I take Buzz into Mwah, and nobody bats an eye at us. Of course, it should be way too common at a place like this… for a person to be taking another person as if they were hostage.
Deeper, I try to remember correctly and take Buzz to the room from before… to Love-bite.
She smokes a cigar, as I look at her… finally she bats an eye after finding us.
"What the fuck happened to him?" Love-bite gets up from the couch.
"Some person hit him on his private… three times, I think."
"Three times? A person? No ordinary person could-and super-strength is the most common power-shit, that's bad."
This way I leave Buzz and Love-bite in the room, and go to another such room. In a while, Love-bite finds me here, and comes to sit besides me.
"This person… who was it?" Love-bite asks. "Not like I myself could do anything about it… but this person hit to break… to destroy."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean that Mosquito… I mean, Buzz. Buzz is impotent. Possibly. There is no kind of an wound visible… but the blood flow and… -he is impotent now," Love-bite sighs. "Luckily, he will be fine besides that. At least they… this won't be a loss to us."
What did she mean by that?
"I have never seen that person before. The one trying to play hero."
"Buzz got his ass handled by a new-one?" Love-bite scoffs. "I think somebody is always stronger. Here Adleon got his ass handled by Trans. Even Buzz met a match."
Did she just say that out loud? She could get killed, if Adleon got upset.
Love-bite scoffs at my reaction. "You are scared they'll hear? After that show: I thought you'd be someone unafraid. You handled a divine being that way, and came out unharmed. Or are you really Adleon's daughter?"
"Divine being?"
"Or a cursed one. Not much to go by the mythologies. But folklores speak of shape-shifters… people who can turn into a snake. Either as a boon or a curse from some snake-gem. Buzz brought this guy himself."
"He still died in the hands of a newbie like me. Doesn't sound so strong. Or wasn't."
"True. This one was mighty… but Buzz is lucky to be alive all this time, I mean. Some could argue that Buzz got cursed and got his ass handled this way, because he brought this guy in."
"Since the guy is dead… such a curse should be too."
"You may be right. But he isn't the problem. The snake-gem powers a lady better. So the queen… could have cursed Buzz. Not that I believe it, but… she'd surely be out to kill Buzz, at the least."
Queen of the snake-gem… that is who Slit was talking about, when he said that.
Love-bite just reads my face and smirks in a way.
"And you killed her husband… think of what she could do to you…" Love-bite scoffs. "If you survive that… you could become the strongest. Take over the whole of us. Command us. I honestly would gladly obey."
"You would?"
Love-bite scoffs. "I was a nurse you know. A could-be prodigy… I could learn the art so better… THEY got afraid of me."
"Who?"
"Who else? Men… so afraid to give up their thrones. As if that is what we are trying to hunt. As if it even exists. Ask me… and I'd say that the villains are fine. Whoever kicks ass, kicks ass here. Equals."
"Yet… aren't the top ones guys?"
"You see my point then… we need a lady to rule. Like with the snake-gem's strongest boon or curse, being for a lady's taking… I'm sure chaos is the same. We create life in nine months… give life to these boys in minutes," she scoffs.
"Fro will probably take Adleon's place," I say.
"Him," Love-bite scoffs.
"Yeah me…" Fro's voice makes us shudder, and he comes into the room, and calmly sits at the edge of the couch, looking over at us. "Lovely, that you think I'll take Adleon's place. Feeling sad, that if you kill him… you can't take over?"
"That is not the kind of talk we were having," Love-bite elaborates.
"Oh I'm sure…" Fro laughs lightly. "After all… no idiot throws themselves to lions and snakes, and unfathomable monsters like me."
"Unfathomable?" I ask, and Love-bite looks at me. "You are ferocious… but can you really be calling yourself that?"
Fro reads my face for a few seconds, and smiles. "Maybe not. I'm sorry that I didn't find myself a better term. Surely, a monster is… putting an end and a limit to the things I'm capable of."
I just look at him, unfazed. He wouldn't make a move. Or he knew… even if Adleon isn't commanding him… that if he did, everyone would conclude that I'm Adleon's daughter.
"Quite a performance there… Season. But was turning into Adleon, really necessary?"
"For the match…? Maybe not. But for the audience…" I smirk, and Fro scoffs.
"Brilliant performance, whatsoever. Welcome to the business," Fro bends forward and stretches his hand out to me.
"Shall we talk about the payment?" I take his hand, and shake it.
"Oh… trust me, you'll be well compensated for your… skills."
No kind of a catch to that handshake… Fro truly was the different one. Could he maybe read me like Love-bite?
