"In all the history of Fudan, you are the first," Petra reprimanded her cousin.
Gwen made a face, sipping miserably from her iced matcha latte.
Sitting on the table was Ariel in its docile form. Gwen figured she would continue Instructor Chen's ongoing training in which the students keep their Familiars manifested at all times. Below their table, the eight-foot body of Caliban in its obsidian serpent form coiled around the girl's ankles, wrapping a length of its torso against Gwen's heels as it shied from the summer sun.
By now, Gwen accepted that everywhere she went, the patrons would ogle at their pleasure. Maybe it was the local culture, or mayhap, like a writer once wrote—a woman's beauty did not belong to herself alone. Either way, her mind was in too much turmoil to object to the uninvited gazes.
The two girls were waiting for Mina and Tao, who wanted to meet for a luncheon. The cafe they'd chosen was a new place renovated by the owner to resemble an extensive garden shed. Perennials, fed on a diet of quasi-magically enchanted water, bloomed heedless of the season, expending their vitality for a few precious months until finally, spent, they were replaced by blossoms of a different season.
"The Language of Flowers," the shop was called, located not far from University Boulevard in a rezoned district gentrified by sorcerers moving in from the suburbs. Its patrons were predominantly of the magical variety: young and old, acolytes and neophytes, joined by the occasional Magus. For students who had never left the CBD, they would have believed that Mages primarily occupied all Human cities. Realistically, even in a District of 100,000 like D-35, no more than a hundred magic users and one Magus existed at best within each district.
"First of what?" Gwen thought back to the two military men who'd parted less than amiably from each other, turning her attention back toward her cousin.
"The first Magus who has the spell list of an acolyte, haha!" Petra chuckled, sipping her iced coffee.
An NoM waitress with bright eyes and a cute flower apron brought out shortcakes and petite fours. Petra dropped a few LDMs, telling the worshipful girl to keep the change.
"Well then, Miss Kuznetsova." Gwen leaned back in the elevated garden chair and stretched. "What do you suggest I should learn?"
"First, figure out what you're missing." Petra shrugged. "Maybe go Adventuring or Dungeoneering and get a feel for what spells you want to pick up."
"I have no time~" Gwen tapped her fingers against the beading waters on the tall glass of her matcha latte. "I need to complete my theory classes first."
Somewhere in the back of her head, Magister Wen's latest proposal knocked against her chest like a drum.
"Death-penalty prisoners, Demi-humans... lots of potentials there—"
She couldn't help but be reminded that Nephres had said that Henry had started Elizabeth by feeding her prisoners as fodder. Was it true, then? Did her Master authorise such a thing? But then again, did they even share the same circumstance? Her Master and Elizabeth were in the middle of the Coral Sea War. They were fighting to ensure the entire east coast colonies of Terra Australis survived. For them, life had been one war zone after another for almost a decade.
Yet, try as she might in rationalising Magister Wen's good intention, her paranoia buzzed like the tinnitus susurration of a mosquito.
That the idea possessed pros and cons frightened her with breathless horror. After all, what had the Affinity to all Schools of Magic cost Sobel?
Only her sanity.
Sensing itself in her thoughts, Caliban shifted from its resting position. Gwen felt the cold caress of her Void-creature's obsidian body against the warmth of her skin, simultaneously shuddering at the memory of Caliban's hunger.
Suppose she chose to subsequently 'consume' all her enemies. What portion of her intent would lie in self-defence, what division would be given to ambition, and what share would be driven by the strange hunger that would surely awaken once her current store of vitality was spent?
How steep was the slippery slope ahead? At what junction does the incline become free fall?
What makes a man if all he cares for is sleep and feed? A beast! No more!
BEEP-BEEP!
A dark Audi sedan disrupted Gwen's internal philosophising. The door opened, the engine plinked, two familiar faces emerged.
Tao' Peaches' Wang had a way of sauntering where the gait of his 'gangster' strut made him appear mildly intoxicated at all times, wavering back and forth like he was ducking an invisible boxer.
