Banshee resisted the urge to glance at Cryo and instead focused on the man standing on her pedestal.

The buzz-cut, dark haired, middle-aged man was the second-last person in her line, but it didn't feel like it. She'd asked her Shadowspeakers not to let as many people in today, anticipating the appearance of Cryo's stranger, but it was starting to look like the precaution was for nothing. Cryo only had five or six people left in his line, and none of them matched the description she'd scoured the courtyards for earlier.

Maybe the guy just didn't rock up today, mused Banshee, her eyes wandering in Cryo's direction, where he had a young woman speaking with him. Maybe--

"Banshee?"

Starlight. She'd let herself drift off again.

Banshee snapped her attention back to the man in front of her. "Sorry. Was lost in thought."

"I see." The man, Alfred, cleared his throat. "I respect you a lot, Banshee. I respect your complex attitude towards all of this."

It didn't sound like it. He used the same kind of tone that an adult would use for a five-year-old that had just smeared their first finger painting across the wall, but Banshee smiled at him as he swept across the room.

With his straight-backed shoulders and his stiff mouth, she thought he looked a bit like Jason. Or at least, he would have looked like Jason, had Jason been twenty years older, lacked a ponytail, and was still crushed beneath his mother's heel.

Grief suddenly felt heavier in its scabbard.

"There isn't anything complex about it," said Banshee with a sigh, reaching to wrap her palm around Joy's hilt. She left the dagger sheathed, but something about the action, just having her hand resting on the hilt felt... familiar. Like she'd done it a million times before, though it was only a recent habit she'd picked up. "I just care about people. Doesn't matter how old you are or where you live, if I can help then I want to."

Alfred inclined his head. "From the smallest to the biggest things. From one of the worst Manifested this city has ever seen to a box of crayons."

"All the Manifested are equal to me," said Banshee with a shrug. What did this guy want? If she'd been focused, she probably could have worked out his angle, but with her current distraction level it wasn't happening. "Most of them just want to be heard. Even the corrupted ones, though they can't speak and they're drowned under their baser instincts, they still want to be saved."

"How do you figure that?" asked Alfred. "Do they tell you afterwards?"

"Well, most of the time, assuming they know what happened, yes," said Banshee. "But it's mainly the way they move during the fight. They never protect their fragments. They always leave them open, in plain sight, like they want them to be seen and saved. I dunno. It's just what I've always figured. Don't take my word for truth."

Alfred inclined his head a second time. The motion was becoming so repetitive that Banshee could have mistaken him for one of those see-saw drinking birdies that Ericka bought a new one of every few months.

"I will take your words under advisement, Banshee."

"Appreciated," said Banshee, dragging her gaze down from the ceiling. If Cryo hadn't signalled by now, he likely wasn't going to. She straightened and gave Alfred her full attention. "Is there anything else I can help you with? You're second last in line and I've got a fair bit of time left sooo?"

"Well, given that we have time, what would you consider to be the most important quality of a Luminary?"

Banshee gave it a moment of thought. "I guess it'd be that they--"

Mid-sentence, Banshee felt the weight of Cryo's palm press on her tattoo.

It was so unexpected that every thought in her head came to a halt. She let her gaze brush Cryo's from across the room, and there was something there, some uncertainty, that grounded her right back into her thoughts.

She burned the description of the man in front of her partner into her mind. Long, red-and-black coat that hung to the knees. Blonde, nondescript hair. Headband around the hairline.

A coat and a headband like that...

"Banshee?" asked Alfred, trying to catch her eye as it speared through the back of the man still speaking to Cryo.

"--That they care," finished Banshee. "If they don't care, then what's the point of it?"

"A rather wise answer, if I do say so myself."

Banshee looked back over her shoulder to the Shadowspeaker who had been standing there since Offerings began. Her brown eyes were instantly on Banshee's as Banshee gave the signal by raising both her eyebrows in unison twice.

"How much time do I have left?" Banshee asked. Another one of the Shadowspeaker's suggestions, to make it seem less suspicious to any onlookers when Banshee disappeared.

The Shadowspeaker's eyes flicked down, her hands quickly pulling a Liaiser out from her robe. "About five minutes, Banshee."

