Destiny Fractured

“I’ve known you for like two seconds and I can already guarantee you’d fit right in.” Monica was the type of woman that spoke her mind and apparently was all about a good sex spree. She was sexy and confident, sassy and bold, all the things the du Wolffs loved. Simon and Themescycia alone would have her out of her pants in a matter of seconds, if it even took that long. Unlike Mercury, Monica didn’t seem the type to make people work for it.

The purple haired Ace gave a few juicy tidbits about her dalliances with Vandrad, particularly the first one. Even the short and sweet version was apparently enough to earn the woman’s adoration. According to Monica, it had been quite some time since she’d had a solid hate fuck, and she inquired as to whether or not the trick would work for her. She even suggested double teaming him if that would up her chances, stating that he probably couldn’t take them both. That, and she was also quite interested in seeing what Mercury was capable of as well. The Xocili liked this woman more and more with each passing sentence, and with every second that went by, a singular, resounding truth came barreling its way to the forefront of her mind:

She’s going to get me in so much trouble.

Not that Mercury ever had difficult finding or making trouble on her own. “Hey, we never know unless we try, right? His kink is definitely a woman that can kick his ass. That’s how I got in. He would probably be violently against the idea of a threesome, or really being involved with anyone else -- he’s kind of a stick in the mud. But, I’ve slowly been working that stick out. If we trick him into it before he realizes what’s going on, we might be able to make it work. Then all I have to do is convince him afterward not to feel ashamed about it. Assuming he doesn’t try to kill me again, afterward.”

Monica scootched a little closer to her so they could lower their voices a little more and be a bit more intimate while the rest of the room went about their business. Serilda and Zifu were discussing the probabilities of Faera being able to actually take over Lux, which was all very important. Despite what anyone spying on them might believe, Mercury was actually still paying attention more than enough to keep up. However, there was little to nothing that she could contribute to this discussion, so she instead elected to have one of her own with the stunning woman that had elected to make her a better acquaintance.

The tattooed woman admitted that she wasn’t actually a member of the Ordre, and that instead she was a mage with a guild called Lusty Titans. She must have seen the flabbergasted and intrigued look in Mercury’s eyes, because she quickly followed by adding yes, the guild was exactly what the name suggested. They had orgies on a daily basis even as they focused on the exchange of information. “Wait wait, you’re spies? Where the fuck were you guys when I was signing up for Silver Wolf?” Mercury loved her guild and even now did not regret joining it for even a second, but pretty much the only thing that could have been more perfect for her was a guild focused on spy work and handling information that was more than just science related.

Then again, that also would mean being around a constant flux of people that were more easily trained to figure her out. Mercury realized she was going to have to be extra careful around Monica and anyone else claiming to be from her guild, lest they realize exactly who or what she was and how much of a threat she really possessed.

The mention of a bingo card did not go unnoticed, and Monica stopped the entire conversation to inquire as to whether or not Mercury had slept with other members of Vandrad’s family. Mercury gave her a sly grin, but did not verbally confirm nor deny the truth. That knowledge alone was apparently more than enough to convince Monica that she wanted to be all up on Mercury, and frankly Mercury wasn’t entirely sure she’d stop her. Not right this second of course, but if they found some time and some privacy, she had a feeling she was going to be in for the quickie of her life.

Monica admitted that she’d been on two jobs with Gren so far and the man was as stubborn about her advances as he was handsome. “That so?” Mercury murmured casting a quick glance at the older man while he was distracted with the conversation about Lux. Serilda had started pacing rather heavily, which was odd and also earned a peered look from the mecha slayer, but ultimately she wound up with her attention back on Monica. Apparently, the woman had some photos that she had used to take care of her own business while Gren was unwilling to attend it for her. Mercury was bequeathed with a slew of images focused on Gren’s shapely backside and his enormous--

“Whaaaaaat..?” Mercury said, the quiet exclamation turning more into a question by the time it finished leaving her lips. She had almost pushed herself off the wall to lean closer and get a better look. Emerald eyes were wide with shock and interest. “Alright, well now at least I know Vandrad’s genes are genuine. Holy fuck. And you said he’s stubborn? Challenge accepted. If I can crack that one, I can get anyone. If I figure out the trick you’ll be the first person I call with the details and the how-to guide. Also.”

She lifted a finger to her lips to make sure Monica knew to keep her reactions as minimal as possible so as not to draw attention to them before pulling out her own custom built iLac. Pulled up some still shots from one of her many ventures with Vandrad, she rewarded the other woman with a full front image of the younger man in all his glory. Looking her in the eyes, she silently mouthed the words: twelve inches. Soft.

Mercury was getting ready to start showing her a number of other things, not just of Vandrad, when hell once more broke loose around her, bringing her private conversation with Monica to a screeching halt. Mythal was suddenly on his feet, moving much more quickly than he should have been, and the look on his face was not comforting. He was looking at Serilda, who looked very much like a woman on a mission. The white haired woman had just called for someone named Ruzatz, despite the fact that Mercury was quite sure no one of that name was in the room with them. She created a portal and used it to withdraw her swords still in their scabbards, strapping them to her sides. Whatever she had in mind, clearly it involved fighting in a more immediate sense.

And by the way Vandrad reacted, she could see the prince was in agreement. “Welp, that’s my cue. Lemme see your phone, I’ll put my number in real quick.” If Vandrad was planning on joining Serilda on whatever fight the Voidwalker was about to go pick, then Mercury was coming too. Surely they had a couple seconds where she could make sure Monica could contact her later once things were said and done so they wouldn’t lose contact if they didn’t see one another again right away.

She wouldn’t get the chance, however. At least, not right away. A new portal opened, one not the making of anyone here that she could see, a line of red and pink that ripped apart. A rush of unbelievable energy took hold of her, twisting her loins and getting her blood up toward pumping within a split second before it disappeared just as quickly. In the same moment, one of the most attractive men she’d ever set eyes on came quite literally stumbling through the barrier, hastily wrapping a feminine kimono around her bare torso, as he jovially quipped about coming at Serilda’s request.

Gorgeous as he was, he was apparently not that adept at reading the room. He playfully remarked his hope that Serilda’s call had been toward more intimate purposes with her and Mythal before he stopped himself mid sentence and realized he was completely surrounded by strangers. Or well, mostly strangers. His eyes set on Monica, who looked just as excited to see him, commenting about her favorite dick before excusing herself silently from Mercury to go plant a rather vivacious kiss on the man.

Mercury was absolutely staring at the man, her gaze all but transfixed on every bit of him that she could see, and doing her best to envision the parts she couldn’t. Swapping on her infrared setting, she used that to try and get a heat map of what was hidden beneath the kimono while everyone else was just as distracted. Monica asked about her wife, and Ruzatz called back through the portal for someone named Agatha, instructing her to leave whatever couple they had been playing with alone to come see to something far more interesting.

“Oh!” came the surprised response from a soft, melodic, and sensual voice on the other side. “Alright, give me a second!” The voice didn’t say as much, but clearly she needed to make herself decent just the same as Ruzatz had.

Mercury couldn’t stop her hands from rising up to her cheeks, pressing against them like a woman that had just been shook to her core with the most wonderful revelation. “Holy shit, it really is a sex guild,” she said softly to herself, her eyes continuing to be wide with wonder at the possibilities, her tone half an octave higher in excitement than she usually spoke. Ruzatz continued to look about the room, wondering aloud if he was at a convention for models with how many good looking people were present. He then quickly apologized for the short burst of magic that had apparently been the culprit for the quick sense of arousal that had flooded through her when he arrived -- and not just her. Several others in the room were looking a little flustered.

A quick suggestion about cold showers was practically slurred into a query about the identities of both Zifu and Wanda, the obvious women in the room to catch any attention off the bat. Mercury was more than a little jealous that he went for them over her first, but frankly they were dressed far more provocative than even she was, and she’d been hanging out relatively in the back this entire time, doing everything she could not to draw attention to herself. Now was certainly the time to do so if she wanted, but she was far too stunned to say anything.

