Thorin chuckled to himself over Sasha’s weak body. Major glared up at him from her hand. “So, you plan to use me? We can arrange something. I will serve Rath Ghul in exchange for the protection of my contractor’s wellbeing. I wish for her to live comfortably.”

“Interesting. It’s like you read my mind.”

“Call your circle of losers together. I’m sure you understand the opportunity sitting before you now. Bring me to Convergence and you get to decide this world’s future once I’ve been restored.”

Thorin stumbled up to his feet. “I’ve got butterflies in my stomach. This is big. Probably bigger than the guild too. Some fairy tale shit. I’ll need to think about this.”

He left in a hurry. After some time passed, Thorin returned with his arms full and Jericho in tail. “I’m telling you! The god of gods in our hands! This’ll change everything. We’ll be kings of kings! All of us.”

They approached and sat to Sasha’s level once more. Maskless with his bent nose and suspicious glare, Jericho questioned the blade still resting in Sasha’s hand. “I’ll give you seven seconds. What is your name, machina?”

With a stupid, self-indulgent grin, Thorin gave him a punch in the shoulder that send him into a bad mood. “Ah, don’t be so skeptical. machina can’t lie. You know this.”

Major looked at the two as if they were rats. “I am Major."

Thorin lit up even more. “See, I told you. God of gods. One of four great machina.”

He picked Sasha up, leaning her back against the wall. “Fuck off…” She mumbled as Thorin forced her chin up.

“Now, now, Madam. Drink,” he responded manically, forcing her to down his water canteen.

Jericho found his friend’s behavior odd. He questioned whether he was asleep. “Am I dreaming or something? What has gotten into you?

Thorin’s face went cold and murderous for a moment just for his response. “Sasha is Major's precious contractor. His condition for going along with us is treating her…” His eye twitched. “Like a princess.” He went back into mania, giving her his full attention.

Jericho grumbled low. “Last time a great machina was spotted, all hell broke loose. The Westwinds ripped to pieces. I’ve never killed as much since. Everyone wants Convergence.”

His buddy patted his shoulder with an eased expression. “Don’t worry. Nobody will ever learn about this outside of Rath Ghul’s higher echelon. We can bring the dagger to godhood secretly. Nobody will ever know they’re living in a new world. A New Age.”

Jericho looked out into the halls for a moment. Then he snapped his focus back to Thorin with a tinge of excitement. “What if we just told no one? Take the girl and disappear? We reap Convergence alone. There’d only be three greats left.”

Thorin looked unsure. He shook his head and then continued to force hydrate Sasha who started coughing. She growled at him. “I’m getting mixed signals from you fuckers.”

Major’s voice reverberated within her head. It warned her. Watch your tongue with these two. Their souls are powerful. Especially Jericho’s. He appears to be human, but the extent of his power says otherwise. What you see is surely a guise.

The voice spooked her straight. Nervous, she shut up.

Thorin enjoyed her silence. “You’ve got a filthier mouth than even your brother, and I still think about some of the things he said to me,” he said dryly, revealing baked chicken breast on a platter. A fork, knife, bib, and everything. Thorin wrapped the bib around her neck like a child. “Now eat, Madam.”

She doubted whether it was poison. In the end, it didn’t matter though. Sasha’s nose took the scent. With a churning stomach, she ate like a starving dog.

Jericho scratched his chin. “Would Al Yara reject it? The chance to bring Convergence?” His question inspired silence over the room. Everyone including Sasha stared at him eerily.

Thorin bluntly deflected the thought with gritted teeth. “He wouldn’t. What kid doesn’t dream of it? I know I always did. I’ll gather The Circle immediately.”

“Gotta bad feeling for this. The tension within is high, and rats scurry everywhere. Rats I’ll have to crush myself.”

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“Don’t say that! You always say that before shit goes bad.”

Sasha wrapped her arms around her legs. She clenched Major tight to her chest. Later that day, Thorin arrived again with a serious look unlike any other. He unchained Sasha who he trusted enough to leave the dagger with. “If you want to live, then never let go of Major. It’s the only thing that gives your life value.”

Sasha stood up and dusted off her knees. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

Following Thorin through the halls of Rath Ghul, she stared at the back of his head in contemplation. Her face sharpened. Could she trust them? They’re my enemies too. They’ll regret not tying my hands.

Major looked up at her. His voice emerged within her mind. Don’t fight. Let’s see where this goes.

It weirded her out. She shot back at the machina. “Are you, like, living in my head or something? Can you hear everything I think?”

Regretfully. Our souls are linked now, Sasha. This comes with the contract.

“I didn’t agree with this part.”

You didn’t ask to see the fine print.

