Rehabilitation

       "Rapido!" Santana yelled as he pushed the head of one of the many captured Ut Puri agents forward. "I don't have all day now, move your asses!" As per Siobhan's order, Santana and the rest of the freed Illuminati operatives were currently rounding up all the Ut Puri agents that had been defeated or captured, leading them to the same cells that their enemies had previously used against them. Along the way, many of the Illuminati operatives, Santana included, were having a good old time in giving the invaders their just desserts, by way of overly physical treatment and a slew of abrasive comments.

 

"These guys are like cockroaches," Eric said with a grin as he 'bumped' into another one of the prisoners. "It's like they're coming from anywhere and everywhere in here."

 

"Cockroaches seems about right," Santana agreed. "So, how do you feel about the promotion?" After Siobhan had returned to the church, she had informed Eric of her decision to promote him and Santana for their efforts in the churches' liberation. With no time to have a formal ceremony, the two teens had to settle for just receiving their new ranking insignias. Even still, their new ranks were noticed by quite a few people, Ricardo and Cassandra included.

 

"He should feel grateful," Ricardo said with a huff, literally kicking a few of the prisoners into the same cell he had been kept in. "A field promotion doesn't happen everyday; last time I saw that happen was a few years back."

 

"And I am," Eric said with a proud smirk as he made a show of polishing off the newer silver collar device. "A bit more pay, a higher rank, and I get to request more sufficient training."

 

Cassandra laughed out loud, remembering the pay she had gotten when she was a Corporal in the past. "You think the pay's an improvement," she said with a scoff. "I can't wait until you get your next paycheck so I can see the look of disappointment on your face."

 

"Hey!" Eric said. "Don't kill my vibe before I see it; at least let me fantasize." The higher ranking agents just laughed with a shake of their heads; Eric was about to get one heck of a disappointment once he realized the raise between the Lance Corporal and Corporal ranks was a mere hundred dollars. All that though was to be looked forward to in the future; right now, the four agents dismissed that conversation to finish the daunting task of imprisoning the rest of the Ut Puri invaders. From the sheer numbers that Jynx had brought with him, it didn't look like they would be through with that task anytime soon.

 

________________________________________________________

 

 

 

Meanwhile, Saraya and Siobhan found themselves busy with other, equally as important activities as Siobhan looked to get the Alexandrian Church up and running back to its usual dominance. Saraya was currently seated at Siobhan's newly reconstructed desk in said Judge Magister's office, working on a slew of reports that she was going to deliver to the main church in New York, giving a detailed and objective view of everything that had happened at the Alexandrian church. She was horribly shocked when she had finally been told about how Jynx had taken over in the first place; the man had used a total of a thousand Ut Puri corpsmen, along with twenty five highly trained Vizekorporals from the Swiss Guard, all outfitted with weapons that he had created himself just for the occasion. The Alexandrian church had taken heavy losses; out of the near seven hundred members that had been at the church at the time of Jynx's invasion, 247 of them had met their end, with many more suffering from a wide range of injuries. It was only now that she realized how lucky Eric, as well as the rest of the Alexandrian contingent, had been by her and Santana's timely arrival

 

Siobhan on the other hand, was busying herself with sending multiple recall e-mails to the operatives of the church who were all out on missions, hoping to get some more hands to help with the reorganization of the church. 'I swear,' Siobhan thought as she sent yet another dozen messages with a click of her computer mouse. 'This church will not fall again, not as long as I am its Judge Magister.'

 

'Calm down sis,' Saraya said, inwardly wishing that Siobhan would stop blaming herself for what had happened. 'No one would have thought Ut Puri were brazen enough to try a takeover of this magnitude, especially nowadays. Everyone gets their share of failure, but it's how you deal with that failure that counts.'

 

'Even still,' Siobhan countered, not at all soothed by Saraya's words. 'I should have been stronger. I shouldn't have let Jynx capture me like that.' The woman choked up for a second as a flashback of her captured experience played fresh in her mind. 'I feel so worthless right now.'

