Broker-Chapter 180

Time spent with the young heroes and her two closest friends was a balm that went beyond any private time and shopping spree could provide. As Sonya laughed and played games with the others she remembered more and more why she had thrown herself so hard into what she was doing in the first place and who she had done it for. She wondered if that exhausted dream from the previous night had been more honest with her than she’d ever been with herself.

Ever since the death of Firestorm and her fight with Chunhua she had thrown herself with ever increasing ferocity into her efforts. Her fun loving and mischievous side had become yet another mask to wear to cover up the exhaustion and bitterness that had been threatening to overwhelm her. It was not until she got to experience the same brightness there in the living room of her New York apartment that she finally was able to see that with some measure of clarity. That clarity had come as something as a humbling shock, she had always prided herself on her own self awareness. She knew that she was a hypocrite in a lot of ways and often did not practice what she preached. She hadn’t realized, though, how deep that went.

Realizations aside, she could not just stop working with the timetable she was operating on. Liberty was still making moves and steadily growing in power if the few Night Society observers they’d managed to maintain amongst her people were to be believed. Qilin had been pacified for now though she represented a considerable threat if she ever decided to end their business relationship. Craftsman was now an object of attention for the Pandora Committee, Ewen’s recorded confession of his existence had driven the committee to begin looking into the man known as Graham Taylor in order to unearth his secrets.

There were long term problems to consider as well. Astaroth was still active in Paris, though the small gathering of vigilantes around Detective Martin who now called himself Mimir were angling to take the fight to him. That left First Wind and Majordomo as the most out-of-reach among the Heralds. First Wind’s antics had tapered off after Carla’s ascension to the role of Chairman. Her hard-line stance on collateral damage moving his more unseemly behaviors into the dark rather than bringing them out into the light. Majordomo was absent entirely. He’d been second only to Otis in the previous timeline and world famous for his power. No one had heard a thing about him in the current timeline, though, and it was beginning to worry Sonya a little.

Surprisingly, the least pressing problem was the biggest threat. Otis was now a signed hero with ASTA and firmly under her observation. Though she had no control over what kind of missions he went on and where, she could keep a much better eye on him and watch how he and his abilities developed over time. She hoped that, in that way, she could unearth the secrets of his abilities and how to put an end to him once and for all. Something told her that would be a long time coming, though, and it was best to be patient.

All of those concerns were finally put out of her mind as she enjoyed a little quality time with the people she had come to care about. Not all of them could be there, but that was something she had come to accept far more easily than her own shortcomings.

She was in the middle of watching Lillian and Snow duke it out in a racing game when she made a decision. “Hey gang, a moment?” she called out, drawing everyone's attention. She hopped to her feet and took a few skipping steps forward before spinning to stand in front of the TV. She searched their faces, a little sad not to see Ollie there but according to Lillian he had quickly arranged for lodgings in the guild dorms before throwing himself into working with the investigative team. Sonya was proud of him for that.

Amos, Val, and Marta walked over from the counter where they’d been talking. “What’s up Sonya?” Amos asked.

Sonya put her hands on her hips, “Here’s the deal! I’m planning a trip next week. I was going to bring it up back at the Guild but I figured I’d address it with you guys first,” she said and held up a finger, “I’ve been planning expanding ASTA’s interests into Asia for a while, particularly Japan, and have a few people I’d like to meet while I’m there. Now I know you guys are on your grace period and should be spending time familiarizing yourself with New York, but what do you guys say to a little vacation before you dive into it?”

She grinned, “We could check out the guilds there of course, maybe do a little flexing,” she winked at Lillian before looking up to the ceiling, “The tourist destinations would be a blast, though. Hot springs, shopping arcades, maid cafes,” she said the last item with a lecherous laugh. The others gave her a flat look and she returned it with her hands on her hips, “What! I know what I like!” She protested.

“I’ve always wanted to go,” Marta said with a wistful sigh.

Amos snorted, “Well of course you’re going, you go wherever she does,” he teased her.

“True, but the perks don’t hurt,” Marta pointed out.