Thorin looked back at her smugly. “I see you’ve realized. Say goodbye to any privacy you had before. Marriage doesn’t even compare to contracting a machina.”

“Is there any other bullshit I need to know?”

He unsheathed his own machina, Termination, just enough to show off its orange eye. His next words were hesitant. “Since we’ve sold our souls to our blades, you know what that means?”

“What?”

“If they’re broken, we die too.”

Sasha’s heartbeat badunked in her ear. “Really?”

“Protect that god as if its life is your own, because it is.”

They approached those large double doors again. Thorin stopped, hovering his knuckle over with anticipation, before knocking. The doors swung open to reveal The Circle of High Owls. Al Yara stood center, annoyed, with his arms crossed. Sasha walked in behind Thorin, shielding the dagger behind his back. He pointed to that iron chair of shackles from before, so she sat.

Al Yara questioned him harshly as he stood firm next to Sasha. “What is the meaning of this, Thorin? Why do you protest this hawk’s sentencing?”

Thorin tensed up. He motioned to Sasha to reveal Major for everyone to see. “She’s kin to someone I killed years ago. Someone whose machina I looted. Connecting these two caused it to awaken. If we spare the girl, we can use its power through her…” He looked around the room to gauge The Circle’s reactions. Al Yara looked intrigued but doubtful. The Doctor; pissed off. Jericho also surveyed his peers with a cautious gaze.

“But what I didn’t expect was for it to be a great machina. The opportunity before us is historic. Its value along with the girl are priceless.”

Eerie silence possessed the room. Soon, frantic whispers darted around amongst the masks, scraping Thorin’s ears with the same question. “Convergence?”

The Doctor stepped forth, waving off Sasha. “You can’t be serious. A great machina? Here? In Monestate?” He grumbled to Al Yara. “Silence these fools. Punish high owl Thorin for wasting our time for such a silly prank.”

Al Yara shook his head. “Step down, Doctor. I’ll see for myself. Machina aren’t capable of lying.”

Pure quietness snapped with their leader’s commanding voice aimed at Sasha’s dagger. “Machina, state your name! What is your purpose?”

The dagger answered Al Yara bluntly. “Major, and I seek to become whole again. You know my name. You know what that means.”

The circle of owls fell into disbelief and chattering amongst themselves. Once one heavy word got uttered, it only went downhill from there. “God?”

This word spread like an airborne infection, so much so that it grew into something chantlike. “God? God. God! Convergence is nigh!”

Al Yara removed his mask, revealing wrinkly pale skin, rotting teeth, and shaved eyebrows. He gazed at Sasha and Major along with most in the room with widened, enthralled eyes. “A god is among us. We can’t deny such an honor. We’d be fools not to deliver him to Convergence,” he declared.

Sasha found herself anxious under all the eyes. Her stomach swirled with nausea. Major sensed her apprehension and spoke into her mind softly. Don’t fear. They wish to make things right. To return the world to its original state before man rose against its father to seal and split its power into the machina.

But humans are corrupt and filled with greed. These owls only wish to bring me to Convergence for what’s in it for them. For the favor and power of a newborn god that marks them as its mother.

Jericho approached Thorin who watched the chaotically manic response of The Circle. He looked perplexed. “Went better than expected.”

“What we’re witnessing right now is history. The beginning of the end of this so-called New Era.”

“We will need to be careful. Another war could break out. There are countless forces keen to deliver Convergence. King Andre, for example. We cannot let him find out. Can’t let the Zaibans either. Everyone’s our enemy.”

“Are you of all people, Jericho the Wyrm, afraid of war?”

Jericho sighed. “Never call me that again.”

“I didn’t choose your name. The bards did.”

“Nothing will ever scare me. It all just sounds like a drag. Like a big mess left for me. Women were made for cleaning.”

A ruckus caught their attention. Lloyd The Doctor, pissed to the point that he’d rip the crow’s mask from his head, disagreed with Al Yara’s decision. Looking around the room as if it were filled with madmen, he shook his head with a twisted face. “I can’t believe this. We’re going to be falling into the same trap many others have! This fad called Convergence that turns allies against each other and beckons destruction wherever it’s sought. Have we all learned nothing from The Westwinds? Seriously?”

Al Yara looked at him with stone cold dread. Many others joined him in his silent judgement. “Doctor, can’t you read the room? Over the last decade, Rath Ghul has descended into the shadows of obscurity. There’s no stopping this guild’s decadence. The rebels among us had a point. This is our chance to be rebirthed.”

“But Master Owl!”

“I tire of your interruptions. All you do is argue. I’ve only permitted your outbursts until now out of respect for the years we’ve served this guild together.”

The Doctor silenced. Al Yara half-grinned. “That’s right. Shut up, fall in line, and watch. Watch what becomes of us.”