 

Saraya quickly got up to go over to the seated Siobhan, wrapping her arms around the agonized Judge Magister from behind in a soothing embrace. 'Be strong Sio,' Saraya said, sending subtle waves of comfort through Siobhan's mind. 'It's not your fault for what happened, any of it. Even the strongest can be taken by surprise.'

 

Speaking of surprises, the two leaders were thoroughly taken for a loop when the door to Siobhan's office opened up, revealing none other that the Daeva Exemplar herself, dressed in a casual, businesslike manner, wearing a pantsuit and having her hair pinned up in a conservative bun. "Am I interrupting something?" Victoria asked in a soft voice, noticeably different than her usual holier-than-thou attitude.

 

"Not at all Exemplar," Siobhan said as she immediately stood to properly salute Victoria. To the Judge Magister's greater shock, Victoria waved off the salute before closing the distance between them to wrap her in a comforting hug.

 

"I heard all about it," Victoria said lowly as she held Siobhan in her embrace for a few more seconds. "You suffered through something I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy, and yet you still have the poise of a leader. Skylar chose well in appointing you this churches' leader."

 

"Thank you for your kind words," Siobhan said before quickly seperating herself from the normally stone minded Exemplar. "But please, I don't want or need anyone's pity. I know the risks of my station and I accept them."

 

Victoria bowed her head down as she let a hidden smirk come to her face. "You're going to be a fine leader Judge Magister Bocharov; maybe my fellow Exemplar can learn a bit from you in the ways of decorum."

 

"Oh shove off," Saraya said with a roll of her eyes. Apparently Victoria's softer attitude was only for Siobhan; it seemed that she still had a ways to go before she truly earned her fellow Exemplar's respect. "What brings you to the desert anyways?"

 

"Skylar sent me," Victoria said with a pointed look. "He wanted to make sure all was well with the church. Shortly after you and Raven departed, we received an S.O.S message from one of this churches' operatives; a Lance Corporal Vadilisi."

 

Siobhan chuckled at that; it looked like Eric had done more than she thought for Alexandria's salvation. "That's Corporal Vadilisi Exemplar," she said, stressing the new rank. "I gave him and Santana Del Rio field promotions for their valor and commitment to the mission of my church. I see that the promotions were well earned."

 

"Indeed," Victoria said with a nod. "Now, what is the status of the church at the moment?"

 

'This woman's always business,' Siobhan thought, knowing a great deal about Victoria's persona. "Well," she started. "I have a contingent of operatives dealing with rounding up our newest residents of the prison catacombs. I also have a few repair tams to fix the damage that the invaders have caused, as well as my healer corps taking care of the injured. I just sent numerous recalls to my agents out on missions to help with the reconstruction of the church. Given the amount of damages, I'd say that the church should be at least operational by the end of this week, and back to full capacity by the next."

 

Victoria nodded in approval at Siobhan's report. "Impressive," she commented. "My next question; who was the leader of this invasion attempt by Ut Puri?"

 

Both Saraya and Siobhan visibly bristled at Victoria's question. "Miroslav Oranje," Saraya answered with a tone of hatred. "Jynx; you remember him don't you?"

 

Victoria wiped her face with her hand, vividly remembering Jynx from his earlier time in the Illuminati. "Unfortunately," she answered. "What of him? Is he in the cells? Under interrogation?"

 

"Try dead," Siobhan said instantly with a tone of unrepentant malice. "The b*****d made it personal with the way he decided to 'imprison' me; he wasn't leaving here alive." Victoria gave her a curt nod, knowing that she would have done the same had she been in a similar position. "And don't ask me where his body is either; the Sahara has him now."

 

"Okay," Victoria said, perfectly understanding Siobhan's stance on the matter. "Is there a second in command of his in captivity? We need to know what other plans Ut Puri may of may not have as it pertains to this church."

