I half expected the crowd to turn on us after Jessie's stunt, lashing out at us for taking their bear, or declaring the strategy invalid. Instead, there was a long, deep silence as Melissa stared at Jessie and the now no longer restrained bear. The red haired woman mulled over the situation for a minute, and when I started to get ready to jump in, shocked me into stunned silence by throwing both fists in the air and bellowing happily. "SHE PASSES!"
Every person in the audience stood up and roared with approval, cheering the girl who had just stolen their insanely powerful beast and wrecked their seating. It was wall to wall roars of approval, and Jessie threw her hands up in triumph. Then Randall the bear let out a roar of enthusiasm and everyone sort of quieted down. Jessie headed up to meet with us as Melissa declared a short break in the proceedings so she could help repair the stands that Randall had broken. The big bear himself thumped down at the base of the seats while Jessie climbed up, waiting for his mistress.
I wanted to congratulate her on her victory, but before I did so, I had a much more important factor to clarify. "Under no circumstances are you allowed to bring him back to the house." I didn't need to wait for Callie or Zeke to weigh in. We had no legitimate way to store a bear that size, nor did we have a way to get him back to the house without being noticed and drawing attention. I knew she would be attached now, but she absolutely wasn't going to be allowed to take him home with us.
She gasped in hurt. "B-but Solomon! He saved us! And they're so mean to him! We can't just leave him here! We found room for the puppies we can definitely find a spot for him! He can sleep in my room. He can be my new bed! We can move the one I have out of there to make room!" The whiplash from upset to excited was giving me a headache, but I understood where she was coming from. I think her ability to bond and communicate with animals made Jessie extra empathetic towards them, especially ones she had a connection with. It made a lot of sense when you considered how she interacted with the wolves.
Callie, ever the peacemaker, stepped in. "No Agria. He's too big. It's not even just about us, he won't enjoy being locked up in a house all day, and we can't let him out into the streets. But no one is saying you have to give him back. We can talk to Cark and see if the Militia can make some room for him. I somehow doubt they're going to be upset about an F ranked beast living with them, provided he at least pretends to listen to them and helps out when they're under attack." Her voice was kind, and even Jessie couldn't fault the logic, so our healer calmed down.
It was pretty much a perfect solution for us too. It gave the Militia some protection. Granted, the Pavilion had subdued the bear in the first place with a crew of G rankers, which was impressive, so it was clear he wasn't invincible, but Jessie could make animals stronger as she imbued them with her life force. Between that and the G rankers already at the Militia hideout I didn't expect the Jerks to manage a another coup attempt, even if the were crazy or stupid enough to give it a try a second time.
It spoke to the cohesion and ability of the Pavilion though, that they were capable of subduing a massive animal like Randall. It should be noted that when I said huge, I didn't mean 'big for a bear' huge. I meant 'big for a truck' huge. Randall the bear was at least twenty four feet from snout to tail and fifteen at the shoulder. It was easily three times the size of any bear I'd ever even heard of, though to be fair I wasn't exactly a bear expert, nor had I seen one in person. Still, I knew bears weren't supposed to be THAT big.
On the upside we had apparently been allowed to keep the massive and probably expensive bear fitted armor set made of what looked like G rank materials. I wasn't given much time to ponder that though, because Melissa came back and took her place again in the center of the dirt ring. She held up a hand and everyone stopped talking, which was impressive considering the people in question were all battle maniacs. Once everyone stopped speaking she gestured up at is. "Well now! Seems like we have more new recruits than expected. Six of our initiates passed their trial this time, and I for one am impressed!"
Aside from the four of us, two of the others had managed to beat the mirror trial, though they'd both used unusual tricks I hadn't really been able to understand. Regardless, it wasn't just us entering the Pavilion, which honestly made me feel a bit better. It would have been pretty suspicious if just the four of us had passed the trial and she realized we were together, especially after she found out about our discussion (unfriendly or not) with Cicero. This way though it was less of an issue. We were just a few of a larger crowd.
Once the cheering (which I really appreciated) calmed down, she put a hand on her hip. "Now that we have entrance interviews out of the way, we can all mingle amongst ourselves. Get to know our new members, welcome them to the Pavilion. As you know we work closely together, and it's easier to trust people once you've shared a drink with them." She pointed to us. "You four, with me. I want to talk to you about something before you join the party." Without waiting she turned and strode out of the center ring.
