‘Yo, my King – I have pretty shit news.’
John was having a pretty shit everything at the mont. What Undine was doing was clearly working, but it still depressed his mood trendously. That it was taking quite a while did not make it better.
When tra had reconnected to his ntal network, he had initially dared to hope that would make his Friday a little brighter. ‘Nothing is ever easy,’ he groaned ntally, then connected with her. ‘Well, lay it on then…?’
‘Good news first, the Illuminati have landed in New Orleans.’
That was good news. John had moved tra from Miami to New Orleans in anticipation of that. While the Order was fairly reliable at defending themselves, so were the Floridians. As both fronts were doing okay, he had deed it more valuable to have one of his own in each city, capable of using the teleport.
‘That is good news, although you could have shared that via the Harem Comms. Which tells that there is sothing coming that will demand I imdiately co through the teleporter with you.’
‘Yeah… the Sons of Ro also landed in New Orleans.’
“…Izha, I know this is another one of your jokes. I will hang you up by your entrails, you monster…” John muttered to himself and rose from his office chair.
There was every reason why John had specifically asked Romulus to Boston. It was as far away from the forr Gestalt states as he could reasonably get the man – as far away from Remus as possible. There was not a doubt in John’s mind that the Lorylim had pulled the strings to throw Romulus off-course.
‘Shit, shit - I need to direct his attention west sohow… I can hardly tell him it’s more efficient to sail up to Boston now. Fuck.’ The Gar marched through the corridor while he laid out his argunts for any expected question that would co up. He was simulating dozens of conversations with Romulus in his head and he doubted any of them would beco reality.
This whole situation was out of his control, he could only try to cope with the circumstances.
‘I’ll be with you in a bit.’
‘I’ll wait on the other side of the teleporter,’ tra inford him, then her signal was cut off again.
John typed the update in the Harem Comms. None of his won were with him. He had decided to take so ti alone, so he could more effectively concentrate on what was happening with body 2. Now he had to split his attention between two fronts again. Not a huge ask, he had a lot of attention to give, simply against his preferences.
For many of his won, he just gave them the news. For others, he summoned them to join him. He would have liked Nathalia, Nightingale, Momo and Rave to join him when he t with Romulus, but that was too much power pulled from the Guild Hall. The elentals would accompany him by nature and so he had to leave so people behind for ergencies.
After so ssages were shot back and forth, it was decided that only Momo and Nightingale would tag along. They, Lydia (of course) and the woman whose apartnt John now burst into.
Lyndell sat in the sole armchair in the room. Her legs were crossed, her hands in her lap, holding an e-reader. The press of a button shut the device down. She blinked against the artificial light flooding her otherwise lightless apartnt. “I was told opening doors without knocking is rude.”
“It is. I am in a hurry. You’ll accompany .”
“You order …?” Lyndell rose even as she tilted her head in question. “Your confidence pleases in strange ways.” Discover more novels at novęlfire
“It’s less confidence and more urgency,” the Gar inford her. “And your flirting is really inappropriate at this ti.”
“Mhm… that was flirty, I admit,” Lyndell spoke in a dry voice that made John’s brain jump back to Teen Titans. Instantly, it snapped back to Lu Zhi’s pained face. His face remained stern. “Where to?” she asked.
“Through a teleporter to New Orleans. You’re eting the leadership of two other mbers of the Divided Gates.”
“Exciting.” There was nothing excited in her tone, it was every bit as dour as usual. She matched the speed of his steps as he marched her around the corner. The Palace t his sense of urgency as well, getting him to the door that led to the teleportation room at record speed. The main hub was outside the Palace, but the only teleportation pad they really needed to have access to the network was situated within an undecorated room.
John’s heel hamred on the raw concrete floor. Their swift arrival changed nothing about Nightingale, Momo and the elentals needing to get there as well. Lydia would follow in her own ti, she was busy doing a supply check. Arms crossed, he just stared at the air ahead. His mind remained focused on the wound, which turned less and less green and more and more red.
“Would you confide in ?”
“I’m stressed and angry,” John answered without hesitance. He was happy to have any ear right now and it wasn’t like Lyndell would talk. “I caught a few days of stability, so that was nice, and the thing Izha did to my parents and to so many other people has clearly netted the Lorylim enough bad luck that they just keep getting screwed by fate. Simultaneously, that is annoying . I want to take my vengeance – mine – and at every turn I am reminded that they screwed themselves. Just this morning I advised Lucifrena to go towards a specific settlent. I didn’t have any reason for it, it was one of those few tis I actually just randomly declared sothing, and wouldn’t you know it, she stumbled across a major hive mid-developnt.”
He stopped his rambling for a mont to breathe. The hamring of his heel against the concrete floor continued unabated. While so much of his mind remained in Beijing, he ran his mouth without thinking.
“I am taking the victory. Everyone besides Emrik bought it as a manifestation of my genius. It’s just Gaia handing these victories on a silver platter. Rather, it’s the Lorylim getting hamred with losses at every turn. My troops keep arriving in the nick of ti, thwarting what could be greater catastrophes.”
“You loathe it,” Lyndell observed. “You loathe that you are the tool in soone else’s vengeance.”
“Yes!” John declared loudly, his emotions still flowing from his mouth. “More than that I hate all that surrounds it. Gaia has the power. She does. She is demonstrating it over and over again that she can change everything without even being seen. A faulty gas tank makes my troops stop one city earlier than planned and just like that they find an infected gas station worker. Dozens of tis, every day, scenes like that. She can do all of that – but she could not have fucking saved my parents?! I-“
John stopped and put a hand over his own mouth. He had been one word away from shouting before he caught himself. He stared at the air in front of him for a few seconds, before the black hand of Lyndell was firmly placed on his cheek. The woman with eyes that appeared eternally underlined by black tears beheld him. There was warmth in those grey pools.
