The Angel Express - 6:02 PM

  I waited in front of the Patron Car with the Mills while the rest of the team gathered. Sara had experience with crowds before when it was just the Dealer, Kayla, and Jeff, but now we were adding more people to the mix. She was, understandably, nervous. Most of her communication as a Patron was text-based, so being in front of so many when she was used to only me was a bit harrowing.

  Still, she would be fine. Sara was a world boss, after all; what was a little social anxiety after that?

  Mercury was the first to appear alongside his little sister Bethany and Corwin. She was wearing comfortable clothes with an apron that was smudged and dirty, showing how much work she had been doing. Before, she wore magical headphones in order to keep out the excessive noise from her ears, but now that she had the Sensory Control skill she didn’t need them.

  Corwin, Jeff’s Evolution Hound, immediately came up to me. He was in his base form of a yellow labradoodle with curly hair, and I started petting him. It seemed like his presence was a soothing one to the young girl, and from what I had gathered Jeff often had his dog accompany the Tea Witch.

  Jamie showed up with Ashley a few moments later. The ornery Monstersmith was just waking up, apparently, with lidded eyes, unruly red hair, and a mug of coffee in her hands. She had been working nearly nonstop since the system dropped, even before I offered her a job on the Angel Express, and her schedule had slowly changed to working through the night and sleeping during the day. It suited her better.

  “Yeah, I’m here,” Ash mumbled without prompting.

  “Thank you,” I said, smirking. “Alright, is everyone ready to meet the elusive Patron known as Sara and hear about our big change of plans?”

  I was met with varying degrees of enthusiasm, but everyone was curious in one way or another. The Monstersmith became a little more awake. She had already used two of Sara’s feathers as materials, one for my current Heelies and one to curb the Demonic tendencies in an axe belonging to Manny, the leader of the Chaos Cup’s second place team.

  Opening the door, everyone was met with a long, golden room. Even though this was modeled after Sara’s Hall of the End, we both decided that it would look more Patronly than just another car on the train. Thus, everything was either white or gold..

  Esaraphelscion, my Patron and girlfriend, stood in the middle of the room. Her flaming hair was back in short curls that fell to her shoulders, and her orange eyes paired beautifully with her bronze skin. Today, her outfit was a golden dress with puffed sleeves. Of her six wings, four rested on her back and the bottom two came to meet in front of her.

  “Hello, everyone,” she said as we walked through the door. Her hair burned brightly, and the light of her halo fluctuated in intensity. No one else would know, but I could tell she was nervous. Still, she didn’t have the same stutter she had before, and I called that progress.

  As she spoke, she signed her words so Bethany could understand her. Mercury was usually in charge of that whenever someone who didn’t know ASL spoke to her, but at the moment that was only Jeff, Jamie, and Ash. They were making an effort, though, but learning a new language took time.

  To help her out, I moved beside her and turned to face the rest of the group. “This is Sara,” I introduced, also signing. “She’s an Angel known as a Seraphim, not to be confused with the scum sucker of an administrator in charge of my hometown. Given that she is a very private person, I would appreciate it if none of you ask about any background on who she represents.”

  “Thank you, Anthony,” Sara said, inclining her head graciously towards me. “It is a pleasure to meet all of you. Thank you so much for taking care of my avatar. I know he can be a handful, but that’s part of his charm. Please, take a seat wherever.”

  She turned, gesturing towards the chairs and couches throughout the car. Her throne was at the far end, and that’s where she headed. I was about to follow her when I heard excited noises coming from Bethany. Given her lack of hearing before the system, they came out as little grunts. I turned to see her enthusiastically signing to her brother, but I only caught the end of it.

  Mercury cleared his throat. “Um,” he started before he steeled himself, slipping into his roleplaying persona whenever he did when he was nervous. “This Mercury Moonslayer has a request from Belladonna Nightshade!”

  I translated for him as Sara stopped and turned around. Bethany looked horrified that her brother used his roleplaying name for her and smacked him on the arm.

  “I mean, Bethany Langston has a request,” he quickly corrected, signing a quick apology.

  “Please, go on,” she said.

  “Thank you, Lady Sara,” Mercury replied, licking his lips nervously.

  “Actually, her correct title would be Supreme Super Overlord of Heaven Sara,” I told him, keeping my face neutral. He shot me a wide-eyed look. “You would do well to use it.”

  “He can call me whatever he wants, Ant,” Sara laughed, chastising me though not without some humor.

  I cracked a smile. “Yeah, Sara’s cool like that. My bad, I guess.”

  Mercury snorted a quick laugh, and some of the tension left him as my joke seemed to land. “Bethany was hoping that she could hear your voice,” he said. “Our family was fairly religious, you know? I mean, I never got into it, but they did and she went to church with them. She’s heard a lot about how Angels have beautiful voices and she’s excited about hearing you now that she can but she’s got the whole sensory issue so it’s going to have to be quiet and-”

  Jeff placed a hand on the ninja’s shoulder, cutting him off. “Breathe, man.”

