork of charred rags and jagged flesh, with several punctures that bled into an emptiness within him.

Now, he was back in clothing, not even a scraped knee to show for it. ”Anyone even try to help you?”

”I grew to be okay with that,” Luca said softly, smiling at Clancy. He genuinely looked fine with it. And he mostly was, after all these years. He assumed that Clancy’s… sympathy came from being in a similar situation. Luca hadn’t figured out exactly what he was, but adjoined was one of the possibilities.

He could tell the Rot knew, but it refused to tell him. ”Some did, at first. When I was part of 8th Street, people there were trying to help. As for Sycamore… well, most went back to their normal lives and I never asked for help. Now some are helping - Sloane, Adora. Ah, but-”

His expression turned slightly more pained. ”Your cousin tried to remove it using the same knife we used to kill the Stygian Snake, before the coven dissolved. It didn’t work.”

”I'm sorry, for what it's worth.” Clancy said, like aome distant guest at a funeral offering formal condolence, but there was a subtle indicator of sadness in his tone, ”I thought she could help me too.”

With what he needed help was left unanswered, for now.

He shifted the conversation quickly, ”I've heard about the knife. Where is it now?”

Luca tilted his head. So Clancy was similar to him, the way that he needed help with however he was. But he wasn’t going to press about something the kid clearly didn’t want to talk about. ”Lost, I think. I’m a bit out of the loop, but no one found it after Ashley was killed. It’s worrying that it’s missing.”

”Who would know?” Clancy slid out of the booth, paced over and inserted himself adjacent to Luca, keeping to the corner. The bagginess of his clothes suggested they weren't made for him. ”Those assholes following that cheerleader?”

”I’m not sure,” Luca shook his head, brow furrowing as he thought about it. Who’d last seen Ashley? He wasn’t sure. ”There's a chance Emily or her coven has it. They’ve been stealing Artifacts for a while… but I think if they did she would’ve rubbed it in our faces. Sloane might know something. She kept track of a lot of our Artifacts- but she also lost a fair amount of her own.”

”Got the feeling she won't be much use anytime soon…” Clancy's remark wasn't intentionally pointed at Luca or his part in the incident that had led to Sloane's injury, but it was a careless one nonetheless.

Judging by the skinny latino's tightened expression, the boy realised this too late.

”I didn't mean like that,” he bristled, awkwardly correcting”Not judging you. Hurt more people than your parasite ever will. It sucks. But that's… tough luck, I guess.”

”It’s alright,” Luca shook his head, expression relaxing. He hadn’t felt like Clancy was attacking him with his words, rather it just reminded him of the danger he posed to others. ”You’re right that it sucks. If I could control it, that would be one thing, but I just destroy everything I touch. I’ve… managed to avoid something like that for years, until yesterday. So yeah, tough luck, I suppose! I won’t be letting it happen again.”

”You control what you can,” Clancy's leaned forward, his gaze locked on the latino, ”You remember who you are and hold onto it with everything you have, because the other way things go is that you lose yourself and…” he trailed off, holding the thought for a moment.

“I've been there. It sucks.”

Their conversation was interrupted by Jacqueline and Miranda entering the Dairy Queen. Jacqueline wore a brown leather jacket, a white tank top with her pink bra exposed, and blue jeans and brown cowboy boots. Miranda wore a mini-skirt and a T-shirt with Gorillaz album Demon Dayz over her chest with black boots. They both sat on the booth across from Clancy and Luca, and Miranda waved at him.

Jacqueline placed the Expert’s Book on the table, before asking, “Luca, it’s great to see you again.”

”Jacqueline, Miranda!” Luca grinned, waving to them both. He pushed the conversation with Clancy to the back of his mind - losing himself, and just how possible it was, wasn’t something he wanted to dwell on. ”It’s so nice to see you both… It’s been a while, huh? How have you been? And oh, thanks for the heads up yesterday!”

He then looked at Clancy, and back at the two of them. ”Uh, this is Clancy, Ashley’s cousin. He… tagged along.”

Both Miranda and Jacqueline grimaced.

“... It’s great to meet you,” Jacqueline broke the awkward silence, smiling at Clancy as she said. “No, problem, but we have been… good.”

“Busy,” Miranda said. “I guess we owe your Coven an apology for what happened at the Halloween Festival...”

“... And Kari’s House,” Jacqueline sighed.

“... Yeah,” Miranda began. “... And Kari’s house.”

”You're sorry.” Clancy said, tone bristling with sarcasm, ”So why are you wasting your time with that Prom Queen?” he pointedly asked, his crinkled eyes fixated on Miranda, ”She obviously doesn't give a shit about any of you.”

”Hey, hey, let’s not be like that,” Luca held out a hand towards Clancy, trying to diffuse things a little. He hadn’t exactly been invited, and Luca had wanted it to be friendly. ”Emily’s their older sister, you know how it is with family…”

”Knew.” The boy corrected him, unfaltering in his withering gaze. ”That's all gone, now.” It was true. His family were gone, save for the daughter that Ashley left behind, and she was better off away from the lot of them.

“And we weren’t talking to you,” Jacqueline told Clancy.

Luca smiled at Miranda and Jacqueline, mouthing an apology, before continuing. ”And she should be the one to apologise… Though I know she won’t! You guys shouldn’t have to clean up after her mess, but… I’m glad. Hopefully we can talk it out sometime. Britney I get, but Lila… is it really just for what happened at the festival?”
“Yes, but-” Miranda sighed before she was interrupted.

“... You never said you were bringing a kid along,” Jacqueline said, pointing at Clancy, “We shouldn’t be talking about this in front of him.”

Luca laughed awkwardly. ”I didn’t invite him, he just kind of turned up! Funny, that… If I was going to bring anyone along, I would’ve told you- and it probably would’ve been Lila herself!”

He then turned to Clancy with a questioning smile, asking in a surprisingly upbeat but blunt tone, ”You weren’t following me, were you?”

The boy shrugged his shoulders, dismissive. ”Making sure your favourite serial killer isn't finding an easy mark.” There was more to it than that, but he hadn't wanted to elaborate at that moment, ”I have my reasons.”

”... I live with three other people just now, I’m rarely alone.” Luca’s smile didn’t waver, even though he found it strange. He rubbed the back of his neck, turning to the Reid sisters. ”He’s been sort of coming along to the coven meetings so I guess… he’s sort of part of it? I already, uh, told him about the Expert’s Book before Emily attacked us.”

Jacqueline’s jaw dropped.

“... You did what?” Jacqueline asked, tilting her head to the side.

“Luca… Luca…” Miranda rubbed her temples, shaking her head before she said. “... Who else did you tell about the Expert’s Book?”

“Look, you remember I’m the only person who can use it?” Jacqueline asked. “Right? Right?”

”I, uh, yeah, course I remember that,” Luca’s fingers dug into the back of his neck as he looked upwards, the picture of someone who’d realised he’d fucked up. ”Kind of… everyone? Who could hear, uh… Jasper, Lila, Lynn… Ken, maybe? I was explaining 8th Street to him and, y’know, saying how you guys are part of this whole Father Wolf thing without… being Father Wolf.”

His smile finally wavered as he struggled to not just dump everything on them. ”I brought it up cause we had a recollection about Kari, and we were trying to figure out… literally anything about Father Wolf. I thought I could talk to you about it and see if you knew anything just, I kinda said it out loud. Big mistake, I know, I’m sorry! Hopefully no one-” he glanced at Clancy, ”-else comes after you for it.”

”I remember you now,” Clancy’s crinkled eyes tightened a little further, cold condemnation boring back at their disapproving faces, ”Why are you all so obsessed with stealing from some dead slut?”

He’d echoed, word for word, what Emily had said while 8th Street had picked apart Kari's cabin.

”That’s what your sister said, right? While you were trying on a dead girl’s panties like a couple of high schoolers.” For a moment, a joyless grin formed across his lips - almost hideous in the way the lighting cast across it - before straightening out, ”That, and the part about affording shit a million times more than what that whore could afford.”

”That wasn’t Miranda and Jacqueline, that was Maya and-” Luca tried to interject, but was quickly cut off by Clancy slamming a palm on the counter, hard enough that the latino might’ve noticed the crack forming just across from him, at the edge of the table.

”And no, it’s not his fault I’m here. But Ashley is dead. She was family. So are others that were supposed to be her friends. Some are assholes. Some-” and for a moment, Clancy's gaze shifted back to Luca, ”-are not. But that list of dead people is growing, and forget Britney - all while this happens your sister is trying to kill someone because... high school crap?”

”So-” he continued, ready to speak over anyone who tried to interrupt, ”Unless you want to be seen as one and the same, or you just want to get stuck like a pig by the asshole that’s doing it, it makes sense to use this magic book of yours. Help us find this asshole, before he kills you and your ‘friends’.”

Jacqueline and Miranda looked at each other before Jacqueline shook her head.

“We weren’t members of the Old Coven,” Miranda corrected him. “He’s not coming after us, anyway… And we aren’t responsible for what other people do...”

“... You think we haven’t tried?” Jacqueline said with a roll of her eyes, before she grabbed the book, put it in her lap, and continued, “You think we aren’t worried for Em? Vashti? Greta? Luca? Lynette? You think we wouldn’t help if we could?”

Jacqueline opened the book, looked down at it, and said, “Oh, wise and all-knowing Expert’s Book, tell us everything about Father Wolf.”

After a few seconds, Jacqueline slid the Expert’s Book across the table. It had reduced from a comprehensive lexicon to a one-page leather pamphlet.

“This is all we can get from Father Wolf,” Jacqueline said.

Warily, Clancy leaned forward with an outstretched palm to turn the binding cover over and view the book's contents.

The singular page was blank on both sides. Just a white sheet of paper.

“... I don’t know how, but the book doesn’t know anything about Father Wolf,” Jacqueline shrugged. “Which means he has some information-denial abstraction, or….” She sighed.
“... He doesn’t exist.”

Luca just stared at the blank pages, then back up at Jacqueline. Shit. This wasn’t good. If he didn’t exist… well, that just didn’t make sense. He had to exist. How could he not? ”If Father Wolf is only an identity he uses for this murder, the book would know, right? It… has to be the former. Shit. I’m sorry, I thought you might have information and… wondered why you didn’t share it. Because I know you both care.”

He rubbed the back of his neck again, grimacing. ”But this isn’t good… another dead end.”

”You're not the only ones with access to this, are you?” Clancy asked, his tone only just softened compared to before, ”Someone else in your.. crew, maybe?”

“I’m the only one who can use the book,” Jacqueline said. “As in, if someone else tries to use it, the pages will go blank.”

”Cool.” Clancy shrugged, betraying no particular emotive response one way or the other, ”Convenient too, I guess. You trust her, then?” he addressed the question to Luca.

”I trust her,” Luca nodded without hesitation, shocked expression relaxing slightly as he smiled at Jacqueline and Miranda. ”I trust them both more than I do a lot of Sycamore - not that I don't trust them either. Thank you for showing us, Jacqueline… and I'm sorry that I only got in touch with you for this after so long… I should've been better about it! I miss you guys, yknow.”

He absentmindedly rested his hand on the edge of the table, immediately pulling it away when bare fingers started to erode through it, adding to the already formed crack. ”Uh, do you know anything about Kari? I- we- know that you guys got her notes.”

Miranda and Jacqueline looked in between each other before Miranda turned to Luca.

“We don’t have the notes anymore,” Miranda began. Clancy seemed ready to pounce on that, lips parting, but Jacqueline cut him off, “Yeah, someone paid us to get them. But, what do you want to know about Kari?” Jacqueline asked, “We… know a little bit.”

”Not much, she… cut me off after I joined 8th,” Luca sighed. It was difficult to stay positive thinking back on a friendship he’d ruined. ”Please keep this from Emily, but Lyss summoned her ghost… except it was a different world’s Kari. That’s why we started looking into her. Otherwise, all I know is that Emily wanted her to join, and she went to someone else instead.”

Miranda leaned forward “We don't know anything about her ghost being different, but…”

“... Why are you acting we care about what happened to that rich asshole?” Jacqueline rolled her eyes, then laughed.

“... Well, Kari went to Blake Schmidt’s organization, the Elite,” Miranda explained, “With her help, they were tracking down sealed Apparitions and artifacts and giving them to his associates.”

”Blake who?” Clancy asked, briefly glancing towards Luca. ”Whatever, they sound like another group of assholes who think they’re any better than the assholes who throw gang signs and smack.” He was starting to fit the pieces together, and he was not amused at the mosaic they formed, ”And when you’re talking about artifacts, you’re talking about stuff like the axe, right? Or maybe just that knife Ashley used to kill the snake thing, right? I know your sister wouldn’t leave her alone.” He pulled in the claws, leaning back into his corner of the booth, ”If it’s not with her, what’s the magic book say?”

