LTSV - Harbingers of Change - 23 (Patreon)

Cece's mother came in person, which alarmed both Mira and Cece when Adra came to drive everyone to the barricade. Mira wasn't going back to her parents' house, but she wanted to make sure everyone got to their rides safely.

There was an uninhabited zone between the barrier and the highrise, presumably it was part of the buffer between the demons who were holding the line at the Gate and the barricade—which was crowded with cops, onlookers with their phones out, and, of course, reporters.

The cops and Bowlers Hats had cleared a little area where several cars were waiting with the drivers still inside, but they were surrounded by camera flashes and people shouting questions that only subsided when their van came into view.

Adra squinted at the throng of media. "Samira will stay inside the van," he decided aloud.

"Yeah, no, the influencer doesn't need to go out in that," Alan agreed and chucked Mira lightly in the shoulder with his fist. Why were people touching her all of a sudden?? "We'll all see each other when we move our stuff over and there's the group chat until then."

The group chat was a new thing. They weren't using the System, just a regular group text message. Mira couldn't remember the last time she'd been included in one of those for non-work purposes and it was a weird feeling when these guys were the ones to change that.

Bryn's boyfriend turned out to be an impossibly handsome latino man with wavy brown hair and broad shoulders. Despite their argument from before, he met Bryn with a tight hug and led him away to a black Jeep.

Alan, Randall, and Will got into the same nondescript beige sedan being driven by a guy who looked like this was his job. There was no ride-share logo in the window, so she had to assume they were sharing a driver.

To her surprise, Mira recognized the delicate woman who got out of the passenger side door of the beat up Honda that came to collect Cece. Lady Carolina was a slight Caucasian woman in this life with Cece's olive-green eyes and a batik scarf covering her bald head. She met her daughter with a hug and followed her into the back seat. There was an older man with thick glasses behind the wheel wearing what appeared to be a blue button-up shirt under a fisherman's vest. He reached back to cup Cece's cheek before settling into the careful business of backing out of the ring of cars without running over a reporter—which was easier said than done.

The media wasn't about to let them escape easily without at least providing a sound byte. It took the concerted effort of both cops and Bowler Hats, but the cars were eventually able to depart and, once they were gone, Mira realized she felt a little lonely.

"Let's leave before they remember we're here," Adra decided out loud.

"Good idea," she agreed.

Now that the semi-normal humans were out of the way, there was a double line of demons waiting outside the highrise when Adra pulled up to the curb. One of the Bowler Hats smoothly took over the driver's seat and whisked the car away as Adra took Mira by the hand and led her inside.

The lobby was packed full of demons and a cheer went up as the doors closed behind them.

Syrith seemed to be the elected spokesperson of the assembly and she came to kneel in front of Adra. The rest of the demons knelt smoothly after her, but the mood was still jubilant. Mira could see most of them struggling to contain a smile.

"My Lord, My Lady," Syrith pitched her voice to carry. "It is my great privilege to welcome you to this realm. We have been sent by the grand council of Wise Ones to assist you in this time of great change. We have all volunteered to be here and will carry that honor with us for the rest of our days."

Mira leaned against Adra's side and wondered how many times he'd been greeted like this, and now she got to participate.

So much for feeling lonely.

Adra held up a hand and his people quieted, "The change in this world may be a well-documented one. The devil, as they say here, will be in the details. For now, I have settled into the role of one of this world's founding guildmasters. It is my understanding that you would have originally been sent here to ease the transition for the people of this world and we will continue to do so. As far as outsiders are concerned, LivingShadow was established with the backing of Dark King Adramalak, who is watching our progress from elsewhere. 'Illya Volkov' serves as guildmaster at his pleasure. My other avatar, Mason Dietrich, is a stakeholder in this endeavor who supports the guild, holds no authority within it. Am I understood?"

Nods rippled through the group.

Mira felt Adra gently press his hand into the small of her back in a mute request to address the demons as well.

"I'm happy to be among you all once again," she said with sincerity. "My role in this world will come with challenges. I have been designated as humanity's only Archmage. I will be consulting with some of you regarding how that role has been treated in the other cultures of this realm. This body has a complicated and antagonistic family background, which has culminated in the reduction of my civil rights here. Some of you will be called upon to help me correct that state of affairs. I have every confidence in you all and know that my faith in you is deserved."

Someone held up a hand towards the back and Mira nodded at them. It was one of the Bowler Hats; one she recognized from the Gate.

"According to legend, the other reincarnators are your eternal enemies," he said. "The Wise Ones tell us that the Gods have ordained a change. Is that the change?"

'Reincarnators'? Was that how the Demons referred to the rest of Mira's cohort? Well, that made sense, she supposed.

"The Gods can only tell us so much about their will," Mira admitted. "I do think that is the case. In my previous life, the Godservant and I were close as sister and stalwart allies. That doesn't seem to have changed in this life and most of the others follow her lead. The only exception is the… ahem, the 'False Hero.' He remained our enemy in the previous Cycle and I don't see that changing this time around. His current incarnation is named Andre Vale and he will probably be allying himself with Blake Heron, who is the reincarnation of my father from my first life among you, King Huron."

That elicited distressed and angry muttering. If Mira had ever wondered if the demon nation remembered her first father, she could now stop wondering. They remembered alright and they had no fonder memories of him than she did.

"Cecelia Newman, Alan Tanner, Bryn Alvarez, Will Holloway, and Randall Zhao should be treated as respected allies until further notice," she continued. "I have always respected them and their convictions, even if our interests did not align in the past. Now they do."

There was another burst of affirmations and Syrith rose to her feet with Morwen and another demon, who had declined to hide her horns with her hair. Syrith led her forward.

"My Lady, this is Soneares, who will serve as your legal counsel and advisor" she said, gesturing to the demon Mira did not already know. "Morwen will serve as your primary aide."

Both demons bowed respectfully.

"I look forward to working with you both," Mira said once they rose. "I expect we will all be very busy."

Soneares smiled, showing an impressive set of fangs. No wonder she wasn't bothing to hide her horns. "Not so busy as we'll keep the opposition, your Grace."

Another pair of demons approached and Mira felt her heart lift as she recognized their faces. It was Mister Green and Mister White, her bodyguards from her life as Violet Coventry.

"I won't need any introductions here," she said with a smile and patted them both on opposite cheeks when they knelt to greet her. This was less out of respect and more in deference to the fact that they were beginning to transition into their next life phase, which meant they were both getting much, much taller. "I'm so happy to see you again. You've changed so much! Soon, I'll be able to hear your real names."

"Not quite yet, yer Grace," Mister Green admitted.

"It will be soon, though," Mister White added.

Note:  The party has correctly identified Mira as the 'He said no pickles!' friend.