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Edited by: , 1/21/2021
Aurora flew the saucer to Mistral’s lodge. It was difficult to find it with GPS, since she had to turn to more realistic maps of terrain in order to get an actual idea of where she was. When she arrived, she parked a short distance away from the Sanctum.
Mistral walked from it to smile warmly when Aurora and Redline disembarked.
Redline waved at Mistral and then rushed over to her. “Hiya, Missy! Nice to see you again!”
Redline gave Mistral a hug, causing her to blush and laugh softly. When the quick hug ended, Mistral walked to Aurora to embrace her in a more amorous way. Her hands gave Aurora’s bottom a gentle squeeze out of sight of the other heroine. “I’ve been worried about you. “If only we were alone, I’d give you a more… intimate greeting.”
She released Aurora and led the way into her sanctum and gestured for the two to follow. “I brought a thermos of hot chocolate. It’s waiting inside.”
Redline was the last into the lodge and she shivered noticeably when she entered. “Uh …!” Her eyes darted around, searching for a reason for the chill she experienced. “That felt weird… a little like when we went into the ship.”
“Speaking of that…” Mistral looked at Redline with a little smile and then turned her eyes to Aurora to say, “I sense a great power on that ship of yours. It’s greatly muted. You have something magic in there, you said?”
Redline laughed. “Yeah… we have the VoiiiiiiidWoooooolf in there,” she said in a fake spooky tone.
“V-Void Wolf?” Mistral blinked, looking at Aurora for clarification.
Aurora smiled. “Well, I told you about what happened. That creature we fought in the ship called himself the Void Wolf. He’s affiliated with some of the Old Ones from what he said. Something you may understand something about. Basically, he and his kind are to blame for the corruption of the Empyrean race. They use shards of that dark power to supply a constant source of power into their ships and let them travel faster than light.”
Aurora thoughtfully smiled as she continued, “The ship is warp-capable, but only with the use of that shard. It’s another puzzle to work through, and I think another reason leaving it with you is a good idea since you could keep it contained. I want to get Dynamech’s help in replacing key parts for the ship. I’ll have to provide him with the schematics of it, but I don’t think anyone but the mystics of the Society of Sentinels can help with the shard. That’s something only you or Dragonmage could manage.”
Mistral nodded emphatically. “Yes, soon as I see you home, I’m going to put some strong wards onto that ship, just in case. No offense. I’ll take them down when you return, but for now, I want to make sure no one comes looking for it.”
Lifting the thermos she mentioned that waited by the fire, Mistral poured some cups for the two.
“Wow this place kinda smells like a gymnasium,” Redline said while sniffing the air. “And heavy incense. Lots of sweat and incense.”
Mistral nodded and handed the two their cups. “Much of the greatest magic comes from sweat and hard work,” she said.
The two accepted the cocoa and sipped their chocolatey hot treat. “My heroine!” Aurora exclaimed.
“No, my heroine.” Mistral winked.
“This stuff smells great!” Redline happily said.
Aurora blushed and drank. It was very refreshing, just what the angel needed after the day’s exertions. “Mmmm… sunlight’s the best thing for me, but this is just as warming and nourishing!” She let out a contented sigh. “I love your lodge. So cozy.”
“You too.” Mistral laughed. “Though I’d think you might prefer the apartment.”
Redline looked from Mistral to Aurora and back. “I feel like you guys have some kind of inside joke going here?”
Mistra laughed. “Sorry, we’re old friends. I practically discovered Aurora when she started her career.”
“Oh… that makes sense, kind of,” Redline said. “I mean that you guys would have something like that if you’ve known each other that long.”
Mistral nodded and grinned at Aurora with another wink.
Aurora finished her hot chocolate, perhaps a bit more quickly than she intended and handed the cup back to Mistral. “Thanks!”
“I guess that means you’re ready to go?” Mistral asked.
“I wish I could stay longer… People are waiting for me in San Isidro. After this is all settled, I’d love to come back and hang out. This mission we were on interrupted some personal issues back home. Plus, I have a few other calls to make. Goonie for instance.” Aurora wryly sighed. She hadn’t contacted her all day and she was probably worried.
If the news covered her actions when she rescued Mechanica from the police, she’d have found out that she was in trouble. “I wonder if M.A. took it on himself to contact her since he knows.” Mistral's eyes widened at that. “But he may not have.”