"Thank you," said Banshee, turning back to face Alfred with a smile. She took a quiet, long breath to steady her heartbeat. "My apologies, but I've got somewhere to be soon and I kinda lost track of time. I'm afraid I'll have to cut our time short, but thank you for the chat. I enjoyed it."

Alfred inclined his head for the millionth time. "The honour was mine, Shadow of Skypillar. May Skypillar bless you and your Aspect."

He stepped off the platform and marched out of the Starlight Hall. Banshee glanced at the Shadowspeaker, who was only now just placing the Liaiser back into her robe. She gave Banshee a small, firm nod to let her know everyone was in position.

Banshee turned back and invited the final person in her line up to join her. With any luck, this would be quick and Cryo would be speaking to the guy for at least a few minutes.

Her final person was another man, an older gentleman that was casually polite. He didn't want anything for himself, but instead a blessing for his grandson. Despite her hurry, Banshee couldn't resist asking for a few more details, trying to work out if she could arrange for a Banshee-surprise later in the week, but the gentleman politely declined to give any further information.

She was genuinely disappointed that she couldn't spend more time speaking with him, but the suspicious man was stepping down from Cryo's platform. He seemed annoyed, and Banshee could have sworn that he flashed her a dirty look as he passed by her pedestal.

Well then.

As amusing as it was, it also meant she had to leave now or risk losing him.

"Are you sure you don't want a Banshee-surprise for him at some point?" Banshee asked the gentleman. "I've gotta get going or I'm gonna be late for something, sooo this is your last chance...?"

The gentleman waved his hand in front of him. "No, no. I couldn't. It's probably just a grandpa worrying about his one and only grandson again. His sisters have always been too off the rails, but he's still a good kid. Said he met a girl the other day, but I'm holding you up. Thank you for your time, Banshee. May the stars bless you."

Flicking her eyes up to track Cryo's suspicious individual as he exited the Starlight Hall, Banshee helped the gentleman off the platform and with him on his way out, moved into the next stage in her plan.

Banshee took the Liaiser off the Shadowspeaker behind her and headed up to the Luminary common room, keeping her steps and her face in check. She didn't want this person to even suspect the possibility that she'd followed him, which meant she had to lose sight of him. She had to seem completely disinterested.

But up at the common room, well out of sight and sound of anyone who might have been curious, Banshee flicked open the Liaiser, called the contact already open, and lifted it to her ear.

Five seconds later, a voice sounded on the other end. "Ashley! Where have you been? I've been waiting for you by the Starlight Hall entrance the whole time."

"Where did he head?" asked Banshee, heading for the top of the Starlight Hall's spiral tower.

"Look, I'll meet you over by the Cevrael Skyshrine in a few minutes," said the same voice: Anna, one of the three Shadowspeakers who'd changed into casual wear and was blending into the crowd outside, tailing Cryo's guy. Banshee's eyes on the ground. "Do you know what I'm wearing?"

"I know what he looks like, but I'm pretty certain he's going to change hair colour and ditch that coat. If you can keep an eye on him for me just in case he changes, that'd be fantastic."

A deep sigh. "Okay, Ash, whatever excuse you've got is fine. I'll head over to the Skyshrine, but I'll call you if Cass wants to change the place for lunch."

Banshee reached the top of the spiral tower and cast her gaze over the dwindling Offering crowds below. "I'm moving now, it's on vibrate. Keep calling if I don't pick up and he's changed something. If I decline the call, it means I've got eyes on him."

Banshee didn't wait for the reply, closing the call and slipping the Liaiser into her garments.

She quickly judged the distance to the Cevrael Skyshrine, and in one, fluid, movement, she shifted to shadow and jumped.

She cast no shadow, gave no hint to the crowds below that she was leaping high above their heads as she sailed over the courtyard and landed on the wall of the outer building ring. She scaled the rest of the wall and was on the rooftops, almost at the Skyshrine when the Liaiser buzzed again.

Banshee flicked it open. "What changed?"

Anna Shadowspeaker's voice on the other end was quiet. "He stopped near the city-side of the Skyshrine. I couldn't stop without looking suspicious, but I'm watching him from across the street. I think he suspected something."

