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 Posted: Mon Feb 09, 2026 4:44 pm
Takes place after The Price of War / The Cost of Living, on the evening of January 24th They needed to talk–and it needed it to be somewhere safe.
There wasn’t enough time to have any in Destiny City. The youma could find them within minutes, but it didn’t matter how many wolf-shaped shadows came at them in the night–it was who they brought with them that was the problem.
Cahir was merciless. Cruel. Awful, in ways that a human being shouldn’t be capable of.
He’d have killed them several times over–had tried already–and had made it very clear that he was more than happy to finish the job.
Powering up wasn’t just an inconvenience, it was a liability. He was looking for them–and thought a third of them were already gone. Obviously laying low was a priority.
But they couldn't just do nothing.
He was going to hunt them down, one way or another.
Originally, the plan had been that they would all arrive in a discrete location--a run-down public pool, out of season and closed. They weren't going to stay for long. They'd timed it so they could arrive at the same time. Promptness was imperative--and no one had been late. They only needed to be powered up for a minute. Amarynthos and Ephesus were planning on taking the group up to the Moon and had prepared to carry up extra guests.
Dread was palpable as they gathered. No one wanted to be here.
No one wanted to be dealing with this.
But they had to. They needed to get on top of things. Needed to actually talk this out, needed to share information, needed to make a plan.
They needed somewhere safe.
The group wasted no time exchanging greetings. Everyone knew how important it was to get in, to get out.
But they weren't the only ones.
The destination was supposed to be the Moon.
In a way, that's where they wound up.
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Posted: Mon Feb 09, 2026 4:45 pm
The place hadn’t been built. It just appeared.
One heartbeat they were standing in empty dark, and the next… it was like the air caught fire with stardust. It shimmered and folded itself into rooms. Stone foundation. Starlight decorated. A door that hadn’t existed a moment ago swung open into a hall made of pale marble, veined through with the soft glow of constellations.
It wasn’t grand, but it felt right. A quiet space where sound carries memory and each footstep leaves a pulse of light before fading away. The main room opened like the heart of a lighthouse -- warm and inviting in the dark. A wide, circular table sat at its center, surrounded by a scatter of chairs that didn’t quite match. The window beyond looked out onto a horizon that couldn’t exist. The Moon below, and beyond it, the deep depth of stars and space.
In the hearth, a pale flame burned without fuel. Its warmth bled through the floors, making the air warm and comfortable.
There was a kitchen tucked off to one side, simple and strange all at once -- crystal fixtures that conjured water, shelves lined with mismatched mugs, the faint smell of fresh mint and other herbs. Across the hall, a narrow room held cabinets of bandages, vials, and a basin that they would discover never got dirty. Another chamber opened into a training space, the racks holding practice weapons that seemed to shift in design depending on who picked them up. Another room held a space for resting, and cozy seating for relaxation and conversation that didn’t require sitting at a formal table.
It was humble and unfinished, but seemed to listen to their needs.
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Posted: Mon Feb 09, 2026 4:46 pm
Reims didn’t realize he’d stopped breathing until his lungs finally drew in a shuddering breath.
Other than the quiet crackle of the fire in the hearth, the room was quiet in a way Destiny City never was. No echo of danger at their heels. No youma blipping into their senses. No flicker of Cahir’s shadow in the corner of his eye. Just… light. Warmth. Something old and welcoming that he felt down to the bone.
He let the others step away to look around, but his own steps slowed as he circled the wide table. The chairs didn’t match -- or at least they weren’t identical. One carved, one cushioned, one likely stolen from a Victorian parlor… but none of them felt out of place.
And then he saw it.
Dark wood, rich black velvet. Gothic-like carvings curling around the back panel like cathedral stone. A rose window etched into the back with pieces of crystal or glass perfectly shaped into each space. The front legs of the chair ended with lion paws.
Reims froze. Something in his chest tensed.
It wasn’t his chair. He’d never owned anything like it. But it seemed to recognize him anyway. Knew him in a way that made his throat tighten.
This is Headquarters, he realized. The thought was like tossing a stone into still water.
The Code had hinted at it-- “I was under the impression you were in a Brigade together”-- and he had been too upset, too exhausted to push for more details. He’d told Amarynthos the Code had mentioned it, and was planning on trying to figure out more. And now an answer that he didn’t think he’d earned presented itself to them.
He swallowed hard and stepped closer to Yvoire and the others. The need to count heads was an illogical urge he couldn’t push down. Everyone was still there. Breathing. Alive.
He’d already lost Yvoire twice. He’d lost some of the others temporarily as well. And he doubted his heart could handle losing anyone again.