“Well, allow me to explain how the book works because there are a few assumptions here,” Jacqueline laughed, as she put her shoulders on the table. She opened the book, looked, down at it, before looking up at Clancy. “It’s not quite an ‘artifact-artifact’-” Jacqueline finger quoted, “-it’s a Sealed-Apparition inside of the book with a personality and whatnot. It works in weird ways sometimes.”

Jacqueline shook her head, “So, to get to the point, sometimes when I ask the book the same question too many times, it will go blank. Like refuse to give me information on that subject ever again… I asked it that question too many times...” She shook her head.

“And look,” Miranda shook her head, “It was our fault that Emily started harassing your cousin. We… need the Apparition Killer.”

“To help our friend, Annabelle,” Jacqueline shook her head. “She’s… been cursed.”

”You're saying you don't know where it is, then? Maybe he trusts you,” Clancy fingered towards Luca, ”But I had a shitty first impression of your crew. Who even paid you for the notes?” Again, he turned his attention back towards Luca, ”Do you even know some Annabelle?”

”Yes-” Luca didn't get more than a word in before he was interrupted.

“... Well, I guess you’re going have to figure that out for yourself then,” Jacqueline said as she stood up, “I don't know who you are, but we came to talk to Luca. Not you.”

She grabbed Miranda’s hand, and she followed behind Jacqueline, however before the two left, Jacqueline paused. She spoke to Luca, “It's great to see you again, but this is too much. Bye. We’ll talk to you later!” She waved Luca off.

Then they were gone.

Luca waved after them, mentally making a note to just invite them round to his place next time… if he could make sure Lila was out at the time. He turned to Clancy with a half smile. Most people would be annoyed or blaming, but Luca seemed… fine about it. Visibly tired, but fine. ”I can help you find the Apparition Killer, if you’re looking for that. I don't have much to go on but… I'm sure the rest of the coven will want to find it too.”

”I don’t-..” Clancy almost shot back, but he gave some thought to it, his tone softening, ”You said it didn’t work on you, right? Did it hurt that thing in you, at least?” The boy was annoyed that the girls had left almost as quickly as they’d arrived, before he’d got the answers they needed. 8th Street had things to answer for after their business at the cabin.

”Not really,” Luca grimaced slightly, before returning to something closer to a smile. ”It didn't work because of the rotting. When they tried to use it the tip started to rust and then disintegrate when Ashley tried to force it through. It didn't even get to it. It's why I've accepted I'm probably stuck with it, y’know? Even artifacts can't get through. It might work on others… Ashley refused to try it on my friend Olivia after I destroyed the tip, so I don't know.”

”It still works on other monsters, right? Your ‘apparitions’?”

”Yes, far as I'm aware. It worked on the Stygian Snake, and the monsters it summoned,” Luca nodded. ”Those of us with ones attached to us are a bit of a… special case, I guess.”

”Can't fix me, either,“ Clancy chortled, barely concealing a bitterness in his tone, ”But it'll settle a score.”

”Ahh…” Luca rubbed the back of his neck, looking a bit awkward about it. ”Well hopefully we find it soon, if someone like Emily got it…”

He didn’t really want think about what would happen in that case. ”For score settling.”

”With or without her sisters, she needs dealing with..” Clancy tugged at a phone in his pocket, ”You have a phone number?”

”Yeah, I do… I have to change phones a lot, but I always get it swapped over. Might just miss some messages because of it.” Luca smiled, before rattling off a set of numbers when Clancy seemed ready for it. ”Feel free to get in touch anytime! I really don't do much.”

”Same,” the boy nodded, a thin, weary smile forming for just a moment as he keyed the numbers in beneath his coat, ”Don't usually keep the numbers, though. Makes it easier when….” he trailed off, stood tonleave, then reconsidered as he exited the booty, ”.. you know.”

He offered Luca a weary nod.

”Yeah, I know,” Luca laughed lightly. Not that he'd ever had to… but it was a plan for the future, when he got worse. He smiled tiredly at Clancy, also starting to get up. ”Well, I'll see you at the next meeting? And next time… maybe give me a call before turning up outta nowhere, yeah?”

In collaboration with @Atrophy as Sully.

Location: 7:00pm Friday Kari's House -> Docks

"Thanks."

Sully turned but the kid was already gone, his jacket left neatly folded on the ground behind him. Sully called out for Clancy but there was no response except for the wind rustling the branches. He pulled on his jacket and turned back to his arduous task of hunting for his keys.

It was down in the mud, dirty fingers haphazardly rifling through shoots of grass, knees begging him to give up and get up, that Sully realized he had a history of making unwise choices. Worse, he had a history of repeating them. It was little less than a week ago when he’d wandered off into the woods to take a private leak and instead got his ass beat by a peeping tom. Yet here he was again: in the dark woods, away from his friends, practically defenseless. A shiver ran down Sully’s spine as the real danger of his failure to learn his lesson the last time set in. Lyss had just been killed the other day. Father Wolf was still out there. Stalking. Hunting. Waiting for the right time to strike; a time like this.

Sully stopped rustling through the grass just in time to hear a twig snap behind him. He spun around, still on his knees, with his hands out in front of him like a martial artist ready to deliver a mighty karate chop, bellowing out a loud “Yah!” as Tayla asked him what he was doing. Sully immediately threw his hands up as if in surrender, exhaling a sigh of relief. He was glad to see Tayla, just like he was glad to have the cat-like reflexes of a taxidermied calico. He would’ve been devastated if he had actually thrown hands at her.

“You know I’ve been asking myself that question a lot lately,” said Sully, propping his hand against a tree to support himself as he stood up. “You don’t happen to have my keys, do you?”

Tayla looked at him questioning his odd response to being sneaked up on. Like what the hell would that have done? She snorted and shook her head. “No, I don’t have your keys. Last I saw them you were handing them to me, then a monster fell out the sky.”

It was getting dark out; the sun on the horizon. If his keys were in this forest, they weren’t going to find them in the dim light. “Want me to hotwire your car? I still need a ride if the offer’s still on the table.” She had no desire to ride the bus wet like a drowned rat. She’d have to walk to the stop, get off at the next stop, get on another, get off, walk to the daycare, pick up Siwan, then catch a boat ride home from the ferryman. It’d be easier to get dropped off at the ferry, then get Siwan and go home.

“Yeah offer is still there but…” Sully frowned at the idea of someone hotwiring his baby, having seen his fair share of jacked up cars in the past during a failed stint as an auto mechanic. Tayla would probably be a bit more gentle than a car thief, and he could always patch it back together with a bit of duct tape and gum. His face brightened up with forced enthusiasm. “Fuck it! Let’s go steal my car!”

Tayla didn’t need her headphones to notice Sully didn’t seem enthusiastic about her hotwiring his ride, but it beat being stuck here for longer than she wanted.

“Now the good news is that I left my window down, so we don’t have to break any glass. The bad news is that I left my window down, so, well,” said Sully, leading Tayla to where he had parked his junker. He grew nervous as he saw a downed tree halfway in the street, a casualty of the storm. Miraculously, the exterior of the rusting pickup truck was unharmed outside of a few loose branches on the hood or bumming a ride in the bed. The interior was not so lucky. A couple of leaves and twigs had hopped in through the window, but the real nightmare was the inch or two of the rainwater pooling around the floor mats, straw wrappers and crumbled receipt papers floating in it like icebergs. “Oh, man, this sucks…”

She followed him to his truck and whistled at the state of it. The outside was fine. The inside though, yikes. It was completely flooded. She wasn’t sure if she should be doing any type of wire work with water everywhere.

“Big sucks.”

Sully reached in through the window and popped the lock, opening the driver’s side door so Tayla could do her thing. He leaned against the side of the car, elbow’s resting up on the bed, and chewed on his cheek. Now probably wasn’t the best time to ask, but he felt like if he waited until they were in the car going fifty miles per hour and then broached the subject it would’ve felt too much like a gotcha.

“So, uh, this Dean cat? Crazy stalker? Jealous ex? What’s the deal?” asked Sully, sounding unsure about the line of questioning.

She stood out of the way when he opened the door. Most of the water came out, leaving the floor soaked, and the rest that didn’t pooled in the mat. She pulled that out and dumped it on the ground. She wouldn’t work in dirty water. She’s wet and dirty enough as is. She sat on the floor and pulled out her house keys. Attached was a mini multipurpose tool kit. She pulled out a flathead screwdriver and jammed it into the piece under the steering wheel for the wire panel. She’s glad his truck is old. She wouldn’t be able to do this with anything new. Dean only knew how to hotwire old shit. New cars came with tracking and apps that could deadlock cars. Too risky to bother with the technology. Speaking of Dean, Sully had questions. Ones she didn’t want to answer, but they’re here and Dean beat the shit out of him twice. It’s whatever at this point.

“He was technically my pimp and dealer. Went to him for oxy soon after James died. Got passed around to whoever was willing to pay for my habit. We started dating when I turned 18. More of the same shit, except he loved me or whatever.” She rolled her eyes. She never believed his feelings for a moment. She still had her Lux then. She knew the truth of him, but he made her feel less alone and funded her drug of choice.

She rubbed her hands together to get them dry. She wasn’t touching the wires with wet hands. She got back to work. “I OD’d two years ago. Decided I would get clean, and have done my best to stay off his radar ever since. I haven’t heard anything about him, until y’all fucked around at the club.” She gave him a pointed look. “That’s pretty much it.” She won’t tell him about her son. She didn’t know what Dean could beat out of him the next time they met. She wasn’t taking that risk. Bad enough he wants to find her.

“Oh,” was about all Sully could manage to say, caught off guard by Tayla’s candid response. Back in the day he would’ve called James a friend, and like the rest of his friends that had died in those final days against the Stygian Snake James hadn’t been forgotten. Rather the memory of him had been drowned in cheap beer, like a body disposed of in a lake, except instead of stones in its pockets to keep it down it was Rolling Rocks, and when it resurfaced in his memory it sent ripples of old pain felt anew across the surface. Sully frowned and looked down the street.

As sad as it was to be reminded of James, what was even more painful to hear was what Tayla had gone through. He had watched plenty of people have their entire lives nuked because of a little pill or some powder. Sully distinguished himself from being an addict by qualifying it as him being a problem drinker (often accompanied by some lame, rib nudging line like, “but the real problem I got is how I ain’t currently drinking, har har har”), but still, it wasn’t anything he had the right to judge. He realized he should probably say something supportive to Tayla, but what could he say that she probably wasn’t already tired of hearing?

“Well, shit.”

Good. Fucking Shakespeare, Sullivan. He should probably say more than that.

She snorted. “Well, shit indeed.”

“In my defense, I was with the crew trying to get people to stop fucking around at the club. We just wanted to see some boobs,” said Sully in a joking tone, having never been able to approach a serious subject without first trying to deflect it with humor. He felt like a jackass the moment the words left his mouth. Sully sighed. ”Look, man, I ain’t even going to pretend like I could understand what you went through, but I’m sorry it happened. That sounds, uh, fucked,” he laughed nervously. “It sounds really fucked. Sorry for digging up the past like that.”

Sully loudly cleared his throat.

“I know it sounds weird, Tayla, but thanks for telling me. I can get why you don’t want me running my mouth about that dickhead in front of the others, but I think you’re underestimating the rest of the squad. They’re good people. They’d want to help. They’d want to hear about how you’re kicking ass by being two years clean. I mean a few of them are dicks but those ones don’t matter,” said Sully. Then, tugging at his collar and almost mumbling under his own breath, he added, “Plus, Dean is stalking me now too and I’m pretty sure he’s going to cut off my balls or something if we don’t handle this sooner rather than later…”

Tayla stopped what she was doing and peeked at him from under the wheel. She sat up and looked him right in the eyes. “I’ll level with you Sully, it’s because of the dicks that I don’t want to say anything. With the way the Coven takes personal digs at each other when they don’t like someone, I don’t want any of that. I can’t remember if you were there for when our supposed new hideout got burned down by the Feds. That one girl that had the nerve to say Linqian deserved to have her brother die, is the reason I’m not saying anything. I don’t like getting emotional about shit, but the moment one of them says I deserved what happened to me when I was a kid. Or disrespects Jamie’s memory to get at me, all bets are off. I’m walking or I’ll kill ‘em or hell, I don’t know.” She got a little misty eyed and sniffed. She wasn’t going to cry. She’d done enough of that for a long time already.

“I’m proud of what I’ve done to keep myself clean, but it’s hard not to back slide in all of this. The new stress and anxieties got me antsy lately. I can’t go back to Dean looking for a new fix. I’ll figure something out about Dean. You don’t deserve to be stalked because of me.” By figuring something out she means asking Shayton what the hell he’s doing letting Dean shake down a Coven member for information. Him trying to find her is the opposite of the Dollhouse trying to keep him off her ass.

She got back under the wheel. A few seconds later the truck came to life. “Mind dropping me off at the ferry?”

