The feeling somewhat dissipates, but I can still feel someone watching. Maybe from further away, but my breath catches up a little. I clear my throat and cough again. I’m not exactly sure why I’m so on edge right now, might just be how I usually feel, but I can’t help but think that it’s different now, though my skill set doesn’t exactly extend to sensing a threat. Maybe I’m just reeling from the guys earlier. “Nevermind, it’s nothing. I thought I saw something out of the corner of my eye.”

She turns around to look behind me, I turn to, but there’s nothing behind me. Well, other than the twisting shadows from the light hitting the side of fences or sign posts. “I don’t see anything. Maybe just your imagination.”

“Yeah. It seems it’s being quite active today.”

“Hmph,” she snorts. “I would ask what else it comes up with, but I feel that might be both probing and… Very awkward.” She turns back, with perhaps an almost debauched grin on her face. I turn around to continue the walk too, almost wondering exactly what is going through her mind. At this point, things are starting to look different, obviously, we’re not traveling in the direction of the CPO building, so I believe I’ve never been here before. I’m sure that Mattie and the others have been here, but not me.

She stops at the corner of a street, by a large traffic light, the color is red, with no cars waiting across the street. It strikes a contrast with the other golden colored lights. “Um, I didn’t ask your name- so-”

“Sarah,” she interjects. “We’re pretty close to my place now, I’m in an apartment building, so we have to take a small detour. It’s pretty easy to get through the side entrance.” She raises a finger at a large building, with a bunch of balconies overlooking the street. She then moves her finger along the street we’re standing. “The main entrance is along that building, but it can be quite a lengthy detour because the road travels at an obtuse angle.”

“And there’s no entrance on this side?”

“Then it would take up the space of the apartments that overlook the street.”

I shrug, it makes sense. “Alright, I don’t mind. Do you want me to contact my friends now?” I don’t really know how, but I could lift my phone up to my ear and make sure they can hear me through the thing they put in my ear.

“Wait until we’re in the apartment. I don’t really like being so… Obvious. It’s not exactly a crime-free city.”

“But we’re so close to the CPO.”

“The CPO works with Vigors. They don’t typically work with simple crimes with, ya know, normal people. That’s the cop’s job and I don’t see any police cars patrolling the street.”

“I’ve heard such things, but it almost seems… Wrong that they don’t take everything under their banner. Keeping everyone safe.”

“Except the cops wouldn’t say the same thing. They have their own job and while it would make sense to make sure everyone is safe, it would make it impossible for normal people to have a job of protecting others. See, even people who don’t have greater access to their dreams might have the ability to at least use a rod to touch the sky.” She begins crossing the street while I follow. I can feel heat building in my chest, almost like heartburn from a bad meal.

I clear my throat, momentarily trying to clear the blockage at the base of my throat to no avail. “I don’t understand,” I croak.

“Even if it isn’t the same as having a power, like being able to roam the street to stop some sort of crime with a simple wave of the hand, people can train and do it in a more uniform way. I’d say, being a police officer is more respectful, it shows someone is working harder and they are generally shown in a better light. They wear uniforms and gain access to their powers.”

“And vigors?”

“I won’t say they can be seen in the same light. A lot of them don’t have the training, they don’t try as hard and they aren’t rewarded with a uniform or gain access to their powers. They're handed a weapon from their inception instead of being trained to use a proper weapon correctly. Granted, usually, it’s them who get the fame and fortune and the cops who get represented as the B team.”

“Anti-vigor sentiments?”

“No. I respect most of them. I just respect police more. I would prefer to trust my safety to someone who is trained with their abilities. That’s the key difference between vigors and police.”

“But-”

“There are some Vigors who learn to use their powers. I know that much, but police’s powers can be confiscated. If a Vigor makes an error, their powers are a key part of who they are. You can’t confiscate that and there has been a history of the CPO making more errors than cops.”

“-Which I guess leads to more-”

“Deaths,” she completes. She nods and then stops at the corner of the apartment building she pointed out earlier. She points a thumb down an alleyway. “Alright. Call your friends, we’ll start walking down the alleyway.”

I pull my phone out of my pocket, carefully unlocking it as I walk. That’s the easy part, now mimicking movements I’ve seen before. That’s not quite so easy. The heat at the back of my throat has intensified and it feels like my throat has constricted. I really want to cough, while at the same time I want to breathe, I find myself fighting for something that won’t come. I can smell smoke, and I can feel my eyes watering.

