The moment that we were safely back in the house I reached my thoughts out to Danu. “Great Mother, can we trust Loki?”

~Trust is not a yes or no question, my child. Trust is a gradient,~ Danu responded. There was amusement in her voice though. ~Should you trust Loki not to tease you mercilessly or play relatively harmless pranks on you when given the opportunity? No, you should not. Should you trust her to act responsibly when drunk? Probably not. Should you trust her with the lives of you and your friends? Unquestionably, yes. Those ‘apples’ will not harm your friends and Loki really does have the best of intentions.~

~Loki has a reputation in mythology though, and it’s not really a good one,~ I countered. Not that I didn’t trust Her word, but the first things he did in our new relationship were posting that website of me and then pranking Nishalle and me when we arrived to talk.

My patron Goddess’s tone became chastising as She spoke again. ~Mythology is just stories, my dear. Yes, they are mostly built on real events but stories have a way of changing with the tellers, especially if there is animosity involved. They say that history is written by the winners after all. Don’t believe everything that you hear. Yes, Loki has flaws, as do we all. She loves her fun, pranks, and entertainment a little too much and she tends to take things a bit too far sometimes, but she has always been against the Gods abusing their power, she has vigorously fought against it, and she too believes that humans can be redeemed if given the right opportunity.~

She did have a point about mythology and, other than the pranks and sarcasm, Loki had treated Nishalle and me in a friendly manner, even when she was being sarcastic. Danu seemed to sense my weakening resolve and added, ~Loki and Inari were my first allies against the other Gods and I am not only trusting them with your life but my entire plan. I consider them both friends, and she is trying to make friends with you and your sister, in her own way.~

~Well, she did bring coffee and cinnamon buns,~ I admitted reluctantly. ~I’m still kinda squicked out by those pics on the website though.~

~As she said, she did have to get your attention somehow, in a way that wouldn’t get too much attention from the other Gods, just as I had to guide you toward her,~ She replied. ~The site has been removed and Loki didn’t create the content, she just gathered it. She was as bothered by some of it as you but she also knew that it would without a doubt get your attention. It was probably a bad idea to get her a phone and internet access. She can multitask with the best of us and while she’s making preparations for tomorrow she is rather vehemently defending your honor on the sites that the more distasteful content came from.~

~Why? We just met, she hardly knows me,~ I wondered, a bit confused by the enigma that was Loki.

~ I am not the only one from my alliance watching over you and your group. Yes, due to her quirks and flaws Loki can be an acquired taste, but she will be a friend to you if you are willing to accept her for who she is. She likes you, respects your drive to do what is right and to fight the establishment when necessary, she already considers you friends in waiting. Loki will do anything for someone that she considers a friend, so long as it does not go against her core values. Those values align very well with your own, my dear daughter. You just might have to keep her from going too far sometimes,~ Danu offered gently.

I sighed but nodded as I decided to take my God-mother’s word for it. She did have much more experience with Loki and the Gods in general than I did. ~Thank you, Great Mother, I appreciate your advice and will try to take it.~

~You are welcome, my daughter, be well until we speak again.~ With that, I turned to look at the others. Everyone was gathered in the living room area as Nishalle was telling them about our meeting with the God/dess of Mischief. Whisper was working on the laptop while all of the others were listening intently to my sister who had apparently gotten to the ‘apples’ portion of the story.

I placed the basket on the kitchen table and then I set three of the fruit aside for Robyn, Rob, and Salem in a sealed container so the Wisps couldn’t get at them. With those three set aside, there was enough for everyone in the house except for me and Nishalle. There was even one for Kinara and I didn’t think that was a mistake. Danu did say that Yseil’dhraí are mostly immune to godly auras but mostly is not completely. Loki didn’t exclude Kinara either, when I mentioned her, Lissany, and Robyn by name. I sent a quick text to Robyn asking her if she and her boyfriend/bodyguard would be able to meet for dinner somewhere that night and then got a better look at the apples.

From a distance, I could see how people could mistake the magical fruit for apples, but they didn’t really feel firm enough. They were more like large golden plums, now that I got a closer look and feel of them. Oh well, it wouldn’t be the first time that mythology had lied to me. Not even the first time today, and it was still early.