  Doing as instructed, Mercury nodded. “She just wants to turn off Sensory Control for a moment and hear you.”

  Sara tilted her head before smiling. “Of course she can.”

  We all watched as the Angel walked between us, her wings reaching out to gently brush against everyone. The Patron Car, unfortunately, only allowed for a holographic version of the Angel, so there was no actual contact. No one backed away from the touch, though. Sara crouched down in front of Bethany.

  “Let me know when you can hear me,” she signed.

  Bethany looked at the rest of us, fidgeting. We all nodded, not saying anything, and she opened her menu. Even though the train was in motion and somewhat loud, that was something she was used to. The rhythmic noise was actually more help than harm; she would often lay in bed and just listen to the sounds.

  Once she adjusted her controls, Bethany gave the go ahead to Sara. The Angel smiled, signing and whispering at the same time. “Thank you for taking care of everyone, Bethany,” she said lightly. “You’re doing a wonderful job, and your tea has been very helpful. In fact, I’m going to ask Anthony to send me a cup so I can try some.”

  At first, Bethany winced at the sound, but as Sara continued to speak a smile crept onto her lips. She beamed at the praise, and then panicked at the thought of the Angel trying her product. With a motion, she adjusted her Sensory Control and told Mercury that we could speak again before pulling out a table from her inventory. The Tea Witch began setting it up with different cups, pitchers, plates, and cakes.

  This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

  Then, she looked at me with wide eyes and signed frantically. “Please don’t send Lady Sara the old stuff I gave you! I have a new batch for everyone!”

  After Mercury translated for everyone, I responded. “I’ll wait. Though, with Bethany setting up refreshments, now’s a good time to get to the first order of business.”

  Everyone except the Tea Witch began sitting down, with Sara heading to her Patronly throne and everyone else taking random seats. I pulled out a piece of paper from my inventory along with a pair of reflective sunglasses I had received from the Dealer early on in Etson.

  <<<>>>

  [[Item]]

  Shades of the Scribe

  While wearing these tinted sunglasses, written language is automatically translated for you. Hidden text appears if any is present.

  <<<>>>

  “This is a System Contract and glasses that allow you to read it,” I explained, holding them both up. “It is a binding agreement enforced by the system itself. Not violently or painfully, just making you unable to go against what is written here.”

  “And what is written there?” Jamie asked, crossing her arms. She kept taking glances at Sara, but seemed fine compared to Mercury. “I’m not too keen on signing away any rights.”

  I nodded, as that was reasonable. “As you all know, the world is a dangerous place. However, around me, that goes double,” I started, looking everyone in the eye. “This is because of what happened in Virginia. According to Sara, and both Kayla and Mercury may be able to confirm this, the administrators created two new monsters specifically to fight me.”

  “Skuld said they were brand new,” Kayla confirmed.

  “Yeah, Marishiten said the same,” Mercury added. “And then wanted me to get out of there, but she understood when I wanted to help you all out.”

  “Wait, so the Writhing Nautilus and Guardian really weren’t just some curve ball you didn’t see coming?” Jamie asked, wrinkling her nose. “They actually made it specifically to fuck with you?” She took a quick look at Sara to see if the Angel had problems with her swearing, but she didn’t react other than to nod.

  “Not just fuck with me, but to kill me,” I answered. “You all have seen what I can do. Not just in a fight, but in terms of saving people. I’m bad for their game. Unfortunately, at this point, they know the Angel Express is mine and that y’all are following me. Now, I’m not going to fault anyone if they want to leave, but-”

  “Like we’re actually going to leave,” Jeff snorted, shaking his head.

  “We’re with you, psychic boy,” Kayla said.

  “Yeah. Those administrators will rue the day they slight the Warmonger and the Sol Ligatus guild!” Mercury exclaimed before nodding at his sister. “And Bethany’s in, too. She likes it here.”

  Ash sipped at her coffee. “Yeah, I’ll stay,” she said sleepily.

  Jamie was frowning when I glanced at her. She looked at everyone else to me, then leaned back in her chair and crossed her legs. “Yeah, whatever, I’m still in. More danger means better stuff. If you get me killed, though, I’m going to haunt you.”

  I smiled. The Weapon Master had gotten used to the guild now. She was attached, even if she didn’t want to admit it. Not only did she get great loot for doing her job, but she had a constant path to becoming stronger. It was the perfect setup for her.

  “Thank you all,” I said before once again holding up the System Contract. “However, this is just a precaution. Basically, it prevents people from saying things that would be seen as classified information. It only pertains to things spoken in this room with Sara present, and it’ll only keep you from actually saying things you’re not supposed to. Basically, it’s a non-disclosure agreement.”