Of course, that all came crashing down at the urgent sound of Mythal’s voice as he demanded that Ruzatz do not open any portals to Kingdom Darkness, which was apparently where Serilda intended on going. That was the comment that broke the camel’s back. The room immediately exploded into chaos with nearly everyone clamoring over one another to try and stop Serilda from following through with the plan. Serilda herself did not respond to any one of them, silently fixing her weapons in place and letting them talk uselessly against the brick wall that was her decision. Mercury couldn’t figure out where to look amongst all the yelling, nor who to listen to. There was so much happening that even she couldn’t keep up with it all, leaving her standing there in a silent and shocked stupor until a loud, piercing whistle rendered the whole room silent.

Ruzatz suggested everyone take a moment to breath, his demeanor continuing to be calm, if a bit more commanding. He turned his focus directly on Serilda, explaining that he could not give her what she wanted, even if he wanted to. He gesticulated some assumptions about the scene around him, including the presence of the Order of Souls and the reason for Serilda’s wanting to go to Kingdom Darkness being something to do with Faera. Unfortunately, the trick he’d used last time to get her there would not work a second time, and he would need at least a decade to find out something else.

So Serilda had been to Kingdom Darkness before? That was news, though not necessarily anything of note to Mercury considering she really didn’t know where the place actually was, nor what it was. He continued to speak to Serilda sternly, but in such a manner as to try and keep her calm, knowing the white haired warrior wouldn’t be pleased with what he had to say. Whatever he had done to help her last time, Faera would have figured out by now that it was him and would have set up measures to counteract similar acts in the future. If she wanted to go there, she would need to get permission from elsewhere. Mercury presumed that meant from Faera or one of her lackeys.

He did, however, offer to find other means to help, provided someone update him on what was happening in the first place. The red headed man was already convinced on the severity of the issue, it seemed, and already of the mindset that it needed his immediate attention.

“Honey, what’s going on?”

In all the chaos and confusion, not even Mercury had noticed the woman step through the portal, revealing a face to the voice they had heard earlier. The Xocili could not keep her jaw from dropping at the utterly stunning redhead that had just joined them. She stood only a couple inches taller than Mercury, with a frame that wasn’t plump but was certainly curvy and a bit vivacious. She was dressed in a pink shirt that had the shoulders cut out of it and had clearly thrown it on over her head without any kind of bra. Covering her bottom was a pair of shorts that she obviously had grabbed in a hurry since it looked like it was actually just a pair of plaid men’s boxers rolled up around her hips so that they hugged her ass in a surprisingly flattering fashion. She had bright amber colored eyes that shone with a bit more innocence than one would think considering the situation she’d just abandoned, and altogether she held herself in the kind of kind and serene demeanor that not anyone could feel threatened by.

She looked a bit concerned, but was doing her best to smile and be pleasant. The expression lifted a bit when she saw Monica. “Hi, baby,” the woman greeted, taking a couple soft steps in her bare feet to move over and give Monica a quick kiss on the lips. Then, she brushed some of her long hair gently behind an ear and looked around a bit sheepishly at the room. “I’m so sorry everyone, I didn't mean to interrupt. I’m Agatha, Ruzatz and Monica’s wife.” Her gaze took in Serilda and Mythal, turning toward them before she really started looking too much around the rest of the room. A great deal of concern crossed her face when she saw the state Mythal was in.

“Serilda… Mythal… are you okay?” She gently made her way over to him like she intended on seeing if she could help him. Silently, Agatha tried to coax the darkness slayer into at least sitting back down so he wouldn’t fall over, as even she could see that he was upset and in no condition to be on his feet. Otherwise, she waited to let others talk and hopefully fill in the gaps for her without her needing to ask as Ruzatz had already done.

Vandrad informed her rather irritably that she needed to get a hold of herself, but Mercury was already too far down the rabbit hole in her mind to do that. She of course new better than to try and get in on anything right at this moment, but she was moving full steam ahead in her planning and scheming, which said a lot for a woman that never really actively sought after sex. But how could she not? Monica was basically Themesycia just a bit more rough around the edges and equally as interested in men as she was women. Ruzatz was beyond handsome and had the confidence to match it, but with a bit of a silly side that somehow just made him even more endearing. It was all she could do to just stare at him as he talked to Serilda, bringing the Voidwalker’s plans to a halt in a way that Mercury really did not care to pay attention to at the moment.

And then Agatha walked in and rocked literally everyone’s world. Anyone who hadn’t met her already did a double take in her direction as she softly spoke up to announce that she was there, apologizing for interrupting. She moved over and gave Monica a kiss much like Ruzatz had done, though it was more sweet and tender than passionate. And Monica wasted exactly zero time in informing the redhead that she had a new friend to introduce her to, pointing almost dramatically at Mercury, who was still standing there with her hands on her face, slightly pulling down on her cheeks with wide eyes at the entire scene before them.

Movement to her side somehow managed to catch her attention, and without taking her hands down from her face she turned to see Vandrad who was absolutely shook. He was so flabbergasted by how attractive Agatha was that for once in his life he felt the need to be the one to point someone how to her, nodding his head in the newcomer’s direction and making absolutely sure they were on the same page. And boy were they. Mercury couldn’t even bring herself to tease him over it. All she could do was nod emphatically in agreement with a soft, “Uh huh,” that only he’d be close enough to hear.

Unfortunately, the reprieve from the tension would last only for a moment before Serilda finally found her voice. Mercury’s gaze flicked over to the woman, where she stood in rigid shock. The Xocili may not have been able to sense emotions, but her radars were more than picking up on the erratic behavior of the woman’s vitals. Serilda may have looked mostly calm and collected on the inside, but the truth couldn’t have been any farther from that. She was overcome with emotion in describing the last few minutes leading into the current situation, her composure cracking in her voice to betray the storm raging inside as she asked those who disagreed with her plan what she was supposed to do.

In her defense, the alternatives she listed weren’t great. Most of them involved sitting and waiting and watching as her fiance slowly died in front of her, a plight that Mercury couldn’t fully empathize with but she did get it. Vandrad may not have been her fiance or even a significant other, but he was still the only person in her entire life that had ever made her feel things that she still couldn’t fully put into words. If anything ever threatened him like Faera was doing now to Mythal, Mercury couldn’t be certain that she wouldn’t react the exact same way.

But then a new sensation hit her, one that she was not prepared for. The room began to tremble like there was an earthquake of some kind, but it wasn’t coming from the ground. In fact, it took her a second to figure out where exactly it was coming from. Her readings of the world around her were going absolutely haywire and she realized that everything in within a several hundred meter radius around them was twisting on an atomic scale, like the very molecules that brought the world together were threatening to burst at the seams. And while she did not feel that happening to herself or anyone else in the room, there was a weird sensation that shot through her veins that told her Serilda very well could obliterate everyone and everything within the span of her magic.

Frankly, it was terrifying. Mercury had come leaps and bounds toward understanding magic and its various applications and uses, but everything she had taught herself was easily categorized into a scientific box, tied up with logic and reason and, more importantly, limitations. She never really felt magic, not like the rest of the world did, and certainly not to this scale. Whatever strength lied within Serilda was beyond a level that Mercury could truly fathom, and her mind was scrambling to come up with something to explain it, only to come up empty. Mercury liked to think that she had become pretty powerful since coming to Earthland and acquiring magic for herself. Between her and Vandrad, there was little on the planet that could stand in their way, or so she had come to believe.

She was wrong. Oh so wrong. In fact, Mercury was now acutely aware of just how powerless she still was. She hadn’t even noticed that she had taken a step back, her instincts screaming for her to put as much distance as possible between herself and the woman that very much looked like she was ready to commit murder. And to be fair, wasn’t that exactly what she was proposing? To slip into Kingdom Darkness and take down this goddess once and for all? Even more frightening was the realization that followed: If Serilda had this kind of people and everyone around her was still arguing that it was a crapshoot at best, what did that say about the strength of her enemy?

Enlightenment struck Mercury then, or at least as much as it could. Gods, Demons… they were not on the same plane of existence as she was. There was something truly unfathomable about what they were dealing with. She had always thought that just meant she simply didn’t understand because she didn’t have a comparison to anything from her own life. It had never occurred to her even once that the incomprehensibility of it was the entire point. She could never find the logic because there was no logic to be found. Serilda herself was already introducing Mercury to a world of thought that she could barely process, and the knowledge that what the woman was proposing to go up against was beyond even what Serilda was displaying… it struck her deep.

