"Recruiting more Legion members, is he?" Paris mused to himself, staring at the tablet. He hadn't been on the web much since the last attack, but apparently this ad had been out for a while. New members for the Legion...
He'd have to do something about this.
"Jase!" Paris knocked on the door, impatiently waiting to be let in. When a couple seconds passed without a response, Paris knocked again, this time for longer.
Finally a head popped out of the door - literally. Mist's disembodied head stared at him from about four inches in front of his face.
"What?" she asked, almost like she was irritated.
"I need to talk to Jase," Paris replied, trying his best to mask his exasperation.
"About what?"
"The Legion! Now get out of my way, kid."
Paris reached for the doorknob.
"Locked," Mist said flatly. A twist of his wrist confirmed she was right.
"Then unlock it," Paris said through his teeth.
"Jase is asleep. Come back later."
Mist's head disappeared through the door and Paris was left fuming.
Okay, fine, maybe 1 a.m. wasn't the best time to demand an appointment. Maybe he should have waited until the next day. But that begged the question - why exactly was Mist in Jase's room at that hour?
Paris decided to ignore it. It didn't matter. What did matter was that now he was sitting in a room with Jase - and, unfortunately, Mist as well. Didn't that girl know when she wasn't wanted?
"You apparently needed something from me?" Jase asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I was going to update you on my activities," Paris replied. "I noticed that Achilles has been recruiting new members for his Legion. I was thinking the Phalanx should do the same."
"That all? Don't worry about it. I've got it covered." Jase ran a hand over his head.
"Excuse me?"
"The Legion's recruiting, but we can't always be following their movements. It'd make it seem like we're copying them. Our current numbers are good. Well, I've been working on getting one or two additional Phalanx members, but that's my business."
"But if the Legion outnumbers us - "
"We set it up so they don't. Simple as that."
"Can't you tell me what you're planning? I'm supposed to be the one in charge, aren't I?"
Jase stared at Paris for a while, deep in thought.
"Fine. I have conditions. You can be set up as your own apex leader of the Phalanx on a couple conditions. First, you forget I exist. No mention of me to any of your new recruits. Second, you be careful. The military can pick up your tracks incredibly easily if you aren't careful. Third, any new recruits go through a vetting process. Can't have military snakes slipping into our den."
"Fine, fine," Paris said, waving his hand. "I won't breathe a word. Are we setting up somewhere new?"
"No. The current building works. I'll just move out. Oh, and one more thing - Juney is your deputy. Anything you want to do, you discuss with her and satisfy whatever objections she has."
"What?" Paris glared at Mist.
"I don't like it either, Fart-Breath."
"What did you call me?" Paris stood and barely stopped himself from punching her.
"Fart-Breath."
He fought to be the mature one as he sat back down. This would only be temporary, right? Yes. If he could separate from Jase, eventually he could cut himself off from him entirely. Then he could dispose of Mist, or she would go running back to her precious Jase.
Either way, it'd work out for him.
"I'll set up a way for you to find new recruits," Jase said, ignoring the tension between Paris and Mist. "I'll also send one or two more your way. Just give me a month or so."
"Got it. Thanks."
Paris stood and left, waiting to vent his frustrations until he was alone again.
The three members of the Legion waited in the same alley they'd been in the day before. Another day, another interview. Courtney hoped this one went better than the last one had. The candidate called himself Knight Errant. Hopefully that implied some kind of code she could trust.
Light Master and Achilles were playing some kind of word game while Courtney kept an eye out for anyone who might show up. Either they'd be Knight Errant, or they'd be someone they couldn't afford to let stick around. She'd have to gently usher them elsewhere.
Luckily, the only person to approach them was a young guy who looked like he'd been expecting them. He tried to restrain himself, but he was obviously excited, especially when he looked at Achilles.
"K-Knight Errant here," he said stiffly, nodding to the three Legion members.
"Welcome, Knight Errant," Achilles replied. "I am Achilles the Invincible, leader of the Legion. With me are the Ultimate Light Master and Lightning the Quick. I hope you don't mind."
"Not at all!" The kid beamed as he looked them over. It made Courtney feel slightly uncomfortable. Weren't those the same eyes kids looked at famous singers or sports figures with? What had she done to deserve that?