A sudden shock, like a crack through my head, a stark realization about my situation. A contrast to what I believe would’ve happened, while at the same time still fulfilling the original goals of what someone would do. It’s just who would expect it? We all assumed the serial killer was a male, we were wrong. I assumed the serial killer would be more forceful and at the same time portray the worst of a person. Instead, we were wrong on all counts. I raise my head to look at Sarah. For it’s clear she could have lied. She has an incredibly serious expression on her face. I keel forward, as if falling unconscious, at the same time, I snap my head to the right to look at the brick wall, lined with metal trash cans. I breathe out, the last breath I can manage, bringing with it a single word; “Brother.”

There’s a bang and trash cans explode from the wall, ejected by a chunk of earth, flying over my shoulder into the face of Sarah. She shrieks and falls back, crashing against the other wall. Suddenly, the heat at the back of my throat dissipates, allowing me to breathe. The relief throws me into a fit of coughing and I drop to my hands trying to get any sort of breathing restarted. If there were any doubts as to who she was, they were erased at that exact moment.

I raise my head after fighting back some air, looking at Sarah[/i] who is looking down the alleyway, looking forward and back as if trying to find a threat. She has some blood over her eye, dripping from some unseen cut, but it’s clear she’s paranoid, her mouth is curled back in some sort of grimace. She doesn’t think I’m the threat, but rather that the threat is nearby.

Act quickly before she learns what’s going on, she’s some sort of fire controller, so chances are that I have a lot over her including my abilities, though I don’t want to kill her. Knocking her out, though, if it’s possible, that would be the best way to handle this. I lunge toward her, swinging a fist toward her lower jaw, she shrinks back, dodging my haphazardly aimed punch. Or simply I just missed, I’m not quite back in shape, I’m still trying to draw even a full breath.

She growls, seemingly growing aware that the only person capable of launching dangerous trash cans at her is right next to her. She waves her hand and I can tell what’s coming. It’s like a flash fire, much like when the street blew up when Lucifer attacked, sudden and hot. It doesn’t appear around me, but rather in front of me like she slapped me with a wall of fire. A… Literal… Wall of fire. It covers the entire alleyway and it’s basically licking my face before I have time to respond. It’s like creating a wall where the flame won’t touch me, using the power of Sathanus which involves burning everything to ash, I use it as a way to stop me from being burnt to ash.

Surprise ensues as I escape the fire, not in a pile of ash, but rather sweating like crazy and ruffled. “The-” she spouts, I raise my hand and a beam of light explodes from my hand, blinding the surprised Sarah. She shrieks, grabbing her eyes, I then clench my fist, my hand turning into the claws that they would should I transform fully. I then lay a clean punch into the left side of her jaw and she slams into the wall, falling down it. She’s down, but not quite out.

“Brother, disable her right hand.” Earth by my left foot explodes out of the ground in a pillar, slamming into Sarah wrist with a loud crunch. Sarah screams, her voice growing hoarse, a sound that only begins to explain the pain she’s experiencing. She moves her free left hand, some vague attempt to do something to me. I lash out with my foot, kicking her hand back where it slams painfully against a wall and then descends to the ground. I drop my foot onto it and conclude with a nice clean knee to the left side of her temple. “Hypocrite!” I grumble as the light fades from her eyes. Her lids droop and she slackens her entire body, devoid of any fight she once had.

I bend over, placing my hands on my knees, coughing hard until it feels like I’m going to throw up my lungs. I can hear footsteps behind me and I turn around to see Sebastian and Hercules approaching. I take a deep, rasping breath. “Where the fuck were you!?” I yell. “She attacked me and I nearly fucking died!”

Sebastian looks down at the ground. “Got lost,” he mutters.

“I was running,” Hercules points out. “It’s not exactly easy to get here faster.”

I exhale, I’m still tense from my fight and I’m not exactly in the right mind to be responding to them. I might just say something I don’t mean. I spend a few moments breathing in and out. Both Hercules and Sebastian can hear me rasping and they look at me cautiously, both watching me as if I might keel over.

“Elmira,” Sebastian whispers.

I raise my hands toward him, telling him to stop and then I wipe them over my face, wiping away any excess sweat. “I’m fine- I’m fine- just- give me a second.” I clear my throat before I start talking. “Sorry, just- adrenaline.”

Hercules, for a moment, seems a little stunned, but then a grin forms on his face. I don’t exactly agree with it, at least I don’t feel that way, but I can understand what he might be thinking. “I understand. Nearly made me shit myself when I first fought another Vigor.”

“Aren’t you like, invincible?”

