.^^ Qin Long ^^

— James —

I grinned and focused on the Giant sandstone cave, filled with entire buildings, like an entire underground city. Most of the buildings reached the ceiling, to act like support columns. The people were as varied as the Miami Sanctuary, but so much more numerous. There was easily twenty times the number of people in this Sanctuary.

The architecture was very different, than the other Market, or Sanctuary. Where that had been built to look like cottages in a Swedish River Village, this was built like the Pueblo's that I had seen as we approached, some even carved out of the canyon walls. The tan-brown stone had an earthy feel to it, even amongst the unmistakable bustle of a city and the high rises all around.

There were no trees, that I could see, at least none in the open, and there was almost no magical light. A few trees that I could see were inside the high-rises, stretching tall and strong all the way to the ceiling, their top branches digging into the roof, and probably turning into bushes up topside for photosynthesis. I noticed their branch/roots stretched along the ceiling, strengthening the stone with living roots.

I ignored Athenos and Rafaela, who were off on their own, talking quietly to each other about things I probably didn't want to hear, anyway, but I kept at a reasonable distance behind them, following the compass.

We entered the Market Portion, hidden in an even lower level of the city, and I stuck a bit closer, as I knew there was safety in numbers.

The market portion was even darker than the top, nearly complete darkness. My eyes, (adjusted over seven months in a Dark Dimension,) dilated instantly, making the room come into sharp focus.

Athenos glanced at me, surprised. "You learned how to make your eyes glow?"

"Are They? I figured I just adjusted to the lack of light in the Dark Dimension." I shrugged.

He grinned. "It's very cool. You should follow the compass, now. You can see it best."

I nodded and took the necklace, wrapping it around my wrist securely, then let it swing. As soon as I pumped a little magic into it, it heated up, and pointed straight, instead of swinging.

"Oh? I guess we're closer than I though." Athenos hummed.

We entered a building, when the compass tilted when we passed it, and it dropped, finished with its job, despite the fact that the building was empty.

As we headed towards a door on one side, the shade coalesced. "Passing me, you will not be. The mistress meditates, and interruptions, she hates."

"Is it just me, or does this guy talk like Yoda?" I chuckled.

"You understand him?" Rafaela asked, looking impressed, then answered the shade. "In the name of your Dread Lord, I Command You begone, back from whence you came."

It melted into an acidic puddle, scarring the floor under it before it evaporated.

Athenos snapped his fingers, and the gas lit on fire, funneling itself into one of the many air vents, far above us. "Just in case it was toxic." He shrugged.

I tossed him the compass, and walked down the stairs, keeping my nose open (if that was what you called it,) for any scents that seemed out of the ordinary.

As I exited into the lower level, I smelled magic, and halted, but couldn't see anything out of the ordinary.

Athenos gripped my shoulder. "Illusion magic. An Eastern Specialty. I'll handle this, my child." He mumbled a phrase in the demon language he used with the Cyclops, and the entire room seemed to melt, like a watercolor under a heating lamp.

In its place was a large room, with a waterfall on one side, and a woman sitting in the air in front of it.

"Is... that... also illusion magic? Or is she really floating?" I asked slowly.

"She's levitating, Yes. A useless spell, wasting valuable magic. Only a Battle-Mage would waste that much magic on something as stupid as floating a few feet from the air." He responded venomously, and snorted. "But then, I suppose she'll tell us it's no issue for her? Because she's great and powerful, yeah?"

"You really don't like Battle Mages, even though your son is one?" Rafaela asked.

"Eh. He hasn't developed their sense of elitism and entitlement yet. If he ever does, then I'll be pissed at him, too. I hate everyone who vexes me equally. No favorites." He said fairly.

I laughed. "Gee, Thanks. Now can we deal with the floaty Chinese Lady?"

"We don't say that in America. Too much racism in this country to appreciate simple labeling of an unknown factor or mistaken identity. She's Asian-American until she says different." He lectured casually.

