“Good to hear. Are these guys trustworthy?”

“Good question,” Egg said.

“If they aren’t, they’d better be strong enough to deal with us,” Chantilly said, shaking out a handkerchief-like stretch of lace from her sleeve, before flicking it out to become a rigid fan.

“I think it’s fine,” Egg said. “With everything going to hell, they can’t afford to mess around.”

“That’s what they thought with Teacher,” Whippersnap said. “The more things go to shit, the better the assholes get at using the situations to their advantage.

Others were arriving. Matryoshka, Gregor, and Newter. Engel was already talking to Shamrock, off to one side.

Egg had strange feelings when it came to Shamrock. She wore the tattoo and at first he’d thought she was a monster groupie, doing it out of solidarity. He would have been okay with that. Finding out she had her memories, she was intact, but she actually claimed to be one of them? More uncomfortable.

Blackforest came running up, and almost bounced on the spot in her eagerness as she stopped by Chantilly, hand going to the wicker and barbed wire that crowned her head in a very unsubtle approach to their collective ‘irregular’ hand signals and forms.

Still asking permission, which was better than some. And she was a kid. At one point she’d thought she was the same age as Chantilly, but that had changed. Blackforest hadn’t really grown up as fast, emotionally or physically, and she’d struggled with online courses. Eventually it came down to conceding that she wasn’t fifteen. Thirteen or fourteen at best.

Chantilly wrapped her friend in a tight hug, lifting her up off the ground. Blackforest was a scarecrow-like head, arms, legs, and very little in the way of a torso, with costuming and external additions providing that central core. Wood and barbed wire bound together into vaguely muscle-like and vein-like shapes. Much of her was wrapped in a robe.

Blackforest’s friend was slower to approach. Hexie was a disembodied head and arms, her body a swirl of power contained in a tube of metal sheeting, that acted like a dress. The power vented out at shoulders and elbows, purple fire. She wore a witch hat, which she adjusted as she approached.

Chantilly hugged her too.

“Don’t burn yourself,” Blackforest warned. To Hexie, she said, “Don’t burn her.”

Chantilly put her down, and dusted her arms off to check for fire. “I’m fine.”

“Good,” Blackforest said, so enthused she lost track. She turned to Whippersnap, hand out. He shook it. “Took a metal file to the barbed wire in case anyone wanted high fives or anything. Can’t fist-bump. Let me know if I’m poking you or scratching.”

“Got it,” Whippersnap said.

Blackforest turned toward Egg. “Um, hi, You’re Egg?”

“Yeah,” he said.

“Obviously,” Whippersnap said.