A few hours earlier…

  Sonya’s return to New York had been a whirlwind of activity sihe moment she left the others behind at the Guild Hall. Marta had already gone oo the apartment a Sonya with a bit of time to herself. Her first stop, without question, was her favorite burger pce where she shamelessly ordered at the ter with everyoaring at her in fusion. It was fun and a little taste of normalcy that she’d been desperately craving. After the shitshow that was the visit to the Hague, any time just to catch her breath and do her own thing was something she valued highly. Even so, she khat it would only st a few hours at best as the Pandora ittee assembly was scheduled for that afternoon and she nning on making an appeara the Styx.

  A little bit of shopping, some self care, a couple phone numbers from cuties acquired and she felt refreshed. Throughout it all, Ishtar remained silent, likely judging her. She didn’t really care, though. She’d embraced this life and was happy to enjoy it as long as it sted. After her rexing afternoon out she returo the guild hall and picked Cass up. Apparently she and the others were going to begin at least familiarizing themselves with the city starting in a few days after they got their affairs in order. It was heartening to see that Cass was really bonding with her new friends. She had been a bit worried after that Alex had gone from a slight infatuation to rese over her basically slipping into their friend group but apparently it had been resolved. Sonya had pointedly stayed out of it, she’d meddled enough in their lives, especially with Ollie and Lillian.

  Stopping off at the apartment gave Cass an opportunity to ge and within a short period of time they were at the Styx for her little guest appearahere she had the amusing experieneeting Charon’s first hen, Tenebra, who had proven to possess a very iing gift.

  < New Ability Acquired: Umbral Nighti;

  It was a unique ability name, one of the more dramaties for sure. As for what it did, trying it out produced some curious results. She immediately felt a craving for attention far beyond her usual pyful showboating. It turned out that being the ter of attention provided the ability with additional fuel and potency, enough eyes and it could push right past heroi strength, though it only sted as long as the attention was fixed on her.

  That expins why she allowed her fans to stream her shows.

  The ability itself allowed its user to project its strange bck-mist shadows that could be made solid and used to manipute objects or turn into deadly structs. What made the ability spectacur was that it came built in with singing talent in a simir vein to how Genius Level Intellect worked. It amplified the user's existing singing ability signifitly.

  That realization-that the ability came with a fun that perpetuated its own fuel source-was enlightening and she wondered if perhaps Liberty’s ability actually had a simir fun that no one was aware of. If it was true then perhaps she could use that against her. She wondered how it could i with her other abilities if she merged it, but decided to hold off for now. She was still mastering what she had and that warning about Visage of Titania’s rea to further mergings hung over her head.

  Those siderations were set aside, though, wheuro New York not long after Ishtar’s appearand versation with Cass. That versation had been the inspiration for where she was when the call from had e in. Sonya decided to show Cass a bit of the high life iy and introduce her to a few of her tacts. So she made a few calls, got in touch with Bluestar, and threw a wele party for the new heroes the day. She eve as far as to ihose not from the East Coast camp who had retly registered as heroes. The result was a noisy ve one of the rger hotels in town, hastily flooded with light-touched, politis, businessmen, and Sonya’s ows.

  It was a wild party.

  She’d been in the middle of having a very pleasant versation with a local model-a blohis time-when had called her. The brief buzz in her head alerting her right as she was moving in to seal the deal. A bit annoyed, she had begged herself off by pretending to accept the call on her real phone. She answered it and spoke quickly, he sounded out of breath.

  <“Mistress, we’ve got him. He attacked first, bad intel from the tact, we’ve got heroes ining too. Euclidia’s making an arch.”>

  She pursed her lips, I figured he would attack them based on that new intel. She thought begrudgingly, I’m gd they were able to ha anyway. She sighed, “...well that’s no good!” She said brightly over the noise of the party. <“I’m at a party dear, give me a moment to find somewhere quiet!”> She added befng around for an escape route. She spotted Otis in the croas paying her no mind, talking himself up to a few businessmen while Jessica stood guard o him. He’s not watg, okay, she thought before turning and making her way through the crowd, releasing tiny bursts of imperious here and there to nudge people out of the way. She had nearly reached a door leading out into the hall outside the venue when she sensed someone moving through the crowd in her dire. Dammit, not now!

