Prologue
The assassin positioned themselves across the glass palace of the Horizon Club, a place where the rich, the powerful, the high and mighty of Eirene sat around drinking expensive wine, eating fancy cheese while complaining about how hard their lives are.The Assassin peered down to the busy streets below, dozens of people out and about, either walking home from a regretted one-night stand, or a late evening at the bar, kicking themselves for their equally-regretted high bar tabs, the assassin held no pity for those foolish to stay out this late at night.The assassin sighed and got to work. They waved their hand over their left wrist, the blue holographic keyboard of their User Interface ignited, brightening half of their face. The assassin tapped a few keys, launching their drone from their pack, and sent it in to scan the inhabitants of the club. It scanned ten individuals, highlighting them, six red, one orange, and three green. The red were guards, each armed with at least a side arm. The green were innocent employees, just doing their jobs, putting up with the man children, and the orange was the target, surrounded by guards.
The assassin considered their options, sniper; they could just shoot Gate, but doing that would put all eyes on the assassin. Brute force; they could try charging in, guns blazing, but that would probably get them killed, and Gate would more than likely lock himself in his panic room. Lastly, a choice they didn't want to use, was to send her drone in, and hitting the trigger, causing it to explode, killing everyone in the room, including the innocents. The assassin grimaced, it was truly a pick your poison scenario, either they give chase, the assassin gets their ass kicked, or they have innocent blood on her hands.
The assassin sighed, and chose her sniper rifle from their inventory, drew the hood over their head, and typed a few more keys on the UI, their mask atomized over the top half of their face, the eyes lit up bright blue, hiding them, and a black mesh went over their mouth, a digital editor disguised their voice, making it deeper, in case anyone heard them. The assassin set up the rifle on the balcony, lining up the shot with Gate's head. They were hired a week prior by a man who only went by Mr. Red, to kill Gate, claiming he was a nuisance to his political campaign. The assassin didn't question it, they took the money up front, and spent the following four days studying Gate's moves, trying to decide the best way to kill him. A day prior the assassin learned from one of Gate's employees, that he'd be at the Horizon Club tonight. They placed their finger on the trigger, held their breath, and pulled. The bullet soared through the air, smashing right through the glass, into his skull, painting the wall behind him with his brain matter.
Wasting no time, the assassin tossed the gun into the street, it was no use to anyone now, as it was a single-use rifle. The Assassin made their way down the fire escape, dialing Mr. Red. "It's done."
"And your bonus has been transferred."
Chapter 1
Rain pelted Katherine as she glided onto the rooftop, her arms spread holding onto the cape for dear life, landing gracefully as the cape retracted into it's proper holder. She took a stance and awaited her ally Cypher to arrive. She opened her eyes to see Captain Simmons of the Athens police force doing the same, taking a swig from his flask, wincing as whatever was in the container go down. She pitied the man, really. His red-brown hair had gone white, Maria had informed her his wife left him for another man in Parádeisos, his son was all grown up and moved out of the house, his job was truly the only thing he had left, and he only had a year or two before he'd be forced to retire.
Katherine turned quickly as she heard something behind her, hand on her sidearm ready to strike, she saw Cypher standing there hand on her left wrist.
"You look like hell." Katherine said in a mocking tone, her voiced digitally altered to sound far deeper than it usually would "What took you so long?" Katherine turned back toward Eric, who now had a bit of a bounce in his step as he was waiting patiently.
"Oh, stopped a mugging, saved a kids' parents from getting shot, got a crowbar to the wrist." Cypher replied, motioning to her left arm.
Katherine turned back to Cypher, "Are you okay?"
Cypher waved her off "Oh yeah, nothing some ice won't fix. Besides, you shouldn't be saying I look like hell. You dress up like a Fox every night."
"Not every night." Katherine replied with a chuckle. But she was right, Katherine had little room to talk. "Are you ready?"
"As always."
The two leapt onto the opposing rooftop as the rain increased it's punishment. Simmons turned and nodded to the two. "Evening."
"How's the department?" Katherine asked
"Still not entirely on-board with you two helping us out, especially the Commissioner."
"Well, did you follow up on what we gave you?" Cypher asked, crossing her arms, squinting as she held her wrist.
"We did, we did." Simmons said, looking away "It was a drug den, well armed drug den. Two officers have been hospitalized, one's in the ER." He trailed off "But we got 'em."
"I'm sorry, give them my condolences." Katherine said
"I did-I mean, I will. Thank you." Simmons said, nodding "Quiet night?"
"For the most part." Cypher said "You have anything for us?"
"Not unless you can break the Grant case." Simmons said with a dry smile, "No, not really."