"Love-bite… you told me that you had something to show to me."
"Right… I'm not sure if I can show you exactly… but besides you, Season here is the only one who could enter those… mind-world or whatever you called it."
"Thoughts' plain. Working on the name. Not like we know much on it."
"Yeah well… in our case, we were by a mountain's side… in her case… we both were nearer to the mountain. There was a cave."
"Can we see it?" Fro asks with disbelief and anticipation.
"Maybe we could… but there was another."
"A fourth?"
"Yes. An actual person. A girl… in some kind of a grey suit. She was talking into space… not the cave, but towards the sky. She seemed surprised that we could hear her."
"Moreover, I believe she threw me… us, out of there," I add.
"Some kind of a hero?"
"Even if… not one I have seen. I even checked on the foreign collection of the bunch… none seem to match her."
"A suit… sure reeks of their kind."
"I think the suit… could change. The suit seemed to… glow… change in a way, the last moment, when she banished us," I say.
"Ha… then we already know how to deal with her. We take her clothes off," Fro laughs. "And if she is pretty… Adleon could have her."
"Fro… you seem to be missing the main point," Love-bite says, making Fro realise something and lose his smile. "Your powers… couldn't work when we were there. Remember?"
But I still could feel my own powers.
"Then if this cave… was an actual place… this person resides there?"
"Perhaps."
"Take me," Fro says, putting his hand forward. "With me and you, we made it to the mountains. With Season, you made it to the cave… the three of us could probably go within. Deeper."
Love-bite gives me her hand, and as I grab it: I see something. Something which makes me glare at Love-bite. She understands why, but seems confused, like me, of how I could read her. Last time, it was her who read me.
"I-I'm sorry," Love-bite says.
For making love to Buzz, while he felt like he was doing me? Guess that is just… her job. Not like I could do anything about it.
I also see another memory: of Adleon personally telling Love-bite to take care of Buzz. Because he was important in keeping track of… me. And many others. Buzz was pretty important to Adleon. Close enough to become the next Fro, maybe.
"Something wrong, ladies?" Fro asks, snapping us out of it.
"I think I saw a wrong memory of her. Something personal," Love-bite says.
Fro laughs. "I'd like to hear it later. Shall we concentrate?"
We put our aligned hand forward… it feels impossible to read Love-bite any further. But right as Fro places his hand, I see a line of memory of his… before getting thrown deeper into the couch again, just like before.
Now, where is this girl?
"Remarkable," Fro gasps, looking towards the cave – probably because he was so close to here now, but it was the same view as before. "What do you think it is?"
"What do you think it could be?" Love-bite asks.
"The thing I most desire, perhaps," Fro scoffs lightly. "All the power the universe could provide me with."
"This?" I ask, with my voice echo making even me surprised.
"Me and Love-bite here, we have the same goal. Don't we, darling?" Fro asks, and Love-bite throws a smile. "That is how we understand her powers are. At least these… to find the strongest power ever. Which is here."
"Do you think that girl from before, has this strength?" I ask. "Where could she be? She was right here, last time."
"Have you not realised?" Fro scoffs. "That girl… is smart."
Fro lifts his leg and kicks towards me. As I dodge it, a hand catches hold of Fro's leg. It was the girl.
Goddammit writer, where are you? Is it because you weren't born yet?
We get thrown back into the room, and Fro starts laughing.
"Is something wrong?" Love-bite asks.
"I think this is for the better," Fro says, still chuckling lightly. "The girl… she is the answer to our power-loss in that place. When I touched her… I could feel my powers. And I think… I know where this place is."
"How?"
"Because that girl is a god. Who sees all."
***
As I enjoy my morning cereal while watching the TV, a pop-up of breaking news makes me stop chewing, and concentrate on the TV.
'This just in; a bit over one month after Adleon and Trans fought at a speech held by Trans, two mutilated bodies have been found. The talks of it being similar to both Trans and Adleon who have similar body types, are spreading soon. The arms of one, and the private parts of another, are missing from the scene.'
"What the fuck?" I ask to the TV, as if it could answer.
'Search for Fro, who has not been heard of since a month… is now getting stronger, as we speak, for the suspicion of the two murders. But the style of deaths seem unlikely of Fro. So who else could it have been? And are these even Adleon and Trans? Getting updates to your home, with the moment-'
The bowl crushes and breaks because of the increasing pressure from my hand-grip.
Trans… he praised me just last week, and said those things… I failed to protect him.
Who really could have killed both him AND Adleon? Can't be Fro, surely. Could it be... Rem? But she promised: not to make hasty decisions.