Reims forced himself to take a breath, although his shoulders were still too tense. His fingers hovered near Yvoire as if afraid to let him drift out of reach. He kept an eye on Dering as well, worried that he would curl into himself and disappear if they weren’t careful.
“This place… I think it’s meant for us,” he said quietly, not really trusting his voice but speaking anyway. “Whoever -- or whatever -- made it… I think they want us to be safe.”
And for the first time since the darkness of the basement of that office building, Reims felt the beginning of something he hadn’t dared reach for.
Hope.
Ephesus stayed close at first. Close enough that he could almost hide behind Amarynthos’s shoulder if he needed to. Whatever magic had dragged them there… it was nothing he recognized. This wasn’t Ephesus. This wasn’t Amarynthos. And yet… there was something strangely familiar about it.
His pulse raced as he turned in a small, slow circle, taking it all in. The pale flame in the hearth. The shimmering of stars in the marble. The windows that looked out into a sky that couldn’t exist. He could feel the warmth in the floor and in the air.
Slowly, his fear eased. Not completely, but enough that Ephesus blinked tears out of his eyes that had appeared the moment something unexpected happened. His breath caught in his throat, but it wasn’t from panic, but more like wonder.
He loosened his grip on Amarynthos’s sleeve, though he didn’t step far. Just enough to walk a few steps toward the circle of chairs. He hesitated, then touched a white chair with flowers and honeycomb carved into the back. The woodgrain shimmered in the light, as if imbedded with honey itself. The cushion looked comfortable and soft, almost like lambs’ wool.
“It feels like it already knows us,” he said quietly, glancing at the others. “Or… like it was waiting.”
He didn’t know if that was reassuring or frightening. But after seeing his friends nearly die, after holding Amarynthos’ soulless body in his arms, Ephesus found himself welcoming the offer of comfort and safety.
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Posted: Mon Feb 09, 2026 4:51 pm
Halle knew exactly where he was supposed to sit and frowned a little. It was nice, but he’d never liked the idea of someone knowing more about him than he knew about them. But…magic was magic. Knowing how things for Order tended to be, there probably wasn’t really a fully thinking someone behind this. But maybe something, some piece of magic reacting to their collective need.
Still, he walked through each of the rooms, briefly making sure that there wasn’t anybody else here. There wasn’t, but the sense that this was made specifically for them increased the more he saw. This wasn’t like his Wonder, where his belonging was in service to the place and their code piece.
“Clear,” Halle called out, eyes looking around what was clearly a lounge. Just the right size and so incredibly easy to picture them all simply relaxing there. While the whole suite was somewhat empty and simple, it was also a little too nice for them to simply have, right?
Was there going to be another set of knightly duties expected of them? Or, was there a price they’d already paid? He took another look into the training room before returning to the main room, quiet and pensive.
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Posted: Mon Feb 09, 2026 4:57 pm
Lisse followed behind Halle, still not really wanting to be away from his brother just in case, but also…because this was really cool. Unlike Halle’s distrust, Lisse looked at everything with wide eyes and a rather dumb expression, taking it all in like it was some kind of really cool suite in a hotel that there was no way he could afford but.
“So…how did we end up getting a place like this? Did we win the powered lottery and…get on my lottery dream home or something?”
He vaguely knew of the show, the host was….well he looked super trashy but he supposed that was part of the draw. But this? Truthfully with the training room, he wouldn’t have been surprised if Halle had put in input, and that was…strange. He wasn’t complaining though, and he nodded as his brother said that things were all clear…because of course they were. There was no feeling of Chaos here, not even the slightest bit…and that was great! Absolutely great…if he had his way, he would never feel Chaos again but.
“Yeah, clear and really cool…did I miss something though? Like…I really am feeling like I missed something big and would love an answer…”
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Posted: Mon Feb 09, 2026 4:58 pm
Stirling was quiet as she looked around her. The place was beautiful, and obviously magical…there was a chair at the table that felt…like it was for her. The legs had a lovely spiral pattern like the one on her rapier and were painted in a shimmering silver. The back, seat and arms had a lovely cushion that was the same purple from her outfit, with silver embroidered symbols of Lysithea on them. The way that she knew it was hers though, was the fabric that hung down the back, supported by two cones that were on the back. The fabric matched her veil almost exactly, but there was a large Lysithea symbol superimposed over a beautifully embroidered thistle.
“...I like it.” She hesitated and sat down in the chair, just to test it out and gave a happy little sigh. “Very comfortable. I feel like we need comfort right now and this has absolutely provided.
“How did you figure this out, Reims?”
