Mina feels like hell frozen over. It had been a month since her failed demigod tests, but she still feels some of the residual metal floating around inside, tainting her blood. She thought the blood sickness would have worn off by now, and granted, she’s certainly feeling better than the day after the testing… But healing is a long process. On multiple counts.
Mina sits at the table in their kitchen and rocks the glass of water in her hand, watching it slosh. She doesn’t think she can stomach breakfast right now. She hears footsteps as someone walks swiftly through the house, and looks up to see Fin grabbing something from the kitchen before disappearing again.
Then Fin pops his head back in the kitchen and looks at her with a frown.
“Shouldn’t you be in bed?” he says.
Mina absently rubs a hand over the scars from her demigod tests: thin lines, all in a row, stacked on her upper arm. The bruises had since faded, but sometimes they still itch.
“Shouldn’t you be at the House of Royals?” she replies.
He looks awful too, like he hasn’t been sleeping. Mina wonders what his excuse is. She knew he’d been going out late most evenings. It was probably because of his new responsibilities as head of the Enfield family. Fin has a tendency to drown his sorrows when he’s stressed, so it wouldn’t surprise her if he’s currently nursing a hangover.
Fin leans against the kitchen door frame and regards Mina.
“Change of plans,” he says.
Mina raises an eyebrow.
“Oh?”
Fin blinks at her slowly and gives her a lazy smile.
“I suddenly feel like playing hooky,” he says.
“When don’t you feel like playing hooky?”
“I’ve been good lately!” he protests. “Besides, you look like you could use some fresh air too.”
Mina sighs, setting down her glass of water.
“What did you have in mind?” she says.
“I thought we could check in on an old friend,” Fin says casually.
Too casually. Mina narrows her eyes and refuses to take the bait. Fin pauses as he waits for her to say something, and when she doesn’t, there’s a flicker of disappointment on his face. But it’s gone as soon as it appears, and he covers it with a wry smile.
“Lucian’s been asking about you,” he says.
Mina feels something surge through her nerves at the mention of his name. She hasn’t seen him in almost a year now, and only the one time. Still, evidently he’d left an impression on her if just talking about him makes her feel all tingly. Mina tries to hide her blush by taking a drink of water.
“Has he?” she says, also too casually.
Fin grins wolfishly.
“No,” he says. “But I got your attention, didn’t I?”
Mina glares at Fin for that, and tries to ignore the disappointment she feels that Lucian hadn’t been asking about her. Why would he? She’d insulted him last time they'd talked. He was probably happy to never see her again. Still…
“You want to visit Lucian?” she says.
“A surprise. He hates surprises,” Fin says, rubbing his hands together.
“You want to piss him off?”
“It’s good for him,” Fin says with a dismissive wave of his hand.
Mina looks down at herself with a scowl.
“You really think it’s a good idea for me to walk around the Moon Level in my current state?” she says.
“Probably not. But I’ve grown tired of having good ideas.”
There’s a darker edge to that last part of Fin’s statement that startles Mina. She looks at his face, but he looks cool as always. Something isn’t right with him, but she can’t place it.
It’s the stress, she reminds herself.
He probably did need to play hooky today. Fine. She’d go for his sake. And to absolutely no benefit of her own. She definitely isn’t excited at the prospect of seeing Lucian again, not at all.
Despite herself, Mina smiles at Fin and stands up, leaving the water glass on the table.
“In that case, I’ll go get dressed,” she says.
Some kind of tension visibly loosens in Fin, and he quirks a smile back at her.
“Bring a coat,” he says.
The blood sickness is still making her feel feverish in unpredictable waves, so the last thing she wants to do is bundle herself up. She’d probably pass out from the heat, which would not only be embarrassing, but was also a dangerous thing in the Moon Level. Mina shakes her head.
“Nope,” she says, skirting past Fin.
Fin looks at her, amused.
“Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” he says lightly.