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John raised a hand politely before putting it down after getting a raised eyebrow from Sonya, “I’m afraid it will not be possible for me to attend,” he said with a bit of resignation, “I have already created a work schedule with the Guildmaster.”

Val shrugged next to him, “Yeah and I’m not all that interested, no offense,” he glanced towards Marta apologetically. “There’s an extra course I gotta take with the guild before I’m allowed to fly in the city so I’ll be doing that. It ain’t long but it’s gotta be done. I’m not from the city so I’d like to spend a little time getting used to things around here.”

“I thought you were all from Nashville,” Lillian said.

“Technically true, I went to school in Nashville,” Val said, “Didn’t see much of the town though. My family is on a farm about an hour out so I usually went home right away at the end of the day.”

“Well I’m in,” Cass said and elbowed Alex who grunted and sat up from where he was zoning out a little.

“Me too, definitely!” Alex said, “I wanna take a peek at what kind of brawlers they got over there.”

“Sapporo is a brawler-type, technically,” Snow pointed out, her voice filling the air like static.

“I thought he made people go crazy or something,” Alex said.

Lillian gave him an aghast look, “He makes people party and draws strength from the size of the party. Everyone knows that. His ability requirements are some of the most well known in the world because of Vegas. Have you been living under a rock?”

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He squinted at her, “You wanna rematch?”

“You two can mess around all you want after I hear from the others,” Sonya laughed, pulling them out of their bickering, “Snow, Lily?”

“I’d love to go, but don’t we need passports?” Lillian asked, “I never got mine.”

“Me neither,” Snow said, “Didn’t have a lot of opportunities to go out of the country before I joined up as a hero,” she added sarcastically.

Sonya chuckled, “What are you talking about? You have passports.”

All of the young heroes except for John blinked at her in confusion. John snorted and looked away, getting a scowl from his friends. She clicked her tongue and shook her head, “A few somebodies got a question wrong on their legal exam, obviously,” she said and pointed to Lillian’s pocket, “It’s in there. Heroes are often required to go across borders to neighboring countries to assist or may even be called in to aid the International team if it comes to it. Your hero license doubles as a passport. Look closely at it.”

They all hurried to pull out their wallets and check the card, peering closely at the lines. There were of course the usual lines, id number, code name, real name, tier, and near the bottom; “Passport Identification Number,” Lillian read aloud, “Oooohhh!”

—

On the other side of the continent, a solitary pair trudged through the thick snow that had coated a mountainside. The wind picked up, the bitter cold not even tingling what little exposed skin they had. The trees around them creaked and groaned with the growing storm, snow floating around them in gusts before abruptly parting to let them pass as if they were cutting through a field. The first of the two wore heavy red-and-green clothes with a hood and scarf around her face. A heavy backpack hung on her back that didn’t seem to bother her despite her slight frame. She hummed merrily to herself.

Guildmaster Evergreen turned back to check on the woman traveling with her. As opposed to herself who had little trouble in such climates even without her abilities, Black Lotus held no love for the ceaseless snowfall. She wore thick black robes that were tied tightly at her ankles and wrists to keep the heat in, her long hair bound up beneath a hood and wrapped with a crimson scarf that seemed to ripple faintly with an odd heat-haze in the snowy climate. She reached up and pulled at the scarf, fixing it over her nose as she nodded silently to Evergreen.

“That’s fancy!” Evergreen shouted over the wind, pointing at her own scarf for emphasis.

“Got it in a dungeon!” Black Lotus shouted back, “How far out are we?”

“Just over this ridge!” Evergreen replied, “Which dungeon?”

“Seoul!” Black Lotus said as they continued their trudging path, making their way up and over the ridge to look down on a clearing that had taken shape in the trees. The woods seemed to have fallen away in a near-perfect circle around a central point. There, amidst the clearing, was a pair of obelisks practically radiating mana off of them. Between them a portal had taken shape, rippling and fluctuating as the wind blew through it. “What next?” Black Lotus shouted.

“Next I set up our living arrangements!” Evergreen called, “Don’t want our backup getting bowled over with snow when they come through!”

“Is the Committee sending backup?” Black Lotus asked.

