She let out a sigh and stared down at her fists as a small avian head poked into her field of view, nipping o her knuckle. She g Alphonse and smiled, reag up to stroke his head. “Hey buddy, I’m okay.”
“Up te?”
She turo see Marta walking into the room in her ahemed pajamas. She had her brown hair up in a bun and was holding a mug in her hand.
Lillian rubbed her neck, “Yeah, Snow crashed a bit ago,” she said gesturing to the room she’d e out of, “I couldn’t sleep.”
“Thinking about the dinner meeting?” Marta asked, sitting down on the side opposite of where Al erched.
Lillian leaned ba the coud sighed, “Yeah. I’ve never seen that side of things. I just kinda figured that the people making things happen for us heroes were thinking about the good we could do first.”
“A little naive,” Marta said gently.
“I know, I just kinda hoped, I guess,” Lillian said.
“Disillusioned?”
“No,” Lillian said, “More surprised, I could see Sapporo and Bandit staying out of it. It took me a moment to pick up on what Sonya was angling for. That really isn’t my speciality,” she said with a sh, “She expi to me but I really don’t get why I o know how to talk to people like that.”
“Because it’ll happen one way or another. Yoing to meet people with power who use their words as ons. Seeing through the bullshit is part of the job,” Marta said, “Sonya… went a little hard today.”
“Really?” Lillian asked.
Marta ughed, “Yeah, holy she nning on pying h them until that ent about you guys. She’s protective of you. Just think of it as her losiemper a little.”
“Seemed pretty calm to me,” Lillian said.
“Then imagine her angry,” Marta poked, squeezing Lillian’s shoulder, “She’s got your back, she wants you to succeed more than anyone. She’s a businesswoman though and making money is part of it. A lot of that ght bato making sure you guys have the support she thinks you deserve.”
Lillian smiled despite herself, “It was just a little scary, I guess.”
“Scarier than a dungeon?” Marta asked.
“A little, if I’m being ho. I know dungeons, I know monsters, I hahem. I’m strong,” she said and ched her fist in front of her face, “I don’t know if I py those kinds of games. I just don’t think like her.”
“I think you handled yourself well. It may not be your thing but you adapted quickly enough,” Marta said with a shrug, “Just know enough to see through the mess a people like Sonya hahe more difficult ones. Snow is a very clever girl, lean on her.”
Lillian rexed and looked up at Marta. She hadn’t had much of a ce to talk to the woman duriraining. Her role had predominantly been to watch over Sonya and not eoo much with the aspirants. Even so, Lillian could tell that she’d been keeping an eye on her and the others as well. Anyone who was that close to Sonya was good people as far as she was ed. She smiled, “Thanks.”
One of the doors opeo the on area and Sonya stepped out on her phone, “...it’s fine I said! I appreciate what you did, dear, thank you. You don’t have to apologize to me,” she ughed, “Oh that would be very nice. I’ll let them know when they get up.”
Lillian raised an eyebrow and shot Marta a look. Some things never ge I guess, she thought wryly. She shifted a bit in her seat, I wonder who she’s talking to.
Sonya snorted out a ugh, “You might make a girl think you’re flirting, sir, be careful!” Sonya walked over to the coud stopped o it, winking at Alphonse who hopped to the side enough for her to sit down. Lillian chuckled and held out her hands for Alphoo hop up onto her shoulder. She reached up and stroked the back of the bird's neck as Sonya ed up. “Thank you, Sapporo, we’ll talk more ter,” she said and hung up.
Lillian watched a plex series of emotions war on her mentor’s face. Sonya seemed eic at times and weary at others. It was troubling but she really didn’t know how t it up, “You handled yourself well today. I know it’s not your thing, but you really helped me and I appreciate it,” Sonya said quietly, still staring at her phone.
Lillian flushed and cleared her throat, “Thanks. That was Sapporo?”
“It was,” Sonya said with a nod, “He wants to take the four of you on a tour of some historic sites himself. He thinks he owes us for the excitement at dinner.”