"Yo! Mah bi-b… emm… eu… tiful ladies!" Tao was instantly the ire of every patron in the cafe. "Gwen, you looking sweet-ass!"
"Eeeee!" Ariel greeted the newcomers.
"Wassap! Mah Cat-snake brother!" Tao fist-bumped Ariel's paws, bringing a broad smile to Gwen's lips. Lacking Elvia's divine presence, it took someone like Tao to divest herself from ethical dilemmas that plagued her Path every inch of the way.
"Shaa-Shaa!" Caliban hissed its greeting from under the table.
"Sup? Big Dick Caliban!"
One of the patrons began a coughing fit. Another spilt her tea.
"Peaches! Stop it!" Gwen was already beside herself. There was nothing like Peaches to offset depression.
"Petra! Yo yo..." Tao turned his attention toward Petra.
Petra's husky blue eyes were two orbs of pale crystal.
"Hello."
"Good afternoon, Peaches. How are you?"
"I am doing well," Tao replied solemnly, his fingers subconsciously forming a gang sign.
"Pats! Gwen!" Mina bypassed Tao's stooping figure and embraced her cousins. "I hope you're feeling better, Gwen."
Tao sat, both legs splayed like a spatchcock. As per his unique style, Tao's choice of all-weather Adidas, paired with a broad-billed baseball cap, cared little for Shanghai's latest trends.
"I heard from babulya that you had a tough time at the Districts," Mina began, her oval eyes glimmering with sympathy. "I am here if you want to talk about it."
"Aww, thanks, Mina. I appreciate that."
"Me too, dawg." Tao nodded affirmatively. "If you want my advice, you should write a song about it and mix it up with sick beats! That way, you can expel yo demons, dawg. BOOM! Then you feel released like Yo just laid a huge log, ya know?"
"Thanks, Peaches, I'll take your advice into careful consideration," Gwen thanked her cousin kindly, fighting the laughter arresting her chest.
Horrified, Gwen and her audience couldn't dispel the vision of this log that Tao had driven into the recess of her mind.
"Don't think about it," Mina advised, catching Petra's pained expression. "Instead, think about spell incantations. I find that reciting my healing mantras helps immensely. I don't know how he comes up with this stuff. Maybe he's a genius?"
"Lyrical Gee!" Tao worked himself again. "Dis bad boy's moonlighting at the Shan tonight! Gwen, Pats, treat yo-self and check out the boys and me down at the Club making sweet noise!"
"He means he and his friends are performing at the Waldorf Astoria Shanghai—basement B2," Mina translated. She paused, looked as though she wanted to add something, but refrained from doing so. "I'd say it's the usual crudeness, but the Waldorf Astoria is a very nice hotel. We can stop by before or after and have drinks. They're famous for their cocktails."
"Mimi, you gotta stop stepping on mah log, bitch. Don't put the B-boyz and me down in front 'o Kuz! That's not cool."
"Nobody calls me that, Peaches." Mina rolled her eyes expertly, evidently having had plenty of practice. "Besides, you're upsetting Petra. Stop talking."
Petra appeared thoroughly troubled by Tao's increasingly disturbing premise.
"Here's yo tickets, Gwen." Tao produced two golden slips, one for Gwen and the other for Petra. "VIP, backstage access, front row, whatever you need!"
"Wow, you are putting on a show." Gwen took the tickets and passed one over to Petra, who took it dubiously. "There's going to be an audience other than… us… right?"
"AHAHAHAHA, you funny!" Tao laughed nervously, providing a hasty addendum. "We got a fan club, bitches galore!"
Both Petra and Gwen turned to Mina, who took on a troubled expression.
Bitches, huh? Gwen considered Tao's declaration. She supposed that the heir of Wang Xin Enterprise would naturally possess a fan club—the Gold Digger's Club.
"He's not lying," Mina confessed. "Don't look at me. I don't know how it's possible either."
Gwen regarded the ticket in her hand.
