“We were innocent once, not long ago. We laughed and we stayed up late. Our backs didn’t hurt and things were simpler.” Anders smiled at me as he sipped his latte. He had been nostalgic lately. I shook my head and resisted the urge to smile.


    “That was a long time ago. I don’t think I’ve ever been innocent though.” I smirked and he feigned shock. I had been quite a handful in my youth.


    “Do you remember all the crap we used to get up to when we were their age?” Anders looked out into the street. The traffic off of Spadina Avenue wasn''t bad, so the roadside café wasn''t too loud. I sipped whatever it was that he had ordered for me and grimaced.


    “I remember when coffee was coffee and didn’t have any of this extra crap in it.” I put it down and looked at him, but he was daydreaming. “You''ve had a lot on your mind lately.”


    He snapped back to reality quickly and gestured to my drink with his pointy chin and said, “Café Mocha.”


    Like that meant something to me. Who puts chocolate in coffee?


    We sat in silence for a long while, sipping coffees and exchanging trivial memories of a life lived so long ago.


    “I know you don’t want to talk about it, but I’d like to talk about Serena.” Anders said slowly and carefully, like I was a bomb, easily set off. When he said her name, my heart hurt. I took a steadying breath and sighed.


    “Do you think things could have ended differently?” He asked, his eyes drifting passed me and into the street again.


    The statement was vague, but I had thought about it enough on my own to know exactly what he meant. I wished that things had been different. Perhaps she’d still be here.


    “It could have been any of you.” I assured him. The scenario played out in my head, often, where I would replace the agonized face of the woman I loved, with the others from our team. If I had killed Hector or Andrea, the boy, Orion, would not exist. If it had been Magnus, then the same could be said about Erik.


    If it had been Anders…


    “She tried to calm you down. She didn’t fully grasp just how much control the sword has over you.” He said. Anders wasn''t looking at me, so he didn''t see me shift uncomfortably.


    “At the time, I didn’t fully understand how much influence the sword had either.” I had chosen a different word because control made me feel like I was just a vessel for the blade.


    I remembered when our old Master, Gideon Solarin, stood beside me in the bonding ritual in the Vault. When we discovered what Artifact had bonded to me, he held me like a protective father would hold a child who suffered an injury. He told me that it was not important what Artifact bonded to us, but how we used it. There had been sympathy, or maybe even pity, in his eyes then. Maybe he knew what I would become.


    “I noticed the new girl bears a striking resemblance.” I said, taking a sip of my coffee and watching him from over my cup.


    “Hmm?” He replied absently.


    “Kalysta. She looks an awful lot like Serena. Same last name and everything." I needed to know more, and I knew he was keeping it from me intentionally.


    “Same family, yea. She''s a legacy. Someone''s niece maybe." He told me. He seemed disinterested, or at least, thats what he put out on the surface. I knew Anders better than that.


    “Strange that she’d end up with us.” I sipped my horrendous excuse for coffee and eyed him over the cup again. He crossed his leg and dusted off his pants. He fidgeted with his sleeve. To anyone else watching, this was a well-dressed man, making sure he looked his best.


    “To be honest, I went looking for legacies. You''ve met the others right?We’d been having a hard time locating potential for the Toronto Branch, so the Order had me recruiting legacies." He said, still not looking at me.


    “She''s Serena''s daughter isn''t she.” I didn''t miss a beat and Anders spit out his latte. I was thankful he was looking away from me, as I handed him a napkin. He quickly looked around and dabbed at his tie and blazer.


    Anders slowly sat back and raised an eyebrow. His steel grey eyes finally settled on me and I could feel the unspoken conversation between us.


    “What makes you think that she’s Serena’s daughter?” Anders went back to his fidgeting routine and I crossed my arms. I noticed he''s purposely pulling me along, but he had been the one to open the door for this conversation. Was he trying to tell me, without actually telling me?


    “Anders…”


    He tried to sip some more of his latte and decided not to. He looked down and sighed. “I’m certain this tie is ruined.” He whined.Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    "Anders, I..."


    “This was my favorite tie.” He said dramatically.


    “Anders!” I slammed the table and other patrons looked at us. I could feel my temper surge. I noticed his eyes shifted back to me fast and his hand instinctually went to his hip where Excalibur would materialize.


    "Ah, good morning to you too" Tyrfing says in my mind.


    “Shit.” I muttered.


    “What?” Anders looked around nervously, slowly moving his hand away from where his sword would form.


    “Tyrfing.” I told him.


    “Angry?” He asked.


    “Sassy, as usual." I said, chuckling to myself.


    “Ah.” He smiled, but it was short lived. Anders wouldn''t look at me, and I knew the answer to my question. I watched him squirm in his seat.


    “I know about you and her.” I said slowly, almost under my breath.


    "His fear is delicious. Keep prodding him. I do so enjoy this game you''re playing." Tyrfing commented.


    I had never seen someone so afraid of me before, except for maybe the moment before someone dies to Tyrfing. Anders slid his chair back and looked as if he was about to stand. Or run. The look I give him returned him to his seat.


    “If you run, I’ll catch you.” I told him. I could feel Tyrfing''s influence slipping into me, like icy fingers wrapping around my throat.


