The wind brushed by…

There was no twirling or gliding along the natural air currents like Xavier usually would, and of course, that was because he wasn’t alone.

He wasn’t alone and he couldn’t currently manage it.

Sam had not taken to flying very well, but Kaulder and Mother Superion were able to find their balance by barely sensing the movement of the gravitons around them.

Of course, it was only by Xavier’s grace that the gravitons – usually elusive and undetectable – could be sensed by peak-human perceptions.

Gravitons – to the common man, when amplified to tactile responsiveness – felt akin to being crushed by a sea of jello.

Luckily, Kaulder and Mother Superion could handle such stresses.

Kaulder was an Immortal who had trained his body to the peak and was capable of manipulating even the pumping of his heart.

Mother Superion, on the other hand, was a Superhuman in her base state, and when channeling the power of The Halo, her physique was further amplified by a certain degree.

As for Sam, Xavier judged The Shapeshifter to possess a physique best compared to a pseudo-Captain America – definitely beyond a human, but not overly so.

‘And me?’ The Eternal questioned his own judgment.

Xavier knew he was the hardest to measure since – as an Eternal – he was supposed to be the strongest, but as recent events had proven, his unstable mentality often affected the manifestation of his abilities.

A flock of birds brushed past the group of four.

The rush was exhilarating…

The strain on The Eternal was accumulating the longer they remained in flight, and it didn’t help that Xavier couldn’t maneuver as he usually would to remove some of the strain.

There was a natural flow to flight – a natural rhythm to the Gravitons, but The Eternal could not follow the rhythm with others in tow.

At first, Xavier was concerned that flying too high would lead to discovery, but recalling the purpose of The VEIL, The Eternal soared two hundred feet in the sky – well in the vision of the masses below…

Yet, no one raised a fuss.

‘I may as well look like a bird to them,’ Xavier reasoned, flexing the Gravitons to decrease their speed and altitude.

“We’re on the outer periphery,” Sam voiced, sniffing the air to confirm his discovery. “The scent was strong but the closer we get, the weaker it becomes. I suppose that means when it disappears, we have arrived.”

Xavier was unsure whether to believe The Shapeshifter or not – it was no secret that Sam was thoroughly averse to anything flight-related.

“There’s definitely magic here,” Kaulder voiced, raising his glowing ring finger for all to see. “It detects magic.”

“A handy tool,” Mother Superion noted.

The Halo had also confirmed there was magic nearby, but that Kaulder’s ring could manage even a fraction of The Halo’s capabilities was surprising.

It meant there were things she had yet to learn…

Secrets to be uncovered…

Xavier’s senses tuned in to the ruckus below, and a subtle smile made its way onto his face.

He slowly dispersed the gravitons.

The strain slowly dispersed and since The Eternal knew everyone could more or less manage on their own, he didn’t wait to touch the ground to release everyone from the gravitons.

Twenty feet above the ground was enough.

Kaulder was the first to land, followed by a slowly descending Mother Superion, and finally, Sam leveraged the nearby walls to slow his descent.

Xavier floated gently to the ground, turning his slow glide into a casual stride as soon as he landed.

“Why are we here?” Sam inquired, eyes darting around. “The scent disappears nearly a mile in the opposite direction.”

Kaulder smiled, stepping out of the naturally-established combat formation of the group. “Can’t fight on an empty stomach,” The Immortal shrugged.

With Kaulder breaking away from the formation, Mother Superion and Sam were finally able to relax and focus on the noises present that didn’t suggest combat.

There was music…

There was laughter…

The smell of fast food hung thickly in the air…

And there was also…

“Liquor,” Xavier gestured to the pub across the street, grabbing Sam and pulling The Shapeshifter along. “Can’t go to a battle of life and death without knocking back a few cold ones first.”

Mother Superion shrugged and trailed after the men – usually, she preferred to be alone, but The Halo was telling her they were brought together for a reason.

She would be a fool not to listen to it.

Kaulder, Xavier, Sam, and Mother Superion crossed the street, uncaring of any incoming cars, and disappeared through the doors of the pub.

---------------

Everything in the pub screamed color.

The colorfully tinted windows reflected the colorful disco lights strategically placed along the wooden outline of the main dancing area.

