308: A Plague of Phantoms: A Banquet, Seasoned With A Pledge V

"Revolutionary Paragon?" Agni repeated the Pharaoh's words then looked at me again. "So the one that was given a royal moniker befitting a Paragon and the upstart that embarrassed several of my colleges is one in the same."

"He doesn't have any sense of self preservation does he?" I asked the Pharaoh, cracking my knuckles.

"Like you can talk!" Louie, Angie, Jane, Alberto, Damon and Indy exclaimed.

I rolled my eyes at them while keeping an eye on Agni. The moment I took my eye off that man it was like his presence vanished from reality. The effect wasn't from a spell but rather his natural stealthiness, Bone-lasher could still sense the electric pulses his body generated with his heart beat, only the timing between the pulses were much slower. He had slowed his heart beat considerably.

"Agni, you should speak to Chase with more respect, especially considering he's your superior in your chosen specialty field." Viola said with a chastising tone. She smirked slightly when he frowned in annoyance at her statement.

"My superior? This brat?" Agni gaffed. He eyed Bone-lasher, Jiggles and Fours. "I will admit that his evos are indeed unusual and rare but I doubt that one so young could be my superior in the field of mammal-piscine splicing."

"He specializes in splicing mammals and fish?" I asked. 'Explains his fascination with Bone-lasher…'

"How dare you insult the Boss! And repeatedly!" Bone-lasher growled at Agni.

"Impressive, it is rather articulate for a evo." Agni said eying Bone-lasher and ignoring my question all together. Bone-lasher puffed his chest out and crossed his arms.

"I am the first named General of Sho'lajah! Blessed with the power of the Star Shaper! Of course I can talk well!" Bone-lasher proclaimed proudly. Agni eyed Bone-lasher then shot me a unimpressed look.

"So you force your evos to refer to you with lavish titles such as Star Shaper or Sho'lajah to bolster your own ego." Agni said with a frown.

"Sho'lajah is my name in my grandmother's tongue and Star Shaper is what they started calling me on their own." I defended. Agni arched a brow at my defense.

"They started calling you that on their own…meaning more than just that Liger Shark rebrand can talk?" Agni asked. Jiggles puffed up and trumpeted.

"All of the Star Shaper's chosen can talk…except brittle fang back there but he hasn't accepted the Star Shaper's blessing yet!" Jiggles exclaimed. Four hissed at Jiggles which made the towering evo look back at Fours with side eye.

"Ha! Brittle fang!" Bone-lasher huffed. I sighed and shook my head. Much to Viola and Turak'Kahn's amusement.

"They are also capable of insulting each other as well…surprising. Possessing multiple evos, most able to talk and intelligently…at least by commoner standards. Such evos are national treasure grade at least…" Agni said. Turak'Kahn scoffed at that comment.

"Chase's evos are world treasure grade, I doubt even his weakest evo would fall to anything less than an ascended evo." Turak'Kahn said, a proud smile tugging at his lips.

"Bold claims, your highness." Agni said, narrowing his eyes at the ruler. Turak'Kahn chuckled, though the laugh didn't reach his eyes. They were hard as stone, projecting sincerity and confidence.

"Claims that have been proven true by many. If you'd been here last night Agni then you'd have seen Chase's battle with my wife." Turak'Kahn said. Agni's brow furrowed and he looked at Viola.

"You fought him, your majesty?" Agni asked. Viola smiled fondly and rested her head in her palm.

"Yes, and what an exciting battle it was. Chase and Bone-lasher are an incredible pair. Especially as Leviathan. I had to bow out due to their sheer destructive power. It well outclasses my own." Viola said. Agni's eyes widened in shock and he quickly looked to me.

"This boy and his evo outclassed you in destructive power? But you're on par with Anansi Paragon, the strongest spell casting Paragon!" Agni exclaimed. Viola smirked.

"Which is why I said he is your superior in your chosen specialty. The evo I used in that fight was one created by him. It was a Lunar Liger shark, a variant of the Liger Shark that is strong enough to keep up with me. Against anyone other than Chase, Hapi and I could have won." Viola said.

Agni stayed silent for a moment then eyed Bone-lasher with renewed interest before looking at me with a hardened look.