Fin and Mina step into one of the elevators leading to the Moon Level: Fin with cool self-assurance, Mina with tentative movements. She hates these things. Fin gives a nod to the clockwork automaton operating the elevator, which tilts its head in response, looking at them with its glowing, white disks. It seems confused to be acknowledged at all. It says nothing though, simply pulling the lever to close the elevator doors. The iron grate doors rattle as they snap shut, and Mina takes a breath to calm herself. Elevators feel like little prison cells, and she isn’t comfortable knowing that the only thing that stands between her and plummeting to her certain death is a series of pulleys and wires, no matter how “well-engineered” House Narat claimed they were.
The elevator jolts, and Mina’s hand shoots out and grabs Fin’s elbow to steady herself. Fin gives her an amused look, and Mina pointedly avoids looking at him.
“Ladies and gentlemen, my fearless sister,” Fin murmurs.
“Shut up…” Mina mutters back.
Mina spares a glance for the automaton. She’s not sure why, but she half expects it to be judging her for her reaction. It doesn’t though. The automaton stares blankly into space as they descend, and Mina can faintly hear the whirring and clicking of its clockwork beneath the greater roar of the elevator’s gears.
Mina wonders what it’s thinking about. Or if it’s thinking anything at all. Automatons were one of Auroris’ oldest mysteries. No one really knows how they work, not even House Narat, who constructed them. She’s under no illusion that she can solve that centuries-old question anytime soon, but musing on it distracts her for the duration of the elevator ride, making it more bearable.
Then the elevator releases one last shudder as they safely land on the Moon Level, and Mina releases a breath she didn’t realize she was holding. The doors clank open as the automaton pulls the lever again, and Mina can’t seem to get out fast enough. Fin exits at a more leisurely pace, but not before saying something to the automaton.
“Thank you,” he says.
The automaton’s gears click for a moment as it stares at Fin. Though it has no mouth, a small, child-like voice emanates from deep within its mechanical casing, tinny and distant.
“You’re welcome.”
Mina watches the automaton close the elevator doors again and begin its long journey back up to the Sun Level. She tries to ignore the unsettling feeling she gets from hearing it speak, and focuses instead on the unsettling feeling she has from standing in the Moon Level, now bathed in electric, blue light.
Mina feels like she’s practically running to keep up with Fin’s longer stride, an awkward shuffle in her steps. He doesn’t usually walk this fast. Or maybe Mina is just feeling extra sluggish because of the blood sickness. Either way, it had only been a few minutes, and she’s already winded.
“Any particular reason you’re making me run, Fin?” she asks.
Fin slows his steps and looks back at her. Then he pauses for her to catch up with a flicker of guilt on his face.
“Not feeling well?” he asks.
Mina heaves in a breath before responding.
“No, not really.”
Fin hesitates and glances around the street. From what Mina can tell, they’re alone here. Fin leans in closer to her, keeping his voice low.
“This isn’t the kind of place we can hang around, Mina.”
“So sorry to inconvenience you.”
“Not that. You just… You carry yourself like a noble. People have started to notice.”
Mina glances around warily. As her eyes adjust to the dim, blue lighting, she starts to realize that they’re not alone after all. Within the shadows, she sees grubby little faces watching her, children with a hunger in their eyes that might not be just for food. Street rats.
Her brother’s shift in mannerism suddenly makes sense. Fin wasn’t moving like a noble because he was moving like…
A rat… Mina thinks.
It was a side of Fin she often forgot about, but he’d spent the first twelve years of his life among the Moon Level street rats. Old habits must die hard. Still, they’re only children. Mina doesn’t see why he’s so worried about them.
“Can’t you just… Use your magic to keep them from trying to rob us?” Mina whispers.
“I’d rather not draw the wrong kind of attention,” Fin says darkly.
“From the street rats?”
“No. From the people they work for.”
His words harken back to what he’d told her right after her failed demigod tests. That having magic wasn’t such a good thing. That everyone wanted what you had. Mina supposes that’s doubly true for someone like Fin and his exceptional breed of magic.
“I mean, I can try to keep pace with you, Fin, but the blood sickness…” Mina says.
