Banshee landed beside Cryo on the rooftops of outer Aeledrae, just as Nereid was in the middle of climbing off his back.

Wings were still cheating, damn it, but speaking of which...

Banshee drew a breath. "Where's--"

Nereid startled at the sound of Banshee's voice, and the water dripping off her body instantly pulled into sharp, clean spines across her arms. It didn't last long. As soon as Nereid caught up to the situation and started consciously thinking about it, the water fell loose and splashed all over the rooftop, just like it always did.

"--pony boy," finished Banshee as Nereid lowered her head and wrapped her arms around herself. Banshee offered her an encouraging smile. "Hey, I think you held them for at least a few seconds longer that time. You're getting the hang of it."

Nereid just pressed her lips together in reply.

Cryo turned back over his shoulder, his gaze on the skies. "I was attempting to instruct Pegasus as we were flying over, but I believe he accidentally created an updraft and sent himself far higher than anticipated. DragonFae and Golem were needed at a meeting, but they suggested that you and I give the new pair a chance to experience a Manifested under supervision."

Banshee wrinkled her nose. She remembered those days, of wanting nothing more than to get in there and save the civilian only to have an elder Luminary, usually Harpy, barely a metre away the whole time talking her through it.

Nereid, however, just looked terrified, and her partner was nowhere to be--

"Look out!"

Banshee grabbed Nereid and barely pulled her out of the way before Pegasus attempted to land, missed, and went barrelling over the edge of the roof exactly where his partner had been a moment before.

Cryo was already calling out to Pegasus before the feathered Luminary disappeared over the edge. "Spread your wings out! Get them under control before the pavement does it for you!"

By some miracle, Pegasus managed to follow instructions and get his hooves under him just before he hit the ground. As the clop clop clop of his hooves on the starstone street below rang out through the air, far louder than the district's Manifested bells had been, Banshee and Cryo shared a look and jumped down to join him.

"Made it!" said Pegasus, flaring his wings out to the sides and nearly hitting Cryo in the head. Pegasus turned back to the roof, where Nereid still stood, her hands clutches close to her chest. "C'mon, Nere! Let's go! Manifested to save! First one!"

Cryo stepped closer to Banshee as Pegasus continued to shout encouragement. "Locate the Manifested, ensure it's not causing too much damage. I'll catch Nereid if she loses water tension again."

"Can do."

Banshee slipped away, following both her shadows and the panic of the civilians into the long, clean hallway of an office building.

Great. Another one.

Cubicles turned the open room into a confined grid on both her left and right. Many of them still had their occupants inside, crouching under their desks. Most saw her and took it as their chance to escape. Others were frozen with fear. She made eye contact with those and jerked her head towards the door, encouraging them to follow suit. And the rest... they still huddled, still took the chance to leave, but there was a look in their eye that told Banshee that they weren't exactly happy about it.

It was something she'd been noticing more and more in the last few weeks. It was almost like these people were no longer content to simply be saved. Like, if it came down to it, they were ready to fight the Manifested themselves.

Banshee respected the attitude, but she'd also seen the damage an enraged Manifested could do. They'd knocked her flat more than once. She didn't want to think about what some of the hits she'd taken could do to a civilian.

The Manifested, as best she could tell, was in the far corner of the room. Banshee made her way towards it, keeping low and quiet. Even though her head wasn't tall enough to see over the tops of the cubicle walls, this was a training exercise for Nereid and Pegasus. If the Manifested knew she was here, it'd ruin the experience for them. Banshee had witnessed first-hand how little a Manifested cared about a fresh Lumi when there was a veteran right beside them.

Banshee's ultimate goal right now was to find and evacuate the Manifested's focus--the reason that they'd Manifested to begin with--preferably without the Manifested's knowledge.

The next people that she came across saw her and began to scurry out, but Banshee stopped them.

"Who is the Manifested after?" whispered Banshee.

The employee swallowed and licked their lips, eyes darting frantically around the room. "Uh--our, our um, boss. Luke is after the boss."

"What does the boss look like?"

"I, um, short. Pretty short. Wears suits. He had a light blue tie on today. I think he's still in the office. Luke's been--I mean, the Manifested has been trying to get in."

"Where's the office?"

They pointed towards the Manifested. "That way. It's the only room with actual walls, but they're thick glass. Probably has the blinds pulled down though."

Banshee nodded. "Thank you. Get out into the street, and take anyone you come across with you."