 

At that, a dark look came over the face of Saraya, the Lamia having an ideal person in mind. "Not so much of a second Vickie," she said, blatantly ignoring the look of disapproval from Victoria over Saraya's nickname for her. "But Jynx did bring his girl here to assist with their invasion, and she's alive and kicking."

 

"Good," Victoria said, turning to exit Siobhan's office. "At least we have someone we can interrogate that might have some sensitive information."

 

"Hold on," Saraya said, grabbing Victoria by her shoulder to prevent her from leaving just yet. "Let me come with you; I'd like to assist in this interrogation." Victoria narrowed her eyes at Saraya's tone, not needing anything more but her fifty plus years of lifetime experience to catch onto the hint of mischief in Saraya's tone. "What?" Saraya asked, seeing that Victoria looked hesitant in allowing her to accompany her. "I owe the b***h a piece of my mind, and I'll be damned if she doesn't hear it before you do what you will to her."

 

"Fine," Victoria said with a sigh, knowing how pushy Saraya could get when she really wanted something. "But if you mess this up..."

 

Saraya balked at the lack of faith from her fellow Exemplar. "You really need to start recognizing my position Victoria; I'm not the Lamia Exemplar for nothing." With that being said, Saraya pushed in front of Victoria to go to Zafira's cell, stopping only after a few steps once she realized that she had no idea where the woman was being held. "Um," Saraya said, nervously scratching her head, slightly embarrassed at the slip of thought. "Where's Zafira's cell again?"

 

'Why did Skylar make her Exemplar again?' Victoria asked herself as Siobhan gave Saraya the information that she needed. 'I swear, this generation is something different.' The Exemplar continued to revel in her thoughts of Saraya and this new generation as she fell in step behind her, making it a point to carefully watch Saraya as she interrogated the poor prisoner who had somehow incurred the Lamia's personal ire. 'But,' Victoria thought, having a decent amount of respect for the power and skill Saraya did possess. 'It is promising.'

 

__________________________________________________

 

 

 

The collision of Jasper and Nestor's first offensive blows rang out like a gunshot, with both men's fists meeting in the direct middle of their chosen battlefield. Not to be deterred, the two combatants immediately began an exchange of attacks that were little more than blurs to the eyes of the Draco youths, and most likely would have been unseen by the average human. Raven however held a grin on his face, perfectly used to this kind of combat, as well as amused at the bug eyed stares of the kids.

 

"They're freakin fast!" Quinton yelled with a look of astonishment stuck on his face. "I didn't know Unc could move like that!"

 

"Yeah," Taji said in agreement. "Most of the time Dad won't move faster than a snail, but this is ridiculous."

 

Raven let out an audible snort, turning the youth's attentions to him momentarily. "You think this is fast? You boys are setting yourselves up for a major revelation by the time this is through. This is slow to Jazz; he's just warming up."

 

Roman chuckled at that. "Is that why Unc's doing nothing but blocking the old dude's hits?"

 

'Really?' Raven asked himself, inwardly beating himself over the head as he was starting to learn things about his son that he hadn't even noticed until this day. 'Roman's vision is that good already?' Whereas Taji and Quinton could see nothing more than the blurring of Nestor and Jasper's limbs, it seemed as if Roman at least could follow their movements. Granted, this level of speed was still horribly slow in comparison to Jasper's true speed, but it was still impressive nonetheless.

 

"No way," Taji said, not believing Roman from what he was seeing. "As fast as those two are moving? Dad's gotta be fighting back somehow."

 

"No," Roman said, sure in what he was witnessing. "Aside from the first punch, Uncle Jazz hasn't thrown another attack from what I can see."

 

Whether Taji and Quinton believed Roman or not, the eldest youth was accurate in his description of the fight. It seemed like Jasper was fighting a step ahead of Nestor, using what seemed to be the minimal amount of effort as he used only his hands and forearms to block the furious barrage of hits that the Simia was throwing from a  multitude of angles, with the few hits he was unable to block being swiftly dodged by the experienced Draco. This was due to Jasper's twist on the Seiryu-ken, his so-called strong style, which emphasized his upper body and hand speed to inflict crushing blows, as well as to block and dodge with a vengeance.

