![[98 Epigraphs#022]] # Chapter 22 Raven stood, watching the mall burn, with her arms crossed. The fire was incredibly hot, she would probably end up with a sunburn from it. The putrid smell filled her lungs, her ears overcome with the roar of the flame and the collapse of the structure. Snow fell, but was overpowered by the engulfed structure before her. Scrap had padded over some time before, but quickly left from the heat. *I have to stay.* She thought, hearing the faint sounds of trucks driving off behind her. Raven felt footsteps on the ground, heavy, from boots. *Jack. Why does he have to remind me of her.* He said nothing, and she didn’t turn to him. After a few minutes he put his left hand on her right shoulder. She glanced at him, snow in his dark brown hair, which he hadn't been cutting. “Slackjaws and survivors will be coming soon. It’s been burning for hours.” He said, still watching the flames. “I know.” “Alright. I’ll be here when you decide to leave.” He nodded. “Thank you,” Raven said, quickly glancing, then looking away. *Gods, why take her instead of me. What did she fucking do?* She felt tears start to well up. “What for?” Jack asked, looking at her now. *Soft kind eyes.* “Tolerating my idiosyncrasies.” Raven said, meeting his eyes. *Gods.* “You aren’t alone. We both lost her.” Jack smiled, turning back to the flames, but shifted his arm to her other shoulder, almost in a side hug. Raven hugged him, finally looking away from the inferno. “Let’s go home.” Raven nodded, letting Jack lead her away. Scrap followed behind, just past her heels. Jack started the truck up, one of the diesels, because he liked the sound. Raven rode passenger, after Scrap took the middle seat. Raven realized they were the last to leave the mall. Her entire group had been there to help start the inferno, but they’d all left some time before. “Did hunter bring any news?” Raven asked, shifting in her seat to face Jack. Scrap took it as a signal to sit his heavy head in her lap. Snow silently hit the wind shield, and she stuck her hand out the window to grab some. “Nothing. No sign of them.” “Fuck. It’s been three weeks.” “Yeah. I haven't talked to Nova yet, but i would like to search personally.” Jack sighed, meeting her eyes for a moment before bringing them back to the road ahead. Rhett and Rose had returned several weeks before, to learn of Charlie’s death, and had now been on a hunting party to bring back elk. 4 others had gone as well, including Alaina and Violet. *Who’s gonna stay?* She spoke her concern aloud after some silence. “Just gonna be Arden and Corinne. I trust them. Hunter is going to leave with us again.” “I’d be fine with that. Nova can decide on her own.” Raven nodded. They soon pulled into the Costco parking lot. The roof was now covered in solar panels. They had been able to substitute them for the huge generators they had been using, powering the lights, AC, Fridges, and Freezers. Since the secession war, stores had begun to optimize power usage, so much so it was not very hard to fully power them. They still ran the generators at night, but once they'd filled the parking lot and nearby hobby lobby with solar, they’d be in good business. One issue was Violet had gone on the last hunting party to Washington. And said group was missing. *Dam.* She was the brains behind the operation. Nobody said a word when Jack and Raven entered, Arden knelt and pet Scrap, however. People parted for the two. Raven found Nova near the Koryph forges, talking to Wade Dawson. Raven caught the tail end of a sentence, “But I think that’s a bit far off. Raven, good to see you.” Wade nodded to her. Then to Jack as he strolled into the area. She looked around, it had been several weeks since she’d been to the forge. Sound panels coated the wooden walls erected around the forges, intended to keep the heat from the rest of the place, but they were using it now to supplement using the air conditioner constantly. *Good changes.* “What’s new Wade,” Jack said, shaking the young man’s hand. “Oh same old. More experimentation with Adamantium. Stuff’s growing hard to find man.” “Shoot yeah, it is.” Jack said. “I don't know why we only found it in such a small area.” “I have a theory on that,” Nova said, in a flat tone. “If it is the metal of the gods, then it would make sense for there to be concentrated areas of it. Like it’s the god’s corpses.” A chill ran up Raven’s spine. She glanced at her arm. *The body of a god.* The metal didn’t seem very special, but yet it could hold the power of demigods. Wade visibly shivered, but continued. “We’ve found a way to store multiple powers in one spike or ring.” Raven perked up, the chill leaving her body. *I’ll just ignore that fact.* “Go on.” Jack had a look of intrigue on his face, like her, contemplating possibilities. Wade smiled, moving on from Nova’s disturbing theory. “Damascus. We found it very hard to combine different infused metals, but with a layer between, in this case, regular mortal steel, we can combine the metals into a layered Damascus pattern, allowing two powers.” “Does that bypass any of the drawbacks, like the lack of full power in spikes, or the power being halved in rings?” Jack asked. *Stole mine.