Banshee swore, but continued to move towards the Skyshrine. "Are you still--"

"What do you mean you can't find me, Ashley?" said Anna, several times louder than before. She paused, like she was listening to a reply. "What? No, I haven't been blonde for at least two weeks now! I dyed it back to black, remember? I told you I was thinking of cutting it short, and you joked that maybe I should give it a buzz-cut."

Buzz-cut black hair--Banshee had been right about her wig suspicions. "What about the coat?"

"Mmm, no, I think you've got it inside-out, Ashley," said Anna. "Anyway, where are you? Are you in that white outfit you keep trying to show off?"

Banshee made it to the edge of the rooftop. She leapt, landing on the wall of the Skyshrine with one hand and her boots to secure her. "Is the inside-out coat white, or what he's wearing underneath?"

"The first one," said Anna. "As for the second, I was thinking that--"

Another, deeper voice crept into Banshee's ear from Anna's end of the Liaiser. "Excuse me, miss. I couldn't help overhearing, are you looking for your friend?"

A chill shot through Banshee as she sandwiched the Liaiser between her ear and shoulder and began to work her way around the Skyshrine's walls, staying close to the shadows. Did he know? They had no idea who this guy was. If he worked for the Serpent, Anna could be in danger.

Anna's voice sounded a little further away than before. "Yes? Why?"

"I believe I saw a rather lost-looking girl in a lovely white dress just on the other side of the Skyshrine, still on temple grounds," said the deep voice. "Could that be her?"

Banshee was far enough around now to scan the crowd milling about outside the Skyshrine. There was more people than she'd been hoping for, and she wasn't entirely sure what Anna's casual clothes looked like.

"Ash? This guy here says he saw you just inside the Skyshrine still on temple grounds, was that you?"

Banshee couldn't spot them anywhere. "Where are you?"

"Uhhh, I'm outside the Cevrael Skyshrine, just off to the left by the wall with the fancy curly pot plant."

Banshee turned her attention on the left, and sure enough, she found Anna standing by a pot plant, and black-haired man with a white coat folded over his arm beside her, but just far enough behind the plant to conceal himself from plain view.

"Okay, got him. Get back inside the temple."

"So that was you that this gentleman saw? Okay, I'm on my way. Don't move." Anna gave a deep sigh, and her voice moved away from the Liaiser. Banshee watched her lift up a hand in farewell. "Thank you for the help, sir. It was her. Have a wonderful day, and may Skypillar bless you for your kindness!"

Banshee didn't quite catch the man's reply, but she saw him lift his own hand in reply and say something to Anna as she strode off, back into temple grounds. When her Shadowspeaker was safely out of reach, Banshee closed the call and slipped the Liaiser back into her garments

The man didn't move straight away. He lingered for a few additional minutes, remaining behind the pot plant as his gaze casually drifted around the area. Banshee climbed to the top of the Skyshrine where she knew the dark curtains would shield her from his sight, yet allow her to keep an eye on him.

Another few minutes passed. Was he waiting to see if Anna would return?

Her answer came soon: a woman approached him, and together, they began to walk.

Banshee let them get a head start. Their backs were turned to her, but she wanted to see if they'd check behind them, if they'd change their behaviours before she followed.

They didn't, and when they turned the corner, Banshee leapt out of the Skyshrine and onto the rooftops above them.

She was a midday shadow as she stalked them into Central Sylrael. In some ways, the sun being directly overhead made it easier. It made it easy to meld into the shadows, to become part of the City's decorations and stay well out of sight.

But in other ways, these two seemed to be using it to their full advantage. Banshee didn't know where they were going, but it sure as Skypillar was not the most direct route there. They turned strange corners, never actually glancing to check behind or above them, but enough that Banshee had a few interesting choices to make as to how best to stay concealed yet keep them in sight.

And while they weren't looking about, Banshee was sure that at least a few of the random civilians they walked past were.

So they're part of a group, thought Banshee. A large group. Are they the Serpent's minions?

After a solid chunk of time that tested Banshee's patience, the pair arrived at a large, official looking building that definitely didn't look like anything the Serpent's people would ever associate with. For starters, there were people moving in and out of it at any one time, far too many for them to be hallucinations without some magnificently repulsive Serpent aura lingering in the air. The second and the third floors had large windows, and there appeared to be a whole lot of people sitting at their desks inside, busily working the day away.