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Posted: Mon Feb 09, 2026 6:00 pm
Yvoire had no answers. He saw no clues and could formulate no explanation. Normally he would be content to blame it all on magic, but he already had enough unanswered questions looming within his thoughts. He would prefer not to add more.
He drew closer to the wide table, setting a hand against its surface. Teal eyes flicked from one chair to the next, counting each one even though he already knew how many he’d find. Beside the one clearly meant for Reims was a chair that reminded Yvoire of a throne. The frame must have been carved from wood, but it had been painted a gleaming gold. The high back was inlaid with sparkling jewels, pinks and reds and deep purple to match his colors. The cushions were dark red velvet.
A flash of memory threatened to consume him—the weight of a cape around his shoulders; sunlight through stained glass; a stiff wooden chair; a man in a dark suit holding an elaborate crown—but Yvoire swallowed the lump building in his throat and forced it away.
He turned to Reims and gave into the impulse to reach for his hand.
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Posted: Mon Feb 09, 2026 6:01 pm
Amarynthos stayed close to Ephesus, out of habit and caution.
Being whisked to some unknown, faraway place came with a wave of emotions–some good, some bad. An abundance of caution kept Amarynthos questioning where they were, and why.
An abundance of hope let him believe they were safe here, and that this meant something for them.
He was never far from Ephesus, especially not lately. Where one went, the other did.
Where their attention was inside, his was outside. There was a good view from the window. He’d spent enough time on the Moon to recognize it, even if he couldn’t identify anything else by sight alone.
The stars didn’t look familiar, and there weren’t any notable landscapes or structures on the horizon.
The Moon was safe–so far as he knew–and Halle confirmed what he’d wanted, very badly, to believe. He nodded appreciatively but his thoughts were elsewhere. Mostly, with Reims.
“Hey–Reims. You talked to the Code before, it had some things to say.” The reminder was less for Reims and more for those without any context, but he was reluctant to put words or expectations into anyone’s mind. “Back when you were talking about having somewhere else to go, as a group of us. Have you talked to it since, or…?”
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Posted: Mon Feb 09, 2026 6:01 pm
Though their strange arrival unnerved her, and the newness of this place confused her, Rose accepted its offer of safety with a sigh of relief. The walls glimmered with starlight in a way that seemed to exude comfort. Frustrating as it could be to have little in the way of answers, Rose had never known her magical instincts to lead her astray. Things that felt evil generally were. Things that carried a sense of rightness like this tended to offer exactly that.
Rose briefly explored the various rooms, trailing after Halle and Lisse less for security purposes and more to satisfy her curiosity. She poked her head down hallways and around doorframes. Whatever this place was, it seemed to contain everything they could possibly need. A place to prepare food. A place to gather. Places to rest and heal.
She returned to the main room and circled the table, glancing over every chair until she stopped at the one that called to her. It seemed strangely familiar in the way a lot of magical things did, though she knew she’d never seen it before. The frame was a dark stained wood with clusters of roses carved along the back. The single cushion at its seat was blue embroidered with a pink and purple floral design. The symbol of Lysithea had been etched into one arm, encircled by a wreath of roses.
She sat gingerly at first, unsure what to expect, but the cushion was plush and the back, despite being entirely wood, offered comfortable support. Rose settled back and looked toward Reims, awaiting his answer without insisting he provide one. He looked as bewildered as the rest of them.
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Posted: Mon Feb 09, 2026 6:02 pm
Lyon, too new to any of this to understand what was normal or abnormal, tilted his head as he examined this new space. No one panicked, so he didn’t either. Of course, no one seemed to concretely know what was going on, either.
His eyes found Reims more than once, trying to read him.
Without drifting far from the bulk of the group, he drifted around the room inquisitively.
Halle said everything was clear–and Lyon found it easy to trust him. He didn't seem like the sort to half-a** an inspection before making that declaration. No one else seemed to be crawling out of their skin--and if he was being honest, this was leagues better than being in Destiny City.
Here, it felt like coming home. Sort of. Maybe going over to your friend's home.
He wouldn't have been able to describe it if asked, so he kept his thoughts to himself and listened while the others tried to figure out what was going on.
Dering was equally quiet, for not so very different reasons.
Silence came easily to him in a full room, and he’d been on edge for a while. Unease manifested in quiet. He spent more time listening than he spent speaking, like if he brought his voice into a room he might chase away something important.
He didn’t have anything important to say right now.
Dering had never been in a place like this before.
If he was here he assumed one of two things–the first, that it was a mistake. The second, that he was meant to be here, but that also seemed like it might have been a mistake.