With Nishalle finished recounting our brief outing I called out, “Danu says that we can trust Loki, she’s apparently one of the good ones, just a bit misunderstood. We just need to be wary of pranks, but she could be a good friend if we let her. There’s a fruit for everyone but me and Nishalle here, and that includes you, Kinara. Yseil’dhraí are only mostly immune and I think they want to play it safe. So, who wants a taste of immortality and to be completely immune to my sex aura and that fear thing that the Gods pump out?”

“Oh Goddess, yes please!” Harley answered a little too eagerly. Then she realized that everyone was looking at her and blushed a bright red. “Not because I want to be immortal or anything… you’re just really distracting right now, Taelya.” I thought that she might just die from embarrassment right there and then, but that was when she completely vanished from sight.

“What the hell?! Where did Harley go?!” Pete practically shouted as he jumped out of his seat.

Everyone else was frantically looking around as well when Harley’s seemingly disembodied voice replied, “What do you mean? I’m right here. I feel a little bit weird though.”

It was strange, I could still sense her there and the flow of mana around her. She was just covered in some sort of anti-perception or invisibility field, and she even seemed to be drawing on mana to keep it active. Harley wasn’t a Magus though, Beastkin can’t even use magic unless given some sort of token from one of the Gods like with Bards or Priestesses. Was this something inherent to her Unicorn nature? They did have a reputation for being damn near impossible to find. “You seem to be invisible, Harley,” I told her.

“Not just invisible, I couldn’t hear anything from her until she spoke, I can’t smell her either,” Lissany pointed out. Come to think of it, I couldn’t either and Fae senses are pretty damn acute. Our vision was superior to any other race’s and our hearing and sense of smell might not be quite as keen as a Beastkin’s but they were still pretty damn good. It was definitely some sort of anti-perception field.

“Harley, what were you thinking about before you disappeared?” Venika asked. That was a good question. If we could figure out the trigger then we might be able to figure out how she could cancel the effect, or repeat it.

“I was embarrassed,” Harley replied, sounding like she was still embarrassed and trying not to snap at the Sprite. “I wanted to crawl into a hole and hide. Still do.”

Daenyss turned to face the general direction of Harley’s voice. “There is nothing to feel embarrassed about, Harley. You are still new to our group and Mistress can’t quite see you as part of the family yet so you are probably feeling the full effect of her aura. I just feel a small part of it and I’m having trouble controlling my urges. Just take some deep breaths, calm down, and let’s go have one of those magic fruit. I’ll go first if you’re worried.”

It took a few minutes, but the Unicorn Beastkin managed to calm herself down enough to make herself visible again. Once she was, everyone ate the fruit without argument. I wasn’t all that surprised since I knew that Lissany was frustrated by not being able to act to protect me whenever a God came calling, and I think that Rei and the others felt the same. The immortality was probably tempting too, especially with so many Fae and two Demigoddesses in our group. I couldn’t imagine how hard it would be for the mortals among us to start growing old while the rest of us stayed young and healthy.

From the looks of bliss on their faces as they ate, that was some delicious fruit. Ate probably isn’t really the best word though, they just sort of took a bite, and then the rest of the fruit turned into a brightly glowing golden mist that infused the body of the person who bit the fruit in question. That was probably a good thing since I doubted that Venika could have actually eaten a whole fruit at her size, it was almost as big as she was.

Venika’s fruit didn’t fully turn to mist either, there was too much immortal essence for her small frame it seemed. Only about a tenth of it was gone, well until the Wisps pounced on it anyway. Dear Mother, immortal Wisps, what have I unleashed on this unsuspecting planet? Even after they were done there was still roughly half of a fruit remaining. It was as I was considering what to do with the remainder that Nishalle casually popped it into her mouth.

“What?” she asked with her mouth full at my look of disbelief. “We’re Demigoddesses, it’s not like I’m going to become more immortal. We couldn’t exactly throw it out, who knows who, or what might eat it. Mmmm, that’s some good magic fruit. It tastes like cherries.”

“Sis, you know that you’re crazy sometimes, right?” I asked, shaking my head and trying really hard not to smile. I shouldn’t encourage her after all.

“And your point is?” she replied, grinning right back at me. “Besides, you had your, ‘I’m worried about this and I’m going to agonize over how to handle this responsibly’ look on your face. Really, it’s not that big a deal.”

“But Danu and Loki didn’t say anything about whether Gods could eat them, or Demigods. There could be consequences,” I argued.

