2.0

Content warnings: violence typical of fight scenes, hearing voices (detail below; skip if you prefer surprises)

• A character gets stabbed.

• A character is described as “hearing voices" in a non-psychotic context (see disclaimer here).

~.~

Your feet pound against the ground as you follow Lian and Peter down the hallway, running at a full sprint. Peter yells something into a crystal. The three of you skid around a corner and straight into a pair of men in suits. You quickly change direction, sprinting as if your life depends on it, eyes wide with fear. One of the men shoots a blaster at the fleeing fugitives; the other materializes a knife and throws it.

Lian falls to the ground with a yelp, a bloodstain blossoming on their lower back. You feel a surge of pain in your leg, but you keep running, dragging Lian behind you, except—where is Peter? A surge of panic wells up inside of you.

You look up and find Peter pinned to the wall by a dagger through the throat.

~.~

Karyme awoke with a gasp, heart pounding. Reflexively, her hand went to her leg, where the knife had pierced her skin in the dream. Then, as the haze of sleep cleared, Karyme relaxed a little. She was used to bad dreams from the others, but this one easily took the cake.

As Karyme turned the nightmare over in her mind, though, she realized that it wasn’t likely. Up to this point, the dreams had always depicted events that took place a few days prior, but she had seen Peter and Lian just last week, in the pocket dimension, and they had been perfectly fine. And Karyme somehow doubted the Ennead had started taking Peter and Lian on missions.

Karyme’s phone buzzed, snapping her out of her thoughts, and she eagerly opened the group chat.

Juli: oh my fucking god lian peter are you two okay please say you’re okay

Peter: ooooOOOOOoooo this is peter’s ghoooost coming back to haunt youuuu

Dani: 🖕🏽

Rae: Christ, Peter, have some tact.

Peter: no

Lian still hadn’t responded by the time Karyme put her phone down, but Karyme figured that if Peter was okay, Lian was, too. She breathed a sigh of relief. She didn’t know what the dream was about, but she knew who would. Karyme slid out of bed, ignoring the fact that it was still dark out, and started to get dressed. It was time to visit the pocket dimension.

~.~

It was around lunchtime when Joshua stormed into the pocket dimension. Karyme was curled up on the couch, reading a journal, and Morgan was sitting sullenly on the other couch, but that was not where his focus lay. Instead, he made a beeline towards the kitchen, anger thrumming under his skin. Ridwan, Lian, and Peter were sitting around the dining table, laughing about something or the other. Joshua didn’t care. He slammed both hands down on the table.

“What. Is. This,” Joshua said through gritted teeth. He lifted one hand to reveal a crumpled up piece of paper, then slid the paper across the table to Ridwan. The smile immediately left the immortal’s face.

“A threat from the Company,” Ridwan murmured. “Joshua, where did you find this?”

“Where do you think?” Joshua snarled. Ridwan opened their mouth to speak, but Joshua cut them off. “I’ve been staying at a friend’s place—a friend who is completely unrelated to all this bullshit, by the way—and somehow they still found me despite your stupid fucking crystals. So someone better explain why the Company is threatening my friend. Now.”

Ridwan contemplated for a little bit. Then, their eyes went wide.

“The phones,” they said plainly, as if that explained everything. Joshua suppressed the urge to deck Ridwan across the face. “It’s a closely-guarded secret among the Soul Stealers, but one of The Necromancer’s oldest lackeys has the ability to read all forms of electronic communication. It is hard for them to zero in on one specific email or phone call amidst the thousands that get sent every day, but if they already had an eye on you…”

Joshua swore under his breath. He’d been careful—he’d trashed his old phone, set up a burner phone for emergencies—but there had been that one phone call between him and Auster.

“You likely aren’t the only one receiving these threats,” Ridwan continued. “If you’ve received a death threat, then Rae probably has as well—not to mention Dani and Juli.”

“Is that supposed to make me feel better?” Joshua snapped. “Because it doesn’t!” He drew himself up to full height, extending his wings for effect. “My brother is in real danger, and it’s your fault. So! What are you going to do about it? How do I protect my friend?”

Joshua was angry, but more than that, he was anxious. His thoughts kept going to Auster and Joel. If either of them got hurt… Joshua clenched his jaw. He was going to kill the immortals after this was over.

Ridwan stood up, seemingly unfazed. “Lian, call the others here,” they said coolly. “I’ll go discuss this with Haku. I can think of a few ways to head this off before your friend ends up in danger, but I want to confirm one or two things first.” The immortal made direct eye contact with Joshua.

“In the meantime, why don’t you stay for lunch?”