“Yeah, I got you,” said Sully, sliding into the driver’s seat once Tayla moved over.

Sully swung the truck out of the parking spot and carefully guided it around the fallen tree. He mulled over what Tayla had said. Sure, the Coven had been petty before in the past, but he’d figured they would be able to set everything aside and focus on getting the job done. He was shocked to hear that someone would be so cruel to tell Linqian that she had deserved to have her brother die. It sounded like something only Sloane would say. Sully decided not to ask. Pushing for gossip now was so obviously the wrong call that even he was aware of it.

Tayla slid over into the passenger seat. Somehow sitting on top of wet was worse of a feeling.

“Tayla, if you want to be the one who handles this, then I’ll let you be the one who handles this, but I want you to know that I got your back. Dean’s been trying to get me to give him the scoop on where you are and what you’re doing and I haven’t said a thing and I will keep on not saying a thing. But listen,” Sully lowered the radio so that his point was undermined by Jimmy Buffett singing precisely about how he liked his cheeseburgers made, glancing at Tayla as they came to a redlight. “I’m not getting stalked because of you. I’m getting stalked because of Dean. He’s the only one to blame. Just because you were once close to a piece of shit before doesn’t mean you are one.”

“Anyway, you don’t need to worry about me. I got some good people in my corner that can help keep an eye out for Dean if he tries anything with me,” said Sully, talking about Greenwood as the light turned green and the truck started chugging along again towards the ferry. “Actually, if you want, they’d be willing to help you too since I could vouch for you. None of them used to be Sycamore, so you wouldn’t have to worry about them trying to take any personal shots. “

Tayla propped her elbow on the window. She never regretted not remembering her time with the Coven. She’d forgotten faces and names and events. None of it mattered after James’s passing, but maybe she should’ve remembered Sully. He’s a good dude. She knew it wasn’t her fault Dean’s looking for her, but at the same time she felt like it was. If she had stayed with him after ODing, then none of this would be happening to Sully. But her baby probably wouldn’t have been born and if he was he’d be dependent on drugs and being raised by Dean. She’s thinking nonsense now. She’ll regret not remembering Sully, but nothing else about her decisions.

“You’re a good man, Sully,” she said looking at him. “A really good man. Thank you.” She smiled a little bit. She must have looked crazy with her lipstick smeared and faded from the rain. “How about this, you tell your new friends about your situation with Dean. Have them watch your back. Dean doesn’t like trouble that’s more than it’s worth. If you stick with a group of people, then he won’t bother you. He’s smart. He’ll bide his time to get you alone, so never be alone. In the meantime, I’ll do what I can on my side. I’m not looking to join another group. The one we’re in is dysfunctional enough for me.” She’s also part of Dollhouse. Two is more than enough.

“Dysfunctional? Sycamore? Pfft, what do you mean we did…we did great back there,” said Sully with a wry smile.

Tayla made a good point, though. The best thing for Sully to do right now would be to lay low with Greenwood, especially since if he couldn’t fix his phone he’d have no way to contact Dean and feed him some bullshit before the deadline. He had been on a pretty good streak of not getting his asskicked as of late, but ever since the meeting at the flower shop he could never get the “Days Since Last Incident” counter to reach double digits. Even with a supernatural cup of heal juice getting punched in the face still massively sucked.

“Anyway, I’ll tell them,” said Sully, hoping that it would ease any concern and guilt Tayla had. “And while it probably wouldn’t matter to them, I’ll keep your name out of it.Wouldn’t feel right airing out your dirty laundry.” Sully pointed his finger at the top of the vehicle and made a circular motion None of this leaves the truck of trust.”

Tayla laughed. The Truck of Trust. She liked the sound of that. It seemed everything would be okay for now. Sully’s got people he trusts to have his back. That’ll stall Dean for sometime at least.

“Now how’s that for some timing?” said Sully as he turned the wheel towards the docks and coasted to a stop before the arriving ferry. He shifted the truck into park and turned to Tayla. “Now look, if you need anything don’t hesitate to call…oh, except my phone might be broken. Um, just stop by the camp, it’s…oh, well, it moves around a lot, actually, so…find me somehow. I don’t know, call Auri or Britney and they’d probably figure something out. They always do.”

“Anyway, homie,” Sully held out his hand for a fist bump. “Fuck Dean.”

“Sure. I’ll be sure to track you down somehow.” She hesitated before saying the next part. So far she’s not told anyone where she worked, but given that Sully doesn’t have his phone he might need to reach her somehow. She trusted him enough to tell him. “If you need me, I work at the Maritime Museum everyday, but the weekends. Nine to five if you need me. And don’t tell anyone else. I don’t need Coven showing up at my job causing trouble.” She fist bumped him. “Fuck Dean. I’ll be see you.”

She got out the truck. Right before she closed the door she said, “Oh and don’t turn your truck off, before you get to a mechanic. You’ll have to hot wire it to get it started again. I’ll be seeing you. Thanks for the ride.” She closed the door. It’s not until he pulled away and she could no longer see his truck, that she made her way to the daycare to pick up Siwan.





In collaboration with @AtomicEmperor as Greyson.

Location: 8:00am Saturday at the Docks

Tayla had dropped Siwan off at daycare an hour ago. She didn't know what information he got out of her head. She wasn't volunteering anything else. She sat in wait for him on a fishing boat. He wouldn't be able to see her, but she could see him. She blended in with all the other fishermen out on the marina in a yellow raincoat and bucket hat. Just like them she ate a sandwich and laughed at jokes. She'd filled them in on everything a Blind would understand. She's fortunate her father wasn't here. That he went further south to follow the fishes migration with some others. He'd be devastated if he thought she was involved in gangs again. Given the violence that went on with 8th Street, might as well be.

It was the morning after the raid, not even an hour after he sent a text message to a particular person, and Edict was out on the Marina front in a low-visibility set of clothes. At first, he figured he’d get no response. But after a quick grilling and letting her know that her preferred haunt was now a coal dump, he was scheduled to meet Tayla Choi here. There were dozens and dozens of fishermen crowding around the spot, just like she wanted.
I’ll scream. They’ll kill you.
Good thing they wouldn’t be putting that to the test. Even if she couldn’t know his intentions were good, she’d either trust him or she wouldn’t.

But that didn’t mean he wasn’t wearing his vest beneath his sweater. An amateur would probably still stuff a gun into the chest before they would blow someone’s face off. If he was real lucky, then all this was going down without a hitch, and maybe he’d at least have regained someone’s trust.
A little closer to the goal.

So there he sat, on a bench in wait for his fate. Like all classic Gangsters, he thought for a moment about how if she was going to kill him, he’d have no time to think. No time to react. Just darkness.

When Greyson arrived, they all became alert and moved into a position where everyone could see him clearly. She told the men she was with to hop into a neighboring boat. She wanted to be alone.

She saw Greyson approach the marina. She quickly took off her hat, put on her headphones, then put the hat back on. She got all the fishermen's thoughts and his coming in. It was easy to block out the noise. She grew up on these docks. Knew these men and women. What they thought about, she didn't need headphones to know.

She heard Greyson’s passing thoughts of having good intentions and knowing she didn't trust him. Also that he had a bulletproof vest under his sweater. She didn't think that would work against shotguns and pistols firing at him all at once. And if it did, he wouldn't be moving quite fast. Heard a gunshot still hurt like a bitch even with a vest on. His only way out was back the way he came or to jump into the sea before he got shot.

She pulled out her phone and called him. It was on speaker, the volume low. She didn't need to hear him. Her headphones amplified voices and thoughts. It was so he could hear her. She got straight to the point when he picked.

“First thing's first, you keep one hand on your lap and the other on your phone at all times. I told them to shoot you if you reach for anything in your pocket. You got me with the glasses last time, Greyson. Can't get me with the same trick twice. Second, I told the owner and everyone else here I know who burned down the Drunken Starfish. I also told them that I knew someone that would donate the funds to rebuild it brand new. Part of you walking out of here alive comes with rebuilding what you destroyed, since you've come with ‘good intentions’ and all, right?"

Edict wasn’t one to joke around about a few dozen guns pointed at him. When push came to shove, the bullet beat his magic. Well... Assuming you're fast enough to stop me from taking their minds. I always tried to get you to learn how to cast without your Channeler. Its easy when you get past the pain, Tayla. Pretty neat trick; headphones, right? I think I saw them in a meeting once. Someone else was wearing them. I’m not going to pussyfoot around Tayla. Whatever you want, I’ll give it to you. Because before you could read my mind? The night of the meeting, where I gave everyone a quick vibecheck and stumbled into your defenseless head?

My first thought was that I didn’t want you involved in any of this. What I saw? What you went through? I’ve seen it happen to so many people. Too many. Your Lux is gone, Tayla. And you want it gone. So why the fuck would you make such a dumb decision? Dollhouse!? You can’t possibly know who they are, or how dangerous Luis is, or what they’ll do to you when you’re no longer useful to them! I don’t care what they promised they’d do for you, they won’t… And don’t even ask me why I’m with them or how I know. I’d be lying if I said it was all good. But I’m gonna trust you, and I’m gonna trust that we can work something out together, Tayla. And I’m sorry… I’m sorry about James. I… He didn’t give me shit. Not like some of the others. He didn’t deserve to go, and you didn’t deserve to lose him.

And for my reaction… I was trying to be sincere, but your judgment hurt, and I did what I always do. That’s not an excuse for what I said. Whatever price you want me to pay, it’s done…

The silent man leaned backward, hand on his lap and phone at his ear. But his breathing was a bit ragged, like he was nervous. It was hard to tell, since once he stopped talking through his mind, there was now only a very clear recording of a popular song from their teens. He wasn’t going to let her have any more than he wanted, and did his best to layer thoughts beneath the projected music.
It wasn’t a magic trick, but it had everything to do with the years he spent training in Pink Lux. The study of thought structure.

She let him go through his speech. She remained calm even through the parts that would normally get a nasty reaction out of her. She's got the upper hand here. She didn't need to fear with the headphones on. He won't get in. He won't manipulate her. They're on her turf.

“That was long winded I have to say. I assure you Greyson, if you can stop them from shooting you today, you'll have to watch your back for the ones that aren't here tomorrow.” Some fishermen were off in deeper waters. There's also the ones that are retired. She's got quite a few people that would be willing to help her out. Maybe Greyson knew that. She's not sure what exactly he gleaned from her mind. A lot of shit happened to her in the last 10 years.

She pulled out a cigarette and lit it, then relaxed back in her seat. “I'm surprised you don't know why I joined them. You're like them, aren't you? Willing to exploit desperate people for selfish gain. And don't say you aren't. I know you're paying Linqian. For what? I don't know, but she's broke and she needs the money. If it weren't for that, she probably wouldn't have stopped me from busting your head in with that bottle. Can't let her paycheck bleed to death.”

She dumped the ashes on her cigarette into an ashtray beside her. “Given what you've seen in my head, I'm sure you assume I'm working for Dollhouse in part for my baby. I mean, Auri got the clan back together and what do we have to show for it? Fucking, nothing. Father Wolf is out here killing us and we're no closer to figuring out who he is than we were that first night. They'll watch my back as long as I'm in their employ and my baby won't lose his mother to some magical bullshit. The other part…take a guess on who else I need protection from. He's been the star of the show in my memories for eight years. Did you count how many times he beat the shit out of me and raped me? Or had other people do it all for a pill, so I could forget? If you did, you're more fucked up than I thought.” She kept her tone calm and level. She gave nothing away about how she feels in anything she said.

“Let's not bring up Jamie again, yeah? Cause I see what you're doing. Trying to soften me up by bringing up the love of my life. Admitting your fault to make me think you're not such a bad guy. All while talking to me at the forefront of your mind, but burying your true feelings in the back where I can't hear it over your noise. I didn't train with my Pink Lux as much as you did, but I know how it works, Greyson. Shitty song choice by the way. No use trying to hide. I got through your defenses too.” She wouldn't tell him when or how. Not that she had to fight any defense. At the time, he was an open book. She's not sure how much he knows about the headphones. She's not volunteering information.

“Your price is to take a long walk off a short pier. The existence of my baby is only known to those I've told personally. You knowing he exists is a danger to my person. I don't doubt you'd sell everything you know about me out in a heartbeat if it meant protecting someone you love. So unless you can magic that memory so deep down inside you it'll be like trying to remember the day you were born, we'll never be square.” She sounded absolutely serious. She gave him two options. Kill himself or truly forget Siwan's existence.

Edict's chuckle was audible and real. He laughed aloud. The music faded away, and everything came crawling in very slowly.
The day before, at the 8th Street raid, everyone had certain visions. He let his trained vivid memory start to wash in through the headphones. The sound of kids playing. Britney's voice was audible in the background. Edict's deepest desire; a family and a legacy. Stability. Love.

