“Lady Fischer,” the vampire said and Kat nodded curtly acknowledging him. His words were polite but whether that was natural vampire mannerisms, deference to a superior, or as a result of seeing the small green puddle mulch on the floor amidst the absolute carnage produced by our fight.

“What is the damage?” Kat asked wiping off her hand as she examined the now ruined morgue. “How many did we lose.”

“Too many,” the vampire admitted. “We’re going to be crippled for years. I’m afraid.” That was an undeniable damper on the victory. No matter how quick we reacted a Mania Bloom free for any amount of time would result in death. However there was a bright spot.

“None of the superior mages though,” I pointed out as I pulled out a lollipop from my bag getting odd looks from the two.

“Yes, but when it comes to having a competent police force sometimes overall strength is less important than the total quantity of boots on the ground,” Kat pointed out reasonably. “This will put a bit of a crimp in the plans for the ACU to be independent of the Tower. We might have to push that back until a few years at this rate. Besides the whole people died thing.”

“Of course,” I said after a moment getting a look of scrutiny from Kat. Oh she definitely was not copacetic with me right now.

“We’ll discuss this later, Ladenbrook,” she addressed the vampire. “I don’t know your name,” she admitted turning towards the weasel.

“It’s Haruto,” the weasel said, giving the most generic Yokai name I had ever heard. It was quite impressive that he was lying to her despite shaking in his little wooden sandals. Or at least doing the really well trained spy equivalent.

“That’s bullshit,” Kat retorted but she didn’t seem like she cared enough to push. He was clearly with me and it seemed that Kat had no problem giving him the benefit of the doubt. “I need to talk to Victor for a moment. Alone.”

Uh-oh. That was a very angry Kat? Despite her obvious displeasure she still maintained an outward façade of politeness. To someone unfamiliar with her, her face was practically expressionless. Without a word she walked forward and grabbed my shoulder, leading me out of the room and walking through the station that mostly lay in ruins. Despite the tremors that had only just stopped and the many holes which were evidence of the deadly vines there were still waves of mages pouring in. With well trained precision they stabilized the building, treated the wounded, evacuated the station and decontaminated the remains.

It would have spoken great things about the resilience of the police force; if these were not all mages from the Tower. There really was an imbalance between the two departments. It was probably Kat's fault in part. The army, intelligence, research and education departments all had Archmages behind them and you would think that at least one of them would have the decency to put some of their attention towards the police force. I nodded at a mage who was comforting some mage in her forties who was currently on the floor with only one leg before I felt my face stiffen as they were joined by another.

“Bishop,” Kat greeted the man in red robes that bore the symbol of multiple heads of wheat. The elderly man nodded before easily kneeling down despite his rather hefty frame. His hands expertly sought out the break where there was once a leg before caressing the limb. As if by magic, which it definitely wasn't the bleeding stopped and the limb scarred over in a few seconds. That was probably the sensible choice. Even if he was going to do it for free later; a prospect I reluctantly concluded was not unlikely, it would be unnecessarily time consuming to perform it when there were still so many injured.

“Lady Kataline,” the bishop acknowledged before reaching into one of the many pockets of his robe and pulling out a tin. He twisted the lid and presented the now-stabilized woman with a selection of biscuits. While I was not in the slightest bit religious, I could appreciate the good work done by the followers of the Starving God. Besides, with the rare exception of one particular type of magic, the godbotherers were far better at healing then we were.

I didn't even get a chance to ask for a biscuit as Kat directed me past the masses, up a mostly ruined staircase and into an empty room that still possessed four walls and a roof; a rarity in these current conditions. The place might have been an office under normal circumstances as the entire floor was covered in a thin loam of papers and there was a window, miraculously unshattered, which provided ample light to the room. As Kat let go of my shoulder I grabbed a relatively clean looking chair with and sat down, while my friend went and found a nice piece of wall to casually lean against.

“Would you like one?” I asked taking out a piece of candy from my pocket. It was one of the few that weren't crushed from one of the plant's errant blows. I would have to restock soon if this kept up.