Katherine gave him a small bow and turned to leave, "Then I'll be off."
Cypher turned her head to Katherine "Wait, what?"
"Yeah." Katherine said "I got a History test tomorrow."
Simmons blinked "Are you serious?"
"No, I just don't want to stand outside in the pouring rain when I don't have to."
Cypher let out a sigh and looked at Simmons "She's got a point." and started to follow Katherine's example.
"Good night, Captain." Katherine said as she leapt from the roof.
"Stay out of trouble!" Simmons shouted to Katherine, and glared at Cypher "Well, you gonna say goodbye?"
"Nah." Cypher said, shaking her head and jumping, giving Simmons the middle finger.
Chapter 2
Troy sat at his desk, flipping through files with one hand, a cigarette in his mouth, glass of scotch in the other. The lamp on his desk flickering with his rising frustration. It had been six months since the assassination of Senator Grant, and he'd gotten no closer to finding a lead. Troy resisted the urge to just light the files on fire and walk out of the room, go up to Liam Lexicon and hand in his badge, but he knew that was what a rookie would do, not something a man of his age or caliber would. He shut the file, stretched and went to the bathroom connected to his office, and splashed some cold water on his face. He gazed into the mirror, his brown hair had lost it's luster, growing fainter over the past decade, gray had even started to come in around his temples. His eyes surrounded by black rings from lack of sleep.
He sighed, I promised her a straight fifteen, can't back out five from the endgoal.
Troy's phone started going off in his pocket, flipping it open, he answered with a growl, "Troy here, what do you got?"
The voice on the other end answered with a soft, friendly tone, "That anyway to greet a friend?"
"Hello, Mr. Albatross." Troy said, respectful as possible "What can I do for you?"
"Ah, it's not what you can do for me my boy, but what I can do for you."
"I'm sorry?"
"Come meet me at the Arcadia Club."
"In Athens? You want me to travel across an entire ocean?"
"Of course."
"For what?"
"Well I know you never turn down free booze."
Troy's ears perked, "I trust that's not all you've called me about."
"You know me all too well. When can I expect you?"
He thought for a second, "I can be there by noon tomorrow."
"Sounds delightful, Salve!
Albatross is the leader of the Pleonektés Family, one of the few who escaped jail time after the trail, and only one of two who holds no grudge against me for what I did. After his brother Giovanni went down, Albatross took over, even paid for Laura's funeral in full. In the following years, Albatross has silently helped the Overseers in so many ways from the sidelines, mainly in the form of ridiculous sums of cash, or general tips on whereabouts of rival gangs. Him calling out of the blue, it can't be for a pleasant chat, either he wants someone dead, or he wants to warn me about another attack. With my luck, it's probably both.
Troy walked out of his office, locking the door behind him and squinted as his eyes adjusted to the bright lights off the building outside. He went down the hall and knocked on the Captain's door before going in, shocked to see a young woman instead of Liam. She was dressed in the Captain's uniform, her hair as yellow as the sun, and her eyes a beautiful blue-green. She looked up from the steak she was eating with a curious stare.
"Can I help you?"
Troy cleared his throat, "I was looking for Liam Lexicon. Is he in?"
She smiled, "I'm not his secretary." She stood up, wiping her mouth with a cloth towel, "I'm his daughter, Lieutenant Serah Lexicon."
Troy blinked, "But you're wearing a Captain's uniform."
Serah nodded, "Awaiting that promotion in a week or so, Captain Lexicon is talking with the committee on allowing me to take over, since he's getting promoted at the end of the year."
"To what?"
She looked at him as if he was crazy, "What, have you been living under a rock? He's taking over for General Hart."
Troy stood there, dumbfounded, So this girl's getting my promotion simply because she shares the last name with the Captain? Well, we'll see how long she lasts before they decide to kick her and replace her with someone with actual experience.
"So." She said, interrupting his inner thoughts, "Is there anything I can do for you, Mr...?"
"Pistós. Troy Pistós."
"Ah, you're the man Father always talks about when he gives us his war stories eh? The Spartan Slayer, the man who toppled Athens!" She said, eyes full of wonder like that of a child
He shook his head, "That's me, but your father has a habit of exaggerating. What'd he tell you, I took out a thousand Spartans by myself? I took the city single handed?"
"No." She said bluntly, "You have a confirmed kill count of seventy-two, and that's not factoring in your time as an airborne fighter, nor as a sniper in the last year of the conflict."
"So he didn't stretch the truth." Folding his arms, a slight smile breaking his lips.
"Again, no. I read the reports. Every year around Haloa, he'd tell us how you and Reapers really turned the tide of the war."
Troy just nodded, "Look, Serah."