You're in pain. Paranoia is all that's left. That's the only thing I can think of, because right now you sound like a paranoid crazy person. Protect you and your baby. From what? Some fucking gutter punk and his jumped up smoke ghost? You're fucking Severed! Do you hear me? You were fucking free! You could've ignored Auri, you could've not risked your life, because in the end it has no meaning here! You can't even regain your memory of the Sycamore Tree… You wouldn't be a target.

Edict's hand with the phone slipped forward and dabbed his forehead.

Like, Jesus Tayla… You think I give a fuck because you're some central figure in my plans? I give a fuck because at one point we were friends, and because you deserve better than this! You don't deserve to get roped back up in the life that you feel only took from you! And honestly, hearing you talk about me taking advantage of Linqian?! When the exact same thing is happening to you? Did you not hear yourself, Tayla?! You are a desperate person ready to do desperate things! But you are not important to them! I'm only important because they know that I was the one who sealed our memories away. They think I can reverse the effect, but I fucking can't, Tayla… And they're gonna kill me for it. I don't have long left to make things right, and I won't get my dream come true. Please, let me fucking help you… I'm sorry… I'm really sorry. But the Greyson you knew isn't here anymore. Not now. I'm here, and I'm going to do everything I can to help the people I love, even if they don't love me back or want the help. I'm done doing the wrong thing.

Tayla didn’t care for Greyson laughing. His little vision of his desires were cute. Something he could still achieve if he wasn’t such an asshole. If he didn’t do terrible shit for the sake of gains. Maybe he should’ve played this good person card from the start. Never let her know that he knew about her son. She still wouldn’t have believed he’s a good person. She knew of his family from back then. Heard rumors about the shit they did and decided she would keep her distance. If he was better at fooling everyone, maybe she’d foolishly give him a chance to redeem himself. That chance was shot to hell now.

“Abuse and sex trafficking tends to leave you paranoid, Greyson. It’s kept me from Dean’s radar for two years. Y’all’s the ones that cucked that up for me. Had to be the dumbasses that went after Wolfpack with nothing but word association,” she whispered the last part. She was still pissed about that and probably wouldn’t stop for the rest of her life. “I never took you for stupid, but damn you’re proving me wrong. No one knows I’m Severed, Greyson! Only you and Dollhouse. That’s it. We don’t know what Father Wolf knows, so as far as I’m concerned I can’t ignore text messages about the Coven dropping like flies. And before you get another stupid idea, no we shouldn’t tell anyone else about me being Severed. I’m the most likely one to be damsel in distress in this group and like hell I’m gonna get kidnapped, so y’all can give enemy number fifty-five a reason to steal me away to be rescued.”

She didn’t care about proving Greyson’s point. Paranoia’s a necessity. The only good thing she learned from Dean about covering her tracks.

“I know exactly how desperate I am. I wouldn’t be here right now if I wasn’t.” She got quite the surprise learning he couldn’t undo their memories. Yikes. To save his own skin, he lied and said he could do it to stall for time. Father Wolf is giving them plenty of it. Dollhouse wants to know what’s going on with the Coven. They believe Greyson can’t undo the memories, until the Father Wolf thing is resolved. They’re not any closer to finding out who he is, so that’s more time to figure out a way to not end up dead by their hands.

“Greyson, you can’t pretend like you aren’t a horrible person. Good people don’t burn down someone else’s livelihood, because they’re butt hurt. Good people don’t take advantage of someone in desperate need. Good people don’t run around doing shady shit behind other people’s backs.” She didn’t know what else he did other than the conversation with Phantasia, but she’s being vague on purpose to A. get him to think about whatever else he did and B. to make him think she knows more than she’s letting on. She can play this game too.

“You wanna be a different person, a good person, then stop being shady. No more mind reading, no more manipulation, no more taking advantage of desperate people. I’ve seen bits and pieces from the ones in the group you’re working with. Let us all in on it. Tell everyone about the Dollhouse and their goal. Tell us everything. Stop keeping us in the dark. Apologize to the people you’ve hurt and make amends with action. For starters, you can give Linqian money out of the deep, deep kindness of your heart. No work on the side. None of that. Maybe I’ll believe you when I see it with my own eyes. And no, you’re not getting me to forget I want you dead by giving you another chance at life to make things right. I might still want your head at the end of it.”

Edict smirked. A gentle pink mist curled from his mouth, Lux building up in the throat and lungs as he held himself back from the gut reaction he always had. It wasn’t easy, in fact it was worse to not let it out. Without a Channeler, it had nowhere to go and disperse, but since he wasn’t casting anything actively, it just pooled up.
Before long, he was hacking up a lung, and spat a wad of shimmering pink mucus onto the ground.

You know it’s not gonna be that easy. For starters, Linqian’s been telling me about the meetings I’ve been missing. Because of this kind of treatment. The idea that you all feel like I can’t change, and that I’ll never change, makes it pretty obvious that I’m not welcomed. Auri may have asked for my return, but I know nobody else consented. Say I follow your instructions, right? Come clean to everyone all at once. Blackmore severs my head, or Kenshiro breaks me in half. Do I deserve it? Yes. God, I need a fucking cigarette…

Edict’s thought ended on that, echoing out into the darkness for a few moments, before several images of how he could get to the cigarettes in his pocket without getting shot. Once he went through a thousand iterations and found he didn’t like his odds, he gave up.

But you know that if you want me in the end, I can’t tell the whole group right now. So let me do things quietly. For you, for Linqian who is the only other person that’s given me the time of day besides Britney… For the people who are dead, those affected then and now. Meet me halfway, and I’ll bring you Dean Walker. Not dead. Alive, and Severed. A declawed dog with its teeth bashed in. You get closure, and your boogeyman is gone.

He gritted his teeth, taking one more deep breath.
But you don’t want to kill me. I promise you don’t. Because I may not actively be able to reverse the memories, but there’s a surefire way of collapsing the ritual component keeping the tree locked away. It’s me. It’s why I’ve been so careful all this time. Not taking risks, stacking the deck, making the life around me entirely beholden to my own will… If I die, it’s all over. It all comes rushing back to Linqian, to Anya, to Sully and Amara and Auri… And Emily G. Reed. So, at least control that urge until after we’re safe. For everyone else.
There was a flood of vivid memories. Lux equation and developmental work he’d done for years to finish the sealing of the Sycamore Tree’s final resting place. Each one, evidently, ending in failure.

“Sounds like there’s a good reason to keep you alive. You can tell the group that when you come clean at the next meeting.” She wasn’t trying to hear his excuses. Facing yourself and the people you’ve wronged, sucks and it hurts. She does it every day her father gets worried when she doesn’t come home on time, because he thinks she might be back sliding. She deserves to be treated skeptically. It’s not been enough time to prove she’s changed.

“Proving you’re a better person is hard, Greyson. You have to earn everyone’s trust back and that can take years. I’ll be honest with you, my father doesn’t trust me. Every time these meetings go longer than my self-imposed curfew, he thinks I’m relapsing. It fucking sucks that he doesn’t have faith in me after being clean for two years, but I did that. I wanted to forget my pain and it cost me more than just my body and mind. It cost me the only constant relationship I’ve had since the day I was born. I’m working hard to get that trust back. You’ll have to do the same. If you love us like you say you do, then you’re going to have to put in the work and that starts right now.” She’s gonna regret offering him a hand, but she’s still that kind girl way deep inside.

“If it helps, I’ll vouch for you. They think I still have my Lux. If I say some shit about you letting me in to prove you’re sincere, they’ll believe it. Especially if you let me ‘in’ right there in front of everyone. It should help with your credibility, considering they know I don’t fuck with you. Be brave and face what you’re afraid of.” She couldn’t keep her unattached tone. She sounded the slightest bit like she wanted to help him. She didn’t, but she’s gotten a second chance at life. She’ll give Greyson that grace. But she swears if he wastes and backslides, she’ll kill him. Consequences be damned.

Tayla learned that Greyson didn’t truly see all her memories. He got highlights at best. The worst and best moments of her life, because he didn’t know Dean like he thought he knew Dean. “If you plan on bringing me Dean alive, you aren’t helping at all. He did everything he did to me without magic. There was nothing magic related about our relationship. All I know is he’s Adjoined. With what, I don’t know. How it works, I don’t know. He has a tendency to handle business with his hands and a smile. It’s rare for him to use his magic. Trying to kill him might put you in hot water with Dollhouse, considering he’s on their payroll. Part of me working for them involves Shayton promising to keep Dean off my ass. Any good that did, since he beat the shit out of Sully looking for answers.”

Greyson grimaced, finally standing up. He turned slowly, looking out toward the lake and the docks.
”You people want your bar back? I’d like a cigarette… So, I’m gonna take one out of my pocket, and tomorrow some guys in hard hats from Capponella Construction are gonna come by… Start surveying. Get everything up and running again. Six months tops, the Anchor’s back in business. So, I’m gonna reach into my hoodie pocket! And I’m going to get my cigarettes! I will move so slowly, you’ll be able to count the hours with my shadow! Capice!?” he called out, taking a deep breath and slowly moving his hand.

It was like a slow clockwork.
God I promise its just a fucking cigarette, please aim center of mass you crazy fishermen… What, do you work with these guys or something? If they’ve got your back like this, why the fuck ain’t they at the Veni tearing shit up?
Glacially, his hand carefully moved, never slipping more than a couple of fingers in to grip the rough metal surface. A lighter, attached to a small magnet, clung to the little silver box, and he popped it open out far for everyone to see.

He was making it so painfully slow and deliberate… Clear malicious compliance? Or desp-
It’s desperation! I’m fucking dying here, I’m trying to talk about emotional shit, my Lux is getting up because I can’t cast because how could I right now!? All it takes is for one person to think they’re saving you from a threat that isn’t there… God… I’ve been so fucking angry this whole time. I’m… I’m so fucking sorry, Tayla. It was never people like you. You didn’t deserve my ire. And, for the record…
He let the cigarette hang out of his mouth, flicking the lighter.
I think he’s proud. Or, he will be when he can know and understand the struggles you’ve gone through. Your son, I mean. I… Linqian’s brother. Henri? He’s like us now too. Her and Jinhai never would’ve let him around us, but… I’ll have to tell her. I’ll have to admit that making a bond with him is behind this. I’ve been going back through it all with him. Showing him what we saw. What I saw. It’s helped me recontextualize some of this shit. He’s just so positive…

It was the first time in a long time that something more than smoke and bullshit came out of Greyson’s mouth. As much as the headphones could pick up emotional signals, his was filled with sincerity and fear. The lighter flicked, and for an instant his face was engulfed with flames. There was a shimmer of wetness on his cheeks.
But I still don’t think telling everyone will be worth it. Not everyone. Key people. Like you, who is going to need to deal with Dollhouse, especially if they get to me first. Or Auri, whose supposed to be leading us. Or Stormy, or fuckin’... I don’t want to tell Britney. Too many people with the info means that too many people become targets. I’m just-

As he drew a long breath, the cigarette mixed with the Lux, and he exhaled a large cotton candy colored cloud.
I guess it really doesn’t fuckin’ matter. I may live this meeting, and you may tell me everything I want to hear. But, you’re in my head right now. I’m not in yours. I can’t know that you’re not just going to hightail it back to the club downtown and spill your guts to Shayton or God forbid fuckin’ Luis. If they even knew we met… They’d have both of us locked away, and I don’t know about you but I’m only a step or two above Severed. So, you’re only safe if you go and you tell. My life is in your hands. I’ll call Auri, tell her we need to meet. Put that bit of info out there. Maybe it’ll even paint a target on me, for Father Wolf to focus on… I’m your bait, Tayla. For a happy life. Take your pick on how I get used.
Tayla never thought she’d see the day Greyson would cry in front of her. She let him getting his cigarette go. She’s in his head. She knows he’s not bullshitting. It’s weird to have her feelings change from ones of hate and anger to a little understanding. “Fucking A, Greyson. You got her brother involved? She may never forgive you for that. This is a lot, but I have a plan. I’ll hold your hand through all of this if you want me to, but I swear to God if you screw me it's a bullet between the eyes. The Tree be damned. I can assure you, your end won’t be met by the Dollhouse dealing with me. I’m not a snitch and I’m not a user. You’ve been in my head. How much of a liar am I?” Not to say she’s never lied, but she has integrity. She says what she means and she stands on that.

“I will sell you out if Dollhouse threatens my baby, so if they show up at your door and they say I told them everything I know about you, that’s ‘cause of the position they put me in. Short of that, you’re safe with me. For now, let’s get you an outlet. Aim your power at me. With these on, you won’t do any damage and you won’t get more than my favorite color, hobbies, and other random shit. After that, we’ll come up with a plan.”

