A Twist of Fate

“Are you sure that was her?” Vivian asked John as they left the theater.

“Pretty sure,” John attested with a nod. “Whatever magic she had blocking people from putting two and two together seemed to stop working once it hit me and it was pretty obvious to me.”

“And it carried over to me,” Senka added.

“That’s some impressive work then,” Vivian remarked, a hand on her chin.

“Um, is- is it a problem that we’re here when she is?” Lita asked nervously.

“It shouldn’t be,” John answered, flashing Lita a gentle smile. “‘Sea Dragon’ is part of a small group that helped us get to another Kingdom a few weeks back. She was the most standoff-ish of them, but their boss was pretty friendly. If we run into them, everything’ll be fine.”

“It’s not in their best interest to stir up shit,” Senka said. “So if they show up, it’ll be all smiles.”

“I can’t imagine after that show Ba- um, I mean, Sea Dragon’s going to have the energy to be out and about,” Kiera mused.

Teri nodded. “I was feeling a bit of weariness coming from her near the end.”

“Well, hopefully she rests well knowing she put on a good show,” John said.

“I think the audience at large feels that way,” Vivian remarked, her eyes sweeping over the crowd.

“Can confirm.” Teri nodded. “Didn’t feel a bit of boredom through the whole thing. Plenty of people felt disappointed it was over.”

“Make sure to put that in the review,” John chuckled. “Acually, we should see if there’s a way to do that. Be a nice way to repay Argent Echo.”

“I’m sure the club’s got people listening to people as they move about,” Vivian said. “Or with more esoteric means. Wouldn’t surprise me if they’ve got people with magic like yours, Teri, to ferret out what their patrons enjoyed.”

“Seems likely,” the goblin remarked. “Just hope they’ve got a way to block the stronger emotions. Can’t imagine feeling the crowds from a show like Soundwave’s constantly.”

“I’m sure they have something for that,” Vivian said. “I imagine there’s plenty of jobs for someone with talents like yours and throwing that away to save a bit of cash is a losing investment.”

John had to agree with Vivian. She was more versed on the world of Abyssal business, but given the lack of a central government to enforce standards and labor laws, money and other benefits were the obvious main force keeping someone under their employ. Don’t keep them happy, and they’ll walk.

“Wonder how much longer the Soundwave show’s going to go on for?” Senka mused.

“It, um, seems for a bit longer,” Kiera supplied. “It seems like it’s still b-building up to the big climax.”

“Verida having fun?” Senka pressed.

Kiera nodded. “She’s liking the whole experience. It’s not that different from what we watched, just with more, um, dancing and lights.”

“I’m not too surprised,” Vivian said. “If Soundwave is as big a deal in these circles as Goe implied, her style is likely one others are going to copy in various ways.”

Lita looked confused for a moment before realization fell upon her. “Oh, right. Miss Verida said something about a herald in the meeting. And you’ve got d-dragon arms sometimes.”

“Y-yeah,” Kiera said, a small patch of scales manifesting on her hands for a moment. “My magic is really compatible with hers and I made the mistake of trying to channel it. But it ended up alright in the end, s-so no need to go into it.”

“O-okay,” Lita muttered. “S-still, must be an h-honor to be connected to someone like her.”

“It is, but she’s not like that,” Kiera said. “We’re, um, friends.”

“I think this is getting a little heavy,” Senka interjected, saving Kiera from having to try to define their relationship or giving out too much info so quickly. “What’d you think of the show, Lita?”

“W-what I thought?” Lita sputtered. “Um, it was pretty cool. She had a nice voice and her magic was pretty cool.”

“If that was all her magic, then her control is impressive,” Vivian agreed.

“I really liked how she timed her dancing with the water,” Lita continued, her tone growing more animated as the encouraging reactions from everyone soothed away her anxiety. As they moved back towards the central reception area to wait for everyone else to meet back with them, Kiera perked up.

“I think Soundwave just did her finale,” she reported.

“Then we should probably let Aeolia and Beth know both shows are done,” John said as he summoned his phone to text them. Before he could compose the message, a flash of light caught his eye.

Standing by the bar, a woman leaned against the wall. A woman that John hoped they wouldn’t see again. Fortuna had ditched her fancy dress and clad herself in a simple purple turtle neck and black skirt, attire more fitting the club’s vibe. She flipped a large silver coin into the air as her eyes met John’s.

“Good evening, John Newman.”

Something in her voice shook John to his core and he felt the world stop. All the sounds of folk milling about, ordering drinks, talking about this and that vanished. He took a shuddering breath.

“Take your time,” she said, continuing to flip her coin. “Got all that for the moment.”

“What do you want?” John demanded, hoping that bravado and Gaia’s favor would keep Fortuna from doing anything.

Fortuna smiled at him before she pushed herself away from the wall and swayed over to him.

“You can relax. I’m just here as a bit of a courtesy,” she said. “A bit of a repayment for earlier. No reason for me to be on Gaia or Verida’s bad sides. Luck flows both ways. And you’re going to want me to put my thumb on the scale for this one.”