"Lieutenant."
"Lieutenant. I'm heading to Athens to follow a lead."
"Good, take a man with you."
"For a sit-down? You're shitting me." "No, I'm serious, some of the men need experience, this is the perfect opportunity."
Seeing as no reason to argue, he simply nodded his head, "Who?"
Serah hit a button on her desk, "Garrus, come in here please."
Not ten seconds later, a young man decked in the standard issue recruit uniform stood in the doorway, his head clean shaven with a five o'clock shadow on his face.
"This, Mr. Pistós, is Garrus Druavan. Top sniper in his class, but to be frank, his detective work is terrible. Garrus, you'll be accompanying Troy on an outing, pay attention, don't fuck it up, and make me proud." Garrus gave a salute and went back towards the locker rooms.
Troy chuckled, "Your pep talk needs work."
She gave him a smile, "And your attitude needs some as well, Mr. Pistós."
"Call me Troy." As he shut the door behind him.
Chapter 3
Katherine stepped off the city bus, backpack slung over her shoulder, hoodie flowing in the wind. She started her trek toward the school using the sidewalks and bike paths to avoid as much traffic as possible, even if that meant taking an extra twenty minutes to get to her destination. She made it past the movie theater, which already had a fairly large line for tickets to the new Elementals movie, despite it being seven forty-five in the morning. She maneuvered around them, a few grunts and an accusation of cutting later, she was greeted by another mob yelling at police.
She sighed, "Today's just not my day." she said to herself, as she was unable to see a way around the glob of people.
She tried skirting her way through, only to be pushed away. "Hey, I need to get to school!" She yelled at the shover, who only growled at her. She spotted a small gap between people near the back and slipped through, stopped short of running over a young man in a blue shirt.
She tapped him on the shoulder, "Hey, you know what's going on?"
The man looked at her, "Oh, police raid. Someone reported these people trying to summon a demon or something."
She couldn't see over the tall people, and found trying to hop to get a view was pointless, "So what really happened?"
"Say wha?"
"You said it was reported, that implies that's not what really happened."
"Oh, they're Jupiter followers."
Katherine glanced in the direction of the convicts as the crowd started calling for their heads. "Wait, what?"
"Yeah, damn Jupiter lovers, good riddance to them. If they wanna worship some other god, they should do it in their own country!"
Katherine wanted to tell him off, yell at him about how they were prosecuted in their own country for their beliefs, and only came here to escape that, only to be met with even more hatred, but she simply walked away.
"Hey, where you goin' you're gonna miss them being loaded up!" The blue shirted man shouted, but she didn't want to dignify a response.
Twenty minutes later she finally made it to school, and was greeted by the kind face of Mr. Bryan Malcom, her teacher. He was a kind man in his late forties, like Detective Simmons, his son had moved out of the house, leaving him and his wife alone, however unlike Simmons, the two had a strong relationship. However, like Malcom, his hair had started falling out, leaving Malcom to try different ways of concealing it, none of which had worked.
"Good morning, Katherine." He said, smiling beaming like the sunlight through the room's window "How are you?"
Katherine gave him a greeting bow, as the custom by the people of Grecia. "Good morning, sir. I'm alright, yourself?"
Malcom gave an honorary bow in return, "I'm fine-" He looked at his watch, "You're a tad bit later than you usually are, bus run late?"
"No sir, a police raid held me up near the movie theater."
Malcom braced himself on his desk, "Ah, what uh..what was the raid about..for? Something..."
"They were arresting a few followers of Jupiter." Katherine said, unable to hide her anger
Malcom saw the rage boiling inside her and simply raised his hand, "Katherine, may I ask why this action bothers you so much?"
Katherine looked at him square in the eye, "Well, how would you feel if you were dragged out of bed in the middle of the night by police, and hauled off to jail simply because your neighbor didn't like you worshiped a different deity?"
"Well, that's wrong and it shouldn't happen." He said bluntly, Katherine watched him, waiting for him to laugh, or smile or say he was only joking. "As humans, we should have the right to worship whomever we believe in. You live with Maria, the Vestal, yes?"
Katherine nodded, "Yeah."
"Tell me, which God or Goddess does she worship the most, which one does she call to first in her nightly prayers?"
"Aphrodite."
"Ah, so she prays or beauty?"
"No, love and kindness."
"And you, if I may ask?"
She thought for a second, "None in particular."
"You, I think Apollo would suit you best."
"Why?"