Instantly every single tendril he could release came directly from his throat like a wretched pink monster. The million roots of the Pink Lotus were on top of the veil that the strange Abstraction provided its host with instantaneous urgency and a vague ferocity. It was like the worst kind of hangover vomit.
He was constantly bombarding her with uncontrolled tendrils that smashed and slammed, hungry for more but unable to break through. It was almost as if Greyson’s spells had developed a mind of their own over time, the untapped, unfettered and constant uncapped usage had given his ever expanding mind carte blanche to do as it pleased.

He coughed and choked, hacking up a lung as the buildup spilled out into unfettered hunter’s instinct, but eventually the storm subsided and the pink faded away.
”Y’know Tayla, that really makes me feel a lot fuckin’ better… Maybe we can make a plan to keep that from being an issue? I don’t care how much money I need to drop, we’ll put that baby in a concrete bunker six hundred feet underground if we have to. Because I’m not getting fucked because you feel like you don’t have a choice. This is something we’re in now. And if I’m fighting for you, I’m fighting for that kid, and your Dad, and your future. Please, God, mine too… I don’t really want to die, Tayla, I wouldn’t be spilling my guts like this if I fuckin’ did… Please, let me see if money can’t take care of the problem a little bit.”

Looking down at his ruined cigarette, he immediately popped the pack open for another one and lit it.
”And maybe after all this… I’ll quit smokin’ too.”

His Lux outburst didn’t feel like anything at all. Barely a tickle in her brain. It seemed to help a lot, even though he vomited on the dock. Feels like a withdrawal response. She’s all too familiar with that. She nearly choked on the smoke she inhaled when he offered to do whatever it took to protect her child. She knew it hinged on his survival, but there very few would actually offer that kind of support. Knowing he meant it too, she was slowly hating him a little less. She looked down at the cigarette in her hand.

“Yeah, maybe I should quit too. I have another appointment soon. We’ll talk more about how to help each other out. In the meantime, stay out of trouble.” She called off the fishermen and let Greyson go. She didn’t take off her headphones, until she could no longer hear his thoughts from him getting out of her range.

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A butler poured Berlioz a glass of wine... he grabbed it and took a sip. He felt content for a moment...

"... Now, Mr. Auclair, it is a honor to have you here," Until this buffoon,Blake Schmidt, had to ruin it for him. He was seated in this exquisite room, wearing a nice suit with the rest of the New Thule Society sitting around him on the table... except for the Dragonslayer, who stood by the door as if it was a silent sentinel. He was eating a roasted turkey; so much food was presented before him. Unseasoned, the way Berlioz liked it. He placed the glass of wine down.

"I'm glad to be here and meet your family, Mr. Schmidt," Berlioz answered.

"Mr. Liu and his family should be on the way," Blake answered before he gestured towards , a boy who couldn't have been older than eighteen. "So, this my son, Daniel. He's the youngest of my three children."

He waved at them.

Then he gestured toa tall, raven-haired woman. "This is my oldest, Angela."

She didn't so much as look up from her food.

Then he gestured to a woman with a shorter bob-cut, "This is my middle child, Cassandra."

"Hi!" She greeted them.

"... And you've met my wife, Phillis."

Phillis, a tall woman with black hair, silently nodded.

However, a group of footsteps approached, and Berlioz glanced over his shoulder as he saw two well-dressed butlers lead a group of three… subhumans. One man was the unmistakable head of Liu Pharmaceutical, the revered genius Jiao-Long Liu, and at his side was his wife Chunhua Liu. Jiao-Long was wearing a black suit, Chunhua was wearing a white dress, and that left the last one: an average height Chubby girl that didn’t look anything like Jiao-Long or his wife. Berlioz remembered her as a bastard, a disgrace of Jiao-Long that he was forced to take in because her mother died. However, her jaw dropped when she entered the room and saw the New Thule Society… Berlioz gave her a narrow look.

“Hello, hello, hello!” Jiao-Long said with a smile as he walked over to the table and shook Blake’s hand. “Blake, my old friend, seeing you again is great!”

“You too, Jiao-Long!” Blake said. “Have a seat! Grab a plate! The food’s getting cold.”

Berlioz seethed before he exhaled. The Lius had a seat near the Schmidt Family; he could see their bastard daughter glaring at them occasionally. If he didn’t care so much about this deal, he would have shot her by now…

“These people are our newest employees,” Blake Schmidt said. “Come now, introduce yourselves.”

Hearing that he was working for subhumans made Berlioz’s skin crawl, but he had to keep it composed. He gave him a warming smile.

“We are…” Berlioz looked between each of his followers, from Mabel to William, to his niece, to the Twins, to Conrad, and even the Dragonslayer. "... Sentinel Solutions. We are a private Paranormal investigation and enforcement agency. I am the leader of it, Berlioz Auclair."

“And they’re going to help us so we can stop relying on Emily G. Reed so much!” Blake said with a smile.

"That's right," Berlioz continued, maintaining his forced smile. "Our organization deals with situations that traditional law enforcement can't handle. We've seen our fair share of unusual phenomena and have dealt with many... unique cases."

"Like what?" Jiao-Long asked.

Berlioz took a deep breath, preparing to sell their front convincingly as possible. "We've dealt with everything from rogue Apparitions to ancient curses. Recently, we were involved in a case where an entire village was plagued by nightly attacks from what seemed to be a pack of werewolves."

"Interesting," Jiao-Long said, stroking his chi. "And you were successful?"

"Completely," Berlioz replied, his tone confident. "We not only identified the source of the problem but also managed to neutralize the threat without any casualties."

Blake Schmidt clapped his hands together, breaking the slight tension that had built up. "Well, it sounds like we've brought in the right team. Sentinel Solutions will be an invaluable asset to the Elite."

“I know we talked a lot about working for you all,” Paige finally answered her question. “But, what exactly will you want us to help you with, Mr. Schmidt?”

“Simple,” Blake Schmidt, “Asset protection and acquisition!”

The room fell silent, waiting for Blake Schmidt to elaborate finally. “The city of St. Portwell is dangerous! My people are only trying to survive, but the power balance seems to shift. Alliances are being made as we speak! It’s only a matter of time before they knock on our door demanding what we have! For no reason other than they want it!”

“And you said ‘acquisition’,” Mabel noted. “What does that entail?”

“I believe it’s the same as ‘asset protection’ if you look at it from a certain point of view!” Blake Schmidt grinned. “We are removing dangerous artifacts, apparitions, and whatnot from the hands of unworthy people before they are used against us and putting them in the hands of people who will use them.”

He let his words hang in the air as he took a breath and said, “... You know that Axe those crazy hippies use?! That was taken from my comrade Jason Valos! And look, it's being used against us as we speak!”

Berlioz bore teeth at the mention of that subhuman and his damn axe.

“... Trust me, we are well aware,” Berlioz tilted his head downwards. He could see their daughter glance at him again, and he returned the glance with a glare. The air was thick with barely concealed hostility. Blake Schmidt's words... the implication of a brewing conflict was clear to everyone at the table. Berlioz kept his expression neutral though his mind was racing.

The tension was cut with a knife when Phillis Schmidt said, "Mr. Auclair, can you assure us that your team can handle these... acquisitions?"

"Mrs. Schmidt, I can assure you that Sentinel Solutions is more than capable. Each team member has been handpicked for their unique skills and experience dealing with the Paranormal. We understand the risks and are prepared to face them head-on." Berlioz answered.

As Berlioz spoke, he noticed the Liu family's daughter glancing at him again, her eyes wide. He returned the glance with a steely gaze, quickly causing her to look away as if he didn't already notice her. Foolish subhuman.

Chunhua, quiet the entire interaction, leaned in just slightly. "Mr. Auclair, your confidence is reassuring. But, there are those who won't part with these artifacts willingly; how do you intend to handle these 'uncooperative elements'?"

"We have our methods, Mrs. Liu. Persuasion comes in many forms, and we are well-versed in diplomatic and more... assertive approaches," Berlioz answered.

Jiao-Long raised an eyebrow. "Assertive approaches? Are you suggesting force?"

"Only when necessary," Berlioz replied. "Our primary goal is to ensure the safety and security of our clients. If that requires decisive action, we are prepared to take it."

"Good." Blake Schmidt leaned back in his chair, "Because we can't afford to be passive during these times. The balance of power in St. Portwell is shifting, and we need to be proactive!" He threw a finger into the air.

"It's exactly why we need you. We've been trying to get our hands on a particular Apparition..." Blake trailed off. Berlioz raised an eyebrow as Blake gave him the most devious grin, "... It's known as the Stygian Snake. You know that 'natural disaster' that damn near destroyed the city ten years ago? Well, it wasn't natural at all! It was an Apparition all along! One of unimaginable power! And it's sealed somewhere in St. Portwell!"

Paige's jaw dropped, but she regained her composure before Berlioz - or Blake - noticed. Berlioz had a flat look on his face.

"This... Stygian Snake," He started, "If we do find it, what do you intend on using it for? Are you simply keeping it secure? Or are you going to utilize it?"

"Utilize it, of course!" Blake Schmidt grandiosely said. "It's considered a God. What good would it be rotting away in my private collection?!"

The room was silent.

"With it at my fingertips, we can change not just St. Portwell but the whole world!" Blake threw his hands up into the air.

Berlioz cracked a grin. Blake was really out of his mind, wasn't he? Berlioz knew all about the Stygian Snake, and he knew that Blake's grand goals would not go the way he thought it would. However, if his people found the Stygian Snake, he would not give it to Blake under any circumstance. Maybe he'd find some way to enact his great purge and eliminate all the subhumans as a parting gift once he finds his White Paradise - but the Stygian Snake seemed more trouble than it was worth. Berlioz took a moment to gauge the reactions of everyone present. Jiao-Long's expression was neutral but thoughtful, Chunhua's eyes were narrowed in contemplation, and the Schmidt children displayed varying degrees of surprise and skepticism. Phillis remained composed, her gaze steady on Berlioz, waiting for his response.

"... Mr. Schmidt, while the Stygian Snake's power is formidable, utilizing its power does not come without its risks," Berlioz steepled his fingers and leaned in as he spoke. "It's not just about using its power - but ensuring it doesn't also turn against us."

"... Precisely why we need experts like you. With you on our side, those risks are mitigated," Blake answered.

Berlioz was caught off guard... before he smiled.

"... Sure thing."

Blake Schmidt's smile widened.

"Excellent. With Sentinel Solutions on board, our goals are within reach." He raised his glass, prompting everyone else to do the same. "To new partnerships and future successes."

"To new partnerships!" Everyone echoed, though the enthusiasm... varied. Berlioz's people followed his lead, raising their glasses with the same forced smiles they had worn throughout the evening.

However, their forced camaraderie was interrupted by some approaching footsteps as a strange man around six feet tall walked into the doorframe and leaned against it. He ran his hand through his hair, and Berlioz gave him a queer look.

"... Scott Reese," Berlioz rolled his eyes. “You’re late.”

“I am...?” Scott Reese said before he looked down at his watch. “Oh yeah, I am, in fact, late... the watch is broken, by the way. So, let's get this show on the road.” He laughed as he grabbed a seat and sat down, leaning back with his arms crossed.

“... The show’s already over, you slow bastard,” Paige giggled.

“Aw, shit.”

"Scott, you're just in time for the toast! Let's raise our glasses again, shall we?" Blake said, and everyone complied, lifting their glasses once more. Berlioz took another sip of his wine, masking his irritation with a well-practiced smile.

"Now that we're all here, let's move forward with our plans, shall we? Berlioz, your team's first task will be to secure our assets. We must ensure no one can get close to them without our knowledge, lest we have another incident where Greenwood helps themselves to our artifacts. After that, you will begin our search for the Stygian Snake." Blake explained.

Berlioz finished his glass of wine... and looked between each member of the New Thule Society (or as they present themselves, Sentinel Solutions). Then he placed it back on the table...

"... Understood, Mr. Schmidt. We'll start immediately."

---

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Oooooooooh, back in Dad's old hotel.

Johnny thought to himself as he stepped off the elevator into the private bar one placed here so that the rich people can have a view. And what a view it was! You could see the entire city and the beach from here! Though having some booze wasn't on the agenda for today, it was a familiar face that hated his guts, but still a familiar face! Johnny strutted through the bar, wearing a black pinstriped suit, black dress shoes, his signature cane with a snake, and a wide-brimmed fedora. Eventually, he found the booth where Mika Liu was sitting, wearing a white dress with some sandals and holding a glass of tea. Johnny gave her a wide grin as he walked over to the table and slapped his hand on it. She didn't so much as lift her head up.

"... Valos, you're late," Mika softly said.

"What? No, hello? No how are you? No fuck you?" Johnny laughed. "Just... you're late." He rolled his eyes.

"... By an hour," Mika sighed. "Do you just get off on wasting people's time?"

"Oh, come the fuck on, Mika," Johnny rolled his eyes. "Like you got something to do."

"Meditating, relaxing..."

"Stuffing your face with some fancy-ass cakes," Johnny laughed as he sat down.