Fin closes his eyes and rubs a hand across his face with a long suffering sigh.
“No, I know…” he says.
Fin looks at Mina with a frown.
“Fine,” he says.
“Fine… Fine what?”
“I’ll carry you.”
Mina laughs.
“What?” she says.
Fin doesn’t laugh though, and simply bends his knees.
“Hop on,” he says.
“Fin, I’m not ten anymore,” Mina says through gritted teeth.
“Don’t care. This is faster.”
“I thought you didn’t want to draw attention?”
“It’s a bit late for that, now that you’re making a scene.”
Mina grumbles under her breath, “This is humiliating…”
But she clambers onto Fin’s back and wraps her arms around his neck. Fin hikes her up with a grunt as he stands up straight.
“Shit, Mina, what have you been eating lately?”
“Fin, I will choke you out.”
Fin snorts.
“I’d like to see you try.”
Mina didn’t want to admit it, but she had been starting to feel feverish again. Fin carrying her seems to help the fever subside as she has a moment to catch her breath.
“See?” Fin says quietly. “They’re back to ignoring us.”
Sure enough, the street rats had gone back to their own business. It didn’t make any sense to Mina. If they had done something like this in the Sun Level, everyone would have been looking at them.
“How did you know that would work?” she says.
“Three things… One, now you’re not straggling, so you’re not as easy of a target. Two, they can see that at least one of us knows what we’re doing.”
“And three?” Mina asks dryly. She doesn’t think she wants to know.
“Three, you make for a good projectile. I can just throw you at them, and they’ll scatter. How’s your cannonball?”
Mina gives him a good smack for that.
Fin sees the towering structure that is the Temple of the Moon rise up through the mist long before Mina does, but that’s because he knows where to look. He lived at the temple for four years. And trained. It was a hard thing to forget. Fin pushes down the unpleasant memories as Mina finally notices the temple. She had been resting her chin on his shoulder quietly for the past few minutes - she really was sick - but now she abruptly sits up straight and points it out, almost throwing Fin off balance.
“That’s the Moon Temple?” she says.
“Yep.”
“It’s huge! How did I miss it?”
“The stories say that Luna is a goddess that goes unnoticed until her power is on full display. She prides herself on being the silent watcher of the Moon Level. You’re not supposed to notice the temple unless you’ve done something to warrant looking at it.”
Fin also tries not to think about the religious implications as to why he spotted the Moon Temple before Mina did. He’s not the religious type. Unfortunately, Lucian is, and it means he’s forced to return to his old haunts whenever he wants to see his friend. Fin doesn’t usually come to the Moon Temple in person since he left. Typically, when he wants to see Lucian, they set up another place to meet that’s less likely to drive Fin to alcohol abuse afterward. Instead, he thinks about the inevitable look on Lucian’s face when they show up at the temple unannounced. Fin smiles smugly at the thought.
“Alright, get off. I like embarrassing you, but walking into the Moon Temple with you on my back is a step too far,” he says to Mina.
Mina releases her grip around his neck and slides down to the ground again. She was looking better already. It seems carrying her did her some good after all, despite all her protests. Fin stretches out his back and shoulders, feeling a small amount of irritation with himself. He hasn’t been working out lately, and though Mina has a slight frame, he hadn’t been joking about her feeling heavy. Though, that said more about him than it did her. He’d been slacking. Vaughn would be so disappointed in how he’d let himself go…
Not that he cares about what his old mentor thinks of him.
Fin blows out a breath and straightens his coat as he and Mina approach the large doors of the Moon Temple. Mina looks at the temple with fascination, admiring its architectural beauty, no doubt ogling the stained glass and intricate arches. She hasn’t been here before, and she’s always curious, absorbing everything about the world that she can. Fin looks at the temple and it looms, dark and heavy.
Whatever his emotions, he picks them up and stuffs them into a little box in the corner of his mind. This isn’t the time or place for them. Get Lucian. Leave. That’s all.