~.~

“You sure we should be serving this to a bunch of western folks?” Mateen asked, moving the onions and soy crumbles around in the pan with a wooden spoon. “I’m not sure they’ll enjoy it.”

“Oh, hush,” Ridwan said tersely. They finished grinding the tomatoes into a paste and handed the tomato paste to their cooking partner. “It’ll be fine. Besides, since when did you care if people like your cooking?”

“You’re not the only one who wants the mortals to like them,” Mateen grumbled, dumping a bowl of potatoes into the pot. “It’s easier that way.”

Is it? a voice hissed, almost startling Mateen into dropping the wooden spoon. Mateen shuddered. Xe was usually better at hiding xis reactions to the soul splinter, but since xis resurrection, xe hadn’t fully regained xis mental stamina.

Mateen was maybe a bit too forceful as xe stirred the potatoes into the onion and soy mixture.

“How did things go with Morgan?” Ridwan asked. Mateen cringed.

“She didn’t try to kill me,” Mateen groused. “I consider that a win. She’s getting better with her powers, I guess, but I get the sense that she really wants to train with Jinal, since that’s where her powers came from.”

“Mm. Don’t forget the spices,” Ridwan said airily. They crossed the kitchen and grabbed a few bottles from the spice rack. “Otherwise it’ll taste like white people's food.”

“White people food? In Kai’s kitchen? Never,” Mateen said dryly. Xe took the spice bottles from Ridwan and carefully added a dash of salt, turmeric, pepper, and a couple of other spices to the dish.

“I’ll take over from here,” Ridwan said, taking the spoon from Mateen.

“Because you don’t trust me,” Mateen shot back.

“I didn’t say that!”

“But it’s true.”

“Should I trust the guy who took off my arm multiple times in my childhood?” Ridwan grumbled, stirring the tomato paste into the dish.

“No,” Mateen said flatly. Xe leaned against the counter with a sigh. “No, you shouldn’t.” In fact, Mateen still didn’t understand why the others trusted xim. At least xe could always count on Ridwan to treat xim as xe deserved—with vitriol, thinly masked anger, and a bit of salt. As if reading xis mind, Ridwan spoke up.

“I don’t hate you, you know,” Ridwan said carefully. And then, without so much as a pause—“Start getting the rice ready.”

“Yeah, I dunno, I’m getting mixed signals on that one,” Mateen grumbled, pulling another pot out of a drawer. As xe transferred rice from the rice cooker to the pot, a snippet of the future floated into xis field of vision—an image of Peter pinned to the wall with a dagger through his throat.

Ah, yes. Is it easier, knowing your students, being liked by your students, when they’ll eventually end up like that? the voice snickered. Are you sure this is what you want? Mateen let the clumps of cooked rice fall into the pot with a sigh.

“So, how are we going to prevent that vision?” Mateen asked, bringing the pot of rice to the stove. Ridwan tensed.

“Not sure,” they said thinly. “Almost done here, and then we can combine the rice with the meat mix.”

“We can’t keep lying to the kids, telling them that the vision is a fringe vision. For Karai’s sake, all of us have had that vision at least once, and it’s smack dab in the middle of things,” Mateen said heatedly.

“What do you suggest we do, then?” Ridwan snapped. “We can’t just say, ‘oh, by the way, you’re going to die next week.’” Hands flickering with indigo, Ridwan started transferring layers of rice into the pot with the potatoes and meat.

“We could,” Mateen pushed back.

“Yeah, because that worked well with Skye.”

Mateen froze, eyes wide with anger. Xis fists were aflame with red light.

“How dare you—”

“But am I wrong?” Ridwan cut in. “Did warning Skye prevent the inevitable?” Mateen deflated a little, the light at xis hands flickering out.

“No,” xe muttered. The two were silent for a bit while the rice finished simmering with the meat and potato mixture. Finally, Ridwan broke the uneasy silence.

“We have to trust Haku,” they said shakily. “We just have to trust Haku.” Mateen forced ximself to take a deep breath.

“Yeah,” xe replied. “Yeah.”

~.~

Rae looked towards the kitchen with more than a little curiosity as xe took a seat at the table. Ridwan and another immortal Rae had not yet met were bickering in a foreign language as they cooked, and Rae couldn’t help but wonder what the two were talking about.

You don’t want to know, Karyme cut in, taking the seat next to Rae. Rae almost jumped in surprise. That’s Mateen, by the way. According to my reading, xe’s the most dangerous of the lot, other than Haku.

Good to know, Rae muttered.

“So do you know why we’re here?” Juli asked, plopping down in the seat next to Rae. “Lian was pretty vague, don’t ya think?”