“Not invincible, more like resistant. And it’s mostly to bullets and explosions. Electric shocks and smoke, fuck that shit. Anyway, you did pretty damn well for this being your first job.”

“What do you mean? I nearly got myself killed. I think I did pretty bad.”

He shrugs. “Except you didn’t get killed. More than can be said for some.” Hercules looks down the alleyway from where he came from and I look back to see Mattie approaching. He’s taking a more leisurely pace and he seems perhaps a little tense. “I’m of the belief, the first job battle scars tend to be the most embarrassing anyway.”

Mattie seems to relax a little, apparently, he thinks Hercules’ jokes are enough proof that nothing bad happens. “Depends on the job.”

Hercules’ grin widens. “So Matthew- basically, Elmira. Matthew here’s battle scars are interesting. I’m pretty much the senior of the team; besides Jo. Anyway-”

“Don’t you dare,” Mattie interjects, there’s almost a warning in his voice, but it’s not the kind of warning that you have to be worried about. Mattie is the one who sounds worried.

“Anyway. Matthew was supposed to defuse the heightened tensions amongst two families when we’re were brought in to deal with some Vigor who tried to deal with a family feud in a very dangerous way.”

Mattie places his head in his hands, it’s clear he’s resigned himself to his fate, and while I don’t like him having to endure this, I’m at least a little bit curious.

“It was his first job, so he wasn’t ready for any kind of situation like two groups being at each other’s necks. And he messed it up. One of the women, a big black woman with nails that would make a cat jealous came at him. She cursed him out, she was very colorful with her words and she gave him a nice line of cuts underneath his chin. You see, Diane can’t heal all scars. But it’s a great story to tell.”

“And I wish you wouldn’t tell it to anyone,” Mattie grumbles. I look at him in earnest, trying to locate the scars on his chin, but the way he’s looking down doesn’t quite make it easier. He clears his throat and pats his face a few times as if trying to psyche himself up. He clears his throat. “You did great, Elmira.”

“He’s trying to change the subject,” Hercules whispers.

I can’t help but grin, even though it’s Mattie’s reputation, but it’s a little amusing considering how it’s been quite serious with Mattie. “Someone has to stay on task,” Mattie grumbles.

“Fair enough. Yeah, good job,” Hercules finally drops the subject. “You kicked some ass and the only real trouble you had was some minor smoke inhalation.”

“Minor,” I croak.

“It’ll pass. Better than some others. See, death doesn’t pass as easily. That’s why the junior groups exist. To give people experience, to allow them to at least have a taste of the life we have. Transitioning from being a Junior can be a difficult process and it tends to be the most dangerous moment in a person's career with the CPO and you did it without too much of a hitch. In the situation you were in, most people would have died. None of us expected- well-” He points a thumb at Sarah. “A woman. She would’ve had the drop on us too, and I doubt I would’ve fared as well against her.”

“What about Gates?”

“She’s a freak. She suspects everyone. You got the job done and maintained trust. Gates sacrifices the feeling of being comfortable amongst people for being good at her job. You didn’t and you still got the job done.”

“Uh, thanks. I guess.”

“No problem. Now we gotta see what’ll happen when the rest of your team graduates. Should be interesting.”

“Interesting?” Hercules shrugs, as if not willing to share the answer. I look at Mattie, who shrugs too and then winks at me. I can’t help but think I’m responsible for this sudden bout of secrecy. Maybe because I was the one who told Mattie to keep quiet about other people's’ secrets. I step back and sit down on the chunk of raised stone where the garbage cans once were. Sebastian approaches and leans against the wall, with his arms crossed. “So we’re waiting for the police and VCF now or do we leave her here and have them pick her up?”

“We’re waiting. Jo probably called them a while ago. It shouldn’t take too long for them to arrive.”

I nod and hunch over to place my chin on my palm, I wonder exactly how long they will take. I guess the sun shouldn’t be too long coming. Maybe they’ll ask a few questions or it will take a while to process the capture. Or maybe Sarah will wake up first and she’ll try to fight back.

There’s a loud flurry of wingbeats, a caw of a crow and a shadow quickly bursting through the alleyway. It’s simple enough to recognize it as a bird, but it seems like an odd time for a bird to be flying about. Looking at the bird, I can see something clutched in its beak. A large box that almost seems like a beakful. There’s a clatter as it drops the box to the ground.