 

"Rome," Raven asked, a bit curious as to how good Roman's improved eyesight actually was. "How good can you see this anyway?" To Raven, Jasper and Nestor's exchange was like watching a fight in slow motion, a benefit of being a Sovrumano and an experienced warrior. Though all Sovrumano had enhanced senses, they still had to be trained, especially when trying to watch a fight on this level.

 

"They're fast as heck," Roman admitted. "But their movements are fairly clear to me; some blurs every now and then, but it's no biggie."

 

"I call bull," Taji said with a glare in Roman's direction. This would be the second time in one day that Roman had one upped him, and frankly. it was starting to grate on the slightly younger preteen's nerves. "I see blurs all the way Rome."

 

"Same here," Quinton admitted. "To think that they're faster than this is a stretch even for me to believe."

 

'You're starting to seriously surprise me son,' Raven thought as he watched the ongoing fight. 'This kind of raw talent is all but unheard of, ever.'

 

Raven was drawn out of his thoughts by Jasper finally deciding to take the offensive, ducking like a professional boxer out of the way of a barrage of punches by Nestor, before hitting the man with a vicious left hook to the gut, followed up by a quick right uppercut to Nestor's exposed jaw. The two hits echoed out across the battlefield as brief flashes of light emanated from the point of contact of the blows, a result of the amount of ki Jasper was using to elevate his physical prowess. Before Nestor had a chance to recover from the two hits, Jasper had already spun in a full circle to his left, using the momentum he gained from the uppercut to hit Nestor in the face with an elbow smash.  

 

The attack from Jasper had the effect of sending Nestor for a painful flight through the air, with the Simia finally being stopped due to colliding back first with one of the ancient columns that lined the massive staircase to the majority of the acropolis. "Ahh!" Nestor yelled out, slumping to a seated position as his body was wracked with pain from the landing.

 

"Come on Nestor," Jasper said with a beckoning wave of his hand. "I know you're stronger than this; you're fighting me like you would an amateur. I'm the Nycest, ever dawg; step your game up." Jasper wore a victorious smile as he started to hop back and forth on his toes like before, obviously comfortable with how the fight was panning out to this point.

 

'These Draco are so broken,' Nestor thought as he made his way to his feet, doing his best to shake off the pain from before. 'What I wouldn't give to not have this sickness.' Nestor had been feeling the effects of his cancer even more the past few days, which is why he had smoked so much weed with Jasper the night before. Though he could ignore its effects longer than a regular human, he had no choice but to admit that it was seriously messing with his ki control. "Alright," Nestor announced as he took a sharp breath. "You want me to step up? Fine; so be it."

 

With a loud yell, Nestor crossed his arms in front of his face as he settled into a horse stance. His eyes started to glow a fierce brown as he focused his ki, a few seconds later having his ki manifest into a translucent white aura around him. His body took on a faint glow for a few seconds before the aura died down, leaving Nestor with an unnatural shine on his skin as he straightened himself out.

 

"Are you ready for round two?" Nestor asked with a confident smirk. "It's been a while since I've been pushed to try this hard."

 

'There it is,' Jasper thought, noticing the difference in Nestor's skin. 'So, the monkey wants to play like that eh?' Jasper suddenly stopped bouncing, switching his stance to a more forward looking one, having both hands half opened as he leaned back on his right foot. "It's been a while since I've had this kind of workout. I should thank you; remind me to do so after I show you why I'm Nyce."

 

Raven chuckled as he noticed the unspoken agreement between the two combatants; it looked like they were finally going to get serious. "Eyes open boys," he said to the kids. "Because this fight's about to get seriously real." Like Jasper, Raven had taken note of Nestor's ki manipulation, knowing just what the elder warrior had done. Now was the time when the boys would truly get to see the strength of a Draco; Jasper would have no choice but to show it to combat a Nestor empowered with the sturdiness of ki charged metal.