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Aurora hugged Mistral and whispered into Mistral’s ear, “I told both M.A. and Vanguard who I am. I will be back soon as I can. It was an exchange of trust. I’ll tell you more when I can. Be careful.” She planted a secretive kiss on Mistral’s ear before stepping away with a smile.
“Can we use the teleport to get back right away?”
“Of course!” Mistral said, smiling back.
Meanwhile, Redline was pacing around Mistral’s lodge, poking around at various objects. “This is some cool stuff. Very fetishy.” She looked at the fetishes made of carved bones. “Do you make this stuff, or is there a shop you go to? We should all go out some time, just the three of us. It’d be fun. We could find some cute guys or something!” She laughed.
Mistral looked at Aurora and they laughed together.
“What?” Redline laughed with them. “We’d go in our secret identities or at least not in full costume… it’d be fun, I’d think.”
Mistral shook her head and started chanting while she walked to the door. When she reached it, it opened and Aurora saw the inside of the houseboat that was first given to Aurora. Mistral leaned over to kiss Aurora on her cheek. “See you later.”
Redline rushed through and Aurora followed and the portal closed behind.
“This is the houseboat that the Society set up for me. It’s a private place, the first one that the Society found for me. It doesn’t have a computer in it, but knowing that I needed a place to be Aurora, Vanguard arranged for it and later found the Clubhouse-to-be.” With a smile Aurora looked around at the furnished cabin. “We can’t linger here, though it’s cozy and a very relaxing place. The clubhouse is actually still a fair distance away, yet.”
They stepped into the clubhouse-to-be proper and the Midnight Avenger looked up before they stepped into the pool of light, drawing caltrops from his belt. His eyes widened as Redline and Aurora came into sight. “You’ve arrived!”
Dynamech and Mocha woke up with gasps, “UH?!” Dynamech nearly slid off his chair to the floor.
“Yeah!” Redline said. “But why didn’t she set the portal to come here?”
Aurora chuckled. “She has to set a gateway up and it takes a lot of energy to do it plus she’d need to take the time. Since there’s one gateway set up, and this clubhouse-to-be was set up afterwards, I just need to travel a little. It doesn’t open for me, however. It’s one-sided. I just call her if I don’t want to fly for four hours or so. Hey Mocha.” Aurora walked across to the girl to pat her head. “Sorry to keep you waiting. Thanks for believing in me. I’m sure that I was destined to go.”
Mocha rose and grouched, looking upset, but then she threw arms around Aurora. Her embrace was more than a little crushing. “I was very concerned! What were you doing for so long?!”
Aurora beamed. “I have an Empyrean spaceship now. That’s what it was all about. Maybe once we clear your name, you’d like to help me upgrade and repair it?” Aurora hugged her back as tightly as she could.
“Are you saying what I think …? You’re in possession of an alien ship?” Mocha gasped. “New technologies!?” She started blushing as she pulled away. “Oh… um… I’m sorry if I’m a little emotional.”
Aurora looked at M.A. “Any word from Vanguard? I’d have thought he’d have come out here to keep you updated on the status of Mocha’s case.”
“He has,” the Midnight Avenger said. “Just a couple of hours ago, actually. But he had to go help with a disaster in Central America. The good news is that we can get Mocha declared a living being. We’re almost completely certain of that, but there is bad news…”
“I have to reveal my true self in a court of law,” Mocha said. “I’m… surprisingly uncomfortable with that idea.”
“Wait… you mean …?” Redline haltingly asked, “... you have to… take it off?”
“My skin, yes… ironically.” Mocha sighed. “After we verify my true nature, we also need to make a case that I am not ‘just’ a robot.” Mocha took a breath and her lips twitched as if she were about to cry.
“Well, I have some good news, as well,” Dynamech said. “But no one likes my option.”
“It’s demeaning.” The Midnight Avenger growled.
“I thought I might be able to buy the tech from Extensive Enterprises… well, the institute might at least, then we’d own the rights to Mocha here, and of course we’d let her self-determine.”
“I think that defeats the purpose of the exercise,” The Midnight Avenger replied.
“I think we should let Mocha decide what path she would prefer. We do want to choose the path that would give her the most freedom, but it’s up to her. I’ll support you no matter which path you choose.” Aurora hugged Mocha.
Mocha blushed when she was hugged and squirmed out from Aurora’s embrace. “Um… well, I think in terms of expense, it might be more cost-effective to be bought, rather than to spend money on a protracted legal battle.”
“Assuming they’ll sell, which I doubt they will,” the Avenger shook his head as he said.