It smelled like anesthetic, and underneath that like infected pus. Light filtered through the gauze covering my eyes. Pure, white light, is this what heaven looks like?

“The Princess wakes,” a woman’s sneering voice still I jerked upright at the name.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, you aren’t ready for that,” a man’s voice and hands pushing me back down, “That’s enough Mercy, she killed a god, she’s on our side.”

Our side? My mind was still foggy.

“The Peacock was a nobody, how do we know it wasn’t a ruse to infiltrate us?”

Even without pain my body felt awkward like puzzle pieces that just won’t click together. I had a lot of healing to do.

“Shadow, get her out of here,” another female voice and cursing as Mercy was led out.

Quiet descended. I raised my hands to my bandages.

“It will come off in a couple of days,” the other woman said, “Who are you?”

“Toni, let her rest, you can see she’s uncomfortable,” the man spoke then turned to me, “We’ll let you rest, Heala will come by later to feed you.”

I nodded and two sets of footsteps walked out.

I lay back and tried to relax. I had heard of rebels, calling themselves Warriors from the news, self-proclaimed revolutionaries against the gods and their Worshippers. Did I stumble into one of their branches?

I sighed, I ran to get away from gods not befriend a bunch of nutcases that ran right towards them. I wondered if the Peacock was local or if he sent him after me. Hopefully the Prince thinks I died too.

I took a deep breath and froze. Taking a few more sniffs, was it Toni? Her scent was not human.

I shook my head at the improbability. Worshippers rarely deserted, none survived the desertion. I sighed again; these people had every right to be suspicious.

Too much time alone with my own thoughts later the door opened and the scent hit me again.

“Good evening,” not Toni, this must be Heala, but she smelled like a Worshipper.

“G-good,” I had to clear my throat several times and it still came out raspy, “good evening.”

“I have soup for you, I will sit to your left and feed you, all you have to do is keep opening your mouth,” her voice sounded young, mirth laced her words.

I nodded.

Heala liked to talk, “The Peacock was a local menace, you did what we have failed to do since the gods’ arrival. The best we managed was to keep the body count down,” she laughed lightly, “But you’re a Worshipper, how is it that you’re on our side?”

“A funny thing to ask,” I gulped a spoonful of chicken broth, “coming from you,” another spoonful, “you were created by them too,” gulp. I opened my mouth for the next spoonful but nothing came.

“I was not created by them,” the mirth was gone, her voice almost went shrill. The light in the room dimmed, I could tell even through the bandages.

I swallowed my next words.

A moment later she asked, “Water?” the lightness returning to her voice as if nothing had happened.

I nodded, took a few sips and sighed in relief when she left. Who are these people?

I only had Heala for company until they removed my bandages and I made sure to stay far away from subjects of Worshippers.

It seemed an army marched into my room on the day my bandages were cut.

At first everything was blurry, nothing but fuzzy blobs. As I blinked they formed into six outlines plus whoever was unwrapping me. The first I noticed was Toni, not only could I tell by her smell but her appearance gave her away. From the neck down she wasn’t human; except her hands and feet her body looked like metal ribbons entwined around each other to form arms, legs and torso. I smelled Heala too but she looked entirely human, a young brunette woman in a white dress.

The doctor--they did have a doctor--finished my bandages, checked my wounds and said, “She’s all yours,” before leaving.

“Time for some answers,” I recognized Mercy’s voice. She was also a brunette, pretty except for the sneer marring her face. She wore a skintight jumpsuit with weapons in every niche.

“Back off,” this from Toni.

One of the men pulled up a chair and sat smiling across from me. I thought I recognized his voice, “I’m Brad, this is Heala, Toni, Mercy, the one in the back is Shadow,” he was covered head to toe, four guns from what I could see and four blades, “And that’s Lightning.” He had longer red hair and wore a white button down shirt and jeans. I took a deep breath and there too was a scent of otherness, though fainter than the other two. Lightning smiled at me, I nodded.

“What’s your name?” Brad asked. He was blond, blue eyed, 6’3” built like a soldier. Unlike the others, though, he wasn't armed.

I almost gave him my other name, the name he gave me, but I stopped myself in time, “Emma.”

“How human,” Mercy said.

Brad frowned and I lost my patience.

“Look, I understand the lack of trust, I do, but if you’re not willing to give me a chance, why save my life? I came down to help your fight--” I kept my voice steady on the lie.

“That’s the thing, why move? Worshippers and gods are everywhere, you could have stayed where you were to fight the good fight.” Toni moved closer to the bed.

“No, I couldn’t, I deserted for that they will hunt me down. They don’t just give away powers you know.” I looked around again, maybe they did down here.

Toni crossed her arms in front of her chest.

“Where are you from?” Brad asked.

How much to tell them? How much will keep me alive? “New York.”

It was like they all took a simultaneous step back. New York was where all the major players lived.

“Who made you?” Mercy stalked forward.

“Who made them?” I retorted, “I’m tired of pretending I’m the only non-human here, now how is it that you have the most,” I glanced at Heala, not wanting to piss her off before regaining my full strength, “changed people I’ve ever seen on the Warrior’s side?” I didn’t mention that this was the first time I had seen Warriors to begin with.

They exchanged glances.

Mercy opened her mouth but Brad spoke over her, “That’s why we’re afraid of infiltration, if that secret got out it could bring the battle to our doorstep and whatever meager advantage we have would disappear.”

I nodded not understanding. “Fair enough, but you keep your secrets and I get to keep mine.”

Mercy was shaking her head, Brad looked lost. It was Heala who spoke, “She’s still weak, let her meet Kitty, if Kitty finds something’s wrong we’ll have no problem killing her.”

Brad turned to Toni, “It’s your decision.”

“She took on a god and won, when she regains her strength we’ll be no match.”

“What about--” Lighting spoke for the first time to be interrupted.

“No!” Toni paced the whole of two feet left in the room, “Okay, let’s do it.”

They decided to notice I was still there, “Can you walk?”

I had no idea but I swung my legs over the side of the bed and stood. For all of two seconds. Brad caught me and helped me sit on the bed. “We’ll get a wheelchair.”

They rolled me down one white corridor after another, down a millions floors into a tenth level basement. This was Florida, wasn’t it? How did we not run out of ground? We should be underwater right now.

As we headed down the last corridor towards a door a new smell hit me and I hit on the brakes in a panic. Brad ‘oomphed’ into the back of the wheelchair and the rest glared at me.

“There’s a god in there,” I squealed.