"He represents light, music, poetry...-"
"None of which applies to me." She said, waving across her all black-gray clothing
"And knowledge. Katherine, you are here every day, every school day I should say, an hour before, and you leave a half hour later, I watch you just trying to absorb as much information as you can into that head of yours. And that, is why I equate you to Apollo. Now, right when you walked in, you said it would be wrong to discriminate against people who worship a different god, or goddess. I agree, it wouldn't be fair if Maria had you arrested for worshiping a different God, it's wrong, and those people you saw will most likely get a few hundred drachma."
"It still isn't right."
"And you're correct, it isn't. And once Anton Anemoi is put into office, he'll place those fines, and create punishments for those people who discriminate. Just wait and see."
"Thank you, Mr. Malcom."
"My pleasure, Katherine. Now please take your seat, it's your favorite day of the week."
Katherine took her seat near the back wall on the lifted seating. She took out her notebook and got ready for the next seven hours of straight history lessons. And he was right, it was her favorite course, she always loved learning about those who came before. Just as Malcom got ready to start talking, another student burst into the door. A young woman with black hair, black top and a white skirt.
"S-Sorry I'm late, the bus left without me!"
Mr. Malcom smiled, "It's alright Jessica, just take a seat."
"Jessica" scanned the room, and spotted Katherine, the seat next to her wide open. Katherine watched her come up the steps, stop right in front of her, bounced on her heels and smiled, hand out stretched. Something about Jessica was extremely familiar to her.
"Hi?" Katherine said, confused at her fellow student
"Hi, I'm Jessica Ravel."
"Katherine Thárros." She said, shaking her hand. As Jessica took her seat, Katherine noticed wrist tape on her left arm. "Hey, you okay?"
'Wha- Oh, a guy tried to mug me, when I tried to run he hit me with something."
Katherine glared at Jessica, before turning her attention to Mr. Malcom as he began his lecture.
"One hundred and sixty-five years ago, a man named Collis began his hunt for the Seven Devices created by the Order of Mages..."
As he droned on, Katherine leaned over "Are you sure it wasn't a crowbar?"
Jessica's eyes shot open "Fox?"
Katherine winked, "Hey Cypher."
Chapter 4
Troy stood in front of elegant entrance to the Arcadia Club, the magnificent white doors decorated with crystals and blue rose foliage and ivy. He watched as men dressed in three-piece suits, each different colored entered the building, laughing like the snobs they were, ready to spend some of their endless fortune for overpriced booze. He remembered from his last visit to the Club over a year prior ended with many patrons threatening to riot from the bartender giving them "expired booze", but really all they'd do is storm off, complain to their parents and post on their blogs how crappy the service is, only to come back two days later for more alcohol.
"I'm ready when you are, sir." Garrus whispered via his headset
"You got a good lay out of the building, all the guards, possible exit points?"
"Thirty-seven armed guards, ten exit points."
Troy smirked "Now is that the guards you can see, or do the ones in disguise count?"
"D-Disguise?" He stuttered "I don'-"
"I'm fucking with you. Akin ain't that kind of guy. Just keep watch."
"Will do, sir."
Troy sighed and walked through the doors, flashing his Overseer badge to the bouncer who waved him in. Troy made a b-line to the bar, quickly glancing around the room, he spotted Garrus in a secluded dark corner booth, a mug of beer fizzling in front of him. The kid looked so nervous, his foot tapping a mile a minute, he'd have to work on his undercover skills. As Troy glanced around some more while he waited for the bartender, he saw all the guards Garrus told him about, all armed with Thompson M1A1 machine guns, staring down every patron in their vicinity, Albatross must've become paranoid since they'd last met.
"What can I get ya, sir?" The bartender asked, his voice chipper, full of joy
"Scotch n'rum." Troy replied offhandedly
The bartender stared blankly "Mixed, sir?"
Troy nodded "Yeah."
"Cash or tab?" He asked, mixing the drinks
"Put it on Albatross' account."
The bartender's eyes widened "I highly recommend you don't, sir."
Troy smirked "He won't mind."
The bartender handed Troy his drink, hand shaking "Thank you for your service."
Troy gave him a nod, and downed the concoction in one gulp before gently placing the glass on the counter, "Thank you."
Troy made his way outside to the gardens where Albatross was waiting, his jet black hair slicked back, kept in place by the gods know how many hair products, his three piece suit tailored perfectly to his body with his jacket resting on the chair beside him. Albatross had yet to notice he'd arrived, pre-occupied, fawning over his spreadsheets, two guards dressed in midnight blue trench coats, black sunglasses, and fedoras, armed with Thompsons standing at attention for their boss. Troy walked up, hands in the air, acting as if he was surrendering.
"Hey Akin." He said, chuckling
Albatross looked up, smiling at him, a single gold tooth shimmering in the warm sunlight, "Hello Troy."
