Sonya was like a statue. If Marta hadn’t known better, if she’d only known the persona she cultivated as a businesswoman and socialite, she would have been baffled. To be honest she was still a little troubled by the behavior. The woman she’d chosen to stay beside, the woman she’d endured agony for, had not so much as blinked-not that she needed to-as she stared at the portal and more specifically the strange columns (or were they some kind of pylons) that appeared to hold it up.
Marta pressed her lips together and turned to look back at the pylon. It didn’t bother her to stand here, it was relaxing to be honest. The swirling lights acting like a flame at a campsite in the dimly lit room. Marta’s power made her tireless, she’d not even felt a cramp or ache even after they’d hit the twelve hour mark. Half way there. She glanced back at Sonya and wondered again at the strange knowledge the woman seemed to have. She hadn’t thought much about it at first, shrugging it off as coincidence, but the coincidences had only grown over time.
Sonya could see the future, somehow, she knew things about the world that no one else did. She could perceive truths and had details and answers that were outside of even Amos’ extensive reach. Amos had already long come to the same conclusion as her, but the both of them had the same unspoken understanding about that theory. Sonya’s own discomfort about the topic had been the warning. If they pushed her too hard, things wouldn’t be the same. They knew it instinctively, and so, had chosen not to speak.
A low hum went through the room and the floor trembled with the slight vibration. Marta jerked out of her thoughts and looked up at the portal. It trembled. More importantly, the column-pylon things began to glow.
“Uh… energy levels are going up…” Amos called.
They both looked at Sonya who said nothing. Instead, she got to her feet with a serious expression on her face. It was strange, like she was observing something deeply profound. A bit of sweat dripped down past her ear. She clenched her fists, and closed her eyes as if in prayer. She let out a breath and opened them, and stood tall, waiting. Marta felt her stomach clench and she looked back at the portal, it was flickering now. Was it going to explode? No, Sonya would have said something. Then what? What was happening on the other side of that light?
–
Do it. You heroes. Exceed my expectations. Win.
They’d reached the boss. The pylons had announced that the final struggle for the survival of the dungeon had begun. Twelve hours. It had taken them twelve hours to reach the final boss of the dungeon. It was a feat she hadn’t believed she could attribute to the neophyte team of heroes and their rather rambunctious and reckless leader. But not once had she seen the tell-tale flash of energy that came from the loss of an outsider’s life. They were thriving in there. Was it the nature of their powers? Perhaps they had found themselves a good match-up with the common monsters.
That was logical.
But the Boss monsters defied that kind of logic. They were an existence beyond their own kin. Horrors that were at the peak of their tier. Creatures that could kill an inexperienced hero far beyond their own rating. The sovereignty of tier did not matter to them. Skill, power, and experience were the only things that could overcome them. To think anything else was the height of hubris. She’d watched so many die that way. One wrong move, one hint of overconfidence, one underestimation. That’s all it took.
The portal flickered angrily again.
She smiled.
I think we might not be meeting the way we did last time, will we? Chunha? Sonya thought and then let herself drift back, if only for a little while.
–
Sonya atop the observation tower, looking out over it all from afar. The devastation, the waking nightmare that was the ruins of New York City. She opened a bottle of water and took a drink, her eyes scanning the movements of the creatures as they raced across the wasteland. The ground around the ruins had been turned black and veins of molten orange spread across it, even reaching into the greenery beyond. It was spreading the infection. The devils were everywhere now and the Committee had declared that the region was basically a lost cause at this point.
Next to her, a young man sat in contemplation of the wasteland. He was peering through a pair of binoculars and trying to see what she could see clearly. He lowered them and let out a sigh, glancing down at his phone. “It’s getting worse,” He said solemnly and looked up at her, “It’s like a chain reaction.”
She nodded and frowned. The explosion in New York had only been the beginning. No one understood why it’d happened, but the catastrophe had only lead to more catastrophe. Similar explosions had ripped across North America in a tidal wave, following a clear pattern of spreading from New York as an epicenter. Some big wig had explained that the explosion had released something called ‘mana’ in intense amounts and the cloud of this ‘mana’ stuff was spreading out and being drawn into more hot zones, increasing the speed at which they overloaded.