Mika adjusted her glasses and stared at Johnny head-on. "You asked me to come out here and talk with you, Valos."

"Yes, I did," Johnny put his hand over the backrest of the booth and grinned.

"How about we have some tea first?" Mika asked.

"What is that?" Johnny asked. "Like your fifth damn cup?" He rolled his eyes, giving her a playful chuckle.

"Seventh."

"Man, you fiendin' over that damn tea," Johnny laughed. Mika got up and walked off towards the bar, and while she was gone, Johnny whipped out his phone and scrolled Instagram for a few minutes. He heard the ceramic teacup hit the table and slid before him. Johnny looked down at the ceramic teacup and saw the steam rise above it.

"This is Da Hong Pao, also known as the 'Big Red Robe.' It's one of the world's most revered and rare teas, originally grown in the Wuyi Mountains of China." Mika explained, taking a moment to (dramatically) blink. "It is known for its rich, full-bodied taste with layers of roasted, mineral, and floral notes..."

"... Thanks for the tea lesson, Mika," Johnny rolled his eyes. "No, really, thank you, I appreciate it. I feel like a sophisticated ninja now..."

"Try it," Mika said. "Maybe it'll show you some class for once in your life."

Classic Mika. Johnny thought to himself as he sipped the tea. "Man, this some good shit... I'm not a tea person, but it's some good shit! But, it's missing something..."

Johnny dug into his suit jacket, pulled out a metal flask, and poured Hennesy into the cup. Mika's jaw dropped as she stared at Johnny, completely silent as he screwed the cap back on and took a sip. He drunk it, and grinned. "Now it's that good shit..." He laughed.

"I, um, what- the- what in the world, why-" Mika stammered, at a loss for words. "... Are you and your family soooooooo uncouth that they can't go twenty seconds without some goddamn alcohol?!" Mika shouted, shaking.

Johnny downed the rest of it.

"... It is one of the rarest teas in the Goddamn world, and you just poured some cheap alcohol in it!?" Mika shouted some mouth, literally frothing at the mouth.

"What's the big deal, Mika?" Johnny laughed.

Mika sighed.

"I don't understand why my sister associates with your boorish family!" Mika shouted. "There are better out there for her than the Valos! I don't know why she can't see that!"

Johnny didn't reply; he just pointed to the side and saw the other patrons staring at them, and Mika sighed, finally calming herself down.

"My 'boorish family'?!" Johnny sarcastically said, feigning offendedness. "What's wrong with Jake? Don't you believe in true love, Mika?"

"Please." Mika rolled her eyes.

"You just gotta accept that we like cousins at this point!"

"Please."

"... I mean, we're in the same boat right now," Johnny grinned.

"What do you mean?" Mika gave him a queer look.

"... You know exactly what I mean," Johnny tilted his head, keeping that shit-eating grin on his face. "You know all about that psycho-slashin' motherfucker that's targeting our siblings."

Mika was silent.

"The reason why I came back to this rathole of a city is because I want to keep my brothers and sisters safe - Lin included," Johnny said, "I don't know shit about this 'Sycamore Tree Coven' they were apart of back in the day but fuck 'im!" Johnny laughed, throwing a hand into the air.

"But, I overheard a conversation they all had the other day..." Johnny trailed. "About Blakey wanting something called a 'Stygian Snake' and how they want to stop him."

Mika immediately facepalmed, then muttered something in Chinese, Japanese, or something - Johnny didn't know!

"My lord, that girl..." Mika lowered her hand from her face and shook her head. "She's going to get us all killed..."

He took in Mika's exasperation with a grin before saying, "I know you don't like me - I wouldn't like me either! But, like me, hate me - whatever - our families are in this together."

"... Unfortnately," Mika sighed.

"Yes," Johnny began. "Unfortunately. But, we gotta get our shit together and figure this out. I have a feeling that Blake has something to do with the murders. I don't know why, but if it's for what I think it is... Then his ass is grass." He grinned.

"And why did you come to me?" Mika asked. "Your boorish father knows far more than I do."

Johnny shook his head.

"Cut the bullshit, Mika," Johnny said. "You think little miss 'I'd do anything for Daddy's approval' wouldn't be in on it?"

"Go to hell, Valos," Mika seethed. "You don't know me."

"In fact, I do..." Johnny grinned ear to ear like a crocodile as he leaned forward. "... I always saw through you, Mika. Beneath all that condescending, judgemental-ass, high-society bullshit you try to present yourself as..."

Mika stared at him wordlessly before Johnny finished.

"... You're just a soft little cuddly-ass girl who wants everyone to love her - especially ya' pops!" Johnny laughed as he leaned back in her chair. "You love your sister more than anything in the world! And you would never do anything that would hurt her..."

Mika stared at him silently as Johnny placed his arm on the table, looking off to the side.

"So, again, how about we cut the bullshit," Johnny began, shaking his head. "There is a reason why I went to you before my own pops!"

Mika took a deep breath, "Alright, Valos, let's. Why did you come to me?"

"Because I knew I could get you to help me," Johnny cockily said. "You know that whatever Blakey is up to, your sister's flat ass is on the line. I don't know anything about this Stygian Snake nonsense, but if my little bros and sis' think it's bad news..."

Mika sighed heavily, closing her eyes.

"... Fine, Valos," Mika said as she opened her eyes, hissing Johnny's last name like an insult. "I'll help you, but why do you care so much?"

Johnny gave Mika a toothy smile.

"... Because it's what family does! Maybe if you weren't so robotic and self-absorbed all the damn time, you'd know that!" Johnny obnoxiously laughed before he gave her a sinister grin. "And besides, I can't stand that bitch ass motherfucker, Blake. I'd do anything to knock him down a peg."

"Fine," Mika rolled her eyes. "I'll tell you everything, I'll even help you out personally... but we need to be smart about this. And we need a plan. While Blake is King-Boor himself, he is dangerous and unpredictable."

"Unpredictable?" Johnny parroted, laughing. "This is Blake 'I'll do anything to fuck any pretty white girl you put in front of me' Schmidt! And you're calling him 'unpredictable.'" Johnny had to finger-quote.

Mika was silent for a moment.

"... You'd be surprised."

Johnny raised an eyebrow, "Surprised? What do you mean by that?"

Mika leaned forward, lowering her voice. "Blake may come off as a simple-minded hedonist obsessed with orgasming at literally every opportunity, but there's more to him than meets the eye. He's got connections, resources, and most worryingly, ambition. I don't think he's dangerous... he's unhinged. A man-child that thinks the whole world is his playground."

"He's got a few tricks up his sleeve; you're saying," Johnny rolled his eyes. "... Big deal."

"It's more than just tricks, Johnny," Mika began. "He's been... making moves. He's planning something big. It may be bigger than all of us. Recently, I discovered he has employed a certain group of dangerous individuals..."

"Mika, we don't get time for this mysterious drama queen bullshit..." Johnny rolled his eyes. "Who are they?"

"Berlioz Auclair, a high-ranking member of the now-defunct Das Sonnenrad, and his like-minded compatriots..." Mika answered.

"The fuck and the fuck?" Johnny laughed.

"Radicalists. White supremacists. Nazis." Mika elaborated. "Blake and my family are oblivious to their true nature, but I know all about them..."

"Like fucking... Kill all Jews, sieg heil-ass Nazis?" Johnny raised an eyebrow.

"Well, they're more like wannabe Nazis, but..." Mika shrugged. "They don't call themselves that openly, but they're extremists, Johnny. Dangerous, ruthless, unhinged, and above all else completely unpredictable. Working with them can only end badly for all of us..."

"Okay, I knew Blake was a complete dumbass!" Johnny laughed, "But this is..."

"... Beyond the pale, I know." Mika ended the sentence for him.

"So, Mr-Fuckin-Stupid is in bed with some crazy skinheads," Johnny repeated. "But, I'm wondering... like, the fuck? I'm lost here. Maybe we need to take things a step back a little so we can get a good look at this big, fucked up picture..."

Mika was silent, so Johnny finished.

"Who are the Elite, and how do you play in all of this, Mika...?"

"Fine, I'll explain everything," Mika slowly shook her head. "But, this stays between us, okay?"

Johnny grinned.

"Okay!"

So, as promised, Mika explained everything (well, almost everything) to Johnny, and they made a plan to confront Jason Valos...

... Johnny's father.

---

After an off-screen conversation, Mika and Johnny rolled back to the Valos Manor (after some protesting from Mika) to act out the plan that they had agreed on. They walked over to the balcony, the big fancy one that overlooked the waves, where several sun chairs were set up that gave whoever stood here a great view of the ocean, and it would be perfect in the summer... unfortunately, it was the fall. It was a cloudy day in St. Portwell. Nonetheless, the great and illustrious Jason Valos sat in one of the chairs, puffing a cigar.

The two walked up to him, and Jason didn't even look. Johnny took a step forward.

"So, Pops-" Johnny tried to say.

"Sit down," Jason said, pointing at the chair beside him.

Complying, Johnny sat down next to his father... and Mika remained standing up. Silently, Jason handed Johnny an unlit cigar, and Johnny, on reflex, slid it in between his lips and lit it with his own cigar lighter.

"... Why didn't you tell me you were back in town?" Jason asked.

Johnny sighed.

"I wanted it to be a surprise," He answered.

"No phone call, no text, no email, hell, you could have sent me a damn messenger pigeon," Jason asked. "You never thought to say 'hi' every now and then?"

"... You threw me to the curb," Johnny narrowed his eyes.

"I did," Jason answered, "I did it because you needed it. You needed to toughen up. You needed to gain some perspective. Otherwise, you were going to grow up to be a pussy like Jake or Jaska..."

After puffing his cigar, Jason leaned back in his chair and grinned at Johnny.

"... And look at you now," Jason began. "I hear all about the adventures about The Revolver... you're just like me."

"Hmph," Mika shook her head, "I know all about the Revolver, too...."

"Of course you do..." Johnny rolled his eyes before focusing on Jason. "Well, thank you for abandoning me. I really appreciate it."

"I mean, It wasn't anything personal," Jason shrugged. "You and your little siblings went on a magical rampage, y'know. Caused a lot of damage. While I can throw money at the problem to make it disappear, I had to save face. I had to look like I gave a shit, y'know? You were the ringleader..."

Johnny was silent. Which made Jason grin wider.

"See, Johnny," Jason began. "I always told you to never lie to people's faces. If you ain't shit, then let them know; things work out better that way."

"... I hate to interrupt your touching reunion," Mika rolled her eyes. "But, we didn't come out here for this."

"And look!" Jason said. "You made up with Mika."

"Let's get to the point, Mika. She wants to drink tea, eat cakes, and act like she's better than everyone else," Johnny laughed, making Mika shake her head at him. "I wanted to talk with you about your buddy Blake Schmidt."

Jason was silent.

"First off, he's not my friend," Jason seethed, "I hate him almost as much as I hate James and all his bastard children." He rolled his eyes.

"... What do you want to know?"

"You know about the murders, right?" Johnny asked. "Do you think Blake has anything to do with it?"

Jason rubbed his chin.

"... Yes, and no clue," Jason shrugged. "What? You're trying to play Sherlock?"

"Yes," Johnny replied. "Jake, Gabe, Jaska, and Sylvia-"

"... And my sister."

"... And chubby cheeks' sister," Johnny added to earn another roll of Mika's eyes. "Point is, they're in danger. And I only came to this hole-in-the-wall of a city to protect them."

Jason rubbed his chin some more.

"... I mean, there's a security detail on all of them," Jason answered before laughing. "Don't you think enough is enough? When will you hang up this "The Revolver" bullshit and just relax for once, just chill?"

"Not today," Johnny sharply answered. "We want to know why Blake Schmidt wants the Stygian Snake."

Jason was silent.

"Now, I don't know Blake Schmidt's sudden obsession with that damn Apparition..." Jason rolled his eyes. "But, he's been acting strange lately. He's been gathering power. Allies. Goons. He had this one bitch, but..."

"Kari Wilson," Mika answered.

"Yeah, her!" Jason began.

"What can you tell us about that bitch?" Johnny asked.

"She was going around finding sealed Apparitions for our boy, and his wife was adjoining them to his fellow rich goons with this artifact he bought off Emily's goons. I know Blake tried to fuck her a few times - probably did it once or twice - but she was close to Lin..." Jason answered before he shrugged. "... Well, before she, you know, got iced."

"Like our Lin?" Johnny asked.

"She is not 'your Lin'," Mika seethed.

"Well, she's my future daughter-in-law, so she's one of us," Jason shrugged. "But Lin was her homegirl in the Elite. The two were inseparable. At least, before..."

"I know," Johnny rolled his eyes. "Who the fuck is Kari, anyway? She ain't in our circle."

"She's a nobody," Jason answered, "At least compared to us. I don't know about her; I know she ran to Blakey because Emily and her scissor-sister were bothering her. I didn't get to talk to her much - no one did - but I know Linda and her were tight. Like tight."

