Wish upon the Stars chapter 324

After we watched the match, we invited them to the party we'd heard  about from the Heavensong Tower. Callie was sure after that showing,  they would definitely get some attention. We agreed to meet up the next  day for the party, and Callie made her wishes for the day, and again the  next morning, paying me another thirty G-rank chits, and getting  another thirty points of Perception, bringing me up to a full E-ranked  chit worth of personal funds.

We met up with them around  sunset to head for the party, which was apparently formal dress, so I  got another use out of that suit from the Gala. We drove to the address  on the card together, and by the time we got there it was dark. Benny,  Celine, Jessie, Abel, Mel, and the Spear Legion came, but this was a  younger generation party so Zeke, Stella, and Melinda stayed home.

"I'm  starving." I announced as we headed into the nondescript building. "You  guys think they'll have any decent food there?" The area of the party  was eerie, we'd come to a back street where the lights were dim and  there weren't many people. I'd have thought it was a trap except I could  see a few other formally dressed people our age filtering into the  building, so I guessed the people here just prized secrecy.

Callie  chuckled. "Probably. Formal parties usually have decent stuff. Canapes  and the like. I hope they have crab puffs. The gala didn't and I really  love those. They were basically the only good part of some the parties I  went to as a kid."

Benny rolled his eyes, faux-muttering  to Celine. "These two, I swear. We're lucky Nightstrike is so obsessed  with loot or I'd worry they would eat us out of house and home." When he  caught us looking he stuck out his tongue at us, and I flipped him off.

Deliberately  raising my voice, I stage whispered to Callie. "Did you know that when  Clockwork was a kid, he used to have a phobia he used to be terrified of  owls?"

"They're creepy!" He rebutted with fervor. "What  kind of mammal can turn its neck all the way around? You're the weird  one for not being bothered. They swoop up mice and small animals and  shit out whole skeletons. It's horrifying. They're like living  nightmares."

I cracked up at his defensiveness, but we  didn't keep sniping. The bouncers at the door were well hidden, but when  we got close enough they resolved from the shadows to block our way.  Probably some kind of Stealth Skill. "Invitations?" The one on the left  said blandly. I fished out the card and handed it to him, and he  inspected it and then handed it back with a nod, ushering us in.

The  inside of the building was much more lavish than the plain exterior  would suggest. This place was probably a hotel based on the decor, and a  fairly upscale one, but most likely catering to more...discrete  clientele. It made sense some of the shadier forces from the WCP or even  among the visitors wouldn't want to stay in a noticeable spot. "Well."  Said Jessie as she took it all in. "This is much less dramatic than the  last party, but I feel more comfortable here I think."

She  wasn't wrong. "I get what you mean." I said contemplatively. "It's  stuffier but less otherworldly. The lack of crazy illusions helps, but  the lack of E-rankers also makes it feel less restrictive. We're among  peers so I don't feel so stiff."

"Well I'm glad to hear  it." Said an amused voice. I jumped slightly as we all spun to se Alec,  looking just as harmless and pleasant, with a bland smile in place as he  virtually appeared out of nowhere. What a creepy guy. "I'm glad to see  you could all make it." He smiled at Lament and co. "And you brought  friends, the Spear Legion if I'm not mistaken. I heard about your  showing in the second round, very impressive. Please, make yourselves at  home, mingle and get something to eat. I'll be around if you need me."

I  expected him to stick to us and be a pain in the ass, but he just waved  and melted into the crowd heading into a large ballroom. Not everyone  was in the Ballroom though, there were sporadic groups in the halls and  hanging around, people who felt more comfortable talking then dancing or  shuffling around the edges of the more formal setting.

Surprisingly,  we ran into some old friends. Megan, Riley, Sydney, and their fourth  team member, Sam, had noticed us walking around and come over to greet  us. Megan, being the more gregarious, was the one to flag us down. "Hey  guys. Good to see you. You guys got invited to this too huh? That  Heavensong Tower sure has some pull to arrange this many guests across  this many arenas."

I hadn't considered that actually, but  she was right. "I wonder how they booked this place." I said with  interest. "It doesn't seem like it would be common knowledge.  Interesting group of people. Anyway, what's their purpose for all this  do you think? Like sure, getting information on other teams and making  connections, but there were parties already happening where they could  do that. Why throw their own?"

Callie shrugged. "If I had  to guess these are all the teams they consider a threat. Speaking of  which." She turned to Megan and Sydney. "Congrats on passing your second  round you two. Kind of wish we'd seen your fight, but maybe next time.  Who did you end up against?"

Megan grimaced. "Treepoem  Grove. I don't want to talk about it. Suffice to say they were annoying  to beat. Riley did most of the heavy lifting on this one, though we  should be playing a bigger role as we move on. Heard from Sloane you all  took on Divine Stainless Temple and even beat a Master Candidate. Damn  impressive."