As her tailing pair disappeared through the double doors, Banshee weighed her options.

Her attention caught on a row of hedges that lined the side of the building, their height reaching halfway up the height of the ground-floor windows.

Perfect.

She jumped, caught the edge of the roof with her fingertips, and dropped down between the bushes and the wall, placing herself between the windows. The pair continued forward to the staircase, where they began to ascend. Banshee went up with them, matching their height from the outside of the building.

They kept going up, past the second floor, past the third, until they reached the fourth.

This floor had the same number of windows, but many were closed off by thick shutters. The same white-bright lights from the previous floors peeked out around the edges of the windows, but aside from that, Banshee couldn't find an opening.

With limited options, she followed her gut.

Banshee climbed to the height where she figured the roof of the fourth floor would be, and with one, big swing, she launched herself into a deep Shadowshift and swung straight inside the room. As soon as she was through the wall, she reached out and grabbed the window frame, using the few centimetres of grip it provided to hold the rest of her body close to the roof.

Where the daylight outside had been warm and buzzing with life, the air inside this building was cold and still. Not in a Serpent-like way, though. It reminded her of the Starlight Hall's ground floor, and the way the High Speakers milled about in complete silence, like they all wanted to be able to hear their footsteps as they walked. It was the kind of quiet that made people unsure of themselves and whether it was appropriate to possess a sense of humour.

There wasn't many people on this floor. Banshee's pair was about halfway across the room, heading for a large, closed-off office at the other end. They spoke in low voices, but she couldn't quite hear them from this distance. Ears straining to catch their words, she followed them, the window frames her silent floor, much to the unaware individuals she passed just a metre or so above.

"We were told that the shipment would be in today," said a man at the desk below Banshee. He stood up, the top of his head no more than thirty centimetres from the edge of Banshee's low-hanging garments. Banshee could only imagine his shock if he'd decided to glance at the ceiling. "Given your delay, I expect that we'll receive a discount on the flowers."

Flowers? thought Banshee, intrigued enough to pause above the man's desk and squint at his screen. She read the names of several flowers, none of which she recognised. Maybe Jason could help her out later, if she could find a reason to ask.

Her tailing pair made it to the doors and pressed the buzzer.

A few moments later, the door opened to reveal what looked like a meeting on the opposite side. At least five other people were gathered around a large table, and unlike Banshee's pair, these new five didn't seem inclined to quiet their voices.

And so, Banshee heard them loud and clear as the one who'd opened the doors said:

"You're back. Did you have a successful day?"

A quiet, short reply.

"No matter. We'll have it soon enough regardless, and we still have the meetings with Harpy and Hydra to consider. Alice has just finished informing us of a potential lead on Wyvern's location, and--"

Their voices became muffled as Banshee's pair walked through and closed the door behind them.

Who were these people? What did they want with Gwen and Ella? With Wyvern?

Banshee grit her teeth. It wouldn't be easy to get into that room unnoticed, not with the way they'd all been seated in a circle. The roof was flat and too low to risk clinging to, but if she could cut away a piece of a window with Joy, then she could use the cover of the thick shutters to--

Mid-thought, her tattoo went cold.

Manifested, somewhere in Aeledrae, from the way the shadows were pulling her.

For the first time, Banshee didn't want to be the first to respond. She didn't want to leave these people that were talking about Ella and Gwen behind closed doors. She didn't want to risk losing them until she knew why they thought they had the right to do anything that came close to worrying Cryo. No, scratch that. She wasn't leaving until she knew that--

Two taps echoed across her tattoo.

Banshee clenched her jaw so hard that it hurt.

She tapped back once.

Cryo tapped back twice, harder this time.

And with a frustrated growl that Banshee didn't care if the man working below her heard or not, she swung herself out through the window and headed over to Aeledrae.

*+*+*+*

A/N - H m m m wonder whats going on ;D 

Vote / comment? <3 

As a side note for anyone who likes art~ I post a SS Kiba art up every week to my Patreon along with their chapter. While you won't be able to see the most ~4 recent posts if you aren't a patron, the art/chapter posts become unlocked to everyone after 14 days (2 weeks) of posting <3