Haze & Chaos - Reunion B Part 1

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Reunion B (November 12th, 2024)

    The reunion for Will and his classmates that had been floating around for some time had finally come to fruition, taking place at Milan’s splendid mansion in Central Ertheval. Overlooking the grand Ertheval Forest, it was a perfect spot for Will and Vlastimir to get back together with their old friends from The Hermetic Academy of Magic. Mable and her blade devil–Evan had been traveling the world, but planned to settle down soon and considered starting a family. Mortis Kidd, the elusive reaper had been investigating a disturbance amongst the shinigami, but took time out of his work to see his classmates again. Everyone thought he would be surprised by the recent adventures, but a fellow reaper of his–Charles, had kept him in the loop. And lastly–Taro Miyazaki, the ever energetic sellsword had declared he would have swooped in to help Will fight Sebastian in Red River City, but his blade devil–Hanzou, had to point out that they were helping Mortis at the time. Still, the two were glad to hear that Will and the group mostly had things under control… disregarding Will’s missteps that both Mortis and Hanzou got on his case for.

    The reunion was an overnight gathering, with Milan and Aelia happy to host the group. The following day saw Will and Vlastimir’s old friends having to return to their lives, with Mortis cautioning Will about the shinigami issue–as the problem in question was beginning to involve a fellow Liger Brigade operative–Jun Noguchi. Mable and Evan were the last two to leave, bidding Will and Sam farewell. It was a shame because Mable wanted to get to know Sam more, but they had to get going. Will and Sam themselves had to return home eventually too, but they wanted to take their time given the untainted beauty of Ertheval. Besides, Orion liked hanging out with Antonio given that the two were video game nerds, much like Sam and Will. The couple were sitting out on the grand balcony, enjoying the weather and sunny day when Vlastimir and Ekaterina walked over to them to join them at the glass table. While the gathering was mostly casual, everyone still dressed fairly nice for the occasion.

    “Hey, Will, Sam–the weather still nice out?” Vlastimir asked in a jovial tone as he and Ekaterina sat down. Will gave him an incredulous smile as the calm breeze caressed their faces, and pointed upwards towards the bright blue sky with the occasional cloud, causing the three to laugh.

    “You know, Boyo?” Sam said as she tapped his shoulder. “If I could go back in time and make it so I also went to the Hermetic Academy, I absolutely would.”

    Vlastimir thought about that as he drummed his fingers on the table. “Huh, that would have been interesting…”

    Ekaterina had something pop into her mind, which could be seen in the uncertain expression on her face. “Hold up, Sam–didn’t you and Will have an awkward encounter online back when you were in high school?”

    Both Will and Sam went a little red in the face, with Will’s embarrassment coming back to haunt him. “Oh yeah, forgot about that…”

    “Erm–okay, I guess things would have been a little awkward then…” Sam conceded.

    “No more awkward than how me and Vlastimir met I’ll admit,” Ekaterina conceded, eliciting some chuckles.

    “Hold on–what’s this about some internet hoohaa?” A purple orb of light asked as it flew over to the table and turned into a tiny, youthful man no bigger than an action figure.

    Will leaned on his arm–with his face resting on his thumb and index finger–and sighed. “Oh, just me being awkward back in the day–when Sam and I first created accounts on this art site we used to post to, Yale.”

    “It was a case of him not knowing how to socialize and me not knowing how to handle it…” Sam added. “Teenage angst and all that nonsense.”

    “How bad was it?” Yale asked with a chuckle.

    “He wanted to do some vague idea for a webcomic–”

    Will bowed his head and laughed. “Sam, please don’t…”

    She shook him lightly by the shoulder. “It was nothing big, just one of those things we think’s going to take off when in reality it has the same potential as a snowball in hell.”

    “Well it’s better you had that happen to you than all the times I made an ass of myself back with Master Gostislav,” Vlastimir remarked, causing a few more chuckles.

    Yale put his hand to his chin and nodded, making notes of all that. “Well I hate to rain on the parade, but we’ve got work to do…”

    This caught everyone’s attention, causing them to lean in. “What’s the matter Yale?” Will inquired. For some reason he had the strangest feeling, shared by Vlastimir.

    “It looks like Ripsaw and Anker are in our neck of the woods.”

