Broker

Nietz took a step back in the alley, not daring to look over his shoulder. He kept his eyes firmly on the ghoulish man in front of him. The villain stopped spinning his cane and rested it on the ground, tapping blood-red fingers on the skull at the top. “Who are you?” Nietz demanded. “You have to know that this city is filled with heroes right now. If you make any kind of big moves-”

The dapper ghoul grinned at him, showing off white pointed teeth. “Hey! I’m offended!” he declared, raising a hand to his heart.

Nietz blinked. “Um… no. Sorry. I really don’t know who you are.”

The ghoul stared back at him. “Wait, really?”

“Yes, really,” Nietz replied impatiently, not really sure why the tone of the conversation kept rising and falling. Is this guy trying to put me off balance by acting like this? That must be it, he thought and clenched his fists. Raising them up in a defensive posture. 

The ghoul clicked his tongue and sighed, standing up straight and scratching at his brow with the end of his cane. He squinted into the distance, distracted. “I guess that’s the consequence for staying under the radar-”

Nietz moved, throwing himself forward with as much force as he could muster. He drove his fist up towards the man’s jaw. He had to at least stun him or throw him off balance so he could escape. Something about this guy set off every instinct to flee, but he knew better than to turn and simply run away. There was no escaping. Not without putting up something of a fight. Just as his fist connected, fresh pain exploded in his gut. He gasped, his eyes nearly popping out of his skull as he collapsed to the ground. I didn’t see him move! What is with this strength?

He looked up into a pair of glowing red eyes. The ghoul whipped the cane back down, and it stopped an inch over Nietz’s face. The air pressure sent dust and trash around them fluttering away. The ghoul smirked. “Allow me to introduce myself. I am Charon. You might’ve heard of Tenebra. She’s one of mine.” He said the last word with a vicious smile; his teeth looked like pointed tombstones.

As in one of the Top Ten? That Tenebra? He’s her boss? He would have doubted it if he hadn’t just been laid flat in an instant. What the hell is with all these monsters showing up? 

The ghoul placed his cane against Nietz’s chin. “Sorry, brat, but after my little trip, I learned a few things about my build. I need to diversify. I hear you’re pretty durable. You wouldn’t mind losing an eye or something, would you?”

This guy is insane! What is he going on about? Think, Anton! Tenebra is wanted for her connection to the underworld. If he’s her boss, then… maybe…

“Wait!” Nietz nearly shouted, surprising Charon. “Please. I want to talk to Ishtar.”

Charon narrowed his eyes. “You? What makes you think you’re worthy?” the ghoulish man snarled.

Yes! He does know her!

“Not just anyone-”

“I want to make a deal!” Nietz interrupted. “She does those, right?”

Charon’s eyebrows rose, and the twisted, maniacal smile on his face made Nietz’s gut churn. A black tongue licked over those blade-like teeth. “A deal, huh? Alright! Now we’re talking!”

—

The office that Sonya used as her lair was dark as she wound down for the night. The excitement of the day had left her a little tired despite her monstrous body. She sipped at a drink and listened to the world news, barely paying attention. Her thoughts were on Qilin. I didn’t get to shake her hand again, but that’s okay. Fortunately, Colin was available to write up a fresh contract. I didn’t want her to know about Broker anyway. She’s holding out on me by using her silence as payment, but that’s fine. I can get more out of her next month. 

She snorted. Just one hit of the good stuff, and she’s already hooked. So short-sighted for a woman with a Qilin’s wisdom. I need to be careful not to come on too strong, though, otherwise that wisdom of hers will see right through me.

“No need to rush,” she said to herself. “All in good time.”

She sipped her drink as the monitor to her left changed and red words stretched across it.

“Breaking news out of Tuscany,” the reporter said, sounding a little excited.

Sonya tilted her head towards the screen as the reporter disappeared and the image changed to that of a firefighter standing in the midst of a crowd of reporters with a dazed look on his face. The words ‘Delayed Awakening?’ panned across the bottom of the screen. Sonya spat out her drink and sat up straight as a thrill went up her spine. She coughed. “W-what?” she blurted and spun completely towards the computer. 

“A local firefighter, confirmed unawakened by his team and previous testing, displayed light-touched abilities this evening during a call. Dante Gessi, thirty-four, produced flame retardant foam from his hands that saved his life and the life of one of his fellow firefighters when the blaze suddenly intensified,” the reporter continued. “The local Pandora agent is currently interviewing Gessi about his experience.”

“Ishtar!” she shouted and tapped the key to rewind the stream.

The door swung open to her office, and Ishtar hurried inside, followed quickly by Marta, whose fists were already growing scales. They looked around in confusion as Sonya gestured to the screen. “You need to see this! Now!” she said quickly and backed up for the two of them to hurry over. She hit play again, and the three of them all sat in stunned silence for a moment.

