“Oh?” Archon asked, arching her eyebrows curiously, though she looked disgustingly serene, just like always.
Gina had been a little… surprised when Archon had invited Gina and Rachel over for ‘a discussion’, one which was made even more uncomfortable by Spark’s presence, as the heroine was glowering at them from across the table. Unfortunately, it made perfect sense that they needed to come to terms, at least after a fashion. The last few days had been difficult.
“Why is it called the Guardian Compound, rather than the Sentinel Compound?” Gina asked, waving at the building around them. “I can’t tell you how many times I’ve accidentally called your team the Guardians because of it!”
Rachel let out a soft chuckle, and briefly even Spark’s glower seemed to ease, before it returned even more potent than before.
“Ah, of course. As it happens, it’s a much less interesting answer than you might be expecting,” Archon said, smiling briefly as her wings rustled behind her. “When the building was under construction, we were debating what name to go with. For a time, the Paragon City Guardians was the one we’d settled on, and we registered the building with that name. Then we chose to change the team name to differentiate ourselves from Destiny’s team, but we never bothered changing the registration. So now it’s the Guardian Compound.”
“I just don’t think it’s worth all the paperwork or money to change,” Spark chimed in.
“Huh. I just wondered,” Gina said, glancing at Rachel, who looked a little nervous now.
“So… are we sure that Lilith isn’t going to wander in?” Rachel asked, frowning.
“She’s definitely busy,” Spark assured her, an evil smile flickering across her face. “I introduced her to one of those grand strategy games, so now she’s playing one with several of her deity acquaintances. She’s playing Rome, Ra’s playing Egypt, I think I heard Apollo was playing Greece, and some goddess I’ve never heard of was playing Ireland.”
Gina blinked, her mouth opening, then shutting again as she realized the sort of games Spark was talking about, and she winced. She remembered losing days to games like that when she was younger, and with Lilith’s more analytical mindset… she looked at Rachel, who seemed to have the same thought.
“I hope you’re willing to rescue her from it as some point… she might need an intervention,” Rachel said, shaking her head and letting out a sigh.
“We will do so, if such turns out to be necessary,” Archon assured her. Then the heroine leaned forward and continued. “However, I believe it is best not to waste time. We’re here to discuss our intentions regarding Lilith.”
Gina nodded, opening her mouth, then shut it again, a hint of bile rising in her throat, just because of what she’d lost over the last few months. Her hatred of Shadowmind was far more personal now, and she doubted Rachel would even try to stop her from killing the villain if they got the opportunity. Rachel might even help.
“That’s right,” Rachel said, reaching up to run her fingers through her hair as she sighed heavily. “Our departure was… unfortunate. And it is made still worse by how removing Shadowmind’s influence has reverted our feelings to what they were before she twisted us. I don’t know what Lilith thinks yet, we haven’t been able to discuss it properly, but… we love her.”
“Then you shouldn’t have left,” Spark said sarcastically. “You should’ve taken her with you, then maybe she wouldn’t have been kidnapped! Instead, you threw her away.”
“You aren’t wrong,” Gina admitted, looking back at Spark as she tried to stomp firmly on the embers of anger inside her. She couldn’t help her blush, but she also wasn’t going to run away from the responsibility of what they’d done. She continued after a moment. “We threw away something wonderful… but I honestly don’t see what else we could have done. You don’t understand just how deep the damage was, Spark. How thoroughly it twisted our emotions, to the point that even if we’d known how thing would turn out, we likely would have done the same thing. It’s impossible to describe.”
Spark opened her mouth, her expression twisted with anger, but Archon spoke first. “Spark.”
“What?” Spark snapped, looking at the angelic heroine.
“Accusations and incriminations won’t help. Do you think they would make Lilith happy?” Archon asked, her voice calm as could be, but there was an edge to her voice that caused Gina to shift uncomfortably. It just figured that only a Class S heroine could keep the peace between them, Gina supposed, overcome by a sense of irony.