Hercules starts to approach it and the bird caws again, almost interrupting the sudden shrill ringing coming from the box. A phone? The bird pecks at the box twice and I watch a light shine, showing the screen for mere moments, a small box in comparison to the large brick that is the cellphone. A man clears his throat. “Hello CPO and co,” he says. His voice sounds emotionless and very uniform. There’s a strong accent, that makes him sound incredibly practiced at speaking, but obviously, I can’t place it. Hercules starts to approach the phone again. “If you would please allow me to speak before you try to cut me short, sir.”

Hercules backs off, though I can tell he’s incredibly suspicious. “‘Who are you?” Mattie asks from his place behind Hercules.

“I believe you call us the Syndicate. While we prefer a different name, there’s no real reason for you to rebrand us.” It’s clear there’s some reaction as Hercules tenses up. “Don’t be so difficult. We’re not here to fight. I know we don’t agree with each other’s methods, but there are times when we do have goals that are similar.”

“What goal?”

“Your little serial killer problem. See, just because we’re some sort of criminal organization doesn’t mean we relish in the idea of chaos. Serial killers and mass murderers are not something we want to have any part in and we also want to make sure that they're dealt with in as swift a manner as possible.”

“Yet you harbor plenty of murderers. Many of whom will be mass-murders.”

“Ah, you see, that’s where we differ. You are of the belief that there’s no reason to kill anyone. We believe that there are moments where killing is a necessity. I won’t argue semantics, for now, I’m here to talk to you about the killer you apprehended. Her name is Gail Regus, she lives nearby, the details of which have been emailed to your friend in the car.”

“Why would you do that?” Hercules queries.

“To get her locked away for as long as possible with the best locks possible. I’ll continue. Gail has murdered five women and one man. The man in question was a Syndicate Stalker. A member of the Syndicate hired to deal with… Issues. I guess you could say he was a mass murderer. Regardless, he put up a fight but found himself inadequately prepared. Which is why we passed on a few messages to the police.”

“Messages? You mean to say that you were the ones that informed them of the fact that the killer was a Vigor?” Mattie asks.

“We didn’t say- but we did mess with the crime scene to push them in the right direction. There wasn’t nearly as much soot in the alleyway from the attack. We put them onto a Vigor threat and we had someone suggest team Assault. Though I won’t lie and say I wasn’t surprised to see that you have someone instead of Gates. Then again, she seems more than equipped for the job.”

“Why?”

“Why not? A serial killer is just as bad for business as they are for people. We can’t have one roaming the streets. Now we can continue business without taking unneeded risks and you can go back, the job done and most civilians safe.”

Hercules and Mattie exchange serious looks. I can tell, both of them don’t quite agree with whoever is on the phone, they are having second thoughts, though not quite enough tooth agree with sending a serial killer back out into the world.

“Oh, don’t be like that. If it has to be that way, grudgingly accept that you’ve done some good. Doing good doesn’t always come free, and you can’t always do something good without stepping on another’s toes. Good is always an opinion, as is bad.”

“However, there’s a more common understanding of the word good and we follow that one. You don’t,” Hercules grumbles.

The man on the phones, laughs, though it, just like his voice, sounds emotionless. “Don’t be so obtuse. Just because there are more conventional meanings to the words doesn’t mean the way we look at it is wrong. Maybe what you did today is more morally gray than what you’re used to. Regardless, we’ll send over the rest of the details to the police that will no doubt assist in getting Gail locked in a deep VCF cell. As for you, or more precisely, the person who is replacing Gates… I’m sure we’ll be in contact in the future, likely it will be so we can pay a debt to you.”

“Huh?” I respond, finally being talked to directly. It’s sudden and I’m not even sure what he means.

“We always pay our debts. But for now, I think we might leave how we pay it up to fate.” There’s a long silence after those words. Not even a breath can be heard. The bird then snaps the phone up and takes to the air and Hercules lunges to grab it, but comes up short, not even managing to grab even a few feathers. He pulls back, shaking his head as he turns around. I can hear sirens not far from here, probably just a few blocks away, it won’t be long until they reach us.

“Guess we’re not going to be tracking down whoever that was then,” Hercules mutters.

Blue and red lights start flashing at the end of the alleyway, from where I came from and it isn’t long before I hear car doors slamming and boots on the ground. Flashlights are shone in our direction and I can see men in blue uniforms approaching. Behind them are men in familiar black uniforms, it seems for each officer, there’s a man in a black uniform. I don’t even need to see the insignia, they’re from the VCF around here, the place that I stayed in for a good few weeks.

They seem arranged into groups of two, one from the VCF for every uniformed police officer. It’s different from before, where they were, like the CPO, arranged into groups of four, into teams just like any team that the CPO compiles. It seems this is all organized, clearly ready to respond to a threat at a moment’s notice. I’d imagine that the VCF is a police and CPO go between, they have a relationship with both, having different business practices for each situation.