'Battle of Rhymes' the tagline said. 'The Waldorf Astoria Shanghai, B-2.'
She wanted—no—she needed to blow off some stress: alcoholic refreshments, music, and good friends in a high-class hotel sounded like just the 'ticket'.
"I'll go," Gwen announced her participation with as much fatalism as Lulan confessing her misdeeds at D-109. A hip-hop party? Sure, she had been a club regular in her old world.
"Petra, do you have the time to escort me? I could go by myself if you're busy."
"I'll go," Petra said. "Magister Wen would not want you to get into MORE trouble. Tao, if one of your fans decides to get handsy, it's your funeral."
Mina shrugged. "I'll pick you guys up and take you home if you're coming," she offered. "Peaches will pay all incurred costs, including unlimited drinks."
"Of course! Aww yeah!" Tao visibly pumped a fist in victory.
Tao and Mina's drinks arrived: a spritzer for the sister and a beer for the Illusionist rapper. The trio talked, with Gwen stating that she'd save her adventure at D-109 for when they could speak in less public space with less commotion and more intimacy.
"Great idea," Mina assured Gwen. "The Astoria once had the longest bar in the world! It's a relic from the old colonial days. You're going to love the cocktails."
Gwen pointed her finger at herself.
"I am not eighteen yet..."
Saying that about herself made her incredibly self-conscious.
Mina chuckled. "We know the management, don't worry."
"Okay! You are the boss! Hoss!" Tao happily meandered off to pay the bill. "See you guys at the show!"
Mina made sure that Tao was out of sight before she apologised.
"He's getting better, believe it or not," she told them. "He's much more confident after Hengsha Island. Thanks, Gwen."
"I can't help but feel deeply suspicious," Gwen observed Mina's halting speech and guilty expression. "What's at this show? Why does he want me and Petra to attend so desperately?"
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
"Let's talk while we shop." Mina slid off the barstool. "If he truly upsets you, don't hesitate to give him a good beating. He'll be sore for a while, but whatever your choice, it won't leave a scar."
"Coming, Pats?" Gwen asked her cousin, who did not at all have an interest in retail therapy.
"Sure, let's relax for the rest of the day." Petra stepped from the stool. "I suspect I shall need many drinks before the night's over."
[https://i.imgur.com/fWXKvex.png]
The rationale why Gwen and Petra must attend—as Mina explained over a selection of party dresses at K-11, was that Tao had made a careless bet.
"Again?" Gwen spluttered.
"What is it this time?" Petra scowled.
"Please don't get upset." Mina braced the girls for impact. "So, what happened was that Peaches... boasted to his circle of friends that he played a pivotal role at Hengsha, saving the two of you."
"That seems reasonable," Gwen affirmed that Tao did make a good contribution to their hunting down of the Elder Gila. "I can accept that."
"Yeah..." Mina waited until Gwen finished. "Naturally, he told them that the two of you are his… close acquaintances."
"We're family. I am cool with that too." Gwen held up a mini-dress and pressed it against her waist. The colour was beautiful, but the cut did not conform to her figure.
"Not his exact words, I take it," Petra added coldly, feeling the fabric of a sheer blouse between her fingers before letting it fall.
"No, not exactly."
"What did he call us? His whores?" Petra was relentless, cutting through the evasive euphemism with the keen edge of a crystalline shard.
Mina was visibly cringing.
"HE DID NOT!" Gwen appeared stunned by Tao's looseness, thinking of the ubiquitously annoying hip-hop clichés from her old world. "Really? We're related!"
"I don't think he intended it to mean anything," Mina interjected before Gwen's opinion of Tao soured entirely. "More like, you know, helpers."
"We're his shorties?" Gwen jeered.
"We're his bishes’," Petra's frigid tone could rival Kitty's arcane ice.
Mina sighed. "Look, he means well."
"How exactly?" Gwen demanded as the trio left the shop and entered another.