“…No. It wouldn’t,” Spark said after a moment, looking away. She flopped back in her chair and scowled. “It doesn’t mean that I’m going to forgive either of you for it, though. She’s a wonderful lady, and you threw her into the trash without a backward glance.”
“That isn’t true,” Rachel said quietly. “If it were like you said, we wouldn’t have even approached your team about helping her. She might have been left completely alone, and who knows if she’d have escaped Omega Code?”
“Again, we’re here to talk about our intentions regarding Lilith,” Archon interjected, giving Rachel a hard stare this time. “As it appears that this will devolve into arguments otherwise, I believe it necessary for me to start. I like Lilith. I appreciate her company, and her presence resonates with me in a way which I’ve never felt regarding anyone else. I am courting her, regardless of how… embarrassing I find the subject. However, I’m not certain I’m willing to share that relationship, as the two of you did. Spark and I discussed this before, and we are willing to coexist while Lilith determines what it is she wishes to do.”
“And I like her. A lot. She’s fun, she doesn’t make fun of me for my enthusiasm, and she can resist my electricity when I forget to turn it off without it hospitalizing her. She doesn’t even blame me for it,” Spark added instantly, folding her arms stubbornly as she sniffed loudly. “I want her all to myself, yeah, but she’s her own person. I’m not going to force anything on her.”
“I… well…” Rachel paused, looking at Gina, who let out a sigh, looking at the ceiling, her emotions in turmoil.
“We’re both in love with Lilith,” Gina said after a few seconds of counting. That helped keep her voice level. “I love her deeply, I want to be with her, to hear her growl about her poor luck in board games, to answer her questions about things that would be common sense for anyone else, and to just be… near her. To her innocence and compassion. I don’t much like the idea of sharing her either, except with Rachel… but that’s because I’ve had a crush on Rachel for years, too.”
“Gina mostly said it for me, but I think I should add that despite how much it would hurt, I’m willing to accept it if she refuses to take us back. We’re all victims in this,” Rachel added after a few seconds, looking down at her hands. “I don’t know what she plans to do, though.”
“None of us do, unless Spark’s been keeping something from me,” Archon said, looking at Spark, who shook her head quickly.
“Nope, I don’t have a clue,” Spark said, scowling. “Though I really hope that Daemonia stays well and truly out of this. The very idea of her coming back makes my hair stand on end.”
On that Gina had absolutely no arguments, as the thought of Daemonia deciding to show up made her… uncomfortable. There were very, very few heroines who could make her feel as insecure as Daemonia did, but the woman managed it handily. It was likely that she was beautiful and had absolutely no fear of the consequences of her actions that did it.
“You aren’t wrong,” Gina said after a moment, letting out a soft sigh. She looked between the others, studying them. Rachel was anxious, Spark looked irritated at them, and even Archon’s serenity had cracked as she frowned. Then she sighed, her shoulders slumping slightly as she murmured. “So… it’s a competition, isn’t it? Each of us wanting to gain Lilith’s favor for ourselves.”
“Approximately, yes,” Archon agreed, nodding slowly. “Not how I had hoped for this to go, but I will not concede the
battle without even trying.”
“May the best woman win,” Spark said, her eyes glittering dangerously as she smiled. There was an edge to that smile, Gina thought. “Lil deserves all the love and affection in the world, and I intend to give it to her.”
“We’ll see,” Rachel said, glowering back at Spark, and Gina fought back her own retort.
At least Lilith didn’t have any idea this was going on.
“You think they’re done?” Apollo asked idly, and Lilith shrugged in response.
“Not a clue. Maybe Áine could tell me, but I don’t know. Emily isn’t as good at concealing her motives as she thinks she is,” Lilith said, debating before she decided she needed more troops. Unlike every other game they’d played, the deities were ruthless and dangerous in this one, and she was on the verge of being overrun from three sides.
“Very true. She was far too eager to get you involved in this game, which takes a lot of time,” Ra agreed, sounding amused. “How did you guess what their motives were?”