It had been a long time since Mercury had truly felt terror. Growing up with the Nazru was an awful existence that had left her scarred, broken, and more than a little desensitized. But they had never scared her like this before. Was Mythal capable of this level of power too? What about the other people recognized by the Council like the two of them were? What about Jadus? What about the demon that had lured her to the totem, the one that wanted her to set it free? What would have happened to her if she had done so? All this time she’d been tangling with forces she truly did not understand, had so many brushes with the unthinkable that she honestly couldn’t be sure how she was still alive.

Then, all at once, a very different line of thinking occurred to her. In fact, she was so caught up in her own head that she really wasn’t even listening to the conversation, even as Mythal railed against Serilda’s plan and tore it to shreds. The only thing that caught her attention on his end was him obliterating the bed he was supposed to be using, causing Mercury to jump almost out of her skin. The Nazru were using Mercury to gather as much information as possible about this planet and its inhabitants in order to prepare her handlers for taking it over much like they had her own world. They knew that technology was starting to flourish here and sought to nip the progress in the bud before it could become too powerful, in order to preserve the organic nature of the universe. She had been on this planet for months, feeding them information and bringing them closer and closer to an invasion.

And once that day came, Mercury was the one these very same people were going to blame.

By the time she tuned back into the conversation, Serilda and Mythal had stopped yelling at each other and Chishan was suggesting everyone go take some time to relax for a while, if only to give the couple some privacy to work out their disagreement. Mercury was mostly in control of herself and hiding her turmoil fairly well, but it didn’t take a lot to see she’d been at least greatly bothered by the verbal altercation that had just occurred. She hadn’t even checked the message Monica had sent her yet. There was far too much on her mind, though at the very least she wasn’t on the verge of a panic attack like she’d been when they first arrived. Granted, that was probably due to shock from her revelations, but still.

It was Ruzatz that pulled her attention a bit more outward as he came forward to introduce himself to the pair that had been relatively silent through the entire last tense few minutes. He introduced himself more formally to them, complimenting Vandrad’s physique in a way that usually would have earned quite the snickering from Mercury. Instead, she simply scrambled to put her focus on shoving her emotions down and using the conversation to bring her back down to earth a little. That was aided greatly by Ruzatz turning his attention to her and taking his hand in her own, giving its back a rather sensual kiss that she couldn’t fully ignore, even in her current state. “Believe me, the pleasure is all mine,” she told him, clearly charmed halfway out of her pants already.

She couldn’t decide where to look more: Ruzatz or Agatha. Both of them were clearly checking out both her and Vandrad, and frankly Mercury had never felt so self conscious. “From the little I’ve interacted with Monica so far, I think she probably has something delicious to say about most people. Not going to lie, I can’t decide if I’m disappointed that she didn’t bring either of you up yet, or impressed that she had the wherewithal to wait to surprise me. We should go get a drink and get to know each other a little better because I’m extremely interested in hearing all about you and this orgy guild of yours.”

As she conversed with Monica and Ruzatz, Agatha turned her attention to Vandrad with a soft but bright smile. “Hi there. You must be Vandrad?” she didn’t offer her name, as Ruzatz had already done so, but she did offer a hand for him to shake. “You are every bit as handsome as your father is. He’s greatly been looking forward to getting to meet you, you know. He hasn’t exactly over talked about it, because he’s more composed than that, but I can tell just by looking at him whenever your name comes up in passing.”

Agatha had a way of talking one on one where the person before her had her complete and undivided attention, her large amber eyes focused with genuine interest and innocence that most people had really never thought was possible. Her voice was soft, her mannerisms gentle but confident as she relayed that Gren had, at least, brought him up in conversation before this day. It didn’t seem like she was going to say more on the subject, either because there wasn’t much more to say or because it wasn’t her place. It was easy to assume that the latter was the more likely option. She was clearly a very respectful person. “I know I still have some catching up to do with everything that’s been happening, but if we have the chance later I'd enjoy getting to chat with you a bit. I’ve been quite interested in meeting you.”

Ruzatz wasn’t very offended by the notion that Monica hadn’t brought her spouses up yet, amused over the fact that the inked woman loved surprises. Apparently, she was a fan of getting a rise out of people. Ruzatz did to, but he happened to be partial to a different kind of rise. He grinned at her and Mercury returned the expression with a knowing one of her own. He wasted no time in getting right to the point that he and his unnervingly beautiful wife would love to have her over for dinner sometime, though he did slip at first and reveal that the true thought was for her to be the main course, so to speak. He had a number of ideas about how they could get to know one another better, as well as how to properly introduce her to the guild.

The lavender haired woman was all ready to reply with a few quips of her own when Gren approached. She was so focused on Ruzatz that she hadn’t bothered to take the time to see who had actually made their way over toward them, so when he spoke up, she was clearly a little surprised to suddenly be face to face with the man that she’d been spending a large chunk of the year trying to track down. He took a moment to greet Ruzatz, the two clearly familiar with one another, before turning to introduce himself to her. Perhaps it was her lingering uncertainty from the rather earth shattering revelation she’d had only a minute or two ago, but Mercury found herself to actually be a little nervous to finally meet the man.

Not that it was written on her face, of course. She smiled a bit impishly, taking the proffered hand and returning the shake. “That’s me. The feeling is mutual. You were an impressively hard man to find, Gren.” Mercury honestly wasn’t sure how much Gren was aware of her involvement in bringing him together with his long lost son. She and Vandrad had never really regaled Serilda or Mythal that it was Mercury who had done a vast majority of puzzle piecing information together, so it stood to reason that he likely believed she had just been along for the ride. And to a point, that was certainly true. But at the very least he had to know that she had been involved in some way, and that the whole reason she was here at all was because of Vandrad himself. She knew he would probably find some time to talk to her more at some point, but as she expected, he apologized and explained that he was hoping to steal his son for a significant time that was long overdue.

Speaking of Vandrad, if Agatha could tell that he was shutting down like a school boy coming face to face with his first crush, she didn’t show it. And the sad thing was, she did notice. Agatha was a very strong empath, so Vandrad’s emotional state was open to her just the same as everyone else’s. But, she was an exceptionally classy woman that knew better than to comment on it. He took her hand and shook it after stammering a confirmation that he was, in fact, the man she assumed he was. Pleased, she gave him a gentle compliment and extended some of her thoughts about his father and the way the man had been eager to make their meeting happen. But, she knew there was a lot going on and people needed time and space to process things on their own, so rather than take up too much of his time she simply let him know that she would honor the opportunity to get to get to know him herself a bit.

She smiled brightly as he more or less agreed, his words a bit jumbled by the intent clear. “Perfect. I’ll catch you later, then, when there’s a little more time to relax.” Gren caught her attention momentarily then, greeting her and giving her a gallant kiss on the hand that did much to lift her spirits from the yelling and tempers that had happened only a moment ago. “Always the charmer,” she told him playfully, giving him a friendly hug and standing on her toes to place a gentle peck on his cheek before leaving with her spouses to allow the three of them to figure themselves out for a while.

Mercury was already trying to figure out what she was going to do. Moving along with Monica, Agatha and Ruzatz was the obvious choice. She couldn’t go with Chishan and Zifu, and she certainly couldn’t stay with Mythal and Serilda. But truth be told, she was a bit of the odd man out right now, the only person present who truly had nothing to contribute to what was going on and no real reason to be with any of them except that Vandrad wanted her there. But she still knew the men would need to talk alone, and she certainly was going to give him that. He’d waited long enough, and she wasn’t going to stand in the way of it.

So it was a genuine surprise, then, when Vandrad agreed but expressed that he needed a minute with her first. Her face scrunched in confusion, even as Gren confirmed that was fine by him and let his son know where he would be waiting. Vandrad took her hand gently like before and led her out in a different direction from everyone else, only stopping when he was sure they were alone with no one close enough to pry. Then, he looked at her and asked with a great deal of care if she was okay.

