“Please, don’t try to fight.” she said, transforming her hands into caltrops and spinning them slowly, menacingly. “You’ll stay alive, but only if you leave and tell your leader nothing of this.”

“He’ll find out pretty quick that you murdered the whole Arcana.” I replied, my fear setting in. I felt like I was going to die.

She was indeed young. She was in the simplest sense, a child made of green slime. But she also had a murderous intent for all she was assigned to kill. That being the monks. We were not planned to be here. We were not on her kill list. So perhaps she was showing us mercy?

“You can leave, or your bodies can join them.” she said, speeding up her spinning caltrops.

I wouldn’t risk our lives on this. If she wished to show us mercy, I’d accept.

“Then we will leave.” I spoke, my nervous breath producing steam in the immensely cold underground icebox we stood in.

“Well met then.” she smiled, returning to normal. “Let’s hope we meet again on better terms, bonelings.”

Her legs turned into a cone of amorphous shape, and she slid past us, into the mirror. I was pretty sure what would happen next, and I wasn’t gonna stick around and wait for her to return.

“Let’s go.” I gulped, ushering the others to follow. Not that they needed it, we all wanted to get the fuck out.

We went back the way we came, back up the stairs. I saw that when we reached the top, Sal was wearing a new accessory. I sighed.

“You stole a dead person’s cowl?” Selene asked in disbelief. Suddenly any sympathy I had for Sal’s story he’d just told went out the window.

“Yeah, it looked cool.” he confessed, shrugging.

“Good lord, why not just steal their bracelets and tattoos too…?” I said, shaking my head.

“I guess it’ll disguise him from another surprise photo-op, let him keep it.” Selene whispered to me.

“I heard that.” the ex-hero said sternly.

Indeed, it did hide his drugie face from the paparazzi. We slid through the lobby and out into the car with no problems. Gale was waiting for us, doing her nails during the wait.

“Wow, you’re back fast, pumpkins! Patriarch all sorted out?” she asked as we got in.

There was some silence. Honestly, I was considering not saying a word about the fact that our entire alliance with the Arcana had now concluded due to them all being murdered by a little girl, but then again, would Squizm really be able to find out if we said anything?

Probably. Eh, I’d just wait until the rest figured it out the hard way. Hope lying wouldn’t cost me my job.

“Yeah, it was good. Almost forgettable to be honest.” Selene replied before I could say something similar.

“Nice robe, Sal, it suits you!” Gale said chattily, blissfully unaware. “Did they let you borrow it?”

“Nah, I got to keep it. It’s a gift since I’m new.” he replied, without his usual flair. Technically the truth too, quite a good lie. I also now totally knew Sal’s ‘tell’ and would certainly abuse this in the future.

“Well, since y'all are acting so odd, we could stop in town and buy us some coffee and donuts, maybe a dozen for the workplace? That always lightens the mood.”

“Nah, I just feel like I wanna get home. Too cold out here.” I replied as the little fucking introvert I am. I’m such a quirky goofball, right? Hahahaha!

Laugh.

It was around an hour later. Unlike on the drive over, it was strangely quiet. But for completely different circumstances than one would think, unbeknownst to Gale.

I thought about why TUHF had even sent the child in to kill the Patriarch. There would certainly be repercussions after such a power figure in the villain world suddenly vanished. Fighting the Patriarch’s bronze form was practically impossible, but his more vulnerable form only needed oxygen to fuel him for months. It was kept safely in an undisclosed location only known to a handful of people. Those people I presumed to be dead.

But Squizm had obviously gotten to that form, and escaped I’d guessed since we were the only ones capable of putting up anything close to a fight in the area.

What did TUHF want with the Patriarch? I suppose they could have just wanted to dispose of a villain, but to be honest, the only thing the Patriarch could be accused of truly was harboring fugitives, and a general cult following. It didn’t really harm anybody, certainly not with a crime worthy of the death penalty. And I doubt she got anything from straight up killing him.

Another question though which was more daunting. Why did she let us go?

“Stop the car. Pull over.” I said immediately. The highway was largely unpopulated, save for a couple cars that sped the other direction or past us. But one car… One car was following us. A black SUV. They always meant trouble. I’d never seen a normal citizen own a black SUV. Oh, wait, we own a black SUV. We were literally in it.

Gale did as I said and pulled off on an exit. She knew better to question why, because danger was always following us.

We were on a small road that led into a secluded neighborhood. Around twenty miles away from Avernus.

Sure enough, the black sedan followed us on the exit ramp, but then it drove past us, probably realizing we’d figured something out. But then it parked.

I heard faintly a noise, the window was rolling down. For a split second I saw the pistol emerge from the window, and then the next there was shattered glass all over the front seat. The bullet luckily only shattered the front window, not hitting us, but we wouldn’t stick around to get another in our skulls.

Gale yelped as we all hurried out the vehicle and clamoured to our feet. Someone was trying to kill us, and I’m pretty sure I knew who they worked for.

“Pleased to see you, Ms. Bluejay.” a figure in a cheap suit and tie said, ushering the heroine to sit down in a metal chair.

“Oh Rodrigo, you are making me blush.” Bluejay smiled, taking a seat, folding her blue feathery wings behind her.

“Really?” the man perked up.

“No. Tell me about the shit so I can go save some kittens or something.” she demanded, rolling her albanistic, catlike eyes. They were not beautiful or graceful like a feline though, they were just eerie, just the right amount of unsettling on her otherwise gorgeous face.

Rodrigo sighed, looking around his dank office. It was hardly pretty, like it was practically a sewer and built in the 1930s. “Project Alaska is going along well. We have-”

“And what is that?” Bluejay interrupted.

“Well, me and the boys were out drinking last night and since you said the ‘cargo’ is going to Alaska, we thought to name it-”

“Could you not be fucking retarded for one minute, Rodrigo? Now, tell me, is the bus actually on its way to His base, or not?”

“Yeah, I sorted it out. You don’t have to get angry about it.”

“For real? You actually sorted it out?” she said in disbelief.

“The bus is on it’s way.”

“Glad to have some competence from you for once. Maybe I’ll join you for drinks tonight, but it’ll have to be here.” she said, seductively licking her lips.

“Because you can’t be seen outside with us, right?” he said, sweating.

“That too, but I think I’ll be too tired to leave the warehouse.” Bluejay sighed, showing skin. She turned, fluttering her massive wings. “Go on, indulge.”

He did as instructed, removing his shirt.

Rodrigo thought he’d gotten it lucky, so he got up and approached her, laying his grimy hands on her pale arms, she was too beautiful for him, he knew it. But then he was floored.

Literally, she sweeped his legs out from under him, knocking him to the floor. Was this supposed to happen?

“I hope you don’t mind, but your life is meaningless to me now.”

She looked at his neck, covered in hair. Soft hair… such a soft tender neck. He said not a word, but she saw his heart, he wouldn’t need that either if he was already dead. Of course it’d be a waste of a fresh body, but, oh, what if he talked?

She couldn’t let anyone talk. Perhaps she’d do this four times over for all of his friends too, just to be safe. Perhaps that’d satisfy her for a bit. Perhaps.

Bluejays are such fickle creatures.