“Pardon?” Lillian blurted. Her first impression was that he was something of a hardliner given his grouchy exterior. Now he was volunteering to take a bunch of young people on a personal tour of his homend. Her lips thinned as she tried to imagine how it would py out.
“Since when were you on such casual terms with him?” Marta asked, drawing Lillian out of her thoughts.
“Oh he’s not so bad,” Sonya said, waving her hand dismissively, “He’s more rexed talking one on one, Bandit told me to be myself with him so I was.”
“Isn’t that a bit of a gamble?” Lillian asked with a ugh, “You never know what kind of rea yoing to get from being you.”
“Hey now!” Sonya protested as Marta joined in on the chuckles, “Rude!”
Lillian caught Sonya smilie the pyful jab and grinned back. She rubbed her ned looked away from Sonya to take in the room again. It was strange, like meeting yh-school teacher in a supermarket and realizing that they had a life outside the . Sonya had been a mentor and a pilr of support for Lillian since she’d arrived at the camp. Now she was a friend more than she was her sponsor. She let out a sigh and flopped bato the couch, “This pce is huge, how much did it all cost?”
“Hm?” Sonya gnced around, “Not sure, the Japanese Gover set it up. They’re trying to make a good impression on you in particur.”
Lillian frowned and crossed her arms. She remembered the versation with Bandit in the car but he hadn’t provided a lot in the way of information. Frankly she’d put it out of her mind just to avoid the ahat came from it. “Bandit said something about the Emperor? Like, the Emperor of Japan? That’s a little…” she trailed off and shifted again in her seat, a little chill going up her spine, “How do I eve to that? What do I do?”
“It’s his grandson,” Sonya said.
Lillian gaped at her, “What?”
Sonya crossed her legs and examined her nails. Lillian got the impression she was trying to make it look like it wasn’t a big deal. It pretty much had the opposite effect by making the situation seem even more absurd. “The Emperor adores the boy from what I uand and the young man is extremely ied in the hero movement. He’s been following it ever sihe fsh. Whe out the ercial he saw you and was rather taken,” she tapped her nails on the arm of the couch, “Though what really got his attention was some leaked footage of you fighting during the dungeon exam.”
“Leaked?”
“Yes, just some footage of your sed time around with the mini-boss,” Sonya said, “A beautiful golden-fme wielding knight fighting a dragon is quite the visual.”
“I didn’t know it was cirg,” Lillian said with a frown, her heart sinking a little, “Even the sed time that wasn’t an easy fight.”
“The Pandora ittee is looking into the source of the leak, it only surfaced for a little while before it was taken dowy much everywhere,” Marta said o her and gave her shoulder a soling pat.
Lillian leaned forward and held her head in her hands, “I don’t eople to think I’m scary.”
She felt Sonya and Marta turn towards one another. Sonya snorted and Marta stifled a chuckle. Lillian whipped towards Sonya, anger bubbling up with the stress, “What’s so funny?” she demanded, “This is serious. You know the kind of image I wao create. We talked about it.”
Sonya was shaking with ughter, “Lillian, I don’t think you o worry about that.”
Lillian scowled, “Seriously! What are you ughing about?”
How she just dismiss it like that? Sometimes it feels like she wants to give the world and other times it’s like she just doesn’t care how she es across.
Marta pulled her pho from her pocket and flipped through for a moment before pulling up a video. She turned her phone and held it out for Lillian to see. “You really should look yourself up when you have a ce, Lillian,” Marta said and hit py. The video showed the fight taking up much of the s while a young man sat there in the er. His mouth was hanging open as Lillian flipped over the dragon’s bad cut twice along its spi was a rec of a live stream.
“OOH! Look at that flip! Holy shit! Holy shit!” The boy shouted, “Guys are you seeing this? Crusader is such a badass!”
The ents whirred by.
Lillian stared in disbelief as it kept ing. She searched the s for the view t. Her eyes went wide, “Three million views?” She breathed, the breath practically knocked out of her. Her head inning from the implications. That many people had already seen how she fought and that wasn’t including who they shared the video with.
