Stronger Together chapter 195

The night passed far too quickly. Everyone was pretty worried about  the Arbitration and Morgan decided we would all be sleeping in a cuddle  puddle. On the one hand it was nice and comforting being surrounded by  people I loved, but on the other hand I'd kind of been hoping to have  sex with at least one of my girlfriends, and as much as Morgan would  probably blow that off and possibly join in, several of the other girls  would have been pretty mortified if things went down like that so I kept  my hands to myself.

Waking up in a pile of pretty women  was still pretty nice, but it made morning wood fairly awkward. Luckily  Raven was backed against me so I wasn't pressing pickle against Andi or  Inari or someone. It was still pretty early, and the conclave didn't  lick off until about noon so we had time to sit down for breakfast and  plan how we were going to do this. I decided to do the cooking and  slipped out from behind Rae to head to the kitchen and start making some  eggs and bacon.

I always used way more eggs than was  technically called for because I was impatient and about half of the  eggs ended up cooked onto the pan because I kept the heat up too high.  Still despite the mess my eggs usually turned out pretty well. I always  made scrambled with cheese, though I cooked the bacon first to try to  keep the eggs from sticking to only moderate success. I dumped all the  eggs (two dozen, my girls could eat) onto a few plates with the bacon  and sat down to eat my own breakfast.

As expected I didn't  need to call any of them, the smell of food woke them all and they came  stampeding in. Barb was last of course, dragging her feet and making a  hole in the throng of hungry girls with nothing but her normal morning  animosity. Even the super among us knew better than to rouse the ire of  Morning Barb. I smirked at them all as they sat down around the table.  "So, what are you guys going to be up to today while I'm taking a  starring role on a supernatural version of Judge Judy?"

I  kept my tone light, hoping to put them at ease by being casual about it,  or at least sounding that way because I absolutely did not feel casual  about this mess. Barb seemed to pick up on what I was doing, and was  worried enough about things that she actually forced herself to interact  like a human in response. "I figured we would head over to Charity's. I  believe Gabby is coming over today to play with Bea and I thought if  Tera was ok with it Kara could bring her and Connor over to meet them  now that the wolf nonsense is over."

That was a great  idea, I'd actually been hoping we could introduce Connor to kids his own  age for a while, the pup deserved some friends. Kara seemed distracted  enough by the idea to be pleased, smiling as she heard it "Hey, yeah  that would be awesome, I don't mind at all. Harry gave me permission to  enter so the island doesn't mess with me when I go there. I can carry  two people easily too, and I bet Connor would love a trip into the  city." She turned to Inari "Babe you think you could drive me somewhere  secluded and wait for me to bring them back so no one sees me fly them  over?"

Inari looked a bit pensive, but after thinking for a  bit she nodded. "I think I might know a place. I think our best bet is  to find a place by the shore so you're less likely to be spotted flying  them in. They won't be able to handle going into the stratosphere to  avoid being noticed like you usually do so you have to be careful of the  route you take." Despite the obstacle however she sounded just as  excited. Inari loved the kids, especially Connor. I was happy to note  that everyone seemed to have been cheered up by talking about the kids.

Rather  than say goodbye I got them all involved in the discussion and slipped  out when they weren't looking. I'm sure Kara noticed us go but she chose  not to say anything, and I said an internal thank you to my Kryptonian  roommate for her choice to help us. I knew we would catch some flack  when we got home, but I suspected relief that we had survived would win  out over the anger, and since there was nothing they could actually do  to help I didn't want them to stew over it any more than they absolutely  had to.

The  ride to the conclave was uneventful. I was personally just waiting for  all this nonsense to end, hopefully the gala would be more fun. We were  allowed to bring guests to that part of the event and aside from Dalton  and Brynn I was also planning to bring the girls to hopefully make up  for all the stress of having to stay out of the early portions of the  conclave. I adjusted my Archangel Armor under my suit as we got out of  the car, making sure it wasn't too obvious, luckily the lorica was very  well made and masterfully articulated.

The  walk down into The Deeps was quiet and solemn. Yesterday there had been  some excitement, a bit of buzz over our exciting day, but this time it  was all dread. This was going to be unpleasant I was betting, no one  gave me specifics but I was assuming the Arbitration wasn't a puppy  training contest or cotton candy eating race. For some reason the  supernatural crowd never seemed to design fun competitions, it was  always soul rending torment and bloody pitched battle. Real life  monsters could be such edgelords.