“Not right now thanks,” Kat raised her palm in a gesture of refusal. “First of all deactivate Mechanical Mind.” That was something that I would have done anyway in just a moment; just had to finish off my remaining objectives first. I had only about four more left at this point. “That wasn’t a request,” Kat reiterated and I suddenly felt her fingers wrapping around my throat and lifting me into the air. I looked into determined eyes and glanced down at fingers that could carve through solid steel like it was made of butter and I made the only obvious choice and immediately deactivated Mechanical Mind.

As rush of emotions nearly overwhelmed my mind as the world became a bit brighter, louder and more vibrant. All that information that I automatically discarded as important slithered into my senses as if to assert its relevance. My thoughts stretched and churned before they stalled as ideas and goals that I built before began immediately contextualizing themselves based on my current understanding of the situation. I saw Kat’s eyes soften and I realized how absurd the situation was. It was like waking from a dream; a though of 'oh that was right, Kat would never seriously harm me.' Of course she wasn’t above threatening me if necessary and my too greatly altered brain would always respond to that with unnecessary consideration.

“Ah, that’s always a rush,” I said tapping my head as Kat let me down gently before stepping backwards and leaning against the wall again. I was smiling. I always tended to once I had deactivated that trait, even if I didn't feel particularly happy. It was more a physiological reaction then anything that was based on my actual feelings. Besides I had just been confronted with how stupid I had behaved in the last few minutes. I can see now why Kat might not be happy with me.

“Careful not to get addicted,” Kat said dryly and I scoffed slightly.

“I didn’t say it was a good rush,” I rebutted as I massaged my temples. “You try make an unprotected jump through the Between and tell me how you feel after that.”

“Yeah,” Kat replied keeping a straight face besides a slight widening of her eyes. “Never do that again. Have you finally lost it after all these years at a desk job?”

“Hey, I like my desk job,” I said as I picked up the nearest chair from the ground and took a seat. “Good pay, good people, good atmosphere, good hours and I quite like the work.”

“Good, because I don’t want to keep you from it,” Kat said suddenly. Far too suddenly. I had nearly bit into my lollipop before the sweet slipped from my mouth and I barely caught it.

“What?” I asked, stunned for a moment before I chuckled. “Is this the part where you tell me to turn in my badge?”

“Pretty much,” Kat stated with a distinct lack of humor in her voice. “Look, now that the cult of Anima is involved we can pretty much blame it pretty easily on them. In time a collective friend of ours will track down whoever started this and probably quietly murder the lot. You can leave the rest to official proceedings.”

“I’ve just taken leave Kat,” I said shrugging only to receive and unsympathetic look from my best friend.

“Then go visit a library or watch a game or mess around with runes,” Kat said flatly, raising my hackles slightly. “You fought three on one against a Mania Bloom and nearly got your collective asses kicked.”

“It’s the superweapon of a Dark Lord, Kat,” I defended myself deliberately keeping my voice level. “Forgive me if I took it a bit slow. There are good reasons to be cautious of those.”

“It’s a well-known growing type that has only existed for about a minute,” Kat stated unimpressed. “Not exactly a sterling representation of your abilities.” She straightened up. “Look, can you tell me where your equipment is? If you can give me an explanation that isn’t ‘It’s at home’, then just maybe I can drop this.”

“You don’t have any of your equipment either,” I pointed out only for her to pull from her bag out a one-handed hammer that glinted darkly with the promise of violence. “Your armor?” I asked refusing to concede the point.

“Well I’m wearing the armor you made for me,” Kat said tapping her cloth outfit. “But you are missing my point.” She sighed seeming to deflate. “Look Victor. I still remember actually fighting you. Every single time something managed to eventually break through your armor, you pulled out another stronger armor. Can you imagine how infuriating that was? Where is all your wonderful armor Victor? You bloody madman.”

“At my house,” I admitted. “All locked up, because I didn’t need them to take out one tiny Mania Bloom.”