    “I have no doubt.” He sighed and held his temple as he looked at me or maybe through me.


    "We could hide him in the dumpster out back."


    “Is Kalysta yours?” I had to hear it. It hadn''t mattered before, but now it wouldn''t stop assaulting the back of my mind. Tyrfing pushed the feelings to the front of my mind.


    “Honestly, I hope not. I know, I’m a jerk, but I won’t apologize for loving her. It was before you two…” I could see the sweat beading on his forehead.


    “I get it Anders. I’m not one of the kids, you don’t need to coddle me. And you certainly have to stop lying to me. I can always tell." My eyes flash to meet his, and his fear fuels me. Or the sword.


    His eyes shift away and he reached for his sleeve to fidget again.


    “And I swear to God, if you don’t stop fidgeting, I’m going to hide your body in the dumpster.”


    "Yay." Tyrfing cheered.


    Anders slowly retracted his hand, his eyes going wide.


    “You must have the world record for high blood pressure.” I said half-heartedly, realizing too much of the sword was slipping out. He exhaled heavily, and raised his eyebrows.


    “You have no idea.” He said.


    “I can only imagine we made Gideon feel the same way.” I managed a laugh, trying to steer the conversation away from Serena and Kalysta.


    “Man, I haven’t thought of that old goat in years.” Anders said, slapping his knee.


    “How is he?” I figured it was polite to ask, but unfortunately I already knew the answer. Gideon had did everything he could to hang on to me. To guide me through my struggles with the sword. Part of him had felt responsible for me, and the events that followed.


    “Dead.” Anders said, shrugging sadly.


    “Ah.” I sipped more Café Mocha but I didn''t taste anything. It felt suddenly hollow.


    "Very strong-willed. Quite the warrior. Little chewy, but went down smooth." Tyrfing replied in my head. I wished the voice would stop. I felt nauseous, and tried to push the sword out of my mind.


    “So what are we to do about Kalysta?" I said, going back to the preferred torment.


    “We ignore it and pretend this conversation never happened?” He told me.


    “Anders…” This time it''s a warning.


    “Alright! I know you want to know. We can do a test. But you are taking your own blood for the sample. I’ll be damned if I’m the guy that pokes you with something sharp.” He told me.


    "We could poke him with something sharp…over and over…" Tyrfing''s voice rattled around in my head. I nodded at Anders, unable to get the images projected by the sword out of my head.


    “You alright?" Anders said, hesitantly reaching across the table as I clutched my head.


    “Sword.” I told him again.


    “That bad?” He seemed genuinely concerned, but I know it was mostly for his own safety.


    “Always. It really has it out for you.” I laughed and Anders face went pale.


    “That’s not funny.” He said nervously and started to fidget with his sleeves again before catching himself. “Promise me you won’t say anything to Kalysta until we know for sure. And maybe even never?”


    “If she’s mine, I’m going to tell her what happened Anders." I said with finality. The girl deserved to know that I had been the one to kill her mother. And what''s worse, I might be her father.


    “If she’s mine, it''s better she doesn’t know.” Anders looked deeply hurt by the sentiment, but I understood the compromised position it would put him in.


    “Chase, I don’t want you to get your hopes up. If she is yours, you know that she grew up without you in a household of Greek women that probably made you out to seem like the world’s worst person. If they even bothered to tell her anything at all.” He said, steering away from his own emotions.


    “That would be a change, normally women make you out to look like the asshole.” I said with a smile.


    “Well, you know, the broken, mysterious man role doesn’t really work for me.” Anders gave me the biggest grin he could muster. "And I''d hate to do it better than you."


    "I can make him broken. The dumpster is still an option, yes?"


    I shrugged and tried to smile through the mental intrusions.


    “So you had brought me here to tell me about this mission. Do we know who we are up against?" I asked, trying to get back to the real reason we were here.


    Anders leaned forward, elbows on his knees, chin resting on the back of his laced fingers.


    “Well for starters, you know they have a large ship, and a small army of Golem." He said sarcastically.


    "Could have been our pirate ship…" The sword whined.


    "From what our intelligence has gathered the guy on the ship was some local Toronto kid. His name is Quinton Vanderbilt, twenty two years old, grew up in a wealthy equestrian family. He fancies himself so kind of gangster wannabe." Anders continued.


    "Has his family got any connection to the Order?" I asked.


    "None that I could find, but everything I''ve got on this kid suggests he''s not the brains behind the operation." He told me, concern creasing his brow.


    "I feel like whoever he is working for has knowledge of the Order. They''ve been moving Artifacts on that ship and whatever is being taken either isn''t returning to the Vault, or wasn''t ours to begin with." He continued.


    The Order of Vigilance didn''t like undocumented Artifacts. It liked everything inventoried and checked out with proper documentation. Unlicensed magic items and powers were a big headache for them.


    "So what''s the plan?" I asked.


    "We''re gonna follow the ship and see where it takes us. Hopefully we can figure out where he''s headed and it''ll lead us back to the bigger threat." Anders said.


    "Do you think they are ready?" I asked, referring to Anders mismatched team of misfits. He shrugged.


    "I was hoping you''d tell me." He said hopefully.


    I just sighed.