“Mmm, nope, no consequences. Not unless you count being delicious. They didn’t say that we couldn’t eat them either. Sometimes you worry too much, Sis. Did they specifically tell you not to eat the leftover magic fruit?” Nishalle pointed out.

“Well, no, not specifically.”

“There you go then,” she replied with a more serious look. “Loki and Danu both knew that Venika would be eating one of the fruit and I doubt that is something that either of them would have overlooked. If they didn’t specifically warn you that neither of us should eat it, I don’t see the issue. So let’s forget about it and go check in with Whisper before we have to leave for your meetings. I want to make sure that Loki really did take that site down.”

Reluctantly, I had to admit that she was probably right. So I let her pull me along to where Whisper was valiantly multitasking on her laptop. “Whoa, Nishalle,” the blonde Witch said with a grin, “that was fast. How did you get her out of her ‘I need to be responsible’ cycle so quick?” Was I really an open book to everyone here?

“I ate the problem,” Nishalle replied with a grin of her own.

Whisper laughed but I wasn’t quite sure if it was because of my sister’s solution or the look on my face. “Nice. That’s one way to do it, and that was some good fruit. Anyway, Loki was as good as his… err her word. The site is gone and I’ve been using keywords to find some of the more distasteful stuff and get rid of it but everything I’ve found; someone was already causing them headaches. Check this out. It’s part of the comments section on a really disturbing pic of you and Lissany.”

Nishalle and I leaned in to have a look and holy Goddess, there was a flame war in progress. “Wow Loki, that is, like subtle and blatant at the same time. You have a gift,” I muttered as I read the comments on the screen

L0w-k3y G0dd355: WTF Dude?!? That cat-girl in the armor is what? Fourteen or fifteen? Pedo much?

L0w-k3y G0dd355: Have u looked out your fucking window lately, or are u 2 busy jacking off 2 your ‘art’? The world has gone crazy, dude. That shit was all over the news. Even if that were the case, the actress would still be a minor so it doesn’t change my point.

It went on like that for a while. With the original poster trying to make it seem like he wasn’t perving on us or denying that we were real people and then Loki would rip his arguments apart and make him look worse. It wasn’t just that guy either. Anyone who had posted morally questionable material of us on their sites was getting the treatment. Loki was going after them like a rabid wolverine and other people were starting to join in.

Unfortunately, we didn’t have time to follow the chaos since I had appointments all day long to try to procure food, supplies, and the materials on the Atlanteans’ wish list for the construction of the capital and various technologies. With that in mind, I put my jacket back on, grabbed my purse, and put on my Autumn Cortez glamour. Kinara had already glamoured herself, my four defenders, and Grell since they would be coming with me.

Lissany, Nishalle, Pete, and Harley were of course coming along to cover my ass and keep me safe, while Kinara would be acting as Miss Cortez’s personal assistant, Kelly. I would have used Daenyss for that job but Kinara had already made contact with these businesses and established herself, so she was the most up-to-date on who we would be dealing with and the appointment times and locations. Grell would be acting as a technical advisor when we got the things on the Atlanteans’ wish list and for anything else that might be useful for artificing.

Rei was planning on keeping Jonesy’s phone handy in case it got a call and he needed to shapeshift to impersonate a certain government agent. Daenyss, Venika, and Whisper were going to keep an eye on the news for any major incidents that might require our attention while Whisper alternated between her virus idea and various tasks for increasing a positive online presence for me, Varüus’kiel, and the Fae and other non-Humans.

I quickly discovered during our running around that while gathering supplies and necessities for infrastructure was probably one of the most important tasks of a leader, it was also the most boring. Honestly, Kinara and Grell took care of most of the hard parts and I was mostly just there to ensure the orders matched what we needed and that our suppliers got paid. I had to let them do most of the talking anyway after my sex aura turned the first couple of contacts into drooling, staring, and babbling idiots. I really needed to learn how to aim that thing at someone in the background so I could have intelligent conversations with people again.

It took over a dozen meetings but we managed to get most of what we were looking for and we could expect the deliveries to be shipped to the warehouse over the next few days. I planned to have Grell and Whisper set up shop there and contact me after any deliveries arrived so I could quietly portal them to Varüus’kiel and empty the warehouse between deliveries. There was a lot to be delivered and sent home but it felt good to finally be getting some stuff done without being interrupted by monster attacks, government plots, or godly shenanigans.