“And what if it was a different superweapon, huh,” Kat said with a low voice. “What if it was a Clown instead? Do you think you could have beaten that thing?” I thought on that, irked by the fact that I couldn’t give a quick reply; which Kat was quick to catch onto.

“I could have escaped,” I said eventually after more than a bit of calculation. What I specifically didn’t say was that was the best outcome.

“And left the others behind to die,” Kat said, keeping her voice strictly non-judgmental.

“Well could you have beaten a Clown?” I fired back. The last time I had seen her she definitely couldn’t.

“Maybe,” Kat said causing me to blink. That was a hell of a lot more confidence then I actually expected; and I realized that it had been a while since I had seen Kat actually fight properly. “But I probably would have put in a hell of a lot of more effort if I fought it.”

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

“Effort without effect is pointless though,” I pointed out.

“But if the great effect is seeing your best friend leave the battle in a casket. I think that warrants a little more effort,” Kat stated flatly, dangerously. “Look Victor, I’m as happy as anybody to see you embrace a life of peace, but then you have to, you know, actually embrace a life of peace. I asked you to help me out with this, but I won’t be responsible for you getting killed because you fucked around and fought a superweapon with your hands behind your back.” There was a genuine note of anger as she spoke but that was not nearly as bad as the raw fear in her voice and I felt a spike of guilt as I started to understand just where she was coming from.

“Sorry, Kat,” I said, not quite hanging my head. I started to circle my mana as I spoke and I felt my mana pool empty as more and more of the stagnant mana broke off. “I’ll take things seriously now.”

“I appreciate this, but there’s absolutely no need,” Kat stated. “Now that we know that it was the Cult of Anima behind this I can just inform the ambassador and…”

“I think I’ve warned you about vocalizing that type of confident assurance while things are mostly still up in the air,” I pointed out. That type of unwarranted surety is just tempting fate; and one should never tempt fate lightly and without the proper preparations.

“So you keep telling me,” Kat stated rolling her eyes. “You never did get over those Old World superstitions.”

“It’s not superstition when prophecies actually exist, Kat,” I responded settling into a lighter frame of conversation. “Please just prolong your self-congratulations until after the bell is rung.”

“I am afraid that this time I must concur with Victor,” a voice with the consistency of dripping oil slithered into my ear, as if reluctantly barely announcing the presence of our unseen visitor. I jerked backwards scanning the room for any signs of our visitor and was frustrated as the expected nothing presented itself; he has gotten a lot better at this lately, certainly more so then the last time I spoke to him.

“Hadrian,” Kat acknowledged her fellow archmage and in the next second the room had a third occupant; a living shadow whose only resemblance to humanity lay in his silhouette. Calmly he walked closer before sitting down; a quick flick of his shadow placing a chair behind him the instant before his knees angled themselves to ninety degrees. The whole motion was swift and almost impossibly even; telling of somebody who had attained absolute control over both his body and his surroundings long before either of us were born.

“Howdy Kat, it’s been too long,” empty pleasantries slipped from pitch-dark lips; ultimately meaning nothing. The man in front of me would never be so crass as to let anything slip if not necessary. As one of the two hidden archmages of Maverice even his name or record was not known to the general public and the man never showed himself if not necessary. “I wish that we could reunite under better circumstances, maybe have a barbecue. We could get you-know-who to light up the fire.”

“Speak Hadrian,” Kat said looking suddenly more serious. While very little good could come up from a visit from the spymaster of Maverice under normal circumstances, when he told you that there was an issue then the threat seemed to magnify exponentially. A brief sigh left Hadrian's lips and the shadows seemed to lengthen before colors began to bleed out of the world leaving behind a shifting greyness. The sole window of the room became a portal through which black light spewed out into the office. The sound of drizzling rain rang outside and a slow rumbling of thunder announced a rainstorm. A subtle floral smell permeated the room and I noticed how Kat immediately went on guard despite the fact that he was a trusted ally.