“I was not!” Lian protested, sticking out their tongue. “And if I was, it’s only because Ridwan was vague.”

“Are all immortals vague?” Peter wondered. “Or just the ones we’ve met?”

“They’re all bastards, at least,” Dani muttered, taking a seat.

“To answer the initial question: I have no clue,” Rae admitted. Xe made a face. “Unless it’s related to the eviction notice I received this morning from my landlord.”

“It is,” Karyme said, looking to Joshua with concern. The man was sitting at the table, glaring at his clenched fists, and he looked like he was about to have an aneurysm. “Joshua got a threat from the Company, I got fired from the library where I work, and you got an eviction notice. It’s not a coincidence.”

“Company threats, huh,” Dani mused. “That’s not something to be taken lightly.”

“I know,” Joshua said through gritted teeth. “Why do you think I’m still here?”

At that moment, Ridwan and Mateen emerged from the kitchen carrying a dish of yellow rice mixed with potatoes, onions, and tomatoes, along with a side of yogurt dip. Morgan was the first to serve themself. Her sling was gone now—presumably, Mateen had fixed her collarbone in the week since Rae had seen her last—and she seemed a little more mellow. Just a little.

Notably, Ridwan and Mateen did not take portions for themselves.

"Hey, Peter, I bet you won’t pour the yogurt on your whole meal," Juli said mischievously.

Peter rolled his eyes. "I could, but I think Mateen would take it as a personal affront."

"You bet your ass I would," Mateen grumbled, arms crossed. "But it's your food."

Juli looked at Mateen, and then at Peter again "I'll give you five bucks if you do it."

Peter materialized a $5 bill and handed it to Mateen. "Is this real?"

"No," Mateen said without even looking. "You're missing a couple of lines on the back."

"Fuck." Peter shrugged. "Well, good thing I don't need money anymore, since I'm not renewing my lease on my apartment."

Juli blinked. “What? Why?”

"Uh, because? Might as well move in here?" Peter said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Rae wasn’t so sure. Moving in with nine immortals who had, for better or for worse, foisted powers on them without permission didn’t sound like Rae’s idea of a good time.

“Morgan’s already been living here, right?” Karyme mused. “For safety reasons, I assume. So… it’s not the craziest idea in the world.” Morgan glared at Karyme, but stayed silent.

“Is…” Juli frowned, turning to Ridwan and Mateen. “Is that really okay? Like, doesn’t it feel weird to have complete strangers walking around your home?” Ridwan and Mateen exchanged glances.

“It wouldn’t be the first time,” Ridwan explained. “And besides, I think providing living accommodations is the least we can do after we ruined your lives.”

Rae briefly wondered if the immortals were going to spend their whole lives making up for that one. Would it ever be enough? Rae wasn’t sure.

“So,” Karyme said, crossing her arms. “I think you should tell everyone what you told me about the dream we had this morning.”

Rae’s lunch suddenly tasted like sawdust.

“Ah. That.” Ridwan sighed and pinched the bridge of their nose. “I wish Haku were here to explain this, but they're busy, so I'll just give it to you straight—that was a vision of the future. A highly unlikely, fringe future, but a future nonetheless.”

“WHAT?” Juli yelped. “We’re seeing the future now?”

“Haku thinks it’s a side effect from when we used our souls to protect you from the soul extraction chamber,” Ridwan continued, ignoring Juli’s outburst. “Some of our energy probably leaked into your bodies, allowing the occasional crossover between your powers and ours.”

“When will we stop seeing the future?” Dani asked. “Please say there’s a when. I’d rather not see people dying every time I sleep.”

“Within the next few days, probably,” Mateen answered, leaning back in xis chair. “You’ll probably still share dreams with each other, but you’ll stop sharing dreams with us.”

“Why do we share dreams, anyway?” Juli prodded. “I never understood that one.”

“That makes two of us,” Mateen said with a shrug. Juli gave the immortal a withering look.

“What Mateen means to say,” Ridwan interjected, “is that we’re not really sure. After all, the Necromancer gave powers to many of the Soul Stealers, but it’s not like the Soul Stealers share dreams with each other, and it’s not as if any of them dream of The Necromancer—not the way all of you were dreaming of us.”

Mateen made a face. “Haku has some theories, but they did not deign to share them with us.”

“Oh, so Haku is just like that with everyone,” Peter said, nodding sagely. “I see, I see.”

“Great,” Joshua said thinly, glaring at the two immortals. “Now can we please talk about the reason I’m here?”

“Right.” Ridwan’s expression was grave as they surveyed the mortals. “The gist is this: the Soul Stealers are shutting down your assets, one by one. Homes, jobs, personal connections—anything is fair game.”