He counted eleven chairs at the table without thinking about it. His eyes settled on a tall, medieval style chair, carved from white wood and gently aged. Mother-of-pearl inlay caught his eye, the same lustre as his lute–and many of the instruments he’d found tucked away on his Wonder. The cushions were plush, the same blue as blue as his robe, with decorative pearl nailheads. The back of the chair was tall–not imposing, but like it was designed with protection in mind, and high armrests offered both comfort and security.
Lysithea’s symbol was inlaid at the top of the chair. He hadn’t had a chance to look at the back yet. Dering mostly stayed in place, reluctant to move until they knew more about what was going on–or what they were supposed to do here.
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Posted: Mon Feb 09, 2026 6:03 pm
“You think the Code made it for us?” Cynthus asked without any care for whether or not it might be a stupid question. It made sense to her. The Code was magic. This was a magic room. A new place that felt like theirs—assuming the others had the same feeling about it as she did—didn’t happen for no reason. “Maybe it got tired of us getting blood all over the Celestial Theatre.”
She looked around like she thought they might find a piece of the Code bobbing through the air somewhere, but if one did exist here, it remained stubbornly out of sight.
Stirling and Rose sat, so Cynthus found a chair of white wood with an oval back. The way it was carved made it look sort of like a cameo pendant, except the central design was of a crescent moon ensconced among flowers instead of a lady’s profile. Cynthus made herself comfortable on a cushion that was a paler pink than her dress, but it had a similar flower pattern to match.
“Does this make us Knights of the Round Table?” she wondered without being completely serious.
Then again, they were Knights and the table was round.
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Posted: Mon Feb 09, 2026 6:04 pm
Reims let Yvoire take his hand. The contact steadied him more than he cared to admit out loud, even though he squeezed back without hesitation.
He was still… stunned. Skeptical. Cautious. The warmth, the light, the strange familiarity of the whole place settling around him. He was grateful that Halle and the others had already scouted the rooms, even though some part of him had known the moment they arrived that nothing there meant to harm them. Still, confirmation was good.
Stirling and Amarynthos’s questions drew his attention again, as did Lisse’s comments, and Reims felt his ears burn when he realized Lyon kept looking his way. It wasn’t bad, just noticeable.
“Yeah, uh… The Code,” he started, letting out a breath like talking was an effort. “I went to the Celestial Theatre once, when I couldn’t get to my Wonder. It was… complicated.”
That was an understatement, but they didn’t need to know the details of his life.
“And the Code… it said it thought we were in a Brigade together. Since it’s seen a lot of us together before, I guess. Anyway, it figured that wasn’t the case since we’d be at our Headquarters instead of the Celestial Theatre if we were.”
He huffed, trying for irritation but it ended up being something more sheepish. “Then it shoved Amarynthos and Ephesus at me and had them deal with me instead.” He paused and let out a sigh. “Which-- fine. It was right. I was pretty roughed up and not thinking clearly. They did a better job than I would’ve.”
He tried to glance away, but his eyes fell on Yvoire, then Dering, then the others, and his throat tightened. He could feel how close he’d been to losing them. In more ways than one.
“I didn’t ask the Code again,” he admitted. “About brigades, or headquarters. I… probably didn’t want the answer. It seems stupid now, after everything that’s happened.”
Cynthus’s Knights of the Round Table comment drew out an exasperated breath.
“We are not,” he shook his head, but then glanced over the table and his friends and grimaced. “Okay, like… we’re technically knights and there’s a round table. That’s not the point.”
His expression softened. “I don’t want us to be an imitation of something else. Or something people expect us to be. A lot of people out there already think we’re too young to matter, or too inexperienced to handle anything. We don’t need to borrow legend to define us.”
He wasn’t sure what else to expect, but carefully pulled Yvoire’s chair out a little for him, and then sat down himself.
“We should figure out what to do about Cahir.”
They were safe for now. He had no idea what the limitations of that place were, or if there was a time limit. They should focus on what they gathered to do.
Ephesus drifted closer to Amarynthos again when the others started speaking up. Not because he was frightened but because there was comfort in being close.
He remembered all too well when the Code had pulled he and Amarynthos from their Wonders to help a half-conscious Reims. They’d patched him up, brought him home, and let Riker sleep in Elliot’s bed for nearly a full day.
Somehow, that seemed like so long ago. Everything had felt simpler then. Or maybe they’d just been less tired. Less scared of things they now knew lurked in the dark. Now, so many of them were stretched in every direction. Trying to help. Trying to stay alive. Trying not to get anyone else killed.
Yet there they were. All of them. Together in one room.