 

______________________________________________

 

 

 

"So," Victoria said, peering inside the dimly lit cell to take a look at the captured Zafira, who to her credit was leveling the Exemplar with a glare of disgust. "This is Jynx's second, eh?"

 

Saraya scoffed at that. "Yeah," she replied with mirth, stepping from behind Victoria to give Zafira a glare of her own. "In more ways than one."

 

"Aww," Zafira said in a clearly mocking voice, having heard Saraya's description of her. "Somebody mad that the second-best was actually the best?" That was followed by a wink and a haughty smirk from the captured Felis; Obviously, Zafira didn't seem to be intimidated by the presences of the two female Exemplars, a trait that was rare for nearly every member of Ut Puri.

 

Saraya bristled with anger, doing the best she could to not immediately lose her temper before the interrogation began. "We haven't even begun and you're already pushing my buttons," Saraya said as she opened the cell gate. "You must be in a hurry to join your b*****d of a man in his new home."

 

Zafira didn't relent in her bravado, standing up once Saraya came within a foot away from her to glare at her, in her face and nose to nose. "Jynx was right," Zafira said, realizing that the subject was doing well enough to push Saraya's buttons. "You are a temperamental s**t: looks, attitude, persona; wow you must have used your psychic to get him to fall for you when he did. Heh!" Zafira started to laugh out loud, never noticing the faint red glow of Saraya's eyes, which was only getting brighter as she got more and more pissed. "I see why he hates the Lamia more than any other race; I'd hate you guys too if I knew I was unwillingly seduced by someone like you."

 

Victoria wore an uncharacteristic smile as she watched Zafira verbally antagonize Saraya, humored at the prisoner's gall even as she talked herself into a proverbial grave. 'The girl's got a backbone, I'll admit that much.'

 

'So you're on her side now?' Saraya asked, taking a second to look behind at Victoria and flash her a glare.

 

'No,' Victoria answered, not affected by Saraya's look. 'But you have to admit, she does have a fiery persona.'

 

Saraya shook her head, sighing in disgust. 'I'm really about to stop caring about how Victoria feels about me,' she thought. 'Seems she hates me so much she'll compliment one of our prisoners before giving me any kind of respect.'

 

Zafira, unaware of the short exchange between the Exemplars, made her final psychological move on Saraya, thinking that she had the upper hand. "Why so quiet b***h?" she asked with a confident expression on her face. "You mad at the fact that unlike me, you have to play with your man's mind to get him to touch you?"

 

Slap!

 

"That's enough of that," Saraya said in an ice cold tone, suddenly shifting into a much darker mentality as she leveled a fierce glare at Zafira, who was now holding her cheek from the strike. "I didn't come down into these catacombs to be antagonized by the likes of you; I came for information, and you're going to give it to me, whether you like it or not."

 

Zafira obviously didn't catch onto the shift in Saraya's demeanor, for the string of insults continued regardless. "Psychics again?" Zafira said with a roll of her eyes. "Sheesh! You really need to learn how to live without mind-raping everyone you see."

 

Literally a second after the words left her mouth, Zafira found herself restrained, bound to the wall behind her by a plethora of string like shadows, courtesy of Victoria. The Daeva Exemplar had abandoned the humored smile for a more intense visage as she opened her mouth to speak. "Not many Ut Puri agents have been able to personally impress me," Victoria said in a stern, yet appraising voice. "You have. But, that will be the last time you disrespect an Exemplar, even this particular one, in my presence."

 

"Victoria!" Saraya yelled, turning her head to stare down the elder. "Stand down; this one's mine."

 

Victoria smirked that the gall Saraya had by yelling at her. "Child," Victoria said in a cool tone of voice. "You need to check your tone when-!"