Gods, I hope the Priestess isn’t here…
But his hand is on the door now, and Mina’s beside him. She can’t know any of this. Fin opens the door and steps into the Moon Temple, his little sister trailing behind him like a comforting shadow, completely oblivious to what he’s thinking. Oblivious to the darkness behind the moon’s light.
It’s like the Moon Temple hasn’t changed at all in the last nine years. Everything about it is supposed to evoke a sense of awe and worship, and while it seems to have the proper effect on Mina, Fin is completely callous to it. He steps into the jaws of his past with all the bravado he doesn’t feel, and resolves to do so unflinching.
Fin slows to a comfortable pace and looks around, as though he’s taking in the sights like Mina is, and waits for someone to notice. It doesn’t take long.
“Fin?”
Fin feels his heart sink. He knows that voice. But he turns with an easy smile, ready to embrace the closest person he ever had to an actual mother. For four years, anyway. It feels like a lifetime ago.
“Helen!” he says.
The woman looks simultaneously pleasantly surprised and irritated to see him. It amazes Fin how the combination sits so naturally on Helen’s face, blending seamlessly with her growing laugh lines. But she accepts his offer for a hug anyway, squeezing him a little too tight.
“I ought to throttle you,” she says.
“I missed you too,” Fin replies.
“How long were you going to make me wait until you came to visit?” she says.
Helen’s tone is sharp, but there’s a warmth there as well. He really did miss her.
“Only as long as it would take until you didn’t actually throttle me,” he says.
Helen gives him a sharp smack on the back of the head. Yup. Still hurt.
“Then you should have waited longer,” she says, pulling away from the hug.
Fin rubs the back of his head and tries to pretend like it isn’t sore, while Helen turns her attention to Mina, who watches the whole exchange with a mask of polite curiosity covering smug amusement.
“You must be Mina!” Helen says, extending a hand in greeting.
Mina blinks in surprise, shaking Helen’s hand. “You… Know me?”
“You’re Fin’s adoptive sister. Lucian’s mentioned you,” Helen says.
Mina gives Fin a side-eye.
“Oh, really?” she says.
Fin gives her a shrug. Helen looks like she wants to say more, but Fin doesn’t want to be standing in the Moon Temple any longer than he has to.
“Speaking of Lucian, where’d he run off to?” Fin cuts in.
“Lessons,” Helen says, with all the ease of a well-rehearsed lie. She’s good, Fin gives her that. Even Mina probably wouldn’t pick up on it.
“Lessons?” Mina asks, raising an eyebrow.
“The Moon Temple prides itself on giving each of its servants a thorough education. Does the Sun Temple not do the same?”
Helen says the jab good-naturedly, but Mina frowns. Fin sometimes forgets the inherent loyalty Mina feels toward her home. He thinks she probably does too, until she’s faced with someone who doesn’t share the same love.
“Admittedly, I don’t go into the Sun Temple often enough to know,” Mina says.
Gracious, Mina…
She was getting better at that. The sister he knew five years ago would have gone off on Helen for the slight.
“Any chance you could fetch him for us, Helen?” Fin asks.
Helen looks between the two of them for a moment, considering.
“Perhaps…” she says, a twinkle in her eye.
Fin sighs and shuffles his feet.
“I promise, I’ll come visit you again soon,” he says.
Helen looks at Mina, and then looks at Fin, tilting her head at him with a knowing smile.
“I’ll see what I can do,” she says, slowly turning on her heel.
As Fin and Mina wait for her return, Mina starts to wander the main sanctuary of the temple, looking around, but keeping a respectful distance from anything that looks sacred. Fin waits and stares at the ceiling, making a calculated decision to avoid looking at the faces of anyone else currently in the sanctuary. He carefully moderates his breathing and expression so no one knows how much he hates it here. A calm aloofness seems like an appropriate attitude. Lately, Fin had had a lot of practice with that in the House of Royals. Though, perhaps he’d had practice his entire life. Pretending to be someone is like second nature to him now. Whether or not who he pretends to be is who he actually is deep down is a question he can’t answer anymore.