Another voice cut in. "Divine Stainless  Temple?" We turned to see a few teenagers around our own age in  incredibly upscale looking clothes. The one at the front, a girl with  short black hair and a bright smile, held out a hand as we noticed her.  "Oh, sorry to interrupt. I'm Laura, from the Solemn Vow Guild. If you  guys just took on Divine Stainless Temple you must be the team from the  Starchaser Pavilion."

Callie took her hand, looking  slightly uncertain. With our Master Candidate going against another it  made sense they would have heard of us, but the timing on that  introduction had been a little too coincidental. Like they'd been  waiting for us. I hadn't heard of them, but Callie either had or was  pretending to make them feel better, because she took Laura's hand with a  smile of realization. "Oh, Solemn Vow. I've heard of you all."

Laura  looked pleased. "I'm glad, because we're going to be facing each other  sooner rather than later. I have it on good authority that you're going  to be our next opponents. I couldn't believe my luck when I heard you  mention Divine Stainless Temple."

I couldn't believe her  luck either. Literally. I didn't believe for a second that her 'bumping  into us' was a coincidence. Callie didn't tense externally, but I felt a  burst of suspicion over the bond. "Well isn't that funny. I guess we're  in luck too, getting to meet our future opponent so early. We didn't  even find out who our fight would be against yet. And we checked."

Abel  had come up basically empty handed looking around. He'd been given a  date and time but not told the enemy. Presumably they were waiting until  the last minute because so many teams had been so prepared. Which gave  rise to the obvious question, how had these people known who they were  fighting when no one else did?

Laura  just smiled disarmingly. "Ah, well you know, we've always been good at  making friends. We'd love to be friends with you all too actually. You  seem like impressive people. It can be so uncomfortable navigating  situations like this. Don't want there to be any hard feelings between  the teams after the matches. I feel like if we form a good rapport now,  even if you were to end up losing we could still be friendly. We could  even try to cheer you up. I'm always generous with my friends."

That...had  been an attempt to get us to throw the match. I wasn't the most  politically savvy person around, but even I had enough sense to see that  they wanted us to fold. Callie's demeanor cooled, her smile becoming  forced. I personally didn't begrudge them the attempt, but it seemed  like the unfairness of trying to bribe us had upset my girlfriend. Not  that I thought we should take the deal, but you don't know if you don't  ask. I didn't blame them for trying.

"That's  kind of you." Said Callie frigidly. "But I think we have our hands full  at the moment. We already have quite a few friends. Maybe we can make  some time to get to know you after the tournament. Don't worry about  hard feelings on our end though. We don't plan to lose, so it shouldn't  be an issue."

Laura  seemed more amused than offended, putting both hands up in surrender.  "No problem, just something to think about. I know that you probably  have high hopes for this tournament, but I wouldn't count your chickens  before they hatch. Certain parties have a vested interest in making sure  the proceedings happen in a specific way. Teams like you and I are just  boats on the current. Best to know when to dock and get off the water."

That  had sounded threatening in terms of words used, but her tone was  almost...apologetic. Like we weren't the only ones in a bind here.  Someone was pushing certain teams to give up in order to get their  personal picks through the rounds. My immediate thought was that it was  the Cult, but not everything could be because of them right? Then again  Pietro's presence showed they weren't even trying to be subtle about  their involvement in the tournament, so maybe it was them.

With  a cheerful nod, Laura turned and strolled away, her lackeys going with  her. I turned to Callie. "What the hell was that?" I was sure she'd  caught more about what had just happened then I had.

I  felt a tug as she resonated her Stealth Skill to prevent anyone from  hearing us. "That." She said grimly. "Was a complication. Solemn Vow is a  Guild, which is a type of organization most common in the Empire. With  Pietro showing up, it means that at least two factions have teams in the  tournament. How they managed to get them entered I have no clue, but it  seems like the factions involved are starting to apply pressure."

"Wouldn't  that be against the rules?" I knew they were pretty open about  interference in the WCP, but the Unity usually put on a more upright  face.

She  just shrugged. "Maybe. They tried to bribe us first, the threat was  potentially just a warning. It's possible it wasn't even coming from  them, they might have been trying to clue us in to the Cult's policy of  doing the same. This system borders Cult territory, so there's no way  they don't have other teams in the lineup. The Empire probably does too.  We need to talk to Zeke and my uncle. This just got a lot more  complicated."

This  tournament was a much bigger deal than expected. I knew getting Impact  in advance was huge, but this was more attention than I'd expected for  something so low stakes. I could see how Natalie had been drawn here. In  fact. "Let me get in touch with my cousin. I haven't talked to her  since things started, and I think we're due for a sit down." I wanted to  know what the fuck was going on. Because I was pretty sure this was  more dangerous than I'd been told.