Bryce

I spent the next half-hour or so checking Thea’s meridians for damage, and as far as I could tell, there wasn't any. In fact, they looked far healthier than they had just a week before when I finished rebuilding them. That was obviously a good sign, but I wasn’t exactly sure what contributed to the growth.

It was possible that her body just took to the new meridians, and she was healing despite the excess mana from our pact, or that same mana could be helping her body acclimate. Hells, if that was the case, then the best thing I could do for Thea was to just sign over all of my mana until she stopped seeing positive changes, thereby giving her the best possible foundation for future growth.

The situation was entirely unprecedented, and while everything seemed to be going well, making the wrong choice could cost Thea everything. The stakes were simply too high to make assumptions.

“So, what’s the verdict, doc? Am I dying? You can tell me. I can take it.” Thea cringed at me while pretending to be worried, and I nodded solemnly to play along.

“It’s exactly as we feared. You have bratty bottom disorder. Symptoms include buying way too many pillows, hogging the blankets in bed, and annoying your girlfriend to get attention. It’s nearly always terminal.”

“Oh, no! Whatever will I do?” She pressed the back of her hand to her forehead before spinning around and falling backwards into me. “Bryce, how are we going to tell the kids? Softie is going to be so lost without me!”

“Trust me, they already know.” I pushed Thea off me just enough to move out of the way before letting her go.

“Whoa!” Her eyes went wide as she fell into the seat, and she laughed as she caught herself. “For real though, everything okay? Nothing’s out of place?”

“Yeah, you’re fine. If you’re up for it later tonight, I’d like to experiment with more mana. But if we go down that route, then we’ll need to take it slow and I’ll want to check your meridians for damage at least nightly.” The last time I was giving her this much of my mana it took Esme pointing it out for me to realize how much harm it was causing Thea. There was no way I was letting something like that happen again.

“Sounds like fun. Maybe we can make a game of it?” There was a golden light shining behind her eyes, and I frowned at the little devil.

“Thea, we’re talking about your health here. We need to take it seriously.”

“There’s no reason we can’t be serious and have fun.” The transit pod came to a gentle stop, and Thea got up from the seat with a smile. “Speaking of some serious fun, ready to go meet the guy who probably helped kidnap our friends?”

“We don’t know that Zen helped Anali with the kidnapping, just that he’s one of her main contacts here on Paradise. So, try your best not to just outright kill him.”

“If this guy really was involved, then I’m not promising anything.”

“Alright, but if Jax takes our shuttle because you killed a bartender, then you’re the one who’s going to explain it to Samira.”

Thea’s resolve seemed to falter just the barest amount. “Okay, maybe I’ll hear him out.”

“That’s probably for the best.” We stepped out of the pod and through the crowd to exit the station. We were in the heart of sector eleven, and I was looking around to find someone to ask for directions when Thea pulled on my arm to get my attention.

“Hey, is that it?” She was pointing a little way down from the station to a pink neon sign that was shaped like a woman drinking from a glass. Underneath that, it had the bar’s name listed as ‘Electric Zen’.

“Uh, yeah, that looks like the place.”

We got in without any issues, but the bar wasn’t exactly what I had been expecting. The Cantina had definitely been a dive, but Electric Zen was closer to a lounge than anything else. It had a kind of slow and hazy atmosphere, almost like a dream.

There was a live band on the far side of the room playing just loudly enough that it covered most conversations without ruining the relaxing atmosphere. Most of the walls to our left were lined with comfortable looking booths, and with a few curtained off areas. On our right was a long bar with several finely dressed people serving drinks. Then at the center of it all were around two dozen tables, each a comfortable distance apart.

Thea nudged me and nodded towards the bar. I silently agreed with her, and we made our way over. It was a little crowded, but not particularly busy, which made it fairly easy for us to find an opening to flag down one of the bartenders.

“Hey, what can I get you?” The dark-haired human asked, and I returned her smile with one of my own.

“Whiskey neat and a red wine, something elvish if you’ve got it.”

“I think we still have a bottle of Araedhel. But it's an older vintage, so it might cost a bit extra. That okay?” I said that would be fine, so the bartender turned to Thea. “Any preferences on the whiskey?”

“Something smoky, but not too expensive. I think my girlfriend is making me pay for all the drinks tonight.” Thea shot me a teasing grin, and I just continued with my most innocent smile.

The human laughed politely before winking at her. “I’ll see what I can do.”

She quickly scanned through the bottles on display before shaking her head and pushing against an empty wall near the shelves, causing it to reveal a hidden room. She walked in, but returned only a few seconds later with the two bottles.

“Here you are, the Araedhel that I promised you. It’s from ‘21, but it’s elvish, so fifty years isn’t that old.” She removed the cork in a single fluid motion before pulling a glass out from underneath the bar and pouring a small amount before handing it to me.

I swirled the wine in the glass before inhaling the aroma and eventually taking a sip. It tasted extremely floral, with just the barest hint of a spice woven into it. I let out a contented sigh before setting the glass back down. “It’s very good.”

“Glad to hear it.” She filled my glass to just below the halfway point before setting the bottle down near me. “Did you just want the one, or should I leave the bottle?”

“The bottle, please. Now tell us about the whiskey.” Thea was eying the dark, nearly black bottle greedily. The name was written in dwarvish but translated roughly to ‘Oaken Stone.’

“This is our newest import. One of Captain Takashi’s crews managed to intercept a freighter filled to bursting with crates of the stuff, which meant we got it for a bargain, but it’s not the cheap swill normally found in the outer reaches. Here, try it. Tell me what you think.” She poured Thea just enough to cover the bottom of her glass, and the devil drained it without ceremony. Her eyes immediately went wide, and she grinned at the human.

“Damn! That’s strong, and burns in just the right way.”