“What are you doing here, Fin?”
Lucian says it quietly, but with a little hiss in his voice that says he’s not pleased.
Fin turns to Lucian, trying to remain aloof, but he can’t help the genuine grin that slips through anyway. He was right, the look on Lucian’s face is priceless. He’s furious, but trying to hide it.
“I thought everyone was welcome in the Temple of the Moon?” Fin says.
Lucian jabs a finger into Fin’s chest.
“Don’t,” he says.
Fin ignores him.
“Lessons going well?” he asks.
Lucian pauses, taking note of the parishioners within earshot.
“They’ll go a whole lot worse if Vaughn and Iris come back and see I’m talking to you instead of studying.”
Fin crosses his arms and smiles smugly.
“So they’re out right now.”
“The answer is no, Fin.”
“But we came all this way to see you…” Fin says, letting his words trail off. It has the exact effect he thought it would.
“We?”
Then Lucian spots her across the room. Mina happens to look over at the same moment and they lock eyes. Mina gives Lucian a cheerful smile and starts coming over. Lucian goes pale. He turns to Fin, and Fin tries not to laugh at the barely-concealed horror on Lucian’s face.
“You brought Mina here?!”
“She wanted to see you again,” Fin says.
Lucian hesitates, then shoots Fin a glare.
“You’re lying,” he says.
“I’m not.”
Lucian rocks on his heels for a moment, his lips tight. Then he throws his hands in his pockets and angles himself away from Mina.
“That’s not the point. That girl is the last person who should see me here, and you know it,” he says.
Lucian’s expression shifts to one of genuine concern and the slightest bit of hurt underneath.
“She could ruin everything, Fin.”
Fin understands the unspoken question behind Lucian’s words: Why would you bring the sharpest mind of the century to my door and force me to lie to her?
But Fin knows the answer.
Because I care for you both.
Fin throws an arm around Lucian’s shoulder and angles him back toward Mina.
“Then I guess you’ll just have to come with us before she starts asking questions about what you do here,” he says, his voice low.
Lucian looks at Fin with a pained expression. Then Mina arrives.
“Lucian.”
“Mina.”
Fin gives Lucian a pat on the shoulder and starts backing up toward the doors.
“Well, now that everyone’s re-acquainted, we should get going,” he says. “I know a place.”
Lucian groans.
“Drinking again?”
Mina’s face scrunches.
“Fin, I… Probably shouldn’t have alcohol right now.”
Fin rolls his eyes, circles back behind them, and starts pushing them both toward the doors.
“Then I’ll drink for the both of you,” he says.
“You do that on your own already,” Lucian mutters.
Mina snickers at the joke, but Fin ignores them.
“And I’m not paying for anyone else this time,” Fin adds.
“You didn’t last time anyway,” Mina points out.
“Semantics.”
At the thud of the Moon Temple doors closing behind them, Fin suddenly feels lighter than he has in months.
As Fin leads the way to their intended destination - which he still hasn’t told Lucian what it is - Lucian and Mina trail back a little farther. Normally, Lucian doesn’t like taking his sweet time getting anywhere, but he’d noticed Mina was falling behind, so he slows to keep pace with her. Lucian half wonders if Fin is leaving them in the dust to force them to talk to each other again. Even if he is, it seems rude to abandon Mina in the Moon Level when she clearly doesn’t know what she’s doing. Since leaving the Moon Temple, they’d passed half a dozen potential problems that Lucian had easily turned away with eye contact and a “don’t mess with me” expression, but Mina hadn’t noticed any of it. Her deductive abilities are impressive, but her situational awareness is apparently sorely lacking. Lucian knows Fin can handle himself in the Moon Level better than anyone. Mina, on the other hand, is a sitting duck. If Fin is going to insist that Lucian be the one to keep her safe, he accepts the responsibility, and only a little begrudgingly.
“Can I ask you something?” Mina says.
Lucian is wrenched out of his thoughts by the question. He isn’t used to making small talk, and sometimes he forgets to talk entirely. When Aaron isn’t around, he usually moves about the world in blissful silence. Having company is strange and unusual.
