Entropi was left with the pathetic remnants of Bliss’s tour group and one annoying fish-boy. A situation entirely manufactured by her own hubris. The zimyefan intern was standing on his tip-toes, watching the sky in the direction Bliss had disappeared in.

  The last man standing at the photoshoot looked like a Novrun native: ridiculously tall, grey skin, and a looming posture that resembled a hook. He was wearing a vest and khakis, the telltale sign of any minimum-wage hospitality worker. He joined the zimyefan in staring off into the distance.

  “We still had a signing planned,” he sighed. “Lady Entropi, unless you’d like to go in his place, please don’t interrupt the talent.”

  Bold words from a man in khakis. Entropi was not a woman to make demands of. Bliss was not a man to call “the talent” in front of her. The beach was full of witnesses preventing her from acting on her darkest thoughts, at least that’s what she told herself. She was a cold bitch like her ward, but she wasn’t a monster.

  Khaki-man entered a transport bus illegally parked on the beach. Novrun’s ministry must’ve been quite invested in Bliss’s trip if they allowed his bus to touch their pristine sands. He eyed Entropi as he stepped inside; nothing was stopping her from getting on the bus or flying closely behind. The side doors locked as she got closer, as if that would do anything.

  “Ok, I know what you’re thinking about. I can’t stop you from getting on this bus, but if you do, I’m going to annoy the hell out of you and make you regret it.”

  I’ve already been stuck in a tiny ship with the fish-boy. What could a man in khakis do that I haven’t seen yet?

  Perhaps Entropi forgot that most of her time in intra-galactic transit consisted of sleeping. The zimyefan was kept away by some force of god. He was never actively trying to be annoying, that was just who he was. She shouldn’t have underestimated the power of a service worker with years of experience. No one in the galaxy knew more about how to piss people off than those who had to host thousands of strangers on a daily basis.

  She grabbed the zimyefan by the wrist and floated into an empty pair of seats. “You should’ve put proper walls on this thing. You would’ve had grounds to make a formal complaint for property damage.”

  Khaki-man forced a smile as he started the bus. “Do you think I’m just going to take you to his hotel? I can drive this thing all day and night aimlessly around the city.”

  “Hmm. You could do that.” Entropi crossed her legs and folded her arms behind her head. “Or, you could take us to his hotel and I’ll join my dear ward on his little trip and pose for a few photos.”

  His eyes went wide. He wordlessly settled in the driver’s seat and started moving. Kelang snickered and offered his fist to Entropi, who begrudgingly bumped it in response. It made her question her actions for a minute. Was she acting like a crazed fan? Surely, she couldn’t be; she was just trying to protect Bliss from people like that. His mind sought out the worst of the worst as a tortuous distraction from his tortuous memories. It wasn’t a healthy coping mechanism, so Entropi would gently steer him away from the crowd and into a shrink’s couch.

  How do I get him to cooperate? A psychiatrist won’t be much use if he’s not willing to put any effort in. Crux wouldn’t tell me how his first mandatory session went. I doubt it went well.

  “Entropi, does Bliss have any favorite foods?” The fish-boy encroached on her ear while she was distracted, allowing him to whisper utter nonsense to her. “Like any pastries, or something like that? I’m pretty good at baking!”

  “He doesn’t need to eat.”

  “I know that, silly!” His tone was too chipper. Too familiar. He had a lot of nerve. “But he can eat. Isn’t there anything he likes in particular?”

  She sighed and leaned forward, resting her helmet on her palm. “He likes fruit, I guess. Tart things.”

  The intern actually activated his CellPulse and started writing the new information down. Did she really just tell him that? Any fan could turn innocuous information into a weapon. At least Bliss kept his guard up, but he’d be pissed if he found out she told one anything.

  “Alright, we’re gonna be on this planet together for a while. What’s your name? I’d want to strangle you less if I can put a name to your face.”

  He laughed nervously, his eyes darting to her hands, just in case. “It’s Kelang! I told you earlier when we first met.”

  “I wasn’t listening.”

  She repeated the name in her head a few times. His presence on Novrun was her own doing, so the least she could do was try not to murder him. He was there specifically to annoy Bliss. To show him that Entropi would go to extreme lengths to keep him from burning himself out. If he wanted to throw himself at people like Kelang, surely he wouldn’t mind if she brought one straight to him. It’s what any good mentor would do, right?

  God, the superhero lifestyle was getting to her. She couldn’t even say what she really meant in her head. Still calling herself a mentor when her thoughts were so irrationally protective. She was trying to boss around an adult void siren hybrid. Her only excuse was that his eighteenth birthday was only four years ago.

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  She would’ve kept him in her office longer if she could’ve. Eighteen was just too young for the official hero program. Especially for her ward. No one she trained would end up an empty puppet of the galaxy. Then again, she may have already failed Bliss in that regard. Every day it looked like a little more light left his eyes.

  Maternal panic filled her mind all the way to the hotel, allowing her to effortlessly block out any noise coming from Kelang. The building they approached was just as elegant as she imagined. They would never put Bliss in a novelty hotel, only columns of the finest marble would do for someone with his image.

  “Since you’ll be sticking around, should I book a room for you, miss Entropi?”

  The tour guide’s tone was saccharine sweet. The voice of a man who would be getting a very big pay bonus for managing to recruit Entropi for Novrun’s little publicity stunt. She handed him the biggest tourist vacuum imaginable. The galaxy’s strongest and her beautiful ward, all together in one place. Who wouldn’t want to visit the planet?

  “Book two. The interns can stay together. I’ll cover the cost,” she answered.

  “As you wish!”