"Seriously? Right now?" Rafaela sighed.

"Is there a better time than in the moment?" He responded, and threw up a barrier as a ball of flame flew at us.

His barrier cracked, and I gripped his shoulder. "Let's see how she feels when the Mana of a High Master meets the knowledge of one." I said casually, and pushed magic into him.

She stopped levitating, standing on her own two feet, raising both hands to block the gout of dragon's fire he sent back at her.

I walked around casually, whistling under my breath, and when she was unguarded, I simply whacked her in the head with the little bamboo water-pourer thing from next to where she'd been sitting/floating.

She slumped to the ground, and Athenos applauded. "See? Magic doesn't solve everything. Well done."

I nodded. "Alright. Any rope in your bag? I never found any, while I was in the Dark Dimension, but I can hope?"

"I can make some for you." He nodded, and concentrated. Soon, a pile of perfectly coiled bondage rope appeared.

I raised an eyebrow, and Rafaela giggled. "Well well!!! Every girl appreciates a man who knows what he likes, but I hope you know I'm not a Bottom!"

I gagged. "Eeeeeeew! Can we not? Please? Serious moment here... also, I hope you know the rope probably isn't for you." I added mischievously.

She gasped. "Ooooh! Fun!"

He grumbled at us both, and tied the woman up with clinical efficiency. "Fucking savages... you can make jokes, eh? Well guess what? Next summer will be all homeschooling, just watch! Yeah, I'll be the one laughing..."

"You almost done, old man?" I sighed.

He tied the last knot. "Yes."

"Good." I filled my hand with electricity, (the only such trick I had learned so far,) and gripped her shoulder.

She struggled mightily, but didn't move an inch, to her evident confusion.

"Wow... that's a really good knot." I said, impressed.

He grinned. "Ask your mother where I learned it. Hint: Japan, summer of our Second year of college, Bondage Camp in Kyoto." I gagged again, for real this time, and he grinned even wider. "I think I just won. Wow. Feels great, huh? Anyway, here." He sat the woman up casually.

She glared at him like death warmed over, a mixture of rage and annoyance that really tempered the rage. Removed all the spice from it.

"I need answers from you. You can only move your head, side to side and up and down, so you should be able to properly be interrogated, if I take out the knot-gag. For now, however, it stays in. Understood? You piss me off? The knots get much tighter. You use magic? The knots get much tighter. Sensing a pattern?" He asked casually.

She nodded slowly.

"Wonderful! Now, you sent the creature that stabbed a woman named Alexia Adrian Peterson. Correct?" He asked.

She glared, and nodded. I saw her try to burn the rope with her fingertips, and gripped her shoulder again, covering her hands in ice.

She screamed, muffled, and Rafaela sighed, shoving us out of the way. "You two have no idea how to properly interrogate someone." She dragged the woman behind her, and walked up the stairs. We followed, mystified, until we reached the top of the five story building, and she held the woman out over the edge by pure arm strength.

Athenos whistled softly.

She grinned over her shoulder. "Don't worry, I can be gentle."

"Not a Problem, honestly." He grinned back.

"Ew." I commented lazily.

She shook the woman, turning her attention back. "Alright. Simple. Why did you break the Contract with my Shade? The contract was 24 Hours of service, in return for one dead animal. Really simple. It's been almost two and a half months, now, and you still had him. Why?" She removed the gag.

"Fuck you! I needed him! For protection!" She snapped in Korean.

"Oh... she wasn't Chinese after all. Korean." I hummed. "Protection from who? Me? I'm the only one who would avenge my mother!"

She glanced at me, and laughed. "You?!? HA!!! No, someone wanted her dead, I don't know who, and I botched the job. She wasn't supposed to be such a powerful Fae! I mean really, who names a Ünterqueen 'Alexia Adrian Peterson'?!? That's the most pedestrian name I've ever seen on an Irish Fae! I knew she'd be after me... I knew she'd come back. What's a little Elder Ashe to an Ünterqueen?!? So kill me if you want, you whore's daughter, but I won't let that bitch find me!" She growled at Rafaela.