The music was upbeat and intimate.

As soon as Mother Superion, Xavier, Kaulder, and Sam stepped inside, the noise dulled for a split-second as all eyes glanced over at their position.

It was only a split-second… that was all it took for almost everyone in the bar to classify them as a walking circus – ironic, given the colorful theme of the pub.

Still, the conclusion was not without reason.

Kaulder wore mostly dark, modern clothing, but the sword slung across his back betrayed peculiar medieval tendencies at best, and a cosplaying fetish at worse.

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Mother Superion was… well, she was dressed as a Nun – what was a Nun doing in a bar?

It almost seemed as if the group intended to invent a new bar joke, either that or The Nun was into something god would call a sin.

Sam and Xavier appeared disheveled and their coats were ripped in several places – but most of all, the skin-tight armor beneath their coats was partially visible.

Two men wearing spandex beneath large, ripped coats, clearly exhausted, and walking so close to each other?

Everyone squinted their eyes to see if they could detect the outline of a police suit or doctor’s outfit beneath the coats – strippers tended to wear that sort of thing.

The group of four found a table in the center of the pub.

Whatever discussion that came next would hold no value to ordinary people so they weren’t shy about indulging a little – it was always best to indulge a little before any major battle.

Kaulder folded his legs.

Sam sat warily on the available seat, eyes still darting around – it was clear just how unused to tense situations he was.

Mother Superion was displeased by all the gazes locked onto her person when the men in the group were clearly weirder than she was.

Xavier wanted to be just as restless as Sam, but The Eternal quickly found that he could not – whether the calm disposition of The Eternal Physique or minimal experience in his past life as a soldier is not clear.

What was clear was the fact that his memories were telling him that this was not his first rodeo… nor would it be his last.

Two men from the opposite corner of the pub started to walk in the group’s general direction, but a glance from Kaulder scared the men away.

It was a glare that promised death but in such a calm manner that one couldn’t help but be terrified.

“I kinda wanted Sam to experience his first bar fight,” Xavier sounded displeased – he had recently come to enjoy cliché experiences. “Would have taught him a lot.”

“No use fighting in a place like this,” Kaulder shrugged, removing the sheath and sword from his back and placing it on the table. “It tends to draw too much attention. I will be alive after this coming battle, and I would prefer not to be on any government’s radar at that time.”

“And I have been in bar fights before,” Sam explained, sounding strangely defensive.

“Not Los Angeles Bar Fights,” Xavier replied, shutting his eyes as sage wisdom permeated his being.

“But—”

“Not Los Angeles Bar Fights,” Kaulder emphasized, similarly closing his eyes.

It was a joke only Immortals could get.

Sam couldn’t argue against two men who were mysterious as they were dangerous.

“So, what’s it like to be a Nun?” Kaulder turned to Mother Superion and inquired. “I would imagine you were born into something like this.”

“I take it, you have met Nuns before?” Mother Superion’s eyes narrowed – she was still paranoid about everything happening, and she should be. “Then, you know.”

“Nice try,” Xavier chuckled, patting Kaulder on the shoulder. “You work for The Axe and Cross – all you need to know is some of the traditions of her Order, and you will be able to track them down.”

“Guilty as charged,” Kaulder raised both arms in surrender, not bothering to deny the fact that he was scouting for information. “Not that I don’t already have enough information.”

“Really?” The Eternal raised a brow, sensing a light-hearted challenge stirring in the air. “What can you tell about Sam?” Xavier gestured to his friend.

“I know about The Quileute Tribe and their reservation in La Push, Washington. I have had the privilege of interacting with the tribe many times over the years,” Kaulder explained, rubbing his head as if trying to connect Ancient dots. “But there was never anything about wolves. The tribe is most known for being extraordinary swimmers, and cave explorers, and able to communicate and gain strength from their dead. I have seen it done once about three hundred years ago, and since then, they have become completely mostly mundane.”

Xavier quirked a brow since that was exactly the type of information he would expect The VEIL to separate from Kaulder’s and Sam's respective realities.

The Eternal always considered it strange that The Quileute Tribe had little to no ritualistic practices – most Native Tribes had dozens of rituals passed down through the generations.