"Well," Johnny turned to Mika as he said, "I didn't know about that."

Mika winced before putting that trademark scowl back on her face. She didn't say a word, so Johnny turned back toward his father and said,

"That brings me to thing-two..."

"Maaaaaaaaaaaan," Jason rolled his eyes. "This is the first time I've seen you in over a decade! You immediately start asking me for shit."

"... Can you get me, Gabe, Jaska, Jake, and Sylvia into the Elite?" Johnny asked.

"Don't forget about Sage," Mika said.

"Sage can suck my dick," Johnny seethed.

Jason pointed at Mika.

"She's in the Elite, in fact, of the 'top' members of that topsy-turvy clusterfuck," Jason answered. "Why don't you ask her?"

"Because my father wouldn't induct the Valos into the Elite," Mika answered. "And it's better if you do it, since they're your children. The Schmidts and the Pimms will get suspicious if my father does it."

"What about Sage?" Jason raised an eyebrow.

"You know this. Sage is an outcast among their own family," Mika said. "You bringing Sage up into the Elite wouldn't bring as much suspicion as my father bringing four of his 'rival's' children into the fold."

"Well..." Jason sighed. "... I'll do it... but..."

He narrowed his eyes at Johnny before just cracking a grin.

"I know you're up to something!" Jason began. "Because you wouldn't be my boy if you weren't!"

Johnny cracked a grin.

Jason leaned back and sighed. "Alright, Johnny, I'll get everyone into the Elite. But you better remember this. And don't fuck it up."

Johnny's grin widened, "... Wouldn't dream of it, Pops."

Jason glanced at Mika, standing with her arms crossed, "Mika, I trust you'll keep an eye on him, right?"

Mika sighed.

"... I'll do my best, Mr. Valos."

"Good," Jason said, taking another puff from his cigar. "Now get out of here, both of you. And Johnny, next time you come back to town, at least pretend you missed me."

"Sure thing!" Johnny

Mika and Johnny walked back through the door to the garage. Mika walked up to the passenger-side door of Johnny's Hummer... but he whipped around, placed his hand firmly against it, and grinned at her. There were about twenty seconds of maintained eye contact before he spoke.

"... Why didn't you tell me your sister was in the Elite already?" Johnny asked.

"Because..." Mika trailed off.

"You know the whole damn time, didn't you?" Johnny added.

"... I didn't tell you because I wanted to protect her. Lin is in over her head, Johnny. She's not like you or me." Mika answered with a sigh.

"And protect her from what?" Johnny tilted his head at her. "Me? Jake? The Elite? The consequences of her fucking actions?"

"Both," Mika looked away. "Lin is... fragile. She always has been. She made strides, but even after fighting a world-ending threat, she still is... I never even wanted her in the Elite in the first place, but she just stumbled into things! If I kept her involvement a secret, I could find a way to handle this without dragging you into it..."

"Mika, Mika," Johnny rolled his eyes before he leaned in closer to Mika's face. "I thought we agreed on some transparency here. Some honesty. And now it turns out that you were lying to me about some things."

He was inches away from Mika's face...

"I know it's just little things, but you know," Johnny chuckled. "The 'little things' always have a way of adding up, don't they...?"

"Mr. Valos... Johnny, you have to understand that I wasn't trying to lie to you," Mika said. "I was trying to protect everyone. Me, you, Lin..."

"... How's that working out?" Johnny asked. "Not only is your sister in the Elite, but she was buddy-buddy with Blakey's living radar! That would have been helpful to know, Mika! For all I know, Lin's snapped and is the one icing those Sycamore-douchebags!"

"... Johnny, you know Lin's not a killer," Mika said.

"Doesn't matter what I know," Johnny shot back.

Mika was silent for a moment.

"... I get it," Mika sighed. "But, standing here pointing fingers isn't going to help us, now is it?"

"I'm not," Johnny added. "I just... look, I said I would help her, right? She's practically family at this point - she's my brother's fiance! I can't help her if you're gonna sit here and lie by omission, Mika..." He spat out her name like it was the more vile racial slur he could think of.

"Fine," Mika sighed. "I'm sorry, I won't do it anymore..."

"Is there anything else you want to share?" Johnny asked. "Let's get it out the way now, because if I find anything else out..."

"You're really making mountains out of molehills, Valos," Mika said. "But, no, I'm not hiding anything else."

"Good."

Johnny released his hand from the door.

"Then, let's go."

---

---

---

The Valos and friends were assembled at everyone's favorite hangout.

The Harbor Longue!

Johnny didn't care about this place, but it was a "neutral ground" where their rich parents/family members/whatever wouldn't hear. Hopefully, they wouldn't hang out at a dump like this. The rest of the "rich clique" sat on the sofas on the balcony, with Johnny and Mika standing up, telling them everything.

"... So, Blake was using Kari to find Apparitions?" Gabe said with a shrug.

"I'm surprised she hasn't gone into hiding or something after the Coven dissolved," Sage awkwardly laughed. "I mean, with what Luna did..."

"Do you know if Kari was being used to look for the Stygian Snake?" Gabe asked. "I mean, I think she could do it..."

"Kari wouldn't have done it," Lin added. "I know she wouldn't."

"She's not important, like, at all," Johnny put his hands up. "She's dead. She's probably sucking dick in her next life." He rolled his eyes.

"Johnny!" Lin and Jake said at the same time.

"So, let's get to the fuckin' point instead of musing about some dead hoe," Johnny said, causing Mika to roll her eyes. Johnny jammed both of his thumbs into his chest. "I got us invitations into the Elite! Daddy Valos will induct us into this weird, rich, magical cult that bitch ass motherfucker Blake Schmidt runs. Where, all of us, will join for information and maybe a clean shot at Blakey if necessary."

"Oooooooh, when?!" Sylvia asked.

Johnny was silent for a moment.

"... I have no idea!" Johnny laughed. "I'm hoping we don't do this weird ass ceremony where we gotta sacrifice a goat or something else fucked up."

"I wanna bathe in a goat's blood, Johnny!" Sylvia shouted.

"... Of course, you do," Johnny rolled his eyes.

"So, while you sort that out," Gabe asked, crossing her arms. "What will we do in the meantime?"

Johnny was silent momentarily again.

"Nothing," Johnny succinctly answered. "Ya'll are gonna sit here and chill."

"There is no need to rush," Mika added. "Right now, we all know very little, and acting now would be...."

Mika paused.

"... Unwise."

"I mean, I know, but for all we know, Blake found himself another radar hoe-" Gabe tried to say before she was interrupted by...

"Gabe!" Jake and Lin shouted.

"I mean, that's what she was!" Gabe scoffed before she pinched her fingers together until they were almost touching. "For all we know, Blakey is this close to finding the Snake. The longer we wait, the worst shit's gonna get!"

Their corner of the balcony fell silent after Gabe’s outburst.

Mika took a deep breath. “I understand the urgency, Gabe, but we must be smart about this. Rushing in without a plan will only get us all killed.”

"This is a once-in-a-blue moon thing here, people, so write it down, save it on your calendars!" Johnny laughed, waving his hands in the air. "... But I agree with Mika. We all we know is a lot of irrelevant shit, and I don't know about you, but I've lasted too long just to get whacked."

"Will I get to shove my guitar up someone's ass?" Sylvia asked, eyes sparkling with excitement.

“This isn’t a game, Sylvia. We’re dealing with some powerful people here. We need to focus.” Jake shook his head.

"We need to find out where the Stygian Snake is, what Blake plans to do with it, and how he intends to find it. If we can get ahead of him, maybe we can stop him," Lin said.

"Find the snake?" Sage chuckled. "You haven't been watching movies, have you? Don't you know that cliche where the 'good guy accidentally leads the villain to the MacGuffin'?"

"I mean, leave that damn Snake where it is," Gabe rolled her eyes.

"We obviously need to secure it," Lin said. "Do you honestly think it'll end with Blake?"

"But, yeah, but going around looking for it is not very-"

"Look, we're not going to look for anything," Johnny put his hands up. "If anything, we take Blakey out, then take over his search for the tree. Make sure nobody else finds it... We can just yeet that fucker into the Pit or something and make it someone else's problem..."

"... The what?" Sylvia tilted her head.

"Don't worry about it," Johnny said.

"We can just use your father's connections to learn more about it," Mika noted.

"... And your pops," Johnny grinned as Mika rolled her eyes at him. "But, I can try, but my Pops is real tight-lipped about his business."

Finally, Jaska spoke up, "... What about us? What will we do?"

"I'm glad you asked," Mika smiled at Jaska, "... We just need to keep an eye on things. There are a lot of people looking for the Stygian Snake, and anything unusual can be a lead or at least something that can help us at this point. Maybe contact the Sycamore Tree Coven and see if they know anything."

"Not an option." Gabe immediately answered, crossing her arms. "Fuck them hoes."

"... I know somebody that can help if you just-" Lin tried to say.

"Nope!" Johnny waved his hands in front of him. "I know who you're talking about! And lemme tell you something; I know her and trust me, we do not want her involved."

"Is it Trish-" Jaska tried to ask.

"Nope! I said we're done talking about it, and that's it!" Johnny sighed. "Now, for now, nobody goes anywhere alone. Nobody goes off alone. I don't care if you all gotta take tag-team shits; nobody splits up even for a second - The bottom line is you're all targets. Guys stick with guys, girls stick with girls, and Sage...?"

Johnny's eyes landed on their nonbinary ally and rolled them. "I don't know, you can suck my dick."

Sage smiled.

"... You want it now or later, big boy?!"

Everyone laughed - except Johnny and Mika (who only cracked a grin). Johnny closed his eyes, sighing.

"I'm going to go see what else I can dig up on the low," Johnny began before looking at the group.

"Now, I know you're all adults, but puh-lease don't do anything retarded," Johnny sighed. "Or, at the very least, if you are going to do something retarded; at least fuck it up for everyone involved and not just us."

"Will do!" Sylvia said, throwing a thumbs up.

"... And I have to meet with someone," Mika said with a sigh before suddenly walking away. Johnny just shrugged before he gave them a wave goodbye and left.

They were all silent for a moment.

"... Who else thinks that was a load of bullshit?!" Sylvia shouted, laughing.

Gabe crossed her arms, sinking deeper into this stupid sofa.

"Yeah, I know!" Gabe began. "Sitting on our ass ain't gonna help us!"

"Look, guys," Jake said. "I agree with them; we just need to chill."

"But seriously, sitting around on our asses and doing nothing?" Sylvia smirked. "That’s not our style, Jakey. What happened to your sense of adventure? What happened to your balls?!"

"She's got a point," Gabe added, shrugged. "'Wait and see' ain't us."

Sage sighed, pushing their hair back. "Yeah, but we also need to be careful."

Lin stood up and said, "I understand being cautious, but we must stay proactive. We can’t just hope for the best here."

"Seeeeeeeeeeeeee?!" Sylvia stuck her hands out at Lin. "You get it!"

"What are you suggesting, Lin?" Jake raised an eyebrow.

"We need to gather more information," Lin said firmly. "We need to know what Blake is up to."

"How do we do that without pissing off the parents?" Gabe raised an eyebrow.

"Well..." Sage deviously grinned as all eyes were on them. "I have been talking to Daniel, Cassandra, and Angela since this started...."

Everyone looked at Sage, waiting for their next words.

"... They're going to be at Christiansands tonight."

Lin's eyes shot open in shock, unnoticed because all the focus was on Sage.

"So, we just wait out there and beat up his kids for information?!" Sylvia punched a hand into her opposite fist.

" Or we can just, you know," Jake shrugged. "Talk to them. See what they know."

"I..." Lin raised a hand, speaking before stopping herself.

"'I' what, Lin?" Gabe asked, tilting her head at her soon-to-be sister-in-law. "Got something to share."

Lin sighed.

"... No, I do not."

"They'll be there at eight, right when it opens. Let's try to get there before they get in, shake them down, and see what they know. I mean, they have to know something,"

"And shake some ass!" Sylvia shouted, hopping to her feet.

Jake sighed.

"... Let's not."

"Alright, alright, square," Sylvia rolled her eyes. "We will not be shaking ass, not this time."

"But, let's keep it low-key so Jake doesn't piss himself if we get into a fight," Gabe teased, grinning at her twin.

"We need to be smart about this... Just approach them calmly, gather information, and just go. We don't want to start a fight; we want answers."

Sage nodded in agreement. "I'll scope out the place beforehand and see if I can spot them arriving."

With their plan set (sort of), the group dispersed one by one... Gabe and Sylvia eventually began talking about random bullshit while Sage discreetly slipped out. Jake and Lin tried to keep them focused before giving up, and they filed out to meet at Christiansands.

---

"... Pssst, Eagle-One!"