“I overheard Archon telling Shade that Gina and Rachel were coming over for a meeting, and that they were having a private discussion. After the conversation at the diner, it wasn’t hard to guess,” Lilith said, shrugging. “Personally, I was hoping that something like this would happen. I like all of them, even if I’m not sure what to do about Gina and Rachel, and watching them snipe at each other isn’t fun.”
“Having seen a lot of that in my family, I don’t blame you in the slightest. Zeus and Hera have caused so many problems, though that was mostly Zeus’s fault. That’s why she divorced him and has been shopping around for a new spouse. Still hasn’t found anyone that meets her standards, though… she doesn’t want to end up with someone as unfaithful as he was,” Apollo said, chuckling softly. Lilith couldn’t help cracking a slight smile as well, as she’d seen far too many reports about Zeus after doing a little research. Daemonia’s comment about not wanting children yet made much more sense to her with that context.
“Well, with any luck their meeting will resolve a lot of their issues,” Lilith said, letting out a soft sigh as she shrugged. “I’d be a lot happier in that case.”
“Mm,” Áine’s noncommittal murmur sent a rush of dread through Lilith, and she straightened as she ended her turn.
“Áine?” Lilith asked anxiously. “Is there something I should know?”
“Normally, I wouldn’t tell you anything… but as this is going to be obvious in short order, I believe that there’s no harm in giving you fair warning,” the goddess replied slowly, and Lilith’s sense of dread intensified. “I believe that, rather than convincing them to calm down, they’ve settled into their fortifications, and now your affections are the prize that each is vying for.”
Lilith froze, then slumped backward, reaching up to rub her forehead slowly. “That… isn’t what I was hoping to hear. Crap.”
“Hm. If you’d like, I can abduct you again?” Ra suggested, and Lilith paused at the humor in his voice, though the god also seemed to be sincere.
“Tempting…” Lilith replied, then groaned as a series of units appeared from the south. “Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me! Where did you get that many units?”
“You’re far too conservative about expanding, Lilith,” Ra said smugly. “Your actions have consequences, and this sort of game is far simpler than dealing with human society. I think I like it.”
“Agreed!” Apollo said enthusiastically. “Oh, and just fair warning, Lilith. Don’t ask any of us for relationship advice. We’re gods, not mortals, and historically, we’ve made terrible decisions regarding relationships. Especially my pantheon.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Lilith said glumly, looking at her units as she tried to come up with a way to survive the attack coming her way. Her units were more powerful than Ra’s, but he outnumbered her by a significant margin. She was afraid she was going to lose this game badly. Which was only fair, as the others had been crushed by her a lot.
At least it was a distraction from worrying about what Archon, Emily, Gina, and Rachel were planning… that was nice, at least. Suddenly the idea of fleeing to Sekhet-Aaru was incredibly tempting…
Chapter 6
Monday, November 17th, 2031
Salt Lake International Airport, Paragon City
“Got everything, Circe?” Blooming Orchid asked, pulling out her sunglasses as she glanced outside. There wasn’t much snow on the ground, but the sun was out, which made it far too bright for her comfort.
“Affirmative. While the authorities appear to have gone through the luggage, all items appear to still be in place,” Circe Beta confirmed, holding a large suitcase in one hand, and had a pair of duffel bags on top of a rolling suitcase behind her.
The two of them were drawing a lot of attention, which was only to be expected. Blooming Orchid had chosen to go to the airport in her full hero guise, just to help ward off any villains who might otherwise be tempted to attack them. While it wasn’t obvious that Circe was an android, she was still beautiful and moved with an easy grace at Blooming Orchid’s side, which seemed to draw quite a bit of attention, even if she tried to dress relatively normally… but Blooming Orchid didn’t blame her. Circe had proven too much of a help for her to get upset with the android for something as simple as drawing attention.
“Great. In that case, we just need to find Rachel, since that took a bit longer than I expected,” Blooming Orchid said, smiling wryly. “I didn’t expect them to pull our luggage off the carousel.”
“It was unexpected,” Circe agreed, inclining her head. “However, I have already located Rachel’s car, it is waiting approximately one hundred and fifteen feet away.”