 

"I could care less about your self-assessed superiority over me Victoria O'Hara," Saraya said, her serious tone having the effect of stopping the Daeva mid-speech. "I said, this one is mine. I don't need your help with a worm like her. Now stand down before you find out why Skylar made me Exemplar."

 

'Is that a threat?' Victoria asked with a raised eyebrow, mildly surprised at Saraya's new attitude.

 

'No,' Saraya said before visibly exerting her ki, having it manifest around her in a glowing aura. 'That's a promise for the very next time you feel like you can look down at me like I'm a child. Quite frankly I'm getting tired of it.' Saraya smirked, liking the show of surprise from Victoria, who released Zafira from her hold. "Now," Saraya said, refocused on Zafira. "Back to the peanut gallery. Why did Jynx decide to invade this Alexandrian church?"

 

Zafira's response was to purposely cough up a wad of phlegm and spit it directly into Saraya's face. "Like I'm going to tell you anything. Even if you try to use your psychics, you'll find that Jynx implanted the same kind of device in me that he used to resist your powers, so there." Zafira ended her explanation with a haughty look as she crossed her arms, self satisfied with her dismissal of Saraya.

 

However, unlike Jynx, Zafira had severely underestimated the level of skill Saraya had with her racial abilities, and to what extent the woman could use them when she really wanted to. "One of those rocks again huh?" Saraya said in an overly sweet voice, which had even the Daeva Exemplar narrow her eyes in mild curiosity and confusion. Saraya started to chuckle lowly before suddenly lashing out with a hard kick to Zafira's midsection, dropping the Anguis to her knees as the prisoner tried to catch her breath. "Oh you poor, poor child." Saraya followed up with another kick, this one a rising kick which connected with such force that it stood Zafira back up to her feet, albeit with a heavy lean against the wall. "Jynx knew me, so he could rightfully claim a type of immunity to my power. You honey, you stand no such chance."

 

With that, Saraya hissed as she opened her mouth, making it a point to do so in front of Zafira's face, so that the Anguis could know exactly what was coming to her. As Saraya did so, her canine teeth grew before the quickly panicking Zafira's eyes, with the Anguis just now realizing who she had been antagonizing all along. Saraya's canines lengthened a good three inches, now resembling the iconic fangs of a vampire as she prepared to use the one move that even Jynx's defenses had no chance in counteracting: the feared Thrall's fang.  

 

"You wouldn't!" Zafira yelled in fear as her whole body trembled in terror, trying in vain to get away from the ticked off Lamia Exemplar.

 

"I would," Saraya hissed before grabbing Zafira by her hair and pulling her head to the side, exposing her neck before biting down into the woman's flesh. Zafira screamed in agony for a few seconds before quickly fading out, her look of terror frozen on her face as the technique took effect. "Now, Zafira," Saraya said as she withdrew from the Anguis' neck after a few more seconds. "Why did Jynx invade the Alexandrian Church of Illumination?"

 

Unlike before, Zafira easily came forth with an answer, not having any other choice thanks to being under the effect of the Thrall's fang. "He was ordered to by Camerlengo DiNozzo," Zafira answered in a monotone voice.

 

Saraya and Victoria were noticeably stunned by that knowledge; they knew that Ut Puri were in some way still affiliated with the Vatican due to Ut Puri's prime source of warriors being the Corps of Gendarmerie and the Swiss Guard, but for the Camerlengo himself to be calling the shots in any fashion was something that the two knew had to be looked into. "This is troubling news," Victoria said after a few seconds. "Skylar needs to be notified of this immediately."

 

'Wait a second,' Saraya thought, remembering Raven's own suspicions about the Alexandrian occupation and Ut Puri's movements. 'The Camerlengo is high up in the Catholic Church, too high up to risk Ut Puri itself with that kind of order.' With budding suspicions of her own, Saraya had a new question for Zafira. "What was the goal behind the invasion? Submission?"

