A week passed. 

Cayden's guess proved to be right. In the following days, the cardinals had kept her out of their meetings while Leristith recovered. After being brushed off one too many times, Rena made good on her promise and walked right on in, straight into the middle of a discussion as to what they were going to do with her and the rest of the Unbounds she'd invited to stay. 

She hadn't been alone, either. Mythics of all families stood behind her, and not just the Unbounds. It was probably around the time that the Order found themselves staring down a twenty plus group of Mythics that they'd agreed change was necessary, especially considering those were just the Mythics that had fit through the door.  

The dialogue had grown between them, and slowly but surely, Rena knew they were coming around. Not all of them were entirely there yet, but it wasn't like they had a choice. If they didn't like it, Rena had pointed out they had the option to leave Leristith, move to one of the more human-focused towns on the outskirts, the ones that ran without ley-imbued luxuries. None of them seemed keen on that idea. 

A small group had formed around her, dedicated to keeping communications between the cardinals and Mythics open. Allegra, Kiou, three other Unbounds, two of the Order's Mythics and one of the ex-chaotics and Rena herself were still battling their way through various swamps of paper and politics, though between them, Rena felt like they were making progress. Not as instant as she'd have liked, but progress. It'd take time to spread the same change through the other cities, but if they could change Leristith, they could change anything.

She couldn't help but wonder what Qariinn would think when he woke up, because he would. It might take several more days, but Rena knew he was too stubborn to spend the rest of his life asleep, healing his mind. 

Head in hand, Rena read through the latest document the Order had thrown at her. Though she'd made it clear that she wouldn't tolerate any sneaky loopholes in the various documents the Order gave her, it paid off to read them through. Every loophole they managed to work into their wording was another meeting she had to hold, another meeting someone had to hold to rectify it officially. 

The door cracked open, and Nazine's head poked through the space. 

"Rena!" he called, jumping inside. "And hi, Nix, if you're in there!" 

"She is," said Rena, relaying Nix's thoughts. "She says hi, and that she thinks your hair is especially shiny today."

Nazine gave her a smug grin and flipped his hair, much to Nix's internal excitement. "You think so?" 

"Calm down, pigeon boy," said Cayden, following through the doorway. 

Nazine gave Rena a withering look. "See what you've started? Pigeon boy. He never would have dared say that before you came along."

"That was before I dragged your unconscious behind halfway across the planet," said Cayden, flopping into a chair. "It gives me a few liberties, especially where the word pigeon is involved."

Though Nazine tried to preserve his dignity, both Rena and Nix cracked up into a fit of giggles at the sheer ridiculousness of his expression. 

"How's Kat doing?" asked Rena. 

Cayden grunted, repositioning himself before he replied. "She got her key back, if that's what you mean. I don't know if she'll be able to shadow-walk again for a while with what the Order did to her. It damaged more than just her key. Somehow, I think they're going to have to find themselves a new shadow Mythic. They'll be lucky if she doesn't make their lives hell when she can walk again." 

"Could be a good thing," said Nazine. "I mean, the Order is going to see what happens when they force the wrong Mythics into doing their will, especially one that worked for them beforehand, right? Consequences and all that?" 

"Maybe," said Rena, chewing her lip. "Assuming she doesn't go overboard and undo all the work we've done." 

"I guess we'll have to wait and see," said Cayden with a sigh. "What are you working on in here, anyway? More documents?" 

"Of course," said Rena, passing it over. "Elijah tried to sneak in a few things that could be worded more... clearly, shall we say. He keeps trying to undermine anything we're doing." 

"Just be glad he has an aversion to Mythics," said Nazine. "If he teamed up with the archangel, I'm sure he'd make your life twice as miserable. He's still sulking about what you did." 

Rena bit back her smile. The archangel hadn't wanted to cooperate when she'd told him the djinn's reclamation was over and he'd remained unphased in Svala's wake, so she'd improvised. One charm later, and the archangel had found himself renouncing every lecture he'd ever given on the correct way to hold a harp pouch and promising to apologise to anyone who had ever been subjected to one. 