A man from the VCF with curly blonde hair and scraggly beard, along with a more uniformed policeman with dark skinned, with a shaved head, he bears some scars near his eye, but they don’t seem like battle damage. They take the lead and draw close to the unconscious form of Gail. “This is her?” The man from the VCF asks.

“I must say, I expected a man,” the policeman mutters.

“You and me both, sir,” Mattie responds. “That is the serial killer, at least I believe it is. She definitely tried to kill Elmira here.”

The man from the man from the VCF looks at me and I can see a spark of recognition in his gray eyes, but he doesn’t mention anything. He then raises a flashlight at the walls, revealing soot crusting the concrete walls and some melted plastic and discolored metal. “Indeed it seems like there was some Vigor combat.”

The policeman places a hand on his chin while looking at the walls, he seems to be thinking about it. “By no means is it a clear proof of guilt, but it’s not like dealing with… Normal people. We’re dealing with a Vigor here and by no means can we take risks.”

“Agreed. Though, this serial killer does have some clear killing patterns. If we detain her for about a month, we should be able to take some time to do a thorough investigation and to at least make an apt assumption about whether she is the killer or not.”

“Good, then we’ll take her to the VCF compound and start investigations from there,” the policeman concludes, this also proves something. Clearly, the VCF and the police do work together. So the police are responsible for investigating and dealing with the unpowered populace, the VCF deals with investigating with the police and incarceration of the powered populace. While the CPO just seems like the muscle. Almost like bounty hunters, hired to chase after the powered populace.

“Uh, I might’ve broken a few of her bones when we fought,” I say before they can figure out what they’ll do from there.

“We have ways to deal with her injuries at the VCF. For now, we would like you to remove the… For lack of a better word, shackle, from her right arm. We’ll take her from there,” the curly haired man says.

I stand up from my spot, preparing to release Gail’s trapped arm, but instead, Hercules stomps on the chunk of stone, causing it to crack and drop to the ground by her hand. Her wrist is indeed broken. It’s a clean break, her arm is bent at a shocking angle. “We’re done here then?” Hercules asks.

“Pretty much. Anything further can be solved at a later date and we’ll forward the payment by the time we arrive at the VCF.”

“Good,” Mattie finishes. Mattie looks at Sebastian and me, and he tilts his head toward the side of the alley the VCF and police came from. I suppose it was the same place he came from too, though I was a little distracted at the time anyway.

Sebastian walks up beside me before we start returning in the direction the car probably is and he leans down to whisper in my ear. “Are you not comfortable with the risks that a demon takes-” He seems to be referring to my surprise when I was attacked and my anger when they arrived. “I accept that in a world of Demons, there was a potential every Demon didn’t love me and there would be a fight for my life. That some of them would be cowardly in an attempt to surprise me and steal my life without me knowing. Just because we aren’t in the Demon plane doesn’t mean that there won’t be some Humans that aren’t like Demons.”

He’s completely right, but in the same way, many of my brothers would be right. They take into account the worst of everyone and in most cases, they’re right, at least in the Demon Plane. I should be ready because that’s how I was taught. But my nature, who I am, all that is different. I’m too scared to consider that there’s a threat behind a door, so it’s easier for me to forget it because that’s how I advance. But there’s more, a clear realization about my comparison between me and all other Demons. “Maybe I’m more Human than I am Demon.”

There’s a long pause after my response, perhaps him digesting my response. “I see,” he finally says. His voice is impassive, neither showing whether he approves or disapproves of my statement. Either way, he doesn’t press the subject, which is appreciated as I’m not sure I can explain.

The car is waiting on the other side of the street, though there seems to be a lot of police around as well as a stream of those curious enough to leave their homes after hearing the police sirens or seeing the fire from the fight. Some are dressed in bedclothes, most of them are a mix between casual clothing and work clothes. We cross between two police cars into the middle of the road where people can see us.

Those watching definitely notice us, it’s not like it’s difficult to spot us, especially with the streetlights illuminating us. There seem to be a few connections that they make, and a few people seem to take a few steps forward, only for their advance to be halted by the police. “You get ‘em?” Someone yells. I can’t quite place the voice but it’s not angry, just curious. There’s a hint of shaking in the voice, maybe excitement.

Mattie gives them a thumbs up and someone yells out a cheer, though it seems out of place in the middle of a quiet street, even an oddity in such a quiet group.

“Damn straight, that’s our boys in red!” The guy who asked the question yells.