“Really? How did you manage that?” Blooming Orchid asked, her eyebrows rising, then she narrowed her eyes. “You didn’t hack the cameras again, did you?”
“I did not. I am attempting to utilize legal methods wherever possible, as requested,” Circe replied primly. “I requested Rachel’s phone identifier before we left, so I could home in on her via her wireless signal.”
“Oh,” Blooming Orchid said, blushing guiltily. “I… wasn’t aware that you could do that.”
“I am an android of many talents,” Circe said demurely, prompting a laugh from Blooming Orchid.
“Well, that’s true. Let’s go see her, then,” Blooming Orchid agreed, her embarrassment fading at Circe’s response. She didn’t know why the AI could put her at ease so easily, but she didn’t argue with it.
Circe didn’t respond, instead following as Blooming Orchid made her way toward the doors. It wasn’t easy, as she was approached by over a dozen fans as she moved, who she managed to dissuade without too much difficulty. That hadn’t been nearly as easy when she’d been waiting to board the plane, but she didn’t have time to give out dozens of autographs right now.
Eventually they managed to make their way past the bus drop-off lanes and over to the public lanes, which were incredibly crowded, to Blooming Orchid’s dismay. Despite that, she barely needed Circe’s nod to spot Rachel’s car. It wasn’t a large car, but the sporty red vehicle was the same one that she’d used in San Francisco, which made her smile. Rachel wasn’t nearly as hard on her cars as Lilith seemed to be, since Blooming Orchid thought she’d heard about Lilith losing three vehicles in the past six months or so. She wasn’t entirely sure whether the numbers were accurate or not.
As she got closer, the driver’s door of the car opened, and Rachel stood up, the dark-haired woman wearing a warm purple sweater beneath a black jacket, a pair of sunglasses of her own, and black pants as she waved, calling out. “Orchid, over here!”
“We see you,” Blooming Orchid replied, moving closer as quickly as she reasonably could. “Sorry to keep you waiting, but the luggage wasn’t where we expected it to be.”
“Pfft, it wasn’t that bad. I really like the park and wait lot here, it’s better than the other airports I’ve been to,” Rachel said, waving her apology off. “How was you
r flight? I hope it wasn’t too bad?”
“Nice and boring, for the most part,” Blooming Orchid said and smiled as Circe stepped forward. Rachel popped the trunk so the android could load the luggage. “Oh, lots of requests for autographs, but it wasn’t too bad. How’re you doing?”
“Not bad, considering everything. Gina and I are pretty much done moving into our new condo, which is reasonably nice… you sure you don’t want to stay with us? We could get a mattress for you if you want, and there is room,” Rachel offered, watching Circe work curiously, then slid into the car as Blooming Orchid opened the passenger door. Circe followed suit, taking one of the back seats without complaint as they buckled themselves in, and Blooming Orchid put her sheathed sword between her legs. Then Rachel leaned over and gave her a one-armed hug that Blooming Orchid returned. “It’s great to see you again! You look like you’re doing well.”
“You should have seen her after the capture of Doctor Johnson. I believe that your opinion would have been slightly different,” Circe interjected calmly. Blooming Orchid blushed brightly as she glanced back in betrayal.
“Circe!” Blooming Orchid protested.
“It’s true,” Circe said unrepentantly. “You were exceedingly upset that he chose to surrender rather than allowing you to take vengeance on him.”
“Ah, that I can understand. Fortunately, Lilith managed to get revenge on Blue Impulse for Gina, so both of us had a little more closure,” Rachel said, nodding in understanding as she looked into the mirror, waiting for an opening in the passing traffic, then pulled out. She waited for a few seconds before continuing. “So, he’s under guard and waiting for extradition again, right?”
“That’s right. And heavy guard, this time,” Blooming Orchid said, drumming her fingers against her leg. “There wasn’t any sign of Eve, unfortunately, which indicates to me that he sent her somewhere else to free him later on. I told the authorities, which is why they’re guarding him so heavily, but who knows whether they’ll take it seriously enough?”
Queen's Gambit (Lilith's Shadow Book 6) Page 4