“I thought only new adults could awaken now,” Marta murmured.

“That was my understanding,” Ishtar said and glanced at Sonya. “What does this mean?”

A somber presence washed over them, and Ishtar’s expression turned stony. Marta shifted and raised her fists only for Ishtar to wave her down. Sonya frowned. “I’m guessing you have an explanation for this…” she trailed off and turned to the semi-translucent figure that had appeared in the corner of her office. A beautiful woman with blonde hair and ocean-blue eyes, she wore white robes and had a terribly sad smile on her face. Motherly but weary. “...Pandora?”

Out of the corner of Sonya’s eye, Marta stiffened a little bit. Ishtar crossed her arms defensively as the Old Ghost – that’s what Sonya knew to refer to her as now – drifted further into the room. Her body started to glow slightly. “I’ve kept my distance for a while, but I think we need to have a talk about what you’ve set into motion, Sonya.”

“Me?”

Pandora gave her a patient look. “You.”

“I didn’t-” she paused and furrowed her brows. Memory caught up to her. The breathtaking moments after reawakening from being trapped within Titania’s power. Her deal with the world, the reforging of her abilities. The warnings that were given. “The White Seal.”

Pandora nodded.

Ishtar frowned. “White Seal?”

Sonya rubbed her neck. “You didn’t have access to the HUD while I was doing the deal to merge you with my abilities,” she said. “I got quite a few warnings about the consequences of what I was doing. Something about it breaking something called the ‘White Seal of Awakenings’ or whatever,” she explained awkwardly. Ishtar scowled at her, and Sonya just shrugged. “I was prepared to deal with any consequence if it meant helping you, Sis. I don’t regret it.”

Ishtar rolled her eyes and shook her head before shooting a glance towards Pandora, who smiled at her a little too wide. Sonya cleared her throat. “You two can make eyes at one another later,” she said before remembering. “Oh! Pandora, this is Marta Daphne. She’s my dear friend and confidante.”

Marta, who was standing there a little stunned, offered a curtsy to the dead Great One. “It’s… an honor to meet you,” she said in her best butler-maid tone.

“I’ve watched you for a while, Miss Daphne. You are a remarkable woman,” Pandora said softly as she floated up a bit higher and seemed to recline on the air. “Your love for your lady runs quite deep. Does she know about Vegas?”

Marta’s eyes went wide. “You-”

Sonya turned to her. “Oh?”

Marta flushed. “It was in the heat of the moment,” she mumbled.

Pandora laughed before turning serious. “Back on topic,” she said. Sonya looked up at her and frowned. She had a feeling she knew where this was going, but that didn’t make it any less nerve-wracking. She needed to hear it to confirm her suspicions. “When I made my choice so many years ago, I knew it would be a long time before mana returned to the world,” Pandora said. “I had to take into consideration just how much the world would forget, how unprepared it would be for what was to come. I got some insight from the Oracle of Delphi and… a dear friend.”

“Loki? I figured you two would hook up,” Sonya asked.

Pandora blinked, then slowly turned her head to Sonya. “Excuse me?”

Sonya shrugged and put on her best smug grin. “I know a lot. We’ll talk more later.”

Pandora stared at her for several seconds before slowly resuming. “...Yes, we will be doing that,” she said hesitantly and shot Ishtar a surreptitious look. Ishtar didn’t even blink, her expression still flat. “Anyway,” she said. “Yes, I spoke with the Oracle and Loki about what was to come and what decisions would be best to make. If Earth became as it was in our time all at once, humanity would not be able to survive. It would destroy itself.”

“Managed that even without whatever you did,” Sonya grunted.

Pandora’s eyes flashed with terrible fury for just a moment. “Otis. Yes.”

Marta raised a hand. “I’m not even going to get into the fact that Loki is real, because you are,” Marta said quickly. “But you know about what-” she gestured to Sonya, “-what happened before?”

“My memories of that timeline merged when the regression took place,” Pandora said. “Just a few moments after the flash, unfortunately. Only after Otis had acquired his powers and left.”

“Oh,” Marta said, looking flummoxed. “I see.”

“Yes,” Pandora said. “May I continue?”

Sonya shrugged, and the Old Ghost gave her a flat look before sighing. “Humanity would have torn itself apart if things were completely as they were in my time,” Pandora said. “So I chose to slowly ease the world back into how it naturally was. The true state of the world and the cosmos as a whole. I created the Seals as part of the worldpact I made to cut Earth off from mana and contain it in my ability.”

Sonya raised an eyebrow. “Wait, you sanctioned Earth?”

Pandora nodded. “Yes, just like you sanctioned Lillian Landrey’s abilities to unlock over time, I sanctioned the fundamental underpinnings of reality and natural laws.”

