HERA

The slice came so fast that Hera didn’t hear the wind cut through the air until she saw snippets of her hair on the ground. A moment later, she found herself on her rear. A former ally stood over her, emitting pure menace.

She dropped the Ora Charms, and Zeta kicked them away. The disorder caught the attention of the entire street.

“What the hell is wrong with you!” Hera yelled.

“That name,” he said, “you’re a fan?”

She gulped with pure terror, which she realized she had done a lot recently. At the rate she was going, she’d swallow the entire emotion by next week. The following words came out meekly. “Are you not?”

His body was so tense it might have solidified given time. Zeta sheathed his sword and turned away. “That’s the end of the rope. I’ve had enough. I’m done with you, and I’m done with Aspic. I’m not sure if this city can be healed.”

Then she received a gift mailed four days late. Zeta was walking away. He was leaving, permanently. The anger in his voice was genuine; this was no joke. In a moment, he would turn the corner. He would be gone. That’s what she wanted on day one.

Before he vanished, Hera leaped to her feet, slammed him with Neural Flash, ran up and pushed him into the alley.

Zeta reached for Black Meridian, and she knew, in this case, he might strike her with it.

“Wait! Stop!” she cried out.

He halted just as the edge of the blade froze hairs away from her throat. She wondered if he would have completed the cut had she said nothing. “What!” he yelled.

“I lied! I’m sorry, I lied! I wasn’t sure how you were going to react if I told you the truth, yet I didn’t expect that reaction either.”

Zeta backed off, taking deep breaths to calm himself down. “You lied? Hera, why would you lie to me at this stage? It’s bad for business.” He tensed, analyzing the gleam off the jagged edge of his sword, “and bad for human decency too.”

“To protect both of us.”

“That’s vague. You know what? Never mind.” He started for the street again and picked up the displaced Ora Charms. “Then why do you have such vile things?”

Hera took a deep breath. She needed to ready both herself and her partner, so the world didn’t explode. “Balder Rex made me an offer.”

She went through the gist of what Terrent and Marc had told her, all without mentioning the sources themselves. She still didn’t want Zeta pursuing them.

“A Divinity booster?” Zeta handed Hera the Ora Charms. “Hera, I’m sorry for snapping like that earlier, and just so you know, no I would not have killed you.”

“That’s good to hear…”

“You can make use of these things if you want, but I want absolutely nothing to do with them.”

“Zeta, if what my sources say is true, then you need these. If you want to be an alpha beast in the changing Sigma World, this will help. They may make your goal realistic.”

“No, if they were made by Magnus Ora, I’d rather burn them all.”

“Why! Okay, if you want to ignore the charms, fine, but tell me why–”

Zeta raised his voice. “Because Magnus Ora was an abhorrent, depraved creature who nearly annihilated the beauty of mankind! Anything and everything about his name and legacy should be considered repugnant, a blight on humanity!”

Once again, the attention of the people of Aspic was drawn. Zeta received the most mixed of glares. People shaking their head and spitting in his direction, eyes lowered and narrow. There were some who nodded in secret, keeping their approval away from the visible eyes of others.

“That’s…strong,” Hera said. There may be plenty who hate Magnus Ora, but Hera had never seen such disdain to Zeta’s pure resentment. “I did say I’m not a fan, right?”

“Hera,” Zeta began, “I may not know much about the Sigma World, but on the subject of Magnus Ora, I am a degree short of a scholar. He discovered and distributed a majority of the world’s Magnum grade sigmas, the highest tier.”

“That’s correct.”

“Somewhere in that pursuit, however, Ora became obsessed with something known as the ‘World Sigma.’ On this subject, I am familiar as well. As the name suggests, it’s a sigma with the potential to affect the entire planet with one activation.”

“Zeta, the World Sigma is only theoretical.”

“Regardless if it exists or not, Magnus Ora destroyed so many lives to find it, and then the bastard just up and disappears from the world. And the public has the gall to assume that just because of his advancements in our understanding of sigmas, it excuses his later atrocities.” Zeta winced at his own words. “No, the masters are not to blame,” he whispered to himself.

“That’s because the public doesn’t understand the full situation,” Hera said, “No one really does, that’s why it’s such an issue.”

“Sir Kagan gave me the full story. In summation, he was not a hero.”

“Well, don’t go preaching at every abbey, Zeta. If that’s your conclusion, fine, I couldn’t care less. But many people revere him as potently as you revile him. If you want to be this ‘Servant of Humanity,’ you need to put aside that belief and focus on your work.” She presented the Ora Charm again. “This is part of your work, you know.”

Zeta sneered at the charm. “Does it even function as you described? For all you know, that’s snake oil.”

“Didn’t you feel the surge of Divinity when you touched it?”

