Chapter 6

-Alec-

As I watched hundreds of minions throw themselves into the smelting pot on the screen - I should probably ask the crazy girl for more recommendations the next time I meet her - I heard the familiar sound of Brian arguing with someone coming from the stairs up to the loft. Then I realized Lisa was still here - she'd been pacing back and forth since he called to explain the situation to us - and whoever was with Brian didn't sound anything like Bitch, who said she'd be at the shelter for the rest of the night when Lisa called her. Who the hell is it, then? I set down the controller and got off the couch, then grabbed my scepter just in case.

He walked inside with a girl I vaguely recognized as the same one that had walked up to us on the Boardwalk a few months ago and congratulated Brian on finding two new girlfriends. Another girl slipped in behind them.

"—don't really get to call me out for keeping secrets, bro." the first girl said, rolling her eyes.

"I was trying to keep you safe, Aisha!" Brian responded in a tone that made it clear it wasn't the first time he had to say it in this conversation. The other girl slipped past everyone and headed towards the rooms.

"Keeping me safe how, you idiot? By making sure that if something happens to you on the job, I'll never know, and if someone goes after me because of your job, I'll never see them coming? Do you seriously think that was safe for me?" Aisha half-yelled back at him.

"Can you two do this later?" Lisa complained. "We still have to decide what—"

"No, keep going, you're reminding me of home!" I interrupted her. Not that my homelife was anything to emulate. I ran away for a reason, after all.

"This is not the time for jokes, Alec," Brian glared at me. He thinks I'm joking. "We're dealing with an insane Master willing to out us, dammit."

"Actually, no," Lisa and Aisha both answered at the same time. Brian raised an eyebrow.

"I figured it out back at the Boardwalk," Aisha explained, making me glad I didn't take Tats up on that particular bet. The blonde herself looked as if she wasn't sure she should be smug that she got it right or annoyed that she didn't get to take my money.

"...Fine, then. Still a crazy Master. Aren't you worried—"

Lisa's room's door opened, cutting Brian off. Cassandra walked out, wearing a shirt and skirt clearly taken from Lisa's wardrobe. The shirt was a more than a little short for her beanpole frame. As we watched her, she casually walked over to the chair that still had the bag of marbles on it, removed one marble, set the bag down next to the chair and sat down.

"Greetings, Serpent's Paws. I thank the Fox for her fur."

I enjoyed the rare sight of Lisa being completely taken aback, until the blonde gathered her wits again.

"You can't just take my stuff!" she yelled indignantly.

Cassandra looked at Aisha with uncertainty, "Are your brother's compatriots not a band of thieves and ne'er-do-wells?" the crazy girl tried to ask, but the younger girl was too busy laughing. Getting no help on that front, the girl finally ventured to offer "...I can give you dead faces?" as she pulled a wallet out from somewhere. I didn't need to be Lisa to tell it didn't initially belong to her, which only made Aisha laugh harder.

"Maybe you should just let the girl that lost her shirt saving our teammate from Hookwolf have that, Lisa?" Brian suggested nervously.

Lisa grumbled something that may have been "oh, fine," then stepped forward to grab the wallet, moving as if she was trying to snatch a bone from a very big dog. Cassandra watched her with an airy smile.

Once at a safe distance - that is, as much behind Brian as she could manage while not being obvious about it - Lisa finally decided to start asking questions.

"Now then, how did you know Rachel's about to fight Hookwolf? How did you find Alec last night? Aisha's mom? How did you find out about our boss?"

"The three madmen whispered of it in my ear. The Forgotten Demon amuses them, and so is in their favor."

"Well, that's certainly reassuring," I said, while Aisha poked an exasperated Brian with her elbow.

"See, bro?" she stage-whispered. "We're friends!"

Lisa just rubbed her forehead, then froze up.

"Why do you call Aisha that?" the less crazy of two Thinkers asked.

"The Brother casts shadows upon the eyes of men. The Sister may one day cloud their minds."

The entire room went still at that. We all knew powers don't come easy, except for Aisha who was slowly breaking out into a grin only to go cross-eyed as Cassandra shook a finger at her.

"Beware this power, Unseen Girl. It is like a fish," she warned the girl, her tone serious despite the nonsense spewing forth.

Aisha blinked, her grin faltering. "A fish?" she asked incredulously.

"Yes. An angry fish!" the crazy girl elaborated. "Fresh from the sea."

"Uh, can anyone translate that?" Aisha pleaded. Nobody made an attempt, but Lisa had that look on her face she always did when she had to remind herself to save her power for later.

"Anyway," Lisa said with a long-suffering sigh, "that still leaves the problem of what we're supposed to do with you. You don't intend to live under her bed forever, do you, Cassandra?"

"Her name's Taylor," Aisha corrected even as Taylor nodded, though who she was agreeing with was anyone's guess. "But she said she's not sure if she should still call herself that after what happened to her." More nodding followed from the crazy chick in question.

I briefly wondered what that had to feel like. Jean-Paul "Hijack" Vasil might not have been my name for a long time now, but none of it felt like a different person.

"I shall claim another dark hole if I must, then," Taylor spoke after a moment of thought, causing Aisha and me to snort. Aisha looked around the loft and lit up.

"Hey, there's four of you and six rooms. She can sleep here!" she said cheerfully.

"One of them's the bathroom," Brian corrected,

"It's fine!" I proclaimed, holding up a hand to cut Brian off. "She can totally sleep in the tub!" Not going to lie, the fact that crazy girl seemed to be seriously considering it took a little joy out of the joke. Aisha kicking me in the shin for it did make me feel a little better though.

Brian just sighed and ignored the both of us. "I still don't think it's a good idea to let her sleep in the same place we do. Then there's Rachel's reaction to think about, I don't even want to think what she'll do if we take someone in without asking her."

"Oh, come on already," Aisha complained. "She didn't hurt me, she promised not to hurt you, and if she wanted to get you in your sleep, it's not like she couldn't do it anyway! And it's not like Rachel will even have to talk to Taylor, she sleeps through the whole day anyway," she finished as if she'd already won the argument.

"I'll call her and ask after we're done here," Lisa said. "That is, unless any of you object?"

I've slept under the same roof with crazier people. "Fine by me, I guess," I said.

"It'll have to do, I suppose," Brian sighed in resignation.

"Hide the huntress from the angry eye and the sharp trees," Taylor nodded.

"Alright, then. I'll call Rachel, see what she thinks," Lisa said, pulling out her phone and heading towards the window. After a conversation that involved a lot less shouting than I expected, Lisa pocketed her phone with a raised eyebrow.

"She's fine with it. For now. Apparently she liked the way you made Hookwolf go away." Even I can hear the concern in Lisa's voice at that. Hookwolf is… scary. "We'll clear out the storage room for you, I guess."

While Brian and Taylor were taking the boxes out of the room - and boy was Brian annoyed when he realized Taylor could lift more than he did - I turned to Lisa.

"Do you have any idea how, exactly, she 'made Hookwolf go away'?" I asked. She smugly opened her mouth and paused.

"...I actually don't know," Tats admitted.