The archangel had surrendered after that. 

"He'll get over it," said Cayden, passing the document back. "Did you end up learning anything about Nix's death? Last I heard, anything on the subject were nonexistent in official records." 

"Actually, yes," said Rena. "One of the cardinals came up with something--the record of our birth that went missing from the archives. From what I read, one of the old cardinal's wife was pregnant when she fell ill. A healer told him the baby was sickly, that it wouldn't survive unless a Mythic spirit chose them as a host. The cardinal didn't want to risk it, and so he did something to increase the chance of a Mythic choosing the baby. It worked, I ended up with her, but it wasn't enough. Shortly after she was born, Nix died, leaving me in full control of the body. The cardinal knew, but he and a few others covered it up and put some kind of binder on my key to suppress any chance I'd shift into my half form. Figures why they were so keen to keep me at the edges of everything when I was growing up." 

"I don't suppose," said Cayden. "That one of those people who helped cover it up was Elijah?" 

Rena raised an eyebrow. "How'd you know?" 

Cayden shrugged. "It made sense. He rose to cardinal much faster than anyone else I've ever heard of, and it makes sense he'd pick the girl he saw as an outcast to... influence," he said, curling his lip at the final word. 

Nazine gave Cayden a not-too-gentle slap upside the head. "He's lying. We heard on the way over that Elijah's lost his cardinal status and is under investigation for covering up evidence of tampering with the Mythic's selection process." 

Cayden rubbed the back of his head. "I would have guessed Elijah was involved without that," he said. "You didn't have to ruin it."

"Consider it payback from the pigeon boy." 

Rena wrinkled her nose. "I just hope he doesn't get sent back to Gliveri again, the city I met you two at the beginning of all this."

"I wouldn't worry," said Cayden. "With all their own legal crap, he'll be tied up in Leristith for a good few months as they go through the various proceedings."

"Why not Gliveri?" asked Nazine.

"I'm going there as soon as I have someone capable of communing with portals to kick-start the same changes we've started here," said Rena. "Mitria, the ex-chaotic mer I was telling you about, she's pretty much got everything under control here. Once I've informed the cardinals, I don't see any reason I can't start telling a few other cities that the old style doesn't work anymore."

"Careful, or they might try to give you your own ley guard," said Cayden dryly. "I presume the plan is pretty much the same as it was for Leristith?"

Rena winked at him. "Can you tell me that there's more efficient politics than mine?" 

"Hey, I'm a fan of kitsune politics," said Cayden. "Sign me up!" 

"So... someone capable of communing with portals, you say?" said Nazine. "I don't suppose you'd want a halfing, say, a phoenix to tag along and help you with that?" 

 "Well, I was hoping for the djinn," said Rena, grinning as Nazine's indignant expression took over once more. "Buuut I suppose a phoenix will do while he's napping." 

Nazine flicked a ball of fire at her. "I hate you sometimes."

"If he's tagging along, then I guess I am too," said Cayden, standing up from his chair. "This time around, can we try to not get kidnapped?" 

"Pretty sure that was your job," said Nazine, rushing on before Cayden had a chance to reply. "I bet that if we hurry, we might get to see Elijah kicked out with his box of stuff and escorted to the prisons. But if we miss that, there's always food!" 

Rena shook her head and rolled the document back up, placing it among the other things on her desk. Inside her head, Nix was jumping up and down, jostling her other thoughts aside. 

Oh, oh, oh! Food! Can I taste that? 

Rena stood up from the chair, stretching her tails before following Nazine and Cayden out the door. There was a new adventure to explore, a new mission to accomplish, and she felt like she could take on the world. 

You sure can, said Rena. There's a whole world out here for you to discover, and we're going to get through it all together. 

*+*+*+*

The End. 

*+*+*+*

Long ass A/N that-a-way --> 
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