“That little rush of coursing power? Yes, but that doesn’t mean anything. If you want me to use that excrement, test it thoroughly. Build a case so convincing that even I cannot refuse.”

Hera scoffed. “With your stubbornness? No thanks, I don’t care that much. Have it your way. You’ll just be behind everyone else from now on.”

He scowled. “Says who? What are your sources, anyway.”

“That’s…not important. You’ll meet them in time. I can’t introduce you yet. They’re the secretive type.”

From the look on Zeta’s face, Hera decided the next book she’d ever purchase would be How To Persuade Someone And Not Look Like A Complete Idiot.

“Hera, you went to the warehouse and back. Who did you meet there?”

“She met me,” came a thickly accented voice from down the street.

Zeta and Hera turned on their heels to meet a character whose face was obscured by an oversized fedora. He pointed a finger gun at Zeta and yanked it upwards in recoil. “Impossible Shot.”

The bang of a gunshot pierced the midday air.

***ZETA***

He felt it again. The piercing pain of a hole in his body. Except his body had not adapted. This was not Neural Fighter. The pain didn’t subside after a second, it lingered indefinitely. Zeta reached for his side and felt the warm red liquid spilling out, then he collapsed to his knee in agony.

“Marc!” Hera called to the stranger.

“Harpy,” said this Marc, whoever he was, “forgive my bluntness, but you really need to work on who you bring into the Lion’s family.”

“Hera,” Zeta said, coughing, “who is he?”

“Marc Crue. They call me the Ghost Gun; you just learned why.”

The streets were already cleared. It was odd. For once, Zeta witnessed the people of Aspic in an actual panic the instant they spotted the assailant. Whoever he was, his name was known.

“Marc, why did you shoot him!” Hera cried.

He looked at her like it was a stupid question. “Funny story. After Gust and I left, I got an itching curiosity to meet this new recruit of yours. I trailed you, my apologies, and was pleased to see he was made of tough stuff. So imagine my surprise when he nearly chopped your head off. Especially after you gave him such a nice gift too.” He turned to Zeta. “We cannot have loose cannons in our ascendance.”

“It…it was a misunderstanding!” Hera pleaded. “He didn’t mean to do it, the name just set him off.”

“Oh, I know, Harpy,” said Marc. “When the blade was at your throat, I was ready to blow his head off right then and there, but I waited to see how things turned out. I wanted to learn more about you, Zeta was it?”

“You…eavesdropped?”

“It’s a specialty of mine,” he said, turning to Zeta. “You might have a good physical stock, kid, but your mind is utterly haywire. Rabid dogs should be put down.” He raised his other hand, formed into a finger gun, and shot Zeta again.

“Stop it!” Hera pleaded.

“Why do you care, Harpy?” he asked. “Don’t tell me you have sympathy for him. If you do, that’s embarrassing. Where’s your pride?”

“I need him!”

“Do you?”

“Yes!”

“Hera…stop,” Zeta said, standing up. The two gunshot wounds burned as he moved, each flinch burrowing them deeper into the skin. “You don’t need to beg on my behalf. I can see it in this man’s face, he isn’t going to listen to you.”

Zeta faced Marc with a grin on his face. “You there. From the sounds of it, you must be some big shot under Balder Rex. That’s some sigma you have there.”

Marc smirked. “Impossible Shot. As it implies, I can shoot small arms ballistics from my fingers. I’m a gunslinger with unlimited ammo and therefore a cut above the rest.”

Zeta looked at the back of Marc’s belt. There was a rectangular sheath with a square-tip machete. “A gunslinger yet all you wield is a sword. Ironic.”

He started laughing. “I see that glamorous, black blade at your side. What? You want to challenge me to a duel? News flash, kid, the gun beats the sword. Has been ever since some Technocrat married Sulfur and Charcoal under the oath of Saltpeter.”

“Heh. Well, I was hoping you’d have the decency to fight blade to blade, but no matter,” Zeta said as he drew Black Meridian. “An imbalanced battle is fine with me.”

“Zeta! No!” Hera cried. “Not in your condition! He will kill you.”

“Listen to the Harpy, Zeta. You’re outmatched. I read your sigma score. One point, really?”

Zeta smirked. “Yeah, really. Don’t worry, that’s soon to change. After this, my new score will just be yours. Plus one.”

Liver Cleanse - Life: User forcefully removes the depressive characteristics of alcohol in their system, making them harmlessly sober once more. (28).

(A) No pose required. Sigma will respond to a variety of slurred VC's to accommodate for the user most likely being drunk at the time. Will emit a green, gaseous aura as an indication that the sigma worked as expected. (!) Although the neurological effects of Liver Cleanse are cleared, the alcohol in the body is not. Drinking more than the body should be able to handle will more than likely result in a complete shutdown. Please use Liver Cleanse when you are done drinking for that sitting.