The employee didn't need to be told twice. They were away and out of sight without so much as a thank you before Banshee could take another step.

Banshee picked up the pace, quickly finding a place that gave her a view of both the Manifested and the walls of the office while keeping her out of sight. The blinds had indeed been pulled down to block the view of the room's interior. The Manifested, Luke, stood outside, spraying the glass with steaming hot, brown liquid through a hose attached to the glass oval strapped to his back.

Banshee took a deep breath, the familiar, bitter scent of it unmistakeable.

This Manifested's power was apparently coffee.

Aside from that unusual detail, this Manifested wasn't anything fantastic to look at. In addition to the coffee spray gun on his back, he wore a suit. Not a hair was out of place. There was a wild glint in his gaze, but he otherwise looked the perfect office worker. Only when the coffee stopped spraying long enough to refill did his appearance change, his perfect hair becoming ruffled and mussed, his suit instantly filling with a week's worth of wrinkles. His head would droop, his eyes blinking blearily as he gave a long, slow sniff and tapped his hose.

"Come on, Boss!" said the Manifested. "Have some more coffee!"

With the Manifested distracted, it was almost too easy for Banshee to slip outside through a window, skirt around the edge of the building, and jump through the wall directly into the office. A short man in a suit with a blue tie was perched on a chair, sweat dripping down his forehead as he tried to avoid the growing pool of coffee that was slowly filling his office.

Banshee pressed her mouth into her shoulder. The overpowering smell of the coffee made it hard to breathe. It felt like a sauna. Instead of talking, she tapped twice on the wall inside the office to get the man's attention. He noticed her, opened his mouth, but nodded instead as she pressed a finger to her lips.

She looked around. None of the windows could be opened, and they were as thick as the starstone walls. She could try and cut through the wall with her daggers and let the auroras heal the hole later tonight, but first, she had another idea she wanted to try.

Banshee waved the man over, and with quiet, quick instructions, had him climb onto her back and press himself as close to her as he could manage. Even though he was small, she could still feel his weight, still feel his terrified heartbeat.

She steadied herself with a breath. Since her one-year mark as a Luminary had passed, she'd found her abilities had evolved. For example, it wasn't just herself that she could shadowshift any more. She'd managed to take a few larger objects with her through walls, but it didn't always work. The ability was definitely still a work in progress, and she'd never actually tried with another person.

Still, this seemed like a great place to start, even if he might leave here with a sore head if it didn't work.

Banshee pulled the shadows to her, joining their strength with that of her own.

The weight on her back disappeared.

Maintaining her focus, Banshee pushed through the wall. It was harder than it'd been just moving herself through. It felt like she were dragging something through water. Thick, dark, gloopy water--but it was moving with her.

It took her perhaps ten or so seconds to reach the outside. Banshee relaxed her grip on her shadow shift, feeling the man's weight on her back once more. He still reeked of coffee, and Banshee was pretty sure he would for the next week.

She placed him on the ground. "I'd suggest hiding for a bit until we deal with this. We're gonna use it as a learning experience for the two newbies, but I'll make sure you stay safe."

The man nodded. "Thank you, Luminary. I must say going through a wall was a rather new experience."

Banshee was about to turn and leave, but curiosity grabbed her. "What did it feel like?"

"Absolutely terrifying, and it prickled my skin," said the man. "I couldn't decide if I loved you or hated you for doing it to me. One moment I wanted nothing more to get off your back, then the next I couldn't bare the thought of leaving you."

Weird. "Hmm. Well, thanks for the info." She touched two fingers to her forehead. "I'll see you later."

Banshee found Cryo standing outside the office building briefing the new pair. Pegasus's wings were twitching from excitement, while Nereid seemed like she wanted to join the growing puddle around her feet.

"Remember, work together," said Cryo. "Attempt to talk the Manifested down first. They had a reason for Manifesting, sympathise with it, work through it. I've seen Banshee solve a lover's quarrel with nothing more than a backwards chair and a few blunt words. You won't always need your powers, but always have them prepared. We'll be nearby if you need us. You are partners, not heroes, and they are people, not monsters."

"Got it!" said Pegasus. He nudged Nereid with a wing. "C'mon, Nere. We got this!"

"I can't control my water," said Nereid, the slight edge of desperation leaking into her voice. "You had to save me from hitting the ground before. If we have to fight, I'll just be useless."

"Well yeah, with that attitude," said Pegasus. "You just gotta believe in yourself! You can do this, okay? I'll be right there with you, and who knows, with my charming personality, we probably won't even need our powers."