  <“Sixty seds,”> she said into the call and hung up just as the person stopped behind her.

  “Miss ovna,” a calm voice said and she turo see a young man of what had to be of Asian dest standing there. Despite his youth he was far taller than she was and built like a truck.

  Huge… She thought, looking him up and down before she smiled a little uneasily, “ I… help you?”

  He bowed slightly before reag into his jacket. She had to resist the urge to tense up only to see him pull out a slip of paper that had beely folded in half. He held it out to her and stood up straight, his expression stony and unmoving. “I have been instructed to give you this, that is all, miss.”

  She stared at it and then at him, his hand outstretched and his stony gaze expet. She pursed her lips together and took it from him, “Thank you, I think?” she muttered before turning away from him. She started marg her way through the crowd again without so much as another word, she didn’t have time for this. While she did, though, she opehe slip of paper out of curiosity. On it was a simple statement in a rushed hand, ‘The mythic beast craves the end of tedium. The vilinous queen is its nip and bane.’

  “Nip and… what?” She paused ahe line again, “...vilinous.”

  She whipped her head around, her heart pounding, searg the room for the face that she had barely taken in. I didn’t learn his name. I was in too much of a rush. Where? Her eyes flitted about. He was gone. She scowled and quickly rewound her memories to find an image of his face. I don’t know who you are, but you just made a huge mistake, she thought angrily as she distributed the face to the scattered society agents mingling in the crowd. His image would appear on their phones along with the words ‘Find Him’.

  Already irritable and worried over ’s situation, she pushed through the st portion of crowd until she mao get outside of the venue, hustling to a vat room iel and using teopathy to get inside while disrupting the cameras along her path. It had been far lohan sixty seds and the thought made her gut twist. The heroes will be there by now. Even so, she knew for a fact that at the very least, was alive. She didn’t think too much about it, but as he had been one of Otis’ assets in the previous timelihere was no mistaking that if he died while doing something for her, she would know via a reward notification.

  Taking that into sideration and the fact that Kera was vastly more powerful in a direct frontation, she was fident that they could survive and evade capture. That didn’t mean she wao leave them hanging. She checked the room oh a sweep of teopathy before holding her hand out and fog on the coordinates where ’s call had e from. It was a huge distance, deep in a South Ameri rai, but she’d made rger trips to her beach house in Maui. She felt her ability rise up and reach out, f the e between locations only to grind to an abrupt halt.

  Huh?

  She focused harder, pushing against an odd sense of resista her target. It didn’t repel her or try to shock her. It’s not Rift, she sidered, cheg her fingers for any signs of that tell-tale red spark that she’d learned about from Gravitic. Then who? It feels like I’m hitting a wall. She frowned and tried once more to no success, her mind straining against an immovable object. She let out a gasp and sat down on the bed, g her fists before calling back.

  <“Mephisto? I ’t get a portal to form at your location. What’s happening over there?”> she asked only to hear another voie in over her rade’s microphone.

  <“I have a wish that I want granted.”>

  Unfettable.

  A chill ran up her spine and she leaped to her feet, <“Qilin!”> she barked, <“Mephisto, get out of there! Now! I don’t care about seg Drastic, you and Kera run!”>

  –

  Mephisto looked up into those soulless eyes, swallowing hard as her presence pressed down on him. It felt a bit like being uhe influence of the mistress’ imperious aura. She’d warned him about the people she called the ‘heralds’. They were just as monstrously powerful as A if not moreso sihey’d had more time to grow than he had before Vegas. Among them, she’d insisted that there was ohat o be avoided at all costs until a ter could be devised. The very same person that was looking down on him right now. Qilin.

