LTSV - Harbingers of Change - 25 (Patreon)

The next morning found Mira somewhat more at peace with herself and her general predicament, albeit with mussed hair. Adra had to take his now primary body off to work early because some reporters had gotten past the barricade in the night. They didn't get hurt, but they did manage to see the Gate and the goblin tide before they, in turn, got caught by some of the patrolling demons who had detained them.

She found some muesli and yogurt in the kitchen and took that to the balcony with a mug of tea. There were a few lounge chairs there around a gas-fueled fire pit filled with transparent blue rocks. Mira chose one and ate her breakfast without really tasting it while she went through her phone to see if there had been any breaking news while she slept.

The news was basically a regurgitation of the stuff she'd read the day before. The public knew no more today than they had yesterday, but she could sense their mounting anxiety though trending topics and the articles whose engagement got them pushed to the top of her searches.

As she read, a text message popped up from Cece.

[CC: We're heading back to the Tower soon. I don't have Mr. Volkov's number. Could you let him know my parents and I will be moving into the apartment he has on offer? We'll be in my dad's van and my mom's sedan.]

Cece helpfully included pictures of both vehicles.

Mira sent off a quick acknowledgement and messaged Morwen to let her know that one of their hunters would be arriving with a medically delicate dependant and they'd need to find out what Mrs. Newman would need in order to be comfortable. Mira didn't dare to think they already had everything she needed, or that they'd been able to fit it into two cars.

They were probably going to need medical facilities here, anyway.

Someone tapped on the glass doors behind her and Mira turned to find Syrith waiting in the living room. She had gotten rid of the businesswoman attire from the day before and had exchanged it for a more traditional navy blue gown with a high-neck in the front, a low back, and a loose belt of gold disks.

Mira acknowledged her and tilted her head in a mute invitation to join her.

"Good morning, my lady. Have you eaten yet?" Syrith asked as she settled into one of the lounge chairs.

"Yes, thanks to whoever stocked up the kitchen," Mira replied, holding up her tea. "What brings you up here?"

"We've selected housing for your compatriots. Several of the units on the floor below this one were furnished. Would you be able to inspect the rooms to ensure they will suit the hunters?" Syrith wrinkled her nose. "I've been informed that some of these places are merely 'staged' to appear that way and I'm not familiar enough with human homes to tell which are which."

Right, the ghost condos. The last thing they needed was Cece or one of the boys to fall into bed, only to discover the bed was actually a pair of plastic tables with blankets and pillows on top.

"I'll come with you."

The apartments below Mira's penthouse were smaller, but were by no means small. They were still luxury accommodations that ranged from two to four bedrooms each with brand new kitchens and jetted tubs. Only some one or two showed evidence that they'd ever been lived in, but Mira found locked cabinets in those units that were full of cleaning supplies and fresh linens so she was willing to guess they'd been vacation rentals.

There were six apartments and, of those, one had been used as an offsite documents storage facility. Three had regular furniture, and the last two had been staged with a few stools and a fake bed made out of cardboard boxes. Fortunately, there were other floors with other abandoned apartments that weren't already in use by a demon. Mira and Syrith managed to cobble together enough furnishings so that all the humans would be living together in the same zone, which meant that they'd be able to cordon off other floors so the demons would have a comfortable place to let their wings and horns out.

They never showed this part in the comic books. The protagonists just got to show up to a beautifully decorated space and the reader would probably never see it again.

Fortunately, no one expected Mira to help lug mattresses and sofas up the stairwell.

Her business was deciding what went where and who got which space. That involved sone coordination with her party members because, thanks to Cece, she'd realized that some of them would probably be arriving with family.

Everyone outside was scared and, right now, the 'Tower' might seem like the safest place to keep your squishy dependents.

The group chat had start hopping about an hour into this impromptu home decoration episode. Mira kept half an eye on it, just enough to stay informed.

Randall was coming and would be bringing his parents and his younger brother. Will was bringing his grandfather, who was also a little delicate and used an oxygen tank. Cece, as mentioned before, would be bringing her parents. Bryn was only bringing his boyfriend Luciano, called Luca.

The bigger apartments went to the bigger family units. They finished up just as word came from the barricade that people had started to arrive.

What followed felt a little bit like freshman move-in day, except with adults and less excitement. Everyone was happy with their new living quarters, especially Randall's parents who were first generation immigrants and had a lot riding on their son's future success. They were still scared scared and unsettled, but Mira got the impression that having an ocean view from their living room because their son had been recognized as someone special and important had helped somewhat.

Mrs. Newman was looking paler than she had the day before. Her husband and daughter put her straight to bed before bothering with their luggage at all and she fell straight asleep.

Mira and Syrith exchanged a look as that happened.

"I'll see about finding a healer," Syrith promised. "If I'm understanding this correctly, elves have a similar kind disease and they might be able help with her symptoms, at least."

Alan, Will, and Bryn all brought remarkably little with them; a few duffel bags, spinner suitcases, and some odds and ends in a milk crate. Except, of course, Alan's enormous television and several gaming consoles.

Mira helped people unpack here and there. Mostly she took notes about who needed what. After a while, Cece joined her.

"Is your mother comfortable?" Mira asked.

"She has good days and bad days," Cece admitted as she looked over Mira's shoulder at the running list she had open on her phone. "Yesterday was a good day, but it also took a lot out of her so she's got to take it easy today. Dad says 'thank you' for taking us in. A few reporters found our address last night and it was hard getting out of the building this morning."

Mira felt her lips thin. "You're earning that apartment. It's part of your compensation."

"I know that in my head," Cece admitted. "It'll take a while to fully sink in, though. Oh, I gave your parents my notice this morning."

She turned to face Cece. "Please tell me you didn't offer them two weeks."

That got a laugh out of her friend. "Of course not!" Then she sobered. "Actually, when I called your mom tried to get me to come meet a friend of hers who wanted to talk to me."

"Blake Heron?" Mira guessed.

"No, it was Mr. Cross," Cece sighed, rolling her eyes. "I think he wants in on the Guild; to either buy in or buy Mr. Volkov out—probably the latter. Mr. Cross doesn't work well with others. He always has to be in charge. Anyway, I guess he thought I'd make a good foot in the door."

Huh, that was interesting. Mira had half expected the Magnates to all retreat into their own corporate projects during this time of instability. She vaguely recalled that Julian Cross had made his money in 'speculation', which was what they called venture capital in Avenon. It actually made sense that he'd want in on a new industry like this.

"Interesting," was all Mira said.