 

"No," Zafira said before suddenly dropping down to her knees as she grasped her skull in agony. "Get out of my head vampire!" Zafira yelled to the shock of both Exemplars. The Thrall's fang was one maneuver of the Lamia's that couldn't be reversed once applied; just the fact that Zafira was still trying to resist spoke volumes about her resolve and dedication to Ut Puri and Jynx.

 

However, that wouldn't last but for so long, especially when Saraya was this adamant about getting what she wanted. "Wrong again w***e," she said softly before her ki exploded into a flaming red aura once again, placing a hand over Zafira's head. "I'm a succubus." Saraya's hand suddenly changed, taking on a darker complexion that looked more like ash as it shifted to look more like a claw. As it did so, Saraya focused more ki, using her transformed hand to pump Zafira full of her psychic energies. "Submit."

 

'She's... effective,' Victoria thought with a small amount of newfound respect for her fellow Exemplar, taking great notice to the obvious transformation of Saraya's hand. 'I don't think there's a mortal alive who can resist Saraya's power when she's this focused, not even I.'

 

Soon enough, Zafira's expression reverted back into the vacant stare of possession, only now her eyes were red like Saraya's, fully under the lock of the Thrall's fang. Seeing no further reason to converse with the enthralled Zafira, Saraya took to reading over the woman's thoughts... every last one of them, going back to the time when she had first been told about the invasion attempt by Jynx. True to Saraya's suspicions, Jynx had indeed divulged highly sensitive information to his trusted second... which also had the effect of proving Raven's earlier suspicions of a bigger goal correct.

 

With an enraged yell, Saraya threw the enthralled Zafira by her hair into the adjacent wall as her ki flared wildly, being a physical personification of the Exemplar's mood. "Raven was right!" Saraya yelled, turning to Victoria before making her way past, only to be halted by the woman as she grabbed her by the arm.

 

"What?" Victoria asked, genuinely concerned with what information Saraya managed to pull from Zafira's mind.

 

"They know about Soulbreaker," Saraya said evenly. Victoria visibly faltered as a cold chill ran down her spine, but Saraya wasn't finished yet. "All this; this invasion, Rhodes' invasion, it's all a big ruse to keep our forces occupied while search for Soulbreaker themselves. They're finally going for their ultimate goal again; they want to lead the world into the Third Reich and amass their former strength, and Soulbreaker's step one."

 

"This..." Victoria said, trailing off for a moment as the ramifications of such an act played through her mind like a horrific dream. "Is troubling news. We must return to the Pharos at once; Skylar needs to call a full summit of all the Judge Magisters and Exemplars."

 

Saraya had a different plan of action, remembering that at this moment, Raven and Jasper were at Rhodes, smack dab in the middle of Ut Puri's biggest power play since the second world war with no support. Famed duo or not, the brothers Edge were in deep trouble. "You can go back to the Pharos and tell Skylar yourself; I'm going to Rhodes."

 

"But Raven and Jasper can handle themselves," Victoria said, trying to change the girl's mind. Seeing that she was being ignored, Victoria forcefully turned Saraya around to make her listen, unperturbed by the hiss of anger from the Lamia. "Listen to me girl; I know your relationship with Raven and Jasper is more familial than professional, but you have to be an Exemplar first and a friend second right now. The lives of millions are possibly at stake now."

 

"I know," Saraya said, ripping away from Victoria's grasp. "And as an Exemplar, I also know that those two are our best shot if Ut Puri does succeed. But know this," she said as her voice darkened. "I will not leave my friends out to dry, Exemplar or not." With that, Saraya darted out of the room, leaving Victoria standing there with a small, proud smile.

 

'Now that's what I've been waiting for,' Victoria thought, genuinely proud of Saraya's new-found focus as she sank into her own shadow. Saraya was finally coming into her own as an Exemplar; now she only hoped that the Illuminati's leaders would be able to come up with a counter to Ut Puri's master plan in time. The fate of the world, for both humans and Sovrumano alike, depended on it.