Sure, The Quileute Tribe lost most of their Spiritual Warriors Origins when their primary ability became shifting into Wolves, but even the most collapsed Native Tribes hold on to some sort of ritual passed down through generations.

It seemed as if The Quileute Tribe lacked these rituals because their Wolf heritage had been split from their Magical heritage by a glamour.

It was very likely that some form of magic survived in the tribe to this day, but it was clouded as something as common as regular hunting trips by certain tribe members.

Still, there was no way to completely block information so The VEIL adjusted to leave just enough information to keep someone from getting suspicious.

And by reasonable deduction, it even managed to fool an Immortal like Kaulder.

“Sounds more or less right. I can’t find any fault – have you truly been everywhere?” The Eternal replied and gestured to Mother Superion. “What about her? Tell me something about her?”

Kaulder raised his hand, signaling for the bartender to send a couple of drinks to the table, and within seconds, the waitress swung by and slipped a drink in front of everyone.

Xavier noticed the slight nudge the waitress gave in Kaulder’s direction and he was displeased – after all, he was way more attractive than The Immortal.

Between being Eternal and Immortal – obviously, the better choice would be Eternal…

Kaulder took a sip before he continued. “I don’t know much about Nuns…” He eyed Mother Superion’s actions carefully. “If she takes a sip of that drink, I can tell you she is definitely not of The Secret Blue Mountain Order.”

“No…” Mother Superion shook her head.

From her reaction, Xavier could tell she hadn’t even heard of The Secret Blue Mountain Order, and of course, neither had The Eternal and he considered himself fairly knowledgeable.

“You can have a hint,” Mother Superion raised her bottle of beer, took a long sip, and smiled at Kaulder a bit flirtatiously. “So?” She inquired.

Xavier and Sam sucked in a breath of air – they didn’t know that a Nun could do anything resembling flirting.

Wasn’t it a sin?

The Eternal was doubly surprised since he had watched The Warrior Nun from beginning to end, both seasons and aside from being a stern, bitter older woman, Mother Superion had no other noteworthy characteristics.

‘A lot changes before the plot starts,’ The Eternal mused, noting Mother Superion looked about twenty years younger than she did in the series.

WOOOOOAAAAHHH

WOOOOOAAAAHHHH

The crowd cheered.

The cheering had been happening for a while but the group of extraordinary individuals was too wrapped up in their conversation to pay it any mind.

But now, they were interested.

“Truffle oil sourced from the caves beneath Rashi Mountain, two ounces of dried brown sugar, snapper fishes from the Caribbean – fillet, of course, and…” The Woman talking smacked her lips together as if to detect the lingering taste sliding atop her tongue. “And Barley grass from Asia.”

WOOOOOOOAAAAAHHH

The crowd cheered louder than before, but amidst the cheering was one cursing individual lamenting his luck as he slipped two hundred dollars into the woman’s hand.

“Anyone else?” The Woman announced, stuffing the two hundred dollars into her bulging pockets.

Clearly, she had been at this for a while.

“Oh, I need to get some of this action,” Kaulder smirked, thinking he finally found his match.

As an Immortal, he had traveled far and wide and tasted all there is to eat in the culinary arts – he was fairly confident that he had something that the woman wouldn’t be able to discern the ingredients.

“I wouldn’t be so sure,” Xavier froze as he noticed the woman, and he quickly tried to dissuade Kaulder from participating. “You will probably lose this one.”

“How can I?” Kaulder was reasonably confident.

“Because…” Xavier stared at the woman in front of the bar, and once again confirmed that she was who he thought she was… “Because…” he continued. “She is much older than you.”

Mother Superion’s and Sam’s eyes widened.

Though it had not been explicitly mentioned just how old Kaulder was, the fact that he told a story about meeting The Quileutes nearly three hundred years prior meant he was at least four hundred years old.

How could a random woman at the bar be older than Kaulder?

Kaulder, Mother Superion, and Sam were immediately on guard, but Xavier signaled for them to calm down.

He gestured to the woman at the bar, noting that she was now glancing in their direction – The Eternal no longer bothered to lower his voice or hide his interest.

“Who you’re looking at right now,” Xavier introduced, gesturing to the woman at the bar. “Is probably the oldest woman on Earth – Andromache The Scythian…”