“It came out a few days after yraduation. Shame it had to be taken down,” Sonya said as Marta pulled her phone away, “That was illegally acquired footage. The Pandora ittee was kind enough not to fihe kid, at least. Uninvited publicity really is the best when it’s positive,” she chuckled.
Lillian ran her fihrough her hair as Marta squeezed her shoulder, “They aren’t afraid of you. They’re rooting for you. Heck, they’re already talking about you in the same breaths as your hero.”
Lillia a heat behind her eyes as she let out a shaky breath, a warm tightness in her chest. She couldn’t identify the emotion and she really didn’t want to, it felt amazing and terrible at the same time; “Wow. I had no idea.”
“Just be yourself when you meet the kid,” Sonya advised, “Be ge’ll mean a lot to him. You’re his hero now. You got a couple days to let it sink in and rex, e into it fresh.”
The youuro the two of them, “Thanks, both of you. That was so… validating,” she got to her feet, “I need some sleep. I’ll see you both in the m?”
“So long as Marta doesn’t drag me off to maid cafes first thing,” Sonya quipped.
“I think you’re more ied in that than I am,” Marta shot back.
Lillian grinned aured for Alphoo hop onto her shoulder, she waved at the two bickering friends and hustled away a little bit lighter on her feet. “Good night!”
–
Sonya watched her go and rexed onto the couch. Marta did the same, crossing her legs as she put her phone away. “The video was yht?” Marta asked. Sonya gnced her way and gave her a wicked grin before shrugging. Marta rolled her eyes, “You are a terrible vilin sometimes, pying up the heroes like that,” she teased before crossing her arms and looking bato the heavily decorated on room. “How are things really going?”
“About as well as be expected,” Sonya admitted, “I’m trying to be as above board as possible with the majority of this. Legitimate es are preferable for now until I get a better feel for who I should io the club.”
“They’re still going to pull some cessions out of you, then?” Marta asked.
“Of course,” Sonya said, “That’s the point, though. The point has been made about the power dynamid they’ll reorient their attitude towards us. They won’t be happy,” she smirked, “her will I with the cessions I’ll have to make to allow them to save face, but that’s business for you I guess. They’ll get some of what they want.”
“Yoing to let them get away with that?” Marta asked.
“No reason not to,” Sonya pointed out, “I get some of it ba one way or another once I bring some of their leadership into the club.”
Ishtar ’t make an appearance here, even if few know you’ve e to visit. Some of them will alset you for what happeoday, Ishtar pointed out.
Sonya g Marta, “There will be blowback from at least that Kirihara guy. His pride was wouoday and once his bosses learn about what was at stake, I’ll be surprised if he has a job tomorrow m,” she said. The property she’d acquired in Vegas from one of Otis’ supporters during the previous timeline included locations all over the world. Many of them were hot spots with a high probability of geing dungeons. Dungeons had a great deal of value in resources if they were maintained properly.
The nd iion was scattered about Japan. As she and by extension ASTA was the owner of the nd it would make things plicated if Japan wao acquire the nd to set up bases around any portals that formed. She was intending to set up at least a small ASTA guild in the isnd nation. It ossible to hold it for herself and have her own people farm the dungeons but that would be a political mess that she’d rather just avoid. There were a few dungeons she wao keep for herself over suspis of what tier could mahere but otherwise the rest were best used tain with the Japanese Gover.
Even so, she wasn’t going to let them go cheaply and it seemed Mister Kaguma was aware of that. He really did his research. She thought with a smile. I’ll bump the price up just a little more to smooth some tempers but only after they all panic over the revetion.
She snickered to herself befoing serious, “We’ll be going with Lillian and the others for the few days to explore the city and visit a few pces. I want you to keep an eye on things. The Pandora ittee has already agreed that you react if necessary.”
“They’re easiris on mythics, then,” Marta said.
“Yeah, I imagihe Vegas act will get an ame very soon. They’re still talking over the specifics but progress is being made,” Sonya said and got to her feet, stretg her arms. “I think it's bedtime, don’t you?”
“I’ll stay out a bit longer,” Marta said, “Want to revel in finally being here.”
Sonya turo her friend and smiled, “You’ve ear.”