Mercury was visibly taken back by the question, not having expected him to once again realize that she’d been freaking out. Then again, he was getting very good at that these days, wasn’t he? Vandrad explained his understanding that a lot had happened in a very short amount of time, and much of it had been volatile and upsetting. By his own admittance, even he was having difficulty coming to terms with everything. So he had put it upon himself to check on her and ensure her wellbeing, even in the face of finally getting what he’d been waiting for all his life: the chance to spend time with his father.

Needless to say, she was a bit touched. “I…” she started, not entirely sure what she should say. Mercury wanted to just brush it off and assure him that she was fine, to help him fulfill his duty as her friend and partner so he could leave to go talk to Gren. But it didn’t take longer than a second or two for her to accept that doing such a thing would defeat the purpose of the gesture he was trying to extend to her, and the truth was… “I don’t think I am.” Her shoulders sank a little and she lowered her head slightly, emerald eyes cast to the side. “I can deal with the jump scares, and the sudden movements and the snap surprises, but… Serilda just now…”

Her voice trailed off for a moment as she fought to find some words. When Mercury spoke up again, it was much softer, and more vulnerable than before. “You know I don’t really sense magic like the rest of you do. I can read mathematical outputs and run scanners in my head all day long, extrapolate data from the numbers and compare it to other sources. But that… I felt that. And it was terrifying. My mind just… wanted to shut down. I could barely process it. All this time I’ve been doing my damnest to understand why all of you Earthlanders are so wary or reverant or whatever of gods and demons and stuff and it just… never occurred to me that it was because they don’t make sense. And that’s just Serilda. If she’s that powerful, then what are they truly up against? What did we just get involved in?”

She shifted a bit uncomfortably on her feet, embarrassed to be opening up so much about this, but Mercury had been taking great strides ever since Vandrad found out the truth about what she was to do better about letting him in. “I’m not prepared to deal with something like this. I thought I was, but all of it is way above me, and I don’t really know what to think or how to feel. And honestly, it freaks me out…”

Oh, yeah. Mercury was definitely going after Daddy Sr.

Her comment about the difficulty he had given them in tracking him down was met with a sly smirk that sent a bit of a shiver down her spine, much like it usually did when Vandrad gave her such a look. The difference was that Gren had a few more decades on him to perfect the expression, and boy was it working for her. Mercury immediately understood why Themesycia had hooked up with the guy. He teasingly replied that he prided himself on being a bit of a challenge, which earned him a wicked grin. “Well, how lucky for me, then. I love a good challenge.” Could it have been an innuendo? Probably. She had no idea if he had heard her conversation with Monica or not, though that seemed unlikely with everything else that had been going on. Still, she could sense the teasing nature about him and that, in turn, had drawn it out of her -- and the truth was, Mercury really did love a good puzzle, and finding Gren had been just that for her.

But the quick, playful quips would end about there as the man requested a private audience with his son. Vandrad was certainly eager to join him, but first he made it a point to take Mercury aside and check on her, and despite everything the Silver Wolf Mage elected to make use of that time and be honest with him rather than try to brush any of it aside to rush him along to meet with his father. She explained that she’d just been shaken by the sudden and unexpected revelation of what all the hype was about when it came to gods, demons, and the like, and how Serilda’s display of magic had left her with a resounding sense of insecurity about the situation they had just been brought into.

Vandrad held her hand the entire time she spoke, neither of them having let go upon finding some solitude to discuss the issue. When she finished getting everything off her chest, he nodded and spoke up to explain that the “spiritual awakening”, as he called it, wasn’t something that was going to be easy for anyone. Earthlanders took that kind of understanding for granted because they were shaped to embrace it at a very young age, when they were more impressionable, which meant that she had been at a disadvantage in growing up without that treatment.

Yet, he expressed that he was also unsure about what was going on. They had been given some rudimentary details to get them oriented, but a lot remained to be explained and sadly both of them realized that there was no way they were going to be fully caught up on any of it any time soon. There was a ton of history to unpack, so as much as anyone would try to help guide them along, it was simply going to take time; a fact that both of them disliked. Mercury expressed her uncertainty in moving forward, unsure of what to do. Unsure of what she could do. Compared to a lot of other people in that room, she still truly was a novice that didn’t hold a candle to the likes of Serilda or Mythal, let alone the malevolent enemy they faced.

There was a long silence between them as he quietly considered her words, with her content to just stand there and hold his hand for a moment, her fingers wrapped tightly around his own. When he finally spoke up again, it was to suggest that they could just leave. Her gaze snapped up to him in confusion, and he explained that there wasn’t any reason for them to stay and fight in a battle that wasn’t their own. Neither of them were prepared for this, and frankly they likely couldn’t do much more for Mythal and Serilda than they already had, which was more or less just providing moral support. They could certainly charge ahead with the rest of the group, but it would be without a compass. There was nothing wrong with simply admitting it was beyond them and looking out for themselves.

She must have given him a shocked look, cause Vandrad gave her hand a comforting squeeze and assured her that he did not feel either of the Rune Knights would be upset with them. They were understanding people that didn’t like to impose their problems or troubles on others, and there was no shame in retreating from a dangerous and unknown situation. The only thing Vandrad wanted, the only thing he asked, was that she at least give him enough time to get the meeting with his father that he had been waiting for for so long. He couldn’t leave without getting the chance to speak with him, but once that was done he would leave with her if that was what she wanted to do.

“You know I would never ask you to sacrifice that,” she told him softly, more than a little moved by the care he was showing to her just then. Her free hand shifted almost of its own mind and wrapped itself around the back of his hand, holding the limb in both of her own. The offer was otherwise a bit overwhelming, if in a completely different way than the originating problem had been. Mercury really wasn’t that used to anyone asking her what she wanted, at least not when it came to deeper, more meaningful life situations like this. She couldn’t deny that her instinct very much was to leave and rid herself of the problem, to run away and relieve herself of the burden of the issue and its consequences.

But at the same time, what would that say about her? She didn’t exactly know Mythal or Serilda well enough to endanger her life for them, but she did feel that strongly about Vandrad. Mythal was his brother, a freshly built connection that seemed to have been getting along very well thus far, and surely he cared what happened to the younger man. Furthermore, how much of a strain would that put between him and his father, for one of his sons to essentially abandon the other just because some uninvolved woman was uncomfortable with the situation? Not to mention, Mercury couldn’t deny that this place and these people were a goldmine of information, information that she could very well get in trouble for not reporting. Not that she necessarily cared about that. Mercury had already been questioning a lot of things about her life, and was starting to wonder if some of the people she knew and things she was learning could protect her from the other things that haunted her.

But more than that, she didn’t want to disappoint Vandrad. Just because he was offering to give her an out, and just because he truly intended to honor it, didn’t mean that he wouldn’t be bothered by leaving his brother to fend for himself. Would she really be able to live in peace with being the cause of that? Mercury thought carefully about the situation to decide what she really wanted, not rushing into a decision based solely off of how scared she was.

Finally, she shook her head. “No, I don’t want to leave. As scared as I am, I wouldn’t feel right about doing that. I just… I don’t know that I want to go to that place they keep talking about, if that’s what they wind up doing. Maybe there’s something they can find for us to do here. I have other skills. Maybe they will find those useful if they need help researching or building something. I want to be here, and do what I can to help, even if it’s just something small. I just.. Don’t think that I can be a part of everything. I’d just be in the way.”

It was times like this that Mercury hated Vandrad the most. Times like this where he completely baffled her and threw her off, times where she felt like she was swimming for clarity, moments that were so foreign and deep that they overwhelmed her. Ninety five percent of their relationship was near constant bickering and teasing and picking on each other, always in a playful and well meaning fashion, but the other five percent of the time was the part she never knew what to do with, how to interpret, how to react. She assured him that she would never ask him to let go of something so important to him as finally getting the opportunity to spend time with his father, and his response was to cup her cheek and let her know that there were only a few things he wouldn’t sacrifice for her.

A tightness built up in her chest, the same sensation that occasionally came rearing its head around whenever they got into moments like this. Her cheeks turned a slight shade of pink and she leaned her face against his hand gently. As always, he gave her the time to figure herself out, to think on a deeper level than she was really used to doing and decide what it was she truly wanted to do. And in the end, her decision had been to stay, to do what she could from the sidelines and offer support without getting in the way of the bigger game that she didn’t know how to play and didn’t have the tools to properly navigate. Someplace where she could offer her skills without being in the way.