Cryo's gaze flicked to Banshee. "Did you get the focus to safety?"

"Yep," said Banshee. "He's out and safe. The Manifested is still inside, but I think the building is mostly evacuated." She turned her attention to Pegasus, ensuring that she had Nereid's gaze before she continued. "It's an office building. Think cubicles. The Manifested has a coffee-shooter thingy. It has a rather strong smell and it's really hot. When the Manifested isn't firing, he seems to turn rather lethargic. His focus was his boss."

Pegasus gave Banshee an awe-inspired look. "You figured out all of that from two minutes inside?"

"And got his focus out of the way while doing it," said Banshee with a wink. "You get pretty quick at figuring it out when the Serpent gives you a chance to practice every night for a week." She put a hand on her hip and shooed the newbie pair towards the office door. "That Manifested won't get any more Manifested. Go have a look for yourselves. Figure out a game plan."

Pegasus released a rather enthusiastic whinny before tucking his wings in close and turning to his partner. "Let's go, Nere!"

Nereid took a deep breath. She gave one, firm, solid nod, and together, she and her partner entered the building.

Cryo glanced at Banshee. "Were you able to follow the man from the Offerings?"

"Yep," said Banshee. "Want me to tell you now, or save it for when we get back to the Starlight Hall?"

"I'll wait until DragonFae and Golem are present," said Cryo. "What are your thoughts on the Manifested?"

Banshee scrunched her mouth to one side. "Good one for them to start on. Doesn't look like a monster, so they won't get carried away, but there's always something terrifying about a guy coming at you with the intent to wipe you out of existence, so who knows?"

She fell into step beside Cryo as they followed the newbie pair inside the building. They a place in the foyer that mostly shielded them from sight but allowed them to both see and hear the events in the other room.

Pegasus had, somewhat predictably, attempted to balance himself in a crouch atop the cubicle walls. His wings were flared, and though he looked rather magnificent, didn't look very stable. Nereid, on the other hand, was concentrating on a small globule of water floating between her palms while edging around the room.

"Manifested!" called Pegasus after a look at Nereid. "Um, how do you start this. Apparently you're upset about something. Would you like to talk about it?"

"Rookie error," said Banshee, noting how the Manifested's attention turned the same way as Pegasus's glance. "He gave away Nereid's location with that glance."

"That's the only thing you're going to say is wrong with that sentence?" muttered Cryo.

"Says the guy who tried to talk down a Manifested with language so formal you confused it."

Cryo cleared his throat. "The Manifested wasn't the only one I confused."

"It isn't my fault if you use words that no one outside the temple has said in the last century," said Banshee. She clucked her tongue. "Did Nereid get off the roof by herself?"

"No," said Cryo. "She lost control half way down. I created a slide from ice to get her to safety, though Pegasus ran forward to catch her and ended up trapped in the ice."

Pegasus made yet another awkward attempt to engage the Manifested in a conversation, but the Manifested wasn't having any of it.

"Leave, Luminary!" said the Manifested. "My gripe is with my boss, not with you!"

"Okay," said Pegasus. "But see it's kinda our job now to make sure you don't hurt people, and I think you have an intent to hurt people, so we're gonna have to ask you to stop and have a chat with us instead!"

"A chat, you say?" said the Manifested. "Well, what's a chat without a little coffee?"

The Manifested aimed his coffee-cannon in Nereid's direction.

"Nere!" called Pegasus, twisting towards his partner. "Mov--ah!"

Pegasus fell off the cubicle wall and landed with a thud. His wings swept forward as he tried to balance, creating a strong breeze that sent almost everything in the office flying and knocked the Manifested's aim left. The stream of coffee sizzled as it hit the wall a few metres in front of Nereid.

Nereid's water globe splashed on the floor around her, but she held her ground. She turned to face the Manifested, her fingers stretching towards the ground, her gaze flicking to the water at her feet every few seconds as she tried to regain control.

"I'm kinda worried about Nereid," said Banshee. "Fae was saying the other day that water control is her most basic ability. She should be able to do it as easily as I can shadow shift or you can freeze stuff."

"She clearly has the capability," said Cryo. "It's likely a mental block. With more... external elemental powers, it can be rather daunting."

"Maybe," said Banshee, chewing her lip. "It still feels like something else is going on, though. You were daunted by it, but you could still do it. Nereid just doesn't seem like she has that instinct, y'no the way you can just feel how your powers are supposed to work?"