“What?” he says.
Lucian almost doesn’t notice it, but Mina misses a step before speaking. She chews on her lip for a moment.
“Why do I scare you?” she says finally.
Oh. He’d forgotten he’d told her that. He dredges up the memory of their previous conversation.
“I didn’t say you scare me. I said you terrify me,” he says.
“That’s… Objectively worse, Lucian,” she says with an uncomfortable laugh.
“Not really.”
“No?”
Lucian tilts his head thoughtfully.
“Fear comes from feeling that something is more powerful than yourself and outside of your control. To be scared is fear based on a lack of understanding. To be terrified is fear based on respect.”
“So, you’re saying that you see me as more powerful than you and outside of your control, but you respect me?”
“Something like that.”
There’s a silence between them, and Lucian thinks that’s the end of it, but then Mina speaks again.
“You’re… not going to elaborate?”
“I’d rather not.”
The truth is, Mina terrifies him because he can see what she’s capable of. At the moment, Mina is a neutral party, and of little threat to Lucian or the Moon Temple. But once she joins House Cassis? Then they’d find themselves on opposite sides of the law. The idea of playing cat and mouse with Mina is admittedly an exhilarating one, he enjoyed matching wits with her when they last spoke… But Lucian isn’t confident he can win that game. So the only way to win is to refuse to play. And yet here he is, playing this game that Fin forced him into, knowing full well where it will eventually lead.
It would be so much easier if she weren’t so damn endearing…
“Are you always so cryptic?” Mina says, annoyance lacing her words.
“It’s one of my better qualities,” Lucian says, glancing at the ground with a ghost of a smile.
Mina doesn’t respond, so Lucian looks at her face after a moment and sees a wry grin there.
“I can think of a few better ones,” she says.
And then she does things like that. Lucian doesn’t know if Mina’s flirtatious remarks are born out of genuine interest, or if she’s like that with everyone. The first option makes him feel all kinds of strange emotions that make his face warm, so he leans to the second, more likely option: that she’s just flirtatious by nature. Lucian raises an eyebrow and gives Mina a sideways glance, refusing to give her the satisfaction of embarrassing him.
“You don’t even know me, Mina.”
“But that just makes you more interesting, doesn’t it?”
“I hope you’re not planning to interrogate me again.”
Lucian says it as a joke, but there’s a warning there too. He can’t justify being around her if she keeps prying. He hopes that she’ll recognize that… Maybe he does enjoy her company, just a little.
Mina doesn’t have a chance to respond as Fin suddenly stops. Lucian and Mina share a glance and trail up behind him.
“Problem, Fin?” Lucian says.
Fin frowns and glances around them, considering. He’d led them behind a building: a coffee shop called “Muüd.” Maybe he’s lost. From what Lucian’s heard, the coffee here isn’t even any good.
Mina scoots closer to Fin and leans in with a stage whisper:
“Fin, the front door was back there…”
“I know that,” he says.
Fin steps forward and starts feeling around the bricks on the wall, running his fingers along the edges.
“He’s finally lost it,” Lucian says.
Mina crosses her arms and nods seriously in agreement.
“It was open last time,” Fin mutters under his breath.
“I thought we were going to a bar?” Lucian says, pacing around behind Fin with his hands in his pockets, looking behind them. At this point, it’s a force of habit to keep an eye out whenever Fin is doing something, even if that something doesn’t make any sense. Fin has a tendency to get them into trouble, but thanks mostly to Lucian, they haven’t been caught red-handed yet.
Fin doesn’t answer, but suddenly there’s a click from the wall. Fin steps back and observes proudly as part of the wall shifts slightly and reveals a door opening inward. He pushes the door open, and there’s a hallway on the other side. The warm light spills out onto the cobblestones, welcoming in a way that the Moon Level itself could never be. Strange that something meant to be hidden would invite to be found.
“When are you two going to start trusting me more?” Fin asks.