"We all know Peaches," Mina said. "Or not. I guess you guys don't. But you know he doesn't mean half the things he says. They just come out of his mouth like an illness. Like his 'ill' rhymes."
"Tourette's Syndrome," Gwen suggested helpfully.
"I don't know what that is, but sure," Mina said.
"It's a neurological disorder where people fail to suppress unwanted premonitory urges," Gwen clarified. "Though saying the word 'bitch’ every other sentence is hardly a part of the spectrum."
"Is this disease recorded in a book?" Petra's attention perked up at her Gwenism.
"I heard it from someone in Australia once," Gwen lied. "There was a guy called Gilles de la Tourette, who had severe muscular and verbal tics that he couldn't help. He's dead now. His tic got him while chanting a spell, and he blew up."
"Oh." Petra seemed disappointed.
"I get what you're saying. I suppose it's Peaches being Peaches. So what happened?" Gwen continued.
"Some of his 'friends' doubted that this whole ordeal about Hengsha is real," Mina spoke with exasperation. "To be honest, I still can't believe we came first. Anyway, Peaches got riled up, a fight ensued, he got his ass handed to him - and now they have a bet."
"Who and what is this bet about?"
"Well - if Peaches can prove you're his… er… helpers," Mina replied. "Then he gets a favour from Sammy Gu and Sammy's limited edition Ether-Engine Roadster."
"If he loses?"
"He has to give up the Battle of Rhymes by singing about himself being a filthy liar, and Sammy gets to keep Tao's car."
"Tao has a car?" Petra raised a sceptical eyebrow. She didn't know Tao could drive.
Mina pointed a finger toward her chest helplessly. "I have a car. It's 'our' car," she moped.
Gwen felt her sympathy pour forth like spilt soup.
"Look, I'll help out," she declared sweetly. "To save your car, if nothing else. Petra, what do you say? We have to show up. He's not expecting us to... do anything else, I hope."
"I'll break both his legs," Petra stated matter-of-factly. "Uncle Wang would probably thank us."
"Please do," Mina muttered.
"There, there." Gwen patted Mina, drawing her into her arms. "You poor little thing."
"I am older than you." Mina reddened, pushing Gwen away.
"I am bigger than you." Gwen grinned, towering over Mina in more ways than one. Mina was a year Tao's junior and the second oldest of Team Cousins. It was her ageless appearance which was misleading. Where Petra could easily be mistaken for her mid-twenties, Mina could be mistaken for a junior high schooler.
"Hmmph!" Mina turned her head, pouting.
"Well, let's pick something out then," Gwen announced to the girls. "Party frock or something more subtle?"
Petra checked the price tag and then furrowed her brows.
I wonder what would happen if Petra attended in her yoga pants, Gwen mused to herself. Certainly, who could complain?
"Pick whatever you want," their wealthy cousin steeled her resolve before making the offer kindly, a mischievous smile touching her lips. "After all, Tao's paying."
[https://i.imgur.com/fWXKvex.png]
The girls arrived back at Fudan B-1 just after 4 PM, where they could change into their newly acquired outfits for the evening. Petra and Gwen watched Mina longingly gaze at her Audi as they parcelled out the contents of their shopping, amused by the sudden sentimentality Mina felt for her sedan.
It was a stupid bet. Not even Gwen could deny that. One that could only occur among adults whose IQ was disproportionately lower than their financial thresholds. There was such a word for it in Shanghai—the Fu-er-dai, or the progeny of the mega-wealthy. It was just as well that Tao's vice was his passion for music, not something nefarious.
As for Tao's family, Gwen knew well that keeping the siblings in her good graces would benefit her one day.
After all, the Patriarch was a self-made man! At fifty, he had established himself with the necessary connections and favours to leave the CCP administration and open his own resource extraction company, Wang Xing Enterprise. Under the Wang title, WX Capital extracted crystals from contracted Green and Orange Zones. WX Construction was a state-owned co-op company that built infrastructural projects for the state. Finally, WX E&E was a cooperative partnered with the Towers, serving the explicit purpose of searching for new resources.
