41. P O W E R : Aftermath

The Future of the Corporealm.

ONE MONTH AFTER "ULTIMATUM"

Xirxine International.

Every chairperson was present—in person—for the meeting.

Well, it wasn't exactly one meeting, but rather several taking place in the same room at the same time. Each chairperson of their respective haven was discussing plans that would be carried out in the near future with representatives from Xirxine International.

Xirxine Xishuangbanna's chairpersons, Chen Mao and Jialin Jia, spoke with a conglomerate of magiscientists from every haven about the development of the New Havens via "Project HAVENworld".

Xirxine Daintree's chairman, Arthur Bright, was getting animated over the prospect of establishing the "Safe Haven Olympic Games", which would include Wonderkind participants (who had been barred from the normal Olympics due to their enhanced abilities).

Xirxine Amazon's chairwoman, Nela Silveira, was delivering a passionate speech about the urbanization and correlating deforestation of the Safe Havens, her voice only growing louder as it became increasingly apparent that her words were falling on deaf ears.

Xirxine Antarctica's chairman, John Nukilik, introduced his new Worthy to the representatives, looking happier than he had in a long time. Surprisingly, the Worthy were mostly middle-aged, in stark contrast to those in the other havens—but as John was saying, a little experience never hurt.

Xirxine Northeast's chairpersons, Saitov Ivanovich and Rykova Pavlensky, were attempting to separate themselves from any connection to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, but neither could tell whether they were succeeding or not.

And of course, Xirxine Northwest's chairpersons, Abidan and Renee Derschwitz, were conversing with the director about Operations "HELLFIRE" and "HEAVENBOUND". A few of their selected operatives—Petrus Draconis, Custos Ferrus Drake, and Damian Beasley (who had recently changed his legal name to sever ties with his father's devilish façade)—were present as well, keeping quiet but listening intently to the discourse.

-

"Any word on the Sacrosanct?"

Ferrus shook his head in response to Damian's question. "Not a peep since they revealed themselves," he answered in a mutter, arms crossed. "And Tabula Rasa hasn't responded to the interrogations. He resists Kardios's heart-seeking, just like Eve."

"Speaking of..." Damian raised an eyebrow.

Ferrus sighed heavily. "Eve is staying silent as well," he said in response to the unasked question. "She refuses to say anything about the child. We've tried everything, but nothing is working. However, the girl is safe, and that's all we can ask for at the moment."

You are all weak, Draconis growled. Too weak to sway the mind of a defeated sorceress. If I could still command my shards, I would have commanded her will many weeks ago.

"And who's to say that would activate the hex regardless?" Ferrus snapped in response. "Even if we got her to tell us how to undo the hex, if that started the countdown, we'd have to secure the child and get her to a magician before she detonates. We don't even know how long the countdown is, or if it will simply be instantaneous!"

"*Ahem*"

Ferrus paused and glanced at the chairwoman, who made a "quiet down" gesture at him. He frowned but gave a reluctant nod in response.