"What the fuck is an Ünterqueen?" I snapped at Athenos.

He blinked. "Language, for one, and for two, what?!? That's what's after her? We might as well leave her, that particular death I wouldn't wish on anyone!"

"No, she said that Mum was an Ünterqueen! Someone hired her to kill mum, but the lethal dose of Elder Ashe wasn't enough to kill her, and so she kept the shade, because Mum would be after her. What's an Ünterqueen?" I reiterated.

"In the old days, covens of Magical Folk ran the Sanctuaries like little kingdoms. Each king or queen gained enormous power, that they gave to their children. It passed on, blah blah, the Sanctuaries became democracies, and they became mostly Bogeymen. Like Ogres, when something goes wrong, and the Ogres can't handle it, they ask an Ünterqueen or King... like if a Dread Lord gets out of hand." He looked at Rafaela.

She nodded. "Right. So she gave up what you needed from her?"

"Not yet... who hired you? Tell me everything, right now, and I'll stop her from giving you to the Dread Lord outside the sanctuary, as well as stop my mother from coming after you. I'll tell her you died, and I'll tell the lord I trapped your soul in this crystal, and he can have you, but it won't be true. I'll convince them to go along with it. I have a Silver Tongue, I can do it." I held out the golden crystal.

Athenos hissed. "Ouch! Taking her soul is a bit much, init?"

"I'm negotiating, shush." I snapped back, and pulled her onto the roof, leaning close, and holding up the crystal. "It's your only chance at coming out of this intact. You tell me everything, I pretend to rip your soul out. You scream, thrash around, then play dead. I toss you off the roof, into that dumpster. You levitate before you hit the ground, and survive. Deal?"

She spat on my jacket. "Deal. Everything you need to know is in my office. Everything. I keep extensive notes."

"You owe me your life, do you understand? If I need something, anything, anytime, anywhere, and I call, you will answer. That's my price." I warned her.

"I expected nothing else. Being your leashed dog is better than eternal torture by a lord of the damned." She struggled and thrashed a bit, trying to bite my hand, which had drifted too close.

I reared back, then jabbed the crystal against her throat, mumbling a fake incantation in Aramaic. "Do absolutely nothing to this woman. Protect her when she falls." I kicked her over as she struggled and screamed, then sent silent, in the dumpster. The lid slowly fell shut, and I turned around, tucking the crystal into my pocket. "Well! That was.. not productive, but definitely therapeutic." I shrugged.

Athenos sighed. "I don't approve of your methods, but I suppose the information we were given was... worth it. In a way. We know she was hired, now. Next we find out why, but I think that's where our collaboration... ends?" He said thoughtfully, looking at Rafaela.

She smiled. "Well, my boss can't get in here, so we can always tell him that it took longer than expected... care for some dinner?" She looked at me.

I waved her off, sitting on the edge of the roof. "You two go ahead... I think I'd puke up anything I ate right now... I'm not exactly a cold-blooded murderer."

She nodded slowly. "Right... Sorry." She pet my hair gently, then they descended the stairs, and went into the market.

As soon as they were out of sight, I darted into the building, down to the ground floor, and cut open her ropes, then left her in the trash. She was unconscious, but breathing steadily. Relived, I began searching every room, and finding nothing, until I remembered her illusion magic.

I spoke the spell that Athenos had used, in every room, until a wall shimmered and disappeared, revealing a sort of witches armory. I pocketed everything, indiscriminately, knowing I was on a clock. I searched for secret compartments, finding a few, and then smashed all the furniture, and stuffed that inside as well, just to me thorough.

When I left, the room was as clean as the day it was built, except for the new likes on all the surfaces, where stuff had leaned against it.

