Mythic (NaNoWriMo14)

Epilogue - The Blessings of Burdens

A week passed. 

Cayden's guess proved to be right. In the following days, the cardinals had kept her out of their meetings while Leristith recovered. After being brushed off one too many times, Rena made good on her promise and walked right on in, straight into the middle of a discussion as to what they were going to do with her and the rest of the Unbounds she'd invited to stay. 

She hadn't been alone, either. Mythics of all families stood behind her, and not just the Unbounds. It was probably around the time that the Order found themselves staring down a twenty plus group of Mythics that they'd agreed change was necessary, especially considering those were just the Mythics that had fit through the door.  

The dialogue had grown between them, and slowly but surely, Rena knew they were coming around. Not all of them were entirely there yet, but it wasn't like they had a choice. If they didn't like it, Rena had pointed out they had the option to leave Leristith, move to one of the more human-focused towns on the outskirts, the ones that ran without ley-imbued luxuries. None of them seemed keen on that idea. 

A small group had formed around her, dedicated to keeping communications between the cardinals and Mythics open. Allegra, Kiou, three other Unbounds, two of the Order's Mythics and one of the ex-chaotics and Rena herself were still battling their way through various swamps of paper and politics, though between them, Rena felt like they were making progress. Not as instant as she'd have liked, but progress. It'd take time to spread the same change through the other cities, but if they could change Leristith, they could change anything.

She couldn't help but wonder what Qariinn would think when he woke up, because he would. It might take several more days, but Rena knew he was too stubborn to spend the rest of his life asleep, healing his mind. 

Head in hand, Rena read through the latest document the Order had thrown at her. Though she'd made it clear that she wouldn't tolerate any sneaky loopholes in the various documents the Order gave her, it paid off to read them through. Every loophole they managed to work into their wording was another meeting she had to hold, another meeting someone had to hold to rectify it officially. 

The door cracked open, and Nazine's head poked through the space. 

"Rena!" he called, jumping inside. "And hi, Nix, if you're in there!" 

"She is," said Rena, relaying Nix's thoughts. "She says hi, and that she thinks your hair is especially shiny today."

Nazine gave her a smug grin and flipped his hair, much to Nix's internal excitement. "You think so?" 

"Calm down, pigeon boy," said Cayden, following through the doorway. 

Nazine gave Rena a withering look. "See what you've started? Pigeon boy. He never would have dared say that before you came along."

"That was before I dragged your unconscious behind halfway across the planet," said Cayden, flopping into a chair. "It gives me a few liberties, especially where the word pigeon is involved."

Though Nazine tried to preserve his dignity, both Rena and Nix cracked up into a fit of giggles at the sheer ridiculousness of his expression. 

"How's Kat doing?" asked Rena. 

Cayden grunted, repositioning himself before he replied. "She got her key back, if that's what you mean. I don't know if she'll be able to shadow-walk again for a while with what the Order did to her. It damaged more than just her key. Somehow, I think they're going to have to find themselves a new shadow Mythic. They'll be lucky if she doesn't make their lives hell when she can walk again." 

"Could be a good thing," said Nazine. "I mean, the Order is going to see what happens when they force the wrong Mythics into doing their will, especially one that worked for them beforehand, right? Consequences and all that?"