I had seen this twice before. The Archmage of Shadows had just dragged the two of us into his world of Half-Light. I didn't know whether he created this minor dimension or just discovered it and merged it into his domain, but it was an incredibly impressive feat and one worthy of his role as one of the four Archmages and specifically one that was tied for the second strongest human in Maverice.

“Asukara Neposa was one of mine,” Hadrian said ripping off the Band-Aid with tactical bluntness eliciting a sharp indrawn breath from Kat. “I recruited her to look into some goings on in the Spider Clan of which I have recently become aware.”

“Are any of the Youkai clans aware of this?” Kat asked sharply.

“It would be too optimistic to assume that they are not,” Hadrian stated decisively. “I recently met with an ambassador from fox clan who already dropped some strong hints that they had recently received some evidence that would lead to them launching a war.” He paused for a moment as if choosing his words carefully, an illusion of hesitation that he didn’t in fact possess. “In return I hinted that if he even thought about acting on that information then I would pay an impromptu visit to the Palace of Nine-Tails and bequeath my blessing on the next generation.”

That was, a particularly adroit euphemism, probably chosen more for Kat’s benefit than my own; but we still both had a good idea of what the Archmage of Shadows was talking about. The image of tiny necks snapping and tiny hearts being plucked out from still-growing chests was something that I had no doubt that Hadrian could carry out and I had equally little doubt the fox ambassador was well aware of that as well. The man in front of us had not guided Maverice for hundreds of years without being soft. Stationing an archmage equivalent to watch a nursery was not something that they could afford but they also could not afford to leave it unprotected either.

“What are these goings on in the Spider Clan?” I asked.

“There was a growing schism among the spiders from what little I have gathered,” Hadrian said. “The clan had become relatively stronger during the events of the Rampage; at least compared to the disaster suffered by the rabbits and the crows.”

“Lord Musagi loss really hurt them, didn't it,” I said, remembering the brief few instances that I had met the black-furred rabbit. While it didn't behoove me to speak of it that way; it was a boon that the monstrously powerful rabbit was not still among the living as a war was brewing.

“The inevitable outcome of facing Lord Necross,” Hadrian said, a brief shiver managing to break through his normal stoicism. “So with half the clans weakened and the spider clan in a relatively strong position what do they want to do?”

“Make a play for the Lord of the Six Clans,” Kat spoke up. “But to do that you need a demonstration of your ability. The foxes have been holding onto that spot for decades, but times change and so does the seat of power. If they can convince the rest of the clans that their man deserves to sit on top then maybe we will have a new Lord of the Six Clans. The foxes might view this as a time to reassert their dominance; and Maverice would be caught in the middle of this little display of dominance.”

“That is immensely infuriating,” I said realizing that at some point my teeth had gritted together. “They can't just vote for a new leader, or fight among themselves or even just have a lottery. Instead they have to stir up a war with our country because they can't solve their own problems like humans.” Well if they wanted a war. Unbidden plans started to filter through my mind and my idle daydreams started to become more concrete and by extension more calculated.

“Calm down, Victor,” Kat said, her voice somewhat soothing and I just realized that I had begun to pace, almost besides myself. Wow, I really had grown soft. Going on a crusade to kill non-humans would have been something that I would be glad to participate back in the Old World; a place where all non-humans were automatically assumed hostile.

“Yes, take it easy,” Hadrian said as he stood in the dark light, staring out of the window. “Save that for if, not when, a war breaks out. Our first option is still diplomatic.” He flicked his hands and the room began to disappear, or more accurately the dimension that we were in started to lose it's resemblance to the real world. The floor peeled away to reveal a land of glassy sand and the ceiling fell to reveal a black ocean hovering in the sky with pin-pricks of light breaking the surface before being snuffed out by the omnipresent darkness. The darkness leaked in a persistent drizzle that cooled the air but didn't make the air any more moist. “You have yet to fully actualize your domain, correct,” these words were directed towards Kat.

“Not to this extent,” Kat admitted. “Maybe in another few decades.”