“Why should I believe you?” John asked. “We met you while you were pretending to be someone from the goblin village and trapped us in a cave.”

“Jeez, I’m trying to help you here,” Fortuna groused.

“Help with what?”

“The attack that’s going to happen in about two seconds once we’re done talking,” Fortuna remarked with a grin.

“What?”

“Did that show blow out your ears?” Fortuna teased. “Some people have the grand idea of attacking this place right as the big headliner’s done. You know, mass casualty attack, many dead, a nefarious group working towards some grand design.”

“You don’t have to be so casual about it,” John said, his mind racing. They were hardly in a good spot for a fight. He had most of his gear but no glaive for Aeolia, or spheres for Beth to throw.

“When you’ve been around as long as I have, this sort of thing becomes rather pedestrian,” Fortuna remarked. For a moment, John thought she looked older, far older than the twenty-something her physical form took. It dawned on John just how old she had to be. What forefather of humanity first conceived of the ideas of luck, fate and chance? Or was something even older the root cause of the goddess before him?

Knowing that even being made aware of the upcoming attack was a boon, John asked, “Is that all you came to say? A two second tip off?”

“Power comes with limits,” Fortuna answered, flicking her coin into the air. “I’m not a force to guide the fates of mortals, merely one that knows it and can, when properly beseeched, provide insight. And my prior actions have unbalanced the scales a bit, so I’m giving you a tip as best I can.”

“So two seconds is all that amounted to, huh?” John questioned.

“Would you prefer to get hit totally unawares?” Fortuna pressed, a hint of annoyance creeping into her voice.

“No, but more than a passing moment would have been nice,” John grumbled.

“I’m giving you as much time as you need to mull over what you can do here, so two seconds was all I could give you in real time,” Fortuna said. “Surely you’re smart enough to figure out something.”

“Figuring something out is a far cry from being well equipped and ready for the fight,” John muttered, his mind racing as he tried to gather all the facts into a plan. Run? Likely not possible and they would be leaving everyone behind, so that was out.

“Wait,” he said aloud, not finding any reason to keep his musings to himself. “Argent Echo’s here. They could try to break out if these attackers try to block anyone from leaving. And I’d bet that Barbara’s dressing room would be behind the stage she was using. And even if they can’t, Aria can make weapons with her magic at least.

“Of course,” he continued, oblivious to Fortuna’s staring, “that would mean making a rush that way, leaving everyone else behind if they couldn’t keep up. And I don’t know the particulars of Lita’s magic, so I can’t really plan around it. Vivian can veil us, but Teri and Kiera might not be able to help since they’re keeping Verida manifested, and I can’t imagine she’d want to abandon everyone there to help here or just not be summoned.”

John chewed the inside of his lip. Getting Argent Echo was the right play. It brought fighters to the fore, assuming the attack was going to be focused on the entrance, and maybe a way to escape or call for outside help. But that assumed he could reach them. Could they have left right away? Not likely, he assumed. Barabra’s outfit would likely take time to change out of. Time that surely couldn’t have elapsed without magic being involved and he wasn’t even sure if such magic existed.

“Okay, got something that can work,” John said. “It’s not great, but it is better than what I could have come up with without the help. So thanks.”

Fortuna looked a little surprised by his easily given gratitude before a smug little smile made its way across her face.

“Finally getting around to showing the proper level of respect.” She grinned. “For that, I think I can give you one little tip.”

“Anything’ll be better than going in blind,” John said.

Fortuna flipped her coin once before letting it land on the back of her hand. She looked at it for a second before meeting John’s eyes.

“The visage of a knight shielding the defenceless with the power of the twin forests may shake some to their core, knocking loose their conviction,” she cryptically revealed.

“A riddle?” John complained.

“Got to keep to my part,” Fortuna said with a grin. “I’m sure you can figure it out.”

“As if I don’t have enough on my mind,” John said, before taking a breath. He could spend hours in this timeless space to battleplan, but with no info on what was about to attack, besides a cryptic line about a ‘dark faith’, imagining a plan was foolhardy. Best to know it was going to happen and take it from there. Try to reach Argent Echo, keep people away from the fighting as best as possible. Failing that, try to get to the rest of their group together and fight their way out as best they could.

Mind steeled, John nodded to Fortuna.

“I’m ready.”

The shift back to real time was abrupt, a flash and John was back in the spot he first spotted Fortuna in, that space near the bar now totally empty.

“John?” Senka asked, the spirit sensing something amiss the instant he was back. The second she took to gain the knowledge came a second too late as the barrier lurched under them, as if an earthquake had hit. Accompanying that was a wave of thick magic that brought to mind the sudden stench of opening a full dumpster in the summer.

“We’re under attack,” John managed to say, summoning Senka’s vessel to hand. As he did, thick black masses of something akin to primordial slime began to rise up from the ground, slowly congealing into beastly forms.

He shot everyone a quick grin. “But I’ve got a plan.”