He told her that she really wasn’t that much more in the way than anyone else involved was, which was… admittedly a fair assessment. Mythal and Serilda seemed to be the only ones with a complete comprehension of what was happening, with everyone else more or less reliant on what they could add on with their own knowledge and what other secrets and unknown information the couple was willing to share. But, nonetheless he agreed with what she asked, assuring her that he was fine participating in more of a secondary role and finding alternate ways to be useful that didn’t involve directly battling a foe far beyond the scope of their current capabilities. Or at least, that he would find ways to be useful while she, more likely than not, would simply find new ways to be a pain in the ass.

That brought a chuckle from her lips, her heart and mind eased by his humor and the delightful little smirk that he always seemed to reserve just for her. “Of course. That’s my most masterful talent, one that I like to think has worked out pretty well for both of us so far. It would be cruel not to share that gift with everyone else, don’t you think?” Mercury grinned up at him, the shit-eating expression laced with only the smallest trace of sobriety from the overall seriousness of the moment.

With the confirmation of their plan out of the way, and everything settled between them, Vandrad finally released her and stated his intentions to finally go have his meeting with his father. He wasn’t sure how long he’d be gone, and just asked that whatever she found to do that it didn’t involve breaking things or drawing negative attention from the Order. Particularly from Zifu, who so far has presented herself as a relatively snippy individual. “Excuse you, between the two of us I’m the one more subtle and less likely to run around like a beast in an antique shop.” She shot him an impish smirk for a moment before shaking her head. “Don’t fret, your highness. I am very much not interested in having this super secret organization’s attention, so whatever I find to occupy myself with I promise I will keep my nose relatively out of trouble.”

That seemed to be good enough for him, and with a final nod he walked past her toward the kitchen were Gren said he would be, leaving her alone for the moment in the hallway. Mercury watched him go, her thumb idly rubbing at the underside of the ring on her finger, as she always did when she was in thought. For a moment she stood there even after he disappeared from view, before sighing gently to herself. While she was greatly interested in being a part of that meeting to sate her curiosity, mostly she was just nervous for his sake, hoping that it went well and that he got what he wanted out of it. Not for the first time since she’d gotten involved in the prince’s life and his mission, Mercury wondered what it would be like to know some of her own family. She’d never get that chance. They were all long gone. But Vandrad… well, she was happy that he could at least have his, and maybe some sense of that fulfillment would rub off on her when it was all said and done.

Now she just needed to figure out what to do with herself. She was all alone with no real place to be. Her first inclination was to go snoop a bit in the labs to see what kind of stuff laid in the open for her to see, but that was where Serilda and Mythal were having their confrontation, so that was a no go. The kitchen was also a bust, cause that was where Gren and Vandrad were. The research that Chishan, Zifu, and Wanda were conducting was certainly a place where she could at least make herself useful, but surely if they were open to help on that they would have invited others to join them. More likely than not, the information they had available to them was data that they were not interested in sharing. A bummer, really. She could release some bugs to go plant themselves for future use, but she had a very strong feeling that they had methods in place for noticing that kind of activity, and she didn’t want to risk being caught in something that was suspicious without better certainty that she could get away with it.

Oh, she had a text message.

Opening the programming up in her head, she found Monica’s message stating that she was going to go fool around with Agatha and Ruzatz, a gathering to which Mercury was more than welcome to join. The Silver Wolf mage raised a brow. Now there was an idea. Did she dare? There was no telling how long Vandrad was going to be with his father, nor how long it would take for Chishan and the others to be ready to gather everyone back up. Vandrad would have quite a number of scolding things to say if he knew, though frankly if Agatha was involved he probably wouldn’t be able to blame her all too hard. If anything, he might be a little jealous. But mostly he would probably just be annoyed and disappointed that she decided to spend her time doing something illicit rather than constructive.

Fuck it. She’d earned a little fun after all this, right? Mercury would do her best to shield Vandrad from the juicier details he’d rather not be aware of anyway, but if he found out about it, well, he’d get over it eventually. Picking up their location on her radar, she made her way over to the room they’d commandeered. Most people would have stopped at the door to cautiously announce themselves or be a little more sensitive about walking in on a precarious situation. But Mercury was far more dramatic than that and loved a good entrance. Besides, she had received several invitations, so it wasn’t like they would turn her away.

So without a single shred of hesitance, Mercury threw open the door and strode in. “Room service! Your dinner has arrived,” she proclaimed, playing off of Ruzatz’s earlier slip of the tongue. Making sure the door was shut securely behind her, she clapped her hands and looked on at the scene before her with a mischievous smirk. “Alright, Vandaddy had elected to leave me unsupervised, which means any trouble I get into is his fault, not mine. His dad asked for an hour. I reckon they will go well over that time, but to play it safe I’m gonna say I have about forty minutes to rock and roll. So, who's hungry? Spoiler alert: It's me.”

Well, this was quite the situation. The three spouses were already rather entangled with one another, or rather Ruzatz was being manhandled by both of his ladies. For a woman who had only engaged with multiple partners at the same time once, Mercury was more than a little fascinated in trying to figure out the logistics of how this was gonna go down with four people. Monica was, unsurprisingly, very excited to see the lavender haired woman enter. Agatha looked up curiously from her task and smiled at her even as Monica confirmed that Mercury was about to tag in. “The more, the merrier!” the redhead expressed. Monica gave Mercury some sense of where to get started and Mercury wasted no time in ripping her clothes off and revealing her own naked, tattooed glory and mosied over to the bottom half of the bed where Agatha was. If she was only giving herself forty minutes, she was going to make the most of it.

Closer to an hour later, Mercury’s part in everything was sufficiently wrapped up and she was feeling much better about herself. Granted she was feeling a little grimy too, but she was able to find a bathroom to at least wipe herself down for now. It would have to do. From the way things stood, it seemed Vandrad was still with Gren in the kitchen, which was a shame cause she really could have gone for a coffee. She didn’t want to interrupt that pow wow, though, so she decided to stay clear. Instead, she wandered over to the living room area and decided to post up there for a while, since it was the only empty space where she wouldn’t be in someone’s way or wandering into someplace she wasn’t allowed to be.

It was a decently sized space with a few couches and, much to her delight, a coffee machine. “Oh fuck yes,” she said, making a beeline toward the machine. Grabbing the biggest mug she could find, she filled it to the brim with the delicious substance and mixed in a little creamer before wandering over to a couch along the back wall where she could see the rest of the room and into the hallway. Taking a seat, she pulled out her tablet and started going through all the information that had been pulled from her earlier searches. There was a lot less there than she wanted, and absolutely nothing at all on the Order of Souls itself, nor the people within it. Whoever these guys were, they were rather good at keeping shit off the radar and that was more than curious to the Silver Wolf mage. She idly wondered if they had anything to do with Patricia, who had equally as little available on her, but with nothing to substantiate that Mercury could only chalk it up as a coincidence at best.

So instead, she started pulling up anything she could find on some of the new bits of information she’d learned in relation to the gods. Or at least, to Faera. There was some decent stuff on the goddess in the deepest, darkest bowels of the lacrinet but Mercury wasn’t entirely certain what was or wasn’t true. There were a number of legends about her, but many of them contradicted one another. Other contradicted the things Mythal and Serilda had been saying, such as Faera supposedly being a goddess of love. That seemed highly unlikely. There were mentions of Kingdom Darkness here and there, but only mentions with nothing substantial about it past the name.

It did bring her down a fairly significant wormhole, however. The search for information on Faera led to more details on the Divines themselves, as well as to their demon counterparts known as the Prime Sins. Most of the information continued to be legend and speculation at best, and even the sites she could find that listed comprehensive charts only had bits and pieces of information. There were ten Divines and seven Primes, each with their own corresponding attribute that seemed to be played on virtues and vices, as well elemental domains they supposedly controlled. A few of them had names associated with them, such as Faera, but most of them didn’t even have that. Most of the names that were available were primarily within the list of Divines, she noted. Humanity seemed to be more educated on gods that demons. In fact, there was only one name associated with any of the demons and he wasn’t even one of the Primes, he was just an emissary of sorts by the description. Some guy called Arthas that was said to occasionally crop up every once in a while to do some work for the Prime Sin of Wrath, whoever that was.