Though Mina dismissed her father's exploits, Gwen understood that Bao Wang had succeeded in the rare Communist climate despite the odds.
How was it that such a man married Nen? Mina's air-headed mother? Gwen was beyond curious.
According to Mina, Bao had met Nen Song, Gwen's aunty, at a charity gala. The unwary Nen helped Bao with a spilt drink, kept him company, and then bid him goodbye. Even when Bao arranged for repeatedly fortuitous meetings, she blithely recognised him as the poor man with the ruined shirt.
"You don't care who I am or what I do?" He had asked her incredulously on their third date.
"Why does it matter?" Nen replied with complete earnestness. "You're just Bao."
Bao Wang was sold.
"I can't believe he doesn't have a mistress," Mina remarked once, to which Gwen responded by choking on her char-siu bun. "In Shanghai, among the rich, they say three's company; two is none. All my friend's fathers, and sometimes their mothers, have a 'side dish'."
In his perfect middle life, the one regret that the Wangs possessed was Tao's desire to be a musician.
"I use the word 'musician' lightly." Mina gibed when Gwen asked what Tao would be performing in the evening. "That tongue-flapping Western thing they do… I don't know."
Gwen didn't mind at all that Tao wanted to be a rapper. The phenomenon had changed the very landscape of music in her old world. She pledged that, given a chance, she would watch some of those banned American Vid-Casts and offer Tao some advice, plagiarised from the USA of her past.
The two-bedroom apartment was too small for the three girls to get ready at once, so they took turns between the two bedrooms and the one bathroom, conversing loudly with one another through open doorways.
Gwen's selection was a matt navy mini-dress with a plunging V-neck. Light and airy, the form-fitted fabric was enchanted to expand and contract, allowing the lining to stretch without hampering the wearer's movements.
Petra, who had a military upbringing and had a distinctly Eastern European perception of modesty, emerged in a denim skirt and black t-shirt, her face made up with nought but lip-gloss and the barest of eyeliners.
"Oh. My. MAO!" Mina's tone was equal parts jealousy, worship, and awe.
Unlike Gwen, whose limbs were supple and refined, Petra was the definition of vivacity, like a ballet prima donna. Observing her cousin, Gwen grew increasingly smitten until her inevitable meeting with Petra's crystal-blue eyes. There was very good reason Petra had been hand-picked by the Moscow Tower to be their femme fatale, Gwen postulated. In her mind, Petra could have been a modern-day Lucrezia Borgia.
Her cousin was not amused by the attention. Instead, the girl redirected Gwen's gaze to Mina, whose defeated choice encompassed a loose varsity shirt that emphasised her bust, paired with shorts and dark knee-socks to create a very Asian appeal.
"Where's Richard?" Mina released the question she must have kept on her tongue all day, her face blushing adorably. "Is he... next door?"
"Richard's away on errands," Gwen informed her. "He'd be over otherwise, even if it's just to check on us."
"Ah—alright." Mina appeared disappointed by the news. "Next time." According to her schedule, Tao's so-called Battle of Rhymes was slated to begin around 8 PM. The girls could get there around 7 PM and load up on some drinks before they had to be subjected to Tao's music.
"You sure we're not going to be harassed?" Gwen tugged on her dress, bringing the hem a little lower. "I shouldn't expend any magic..."
"Peaches' friends will be there," Mina assured them. "Dad is well known at the Metropolitan as well. If you're worried, I'll have a word with the management. The backers for the Hotel are not the sort of people the average Guan-er-dai or Fu-er-dai can contend with."
"Alright," Gwen nodded sceptically, uneasy at the prospect of yet another asshole whose frontal lobe became checkmated by an erection.
When she had spoken about her many terrible experiences with Petra, her cousin was sceptical.
"I've been harassed now and then, but never like what you've gone through," Petra raised both brows. "Trust me. I've had enough training to know that you're not the type to drive men crazy. The occasional pervert—I could believe—but all the time? Maybe you're just unlucky?"