I searched the basement, where all her visible stuff had been, and found most of it gone. "Well... I suppose that makes sense." I nodded, and turned around.

"Looting? Really?" Athenos said dryly.

"Okay... I can explain."

"Oh I'm all ears." He sat down, too casual.

"I just thought she might have left behind some clues... or maybe some talismans that might be, you know... useful?" I looked at my shoes.

"Well, looks like her death triggered all her stuff to disintegrate anyway. Clever..." he sighed, and kicked a pile of sand.

"You're not angry?" I asked slowly.

"Angry? Why? That you would steal a dead woman's things? Not particularly. A bit disappointed, maybe, but not even much of that. I would do the same. Relics are hard to come by, and having a few more could never hurt." He shrugged.

"Oh... right... I would have shared, you know, I just thought... sorry." I sighed.

He shook his head. "I'm more disappointed that you lied to Rafaela about not being hungry. That's what tipped me off. She thinks I'm taking a crap, right now, which, let me tell you, doesn't please me. Relationships are built on trust, and I don't like lying before our first date. Okay? Don't make me a liar."

"Yes, sir." I nodded.

He nodded and patted my shoulder. "Alright. Meet up with us when you're ready. The stew really is great."

"Just tell her you were worried for me, and wanted to check on me without seeming like a Helicopter parent." I called after him, as he opened the door.

He paused, and nodded. "Impressive. And true. Thanks."

I chuckled and followed slowly, walking as best I could like someone ashamed of themselves. I caught the eye of my new little spy, in a crowd, but she suddenly looked different. The face Athenos had seen was a disguise.

She winked, and I smiled a little, before fixing my facial features, and looking for Athenos and Rafaela.

As I approached, I heard him speaking softly in Spanish. "I'm sorry for running out like that... I lied. I wasn't-... I was checking on James. I didn't want to look like the helicopter parent, and so I-"

"Hey, it's alright. I understand, your son takes precedence over stew. But don't lie to me again." She smiled, then raised an eyebrow.

"Hey, scouts honor." He grinned.

I sat at a table where they could see me, but out of normal earshot. A bowl of stew was placed in front of me, and I handed the Orc a piece of silver as payment.

He sniffed it, then nodded, dropping  a few pieces of copper-colored crystal on my table, and lumbering away.

I swept them into my jacket, and then tasted the stew.  "Huh! Pretty damned good!" I grinned, and dug in.

As I ate, someone shoved their way past me, nearly spilling my soup. "Watch yourself, Halfling." The dwarf growled in his native tongue, this one from Musphelhiem, Not Midgard.

I pushed magic into my limbs, and grabbed his beard, slamming his face into the table as hard as physically possible. The raw strength that filled my arm was so great I heard my own muscles creaking, and it proved enough to slam him through the stone table, and into the ground, his face making a small crater.

The Orc waiting tables looked at me, hand on an axe at his belt. "Any problems here, Mage?" He asked.

"No problems at all." I said casually, and looked at the dwarf, who was picking himself up. "Isn't that Right, Dwarf? You're just a bit in yer cups, is all! Tripped, didn't ye?"

He leaned against his fellow for a moment, and set his broken nose. "Oh... aye... tripped, I did... Sorry everyone, I'll be making a nuisance of meself... elsewhere. Promptly." They carried him off.

I looked at the Orc. "I suppose I'll pay for the table."

He chuckled. "You kidding? That was the best ass-kicking I've ever seen someone give a dwarf! And a Mage did it? What's your name, Boy?"

"I'm James Parthenos, of Ireland." I introduced myself proudly.

The table re-grew, and he set a new bowl of stew in the old one's place. "Welcome to Colorado River Canyon, James Parthenos. You'll fit in just fine, I think."

I grinned, and looked at Athenos. He shook his head, and laughed softly, answering something Rafaela asked privately. Then he caught my eye, and winked. He had seen, and heard, and he approved.

Or he was getting lucky, tonight. It was a hard look to interpret.