There was some speculation as to the hierarchy of the Divines and Sins as well, some debate as to which ones were more or less powerful or influential than others. As far as Mercury could tell, most of it was hearsay and debate among a very small handful of religious enthusiasts over the years, so there was nothing that she really considered concrete, but at least it was something to go off of. The more she read, the less she liked. Overall, people held Faera as one of the stronger of the Divines, though the general consensus simply placed her in the top three. What was actually the scariest to her was the occasional mention of an eleventh goddess called Ataxia. There was absolutely nothing on her except a name, given by an even smaller representation of the religious community that seemed to think she was the most dangerous of the entire pantheon, yet almost everyone else decried that the goddess didn’t even exist and was merely a legend, like some kind of bump-in-the-night, evil unicorn story to scare children into behaving. Hopefully that much was true.

Her foray into the spiritual lasted for quite some time, turning up a few new bits of information that she hadn’t found in her previous searches. It was amazing what a couple better keywords did to help with such things. But she still wasn’t getting as many details and she would have liked, and it was more than a little maddening. After a while she simply had to accept that the web wasn’t going to come through for her on everything she hoped for in that field. Putting the tablet down and refilling her cup of coffee, she took a look around the room. The coffee table had a few magazines on it, one of which looked like it was the newest edition of the Sorcerer’s Magazine. Smirking to herself, she pulled the booklet up and flipped through it to find her and Vandrad’s segment. The Silver Wolf ace had a delightful chuckle over how it had turned out and couldn’t wait to show it to her irritable partner.

She lazily looked through the rest of the magazine for a few minutes before boredom set in. Mercury disliked few things more than not doing something productive with herself, and this was starting to turn into a long wait for something to happen, or at least for other people to clear up things they were doing to save her from her isolation. She was starting to get antsy. Glancing over, she noticed a bookshelf and zoomed her focus in on it, reading the titles from afar. They were exceptionally old books for the most part, many of them more like tomes than anything else. Quite a number of them interested her based on what their titles seemed to claim the content was, but there was one that caught her attention more than the others.

Despite the fact that her sensors should have been more than enough to ensure she was alone, Mercury took a quick glance around to make sure she didn’t see anyone nearby. These books were just sitting out in the open, so that meant they were available to be read, right? She didn’t see any reason she would get in trouble for looking through them. Wandering over, Mercury picked the book up and flipped through it for a moment, just to make sure the content was what it seemed to be: a detailed history on the Order of Souls. When she confirmed that it was, she made her way back over to the couch and got set to reading it. Maybe now, she would start to get somewhere...

Thanks to her computerized genetics, Mercury was able to get through the book relatively quickly. That, and the fact that she was really only skimming it. If she could just get a look at every page, she could easily store that information away to dissect more deeply later down the line thanks to her optic lenses and her ability to upload things into her mind via sight. The tome didn’t necessarily seem to reveal too much more than Chishan already had done earlier, but it certainly gave the story in greater detail. A bunch of humans got together after deciding they were done being picked on and enslaved by gods and demons and decided to stand up to them. The first round went about as well as such things did, with the entire group being wiped from the face of the earth.

But that, in turn, had sparked many more humans to rise up and ensure the sacrifice wasn’t made in vain. One of the head organizers of this was a man called Marka, who was one of the founding members of the Order of Souls, which was formed to be like shield to protect humanity against the supernatural forces. But, that wasn’t good enough for Marka, and eventually he turned on the Order after failing to convince the group that the best strategy was to instead steal the power of the gods and demons for themselves. A rather large sect of people agreed with him, and together they launched a coup that decimated the Order and destroyed it.

In fact, it seemed the only reason any of the loyal Order members survived was because the rift in ideologies didn’t mean that people on either side didn’t care about one another, and so the members of what would eventually become known as the Dread Masters let many of their defeated kin live, swearing them to leave the Order behind. Mercury had rolled her eyes pretty heavily there. Mercy wasn’t exactly the way to get a job done, and clearly the Dread Masters failed at their goal given where Mercury currently was. But, the perceived death of the Order had been advantageous to its remaining members, who continued to serve in secret, despite their oaths.

The Order’s focus after that was to bring the Dread Masters down. There sadly was not a ton of information about the Dread Masters themselves in the tome. Some confirmations of a few deeds related to their campaign against gods and demons, but little of substance. Most of what was referenced was simply the war between the two groups that ultimately resulted in the full resurgence of the Order, who defeated the Dread Masters once and for all.

It was quite the interesting read, and from her skimming she could see there were details of a lot more events related to campaigns and actions that the Order took part in throughout the years. There was even some information containing speculation that the Dread Masters might have survived, even giving a possible locale, but no evidence had been procured. Mercury flipped through every last page, uploading them into her head and tucking it away to study and analyze in depth later, but since there were a number of other books on the shelf that she wanted to take a look at she felt it best to simply get as much as possible scanned while she could.

Other books in the unit contained more information on the Divines and Sins, solidifying a great deal of information that she had picked up in her own searches and even giving her a bit more than had been available online. After she finished through that book, she grabbed a couple others at random and simply flipped through without stopping to actually read anything, just soaking in as much information as possible. The hour that Gren had asked for with Vandrad had already passed and gone a little over, which meant she didn’t know when Vandrad was going to come looking for her again. Granted if she told him what she was doing, he’d probably leave her be for as long as they could get away with, but that conversation likely wouldn’t be too feasible once there were others around.

She figured that time had come when she sensed one of the two figures leaving the labs and going toward the kitchen. Considering Mythal was bed ridden, Mercury assumed it was Serilda. If the Voidwalker was moving about then the two of them had probably figured their shit out one way or another. Figuring that she’d gotten most of what she wanted out of the books anyway, she put everything back, grabbed one last fresh cup of coffee and headed over toward the lab. She entered pretty quietly, not sure if Mythal was asleep or still upset or not. But as her eyes found him, he appeared to still be awake, if more exhausted. But the readings of his vitals had more or less evened out, indicating to her that he at least wasn’t actively upset anymore.

“Hey there, stranger,” she greeted him in the playful tone she always had, though there was some gentleness to it that betrayed her slight awkwardness in not knowing if it was a bad time or not to be around. “Feel free to tell me if I need to stay fucked off. I don’t wanna get in your space or anything. Just… honestly a bit bored. Was hoping to poke around the lab here a bit and see what kind of tech they’re working with.”

Presuming he told her it was fine, she’d step into the room fully and start looking around, careful not to touch too much or necessarily look like she was snooping so much as just being interested in the set up of their hardware -- something the Order would surely figure would be of interest to her, given her status as an Ace with Silver Wolf. The first thing she picked up was the paper that Zifu had printed for Serilda earlier. While the numbers and charts had meant nothing to the Voidwalker, the paperwork was well up Mercury’s alley, more than a little eye opening to how exactly it was that they were able to compute and translate the readings into mathematics.

Of course, she wasn’t going to just ignore Mythal while in the room, either. That would be a little weird. Granted the whole situation was weird, but better to address it rather than let it linger. “So uh… I know it ain’t really my business, but… you two gonna be alright?” Though she was still wandering casually about the room looking at the various readings and measurements being displayed and run on the screens around them, Mercury did take a moment to cast a glance at him, a look that told she was genuinely interested in wanting to know if the two had managed to work themselves out. She really didn’t plan on prying much more than that, knowing that there would be more than enough time to see the results of whatever talk they had during whatever would happen next, but she figured it wouldn’t hurt for him to feel like someone was checking on them.

Well, he said he was okay. Whether or not that was true or he was just saying it to be polite was up for debate -- Mythal was one of the few people that Mercury had never really been able to get a read on when it came to lying. But, he did seem to be okay and seemed to empathize a bit with her plight regarding finding things to do. The bed ridden man advised that usually he would encourage her not to dig her nose too much into things, but apparently his curiosity was enough that he simply wanted to know if she came across anything of interest. She shot him an impish grin. “Why, Director Ragnos. Are you encouraging me to invade privacy?” It was admittedly good to see him in somewhat better spirits, even if shit was still pretty real and just in a state of limbo more than anything else.