I increase my walking speed to catch up with Mattie. “Boys in red?” I ask him.

He stops at the car and pulls the door open, shrugging at the same time. “Another name for Vigors, or more precisely, the CPO. Other names are Vigors, powers or protectors. I guess they really needed something to compare us to the police and the VCF. See the police are the boys in blue and the VCF are the men in black.”

“Except-”

“We’re not all men and we’re not dressed in red. Don’t ask me where it came from, I just know that people call us that and it’s not a disparaging word for us. In other words, even though don’t know what we did, they believe we did a good job. And as soon as it’s revealed that we apprehended a serial killer, I’m sure they’ll be elated-” He pauses to slip into his seat. He gestures to me and I pull open the door to get into the back seat. Hercules and Sebastian both round the car to open the opposite doors to sit in their seats. From there Mattie continues. “There are two reasons we might do our jobs-”

“Three,” Hercules interrupts.

“I was going to correct myself-. Three reasons, the first and simplest; money. The second; fame. The third; that feeling you get when you know you’ve done some good. A euphoria you get when you know you’ve saved someone’s life. We get all three of these things, but everyone has something they prefer.”

“What about me?” I ask.

“For now, protection? But something tells me you’ll have your own preference someday.” Maybe, for now, it’s only that which I can easily identify. Problems that I’m facing now, rather than problems I will face in the future. It seems that I’m forced only to deal with the now rather than the later. If that were the case, I’d be preparing for Sathanus’ arrival, but I haven’t. But even then, how would I prepare for the arrival of Sathanus?

Nav snaps his laptop closed, it’s the only noise he’s made, only now drawing my attention to him. I almost forgot he was in the car, and maybe it would have been better that way. He opens the box from earlier and slips his finger down the front of the box, then withdraws a long, thin metallic object. They look to be tweezers, thin enough to fit in somewhere small.

“Turn, I need to remove the earpiece,” Nav mutters. One could only say this is practiced, he isn’t stuttering, nor is he exactly scared, though there’s a clear look in his eyes betraying how unsure he is. I’m sure that over the long wait, he’s had a good, boring time to think about it all, maybe it helped temper his resolve by the time I returned.

“No,” Mattie interjects. “You’re not doing it in the car. I don’t need you jamming it into her eardrum because we had to brake suddenly. Do it back at the apartment.”

Nav drops the tweezers back into the box, causing them to clatter against the metal inside. I lean forward in my seat and heave a big sigh. “That was more terrifying than the fight with the Arcanists.”

“Huh, why?” Mattie queries.

“There are a couple reasons,” I summarize. “First, they weren’t trying to kill me, but rather capture me. And all of them were related to Lucifer in some way and thus weren’t allowed to ambush because that’s below their perception of pride. Also, Lucifer had no intention to capture me in the first place.”

The car slows and Mattie turns to face me. “He tried pretty damn hard to capture you.”

I snort. “You’re underestimating the power of a Demon Lord if you think that’s all they can do. Lucifer only used one real attack and that was because he knew Tagert could reflect the attack. What’s more is that even I can see where Tagert’s weaknesses may lie.”

“Oh?” Mattie asks as the car returns to normal speed.

“I doubt he’s invincible.” I look at Hercules, who nods his head a few times. “I doubt anyone is truly invincible. At that point, they might as well be immortal.”

“Yes. We’re unaware of anyone who is truly invincible.”

“Then Tagert’s issues lie in places he can’t focus on. He has to see the attack to be ready to reflect it. All Demon Lords are more than capable of doing that. Scratch that, all Arcanists can do that and it’s a part of casual combat, to find an opening. If we’re thinking about my other brother- Sathanus- we won’t be looking at a single city block going up in flames.”

Mattie swallows. “That doesn’t sound all too fun.”

“Luckily enough, my other brothers aren’t all that interested in massive destruction like he is. Rage and destruction go hand in hand. The others will be happier to minimize the damage they cause.”

What follows is a long length of silence. There’s nothing I can add to that, nor anything they can respond with besides a period of sober thought. A period that is sustained long enough for us to return to the CPO building and exit the car.

Mattie steps out of the car after I’m out, spinning the keys around his index finger. “So- Your brothers, are they planning on attacking anytime soon?”

“I don’t doubt that they plan to do something like that,” Sebastian explains for me from the other side of the car. “But which brother is a better question. It’s inevitable that they will all try to capture Elmira before she can complete her septagram.”

“Alright, which brother and when?”

Sebastian shrugs, so I answer. “Sathanus and maybe in a month. I don’t know specifics about when.”