I looked at Callie and shrugged. We had been expecting her to question us about what happened with Cicero. This was earlier than expected for sure, but not by that much. Since we had no reason to worry we just headed after her, curious to see what she wanted.
We followed her into the back of the tent, into a series of wall drapes that made up a makeshift office. She plopped down into a chair and reached up to take off her mask. Much like Cicero, Melissa looked young, a side effect of her having reached her current rank years ago and only aging one subjective year for every twelve chronologically. She didn't seem bothered to show her face to us, and when she noticed the surprise from those of us with exposed faces she shrugged. "It's more ceremonial than anything else. I don't sweat the secret identity. My hair isn't exactly subtle."
She gestured down to her bright red locks with yellow strands through it, and I had to concede the point. With hair like that a mask only did so much. It made me wonder how some of the other people I'd seen or met with brightly colored hair handled that. Maybe dye or wigs? I mentally shook off the thought. Callie stepped forward to respond. "We're happy to be part of the team. Might I ask what you were hoping to talk about?"
Melissa snorted. "You four. Obviously. Well, the two of you more like. You were seen leaving Cicero's tent, though one of you was unconscious, and you didn't seem particularly pleased. I'm not unfamiliar with that asshole and the little tricks he plays. I wanted to know if you're here for some kind of revenge or something? It's not exactly a well kept secret that he and I don't see eye to eye." She kept her tone even, not letting on if she would be pleased or upset if this was about revenge.
As always my girlfriend had good instincts. "Less about revenge and more about protection. We assumed that he would be less likely to harass us if we were with you. No reason to single us out if there's a whole group who are known to be against him. Birds of a feather and all that. Is that a problem? We didn't think you would be too upset about starting trouble for him or tweaking his nose."
That got another snort. "Not exactly. But things have gotten complicated lately. If you want protection we can swing that, but I'm not going to stir up trouble. There are things in motion and setting off a war with Cicero right now isn't in my best interest, or the best interest of the Pavilion. So this is a friendly warning. Don't drag us into some bullshit dispute over pride, because we won't be backing you up if you're the aggressors. Just wait your turn. Things might not be exactly as they appear."
With that ominous and cryptic remark she waved us off. It was clear that she had some things cooking and didn't want us to trip her up, but getting involved with those things after that speech would require us to prove ourselves a bit. Luckily, proving ourselves was easy in a place like this. We just had to kick some ass and draw some attention. Before that though we needed a better grasp on exactly what the situation was, and in the spirit of that I grabbed Callie by the hand and pulled her with me to find Alden.
The others trailed behind us without needing to be pulled like Callie. When we came within range of Alden the short, barrel chested man waved us over. Without the trial to focus on, I was able to pay more attention to Alden. He was about five foot four, with a bald head and a thick red beard. The wild growth of his facial hair was streaked with white, and his kind brown eyes were clear and energetic as he waved us over with one of his bulky arms, bare from the lack of a shirt under the overalls he was wearing. "Hail the conquering heroes!"
When we got close he clapped me on the shoulder, offering a hand to Callie, Benny, and then Jessie in turn. "Alden Perkins, nice to meet you folks. Welcome to the Starburst Pavilion. Don't let the location fool you, only about ten percent of us are actual clowns."
Another voice cut through the bustle of the crowd. "Mostly the ones with beards!" Alden whipped around to glare off into the throng of people, his beard almost bristling with fury as he scanned everyone nearby with narrowed eyes.
He barked out. "I know that was you Brian! I'll set your feet on fire! Don't you think I'm afraid of you because your wife knows how to use a hammer." Despite the glare and the harsh words I could see a twinkle in the eye of the bearded man, and I had to suppress a chuckle at the easy camaraderie between the people in this place. They reminded me of me and Benny in a way. Again I found myself resolving to try to talk Melissa out of the deal with whatever faction she was allied with if I could. These people would be better friends than enemies, and I was a candidate same as the cloaked woman.
Turning back around Alden apologized and offered us all drinks. I took another soda, this time a black cherry (my favorite), and waited for him to introduce himself to everyone before I finally broached the subject I'd been wondering about. "We're glad to be here. We were hoping to make a name for ourselves, so what do we need to do to get some more responsibility around the Pavilion. As you saw we're pretty tough, we can handle anything you can throw at us." I made sure my voice projected strength and confidence. I wasn't sure what we would need to do, but I was sure we could get it done. Alliance or not we had a job to do. We needed to find out who that other faction was, so it was time to show off.