“You'd be lucky to reach this level in a hundred years,” Hadrian stated. “You're the baby in this little group. Thirty years is pretty young for a superior mage let alone a full-blown archmage. There's still a long way ahead of you, and you...” he said pointing at me. “When are you going to finally become an archmage.”

“When I get some leave,” I said sardonically. If becoming an archmage was as easy as going to the grocery store then their would be a lot more archmages. Maverice already had more archmages currently then it has any other point in its history. “Are you going to recall Aimee from the Salt Plains?”

“We both know that if our favorite little demon heard about this possible war, she would do everything to make it a reality,” Hadrian stated. “However, if diplomacy falls through then I will personally invite her to re-enact the burning of Wistterfeld with the Spider Clan playing the role of the victim.”

“That's a horrifying thought,” Kat stated, but didn't offer more than a token show of resistance. All of us had been through the Rampage and committed our share of actions that could be considered atrocities in a certain light. Even if Aimee had a somewhat more sordid past there were none of us without at least a few buckets of blood on their hands. At least to his credit Hadrian didn't disagree.

“What are we going to do about the murder situation,” I brought up, getting certain looks from the other two. “Will finding Lord Sukumo's killer not assist at all in this matter.”

“It might,” Hadrian admitted calmly. “Regardless of anything else, if a cult of Anima is popping up then we need to know about it. The presence of an Anima superweapon does not bode well, but a trove of Mania Blooms is not enough to make me panic. The Lord Anima has never been renowned for their superweapons in the first place. Now if it was a stash of superweapons left behind by Lord Machina then I doubt New Bremen would be standing.”

“All of his weapons would have been left in the Old World when he was defeated,” I pointed out. “Besides Anima still had the Clowns. The amount of archmages killed by those things were not small.”

“Right,” Kat agreed, shivering a bit. “If they have a few Clowns then we have a problem. I cannot stand those grotesque creepy grins.”

“Thirded,” Hadrian agreed nodding his head. “Kat I need you speaking for the moment but if you have already submitted your leave then maybe you should keep digging at that Victor.” He paused and I anticipated imminent annoyance at his next words before he had even spoken. “But please, please first please put on some decent armor," he implored.

I was about to send a scathing retort when the shadowy figure snapped out of existence and both Kat and I found ourselves standing in a familiar office room once more. That jerk loved his sudden exits. Unless a certain topic really interested him he would disappear leaving those around him in the lurch. I've spoken for hours with him about surveillance technologies and the instant we stopped, he disappeared; only returning hours later with a purchase order for a dozen of our latest MaNaCams.

“So, did you have any more leads?” Kat stated, and it was only the fact that I had known her for over half my life that allowed me to pick up the worry in her voice.

“Too many,” I remarked. “I wish that guy hadn't left so soon. I would have like to ask him more about the schism in the spider clan; and on which side Sukumo sat.” It didn't take a few seconds for Kat to pick up my train of thought.

“Are you thinking that one of the spiders killed him?” Kat remarked. “That sounds like wishful thinking at best, unprovoked racism at worst.”

“Let's not mince words Kat,” I refuted her diplomacy. “They've done plenty to provoke me. Besides it's only racism if it is a human from another kingdom. The Youkai are not human and we shouldn't treat them as such. Just because they are a lot gentler than the non-humans back home doesn't mean they aren't as detrimental to our way of life.”

“You mean just because we don't kill them doesn't mean we should trust them,” Kat stated. “Fine,” she stated. “I can't really currently defend them; even if I think you shouldn't be so quick to judge.”

I just nodded; glad that Kat had not actually seen me work together with the weasel as that would probably give her enough to beat me in our debate. Besides, despite being much less experienced I much preferred working with... Oh. I stiffened involuntarily and Kat immediately picked it up.

“What's wrong,” she said angling her head as if to look for anything she might have missed. She probably thought that I was sensing something, which wasn't currently the case.

“I may have left a newly awakened mage at the scene of the spy's house,” I said slowly getting a look of dawning disapproval from Kat. “That was the house in the middle of Youkai territory that had already been attacked.”

“Victor,” Kat said. “You better go, right fucking now.”