Not that it mattered to her at all, she was a scout. Had been for the past month since she’d signed on as a ‘hero’. Marta was back home, safe in the shelter. She and her husband were going through a bit of a rough spot, though, apparently he was a bit of a religious nut and didn’t like her associating with Sonya who’d turned into an ‘inhuman freak’, his words. Sonya snorted and turned back to observation, her eyes clicking as she urged them to focus a bit more, zooming in on a pack of little devils as they raced after some unseen prey.
“See anything interesting?”
The voice had come so suddenly that Sonya almost turned around fully zoomed in. She jumped a little, startled, and whipped around to see a woman standing there as if she’d been there the entire time. Sonya’s other senses were pretty good, not as good as her sight, but she could pick up a little bit when someone was nearby. This person hadn’t made a god damn sound. She nearly reached for her knife on instinct before she spotted the pin on the woman’s lapel and hesitated. Her eyes narrowed a little, still on guard, “Hero?”
“Yes,” The woman said with a firm expression, “Lian Chunhua, Black Lotus, Mythic-Tier, visiting from China to assist,” The woman said, “Apologies for startling you.”
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
Sonya felt her guard lower and she let out a breath. She took a moment to look the woman over, appraising her. She was…
Wow.
Long black hair pulled tightly into a no-nonsense ponytail. Eyes as deep as the ocean, no, deeper. She had a military bearing about her, shoulders straight and exhuding an aura of seniority and control. She commanded her surroundings and demanded respect by her very presence. Sonya got lost for a moment, her jawline, her collarbone peeking out beneath the otherwise strict-looking uniform, her powerful hands, one of those hands resting on the hilt of what looked like a sword.
“Name?” Chunhua asked.
Sonya blinked and felt a bit of heat rise to her face, she looked up and into the taller woman’s endless eyes. “H-uh?” She stammered, suddenly wanting to disappear.
The woman paused for a moment and raised an eyebrow, a bit of a smirk on her face. “I asked you your name, miss,” She said with a bit of a chuckle.
That tiny laugh, just a hint of amusement, almost knocked all the thoughts out of Sonya’s head. She had to rally herself, “I uh… I… Suh… Sonya. Sonya Chernovna,” She cleared her throat, “Sonya Chernovna, Farsight, uncommon tier, um… s-scout.” She said the last bit with some reluctance and a whole lot of embarrassment. This woman was a Mythic! A straight-up being beyond her comprehension and here she was just talking to her.
“Thank you for your hard work, Miss Chernovna,” Chunhua said, deleting Sonya’s train of thought yet again. Sonya looked up at her in confusion, what was she thanking her for? Standing here? The woman seemed to know exactly what she was thinking, though, and looked out towards the wasteland. “It must be pretty dangerous being out here so close to the front lines. You’re miles away from basecamp. That takes a lot of courage.”
Sonya felt the heat rise to her face again and she looked down at her feet, “I’m just an observer, ma’am.”
“Chunhua,” The woman said firmly.
Sonya looked up, “Huh?”
“I gave you my name, use it,” Chunhua said with a bit of a frown.
Sonya pressed her lips together and tried to force herself to break eye contact, it was hopeless. Her mouth felt like it was full of cotton, her throat couldn’t shift at all to swallow, she just stood there like an idiot, staring at this woman with the most terrified expression she’d ever made. She probably looked like a fish for a moment there, working her jaw as she tried to put together a complete god damn sentence. That seemed to not have a good effect.
Chunhua frowned, a bit of disappointment crossing her features. “I see,” She said a bit more stiffly before starting to turn away.
Oh come on, she’s just another human, Sonya! Say SOMETHING!