Unlike  yesterday there was no dinner waiting, not round table to seat all the  elegant masses. There was what I could only describe as some king of  judge's stand, and behind it, in all her terrible splendor, sat Mab. Her  clothes and hair were all black, just as they had turned once or twice  when she passed judgement in the books, but something about the color  was...off. The black was too deep, not just the absence of color, but a  consumption. This wasn't just black, this was vantablack, slightly  darker black, her hair was swallowing the light around her.

Despite  the harsh color it still reminded me of cold somehow. The void of space  or a blackened limb dead from frostbite. Her eyes were also black,  pupil sclera and all. Like looking into bottomless pits, and I averted  my gaze nearly as soon as it locked onto her face out of sheer  discomfort. When we arrived we were led up before the stands, and Drakul  and Qin were brought up with us. Mab gazed coldly down at us, surveying  us all like a cruel and terrible goddess. She must have worked on this  show a lot, she was really pulling this off.

Her  empty yet somehow imperious stare was like a tangible weight crushing  down on my shoulders, but despite feeling it the weight didn't seem to  actually effect me like it should have, rolling over my godsteel  enhanced form easily. Mab's now black lips opened, revealing razor sharp  teeth so white their outlines were almost burned into my vision, and  she spoke. "You have come for judgement." Her voice was the howl of  powerful wind through the highest most jagged arctic peaks, and even my  stalwart body almost shuddered at the icy pronouncement.

It  felt like death itself had just passed sentence on me. But staring up  at that woman who might as well have been the heat death of the universe  for all the chill she exuded, I just decided I was done. Like I had  decided yesterday I was powerful and I would damn well act like it. I  wasn't cowed by some theatrics and a chilly aura. I grinned at  her,having to almost pull my facial muscles with my godsteel weave to  make it happen and then said in my most cheerful voide "Yup, let's get  this show on the road."

I  almost wished I could tap into Raven's empathy, because the sheer  appalled shock on the gathered audience was hilarious just to look at, I  was betting it would have been even funnier to experience. Nega-Mab was  not apparently the fun loving, carefree Mab I'd gotten to see  yesterday. This new colder Mab didn't even quirk her lips slightly at my  insouciance, she just ignored it and turned her frigid glare on the  other two present. "Prepare yourselves." Her voice echoed strangely  though the caverns this time, somehow reminding me of the echoes over a  snowy mountain before an avalanche. Even Drakul and Qin looked serious.

I  expected some kind of magical ritual, or maybe an invocation or even  some complex hand gestures, but none of those happened. Mab simply gazed  down at us, took a deep breath and said "Approach." I stepped forward  Drakul right behind me, and when we got a bit closer Mab vanished. She  reappeared right in front of us both, her pitch black talon like fingers  spread and her hands blurred as she put each of them against one of our  foreheads. Her fingers locked around my skull like iron bands and I  almost grunted at the pain before remembering myself...and then I  was...somewhere else.

I  stood in a palace. It was huge and sprawling and ostentatious. I was  standing before a throne, but not in supplication, my back was to the  empty seat, and I looked out over a massive court full of people. The  clothes were beautiful silks and amazing gilded threads and they looked  so luxurious I almost felt jealous until I realized mine were just as  fancy, if not more so. The men in the room were mostly large. Some with  thick beards and some with their faces shorn, but all with varying  shades of olive skin and features I would call middle eastern.

The  man closest to my chair was kneeling and gazing up at me. "Your  majesty?" His words weren't in english, I knew that somehow despite the  fact that they sounded like that to me. I even heard an accent to his  speech. He cleared his throat "A thousand pardons your excellency but we  await your decision." I was confused, but tried not to show it, raising  one eyebrow imperiously. He waited a bit and then got uncomfortable "On  the war, your excellency?"

He  noted my silence and continued hurriedly "I understand you knew the  foreigner when he was at court, great one, but he has spurned our  kindness and forgotten his origins. He is no longer the friend you once  held dear. The Dragon must fall your excellency, or our Empire will be  endangered. He is a crafty and deceitful foe." That was enough context  for me to figure out the broad strokes of the situation. In a slight  panic I tried to call on my soulfire and got nothing, no response from  my Aura either. My powers, my godsteel, all my abilities were gone.

I  tried to keep the terror from my face as I realized what was happening.  My Arbitration was a trial alright. I'd been put in the body of the  Ottoman Emperor. Granted I had the entire Empire at my command, but I  was going up against a being that was centuries old and who had been a  renowned military commander even at this time in history, with no powers  or abilities. I swallowed hard as I realized how utterly fucked I was.  This was going to be a hell of a trial. I just hoped I could survive it.  Because something told me manpower advantage or not, I was in real  danger here.