After she had finished her scan of the document Zifu had printed, she began to slowly wander about the room and take a closer look at the machines in the area themselves, inquiring to the darkness slayer as to if he and Serilda were going to be alright. Mercury mostly kept her hands to herself, careful not to touch anything that looked too important. However, that didn’t stop her from analyzing all the hardware with her eyes, passively scanning them with varying levels of her vision settings to essentially upload blueprints of the machines into her head without being invasive or setting off any alarms. Since this was a skill she had from her biology that didn’t require the use of magic, the most suspicious she might look to anyone was simply staring at screens that were out in the open to see what was there.

Mythal informed her that he and Serilda would be alright. It was just a complicated and emotional situation, one that he believed they both had handled a little poorly. But even then, his only true lament seemed to be that it had happened in public. He wouldn’t have been too upset if it had just been in front of her and Vandrad, Gren, or even Ruzatz and Agatha, but outside of that everyone present was strangers. While Chishan was a buddy, that friendship had been from long ago and at this point they really were only a step above strangers, and this wasn’t exactly the way he would have asked for that kind of reunion to go down. Mercury nodded her soft understanding. “I hear you. That kind of shit can be embarrassing, and at least with a few of us you know that we know you well enough to be able to say this isn’t the norm for you two. With everyone else, well… Either they’ll figure it out in the end or they won’t, and I like to think that’s a pretty telling sign of whether or not they’ll be worth much after all this.”

She shrugged a little, her view on the matter pretty black and white. Mercury made it a habit to not care about most people’s opinions of her. In fact, the only ones she did care about were pretty much restricted to Vandrad and his family. They’d gone out of their way for her in a number of ways that they hadn’t needed to, and to this day a lot of that behavior was… well, difficult for her to process and accept. She was doing better, but it was just a fact that she wasn’t used to healthy relationships of any kind and didn’t know what to do with them. Mythal and Serilda were starting to work their way onto that list. She certainly liked them on a personal level. But, she really didn’t know enough about them and most of their interactions thus far had been more polite than anything else. There hadn’t really been any moments of deeper connection like she’d had with Vandrad, or even his mother or uncle.

Then the million dollar question came up: Mythal sat up a little in his bed, glancing toward the door where Chishan and Zifu had run off with the doctor as if trying to ascertain if they were nearby or not. Then he asked her what she may have found while out and about in the other open parts of the complex that they had been given the greenlight to roam. Mercury flicked her gaze over to him out of the corner of her eyes, peering at him slightly for his correct guess that she’d been snooping more than just within this room. Then again, it wasn’t that much of a stretch to think she’d be the type, being from Silver Wolf and being in charge of their Scholar department. Mythal explained that up until today, they had known absolutely nothing about this group, not even a name.

Perhaps a bit too innocently, Mercury also glanced around as if to make sure they were alone. “Found a few things. Not as much as I’d like,” she told him, lowering her voice a tad and slowly working her way closer to him while continuing to examine the machines and papers that were lying about the room. “There was a small shelf of books over in the living room area. I figured I wouldn’t have enough time to get through all of them, but I nabbed the ones that looked most important and took the time to scan the pages and make some digital copies of them.”

By now, Mythal was more than aware that Mercury was a bit of a tech guru, even if he didn’t know she had magic or that she was an alien. Or rather, she presumed he had no idea she was essentially a cyborg, because how would he have possibly figured that out? But, he would know that she at least was more than proficient with a number of high tech gizmos, so the knowledge that she had taken time to make electronic copies of entire books probably wouldn’t be too much of a surprise for him. “They're still being processed and analyzed, but I managed to skim some more interesting details. One of the books I got seemed to be a history of the Order of Souls. The betrayal Chishan mentioned was by one of the founding members, some guy named Marka. While the Order just wanted to play defense for humanity against the gods and whatnot, I guess this guy believed they should be more aggressive in hunting their enemies down and even stealing their powers for their own.”

“According to the book, Marka convinced a large chunk of the Order to break off and follow him after attempting to put the Order down. Called themselves the Dread Masters. Bit of a pretentious name if you ask me. Anyway, there was a bit of back and forth cause the Order never really died, and as far as the book is concerned the Masters were wiped out. There was record of a few rumors that the Masters resurged in somewhat recent years but no evidence to back it up.”

By the time she wrapped up the history of the Order of Souls, she was standing only a few feet away from Mythal, gently sliding a couple papers around that were sitting out on a desk. She barely looked at each one for more than a second or two before slipping them back into the exact spot they’d been in before she got to them. “Outside of that, there were some books on the Divines and the Prime Sins, which I guess are like… demon gods or something. Not sure how that works. There were a few mentions of Faera in there but not much more than you guys already discussed. I scanned a few other books but in the interest of getting as much as possible while I had the chance, I focused more on scanning quickly rather than getting too much into the content. I should have more in a bit, once the processing is done.”

Granted, by then they probably wouldn’t be alone anymore. Mercury was highly advanced and could churn through a lot of information at an insane speed, but even she still needed time to analyze everything that she’d uploaded, particularly when she was still secretly doing so as she poked through the room. She didn’t mention her research into the Seals, mostly because she wasn’t entirely sure if that Lux guy was still around and how he or Mythal would feel about her poking into things that specifically related to them. “My real question I’d like to get some answers to is how a supposed queen is mixed up in all this, and where the hell her country or people are located. I ran some searches and haven’t come up with anything that tells me who she is or where she comes from. Rather lofty title for someone that doesn’t seem to actually exist.”

While she didn’t say it in so many words out loud, she knew Mythal would catch on her to her meaning: Zifu was more than a little suspect to her. Everyone left a footprint on the lacrinet somewhere. Hell, even Patricia had some shit on her, just all the juicy shit was missing. If there was absolutely nothing on someone out there, then that only meant that someone had put a lot of time and focus into making sure that information was missing, which usually meant there was something worth hiding. Mercury would very much like to know what that information could be. The Order of Souls wasn’t a kingdom, so why was there a queen so deeply integrated into the goings on that she practically seemed to be the second in command? Particularly when there was no mention in the history book about the Order being associate with a kingdom or an empire of any sort. Lots of questions, and not enough answers.

But she intended on finding out more soon enough. She just needed to exert a little patience to find the right time to strike.

Well, he was at least feeling well enough to joke with her, stating that he wasn’t openly inviting her to snoop so much as not telling her not to. She couldn’t blame him. He had to be just as curious as she was about this mysterious organization, if not more considering the Order had made it a point to get directly involved in his life. Mythal did seem to agree with her assessment that the argument happening in front of everyone else was surely a bit embarrassing but didn’t necessarily mean much in the long run. Either people would understand or they wouldn’t, and how they reacted would reveal what they were worth. He admitted that he wasn’t really looking to make nice with the group anyway, the only real interest being that it never hurt to have connections to people with as much knowledge as they obviously did.

“That’s certainly something to consider.”  Mercury went about her business, taking in all the information she could get her hands on, figuring that was about where the conversation was likely going to end. Instead, she was surprised when the man opened up to her a bit. He told her that he used to hate basically everyone, which was mostly by his own choice but not entirely. He brought up the name Archimedes, one that Serilda had mentioned previously during her tirade, saying that the man had been genetically predisposed to loathe everything in the world of light, as all residents of Kingdom Darkness were. Being a descendant as such, Mythal was apparently no different. Gren and an uncle were about the only people he could stand, but after Gren had died Mythal had completely withdrawn from society for the most part. He had gotten better about addressing it once he understood that it was genetic, but that didn’t make the struggle any easier most days.

But no matter what, at the end of the day he wasn’t going to let the incident leave people with the wrong idea about the kind of person that Serilda was. The Voidwalker had been there for him during times when he couldn’t be there for himself, and if anyone planned on getting on her case for the loss of temper, he planned on snapping back at them. No matter what, it seemed the power couple had one another’s backs. While Mercury and Mythal had gotten along fairly well from the start, it was certainly the deeping exchange of words either of them had ever had. She certainly appreciated the perspective and information, though it did spark a few questions. “Archimedes… that was one of the names Seri mentioned, right? Is that your birth dad, then..?”