“Um!” Sonya finally managed, Yeah, real smooth, how about words now? “Th-thank you, for coming all this way to see us. Chunhua. I-we, it’s a thankless job sometimes and it can be pretty scary,” She admitted, steeling herself. “It means a lot that you came here,” She finally got it out, a bit of relief washing over her as the woman turned back to look at her. She met the woman’s frown with a smile, a genuine one, one she hadn’t managed in a long time since the flash.
Chunhua blushed, it was brief, but she definitely grew a little red for a moment. She coughed and looked away, putting her hands on her hips. “More of us should come out and check on you now and then, it’s not right to leave you out here,” She said gruffly and then fixed Sonya with a hard look, “Come see me after your shift.”
Sonya blinked, “B-but.” Why?
“Don’t make me track you down, Miss Chernovna. I have your name now, and I intend to use it,” She said with a grin and turned away again, making for the other side of the tower.
Sonya frowned at her back, The last word type huh? No fair, no, not after embarrassing me like that. You jerk. “It’s Sonya! Not Miss Chernovna! If I have to call you Chunhua then you better call me by my name!”
The woman froze and Sonya even heard a gasp from next to her as the guy, oh my god I completely forgot he was there, reacted to her shouting at a Mythic. The woman glanced over her shoulder and met Sonya’s eyes. She really held Sonya’s gaze. Even as freaky as her eyes were. It felt… good. Chunhua just smiled and nodded before, with a single step, she vanished into a cloud of cherry blossoms. A scent that would cling to her for the rest of her life. A scent that she could never, ever, forget without a sense of longing.
That night they’d gone on their first ‘date’, if you could call it that. Most of the evening had consisted of drinks and Chunhua relentlessly teasing her. Apparently when the woman wasn’t in business mode she was far more likely to be a bit of the mischievous type. More than that, though, she had a domineering nature that Sonya had never realized she was a bit of a sucker for. They’d parted ways after a meal and it was only a few days later when she’d learned that Chunhua had been transferred to the group that would one day call itself the American Heroes Guild as part of an international exchange.
She’d swapped places with a Chinese-American woman who went by the codename Qilin.
It was a day later when she got the notice that she would be assigned to Chunhua’s unit as a scout per the woman’s request. That was the beginning of their rocky initial relationship. Sonya had resented her for it, for a while, taking control of her life like that and choosing for her where she’d ended up. She wasn’t a soldier, even if the Committee and the Guild treated her that way sometimes. Despite that, Chunhua had not been shy about her attempts to make it up to her. It was obvious buttering up, but Sonya had to admit after a while.
It was pretty nice.
The day her feelings really became clear was when the Committee finally figured out dungeons. They were in Nevada, just outside of Las Vegas, and at what had been categorized as a Rare-tier dungeon. Not only was it dangerous, it was terrifying. Sonya had been part of the crew to go inside first and get a good measure of what the assault team would be getting themselves into. She’d seen the monsters, she knew the routes, she’d recorded everything. All the details she could find, she found, she was confident in her work, firm in her resolve that she had learned everything she could, even going as far as to observe the enormous monster at the end when the other scouts despaired.
They’d come out of the dungeon after that, given their report, and stood by as Chunhua and the assault team went inside.
Sonya had stood there, off to the side, as Chunhua marched towards the portal. She’d admired her jaw, her eyes, the way her robes fluttered around her. But it wasn’t until she saw her ponytail pass through that rippling pool of light that she felt her chest clench. It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t right. That annoying, overbearing, sometimes gruff, sometimes sweet, frustrating, infuriating, pain in the ass of a woman just walking off into a place that could kill her without even glancing back.
We’re gonna have a long talk later, over dinner, and some fucking wine. So stop being so damn cool and come back to me safe, you jerk.
–
Sonya opened her eyes, looked at the portal, and took a deep breath. She ignored the look of concern Marta gave her. She brushed her hair back and held her head high. She knew better than anyone how disrespectful it would be to sit there and quake as the pylons hummed. They were fighting for their lives. It was only right to stand up straight and watch them.
If she can do it, so can you, be strong you guys.