"It keeps happening!" Gwen tried to rationalise the phenomenon. "The NoM on the train, I could somewhat understand. But Richard's juniors at my Uncle's were just gross, especially after I met them again, and they were perfectly fine. There's Dai, who lost his head, and those Mages in the Dungeon. I mean, you were there too. Did anyone try to have a go at you?"
"Have a go?" Petra had snorted with derisive laughter.
"Ergh... you know." Gwen grabbed at the air with her hands.
"I don't understand," Petra smirked. "Have a go at what?"
"Never mind," Gwen changed the subject.
For some reason, her mind always wandered toward the lumen pics of Elizabeth Sobel. It was impossible not to think of her Master's wife when her reflection in the mirror was pale and loitering.
Sobel had an allure about her—a kind of hunger that was infectious. She was beautiful but compared to Petra or even Alesia, Sobel was only slightly above average. What the woman possessed, instead, was an incredible presence, a kind of 'attraction' and 'allure' that was difficult to frame with words.
A pang of hunger and madness, perhaps.
A feeling akin to standing at a perilous precipice and having a sudden urge to leap.
Gwen blew a lungful of air through her lips.
She looked at the clock; it was almost 630. They had better—
‘BEEEP-AAAA-eeeeee-KERRRRRR’ From the table, the LRC device blared its unholy chorus.
Gwen bolted for the projector. Despite the cruel heels strapped to her thin ankles, her movements were akin to a female leopard protecting its cubs.
The call was from Gunther, not Evee.
"Do you want us to clear out?" Petra inquired as the call connected.
Gwen considered her cousin's proposal. Of course, she could bring Mina into her circle of confidence, but sometimes the truth wasn't worth the trouble. Mina's life was happily naive and carefree. There was no need to rope the healer onto her Raft of the Medusa.
She nodded.
"We'll wait for you by the lift," Petra informed her. "Come on, Mina. You don't want to hear this."
Mina followed Petra out the door.
Gwen turned to the device as the illusory projection manifested.
"Gwen!" Instead of Gunther, Alesia's worried face appeared. "You said there's something dire and urgent? I got Gunther here with me, and… WHOOOOAAA! NICE! What are you wearing? Are you going out?"
Her desired tale of misfortune grew dubious in Gwen's mind. After all, how dangerous could her circumstances be if she was in a party dress and stiletto heels?
"The dress is… for another matter. I've got something important to inform Gunther and yourself," Gwen said seriously.
"Ohhh! You look lovely!" Alesia gushed, her blue eyes twinkling. "What did you do to your complexion?! What product are you using? Is it an Enchantment? Some fruit from the Wildlands? What sort? How much for a dozen?!"
"Alesia…"
"Godness. I can't get enough of my little sister! Such a beautiful child! How come you never dressed like that around us in Sydney? Bachelors would be beating down the door if—"
"Alesia!" Gwen had to flap her arms as though she was trying to take flight with invisible wings. "Listen! My news is important!"
"Alright, Alex, come on, let Gwen speak." Gunther's voice could be heard beside Alesia.
"Fine, fine," Alesia relented, grumbling.
Gunther's face came into view. "I see you're doing well in Shanghai," he chuckled. "Boyfriend?"
"Not you too, Gunther!" Gwen waved her hand in front of her face frantically. "Look, I got something to tell you. It happened. I ate a lady the other day and stole her talents."
"You did WHAT?!" Alesia pushed Gunther away from the cube's projection. Her eyes were wide with disbelief. "Like, with a fork?"
"Like in Blackheath, I mean," Gwen corrected herself. "I had Caliban take her in one gulp, though I am pretty sure that like before, you know... the brain, the heart, and the offal."
"Was she alive?"
"And kicking…" Gwen's hollow tone echoed her devastated conscience.
"Did she deserve it?" Alesia was naturally unperturbed. "It's fine if they deserved it."
"That's why I am calling," Gwen began. "It's about Elizabeth Sobel…"