Broker-Chapter 185

The private jet soared through the air, heading westward. The improvements to the vehicle Amos had made during what he called ‘hobby time’ had extended its range by a considerable amount and rendered it impervious to attacks from anything up to an uncommon-tier force. Besides that, the interior was much of what Sonya remembered from her trip to and from Las Vegas. She hadn’t used the jet in a while, discretely using portals when she could and taking advantage of other forms of transportation when it was available.

The reasons were obvious, of course. The last two times she had been in the jet she had been sitting across from An Set and reeling from the fallout from Vegas respectively. She would have rather used a portal but she was bringing Alex, Snow, and Lily with her and that meant using her own portals wasn’t an option. As for the alternative, this was not an official visit or business related to the Pandora Committee and hero work. Certainly Sonya could call in a favor from Euclidia but she would rather not abuse her connections like that.

Not yet anyway.

Marta strode up to her from where she had been standing at the small kitchenette at one end of the cabin and handed her a mug filled with fragrant tea. Sonya sipped it and smiled, “Thank you, Marta,” she said. Her friend bowed politely before glancing down at the thing in Sonya’s lap. She glanced up and met Sonya’s gaze with raised eyebrows and Sonya smirked right back at her.

Marta rolled her eyes before turning to look at the other passengers, “How do the four of you take your tea?”

Cass, Alex, Lillian, and Snow were all in various states of attentiveness when she asked the question. Cass was lounging on one of the couches lining the inner cabin with a lazy expression, staring out one of the windows and yawning. Alex was on his phone, tapping away at what was likely a game. Snow was staring pointedly at Sonya’s lap with big eyes while Lillian mirrored her expression, her gold-plumed hawk Alphonse on her shoulder. None of them reacted to her words.

Marta shook her head, “Miss Chernovna’s usual blend, then,” she said and stepped away.

The object of at least half of the young heroes’ attention was the large fuzzy creature laying sprawled across Sonya’s lap. It was for all intents and purposes a Siberian husky, largely white with dark lines framing its eyes and gradients of gray running down its back. It rested quietly in its spot, most of its body sitting comfortably on the couch to Sonya’s side. Across from Sonya, Snow crept forward and its ear twitched, one eerie white eye opening and glancing in her direction. She pulled back as the faint hiss of static preceded a giggle of delight.

“What’s his name?” Lillian asked, looking up at Sonya from where she had been admiring the majestic dog.

“I’m calling him Levi,” Sonya said, scratching behind the dogs ears. It barely shifted to give her a superior angle.

“He’s very calm for a husky, did he go through training?” Lillian asked as Snow crept forward again, with eager steps. Levi opened his eye and stared at her again before looking away and letting out a long suffering huff. Lililan laughed, “Full of personality though.”

“Well he’s not exactly a husky, come over here, you’ll probably be able to tell if you get close enough,” Sonya said gently. Lillian and Snow squinted at her before glancing at one another and grinning. They got to their feet and made their way across the cabin, stopping to kneel next to the dog. Levi raised his head and turned slowly to look at them, his nose tilted up a bit as if having them approach was some manner of minor slight.

Lillian and Snow didn’t seem to notice, but Alphonse did. The hawk let out a small sound of protest and flicked its head to the right to fix Levi with a stare. They held one anothers gazes as Snow reached out to run her hand down Levi’s back. Levi huffed again, this time sounding disinterested and returned to resting his head on Sonya’s lap. Lillian reached out to join Snow in petting him and froze. She blinked and looked up at Sonya, “He’s not a dog.”

“Not a natural one, no,” Sonya said with an easy laugh, she tilted her head to look into the creature’s eyes, “He came out of an egg, if you can believe it.”

Snow was the next to react with Alex glancing up with her, “An egg?”

Sonya tilted her head and looked into Levi’s eyes, smiling at him, “Didn’t you little buddy?” she asked merrily before flicking her gaze up towards the others, “A friend of mine is a bit of a collector of novelties out of dungeons. Odd resources, dungeon rewards, that kind of thing. The egg was a reward and he gave it to me as thanks for some help I gave him.”

Sonya let out an exhausted sigh, “The egg draws mana through your body to feed it, it’s like constantly using your powers. I’ve been feeding it for a while now and a familiar came out.”