“And that’s about as disconcerting as I want to go. Maybe from now on, I’ll leave the potentially terrifying dangers of the future unknown. I usually keep them that way. Nothing good comes from looking at the future or to the past.”

“It’s probably is better that way,” Hercules says. “Being a precog is a lesson in futility.”

Maybe it is, doesn’t seem it stopped Oracle from trying, though. We walk our way to the elevator and Mattie presses the button to his floor. “Let’s drop by the apartment. We can remove the earpiece and then celebrate the way we’ve always celebrated.”

“And what way is that?” I ask.

“Whiskey on the rocks,” Hercules says.

I have no clue what that is, though I also don’t know whether I should ask. Maybe it’s something I should know, maybe it’s something that’s incredibly common for a celebration. But right now it sounds like the plan is to pour sauce onto some rocks. Should that be the case, I’m pretty sure I’ll turn it away.

The elevator ceases on their floor and we pile out into the corridor. We head over to their apartment and Mattie opens the door, allowing us all in before shutting it behind him. Hercules heads to the kitchen, drawing a cupboard open and withdrawing a broad, circular bottle, the glass shortens to a thin opening at the top, stopped finally by a large cork. He places a few wide, short glasses on the table, one for each of us, before filling them with ice from the freezer.

Nav collapses into a chair at the large dining table, while Sebastian pulls back a chair, seemingly to sit in it himself, though he gestures to me, showing that it is for me to sit in. I approach him and ease into the chair with a bit of hesitation. Mattie takes a seat next to me and exhales loudly. “My legs are going to hurt tomorrow. Sitting in a car for that long makes me feel like my legs have turned into pretzels.”

“Pretzels?” I enquire.

“You know about whiskey, but you don’t know about pretzels?”

“Actually I don’t.”

“It’s a salty, crunchy, snack. Kinda like chips, except they're tied into different shapes. That’s their appeal. As for whiskey-” Hercules brings over the glasses on a tray and placing it on the table. “You might as well give it a try, though I doubt you’ll enjoy it. Not many people enjoy their first taste of whiskey. It’s more of an acquired taste.”

I take up a glass in my hand, handling the cold liquid with a hint of caution. I look at the liquid inside, it takes on a light amber color, with small cubes of ice visible like icebergs sitting at the bottom of the glass. There really isn’t very much of it in any of the glasses. Hercules raises the cup aloft in his hand, and everyone mimics his movement, I’m the last to take my position amongst them.

“For a job well done, and for all of us keeping our wits about us and our brains and blood in us. To another day of danger, disaster and a whole lot of laughter,” Hercules announces. “Cheers.”

“Cheers,” the others chorus, even Sebastian. I don’t quite catch on until it’s too late and even then I can’t bring myself the courage to bring up even a late utterance of the word.

Hercules throws the whiskey back in one swallow, while Mattie takes shallow sips. Nav places his untouched drink on the table and then pushes it toward Hercules, seeming to not want to partake in it himself, while Sebastian seriously sips at it himself. I look at it, almost worrying exactly what it will taste like. Then I tilt it into my mouth.

What flows into my mouth is a harsh bitterness that transcends anything I’ve had before. A prickling liquid that feels like my entire mouth is being scratched from the inside as if flames are burning at the back of my throat and reigniting the feeling I had when Gail tried to choke me with small flames. I burst out in a fit of coughs, spraying the table with the liquid. Hercules starts laughing and Mattie conceals a small smirk with his hands. “Much like taking a punch to the face would be an acquired taste. It takes a long time to get used to,” Hercules booms.

I place the unfinished drink on the table, a sour look stuck to my face. I feel like I’ve been deceived, but I know it’s not all that serious, I doubt anything ill will come of this. Mattie places his own drink on the table and comes around to my side of the table. “Enough with the fun. I think we should get that earpiece out of your ear so you can get some sleep.” He holds out a hand to Nav who rolls his eyes and deposits the box into it. Mattie pulls out some tweezers and a thin cylinder, before coming around my side of the table. He twists the cylinder and shines some light into my ear. “Tell me if something feels off.”

“How off is off?” I mutter.

“When it starts to hurt.” He slowly pushes the tweezers into my ear, and I can feel is sliding across the inside of my ear, making loud scratching noises against my ear canal. It isn’t long before he withdraws them and places a small object on the table. “And with that, we have our earpiece. Thanks again for all your help today and last week.”

I scratch my ear, still feeling the ghost of the tweezers in there. “No problem. I was glad you guys were around to make me feel- a little more comfortable about my fears.”