Sonya had to sit after that. “Holy shit.”

“For a brief moment, I was granted power far beyond my rank among the Great Ones and used it as best I could,” Pandora said. “Such power is far beyond the scope of achievement within any natural lifetime. If your concerns are about someone like Otis achieving that rank, you need not worry. It is very unlikely to happen before you kill him.”

Sonya felt a little better, but that also meant it wasn’t impossible. She shuddered at the thought. Pandora continued with her explanation. “I formed several seals, the first of which was the White Seal of Awakenings. I restricted awakenings to a random number of people across the planet the moment mana was released. After that, only children who reached adulthood after the flash would experience awakening.”

She raised a finger. “This was, of course, to allow the first generation to guide the new generation going forwards. However, this is not natural,” she explained. “Awakening should be able to happen to anyone under the right conditions or with the right training and education.”

Sonya let out a breath. “Alright, so we’re in that phase now then, is what you’re saying?”

“Yes.”

“Was it the deal I made that did it? I don’t understand how you could have predicted something like that, even with an oracle’s help,” Sonya said.

Pandora shook her head. “It wasn’t the worldpact you made, Sonya. No, you achieved something that shouldn’t have happened for another decade or so. You are a Claimant.”

Marta looked at Sonya while Ishtar rubbed her face. Sonya let out a breath. “I’ve been informed that the first step to joining the club of the Great Ones is to ‘stake a claim,’ though I haven’t had the full introductory course. I can do that later while I’m resting.”

Pandora gave her a suspicious look. “We definitely have a lot to talk about.”

“Yes, we do,” Sonya laughed. “So I staked a claim.”

“Wait-wait-wait, you’re a god?” Marta asked.

Sonya winced as Pandora’s expression turned stormy. “No,” Sonya said carefully. “And they don’t like that word,” she added with a calculated smile at Pandora. “But if, for conversation's sake, Pandora would be willing to tolerate using that terminology…” she trailed off invitingly.

Pandora’s frown eased a little, and she shook her head. “Closer to one of your mythological heroes such as Perseus,” she said with a wave of her hand. “Not quite a, er…” She looked disgusted. “Demigod, but close. The point is that I set the condition to be when a Claimant rose out of the many, many awakened across the world. Someone with enough power but who also met the requirements to cross the threshold.”

“Not quite sure what those are, by the way,” Sonya said. “I just kinda did a thing.”

Pandora gave her another flat look - she was getting lots of those today. “A Claimant is someone who has achieved an initial enlightenment of sorts. Their vision of themselves, their mental state, their understanding of their powers, their personal philosophy – all of these things crystalize into a claim they stake on the world and mana itself. This does not come easily and requires tribulation, introspection, and training.”

“Or about two to three hundred years trapped in a magic prison,” Sonya muttered irritably.

“Every time you open your mouth in this conversation,” Pandora said, “I get more and more concerned.”

“It’s part of who I am,” Sonya laughed.

Pandora looked to Marta and Ishtar, who both nodded. The Old Ghost shook her head. “The point is, you’ve become a Claimant, and your abilities are starting to crystallize and become refined as a result. Personalized. The amount of Mana you can draw upon has increased significantly.”

“Not precisely more powerful, then,” Sonya pressed.

“There is no tier above Mythic when it comes to abilities. The stages past the threshold are about you as a person. Your friend Kerauna is on a unique path, if that’s what you’re referring to. That is not something I can advise upon. Even my Grandfather did not attempt to tread that route,” Pandora said.

Zeus. We’re actually talking about Zeus as a person in a conversation. I live a weird life, Sonya thought with a chuckle, only to get a frown from Pandora. “So what do we do?”

“Nothing,” Pandora said. “You deal with the consequences and continue to help guide humanity towards the future. It is one of the reasons I chose…” She let out a sigh. “It was what I was hoping for with Marc Mallory.”

Sonya frowned but said nothing. She really didn’t want to kick her while she was down over the guy. She liked Pandora, both the one living in her inner world and the one outside. She’d suffered a lot throughout time and was not remembered with kindness. She’d been there to watch the world end too, and she’d been a helpless ghost. That was more than enough punishment as far as Sonya was concerned.

“I said I’d deal with it,” Sonya said with her hands on her hips. “So I’ll deal with it. No worries.”

“Ever confident,” Pandora chuckled.

“I am who I am,” Sonya chirped and reclined in her chair. “So the world is about to go crazier than I planned, big deal. I’m already turning it on its head, what’s a little more?” She glanced at her sister and best friend. “I’ve got a team to back me up.”

Marta and Ishtar nodded in solidarity, and she looked back up at Pandora with a savage grin. “So don’t you worry about a thing, Pandora. I’ll be the one to bring Otis to his knees and save the world.”

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