“Your eyes are always on, that must have been exhausting,” Lillian said.

Sonya snorted, “You’re telling me! Though the rewards are worth it, I have a bodyguard in case Marta has to go running off. Once he grows up a little of course.”

Snow ran her fingers through his fur, “There’s an illusion on him. I can barely sense it, it’s more powerful than mine by one hell of a margin,” she said with a crackle of static.

Marta returned with a pair of mugs and handed them to the girls who took them gratefully, “He has to keep his cover somehow,” Marta said, “One of his defense mechanisms, I imagine. We still don’t know everything but given what he really looks like currently, I’m glad this is an option.”

Levi raised his head and glowered at Marta. She met his gaze and smirked, “What? You’re scary like that. I can’t imagine Sonya walking you. It’d cause a panic.”

The two girls gave her a quizzical look as she turned away, “He’s a hound.”

Alex hopped to his feet, “I knew I smelled something familiar,” he said and made his way over, kneeling next to Levi with the others, “Wow that is one hell of an illusion. Even knowing doesn’t break it. Handsome dog.”

“You smelled him?” Lillian asked.

“Course I did, I’m literally a giant monster-hunting snake,” he said.

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“Only when Cass and Ollie are around,” Snow teased.

“N-not true! I’ll get there eventually!” He shot back, flustered. He looked back at Cass, “You think I will, right?”

“Mhm,” Cass said noncommittally as she continued flipping through her phone without looking up. Alex let out a defeated sigh as the other girls giggled at him.

“This is what happens when you go on vacation with a bunch of beautiful women, Alex, trust me, I understand,” Sonya said comfortingly.

“Levi’s a dude!” he protested, “You’ve got my back, right buddy?” he asked the familiar. Levi flicked his pale eyes in Alex’s direction and sat up slightly giving him what could only be described as a pitying look before turning back to rest on Sonya’s lap once more. Alex sat back on the floor of the cabin and ran his fingers through his hair, “Dude, c’mon man. Bros right?”

Laughter filled the cabin as Alex took his lumps. He and Snow eventually migrated back to their side of the jet and went back to what they were doing. Lillian stayed with Sonya and Levi, admiring the familiar. “What’s it feel like?” she asked quietly, “He’s your familiar, so is he connected to you or something?”

Sonya tilted her head, “It’s odd, it’s like having a little sense of self outside of me, I know where he is and what he’s feeling to a degree. I imagine you feel something similar with Alphonse?”

“Sort of, Alphonse was a normal hawk when I met him,” Lillian said, reaching up to run her fingers down the back of the bird on her shoulder who was still giving Levi the stink-eye, “I can feel him now and his body has changed slightly. It happened while we were in the dungeon. He’s stronger, faster, and he’s got those gold feathers he didn’t have before,” she looked back to Levi, “I’m guessing it was from hunting monsters. Maybe that’s what you’ll have to do with him.”

Sonya shrugged, “Well, we’ll be able to ask the expert on familiars once we get to Japan. We’re meeting him on landing as I understand it.”

Lillian looked up at her, “Expert?”

Sonya grinned, “Somebody fairly knowledgeable about having a magical creature as a partner. He’s an old hat with it now.”

Lillian’s eyes went wide, “You’re joking.”

Sonya pursed her lips and looked away innocently, “Hm? I didn’t confirm or deny anything”

“What’s up?” Alex called over from his seat, he had a pair of legs in his lap and looked a lot happier after being teased relentlessly. Sonya gave Cass a look and she returned it with her own innocent expression that Sonya suspected looked a lot like her own. “Who are we seeing?” Alex asked obliviously.

“Do we really get to meet Inky?” Lillian asked, excited, “Seriously? Seriously?”

Sonya let out a mirthful laugh, “I would assume so, given that it and Bandit are never far apart.”

“Bandit’s in Japan?” Alex blurted and even Cass looked up to pay attention.

“There were several talented bow-using light-touched in their camp program. Japan borrowed him for the duration and he stayed to assist with a few dungeons and walk them through some of the steps we took during the development of the ASTA Guild,” Sonya explained, “He and Sapporo have a good rapport so it was pretty easy to make it happen.”