Perhaps a sensitive question, but Mythal had been the one to open up the conversation and frankly if Mercury was going to be involved with all of this like she clearly already was, it stood to reason that he probably wouldn’t blame her for asking for some clarification. They had said that Mythal’s biological parents were a human and an angel. If Serilda had supposedly robbed a man named Archimedes of his divinity, as she claimed, then it stood to reason he was an angel… and if Mythal felt the need to mention Archimedes, specifically, in the conversation about inherited genes, then it seemed a pretty simple puzzle. But at the same time, Mercury didn’t like to make assumptions, not when she could cut right past the theories and get the truth.

Presuming he confirmed the matter for her, she would nod her understanding softly. Then, in a rare moment of her own she told him, “I never knew my dad. Or my mother for that matter. Both of them died not long after I was born, but… I can’t imagine it feels too good to have them treat you like they don’t give a rat’s ass about you.” It was the most Mercury had ever said about herself to anyone but Vandrad, and while it wasn’t exactly the spilling of any great secret or revelation about the woman’s life, it was still something more personal than she’d ever divulged before, always having been quite adept at dodging questions about herself. But clearly, parents were a bit of a more sensitive subject for her. After all, she had gone out of her way to help Vandrad find his own long lost father, and now here she was opening up a bit herself, if only slightly, in regard to the topic of parents.

Luckily they didn’t linger on the subject for too long as Mythal inquired about what she may or may not have found while left to her own devices. Mercury gave the man a brief overview of what Chishan had explained before, but with a few more details. He agreed that the Dread Masters’ name was leaning a bit into the field of compensation, but otherwise remained silent as she passed a bit of the information along. Once she was done, Mythal was less than thrilled over the idea of two organizations running around, a sentiment in which they were in agreement -- though Mercury was arguably more curious and interested at the idea than exasperated by it like Mythal seemed to be. It only made sense. He was a Rune Knight so the knowledge of such groups probably just meant more work for him and Serilda.

He did have some more information about Faera, however, and the things Mythal was willing to share clarified a few things for her and confirmed some of what she’d skimmed from the books. Supposedly, Faera had once been a goddess devoted to love, and that according to legends she didn’t used to be this dark and malicious. She took her place in Kingdom Darkness to supposedly save her brethren from the fate of its effects, thinking that she could suppress the realm’s nature and keep it from interfering with the rest of the world. As Mythal stated, she had obviously been wrong. “Sounds like she bit off more than she could chew,” Mercury remarked, her tone betraying a similar mindset of not really feeling too much pity or empathy for the goddess when it was her own choices and actions that led her down her current road.

Mercury was in the middle of bringing up her queries about Zifu when a couple of the others trickled into the room, most notably Gren, Vandrad, and Serilda. Knowing it was them approaching, she hadn’t felt the need to cut her commentary off. It was Gren that wound up answering her, stating that Vandrad himself had put that puzzle together, naming some country by the name of Baramethia, a small country to the south that considered itself heavily spiritual. Mercury wasn’t entirely sure what that meant, though her assumption was that the people likely were devoted to things like gods. Apparently, Vandrad’s uncle found himself there at some point and got to know the woman more intimately. “Let me guess: Dear old Simon?” she asked the prince with an amused look, clearly being able to guess who the possible culprit could be between the two uncles that she was aware of.

The prince corrected his father’s use of a nickname at him, stating that he already got enough of that from Mercury herself, whose face once again split into a small, shit eating grin as Vandrad passed water out to Serilda and Mythal. The bedridden Rune Knight teased that Van was certainly better than what Mercury usually referred to him as. “You boys are gonna need to be a lot more specific. I call Princy-Poo here quite a number of things. It’s getting him to admit that he likes it, that's the tricky part. He’s quite insistent on abusing me.”

Grinning from ear to ear, she took up her periodic stance of practically lounging on the prince with one arm draped casually on his shoulder as she fixed her gaze on his father. “Speaking of, when are you going to get some of this?” she asked, waving towards Gren’s facial hair with the arm that was propped on the prince’s shoulder. “Cause not gonna lie, I’m all in favor of it.” Was she hitting on Vandrad’s father right in front of him? Oh, absolutely. If anything, the prince likely had been expecting this behavior sooner or later, and would have thought it odd for her not to lay some charm on the older man. After all, she openly flirted with the rest of his family, too, and Vandrad was practically a carbon copy of his father.

Serilda spoke off of Vandrad’s comments regarding the water, stating that the base itself seemed a bit rudimentary for such a long standing group, and that was when Lux decided to reappear, stating rather openly that this wasn’t the Order’s main base of operation. He had shown himself as quick as the last time, though this time around he’d put more effort into ensuring that no one at all sensed him before his arrival, including Mercury. The mecha slayer eyed the Seal carefully now that she had the chance to do so, taking in his appearance and his stance. She noticed his face looked like he had a mask or something sewn onto it, though it moved and behaved like it was flesh. At least, as much as a body made of light could do so.

He and Mythal exchanged a few words, with the Rune Knight voicing his surprise that the Seal had returned rather than gone back into hiding. Lux protested the accusation, stating that Mythal wasn’t giving him enough credit when it came to caring about the mortal’s wellbeing. After all, their souls were connected, so if something happened to Mythal then Lux was either stuck for a while finding a new host or getting sucked into doing Faera’s bidding. While he was all about Faera’s end goal as a herald of an apocalypse, he wanted to do his job on his own terms, not hers. He had quite the glib vocabulary, one that Mercury, at least, appreciated. She was probably the only one, but that was hardly anything new.

They caught up on the current state of things a bit, with Mythal thanking Lux for his attempt to relay a warning. The Seal advised that he would have done it sooner, but he had been too busy trying to fight the dark infection back and even managed an apology for it almost not being enough. It was an interesting conversation for two people that Serilda had claimed not too long ago didn’t get along very well. They were certainly being quite civil to each other, but it was entirely possible that was just a result of the stressful situation.

When pressed about where Lux had run off too, the Seal explained that he’d been snooping, likely in the areas that Mercury hadn’t figured out how to get to yet without getting in trouble. Apparently, he hadn’t heard about the Order of Souls before and he wanted information of his own, though he had means to go about it differently than Mercury did, referencing her specifically as a fourth wheel. The Xocili had been on Earthland long enough to know the slang was a method of indicating a person as being an extra element in an otherwise romantic unit of people. Had he been spying on her little session with Ruzatz, Agatha, and Monica? That dirty dog… A sly grin slowly spread across her lips as she gave him an impish, knowing look. “Who, me?” she asked him innocently, clearly not put off by the cryptic exposure that no one but the two of them would fully understand.

The Seal went on, explaining that he poked around in the lower levels that no one else had been able to get to yet, and while there was plenty of interest down there, there was little of substance. This lead him to believe that this place, whatever it was, was a temporary holding. Around this time the Lusty Titans members came back in, with Monica drawing attention to themselves in pointing out Lux’s existence, which then drew Ruzatz’s interest. The red headed man approached Lux and gave him a look over before ultimately stating that he’d expected something a little more flashy.

Lux stood there for a long time, his mouth opening and closing as he attempted to come up with something quippy to say before relenting, stating that there was little for him to insult with a man as handsome as Ruzatz was. That, and apparently they were nearly half-brothers? Mercury frowned a bit pensively at that. Did that mean that Ruzatz was something like Mythal was? Like a half celestial of some kind? She watched with interest as the two bandered back and forth briefly, with Mercury unable to tell if they were fighting or building up to a fuck. Ruzatz even tweaked Lux’s nose, earning him an amused snort from Mercury.

Moving past the gesture, Lux stated that he had kept himself busy along with the rest of them, if in a different fashion, and the result had been that he had a lot of questions for the Order. He certainly wasn’t alone. Mercury had questions of her own, but she preferred to get those answers without having to ask directly. The sleuth in her was slightly annoyed that Lux had managed to infiltrate the place undetected before she could, but there was little she could really hold against him there. He was literally made of light, and that meant he could probably get into places much easier than she could. Mercury was itching to know what he had found, but opted to remain the silent observer, knowing that someone else would probably ask and thus keep the attention off of herself.