He tilted his head slightly, catching sight of the shimmer above the mantle. Two words spelled out in starlight.
Ad Astra.
“...Is that a name?” he asked softly, reaching out to place his hand on Amarynthos’s arm. “Or a… motto?” He wasn’t even sure who he was asking. Maybe it didn’t matter.
Ephesus looked at his chair that was unmistakably his again, but he didn’t sit yet. Instead he traced his fingers along the chair back.
“It really does feel like it knows us,” he breathed, echoing his earlier thought but with more certainty now. He glanced over Reims, Yvoire, Dering, Rose. Halle and Lisse. Stirling and Cynthus. Lyon.
Everyone alive and breathing.
He let out a shaky breath and slowly moved to take a seat, knowing Amarynthos would be right beside him.
As for Cahir… he would really like if the General stopped trying to kill his friends or threaten those they knew.
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Posted: Mon Feb 09, 2026 6:05 pm
“Okay, yeah, obviously we should figure out what to do about General Douchebag, but can we circle back to the Brigade thing for a sec? Because, like… what the ******** a Brigade?”
Cynthus looked around at all the others like she expected someone might know the answer.
She also didn’t wait for one.
“All I’m seeing is a bunch of knights, and a round table,” she said, mostly because Reims didn’t seem to like the comparison and some things Reims didn’t like were worth teasing him for. She grinned at him audaciously. “Look at you in your fancy chair with your magic sword. Obviously Evie’s your Guinevere. Who’s Lancelot? You should keep an eye on them.”
That was as far as Cynthus’ knowledge went on the subject, so once Reims’ ears were sufficiently red she turned her attention to Ephesus and the engraving he’d found on the mantle.
“Could be a name and a motto,” she said. “Maybe it’s just there for decoration or something, but also, like, if we’re some kind of official group we should have a name, right? And if we’re not gonna use Knights of the Round Table because we shouldn’t borrow things or imitate people, which, sure, okay, I do actually agree with, then we’ll need to come up with something else, and I don’t know about y’all but I don’t really want to spend a lot of time throwing suggestions back and forth, so if the magic headquarters decides Ad Astra’s good enough for it, then it’s good enough for me.”
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Posted: Mon Feb 09, 2026 6:38 pm
Lisse nodded, glancing around and settling on a chair that felt most like him, it was decorated with what looked like his lasso, curling up the legs of the chair and along the back. The padding was quilted, Purple and quilted just like his cape and he gingerly touched it feeling just how plush it was before he sank down onto it.
“Yeah, I absolutely second that question? What is a Brigade? I know that…” He shut his mouth and shrugged, not really wanting to admit that he really knew…nothing. But there were others that were equally confused so…yay?
“The chair is extremely comfortable and…Reims, it’s quilted so you’ll know it’s mine…but. What do you have in mind to deal with Cahir? Like, I don’t know how much more of this we can really take?” They had almost lost people far more times than they should have and just…Ugh.
“I wish we could like…paralyze him. Blow darts and all that…” Was it a good idea? No, but…
“Do…any of your summons do anything but be scary and attack? Is that a thing?” Because…he sort of thought his must have something more to it than just attacking. A badger just wasn’t…intimidating at all, not like a Lion or Tiger or Bear.
Oh my.
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Posted: Mon Feb 09, 2026 6:48 pm
The chair was of dark wood, smooth but not glossy, with subtle carving that suggested the tangling of vines. The back of the seat was in blue, with the same combined symbol as the door of the hunting lodge at his wonder, the symbol of the bluebell and the horned crown of Lysithea. It would look right at home there. When Halle sat down, he noted that the blue padding offered barely any cushion.
Just barely enough comfort to allow for hours of sitting, but not nearly enough to relax into.
He’d heard mention of brigades before, but nothing really defined, and all of it drowned in an older knight’s nostalgia. When they were young, hopeful, and their friends were still around. The Code…was probably a much more reliable and less depressing source. Halle had to admit, he’d somewhat relegated to a source of information meant purely for Big Picture issues rather than their smaller, more personal ones.
Ad Astra.
It sounded like it’d fit right into a fantasy game, as a guild name or something. Halle didn’t know what it meant, and if nobody knew he’d certainly be looking it up right after getting back. But it seemed nice enough, and he didn’t want to figure out a name any more than Cynthus did. He offered her a wry but appreciative smile. It was an interesting way to both prioritize and also utterly dismiss something.
“Ad Astra feels appropriate enough to me.”
Pulling out a notebook and pen, he sat straight in his seat and said, “I think it would be best to start with his strengths, weaknesses, and our own here as well. We need a clear idea of what we’re working with and against.”
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