    Will got up in unison with Vlastimir and smiled. “Well, it looks like the reunion just got more interesting…”

    Sam got up to follow Will, with Ekaterina following Vlastimir. “Yeah, I’ve heard of those two from Ellen,” Sam stated.

    Faustus had walked up to the four and directed them towards Milan’s library. “Yup, Malte Lejeune–Will and Vlastimir’s childhood bully. He was expelled from the academy for failing grades, causing trouble, and practicing black magic. What he’s doing with Anker is beyond me though…”

    “Who’s Anker again?” Sam wondered as they wandered into the giant, multi-leveled library. “I haven’t gotten that far through the files Antares wants me to read–I mean I have, but it’s a lot to work through…”

    “The ‘Lt. Colonel’ when we’re on duty, Sam,” Will reminded her.

    “Oops, sorry,” she said with a chuckle.

    The five came to a lovely mahogany table where Milan and Aelia were looking through some papers when they heard the conversation and glanced up. “Anker Fortuyn is a bounty hunter and cyber criminal that had been working with the Death Knells for a bit,” Milan answered.

    Vlastimir nodded. “Will crossed paths with him during his missions with Gemini, and we encountered him back in our academy days–it was another reason why Malte was expelled.” The way Vlastimir became serious for that explanation was a bit bizarre to hear for Sam and Ekaterina. “There’s something dangerous about him, and he’s been developing an obsession with Will…”

    “I wonder if that’s why Nosmirc brought him up…” Will questioned to himself.

    Mira and Famine walked over as the latter adjusted her biker jacket. “Well, boys–looks like we’re going to have to get our hands dirty,” the ice devil remarked.

    “Have we figured out why they’re poking around where they shouldn’t?” Famine inquired as she took a light sip of wine from her glass. “I mean I could always head out with my revolver and scare them off…” she said with a chuckle as she patted her holster.

    “Tact and prudence may be required for this situation, dear,” Aelia remarked as she flipped over a document. “Will, take a look at this–Anker seems to have been getting into trouble recently, but it seems to be in our favor…”

    Will stepped over and nodded. “The LA riots? Are you telling… wait, The Hollywood Files? What in the blue blazes…?”

    “Annoyingly this seems to be something else,” said Milan. “We haven’t been able to get a proper beat on them ever since they fled the Death Knell Coven’s destruction. Victor?”

    Stepping down the stairs and approaching was a man in a dress shirt, pants, and a messy beige vest. His long brown hair was tied back in a ponytail, and it was clear he did not maintain it as much as he should have–owing to his disposition. He was clearly a bit of a mad scientist and it could be seen in his inquisitive-yet focused, brown eyes and the scratches on his beat up glasses–the scar on his neck was a bit odd though. Pushing them up his face as he placed a special map on the table, he cleared his throat and said “As much as I would love for them to just be seeing the sights, they appear to be harassing two of our agents–who are being harassed by Perkele.” He then pointed to a glowing red dot on the magic map that indicated a clearing in the forest.

    “Agents?” Will wondered. “What do you… do you mean The League, Doc?”

    He smiled. “Perhaps, Will. Perhaps…” He then put a paper full of his notes next to the dot. “From the snooping I’ve done–and recalling Malte’s propensity to cause trouble…” he grunted, causing Will and Vlastimir to chuckle. “It looks like they may be trying to get information out of our agents.”

    “So that’s what’s holding Akaya up…” Milan noted… naturally sending a chill around the room.

    “Hold the phone, Professor!” Faustus interrupted. “Did I hear that right?”

    “Akaya? Yes, you did.”

    “I’M SORRY–WHAT!?!” Faustus snapped, causing a minor explosion of smoke that shook the whole room and startled the group. “WHY IN THE TENTH LAYER DID YOU INVITE HIM?”

    “Easy, sweetie, easy…” Mira tried to calm him.

    Victor groaned as he looked around the room at the group's confused faces. “Milan, why didn’t you tell them sooner? Faustus–I know you and Will had a habit of fooling around back in school, so pay attention; Sebastian was attempting to acquire reinforcements of the foulest kind back in Red River, and Akaya and Liss were on the front lines behind the scenes to stop them–it’s what was going on at the Sturluson House…”

    Faustus gave off a small burst of smoke, still fuming from hearing about Akaya. “Wait–Liss? Liss who?”

    “Liss-Zael…” Victor was about to explain, but his shirt had been grabbed by Faustus.

    “YOU’RE WORKING WITH A DEPTHS DEMON?” he exclaimed as he shook him.