Sylvia muttered... seemingly into nothing, but she had two AirPods in her ears. She was standing down the street from Christiansands, and there was already a line formed. All for this trashy-ass club that hasn't even opened yet! Sylvia was wearing a velvet-red colored satin dress and some thigh-high boots - her guitar strapped to her back. The "rich kids" formed a perimeter around Christiansands, with Sage on one corner, Jake on another, and Lin on the one furthest from Sylvia... Gabe was right by the club's entrance, chilling and telling everyone that "she's waiting for someone," and Jaska was opposite the club's roof.

"... Jaska is on the roof looking like Count Nosferatu!" Sylvia laughed.

"Sylvia, keep it down," Gabe's voice could be heard through the AirPods. "We're..."

"Suspicious as fuck already!" Sylvia laughed. "They probably think we're Feds!"

"Just keep it down and keep an eye open," Jake shook his head.

"Honestly, talking on AirPods is less suspicious than just standing there..." Lin noted out loud.

"You know..." Gabe mused out loud. "This plan is seeming a little bit half-baked..."

"Oh, when did you get the ability to think about the consequences of your actions?!" Sage laughed.

"Fuck you, Sage," Gabe laughed back.

"I mean..." Lin noted. "What's honestly the worst that could happen here? As long as we're all smart about this, there is literally nothing that can go wrong."

"... Jinxed it." Sage giggled.

"Oh, hush, you," Somehow, Sage could hear the sound of Lin rolling her eyes.

"Wait, I see them!" Jaska pointed at a car pulling up on the corner by Gabe, and the three Schmidt children came out. Starting with the eldest, Angela, then Cassandra, then Daniel, they walked alongside each other towards the club until Gabe stepped in front of them with a warming smile on her face.

"Heeeeeeeeeeeey, there!" Gabe stepped in front of them, waving. "Funny seeing you all here."

All of the "rich kids".

"... Move, Gabe," Angela said, pushing past Gabe and making the girl scrunch her face up. However, the rest of the rich kids started converging on Gabe's location. Gabe grabbed Angela by the wrist and said,

"Heeeeeeeeeeey now," Gabe said to Angela. "How about we catch up? It's been a while, hasn't it, old friend?"

"We're on important business here, Gabe," Angela said, pushing Gabe.

That sent Gabe over the edge as her temper flared.

"Okay, push me again, motherfucker! And I'll-" Gabe tried to say before Jake ran up and grabbed his twin by the shoulders.

"Hey, hey, hey, what's going on here," Jake said to them, holding his twin back from making their lives waaaaay harder. "Hey, Angela, Cassandra, Daniel! It's been too long-"

They walked away from him mid-sentence while Jake tried to tail but keep Gabe in check.

^{"Let's just drop it; they obvious don't want to talk..."}
Lin said to Jake in a low volume, shaking her head.

"Um, hey!" Jaska said over the AirPods that some still had in their ears. "... We maaaaaaay have a problem..."

Suddenly, Gabe and Jake stopped as they looked up to the rooftop Jaska was on. He pointed down the street. When everyone looked, it was a very familiar sight. Just not a very welcome one. It was a small group of people that would have been irrelevant if not for a few key figures... ghosts from the rich kid's past, you could say.

"... Well, well, well!"

George said as he walked up, wearing jeans, a white dry-fit shirt, and massive feet. He crossed his arms as he looked down at the group... He had a weird axe in his hand. the Schmidt kids quickly disappeared into the club.

"Didn't expect to see you dickheads here," George grinned. "Or ever again."

"Yeah, no one liked you motherfuckers!" Carol said as she walked up next to George, grinning as she leaned against him.

There were a few people they didn't recognize, but they recognized George, Carol, Amy, and Greta... and old wounds resurfaced.

"That's rich coming from Emily's pet," Gabe spat back. "Matter of fact, you're irrelevant just because you associate with her insecure ass..."

"Oh boy, it's you losers!" Sylvia laughed as she pulled out her guitar. She raised a hand and let off a dramatic riff before she said, "Shouldn't you be whining about your little Hourgl-"

"Hey! Hey! Hey!" Jake cut Sylvia off as he stepped in front of her with both hands up. "It's been a while! Hasn't it?! Carol, you look like you haven't aged a day!"

"... Because I fucking haven't, you stupid motherfucker! Go suck your dad's dick!" Carol shouted.

"Don't talk to him like that, you fucking goblin!" Gabe screamed as she pushed back him. "Go find some pedophile and suck him off! At least you'd be useful for once in your damn life!" Her hands began glowing with a vibrant red light.

"We're in Dollhouse territory," Lin flatly noted to Gabe and Sylvia. "Relax."

"I don't give a shit!" Gabe shouted.

"And we didn't come out here for a fight!" Jacqueline and Miranda stepped forward, and Miranda held a black plastic bag. "We don't even know who you people are!"

"... And be happy for that," Greta noted as she walked up to their side and pushed her glasses up her nose; she stood with her hands behind her back. "These people are nobodies. Let's just go around them and stop wasting our time..." She rolled her eyes.

Jacqueline and Miranda gestured for the 8th Street members to come along, and they followed behind them as they walked past the group. It was tense as Jake held Gabe back, Sylvia gently played her guitar, Jaska was still in the room, and Lin and Sage were tense. However, Jake and Lin knew that this was far from over.

"... That could have gone worse," Jake rolled his eyes.

"We need to keep an eye on them. They’re here for a reason." Sage added, nodding their head.

"Agreed," Lin added, glancing towards the club entrance where the Schmidt children had disappeared. "We can't let our guard down."

"Hey, Jaska," Jake said into his AirPods. "Do you see anything else from up there?"

"Not yet, but I'm keeping watch," Jaska responded. "I’ll let you know."

"Okay, let's get the hell out of here," Jake said. "This is a bus-"

"... Who told you you were tough, Gabe!" George's voice, dripping with sarcasm, could be heard meters away from them with his arms crossed. "You were always good at pretending!"

"Let's do this motherfuckers!" Carol said, rolling up her sleeve. "Us two against you bitch-ass motherfuckers! You think you can make fun of what happened to me, you fucking rich motherfuckers!? I'll tear your tits off and make you eat 'im!"

"George, Carol, let's go!" Jacqueline shouted from the entrance.

"You know what?" Gabe bore teeth as her hands began glowing brighter.

"Gabe!"

"Gabe!"

"Gabe!"

"Gabe!"

"Gabe!"

Lin and Jake repeated repeatedly, but Gabe was past the point of listening...She threw her hands up, and let loose an eye-searingly bright laser-beam directly at George's chest, it hit instantly and burned him severely but he threw his hands up to block.

"Ayyyyyyyyyye! Let's party, bitches!" Sylvia shouted as she raised her guitar over her head and threw it at Carol. However, with how bright the laser beam was, she missed it completely and broke a nearby window. Her guitar floated back into her hands.

"... Son of a bitch!" Miranda hissed, shaking her head. She then pointed down the street as she commanded the rest of 8th Street. "Go help them!"

Amy immediately dropped her gym bag on the ground with a thud... she squatted down, unzipped it, and pulled out her kanabō. She threw it over her shoulder, grabbed it with both hands, and almost sprinted, but Greta stuck her hand out in front of her; she dug into her satchel and pulled out a glowing red potion

"Carol! Get down!" Greta shouted as chucked it surprisingly far.

"Oh shit!" Gabe shouted.

The rich kids had no clue what it was, as Sylvia played a riff on her guitar, suspended in mid-air - before it was launched back at them. Jacqueline and Miranda screamed as they dove for cover. Greta got down too, but from Violet... electricity arced off her body before a copy of her, made out of pink electricity, came out of her, flew into the air, and caught it.

"We gotta get out-" Jake tried to say before George closed the distance and grabbed Jake by the collar of his shirt.

"There ain't no escaping now!" George screamed as he chucked Jake down the street. "Ya'll can have him!"

"Hahahahah! Look at him go!" Carol laughed.

Jake screamed as he flew through the air.

"Jaaaaaaaaake!" Gabe shouted before she aimed one hand at George and the other at Violet's electric copy - she fired two beams off, one that hit George directly in the face and seared his eyeballs and the other hit the potion and caused it to explode in midair. Violet's apparition was instantly destroyed, and she dropped unconscious, and George thrashed around, hoping for his eyes.

"Violet!" Pink screamed as she knelt and grabbed her friend.

"Hold still, you giant motherfucker!" Carol shouted as she ran towards George with both hands out, but she saw Sylvia running towards her, guitar primed to hit her. Carol ducked and shot herself up with an upper cut aimed right between Sylvia's legs, and she yelped as she dropped her guitar and grabbed her ladybits. Carol came in with a right hook and broke Sylvia's nose as she was sent stumbling backward. However, she was hit with a laser beam that singed her clothes, and she screamed as she looked at Gabe.

A focused laser beam went directly through her skull, and Carol dropped dead seconds later.

"We gotta get Jake, where is Jaska!?" Gabe shouted as she ran over to a parked car, opened the gas tank, and used her abstraction to pull the gasoline out, and it floated into the air

"I don't know!"

Suddenly, a pink mist overcame them, and they began seeing their greatest desire...

Jake was pushing himself to his feet, only to have a boot pound him straight back into the sidewalk. He glanced over his shoulder and saw Amy Nakamura with her iron club over her shoulder.

"Ya'll pick a really bad day to pick a fight with us," Amy said, "Don't worry, I'm only going to break your knees, Valos."

However, Jaska came soaring through the air and tackled her to the ground, and Jake hopped up to his feet as he wrestled with her. He looked down at the pink mist and saw Pink and Miranda run into it... but Amy threw Jaska right into him, and the two landed on a car with a bone-breaking thud.

Gabe was hallucinating... distracted by it all. She didn't even notice Pink running up and clocking her across the face. She stumbled backward, but Pink grabbed her by the collar and came in with a punch to her gut before punching her directly in the face again. Gabe's face was oozing blood, but Pink grabbed her collar with both hands and slammed her head into the passenger side window of a parked car. It cracked, Gabe was knocked unconscious, and the pink mist faded. George's eyes were completely healed (while Miranda had received all the burns), and Sage was already unconscious, face battered and beaten...

"Uh, what?" Sylvia said before George snatched the guitar out of her hands and grinned.

"... Yoink!" George said as he tried to snap the guitar in half, but it just wouldn't break.

"That won't break, you dum-" Sylvia said before she was interrupted by Greta hitting her in the back of the head with a lead pipe.

"Oh my God!" Lin said before she left to turn and run... and George was directly in her path.

"... Where you going, sweetheart?" George said with a very devious grin as he took steps towards Lin. "The fun's already-"

A gunshot rang out.

He was hit directly in the back, but the bullet bounced off. He looked over his shoulder and saw Mika Liu with a smoking Snubnose Taurus 856 Revolver aimed directly at him. He laughed.

"You might as well be throwing cotton balls at me, fatass!" He laughed before marching towards Mika, and she let off a few more rounds that did as much damage as the last one. He cocked his hand back to deliver a backhand that would have killed anyone else.

"Mika!" Lin shouted.

The hand collided with Mika's face in what would have normally killed her... normally. The hand stopped immediately against her face as if it were nothing more than a pat. On the other hand, all the impact that should have went to Mika went directly to George's face, and he found himself stumbling backward as she rolled her eyes and said,

"... Idiot." Mika ran over to Lin, and grabbed her hand, then commanded, "We're leaving!"

"But, J-"

A poker card harmlessly fell from the sky directly behind Jacqueline... and in a cloud of smoke, Johnny appeared, wrapped his arm around her neck, and aimed a Taurus 444 Raging Bull Magnum against her head.

Johnny screamed as he pressed the revolver against her head.

"I don't know what the fuck is going on here!" Johnny kept shouting, "But you motherfuckers are gonna step the fuck back, or the bitch gets it!"

"... What's going on here?"

A voice could be heard from the rooftop... but Johnny immediately froze upon hearing it, expressing pure shock and horror. Before he looked up...

It was Shaquita Walker.

She dropped from the rooftops and landed on the sidewalk as if she had only fallen a foot. She looked to the left and right and said, "You're all causing a ruckus, so Luis told me to tell you to cut it out. You're scaring away the business..."

Johnny stared at Shaquita, jaw dropped, muttering gibberish as he couldn't find the words. Eventually, her gaze met him, and she half-grinned.

"Oh, Johnny," she began. You never told us you were back in town. Why don't you come upstairs? I bet Luis would love to see you again. We can all catch up."

Johnny winced.

".... Noooooooo, thank you!" Johnny said.

"Then let go of Jacqueline here, grab your people, and then get out of here," Shaquita barked at him, her smile vanishing and becoming a scowl. "We have business with them. Not with you."

As commanded, Johnny let go of Jacqueline and took a step back. He grabbed every member of the Rich Clique - conscious and unconscious - and shoved them into his Hummer. 8th Street entered Christiansands, and Shaquita stood out there, staring at him....

They sped off.