  Qilin paused as she g the side of his head, “Who are you talking to?” she asked, frowning, “We are doing business. I do not like being ignored.”

  He cracked the best smile he could given the circumstaaking a step bad holding up his hands, “’t do business with someone of your illustrious-ness without talking to the boss, you know? You’re a high-profile t.”

  She paused for a full heartbeat, her expression unmoving even as she hesitated, “That is Ishtar oher line? I take it that it is her who is trying to create a portal in my domain?”

  “You felt that, huh?” He ughed befng at Kera, “She was already in the process before you came out, nothing to do with you, of course.”

  “Really?” Qilin asked, taking another quiet step forward aering his personal space. She reached out towards him.

  “Don’t you y a finger on him!” Kera bellowed, her body immediately transfiguring into a bolt of lightning, she unched herself at Qilin who turned zily in her direephisto didn’t have even a sed to react before Qilin stepped to the side and caught the hurtling bolt with one hand. She frowned, gng down at her fingers as they sizzled and burned before turning away and hurliowards the sky, “I was not speaking to you,” she said ftly as Kera crashed into the clouds a out of sight.

  Mephisto swallowed and reached up to tap his earpiece, “Kera, don’t engage,” he said before switg the el back to his boss with a quick tap. “So… you wao make a wish? I could arrahat,” he said, trying to get bato character as she stepped back over to face him. “What do you want?” he shifted on his feet, “Just so you know, my dealmaking ability requires equivalency. You’ll have to give-”

  “Lies and Half-truths,” Qilin cut him off, “Only some deals require equal pensation. It depends oure of the deal I suspect. You are stalling. Do you not want to make a deal with me?”

  She sense lies too? He cleared his throat, “I haven’t learned what you want, yet, Miss Qilin. ’t very well write up a tract without that, you see,” he said, straightening up to look at least a bit more professional. Her aura was setting off his fight-or-flight and making it hard to keep his usual casual demeanor.

  “tions do I have?” she asked.

  Is she testing us? He kept his smile on, “Whatever your heart desires as long as it is within my Mistress’ power to grant and you provide a payment that she will find satisfactory.”

  <“Be careful,”> Sonya urged in his ear, <“She-”>

  Qilin g the side of Mephisto’s head again, “She’s still on the line?” she demanded. He opened his mouth to expin but was instead buffeted by a straingling feeling that washed over his body as her expression grew harder and harder.

  What the hell is she doing?

  –

  Sonya ag bad forth, listening in on the versation; What the hell does she want? She thought, grittieeth.

  Sonya, we have another problem.

  What now? She shot back the something with her senses, a presence making their way towards the door to the hotel room. Her eyes went wide as the person knocked.

  “Hello? Is someone in there? This is hotel security.”

  What the hell? How could someone-

  Another presence approached, “The guest said it was this door?” came a familiar voice. Sonya’s gut fell. Crusader?! God damn it! What kind of bad- oh. She clicked her tongue and nearly drew and illusion around herself before stopping. She sense mana use. Even if I make it seem like the room is empty, she’ll be able to tell. Qilin and her luck manipution. This was why she o be avoided until I figure out a weakness! Should I use mind trol to push her away? What if that causes a cascade? How do I ter Qilin? She pushed her enhanced brain, thinking with all her might. She could feel Ishtar trying to e up with a solution of her own, frantically looking for a way out.

  I am NOT getting caught like this. How stupid would that be?

  Crusader knocked on the door, “Hello? I’m ing in!”

  <“I want to be freed of this eedium.”>

  The words came through in her head over the e with and she froze. Slowly she reached into her pocket and pulled the slip of paper that had beeed to her by the young man out. She ope and looked down at the handwritten words.

  ‘The mythic beast craves the end of tedium. The vilinous queen is its nip and bane.’

  <“Put me on speaker, now!”>