"Now, Knight Errant, you said your Miracle was an enchanted sword?" Achilles asked.
"Yes." He held out his arm and closed his eyes for a moment, and a silver sword began to manifest in his grip. It glowed slightly, and had an otherworldly feel to it. Courtney looked at it warily. Was this another dangerous Miracle?
"Incredible," Light Master whispered.
He was right. The sword was beautiful. But Courtney had to be the cynic here.
"You can just pull a sword out of thin air? Do you know how to fight with it?"
"Not yet," Knight replied. "I'm hoping to learn some fencing. I've been looking up videos on the subject. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to get into a class yet."
"And how sharp is the sword?" Courtney narrowed her eyes. This was the important question. Luckily, he seemed to figure out what she was getting at.
"Oh! Um, this is an enchanted sword as I said. I haven't named it yet, but I've been working on it. Anyway, it can't actually hurt people."
To demonstrate he ran it through his own hand. He winced, but no physical wound appeared.
"It hurts, though?" Courtney asked.
"Definitely. It feels...more like a hot current is running through you or something. But it does no lasting damage. My blade is meant to incapacitate, not injure."
"Try me." Courtney held out her hand. Knight stared at her a moment, then nodded. He plunged the sword through her outstretched hand. He was right. No physical wound happened. though Courtney could feel something painful in her hand.
It definitely hurt more than he'd let on. Or maybe the damage was linked to his willpower? An interesting question. Either way, Courtney gritted her teeth and did her best to avoid letting her thoughts show.
"Me next!" Light Master said.
"Maybe not, kid," Courtney said as Knight pulled his sword back.
"Why not?"
"It hurts. A lot. I've been shot with a raygun before and it hurt worse than that."
"Wait what?" Achilles asked.
"It happened once, about three years ago. It wasn't too bad an injury, but it hurt like heck for a while."
"How?" Knight Errant asked.
"Occasionally criminals get ahold of military rayguns. And then, of course, they use them."
The other three fell into a bit of a shocked silence as Courtney bitterly remembered the incident. Her squad had broken into a drug dealer's house to arrest those involved, but one had pulled out a raygun and tried to shoot Barron. Courtney had gotten in the way, but taken a hit to her lower arm. Luckily, it wasn't too serious. The rest of the squad took out the shooter and arrested everyone in the room, then shuffled her to the hospital.
"Anyway, enough about that. Point is, that sword hurts like heck."
"But you didn't even flinch," Light Master mumbled.
"I'm pretty good at tolerating pain. Or at least not letting it show on my face. My muscles were definitely tensed up though."
"I did notice that. Sorry. I shouldn't have poked you for so long."
"Then try me," Achilles said, extending his arm. "If this isn't a physical weapon, I'm wondering if it can hurt me."
"You sure?" Knight asked.
"Certain."
Hesitantly, Knight Errant stabbed the sword through Achilles' arm.
"Ow! Ow ow ow!" Achilles pulled back and hopped around for a bit, clutching his arm.
"I told you it hurts," Courtney sighed.
"Sorry!" Knight said, frantically looking for a way to help.
"Don't worry about it. He asked for it," Courtney said. "While he's recovering, can I ask what made you want to join the Legion?"
"Everything!" She shrank back a bit at the intensity in his eyes. "I mean, there's villains walking all over the city now, hurting people - hurting children! How can I not want to do something about it? And the Legion are the ones who stand against that. I just want to protect Arx and its people."
"Ever thought about joining the military?" Courtney asked. Achilles and Light Master glared at her, but Knight didn't seem bothered.
"They don't really help people. They're too caught up in the bureaucracy. I mean, have you seen anything on the corruption rampant in there? Even the generals are in on it!"
She really couldn't refute that. At the very least, his heart seemed to be in the right place. This kid - and his Miracle - had her vote.
"Thanks for your time," she said. "Achilles, Light Master, anything else you wanna ask?"
"I don't believe so," Achilles replied. "Thank you for your time, Knight Errant. We will let you know our decision within the week."
"Thank you very much for your consideration!" Knight said, dismissing his sword. "I hope to be working with you soon."
Back at headquarters, the vote to bring Knight Errant in was unanimous.
