Forgot how much this hurts.

Dyre rubbed her temples, the burning headache lingering from signal overuse as she knew it would for several days. Gabriella handed her a water glass, Dyre rubbing her head and taking it as she lied back in her bed. Despite what she'd told the child, her second still seemed weary. Her father's influence, no doubt. How she hated that man.

"Madame Dyre," one of her men called. "We have a visitor."

"Again? Tell them we're busy."

"I tried, but..."

The woman in yellow strutted right past the pirate, her body fazing through him.

"Not much he can do against a Goddess," the Lady of the Scales said.

Dyre frowned, the agent hanging his head in shame. She dismissed him with the wave of a hand, Gabriella stepping in front of her. The self-proclaimed goddess smiled at the young girl. Not a hostile gesture, but the kind one would give to a small animal they found on the streets. As much as the child tried to appear threatening, everyone in the room knew Elisia was beyond them. A single thought would be enough to wipe out a nation.

"If you've come for prayers, you're in the wrong place, spirit," Dyre said.

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"I really wish you'd stop calling me that," said the Lady. "I do have godly power, after all."

"So do the grads, but you don't see them bragging. For the most part."

"Always such a testy spider." Elisia rolled her eyes. "Fine. I didn't come here to debate with you anyhow. That's Logia's job."

"Then state your business and get out. I've already got enough to worry about."

The Lady groaned. For someone as powerful as her, Dyre always found a slight bit of enjoyment out of rejecting her at every turn. She'd saved countless worlds. Raised empires. Stopped catastrophies. And yet she was so annoyed by the opinions of a lowly spider. If their roles had been reversed, Elisia would have been reduced to a pile of cinders long ago. Or forgotten completely. But then, Dyre wasn't the immortal one in the room.

Elisia flicked her hand, a vial appearing above her gloved palm.

"Then I'll be blunt," she said. "Do you recognize this substance?"

Dyre narrowed at the orange liquid within.

"Hard to tell," she said. "Show me what's in in it."

"If I did that..." The vial disappeared. "Your ship would be crawling with the White Legion."

Elisia's expression turned serious, any hint of her amusement fading away as she looked Dyre straight in the eye.

"I've come for information," the spirit said. "You're good at that, right?"

She flung a hand, a photograph of a human appearing. His long cloak and piercing gaze weren't familiar to her. But the long stretch of white billowing behind him was something Dyre knew she couldn't forget. Not after she'd seen it burning through her world's skies. Elisia waved the picture in front of her.

"Tell me everything you know about the man who flies this comet."

Dyre's brow furrowed, the stretch of white making her blood boil. She put a hand on Gabriella, the child stepping aside.

"You should have led with that, spirit."

Elisia smirked.