NEW GODS: The Awakening

The Mirror Room

It was forbidden for all Abyssals to enter the Mirror Room without a personal invitation from Malaki himself.

When Havel was invited there, excitement was the last thing he felt.

He had been training with his twin sister. She smiled encouragingly up at him and patted him on the shoulder, not so subtly pushing him towards the contractor who had informed him.

Anthalla seemed to be unaware of the implications behind the invitation and Havel decided on the spot that he would not be the one to inform her.

He advised her to check on the hellhounds. They caused trouble when she stayed away for too long. She nodded, eyes gleaming. Only an hour and she had already missed her dogs.

Havel would have sighed fondly at her unfiltered joy if his mind were not plagued with questions.

The Contractor cleared their throat. Anef of the Abyss. In active service for twenty years. In the care of Talion.

Havel knew of them from documents upon documents he had poured whole nights over because at the time he thought deep knowledge of the laws and history could assist his team in some way.

He never bothered to meet any of them personally. It was rare for him to bother with anyone outside of his care.

Anef looked approachable and friendly. With his straight black hair and tidy clothes, he had stood in front of two of the most infamous Abyssals with a smile on his face.

He was of average height so he had been forced to crane his neck all the way backwards in order to look him as he delivered the news.

Blessed be thy Void that none in his care had been chosen for Contractors. They were impossible to manage already, and that's without having to teach them the delicate art of not picking a fight with every person that mildly offended them.

I am assuming you have been authorized not to share further details.

Anef shuddered and his hand instinctively reached for his ear, as if it would have fallen off without him noticing. He corrected himself last minute, pretending like his hand had come up to brush a nonexistent strand of hair away from his forehead.

"I have not been given any other information," he said, his cheeks blazing red.

So, he had known about Havel's power-he just forgot. Havel could not even pretend to care when more pressing issues were present.

Is it urgent?

"I don't know. But you were given two hours to prepare. So, I don't think so,"

The Contractor was awfully mistaken. The more time you were given to prepare, the worst the announcement would be.

It was a small mercy the Regulators dolled out to only their most useful pawns. A few more moments of ignorant bliss.

"But you need to sign here first," Anef extended a single document towards him.

Havel read through it a few times just to ensure he was not agreeing to anything suspicious. It appeared to be a regular Contract with simple requests. One, attend the meeting. Two, be on your own. Three, don't be late.

In fact, everything about this was worryingly vague.

Anef was holding up a feather quill, ready to offer it to him. Havel pretended not to see the long, vibrant red feather and pulled out a mechanic pen with a music note attached at the top. He had bought it while on a music festival with Doll. Signing Contracts with it helped to remind him what he was risking each time he made a decision.