There were still a few things on the tech wish lists but Grell figured that we should be able to order that stuff from another wholesaler online. Other than that we had accounts set up for weekly orders from a couple of major food wholesalers to help feed our people, an absolutely massive order of natural fabrics and sewing related supplies ordered, all of the wood and other infrastructure necessitates ordered through a local lumberyard and home renovations depot, and we had just closed a long-term deal with a company for environmentally friendly monthly supplies made from only natural fibers.

At least the last one had been someone that I could talk to. She was a woman named Caitlin Summers, and she was seemingly unaffected by my aura so I could actually manage a conversation with her. Talking to a guy about feminine hygiene products would have been awkward as hell, especially if he was staring at me and drooling the whole time. It turned out that we were able to help one another too and I found myself liking Caitlin.

She was the owner of what was a small locally-based company for now and she was hoping to branch out. She also happened to be a newly awakened Witch with a raven familiar who was very confused about what was happening with her. I had to reveal my true self but I was able to explain what was happening with her, cautioned her about the government disappearing people like her, and arranged for Kinara to visit her once a day to start giving her beginner magick lessons until she was ready to move herself and her company to Varüus’kiel.

The plan was for Grell and a few other Artificers to look into making an artificed assembly line that would be far more eco-friendly and that would be capable of manufacturing products that were compatible with other sized Fae variants or other species, such as Sprites, Fairies, or Namahage who couldn’t use human-sized products. I knew that Jhuras had mentioned artificed assembly lines for mana batteries and such so I was hoping that we could work something out for Caitlin because the production of safe feminine hygiene materials really is an essential service.

All in all, it had been a productive day and as we headed back to the safe house I was feeling pretty positive about things. A check-in with Rei told me that nobody had called Jonesy’s phone yet but I had just gotten a return text from Robyn that said simply, “Call me.”

I missed having her and Rob around so I eagerly hit the call icon for her name on my phone. “Hey, Tae!” Robyn’s voice answered chipperly after the second ring. “How is it going on your side of things? I’m really pushing the Changed Rights movement online when I’m not recording. I did a few podcast interviews to stir the pot too.”

“A lot has been going on since you and Rob left to do your thing. I figure that you probably heard about the thing with Tiamat and the plane, right?” I asked.

“Yep, Grell sent us the uncut footage. I still can’t believe you kicked a Goddess’s ass, especially one that big. And rescuing the plane while doing it was epic. I’d love it if you can get some more good press like that in the next week or so. We’re going to need to get you more high profile,” the pop star replied. I could practically hear her grinning on the other end.

“I’m all for some heroic endeavors, Robyn, but I’m not so sure that me being high profile is a good idea right now. I’m having some… uhh… Demigoddess issues. Some shit is going down with the Gods, it’s like a gang war and I gained some more aspects after having to mercy-kill a Goddess that was fatally wounded. Nishalle killed that Goddess’s sister for similar reasons and now she’s a Demigoddess too. Anyway, one of my new aspects is causing some issues, and my appearance may have changed a teensy bit,” I admitted.

I heard her gasp before sputtering, “No way! Get out! Nishalle is too?! That’s wild! So Daenyss is going to be pumping out even more titles when she introduces you now? What aspects did you get?”

“Love, justice, and… sex,” I mumbled. “And yeah, Daenyss is probably going to start adding those and the title ‘Queen of the Heavens’ to my introductions now. I kinda have this sex aura now and it’s making it hard to have normal conversations with people. I get a lot of attention, even with a glamour on. Without one I look like a damn sex Goddess too. So it’s probably not the best time for me to be getting public… exposure.”

“Are you kidding me?! This is perfect!” she squealed in my ear. “Sex sells, you know. Not that I’ve ever used that angle for myself but this would be great for getting our message out there and getting you more worshippers. Especially if you can do some more high-profile heroics over the next week. I want to do a press conference about changed rights next week and I think it would be a good opportunity to introduce you to a wider audience. And if you’re building up a rep as a hero people will be more willing to listen to you about the other stuff that they need to know.”

“You’re starting to sound like Daenyss, Robyn,” I told her with a sigh. “I didn’t call about that stuff though I just wanted to meet up with you. I got some magic fruit from Loki and two of them are for you and Rob.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment since we both know that she only ever wants what’s best for you, Tae. Wait, magic fruit? Loki? Do you mean Loki, as in the God of Mischief? That guy?”