“It’s like that for everyone. You’ll become more comfortable in a stressful environment like that. Practice makes perfect and when you know what to do, you’ll no longer feel threatened. That’s the same story with going out amongst Humans and fighting them. We’ll just make sure not to push you to do something we don’t deem safe ourselves. Leave yourself in our hands if you don’t feel safe to leave yourself in your hands.”

“I’ve been doing just that, not quite dead yet. Not accounting for some attempts to sleight me.” I give Nav an accusatory glare and he busies himself with the intricacies of the table.

Mattie smirks and shrugs. “Probably the worst way things could go. But everyone will be on your side in the case things go wrong in the future. The only time they won’t be is if you are the one who is the initiator in an altercation. I doubt you’d ever harm anyone unless they earned your ire. We’ll work on making the next time you head out a bit more enjoyable.”

I nod. I then stand up and make my way toward the door. Sebastian follows and I turn back to face them. “Bye. Have a good night- Or morning might be more suitable.”

“You too,” Mattie responds. Hercules yawns and gives me a farewell wave. I then open the door and step into the corridor, beginning my walk down it.

As Sebastian and I enter the elevator, he begins to speak. “In the future, you should become more comfortable amongst Humans. For the most case, Humans aren't intolerant of Demons who enter this plane, just suspicious. As Matthew said; as long as you aren’t the initiator, no harm will come to you. I despise Humans, they are more like sheep than they are inherently evil or good. And if you want to avoid those who wish to do you harm, surround yourself with people who will protect you. Kaiden, Walter and Gabriella will gladly defend you if the case needs it and thus, you need not even worry about those who do wish you harm, because you won’t need to be the one to combat them.”

“And if they get hurt because of me?”

“You don’t give them much faith. They are more than capable of defending themselves against a few powerless Humans. Maybe they will get hurt, but that is their decision to make, not yours. Regardless of whether you push them away or not, will not stop them from trying to push back. Confining yourself to your room is not making use of the freedom that Lucifer granted you. You have opportunities that you wanted for yourself and got. Make use of them.”

I nod, slowly, agreeing with his statement. I don’t doubt I will feel responsible if things go wrong, but I’ll allow them to feel pride if things go right. I can’t fight against them if they desire that feeling of pride, especially when their desire for that far outweighs my thoughts of responsibility. They can choose to do what they want, I can choose to do what I want. I can argue against their points, but my arguments back lack experience. Their arguments carry experience that I lack due to a sheltered life of torture. Their words should carry more weight because they trust me and they are my friends even though I am a Demon Lord.

The elevator door opens and I walk out into the corridor, with Sebastian at my side. I use the key to open up the door to the apartment and step inside. I look around the room, there are a few lights on and I can see Kaiden asleep at his desk, like many times I’ve seen him before. But it’s not just him, Walter is asleep on the sofa in the living room, with Gabbie next to him, though she is awake. It seems barely, as her eyes are bloodshot and she can’t contain a yawn as she sees me.

She stands up and approaches me. I shut the door carefully, so as not to disturb the sleeping duo and then turn to face Gabbie. “Elmira,” she states. She can’t seem to hide the delight in her voice at my return as if she expected me to die. “Are you hurt?”

“A bit of smoke inhalation and shock, but otherwise, fine. I’ll get over it,” I say. “I expected Kaiden to be here, but you and Walter?”

“Walt and I wanted to make sure you were fine- Kai did too, but they didn’t really make it through. They tried, though.” She clears her throat as she ends the statement. “I wanted to ensure you were going to make it back.”

“You’d assume she wasn’t skilled enough to defend herself,” Sebastian grumbles. “She’s fine. It’s not as if a Human like that could best her.”

“I- Guess that’s what I did expect. It’s kind of what I wanted- and needed to expect. Can I ask you a favor, Elmira?”

“Uh- What can I do for you?”

She clears her throat and looks at the ground. She seems to take a few seconds to think it through. “Can you teach us to fight… Demons- Those Arcanists.”

I look at Sebastian and he shrugs. I look back at her. “Why?”

“Because if you’re going to be fighting them, then we are going to be fighting them. And if we’re going to be fighting them, then we better be prepared for what we’re going up against.”

If it’s going to be like last time, I don’t doubt that they will likely die without any sort of preparation, and it’s highly probable it will be like last time. Even then, I was worried they were going to die, but this time, I can’t trust that they will keep beating those odds, thus they need to make preparations of some sort. Her posing this request will solve some of my problems. I exhale. “Yeah, okay, fine.”