Lillian squinted at Sonya, “We’re going to meet Bandit and he’s been helping out with dungeons, huh? Are you sure this is a grace-period vacation trip?”

Sonya met her eyes and grinned.

–

Bandit shifted on his feet, rubbing his neck as they stood on the tarmac. He squinted up at the clear blue sky and frowned a little. It was too damn bright out. He felt Inky stir in his shadow and he sent a reassuring nudge through their connection. The little creature had engaged him in a fairly transactional relationship when they first met but it had steadily evolved into a bond that surpassed friendship. Inky was his familiar now, a rare occurrence for someone without an ability function for creating a familiar but apparently not unheard of.

He glanced towards Sapporo, the big guy was imposing as ever. He had the vibe of a mountain that always seemed to make his shifts towards good humor a little unsettling. Bandit wondered if that was the point. He leaned forward just a little to glance past Sapporo and the entourage of Japanese representatives. There were people from the central government, the local Pandora branch, and even a representative from the Imperial Family. That was a little weird but given how big a name was showing up he supposed it wasn’t that surprising.

“Restless?” Sapporo asked in his gravel-against-steel voice.

Bandit stood up straight and shrugged, “It’s been a while since I’ve seen her. She looked after me and the others when we were getting started but since then I’ve been go go go, y’know?”

Sapporo nodded quietly, turning his head to look up at the horizon, “It will be good to have her here. Her presence is a balm in troubled times.”

“You do remember that she’s kind of a kook, right?” Bandit pointed out, “Like, she’s probably gonna come out there like a superstar diva and do or say something outrageous.”

The big man’s expression shifted into an extraordinarily rare smile, “Yes, I’ve met Sonya Chernovna before.”

Bandit laughed, getting a few looks from the other more stoic representatives that he ignored. The two of them had met at the same time Sapporo had first encountered Sonya. It was an awkward meeting, looking back and he wondered how they had managed to bond the way they had despite the horrors they’d seen not long after. He shoved his hands into his pockets, “Inky’s not liking the direct sunlight.”

“Your strange little friend will be in more comfortable environs soon,” Sapporo said before lowering his voice a little, “The third man to my left is a representative of a media studio. He’s here for you.”

Bandit pressed his lips together and leaned back to get a view of the men arrayed waiting for the arrival of the plane and the celebrity inside. He caught sight of a man with a thick mustache and hard eyes on a slightly pudgy face. He squinted at the man’s shirt and saw a pin marking him as a member of a popular media company in Japan. Bandit shifted back to a more comfortable pose and shot Sapporo a glance, “Thanks for the heads up. Not interested in turning Inky into a kids toy. I’m fine with franchising, it's what ASTA does for me anyway, but I don’t want kids seeing what Inky really does to living things on TV while holding an effigy of him.”

Sapporo nodded, “A very kind mindset. Better he be a figment of mystery and danger.”

“Couldn’t agree more, big guy-” he froze and Sapporo did as well. They both looked up at the horizon and frowned, “I forgot what Handmaiden felt like,” Bandit said.

“Imposing indeed,” Sapporo agreed, “There was something else there for a moment but it receded. Perhaps a trick of the mind?”

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“Dunno, there’s another odd duck on the plane. A growth-type hero,” Bandit said.

“Growth-type?” Sapporo asked, “Those are very rare.”

“You’re right, what makes it more compelling is that this kid trained under Black Lotus and has similar functions to her ability,” he said, “She just joined the East ASTA Guild the other day. Bluestar gave me a heads up that she was coming.”

Sapporo raised his eyebrows, “A cultivator. That explains the sensation. Very controlled.”

The man next to Sapporo turned to face them, he was an older man with thinning gray hair. Despite that, his eyes had a sharpness to them that always made Bandit wary, “I was unaware you possessed a sensory power, Sapporo.”

“I do not, Mister Takehara,” Sapporo said before looking up at the sky where the plane was approaching. Takehara frowned at Sapporo before turning away to speak with one of the others.

“They still want you to overtake BL?” Bandit asked.

“Yes.”

“Are you going to?”

“Not intentionally, no.”

Bandit glanced past him towards the officials speaking amongst themselves. “They're not happy,” he said with mild amusement as he listened in from a distance.

Sapporo chuckled, “No, they are not.”