“I was alone with my suffering for a long, long ti,” she told him. “Gaia created the conditions for it.”
“Do you resent her for it?” John asked quietly.
“I am still contemplating the answer to that question.” She moved a little closer, then stopped herself. “I believe if I were to try and kiss you now, that would be taking advantage of a vulnerable mind.”
“Very much so,” John answered and took her hand off his cheek. He held it for longer than he needed afterwards, for as long as he needed to say: “You may not have the answer either, but I am thankful that you admit to that.”
“It is a horrid fate to suffer alone.” Their hands separated in unison; a silent accord reached. “I only wish it upon my enemies.”
It was in that mont, when Lyndell averted her gaze and mournfully gazed into the nothingness of her mories, that John felt himself falling for that gothic woman. ‘At least this one is less juvenile than falling for a dangerous dragon nympho…’ he made fun of himself. He laughed. Lyndell raised an eyebrow at him. That only made it funnier. He laughed loudly. Then Momo burst into the room and imdiately hugged him.
“Because you need it, idiot!” she answered a question he hadn’t asked.
“Uhm… can I get in on that?” Gno asked. The elental had returned incorporeally. John put an arm around her waist and got her involved in the hug.
“That looks nice,” Lyndell comnted.
“You… can join,” Momo offered. Her hesitance to extend an olive branch to an attractive woman was evidently overco by the service to John’s emotional health rendered. That she considered it that way was just one of the many reasons he loved her.
Without hesitance, eager even, the forlorn woman stepped forwards. Momo and Gno held out their arms and pulled Lyndell in the centre. “Oh…” That was the tiny noise that Lyndell made when she was hugged for the first ti in her life. Her lips trembled. Her eyes closed. She sniffed. She nuzzled her head between their shoulders. She lted away, relaxing to the point that she just sunk to the floor between the three of them. “That… was lovely,” she whispered.
‘OH MY, MASTER, SHE IS SO CUTE!’ Momo scread in his head.
‘You can keep her,’ John remarked sarcastically.
“Have I entered to an invitation ritual?” Nightingale asked. The harpy lacked their ntal connection and thus all the context for what had just happened.
“No such things, just a group hug,” Gno said.
“Which I would love to continue, but duty calls.” In response to his words, Gno and Momo stepped away. The forr reached down to help Lyndell up.
Lyndell imdiately hugged Gno again. “Friend.”
“Uhm… uh… yes?”
“Mhm…” Lyndell humd, then opened her eyes again. Even now she looked sad and yet she had found solace in this mont.
She was right, only the worst of the worst deserved to suffer alone.
______________________________________________________________________________
“So that’s the horny mushroom?” tra asked.
John flicked the wolf woman’s forehead.
“Ack!” the blonde berserker babe exclaid, acting as if the mild tap was enough to nearly topple her over.
“Why the corporeal punishnt?” Lyndell asked. “I understand both words. They are apt.”
“Do not indulge her,” Momo begged.
“Mhm…” The ancient entity made a half-hearted sound, then looked ahead.
New Orleans was covered in the marks of battle. The resplendent structures of the Order’s great monastery estate were covered in dust, dried gore and lay in ruin. Core buildings had survived, although seldom without damage. Since the original attack four days ago, there had been two more offenses on the Order’s headquarters. All of them had been thwarted by the woman that now stood in greeting.
Moira Brighton was in full battle regalia. By insistence of the squires, her armour was polished to perfection. No amount of rags and oil could hide the damage it had sustained though. The heavily enchanted Mithril alloy was dented and scratched all over, but remained functional enough. Her warhamr was missing part of its shaft. Only her shield was undamaged entirely. Not even the constant battles that the Warden had endured recently could leave a mark on this Gaia-blessed armant.
When John t the Warden’s gaze, he found sothing puzzling in it.
That Moira’s green eyes were filled with stern expectations was normal. There was sothing else there though. An emotion that John could not place, which was rare enough for him. Before he could co to a conclusion on what it was, a shadow of guilt fell over her features. She averted her gaze for a mont. When she looked at him again, not two seconds later, she was entirely herself.
“Did I hear ‘horny mushroom’?” she asked, the disappointnt clear in her voice.
“Perchance,” John led his group of won to the Warden. “For once, it is not what you think.”
“I do not think you are sleeping with her – I have told you before: I do not… respect… your lifestyle but I do not consider you a bad person.” She pressed her lips together for a mont. “I have heard about your loss,” she muttered quietly. “To lose one’s parents is a horrid event. I know the pain.”
‘I never did et the forr Warden…’ John suddenly realized. Moira was not one of his friends, so this was a topic they had simply never breached. A sympathetic nod was all he could muster in this situation. “Thank you.”
“My father is hosting Romulus, his chancellor, and the Horned Rat in our main hall,” she then inford him. “We are sharing what military data we have access to. He has been objective in this.”
“I am glad to have that assurance. You won’t bla for verifying myself.”
“I awaited you here to guide you there. Admittedly, I would have preferred it if you brought Lorelei as well. I have… need of her council. Jane and Hailey as well.” She shook her head. “I understand the necessities of war, however.”
“Well, if all goes well, then we will soon have enough breathing room that you can find half an hour sowhere.”
She nodded, then turned on her heels and led the way.
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