Having left the room where he talked to the geek and to Leslie Gordon, the government man - Victor was his name, and, more specifically, he worked for the CIA - wasn't exactly happy right now.
"Madam, with all due respect-"
"Respect my ass, I'll fix and restore the books you destroyed to whoever owned them, you'll undo the gag on the Internet thing and you'll FIND SOME OTHER WAY. Do you want my help or do you want me to actively hinder you? Make your choice." - Said Lucas.
"...Fine." - Said Victor, through gritted teeth.
"That's my boy." - Said Lucas, with an edge to her voice - "Holy fuck, it's the VERY FIRST of your Amendments!"
"Sometimes, drastic measures must be taken to prevent a worse outc-" - He began.
"SHUT UP!!" - Shouted Lucas - "I'm from South America." - She said - "I know EXACTLY where that line of thinking of yours leads, and, for that matter, SO DOES YOUR GODDAMNED AGENCY! I'll help you if you do as I say, and that line of thinking WILL change!"
"Heh. And you call us authoritarian." - Said Victor.
"Yes. Yes, I do. Considering the past record of your dear agency, I call you more than just 'authoritarian'. You don't get to curtail freedoms and then criticize me for curtailing your freedom to do so. Give the order to uncensor the books." - Said Lucas.
"On your head be it." - Said Victor.
"Okay, that's two things solved." - Said Lucas, briskly, pacing around in Neruite's villa - "Or... One and a half, I still need to help deal with the wizards."
"You came out a bit too strong with Victor, there, you know." - Said Neruite.
"Yes." - Said Lucas, equally briskly. She wasn't, however, in the least of moods to make nice to the CIA guy. She was only human and she still very much had her own baggage. - "Now. The Internet thing and the symbols... And Bryan. And... A new world. We have to..."
Lucas's cell phone rang.
"Hello. Calm down... Okay, what happened, Lilly? What? It disappeared? Where was it last contacted? Okay. Lilly, listen to me. I'll find your dad and I'll bring him safely. Do you trust me? Okay. You can call John as well, sure. I'll solve this... Okay. Bye."
"Okay, so that's... Five problems..." - Said Lucas.
Artemis chose that moment to appear.
"Mother... Lucas... The Numbers lost their magic."
"Six..." - Said Lucas - "All related to one another, I bet... Okay, I have to get to Astra... I'll try and set up some sort of base or something, gather together the old gang... Damn. I'm pretty sure I'll need the help of some people..."
Deborah smiled as she hunted with her fire sword.
She was very much all but a sociopath.
While she enjoyed the "fighting" aspect, she did hunt both for sport and for eating and did eat what she killed.
It was what she could do to stave off boredom ever since that big fight.
Suddenly, a huge galley appeared right above her. Out of it... Came Lucas.
"Uhm, hey, Deborah..." - Said Lucas.
Deborah flashed a smile that could mean a number of things, none of them good.
"Lucas... It's been so long... I figured you would get involved in the Internet changes and so on and so forth... What is it you need?"
"I know how much you like using that fire sword of yours, Deb." - Said Lucas, curtly - "So, you get to put it to good use in a fight you'll likely enjoy more than just chopping up game..."
"I'm listening." - Said Deborah.
Lucas and Deborah weren't friends by any measure, but the former knew what the latter liked to do. In fact, they weren't friends precisely because Lucas knew what Deborah enjoyed doing.
"So, you want me to take my pick between protecting some alien girls, attacking a bunch of D&D; casters or entering a new world and seeing what makes it tick..." - Said Deborah - "Why, Lucas...What do you think I'll pick?" - Said Deborah, her voice a singsong tone that screamed 'run' to whoever heard it.
"NO killing." - Said Lucas, firmly.
"Not even by accident, in the heat of the fight?" - Asked Deborah.
"No." - Said Lucas.
There was a knock on the door of the hotel room where Hawkins and Cecilia were staying.
Cecilia opened the door and saw an angel woman, one not unlike Lucas, but a redhead. Whereas Lucas's smiles tended towards "nuts", hers was... Unsettling.
"Hi." - Said Deborah, sweetly - "Lucas sent me. Who needs hurting?"
