Chronicles of the Exalted Sun Child

There.

She found the correct frequency to cut away at his invulnerable skin, at least for long enough to send in another Edge. She sent the nullifying Edge at the same point; it did strip away that aspect, though she didn't follow up with an actual Edge. She wasn't ready to kill him quite yet, and she didn't know if she actually would. Murderer and terrorist he may be, but he hadn't offended her…yet.

Despite having some of Lilibeth's memories, Yuriko still felt slightly detached from Astoria. It was the feeling that she was but an observer from afar, watching specimens move about and interacting with them merely to watch what would happen…

Oh wait, she was an observer from afar and she was poking the beehive to see what patterns the insects move in.

That feeling of dissonance was unpleasant whenever it was brought to the forefront, and it disoriented her slightly.

Enough that Homelander noticed her distraction. He struck. He closed in before she could blink, and his hand wrapped around her wrist like a manacle. Before his other hand could grab her other wrist, she slipped out of his grasp by simply pulling her hand. She let a sneer appear on her face as she pulled back, then unleashed two Invisible Edges: one to nullify his invulnerable skin, and another to cut him.

The Edges sliced into the same place as before, though she angled the second so it wouldn't bisect the man. The sudden sting of pain must have startled him and he backed up a hundred paces away the next second. He stared incredulously at his side, which had started to drip with blood. He stared at her after a moment, though there was no fear behind his blue eyes. No, it was the same look that she had: excitement.

His biceps bulged as he clenched his fists, and he grinned fiercely at her. But before he could charge at her, he visibly pulled himself back, breathing deeply and evenly.

"I cannot afford to fight without restraint," Homelander grunted. "Your might proves my point. Your potential is wasted by prancing about in front of a camera. Join the Nation, help us bring justice and freedom to the downtrodden."

His voice rang heavy with charisma, but surprisingly, Yuriko didn't detect any kind of undue mental influence. He was sincere, and he truly believed in his ideals. Magnificent.

But she was not in Astoria to push anyone else's agenda. She was here…to live. Well, she could bring herself to champion another's cause, but she wasn't eager to do so. Nor was she bored enough to really contemplate it.

"I will not," Yuriko answered evenly. "I do not wish to align myself with anyone at the moment."

"A pity, but I hold much hope." His gaze was quite fervent, then he looked towards the bridge. Yuriko followed his gaze and found Zachary standing by the barriers, hands white from how tightly he gripped the railings. "A brave young man, but foolish not to flee."

"Will we have more trouble?" Yuriko asked mildly.

"No, he is under your protection, I assume." Homelander shook his head. "The times are changing, and we are at the cusp of something truly great. Be careful not to be buried under the wave, Lilibeth Lawson."

Yuriko clicked her tongue. "I am masked."

"Indeed, such is the new law. We honour it, but I do not know your cape identity."

"...Regalia."

"Ah, you did not bring your costume? A pity, I would have preferred to admire your public form. I take my leave. Pray, consider what is truly best for our kind."

With that, he rocketed away. Yuriko clicked her tongue and pouted. "I wasn't finished."

Shaking her head, she flew back to the bridge, noting that several other vehicles had stopped and were filming her through their phones. Zach went back into the car, and Yuriko flew into the passenger seat. They drove off even while she concealed the car's license plates with her light.

The rest of the trip was made in awkward silence, at least for half an hour or so. Finally, when the young man regained his composure, he said, "Graham never even showed up."

"Either he is complicit, is dead, or coerced." Yuriko sighed. "We have no way of knowing, though it is likely that the Nation has them."

"You mean RuiNation," Zach said darkly. "They champion anarchy more than a new order, even if they say otherwise."

"They're better than the Unfettered, at least," Yuriko muttered. Over the past weeks, she had looked for any sign of the rotters, but hadn't found any. They melted into the countryside, or perhaps into the subspaces scattered all over the land and hadn't peeked out of their burrows at all. While she was reliant on the news, she was confident she could track them once she heard of their location, and next time, they wouldn't have hostages to protect them from her wrath.

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Or more pragmatically, they wouldn't have hostages that would make her hesitate, cold as that statement was.

Shaking her head, they passed the rest of the trip in silence. Zach delivered her to her apartment. She took a seated meditation pose to review the events of the day and ponder upon inspiration and enlightenment.

The next few days settled into a comfortable routine. The new term had started a while back. She took her classes during the morning, and the afternoons were occupied by the movie production—mostly rehearsals and table readings. Her weekends were occupied with costume design and fitting, makeup, screen tests, and the other minutiae of the making of a film.

In the evenings, she wandered around in her cape identity as Regalia, and for some reason, the trouble brewing in the docks, on both sides of the rivermouth, continued to grow.