“Okay, but why?” Juli wondered aloud. “It’s like—okay, threats are bad, but if he knew where we were, and he had the power to just off Joshua in his sleep, why didn’t he?”

“He would have been doing us all a favor,” Morgan muttered. If looks could kill, Joshua’s glare would have murdered Morgan on the spot.

“Now, now, be civil,” Mateen chastised, giving Morgan the side-eye. "In any case, I can’t tell you exactly what The Necromancer is thinking, but if I were him, it would be like this: he’s upset, but he doesn’t want to declare war straight off—and if he killed any of you, there would be hell to pay. So, he's decided to make your lives hell instead."

“Am I supposed to feel honored that you’d go to war for us?” Joshua snarked. “Because I’m not! We’ve been dragged into a war between immortals, and it’s all your fault.” Rae wouldn’t have phrased it that way, but xe had to agree with Joshua. It was tiring to be used as a bargaining chip in a war amongst gods. Still…

“What are you going to do about it?” Rae asked, crossing xyr arms. “We can sit here and yell at you all day, but that’s not a solution, and your apologies mean nothing unless you take actions to mitigate the harm you’ve inflicted.”

Ridwan bit their lip. "The simplest solution to this is just to give you completely new names, lives, and identities. Just—to start over from square one. But I understand that doesn't work well for most of you."

“And what’s the not-so-simple solution?” Dani pressed.

Ridwan made eye contact with Dani. “There are two components to that. First, we erase every single record on you that exists in the Soul Stealers’ databases. The easiest access point for that information is in the Company’s headquarters, which is linked to the basement of the Casimir Law Firm.”

Rae wrinkled xyr nose. He hated even thinking about the Casimir Law Firm—most of Rae’s clients came to him because they had been sued by Neal Casimir. The Casimir firm spent most of its time cleaning up the legal side of things for the Soul Stealers, and they’d been getting away with it for so long that most judges simply acquiesced.

“I can’t imagine that infiltrating the Company’s stronghold will be easy,” Karyme pointed out. “And I doubt getting to the basement of the law firm will be any easier.”

“Correct,” Mateen agreed. “But there is a chance. The Company is hosting a fighting tournament to recruit new members in two days. Most of the Company executives will be there, and most of their firepower will be focused on maintaining the tournament.”

“That only takes care of part of the problem, of course,” Ridwan noted. “The Necromancer knows who you are, and even if he can’t find you with future vision, he still knows your names and faces. So…” Ridwan took a deep breath. “We’re going to try to wipe his memories of you.”

An uneasy silence settled over the table.

“You—you can do that?” Juli mumbled. “Just take someone’s memory and—and manipulate it?”

“It takes some combination of my power and Haku’s, but yes,” Mateen said smoothly, as if wiping someone’s memory was a casual thing. Suddenly, Karyme’s earlier comment—about Mateen being the most dangerous of the immortals—made sense.

“Wait,” Peter interjected. “There’s no way that the tournament will be a good enough opportunity for us to infiltrate the Company. I love a good heist, but this just seems poorly planned.”

“You’re right,” Ridwan said, nodding. “If we simply entered the Company headquarters during the tournament, there’s no way we’d make it to the database access point. But if someone were to enter the tournament and create a distraction…”

Dani groaned. “You still want us to clean up your mess? This is ridiculous!”

“No one’s forcing you to do anything,” Ridwan said easily. Next to them, Mateen looked slightly uncomfortable. “But let me put it this way: if you were to help us with this—and that’s a big if—the future vision you saw this morning would become much less likely.”

Rae swallowed. The vision of Lian, covered in blood, and Peter with a dagger in the throat flashed through his mind. He didn’t want Lian to die—not by a long shot—and though he had problems with Peter, he didn’t want to simply walk away from this knowing that Peter’s life could have been saved.

“I’m in,” Rae decided. “I’m not much use in a fight, but if this is what it takes to clear our information from the Soul Stealers’ records, I’ll do it.”

“You have my sword, too!” Juli said cheerfully. “I’ve always wanted to stick it to the Company.”

“Let’s make this easier. Does anyone not want to participate?” Ridwan asked, looking around the table. Morgan fidgeted in their seat, staring intently at their lap, but they said nothing. Dani looked annoyed about it, but she also stayed silent. Joshua’s brow was creased in anger, but it was dulled, somehow. He kept looking at Lian, as if he were worried about the music teacher.

“Great!” Peter said cheerfully. He took the bowl of yogurt and poured it over the remaining rice on his plate. “Juli, you owe me five dollars!”

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