Troy glared at the two henchmen behind Troy, triggers at the ready, "Bumped up security, eh?"
Albatross nodded, "Well it's the only thing I can do after Grant was assassinated."
"And why would you be killed? You're not a politician."
Albatross took a sip of his red wine, never breaking his gaze from Troy, "You already know, I was a public benefactor of the WINE party. First go the figure heads, then go the suppliers. Same tactic we used in Sparta."
Wanting to change the subject, Troy cleared his throat, "So, what'd you call me all the way out here for?"
Albatross put down his spread sheets and folded his hands, "I'm told you've been having trouble putting away a case, I want to provide assistance."
Refusing the urge to roll his eyes, he instead played along, "What would you like in return?"
His smile somehow widened, "Oh, just the pleasure of seeing my fellow criminal put away is enough for me."
Troy chuckled, "What do you got for me?"
Albatross retrieved a flashdrive from his left breast pocket and placed it in Troy's hand, "Some information."
"Do I wanna know how you got it?"
Albatross' face hardened, "No."
"Not that I'm ungrateful." Troy started, putting the drive in his pocket, "But you had me fly all the way to Athens to give me information you could've sent in an email?"
"Well my boy." He replied, smile breaking again, "Someone had to get you out of that steel tower."
Troy turned to leave, "Well thanks for the information, I'll keep your name out of the paperwork."
"Ah, one more thing." Albatross said, snapping his fingers "Something to further your investigation."
Albatross handed him a lamanated ticket, an entrance to Idris Griffyon's Remembrance party, "Do I need a suit for this?"
"One will be provided, Troy." Albatross said, returning his attention to his paperwork as a young woman with crimson red-colored hair walked past Troy and placed a vase with three blue roses on Albatross' table. "Oh and Troy?"
Troy stopped in place, he expected now was when he wanted to ask for something in return, "Yeah?"
"Next time, do choose a protege who knows how to blend into a crowd."
Chapter 5
Laughter echoed in the night as Katherine and Jessica walked the narrow rocky road toward the Bakırçay river, their pathway lit every few dozen feet by a street light. Jessica took a moment to collect herself and catch her breath before asking, "So you make this walk every day?"
Katherine peered up into the sky, the sun starting to set in the west, painting everything above her into a beautiful tapestry mix of orange, reds, and blue, thinking hard on the question, "Most days, but if I'm feeling lazy, I'll hitch a ride from one of the city buses, or have Maria drive me."
The two walked in silence the rest of the way, coming up to the three-story house sitting on the river, house number 8579, the back half adored with shadowed glass, giving the occupants a nice view of the water bank, and making it more difficult to get eyed by snooping neighbors. Katherine punched the numbers into the keypad on the door, and entered, half-hazardously tossing her backpack below the coat rack, and prompted Jessica to do the same, as she threw herself onto the couch, yelling "Maria, I'm home!"
Jessica peered to her left as a gorgeous woman came down the stairs, she was at least in her late thirties or early forties, crimson-red hair, deep emerald eyes, and wore the white-green robes of a Vestal, she smiled at Jessica and gave a friendly nod.
"Hello, I am Maria Altheta," her voice soft, and inviting
Jessica returned the nod, "Jessica Ravel."
Katherine chimed in, and indicated to Jessica, "That's Cypher."
"Katherine!" Jessica shouted in disbelief
Maria blinked, her smile unwavering, "And I assume you know she's...ahem..White Fox?"
Jessica nodded, keeping her eyes on Katherine, "Yes ma'am."
Maria sighed, her smile faded, "You kept your identity longer than I thought you would."
"Hey!" Katherine shouted in rage, "What do you mean by that!?"
Maria just turned to the kitchen and opened the fridge, "What do you think I meant by that?" She turned her attention to Jessica, "Would you like some fresh apples and jam as well, Miss Ravel?"
Jessica nodded, "Yes, thank you."
"You're welcome, dear."
Katherine settled back into her seat, arms crossed. She looked at Jessica and grinned.
"And why did you tell her who I am seconds after I met her?"
"Had to come out sometime, best now before she breaks out the booze."
Jessica's eyebrows raised, "Come again?"
Maria came into the living room, handing both the teens a plate of apple slices and raspberry jam, "A glass of wine a day is good for you."
"And by a glass a day, she means at the minimum, three."
"I don't hear you ever complaining, Katherine."
Katherine smiled, "Not complaining, just explaining."
Maria turned to Jessica, "Would you like some? It won't hurt me if you say no."
Jessica nodded, "I'd love some, thank you."
Maria walked to the kitchen, stopping at Katherine, "See? She has manners, you could learn something from her."
Katherine rolled her eyes and waved her off.