"I do," said Cryo. "Like how my wings never felt foreign. Though the flying itself took practice as one would learn to walk, I never struggled to connect with them."

Banshee drew her daggers and flipped Grief in her hand. She'd never held anything more than a dinner knife in her hands before these beautiful blades, but regardless, the first time she had, she'd known how to use them. She could feel how to draw and sheath them in a heartbeat without looking mid-flip. She'd known how to throw them so either the tip or the hilt would strike her target like she'd spent decades honing the skill.

It wasn't the connection between her and the blades that let her do it--someone could hide one and she wouldn't instantly know where it was--but rather an instinct buried in her own muscles. Grief and Joy were hers, but Banshee was pretty sure that she could wield any other dagger with the same deadly efficiency.

Pegasus and Nereid were desperately trying to keep away from the stream of coffee. At this point, at least half the room was covered in the boiling brown liquid, and the room was starting to get rather hot.

"If it were me, I'd start yelling at you to drag it outside," murmured Banshee.

The Manifested turned its coffee on Pegasus, who barely managed to flap out of the way. Inside, his wings were a nuisance. He could rarely extend them to their full span, and he definitely couldn't take off or fly.

Pegasus swept a blast of wind at the Manifested, causing it to stumble for a moment. "Nereid, do somethiiiing!"

"I'm trying!" shouted Nereid. Once more, she tried to pull the water to her, but succeeded only in a small few drops that hovered tenuously around her palm. "We can't--get it outside! We need to lure it outside!"

"Yeah sure I'll get right on that as its trying to boil me alive!"

"Shut up and move it, Pony Boy!"

Cryo nudged Banshee. "She's got your taste in nicknames."

"And in strategy," said Banshee. "Move back, don't let the Manifested see us when it walks past. They're doing well so far."

Pegasus and Nereid both made a run for the exit, but the Manifested didn't follow them. It gave them a smug look and returned to blasting the office door with coffee. The newbie pair stopped by the foyer, a few metres away from where Banshee and Cryo stood, watching.

"It's still after its focus," said Nereid, her breath coming in short bursts.

Pegasus terrorised the office with yet another blast of wind. "Hey! Manifested! He's not in there! He's outside!"

The Manifested ignored him.

Pegasus looked to Banshee. "What'd the focus guy look like?"

"Short," said Banshee, hovering her hand in the air at her shoulder-height. "Black suit. Light blue tie. Dark hair."

Pegasus plucked a few feathers from his wings with a wince. "Cryo, think you can give me a human-shaped ice block about that tall?"

Cryo raised an eyebrow. "I'm not your partner."

Pegasus's eyes slid to the ceiling before landing on Nereid. "Think you can do that, Nereid?"

Nereid's mouth pressed together, and after focusing for a few moments, managed to swell a thin column of water. It wasn't quite wide or tall enough, and Nereid's face screwed up in concentration as she tried to grow it over the next agonising twenty-odd seconds.

"Remember to breathe," said Banshee after realising Nereid was holding her breath.

Nereid nodded, but didn't breathe until a few seconds later, upon which the water began to wobble and threaten to fall apart. Despair shot through her eyes, her fingers reaching out to try and hold onto it as Cryo lifted a hand and froze it solid.

Nereid looked up, crestfallen but grateful.

Cryo gave her a small smile. "Teamwork."

Pegasus only exhaled through his nose impatiently, the plucked feathers massaged into cloud in his hand, before setting about his idea. Within ten or so seconds, Nereid and Cryo's mannequin was equipped with a snazzy suit, a light blue tie, and a mop of dark hair.

"Okay," said Pegasus. "Now we need to make it look like we're trying to sneak this guy out and alert the Manifested without actually looking like it was part of the plan."

"I'll move the dummy," said Nereid, wrapping an arm around it and lifting it up. "You knock over something with your wings behind me. We run out, you slow the Manifested with wind, I'll put the dummy outside in the open and then we hide on either side of the doorway and ambush the Manifested."

"Do you know where the fragment is?" asked Banshee.

"I think I saw it on the middle of its forehead?" said Nereid.

"We get the fragment," said Pegasus. "Easy. Let's go!"

Nereid took a few steps backwards into the room, her arm still around the dummy. Pegasus moved behind her, and a few seconds later, 'accidentally' knocked over a cubicle wall which fell over with a loud crash.

The Manifested turned around.