  “That’s it?” Ash asked, arching an eyebrow. “What, don’t trust us?”

  “I do, but we’re only human,” I answered. “And our next destination is going to be one where we’ll be under a lot of scrutiny. There’ll be over a thousand players and a little over two hundred Patrons looking for avatars.”

  “So? I’m staying on the train regardless,” she scoffed.

  I gave her a thin smile. “Not really, actually,” I said. “That’ll be fine after the first set of floors, but we’ll be taking you on a couple of missions. Not fighting, of course. I’m not about to do that to you. There are a few material gathering spots, puzzles, and cooperative floors, though.”

  Ash made a face like she just smelled something foul. “And, let me guess, you want me to find a Patron, too?”

  “Only if you want to,” I replied with a shrug. “I’m not going to force anyone to do anything like that. Though I am going to request that Jamie not pick up anyone from where we’re going, because there’s going to be a better one for her later on.”

  “Yeah?” the Weapon Master asked. “Who?”

  “Athena, Ares’ sister and the Greek Goddess of Wisdom and Warfare.”

  That gave her pause, and she nodded. “Cool. I can go for that.”

  “What are we doing?” Ashley asked, crossing her arms and pushing the conversation back to where it was going.

  “That’s something we can discuss after everyone signs the NDA,” I told her before handing the contract and sunglasses to Kayla. She pulled out a pen after putting on the glasses, but took her time reading it. “However, I’m doing this for everyone’s safety. If you’d rather not sign it, you’re welcome to leave. The train car, I mean. I won’t kick you out of Sol Ligatus, but we can’t discuss what’s going on next with you here.”

  My words settled over the group, and they thought about it. Bethany’s tea kettle started whistling, grabbing attention. She took it and started pouring a cup for everyone including Sara, though I could see that the Angel’s was much nicer than everyone else’s. The girl put a small pastry on the side of the tray and brought it over to me.

  “For Lady Sara,” Bethany signed before returning to her table.

  I sniffed it, but didn’t drink. It was delightfully fragrant, smelling of some type of berries. Taking the whole tray into my inventory, I offered it as a tribute to my Patron. This was something that any Avatar could do, but it wasn’t something I did often. The only times I had used it were with some foods that Sara wanted to try as well as Pustibule’s weapons and tools.

  A moment later, the Angel received the tray. She picked up the tea and sniffed at it with a smile on her face. Gingerly, she took a sip even though it was still too hot for any of us mortals to drink, and her face lit up.

  “This is amazing, Bethany,” she said and signed.

  The Tea Witch wasn’t looking at her, as if afraid to hear it wasn’t good, but Mercury caught her eye and passed along the message. An adorable blush covered her dark cheeks as she smiled. Still, she kept her head down as she served everyone else.

  “This looks fine to me,” Kayla said before signing it. “Everything Ant said is in there. Only classified information can’t be disseminated to the outside world to protect us from administrators and Patrons. I’m willing to sign it.”

  “Same,” Jeff said, taking it from his wife. He put on the glasses and started signing the contract as soon as he found where. “Sara knows I’m probably the most likely to accidentally spill guild secrets.”

  “Pass it over here next,” Mercury requested. Once the Knight was done, I Pushed everything over to the ninja so no one had to get up. He read through it and signed, and then had Bethany do the same.

  “Ash? Jamie?” I asked once they were done.

  “Fine. I still have to make that big weapon, anyway,” the Monstersmith grumbled.

  Jamie eyed her for a moment before nodding. “Yeah. I’m still in,” she repeated.

  I Pushed the System Contract and Shades to them. They took their time looking it over, but knew time was limited in the Patron’s Car so they eventually signed it. I Pulled it back to me, putting both in my inventory though I sent the contract to Sara.

  “And signed,” she said after doing the same.

  “Even you?” Jamie asked.

  Sara nodded. “I may be Anthony’s Patron, but I’m as invested as the rest of you. There’s nothing more I want to see than Sol Ligatus succeed. That means all of you. If some administrator tries to bully me for answers, as unlikely as that is, now there won’t be any chance of me saying something I’m not supposed to.”

  “And I really appreciate that, Sara,” I said honestly before standing up. My tea and cake hovered beside me as I Lifted the tray Bethany handed me. I took a bite, nodding appreciatively at the fluffy confection, before setting it back down. “Alright, now that that’s all settled, I can start properly.”

  All eyes turned on me, and I set my hands on my hips.

  “The event we were expecting to happen has been pushed back because the administrators are trying to figure out what to do with me,” I explained. “Therefore, my brilliant plan is to try and sway the court of public opinion. Ladies and gentlemen, we’re heading to New York, New York to participate in the very first Patron sponsored event in the United States: the Emperor’s Ascent, brought to you by the Zodiacs. And we’ve only got an estimated two weeks to conquer the Empire State Building. What fun, right?”

  Hasegawa Kein.