Maria returned, a glass to each of them and took a seat in the eggshell recliner directly across from Jessica. A few minutes of awkward silence between the trio before Jessica cleared her throat.
"So..Maria, what do you do?"
"I'm a Vestal for the Following of Aphrodite."
"I see, and..are you married?"
"No, dear."
Jessica glanced between the other two, blinking in confusion.
"Katherine is my ward."
"I'm sorry..what?"
"I was friends with her mother during the Spartan War, I took her under my care."
"Oh...I'm sorry, I didn't uh.."
Maria waved her hand, "It's no problem."
Katherine sat up, moving her tray to the other side of the couch, "It's way too gloomy in here. C'mon, let's share stories."
Jessica raised her eye brow "Like what?"
Katherine cleared her throat, "So. You know how my costume's all white with the layer of body armor and the retractable cape?"
Jessica nodded, "Yeah, what about it?"
"Well, that's like the what-" She glanced at Maria for support "Seventh suit? Eighth?"
"Ninth" Maria corrected, taking a sip of her wine
"Ninth." Katherine continued, "Well, first one I had made was this heavy thing, bulky completely bullet proof. Problem was, I could barely move in it, let alone fight. The second one was so light, it would cut by the tiniest blade imaginable."
"So you got rid of it?"
"No, it was good, really good actually."
Maria chuckled "Until you got stabbed."
"Until..I got stabbed." Katherine said, no shame in her voice. "I came home, crashed on Maria's brand new white couch, blood going everywhere...I just sat there..well, laid there actually. Face-down just...blood oozing.." Katherine lifted up her shirt, showing off the scar below her left rib cage.
"On my nice, new white couch." Maria emphasized
"So that was the end of that one. The next few were made of this new rubber the guy created, this pseudo rubber. Really comfortable, let me move around, and offered protection from guns n' blades."
"Well what was wrong with those?"
"Nothing really..."
"The material shrank when it got wet. I let her think she was getting fat for a few weeks."
Jessica laughed, very nearly dropping her glass, "That's just cruel."
"It provided entertainment."
"It was a dick move," Katherine said "The last one I requested was more in-line with the first suit, specifically made to be bulky and resist armor-piercing rounds. And then the one I have now."
Jessica nodded, "So..you think your guy could make me a new suit? The one I have is getting old."
"Yeah, sure, I'll set something up."
"Thank you."
Maria cleared her throat, "Jessica. What is it you do?"
"Same as Katherine. Fight crime. But unlike her, I don't need any body armor." Katherine tossed a rolled up apple skin at her in response, "Just my wrist blade."
"Wrist blade?" Maria parroted
Jessica nodded and rolled down her sleeve, revealing a brace with two pronged blade. She curled the top of her fingers before making a first, causing the blade to pop forward over the top of her hand, coming out two inches past her knuckles. "Easy to conceal, hard to see."
"I've had the pleasure of using it once or twice." Katherine said, "Non-lethally of course."
Jessica smiled, retracting the blade, "I'm sorry, could I use your phone to call a cab? I got homework to do."
Maria raised her hand, "Of course."
After seeing Jessica off, Katherine retreated to the Den, an underground sanctuary built as a bomb into the caves as a bomb shelter during the Spartan War. Upon cleaning the dishes, Maria entered the elevator to the Den where she was greeted to the soft rush of water, the doors opened and she exited to the familiar site of the computer processors, as tall as two men, braced against a glass barrier which the water rushed down, offering a bit of coolant. Sat in front of it, were four large computer screens, each as large as a television monitor commonly found in someone's house. At the keyboard was Katherine's favored weapon, a six-shot revolver. Maria found Katherine at the wall of weapons, assembling an assault rifle, adding a scope attachment, screwdriver in her mouth.
"You know..." Maria started, her kind, motherly mask gone, "For someone who preaches non-lethal methods, you have a lot of guns."
Katherine glared, "Say what you're really thinking."
"You're far too trusting with Jessica."
Katherine scoffed, "What makes you say that?"
"I knew her father during the war."
"Of course you did, you know everyone."
"Cut the sarcasm, her father is-was, a thief and a liar, who's to say she won't turn her back on you?"
"You're judging her for something her father did. If she was gonna betray me, she would have already. She's known who I am for..thirteen hours, she had plenty of chances to rat me out without me being able to retaliate."
Maria let out a sigh, "Just..be careful, I won't always be able to bail you out."
Katherine nodded, looking up at her for the first time in their conversation, "I know, and I'll always appreciate your help."
Maria took a seat next to her, "Will you ever be done with these guns?"
"Oh yeah, I will before Tristin ever delivers on that payment."