“You like it, then?”

“Oh yeah, leave that bottle, too.”

“Alright. I’m glad I could find something for both of you.” She poured Thea another glass before leaning against the bartop. “I don’t think I’ve seen you two around. You new to Paradise, or just the sector? Oh, name’s Les, by the way.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Les. I’m Bryce, and this is Thea. We landed here earlier today and were actually hoping to meet up with Zen. We’re looking for a group of hunters, and were told that he could arrange a meeting.”

“A specific group, or just looking to get a job done? If you aren’t too particular, then I could probably point you in the right direction. All the big players work out of this sector, and most of them are regulars.”

“Actually, it’s kinda important that we talk to Zen. Is he around?” Thea asked as she reached for the bottle of whiskey to refill her newly emptied glass.

“He’s around, sure, but you might have to wait a bit to meet with him.” Les leaned in conspiratorially before continuing in a hushed tone. “Apparently, he knows something about Leo’s death. Says it wasn’t Nora. If it was coming from anyone else, I’d call bull, but Zen has been upstairs with the captain since this morning.” She nodded towards a set of stairs that was a little out of the way, but not far from the end of the bar. There were a pair of guards in formal suits standing near it, but it was difficult to make out any real details at this distance. “There’s definitely something to it. If you want my opinion, you’re seriously better off avoiding that whole mess.”

Thea glanced at me and sent a message over our implants. Bryce, those are definitely demons guarding the stairs. They’re acting like they’re under a pact, like the super strict kind.

I nodded to her before turning back toward Les. “Who did you say Zen was meeting with?”

“The captain,” she frowned at me before lightly chuckling to herself. “Shit, sorry, not used to talking to newbies. Captain Aoyama owns this sector, so we all just call her the captain. Even most of the lancers.”

“Fair enough. Any idea how much longer they'll be?” I asked, but wasn’t exactly listening for the answer. Instead, I mentally cast a quick spell to send a message to Suriel.

I’m going to need my mana back for a moment. If I don’t return it in the next half-hour, assume the worst. We’re in sector eleven.

He sent back a worried reply, but I was too busy sending the same message to Leila and pulling the mana from both of them to really process it. Once I had most of it back, I pushed Thea up to forty-five percent, and she gave me a concerned glance, but continued the conversation with Les.

“Would it be possible to get a message to him? We have some information that might be helpful. If not, that’s okay. We're just going to hang out at the bar and wait for them to finish up.”

“Sure, I can try to get a message up, but don’t expect him to come running.”

“Where’s your bathroom?” I asked, and Les seemed slightly taken aback by the sudden change in subject. “Sorry, something I had this morning doesn't agree with me. It’s a bit of an emergency.”

“Um, right, it’s just left of the stage. Follow the signs and you should be able to find it.”

“Thanks. I’ll be right back.” I stood up from the bar and made my way to the bathroom. As I did, I also sent a message to Thea over our implants.

I’m going to pre-cast a few spells. When I get back, be prepared to move towards the stairs, but try not to be obvious about it.

She responded to my message while continuing her conversation with Les. Okay, and I can’t believe I’m the one having to say this, but maybe fighting this Aoyama person isn’t the best idea in the middle of her territory. This place is full of pirates loyal to her and there are even more of them outside. Not to mention, there’s that whole Jax taking our shuttle thing. I am not going to be the one explaining it to Sami if it’s your plan that makes us lose it.

I chuckled to myself before replying. I’m not planning on turning the whole station against us, but I think a show of force would go a long way here.

I made it to the bathroom and bee-lined it to the first open stall before beginning to cast. I started with my usual support suite, before moving onto one of the strongest shields I’d used to date, and finishing with a few complicated strategic spells I was planning on using early. Once I was satisfied, I sent another message to Thea telling her to subtly make her way towards the demon guards the moment she saw me.

I was careful to control my pace as I made my way to the stairs, and Thea managed to meet up with me before I reached them. When we got to be only a few meters from the demons, they each held out a hand in an almost mechanical motion. Before they could say a word, I activated the first of my pre-cast spells, banishing them both back to the hells. It was a surprisingly quiet affair, and nobody seemed to notice the demons disappearing. So, we continued up unimpeded.

At the top of the stairs, there was a long hallway with a number of rooms hidden behind silk curtains. We moved directly to the one with the pair of demons guarding it. Thankfully, I anticipated having to deal with more than just the first two, and banished them before they even noticed us approaching.

Without so much as slowing, I ended the concealment spell that I had been maintaining since leaving Jax’s hangar earlier that morning, allowing the full effects of my mantle to be felt. At the same time, I felt heat rolling off Thea as she did her best to be intimidating. Moments later, the two of us pushed past the curtain and into a dimly lit room.

The small space was remarkably similar to the room we had rented at the Lost Lass. Complete with a rounded leather couch following the semi-circular curve of the wall with a small table in the center of it. Two people were sitting on that couch. The large, dark-skinned human was smirking at us, while the pale, raven-haired woman was noticeably tense, and frowning.

Zen was wearing a white dress shirt with the sleeves rolled past his elbows, and a pair of dark suit pants. The woman, Captain Aoyama, had on a silky white dress covered in an intricate floral pattern, and her hair was done up in a complicated style that was somewhat reminiscent of what Sora favored when they weren’t lounging around the ship.

What immediately caught my attention, though, was the captain’s eyes. She had blood red pupils, the likes of which I had only ever seen one other time in my travels. Captain Aoyama was a vampire.

“Speak of the devil, and she shall appear,” Zen’s spoke with a smooth baritone voice and a disarming smile. “I must admit, Doctor Virra, when I was told that you made an attempt at godhood, I didn’t realize just how close you actually made it. Please, have a seat. We have a lot to discuss.”