“Well, no, not a guy. Not at the moment anyway. She’s kinda genderfluid like Rei. She’s going to be teaching me and Nishalle some stuff. Danu trusts her though and the others already ate the fruit with no problems. Unless you count immortality and immunity to the Gods’ auras as a problem,” I rattled off, trying to sound casual about the whole thing.

“Okay, I really need to catch up on what’s going on. Never mind, we’ll meet up so you can deliver the fruit. I’ll freak out about what it’s for later,” Robyn said with a sigh. Then she took a far too casual tone of her own as she added, “In fact, Rob and I already made reservations for dinner after you texted this morning. At eight o’clock at Chez Marcelle, I figured that we should have an ‘accidental’ meeting as our real selves at one of the high-class restaurants in town so I made a reservation for two for me and Rob. And Rob phoned in a reservation for ten under the name Taelya nír Keshwaindyr. Bring the whole entourage. People need to see you doing things other than saving lives among us mere mortals.”

I groaned at the mere thought of being in a stuffy high-class restaurant with everyone staring at me. “Robyn, this is not a good idea. Even without the sex aura, this wouldn’t be a good idea.”

“Pleeeeease,” the pop star cajoled. “Come on, Tae. I know the media and entertainment business as well as anyone who has survived with their morals intact can. Would I steer you wrong? You need to start building a following. It’s not even like we’re gonna be eating there if what I heard about the place is true. But when they do what I think they will, and you end up being the better person like you always do, the Paparazzi that’s following me around is going to eat it up. Just don’t let Daenyss in on it, I want her reaction to be genuine.”

“You’re probably right, but you know, I miss the Lark who was all about enjoying the experience in Apocalypse Dawn. The one who played games, listened to music, and chatted with Liss and Kinara like an everyday teenager,” I told her with a sigh.

She let out a sigh to echo mine on the other end before saying, “Yeah, me too. We both have jobs to do though, we need to be public figures, and who will do what’s needed if we don’t?”

“Yeah, I know. Sometimes you’re just way too mature for your age, Robyn. We’ve all missed having you two around the past couple of days, maybe after tonight, we can hang out more again,” I offered hopefully.

“I had to grow up fast,” she agreed. “Hopefully, if tonight goes well, we’ll have reason to be seen together in public and I can hang out with my family again.”

Daenyss spent almost two hours pampering me to prepare for our dinner reservation. Since the lot of us would be going out without glamours, except for whatever illusory outfits would be conjured up for most of us, she wanted me to look every inch the Demigoddess and Empress that I was. Once I was cleansed, lotioned, and perfumed to be looking and smelling my best she redid my hair in its usual distinctive style and did some light makeup. I really didn’t need much with my new looks but her subtle additions somehow made me look even more sultry and beautiful. She also put some sparkly violet polish on my nails that went really nicely with my eyes.

The evening gown was a simple backless sequined affair in royal purple with a thigh-high slit up the right side. It displayed a lot more cleavage than I was really comfortable with but at least the heels on the elaborate black sandals weren’t too uncomfortable. To finish off the outfit I wore some of the jewelry that Xixie and the other Sül’shael had made for me: A pair of bracelets and a few rings along with a matching necklace of Nythrin with tiny diamonds and amethysts and a large teardrop-shaped diamond that was probably worth more than the restaurant we’d be visiting, in a Nythrin setting with elaborate Celtic-looking designs carved into it. At least it all went nicely with my usual hair and ear ornaments and my faux spell focus.

The others had gotten cleaned and prettied up as well but since we didn’t have time to get them anything new to wear they were all wearing illusory clothing over top of clean everyday wear. Grell, Pete, and Rei were all wearing tuxes, though Rei’s tie was color-coded to match my dress. The girls all wore gowns similar to mine but in different colors with simple matching heels. Lissany was in pale gold, Whisper in white, Harley in black, Kinara in hunter green, and Nishalle in a crimson that matched her glowing eyes. Even Venika had a tiny illusory gown and heels on, in a striking silver hue.