Maria cleared her throat, "Well, I think I'll call it a night, call me if you need anything."
"Sure thing," she replied, absent minded "Oh, could you hand me the revolver before you go?"
Maria nodded, and turned to grab it, but it was gone. Katherine elicited a scream before crashing out of her chair and onto the floor. Maria turned and saw her, her hand was shaking...the revolver in-hand. Katherine's green eyes glazed over, mouth hanging open...
Maria's eyes widened in shock, "No, no no no...Not you..."
Chapter 6
Jessica knocked on the door to the Altheta house, and stood there patiently, admiring herself in the outer glass door. She flicked away a few crumbs from her breakfast left over on her shirt, straightened her red tie, and threw her hands to her side as the wooden door opened to Maria staring in confusion.
"Good morning, Maria." Jessica said, happily
"Uh, good morning Jessica. It is Saturday, right?"
Jessica nodded, "Not a school day, Katherine said she wanted to attend a Jupiter ceremony."
Maria folded her arms, "Really now?" Her tone shifting from cheerful to annoyed
"Oh if-if you don't want her to go, I can-"
"No no, I'm happy she's taking initiative. How long do these last?"
"Until eleven."
Maria's lip twitched, "Alright. I'll see if she's out of bed. Would you like to come in? I made butterbread."
"No thank you, ma'am."
"Suit yourself." Maria stated, turning back.
Jessica heard Maria trek up the stairs inside the house, Jessica let out a sigh of relief, finally being out of Maria's gaze. Within a minute, Katherine barreled out of the door, very nearly crashing into Jessica, her hair a mess of frizz while the back was plastered to her skull from bed head. Her shirt was wrinkled, and her shorts were slanted. She must've forgotten to set an alarm Jessica thought to herself.
"Uh, good morning, I'm sorry did I wake you up?"
"Kinda, but it's cool." Katherine said, stifling a yawn.
"We could do this next week if you want, you look tired."
Katherine waved her hand, "I'll be okay once I get some coffee in me." Katherine's eyes narrowed at Jessica, anger flashed in them.
"What?"
Katherine pointed at Jessica's formal attire, "Am I going to be underdressed for this?"
"No." Jessica said, laughing a bit, "No one will mind, let's get going, we'll be late."
Jessica made her way down the drive way, and made a left back toward the city, Katherine in tow, hands clasped behind her head with her eyes closed, enjoying the warm sunlight.
"So, I haven't seen you in a few days, is everything alright?" Jessica asked, slowing her face to match Katherine's.
"I take it you've seen the news." She replied
"You're an Abnormal."
"Uhmhmm. I've spent the past few days in the backyard trying to get a leash on these... things."
Jessica cleared her throat, "Are you..."
"I got the go-ahead, I'll be fine in public. The past couple days haven't been easy though."
"Why?"
Katherine stopped walking, lowered her hands and raised her right shirt sleeve, revealing her tattoo of a blue rose. "Watch." She said, taking a deep breath. She opened her eyes, now flashing a bright light blue, and the tattoo itself started glowing as well. Within a few seconds, the glowing stopped. Katherine lowered her shirt sleeve and waited, watched Jessica, waiting for any kind of reaction at all.
"Well..." Jessica started, "At least you won't need a flashlight."
Katherine scoffed, "You dumbass." As she started walking again, keeping her hands behind her back. The pair made it into the city limits, Jessica taking the lead, snaking their way across the city streets.
Jessica cleared her throat, "So, what else have you been doing? I can't imagine that's all that's happened."
"When Maria well... found I wasn't going to burn the house down by accident, she went to the library and rented about a dozen books on the... history of Abnormalities, and told me to read them. Some interesting stuff, a lot of it's fucked up."
"Oh?"
"Yup. Like how about...four hundred years ago, Abnormals were called Empusa, and burned at the stake for simply existing." Katherine replied, saddness in her voice.
"Well that's..douchey."
Katherine grinned, "Different times, I wouldn't blame them. If my thirteen year old suddenly summoned the Kraken, I'd be scared shitless."
"Wait, really?"
"Oh yeah, there's this report of a woman named... Andromeda. When she turned thirteen, she found out she could summon monsters to her, make them do whatever she wanted."
"And one of those things was...a Kraken?" Jessica asked, anticipating a "gotcha" joke, but Katherine only nodded
"Didn't end too well for Argos."
The two traveled the rest of the way, about a twenty minute hike to a small building, what appeared to be an old wood log cabin on the edge of the forest in the park, people strolling in. Katherine noted two stained glass windows on each side of the main door, and she could see another pair on the east side as they walked up to the building.