She saw Speedrun, Brilliance, Lightfoot, Soundwave, and even Weavemaster in action, along with a dozen other capes on the Protectorate side, battling with an assortment of villainous capes.

And she was more than surprised to see Battleballer, Tentagirl, and the other guy, of the Caplan Gang, back in action. It hadn't even been a week since they were captured. Another night, and she saw the Duad, Multiman and Cardsharp, skirmishing with Brilliance and Speedrun. Cardsharp ended up getting captured again, but he was back on the streets a couple of days later.

There was odd news all around. Strange crimes that didn't point to a perpetrator or even how they were done. There was a jewellery shop that was robbed of fifty thousand Tories worth of gold rings, chains, and brooches, but there were no signs of a break-in. Security cameras showed intact cases one moment, then there was a bit of static that lasted no more than a second, then the next moment, the cases were empty.

There was also someone who utilised seabirds to steal valuables. At the docks, there was always a risk of the gulls stealing food right out of one's mouth, but lately, they snatched phones, bills, and sometimes wallets right out of people's hands. It had been done in broad daylight, and some moments were captured on camera.

The victims would futilely chase the birds as they winged out to sea, and it had only been revealed that someone was behind it when a gull snatched a phone while its owner was recording a video. The file had been automatically uploaded to the Network, and it revealed a nauseating record of the gulls flying out, then circling back to another part of the docks where it dropped the phone into a canvas sack. It even caught the perpetrator, though the only details found were a gloved hand that covered the camera lens as they took the phone out of the bag.

She also caught someone brazenly pickpocketing in the early evening, with barely any effort to conceal themselves. And yet, the people passing by never even looked at them. Come to think of it…she actually couldn't see them with her eyes. Well, normal vision. When she used Chaos Sight, she saw a figure surrounded by a thin film of that strange energy all Altered Humans emitted. Ah, her perception could also see them, even if it was only because of the emptiness in the air.

When she caught them, they turned out to be a boy in his early teens and he had a bunch of wallets in his coat pockets, all of which were obviously stolen. She left the thief in the police's capable hands…or perhaps they were incompetent hands instead, since every villainous cape she saw captured by the heroes and taken in by the Protectorate eventually wound up back on the streets.

Well, not all of them. The killers remained in custody, however. There was a cape, villainous, who targetted the Duad. Well, now it was only Multiman. It was a bit hard to say if it had been accidental or intentional, but the killer, a man who could project invisible blades of sharp wind about two and a half paces from himself, managed to gut Cardsharp, and the latter died of blood loss before the paramedics arrived. Windclaw fled, but was later captured and beaten up by Multiman a couple of days later. He was still in jail as far as Yuriko knew, though that was only a couple of days ago.

She didn't get into much mischief throughout the days ahead. Brilliance often found her when she was patrolling, since Yuriko's flight also gave out a bit of light. It made her a bit obvious during the evenings and the night, but it also served to warn away never do-wells.

Well, it wasn't as if she stopped all sorts of crime. Normally, if it wasn't violent, she didn't bother. Everyone has their own circumstances, after all, and a kid who ends up pickpocketing either needed the money or was being coerced by someone else. Probably. In all likelihood, she was just lazy about such things, and she helped out depending on her mercurial mood swings.

Over the past week, in Shangria, Yuriko and her companions prepared for a simple, 2nd layer expedition. Amassing enough credits to fund a deeper delve was necessary, and while the Martial Tournament could have been a good way to join a larger expedition, the preliminaries wouldn't even begin until another two Seasons. The entire thing would last the Season of Fire, and it would probably take another Season before the expedition could begin. At least, according to Carina. The greenette said that she witnessed a similar event half a decade ago and they published their schedule, and promptly failed to follow it. So it would probably take a year before the actual expedition could begin, so it was faster to do it on their own.

Ilvara came up with their budget of three million credits for an expedition that could last a year or so. They would need the Mobile Residence Vehicle, then at least three thousand servings of food. The ones that were sold were called MREs—Meals Ready to Eat—and they were about an inch tall, and about five by eight inches. Considering a ration bar was only a couple of inches long, half an inch wide, and a quarter inch thick, MREs were incredibly bulky. Condenser enchantments would take care of water, but it would be wise to carry a good supply anyway, about a hundred Ren would do, since there were only eight of them. Well, ten with the familiars.

For this credit gathering delve, they would head to the second layer and spend as much time as it would take to gather enough frags to earn at least a million credits. The plan was to delve to the second as soon as they can, then head towards an oasis so they wouldn't need to pack that much supply.

It took about a week to prepare, and on the day of their departure, something else happened in Astoria.

"I am here, Master." Desire popped out in front of Yuriko while she was headed to her last class of the day.