The only one left to get dressed was Daenyss. She already had her hair and makeup done but before we left to meet Robyn and Rob though, I had something to ask her. I had thought that as a Demigoddess I might be able to free my Attendant of her magically enforced oath to serve me for all time, which could very well be that long given my new status. I hadn’t been able to do so, and part of the reason was possibly that Daenyss didn’t want to be released. She didn’t want to risk hurting me again, even accidentally, and we had become close enough that she didn’t really want to leave my side either. I could live with that and it was her choice to make.

That did not mean that I couldn’t make things easier for her in her duties or reward her for being a good and loyal friend though. And, given my new power level, I knew that I should easily be able to do what I had in mind. “Daenyss, there is something that I want to do for you, but it has to be your choice whether or not you would like to accept it. It’s a gift, something that would keep you safer and make your job easier.”

“A Gift, Mistress? For me? But you do not need to give me anything. I am happy just serving you and being your friend. I would never ask for more than that,” the Nymph replied, seeming a little confused by my offer.

I knew full well that she would never ask for more, even if she wanted it. It had been the same with the offer that Rei and I had made earlier to get to know here better as perhaps more than just a friend. Daenyss stuck by my side, served me faithfully, and even distracted a Goddess to give me time to draw the fight away from any innocents. She also severely undervalued her worth.

“No, you wouldn’t, Daenyss,” I agreed. “But that doesn’t mean that you don’t deserve it. I want to give you some new nasyr taka. One would allow you to cast a combination of my Radiance and Aegis spells on yourself or someone else. It’s not exactly low-profile but they’re my most powerful defensive spells and should keep you safe from most magical and physical attacks if the shit hits the fan. The other is for a glamour spell that you can adjust how you like. It could just be clothing if you need to wear some for some reason, or a disguise to wear among the Humans. You shouldn’t need to depend on me to be able to go out and do things and having these spells will serve both of our needs better.”

“I… alright. Thank you, Mistress.” She hesitated for a moment, but it seemed that my wording did the job and convinced her to take my gift. It may have been a little manipulative on my part but I didn’t want to order her to do it and I had seen the longing looks she cast whenever someone casually cast a glamour. While I was happy to cast a glamour on her any time that she wished it, I thought that she’d be much happier being able to do it for herself. With her superior knowledge of fashion, she would probably be able to cast much better clothing glamours than I ever could anyway.

It took me a few moments but soon new turquoise marks anointed both of her arms, just above the wrists and below the marks just beneath her elbows. Once it was done I gave her an encouraging smile. “All done. You should just have to think about what you want to do, just like with the marks that my Mahair gave you.”

Her brow furrowed slightly as a look of concentration passed over her face and a moment later she was wearing a stylish strapless and backless ankle-length turquoise gown with strappy heels of the same color. It looked amazing with her similarly colored eyes, the patterns of the Viyr Jhaith around her neck, and the nasyr taka along her arms. It really made her long strawberry blonde hair, styled in a braid over her shoulder, stand out too. The best thing of all though was the smile on her face. It felt so nice to be able to do something to make her happy for once instead of always being on the receiving end.

Now that we were all ready to go, we just had to wait for the all-clear and double-check my preparations. Food and litterbox set for the Wisps and Whisper’s familiar while we’re gone? Check and check. Purse? Check. A huge wad of cash? Check. Unglamoured and dressed to kill? Check.

It was almost eight o’clock and Nishalle had gone ahead on her bike to scout out the area and wait for us in the building’s underground parking garage. It was five minutes to eight when I received a text from my sister saying that everything looked safe. So, without any further ado, I cast the portal that would take us to our destination.

Damn, there were a lot of fancy cars in that garage. These were exactly the types of social situations that I used to hate. I tried to shrug it off as I allowed Lissany and Harley to lead the way to the elevator. “Yeah, fancy cars that cost more than I used to make in a year. There are a lot of guys overcompensating here, I think. Just suck it up and be cool, confident, and don’t let them look down at you, Taelya. I have lots of money too now, and I seriously doubt that any of them are either an Empress or a Demigod.”

I kept trying to tell myself that as we all rode up the elevator to Chez Marcelle. It was one of those overpriced restaurants on the top floor of a high-rise overlooking the ocean where a plate costs enough to feed half the population of an island nation like mine. At least I would have that ocean view and the moonlight to calm me somewhat. Finally, the door opened on the top floor with a *ding* and I took a deep breath as I followed my Guardians out and thought to myself, “Showtime.”