* “It does,” Wade said, lowering his tone and smiling more. “All ring powers are at full power. The drawback is still the same. The downside is for Damascus spikes. They do get full powers, but the drawback seems to be about 50% more powerful.” “I mean, to have so many powers, it’s got to be worth it.” Raven said, Nova nodded. “Oh it is, just not perfect how we would like it.” Wade said, walking to an anvil. “It seems like every week we do this. Or did before Charlie’s passing. Same meeting, learning, then trying new things.” Jack wispered to Raven. “It does, doesn’t it.” She chuckled. “Actually,” Wade said, turning back to them. “You get the gist. I don’t gotta show y'all again. Let me know if you want one.” --- “No lunch?” Raven asked around her sandwich. Ironsoul had begun to do minor rations, so she was stuck with processed cheese and bologna. “Ate earlier,” Nova sighed, arms bare despite the cold, and sat up on the edge of the building. Raven herself was under a solar panel, to avoid the snow. Every couple hours they had someone make the rounds and clear off the panels. Violet was going to oversee heating methods to avoid snowfall, but that was put on hold. “Everything alright?” Raven asked as Nova hopped off the ledge, to Raven’s level, and sat next to her. “No,” Nova chuckled, smiling. “Is it ever alright in this world?” “Well, I suppose you are right.” Raven nodded, pulling a pack of cigarettes from her cargo jeans. *Four. Fuck.* She proffered the pack to Nova, more out of habit than anything else, and to her surprise, Nova accepted. Raven lit Nova’s and hers cigarettes, “Figure I should at least try it.” Nova said, taking a drag on it. “Fair,” Raven smiled. The nicotine and smoke filled her lungs, simultaneously thick and bringing clarity. *Gods, I need to find more of these.* She’d begun smoking more after Charlie’s death, and now was running out. “Nova, I noticed the tone in your voice, you good?” “I don’t know. But I think some feeling can be an advantage.” The dark haired Eternal said, “and I can't be effected by Nicotine and Alcohol in my normal state. Turns out, I quite like both Nicotine and Alcohol.” After a pause, Raven spoke up. “Jack and I are going east tonight. Do you wanna join?” “Leaves Corinne and Arden to lead, don't it? I’m fine with that.” “Good. That makes, at minimum, Us two, Jack and Hunter.” Raven said, cigarette between her forefinger and middle finger. She inspected her nails, which often had dirt lodged under then these days. Her black polish was cracking, and growing out with her nails. *Red is next. For Charlie.* “I stopped dying mine.” Nova said, inspecting hers as well. “Hard to keep up when I am slaughtering corpses every day.” “I don’t know how you do that.” Raven shook her head. For the last month, Nova had been going out, flying around, and culling the population of the dead. “It just has to be done. Mathematically, we can be rid of them in six months if everyone kills a few each month.” “Not everyone's going to.” “A girl can dream I guess.” Nova chuckled, standing. She stood on the edge wall of the roof, mock saluted Raven, then jumped off backwards. Raven shivered at that, Nova had wings, but still it was disconcerting. Raven inhaled another breath of smoke, and felt a slight pain in her side. *Fucking hell.* Even though she hadn't shifted into an animal, she still felt residual pain from the incident at the mall. *Gods above.* Even the children of Aevala had feared permanent damage. Six shifts. The most Raven had heard of was four. She took the more traditional way down, a ladder, and landed in the crunchy snow below. She saw Jack a short ways away with Wade and Cass, and had an idea. Raven ducked behind a charging electric truck, and made a snowball. She threw it, but missed wide right. “Shit.” She ducked back behind the car. “Raven.” Jack chuckled, and she heard footsteps up to the car. Then got a snowball in the face. As Jack walked around the truck, he slipped on ice, and hit his ass. “Jack. Klutz.” Raven said, extending her hand, and helping him to his feet. “Did you get Cass and Wade on board?” “Nah. But you, me, and Hunter will do well.” “And Nova,” Raven said, walking beside Jack to the front entrance of Costco. “Oh sweet.” Jack said, “I’m gonna grab my day bag, and pack some clothes.” “Aye.” Raven said, splitting off toward her area. “Did you just say Aye?” Jack called. “Aye.” Raven smiled, continuing on her way. --- “Hey guys. Jack, Raven, Nova, and Hunter will be leaving east after we all eat, the goal will be to find the hunting crew. We don’t know what went wrong, or where they are.” Corinne said from atop a table. *Well, that's a first.* “They are leaving Arden and me in charge. That's about it.” She hopped off the table. Nothing more was said. “I cannot believe she just did that.” Jack laughed, leaning toward Raven. “It’s efficient, I guess?” “I can't tell if it's genius or lazy as fuck.” Jack said, finishing off his fried chicken. It was the last of the chicken they had, which was rather unfortunate, because Stacy Baker was a goddess with fried chicken. “Reckon we can recover them, as well as more chicken?” “God, I hope so.” “We probably can.” Hunter nodded, “it's gotta be in a running freezer.” “I mean, the military is one option, I'm sure some of their camps would have long term power.” Nova said, tossing her plate into the trash bin a child of Arex was wheeling around. “Or we could find live birds.” “Wild chickens? Maybe further south we could.” Hunter said, “But never say never, I guess.” Nova was the first to stand, flexing her wings as she exited the building. The group had already loaded the truck, so they had no delay in leaving. Raven took Jack’s truck, and Hunter was with Nova. He didn't protest, which was a good thing. Ever since the mortals had joined Ironsoul, they were always wary of Nova. After a quick survey, after Charlie’s untimely death, it turned out Nova was the last of the Eternals at Ironsoul. There were plenty of Fullborn, including Raven herself, but no more of Nova’s kind. That was likely when Raven noticed the tone reappearing in Nova’s voice. Not constantly, until today.