Mina shrugs, conceding the point. Lucian raises an eyebrow.
“When you start acting more trustworthy,” he says.
Fin clutches a hand to his chest in mock injury.
“Now that hurts,” he says.
“Good.”
“Remind me why I asked you to join us?” Fin says.
“Because of my charming personality,” Lucian says dryly.
Mina laughs at that. Lucian thinks he likes the sound of her laugh.
“Of course,” Fin mutters, “how could I forget?”
Fin leads the way into the strange hallway, followed closely by his sister. Lucian glances around one last time before joining them, carefully closing the hidden door behind them.
The hallway opens into a large room with booths lining the walls. Each of the tables is empty. Clearly this isn’t a popular place of business, though Lucian can understand why if they don’t even make their front door obvious. In the corner, there’s a small bar with a handful of stools in front of it. A single man stands behind the bar, polishing the glasses, and looks up at them with confusion etched on his face.
“We’re not open yet,” he says.
Fin spreads his arms in a disarming gesture and tilts his head to the bartender.
“I’m sure you can make an exception just this once,” he says. “We’re not that early.”
Lucian sees the bartender’s eyes glaze over, and the man nods absently. He sets the glass down and places his hands on the counter, looking at Fin expectantly.
“What’ll it be, then?” the bartender says.
Lucian narrows his eyes and steps forward so he can see Fin’s face. He sees the last bits of golden light fade from Fin’s eyes as the magic dissipates.
Of course he did… Lucian thinks with a spark of irritation.
Fin glances at Lucian, and there’s a flicker of guilt on his face when he sees Lucian’s expression. But before Lucian can say anything, Fin pointedly ignores him and approaches the bartender.
Lucian releases a slow breath to calm his temper as Fin continues to order from the bartender like nothing happened. Mina watches the whole exchange with curious eyes, no doubt trying to untangle what the issue is. The bartender goes in the back, and Fin takes a seat at the bar, not facing Lucian. He’s so casual. That just makes it worse.
Lucian goes over and slowly takes a seat next to Fin and gives him a look. Eventually, Fin can’t ignore him anymore, and he scowls.
“I know what you’re thinking. I swear, if you give me that damned speech about responsible magic use again, I’ll…” Fin trails off. There’s guilt fighting on his face.
They’ve had this argument a million times now. It probably isn’t a good idea to get into it again with Mina now taking a seat beside them. Then again, she already knows that both Fin and Lucian are demis, so any harm with talking about their magic around her has already been done.
“There’s no reason to use your magic here, Fin,” Lucian says.
Fin glares.
“I wanted to. That’s reason enough.”
“It’s dangerous.”
“All I did was get us into a bar before opening. There isn’t even anyone here. Relax.”
“You and I both know that you have trouble not using your magic when you start.”
“Lucian, it’s my magic, and I’ll use it however I damn well please,” Fin growls.
Lucian sits up straighter and looks at Fin in shock. He likes to act like being a child of Logos makes him untouchable. Like a quick wit and a sharp mind is any match against a bullet. Fin is probably the most powerful demigod Lucian has ever encountered, to the point where he’s grateful they’re on the same side, but even his power has its limitations.
Lucian’s aware that Mina’s listening in closely now, though she chooses to watch the argument play out. Apparently, Fin has no issue saying such things around her. Lucian wonders what kind of crazy ideas Mina probably has about demigods and magic thanks to Fin’s twisted perspective on it. Hopefully he hasn’t shared those thoughts anywhere near the House of Royals either, the last thing anyone needs is to have the whole city turn on demis.
He’s giving all of us a bad name…
The thought pisses him off. But Fin doesn’t listen to emotional arguments. Lucian forces down the anger so his words sound calm, but his lowering tone betrays him.
“That kind of attitude gets people killed, Fin.”
Fin laughs sharply.
“I didn’t realize you suddenly had compassion for human life, Lucian.”
It’s a slap in the face, and Fin knows it. As a Blade-in-training, Lucian hasn’t yet taken a life by his own hand. But he would eventually, and part of his training is to not flinch when the time comes. Fin had the exact same training. The difference is that Fin flinched.