Pegasus took a few hurried steps forward, placing himself between Nereid and the Manifested to further obscure the view. "Go, go! Get him out of here!"

The Manifested's gaze turned livid, swivelling from them, to the door, then back to Nereid's dummy.

"How dare you help him escape!"

Something in the Manifested's coffee-cannon clicked, and as Pegasus pulled his wings back to push the Manifested back, the Manifested unleashed a metre-wide burst of coffee in Nereid's direction.

Pegasus summoned a wind, but it wasn't enough to stop the blast. Nereid ducked behind the dummy, which melted away near-instantly into a steaming pile.

"You would dare to try and trick me?" screeched the Manifested. "I've had enough! You two are fired!"

The Manifested turned the blast on Pegasus, who made it behind a cubicle wall just in time.

The sheer force of the blast shoved the cubicle wall forward, knocking Pegasus off his feet and slamming his back into the actual wall behind him. With his wings trapped awkwardly behind him, Pegasus braced his hooves on the cubicle wall, desperately trying to push back against it as the coffee pooled on the floor around him.

Pegasus cried out as the coffee puddle reached him. "Do something!"

Nereid ran forward, making a few attempts for the water around her. "Trying!"

"It's liquid! Control it or something, Nereid!"

Nereid stopped reached out for the coffee stream but barely managed to pull a few drops from the barrage targeted at Pegasus. She didn't waste more than a few seconds on the attempt, however, before deciding instead to charge directly at the Manifested and whacking it over the back of the head with a chair.

The Manifested swiped at her. Nereid ducked and tried to pull the hose from its hands but failed, instead ending up shoved to the floor by the Manifested's superior strength.

"I think we intervene," said Banshee.

"Agreed," said Cryo. "I freeze it all, you get Pegasus out."

"Done."

The Manifested aimed at Nereid.

It didn't get the chance to fire. Cryo stepped forward and swept his aura across the room, instantly dropping the temperature of the coffee and freezing it inside the hose. Banshee darted forward simultaneously, helping Pegasus push the cubicle wall off himself and standing him up.

The Manifested screamed in frustration. The coffee in the glass oval on its back instantly boiled.

Banshee drew and threw Grief in the space of a heartbeat. The dagger sliced clean through the Manifested's coffee-hose, effectively turning it into a jetpack that launched it off the ground.

Cryo froze the erupting coffee, and with one, shadow shifted leap, Banshee arced through the air and plucked the fragment from the forehead of the Manifested, stuck in mid-air on its own iced coffee.

The Other's presence pulled away from the Manifested. The man, Luke, fell the metre or so onto the ground, where Banshee was waiting to catch him.

She set him on his feet as he blinked and held his head, glancing around the room.

"Oh dear," said Luke. "I Manifested, didn't I?"

"Yep," said Banshee. "But don't worry, you're all saved now."

"Urgh," said Luke. "I think I felt it coming. I was, I was just so mad when I went to go into the office and I saw the boss lounging around on his own personal couch when he'd just finished chewing me out for putting my head on the desk. I've been working so much overtime, I just haven't had a chance to sleep, and he just told me get some more coffee in you and get to work."

Banshee glanced around. "Well, I can say you took that advice to heart."

"He'll probably fire me for making such a mess of the office," said Luke. "But at least I didn't half-ass it."

"To be fair, Pegasus did most of the damage. Your boss can't fire you for your actions as a Manifested, either."

Luke sighed. "He'll find something else to fire me for as the reason, but it'll be because of this."

Banshee frowned. "If he does, you let someone know. People aren't allowed to do that."

"But they do," said Luke. "Thank you for saving me."

"No problem," said Banshee. "Nereid and Pony Boy did most of the work, though."

Luke inclined his head towards Nereid, and then towards Pegasus, who Cryo had handed several pieces of ice to cover the worst of his burns. "My thanks to both of you, and my apologies."

"Just what we do," said Pegasus through gritted teeth.

"Welp," said Banshee, looking to Cryo. "If that's all dealt with, shall we be getting back to the Starlight Hall?"

They made their way outside, informing a couple of people--boss included--that it was all over and done with. As Luke had predicted, his boss was in no way happy, but Luke seemed too tired to care.

Banshee and Cryo left them to work it out, and with Pegasus and Nereid in tow, began making their way back to the Starlight Hall.

*+*+*+*

A/N - Our newbies took on the Manifested and, well, it wasn't a complete disaster. 

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