    Will was looking concerned and figured he would ask to alleviate the group’s concern. “Who’s Liss-Zael?” He would be lying if he said he did not feel a sense of dread merely saying that name, worse than mentioning Akaya.

    “Liss-Zael is another one of our agents,” Victor answered as he loosened himself from the devil’s grip, despite Faustus’ agitated mood. “I understand your prejudice towards tenth layer demons, and it is fully justified given how dangerous they are, Faustus–but Liss is rare amongst those soul devourers given that he has empathy–an unbelievably rare trait for them. I’m sorry, but when someone hands you a filet mignon on a silver platter like that, you don’t say no–it’s a situation where when someone says jump, you say ‘how high?’”

    “If it’s any consolation, Faustus, I’m not sure about this either,” Vlastimir added. “Especially given the obvious between me and Akaya…”

    Faustus growled at Victor, clearly concerned for Will and the others. Mira then shook her head and sat him down at a nearby table. “Look, Darling? I’m just as worried as you are, but perhaps you should stay here and talk to the others about it while Will and I go see what the issue is–sounds good?” Faustus then let out an exhale of smoke that made the room smell like a campfire.

    Will laughed as he put his hands on his hips and shook his head. “Wait, we’re heading out?” He then glanced at the others and nodded. “Then again, I am a Specialist after all…”

    Victor subtly nodded. “I’d send Adam to deal with the troublemakers, but he’s busy trying to track down Raisa–for some reason she’s hard to pin down despite the fact we know where she is…”

    “Well she is sixth dimensional now,” Milan pointed out. “Quite the development from The ACF-100 incident.”

    This warranted a groan from Victor as he face palmed. “Godforsaken Delphine… What do you say, kids? Want to go rough-it in the forest one more time before you head back?”

    “Sir, yes sir!” Will saluted.

    “HAHA–finally some action!” Haze remarked. “Those blokes can’t be too much of a hassle…”

    “Don’t underestimate them, Haze,” Vlastimir warned. He then put his hand on Will’s shoulder. “I won’t let Anker lay a finger on you, Will.”

    “Thanks, Vlastimir…” Will said, a little worried about his friend’s worry.

    Sam snapped her fingers and turned into Morrigan in a flash of purple light, her armor gleaming and swords ready to go. “Well I’ve dealt with worse back when I was with Karnage. Ready to go, Eka?”

    “Ready as always,” she answered as she showed off one of her metal ribbons and retracted it.

    “Now be careful with the forest, Haze,” Yale said as he zipped off to join the group as they left the room, followed by Mira. “It is a sacred place that needs to be respected and–”

    “Yeah yeah, firefly–I’ll be careful…”

    “FIREFLY!?” Yale cried with the sound of an angry hornet, causing the group to laugh.

    There was a moment of contemplation amongst the five as the conversation of the group trailed off. Famine was a bit concerned and took another sip of her wine. “Should I go with them just in case? It’s just Ripsaw, Esteri, and Anker–but still…”

    “I understand, dear,” Aelia reassured. “But remember that Liss gets fairly nervous around you…”

    “HA, he gets nervous?” Faustus mocked. “Oh good lord…”

    Famine was not pleased with Faustus’ continued attitude and gave him a disapproving look. “Well I think you should give Akaya a chance–he’s quite the gentleman…”

    “He’s an arrogant cock–that’s what he is,” he snapped back. “The only reason I’m not going with Sport is because I’d rip Akaya a new one…”

    “Don’t you think you’re being a bit harsh?”

    Fautus gave Famine an incredulous look. “You realize there was build-up to the big battle at graduation, right?”

    Milan sighed. “Alright, alright–let’s not jump down each other’s throats over this. Fuastus, I trust Akaya–and I’m the guy who sealed him away initially. He really has turned over a new leaf and I think you should give him a chance.”

    There was a moment of awkward silence, until Faustus let out one last smokey grunt in defeat and leaned back in his chair. “Fine, I’ll bite–get me up to speed here.”

    “I’ll prepare us some tea then,” Aelia said as she began to leave the room.

    Victor shook his head with a subtle smile and began to put away some of his papers. “Can you bring me some earl grey?”

    “Of course, Doctor.”

    “Thank you, Aelia,” he replied as he took a seat next to Faustus. “Things just keep getting crazier and crazier as time goes on…”


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