Lucian struggles to keep a harsh response behind his teeth as the bartender returns with whatever Fin requested. Instead, he glances at Mina, who’s sitting on his other side. She’s looking at him with her usual curiosity, but there’s something else mixed in too: suspicion. Great. Now she’s going to ask questions about what Fin said.
Perhaps she senses the tension between them though, because she turns and addresses the bartender.
“Why the hidden door?” Mina asks. “Seems like an unusual business strategy.”
Fin and Lucian exchange a glance, silently accepting the olive branch Mina has placed before them by changing the subject so abruptly. Fin takes a sip from his glass as he waits for the bartender’s reply, and Lucian tries to pretend like Fin isn’t getting under his skin. He never could put on a face like Fin could. He also doesn’t really want to. Though, he’s admittedly a little curious about the hidden door. Lucian thought he knew most of the secrets the Moon Level has to offer. Apparently not.
The bartender looks around as though he’s about to reveal a secret, though it’s all for show, considering there’s no one else present.
“There’s been talk of some in the House of Royals trying to outlaw booze. ‘Prohibition,’ they call it,” he says.
Mina looks surprised, then turns her attention to Fin.
“Is that true?” she says.
Fin looks into his glass with despondence.
“I’ve been trying to forget about that. But yes, there’s a small group of nobles trying to pass prohibition. I wouldn’t worry too much about it; there’s no reason it would gain traction.”
The bartender shakes his head.
“I’m not taking any chances. When every other seller has to close up shop, we’ll be staying open.” The bartender taps a finger to his temple, “House Cassis can’t shut us down if they don’t know we’re here.”
Lucian can’t help but glance at Mina with that. That plan only works if she keeps quiet about this place when she joins House Cassis. He wonders just how deep her loyalty to them will go. How deep is her loyalty to the Sun Level, for that matter?
If Mina is debating the same question, she doesn’t show it. Her brow furrows.
“I don’t understand, why are they trying to pass prohibition? What does anyone stand to gain?” she asks no one in particular.
Fin looks tired. He probably doesn’t like all this talk of work. Lucian leans on the bar and traces the pattern of the wood-grain with his finger.
“It’s about control,” he says.
Fin sighs, and the bartender nods in agreement. Mina looks between them, confused.
“What do you mean?” she says.
Lucian doesn’t bother to look up, but he can tell Mina’s hanging on his words.
“You tell me, you’re House Logos. What’s the Moon Level’s primary import?” he says.
“Fuel for the factories and…” Mina’s face falls when she realizes, “Alcohol.”
Lucian continues, “The Sun Level likes to keep the Moon Level dependent on it. Since the Sun Level doesn’t mass produce anything like the Moon Level does, they mostly handle imports rather than exports. But when the Moon Level starts excelling in imports…”
Fin glumly finishes the thought, “The Sun Level gets scared that the Moon Level will start to function independently.”
Mina frowns. “So you think they’re pushing for prohibition in order to prevent the Moon Level’s growing independence?”
Lucian tilts his head to Mina and gives her a rueful smile.
“Like I said. Control.”
Mina looks at the bartender.
“But that’s unfair to people like you. This is your livelihood,” she says.
The bartender shrugs.
“I’m Moon Level, sweetheart. We’re resourceful. Hence the door.”
Mina fiddles with the buttons on her sleeves.
“It shouldn’t have to be that way…”
Fin finishes off the last of his glass and looks at his sister with a hint of pride.
“What a world it would be if we all had your idealism, Mina,” he says.
Fin slides the now-empty glass over to the bartender. “Fill this up for me?”
Lucian sees the bartender’s eyes glaze over again. He gives Fin a swift kick to the shin as the bartender goes to fill up the glass.
Mina sighs and leans closer to Lucian.
“Thank you, I would have done that myself if I was closer,” she mutters.
Lucian smirks.
“Any time.”
You can read Part 2 of "A Matter of Perspective" right here!
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