Katherine stopped short of the stairs, her head dropped, starring at the ground. Jessica turned back and asked, "Hey, are you okay?" as she placed a hand on her shoulder.
She nodded slowly, "Are you..sure this is okay?"
Jessica embraced her, "I'm not forcing you to convert, I'm not telling you to convert. You wanted to see what this was all about, I am going to show you. No one's going to care that you're not a follower. We welcome visitors with open arms. Okay?"
Katherine nodded, "Yeah, yeah, I'm okay." she said, pulling away.
"You sure? We can go get you that coffee if you want."
Katherine made a joking gasp, "You would commit a sin for me? I didn't know you cared that much!"
Jessica flipped her off, and entered the building. Katherine was greeted by marvelous waxed wood benches all pointing to a shrine, a red vortex in the center, with a painting of an nondescript man and woman on each side. Jessica grabbed Katherine's hand and lead her to an open seat near the back. The two sat down, and the preacher began the ceremony, talking of the amazing feats Jupiter accomplished in his life living among men, separating the continents, battling the beasts of the wilds, clearing the forests, cleaning the water, teaching men how to fish and hunt, before his human vessel succumbed to old age at "two-hundred and twelve years old." Since then, his followers have lived on, practicing his teaching, following his laws written and adapted from old parchment.
As the preacher took a break for a glass of water, Katherine bent over and tapped Jessica on the shoulder.
"Yeah? What's up?"
Katherine inquired to the paintings, "I thought you said Jupiter was a woman, the guy up there keeps calling her a..him?"
Jessica smiled, "The old text refers to Jupiter as both a man and a woman, some of us believe she's a she, other's believe she's a man."
Katherine blinked, "Yeah, okay...makes sense."
"Heh, I'll explain later."
The preacher returned to the front, and started a chant with the other members of the Followers, in a language Katherine couldn't understand. She simply slumped back in her seat and hoped no one noticed she wasn't singing along. The chant itself was beautiful to listen to, but as it dragged on, the words started hurting, her ears started ringing, and her head started pounding so much so she bent over and held her temples.
Jessica patted her on the back, "Hey, you okay?" But the words were foreign to her, just like the song, indistinguishable.
"Shut up." she muttered
"Katherine?"
"Shut up!" Louder, venom in her voice
"Hey..calm down."
"Shut UP!" She shouted, the chanting stopped, everyone turned toward her
Jessica waved her hand at everyone, "She's okay, she's just going thro-"
"SHUT UP!"
Jessica jumped back, grabbing the collar of the man in front of her, pulling him back with her in case something happened. But nothing did, at least, nothing damaging. Jessica just watched at Katherine's hair started floating and glowing an eerie fiery red-orange. Everyone in the room were stunned, silent, sliding away from Katherine, fear in their eyes. Jessica waited for a reaction, anything, positive, negative, in what felt like eternity, nothing came. But then...
The preacher scowled at Katherine, "Your kind aren't welcome here!" He said, bleeding with authority, "Get out or I will call the police."
Katherine's expression shifted from anger to saddness, her hair stopped glowing and skirted back down to her shoulders. Tears welled in her eyes as she ran out the door.
"Katherine!" Jessica shouted
She turned to the people still sitting in their seats, hushed mumbles between each other, satisfied to be rid of her.
"Do not be sad it has left, be thankful it did not harm anyone."
Jessica pointed at the preacher, "You can go fuck yourself. She just turned you asshole, she's in pain and what you did isn't helping her!"
The preacher stood there in stunned silence as Jessica walked out after Katherine. She wasn't hard to spot, crying on a wood bench overlooking the river. Jessica cautiously sat down, but Katherine didn't seem to notice.
"Hey..are you okay?"
She moved her hands from her face, tears streaming down, her nose and cheeks red, she glared at Jessica and said nothing.
"I didn't know they'd react like that."
"Of course you didn't."
Jessica grabbed her head and twisted it so she was looking at her, "Do you really think I would take you there, knowing they'd do that to you? Make you feel like shit?"
"No but, you had to have known tha-"
"I've read every book, every scroll they've ever given me, not once does it say "we hate Abnormalities". That preacher is, and has always been a dick. Just forget about him."
Katherine slapped Jessica's hands away and got up, looking out toward the river. The two stood in silence for a few minutes, muffled piano music and chants could be heard from the cabin a couple hundred feet away.
Jessica cleared her throat, "You mad at me?"
"No, not at you. But..."
"But?"
"If you really wanna make it up to me."
Jessica sighed, "I'll buy you a damn coffee."
Katherine wrapped her arm around Jessica's hip and pulled her close, "Two shots of caramel, please."
"Just promise me you won't burn down the coffee shop."