“Not unless you need it!” Evergreen shouted before hopping forwards and sliding down the snow bank a little. She threw out both hands and splayed her fingers, pointing them down before dipping forward in a scooping motion and dragging her hands up into the air. All around them the ground seemed to tremble as snow shifted and the wind went still. Then, without warning, the snow around the portal began to draw into itself in a large ring around the outer edge of the clearing before launching up into the air. It arced over the portal before colliding with itself, More snow moved from the surrounding area, building and building on top of the mound that was beginning to take shape.

Evergreen let out a breath and brought both of her hands towards one another, palms soon pressing together as she hunched her shoulders in focus. The snow began to shrink in on itself, compressing down until a dome of smooth, opaque, white ice had formed over the dome while leaving the surrounding area almost completely cleared. Black Lotus let out a breath filled with awe, “That was amazing.”

Evergreen barked out a laugh, “Yeah? I may not be the strongest in the world, but here?” she gestured around herself, “I’m invincible. Come on! I made you a room!” she said eagerly and slid down the nearly clear hill that had been left behind after using its snow. She hustled over to one side of the dome and held out a hand, an opening forming in the dome and revealing an already lit interior.

Black Lotus hurried after her and stepped through the opening, pulling back her hood as she looked around and down. She was standing on a floor that looked like it had been shaped to look like tiles. The opening led into a hallway that stretched forward before stopping at a crossing. Evergreen threw her hood back as Black Lotus looked up at the ceiling. A crystalline piece of ice was floating over their heads and letting off a comfortable glow that added a strange warmth to the space, “What is that?”

“I can make ice with unusual properties depending on available ingredients,” Evergreen said as she walked forward, “Common room and entry to the portal room is on the left, living quarters are on the right.”

Black Lotus raised an eyebrow, “Ingredients? You mean snow?”

Evergreen glanced back at her and winked, “Among other things, girls gotta have some secrets, right?”

“Sure, sure,” Black Lotus admitted, looking around as they hung a left into a sizeable room with tables and stools all made of hardened ice. She pulled off a glove and ran her fingers across it. It was cold but not painfully so. More interestingly, it was dry as stone. She rubbed her fingers together before looking back at Evergreen, “This is incredible.”

“I’m just getting started. We need to fortify it as well. I’ll take care of that, though. You should probably call up Euclidia and get that scout of yours in,” she said and walked back through the entryway to the common room and down towards the outside.

Black Lotus pressed her lips together and looked around the room one more time before letting out a breath and pulling her phone out from within her robes. She opened her phone, spotting a notification she hadn’t felt come in. She opened it and smiled. Sonya was standing with her phone outstretched and smiling with several of the new young heroes behind her as well as Marta and Amos. A message was attached, ‘Be safe’.

She ran her thumb over the image for a moment before letting out a breath. She wasn’t sure why seeing Sonya’s face dredged up complicated feelings beyond the ones she already had but she let it go. It wasn’t important. She had a job to do. She hadn’t been confident about facing this dungeon before but now she felt like she was ready to take it on. She selected a contact and her phone dialed, the call ringing only once before Euclidia answered.

“Chuchu! Hey girl hey!” she said brightly.

“Hey Molly,” Black Lotus said brightly, “We’ve arrived at the target destination.”

“Awesome!” Euclidia said before it sounded like she turned away from the phone, “Hey, Gravy-train! Get the nexus set up for a portal from the scouts rally point to Black Lotus’ current location,” she paused, “Yeah I meant you! What, you don’t like the nickname?” Euclidia came back to the phone, “New kid doesn’t like his nickname. We’re on it.”

Black Lotus laughed, “I don’t know if I’d like to be called that either,” she said, “Who are we getting?”

“Sending you a scout team of five and a few fresh graduates who will be shadowing them during the initial dive. They won’t be participating in the main op but it’ll be a good experience, one of our security boys is actually scout certified and offered to help out,” Euclidia explained, “His name’s Nietz, good kid, be nice to him.”

“Looking forward to meeting him,” Black Lotus said as an arch began to form in front of her.

“Portal incoming, good luck Chuchu!”

Black Lotus grinned, “Thanks, it's good to be back on the job.”