Looking back on it, Sigrun “the Red Terror” Eide was rather glad that she really was invulnerable when “Super Tuuri” Hotakainen broke the Red Herring League out of the illusions into which they’d been shunted, as Emil “the Firework” Västerström was just the slightest bit… over-exuberant… in his response; this was completely understandable, of course, considering that the illusion he’d been locked into had him fighting to reignite himself against impossibly effective fire suppressors. It wasn’t as though anyone on their side needed that troll-ridden city block for anything, after all, and Sigrun herself liked a fire bath every so often, as it tended to clear her pores.
Fortunately for those of the League who weren’t invulnerable, Lalli “Phantom Strike” Hotakainen had been able to speed them all back to the League’s trusty HQ vehicle, their Field Expeditionary Light INfantry OPerations Excursion DEvice (or FELINOPEDE), before they could get caught up in the inferno. Reynir “the Helper” Árnason had been so euphoric in his realization that it had just been yet another illusion that he’d almost managed to catch Lalli in a hug; though Lalli had been able to substitute Mikkel “the Grave Dane” Madsen in the nick of time, the near miss had been jarring.
After this, of course, they’d all split up to try to get over what had just happened in their own ways.
*
Super Tuuri felt a sharp, cold shiver run down her spine. Somewhere on some other level of reality, another Tuuri Hotakainen—who might not even be named such, but was still Tuuri—had just died.
Super Tuuri had known about the vast complexities of the multiverse for as long as she’d had her powers; she knew, therefore, that among the infinity of other realities, there were many where Tuuri Hotakainen was already dead, was about to die, or was in the middle of dying (whether quickly or slowly), but that knowledge didn’t make the fact that Super Tuuri could feel when each and every one of them finally took the Birds’ Path any easier.
At least this one had gone of her own volition when the Illness had manifested itself in her; a few, a very few but very horrible times, Super Tuuri had had to take action to release another Tuuri who had become trapped as a result of her own denial.
But how would the Lalli and the Onni of that world hold up under this blow?
Super Tuuri sighed and acknowledged that she would probably never discover how her counterpart’s relations would fare in their bereavement.
“Miu!” With a pop of displaced air, a calico ball of fluff appeared at Super Tuuri’s chest level. Fortunately, the young Hero had good enough reflexes to catch the kitten before disaster could strike, cuddling the feline against her with a longer, deeper sigh that was yet half sob. Kitty always knew when her humans needed cuddling.
*
Emil was playing with the furballs again. This rather annoyed Lalli, as he himself barely tolerated the pesky things, though he admitted they made good allies against the grosslings; they were nearly as good as the cats in that regard. Even so, ever since the sparkly gold furballs had first buried Lalli and Emil in a cooing mass of affection that nearly suffocated the two of them, Lalli had attempted to ensure that the incident would never be repeated.
And did Emil really have to look like he was enjoying himself so much?
*
Having finished off a few burnt-out troll nests to work the kinks out, the Red Terror was ready to face the greatest challenge of her day: dealing with Mikkel in one of his Graver moods. She’d briefly contemplated having Reynir Help her, if only to try to negate as much of Mikkel’s gloom with his cheeriness as was possible, but decided against it, as the two of them needed to talk about certain things which needed to remain between the two of them—for now, at least.
“So, Mikkel,” she started off casually, “what do your bosses in The Circle say?”
The Circle. Everyone had heard of it, but what everyone had heard was always different from person to person. It was the most secret of spy organizations. It was just a stupid social club with delusions of their own power and influence. It was a legitimate advisory body with no real authority but plenty of moral authority. It was half legend, half truth, and nobody knew for sure which was which. Supposedly, the Nordic Council was the top of the Known World’s hierarchy, but The Circle seemed to float outside of that hierarchy.
Agents of The Circle were said to be under orders to kill anyone who found them out.
Sigrun could see that Mikkel had contemplated denying her “accusation” for a moment; instead, he shrugged and said, “I’ve missed my last few contacts because of our recent… entanglements, so I’m not sure.” He looked Sigrun directly in the eyes, his own opened almost to their full extent for once. “Certainly, they have been as anxious to ascertain just exactly who is trying to thwart our mission and why as the six of us.”
Sigrun relaxed slightly. “I figured as much.”
That out of the way, the conversation moved to their current dilemma…