  “I assume Bliss has the penthouse suite? We’ll be going up to see him immediately.”

  “Miss Entropi!” He grasped his chest in the most blatant example of pearl clutching she’d ever seen. “I can’t reveal a guest’s room; that would be a breach of privacy! But I do assure you, Novrun only offers our finest lodgings to honored guests.”

  Kelang’s eyes glowed in wonder at Entropi. He must’ve thought she was some sort of wordsmith, able to talk her way to all sorts of information. In reality, she was just a celebrity talking to a man who stood to gain much more from her than she did from him. It was just the natural order of the galaxy.

  When they entered the lobby, the sound of the door closing behind them naturally attracted a few eyes from around the entrance hall. Entropi noticed a small crowd lining up outside of a restaurant within the hotel lobby. The ones who turned to face her gasped and clasped hands over their mouths.

  “Entropi’s here too?”

  The whisper spread like wildfire throughout the restaurant. Soon enough, everyone was whipping out their CellPulses and snapping pictures of her. Kelang draped an arm around her shoulder and posed for the camera.

  Bitch! They’re going to think I’ve picked up an intern for a date.

  She shoved him to the side, trying to nip any rumors like that at the bud. The crowd’s presence told her all she needed to know about Bliss’s current location. She passed an overwhelmed hostess on her way inside, dropping a chip containing a substantial amount of oracles as an apology tip.

  There were guards standing in front of one of the restaurant’s private rooms. They moved away without question when she approached. Smart move. She pulled the sliding door open to see Bliss sitting at the table with Lunai and the metal intern. His expression immediately went sour upon seeing her.

  “Wow. I thought I had a little more time before you stalked me all the way here.” He peered to her side to see the tour guide standing with her with his hands clasped behind his back. He looked entirely too pleased, even to Entropi. “Let me guess. She’s gonna join me on this lovely vacation you’ve planned for me.”

  “Oh Bliss, you know I’m helpless to a lovely lady-hero’s charms!”

  “No I don’t. I don’t know that.”

  The guide ignored him and walked away, giving them a modicum of space to work things out. Entropi shoved her way onto the booth Lunai was sitting in. Bliss was sitting in the corner next to the metal intern, blocking Kelang from sitting next to him. He was forced to take the empty bench in front of the table. Bliss glared at him, then turned his ire to the much more culpable Entropi.

  “If you’re barging in here, I hope you at least plan to pay. Resident salaries are a joke.”

  Every single intern present nodded in agreement. The one thing the table could agree on. Lunai started snickering in her seat, likely entertained by the absolute absurdity of the situation. Entropi was acting like a lunatic. That fact was not entirely lost on her.

  “I’m sorry.” Lunai continued giggling like a fool. “I wanted to take all of us out to dinner, including Entropi. I’m just surprised it actually happened.”

  “Why would you want to torture me like that, Lunai?” Bliss asked.

  Entropi lifted her fork and poked at the empty plate in front of her. “Maybe she’s wondering the same thing I am. She was there when we fought Armageddon, after all.”

  Bliss’s posture stiffened in his seat. Lunai looked away from her, trying not to reveal anything to the attending hero. She absolutely knew what Entropi was talking about, even if she wasn’t thinking about it beforehand.

  What a good intern. Pretending to forget about her senior’s blatant deception.

  “Armageddon won’t hurt me. That was clearly a lie.”

  Bliss’s hands tensed into fists on the table. “Entropi, this is not the time or place.”

  “Armageddon’s half-human. What’s that about? A half-human human trafficker?”

  “It’s not unheard of,” Bliss snapped. “I have more experience with traffickers than you.”

  His voice nearly cracked at the last word. Entropi was making him relieve painful memories. It wasn’t her intention, but perhaps it was necessary to steer him towards proper help.

  “Do you want me to keep going, or are you ready to talk in private like adults?”

  “Oh, so now I’m an adult!”

  Lunai stood up abruptly, squeezing past Entropi to exit the booth. She grabbed Kelang’s arm and lifted him up as well. “We should probably wait in the lounge.”

  Kelang was dragged away while Argalax followed her without complaint. Bliss watched them head through the crowd of fans. He kept his head turned away while Entropi continued pressing further.

  “Back when you told me he wouldn’t hurt you, I was willing to let it go. He burned you for god knows how long. Now it’s my business.”

  She saw a hint of water forming in the corner of his blue eye. His lips were actually trembling. “I thought I was telling the truth.”

  There was something profoundly broken in that sentence. He was telling the truth, but that meant he likely lied to the public about the trafficking narrative. It didn’t make any sense. Entropi saw his ship herself. Why else would he have a cache of Rohypnol and children’s toys?

  “Bliss.” Her tone softened to a whisper. She reached across the table and gently grasped his hand. “Please. Tell me who he is.”

  He met her eyes, the tears forming now threatening to fall. “You can’t tell anyone.”

  She squeezed his hand and nodded. It wouldn’t be the first secret she’d kept for him. What was one more on the pile?

  “He’s my brother. Please don’t ask me to say anything else.”

  Oh dear. That’s not what she expected at all. Bliss must’ve noticed the sudden hitch in her breath, as he withdrew his hand from hers. He got up and walked towards the interns in the lounge. Entropi was too stunned to follow. Bliss had a half-sun serpent brother? His dad must’ve been a freak…Well, only the maddest of men would hurt his son the way he did.

  She idly watched as Bliss said something to Lunai. She stood up and left the restaurant with him. Guards had to force fans back to let them escape.

  Ten years and I never knew. What else have you been hiding from me? I practically raised you, god knows your father didn’t. Why don’t you trust me?