"Praise from the Queen of Egypt in matters of combat and spell casting is as rare as ancient splicing ruins. My opinion of you has improved a bit." Agni said.

"While my opinion of you is still rock bottom." I said snidely. The tone of my words went right over his head judging by his expression.

"I get that a lot…for some reason." Agni said.

"His self awareness is as bad as Chase's…" Indy said to Bo in a stage whisper. I looked back at the two boys and frowned. They both shot me a innocent smile.

When I turned back Agni was gone. I blinked a few times then looked around for him then looked up at Bone-lasher and Jiggles.

"Where did he go?" I asked.

"Over by your Grandsire. He saw Glitterbeak shining and rushed over when you weren't looking." Bone-lasher said. I looked over to where Grandpa Seamus said he was going and saw Empress flinging a metal feather at the Paragon when he tried to look up her tail feathers. It missed, just barely and I was choosing to believe that she missed on purpose.

"He does that a lot. While splicing mammals and Piscine animals together is his specialty, he is critical of all types of evos." Turak'Kahn said with a sigh.

"I'll go and keep glitterbeak from killing the idiot." Bone-lasher said with a sigh and started over to Empress and Grandpa Seamus.

"Thanks Bone." I said.

'Note to self: be aware of where Agni is at all times.' I thought.

"Chase shouldn't you deal with that yourself?" Damon asked. I shrugged.

"Grandpa Seamus has as much authority with my evos as I do. One word from him can restrain them." I said, waving off his concerns. Damon sighed and shook his head.

"I'm guessing Agni isn't the only Paragon here right now?" I asked Turak'Kahn, changing the subject not so discreetly.

"He's not…" Turak'Kahn replied then turned and motioned to a small group of three women at the far corner of the observatory deck. "…those three are Lady Izanagi Paragon, Lady Hera Paragon, and Lady Venus Paragon. They're close since their fields of study are interconnected. Your teacher Basset was here for a minute but she left shortly before you arrived. I also saw Legba Paragon sulking around here somewhere."

"You haven't seen Loki Paragon by any chance, your majesty?" Alberto asked. Turak'Kahn shook his head l.

"I have not seen your father." Turak'Kahn said. Alberto nodded and looked a little relieved.

"So we'll be steering Chase away from all of them." Jane said then spun me around and pushed me towards another refreshment table.

"Hey!" I gripped as I stumbled and nearly fell over my feet. I growled and spun around to glare at Jane. "You don't determine who I can or can't meet!"

"Actually I do. Someone has to keep your unnatural antagonistic tendencies in check." Jane said, then flicked my forehead with her pointer finger. I groaned and rubbed where she flicked me.

"Actually there was someone who is very interested in meeting you…" Turak'Kahn said with slight hesitation. I paused on hearing that and looked to the Pharaoh as did Jane.

"Oh? Who's that?" I asked, letting the suspicion in my voice seep through.

"The divine emperor of Niger." Turak'Kahn said. I nearly choked on air when the Pharaoh mentioned the emperor of Niger. I looked to Jane, Damon and Alberto and saw that they both had slightly concerned looks on their faces.

"Something wrong?" Bo asked. I channeled mana into my manacite communication ring and focused on contacting everyone around me.

<This is one of those 'if you know you'll be an accomplice to a national secret that could end up in jail or worse.' Situations.> I told Bo and everyone. Bo nodded wordlessly.

"Is there anyway that we can avoid him?" Jane asked her father.

"Wouldn't that make us look more suspicious?" Damon asked.

"I think saying it would look suspicious is more suspicious than simply avoiding him." Alberto said.

"You have a point…" I said. Viola suddenly looked off to the side then tapped Turak'Kahn on the shoulder. Turak'Kahn looked in the same direction as his wife then frowned.

"Well it seems like you won't have a choice either way…" Turak'Kahn said then nodded in the same direction he was looking. I turned and looked where the Pharaoh was looking and saw a crowd of people looking in our direction.

There were at least twelve people in the crowd. The Emperor was easy to spot. He was a tall south African man that wore a elegant; if not extremely gaudy; gold robe with a silver shawl draped over his shoulders. A tall golden crown embroidered with diamonds, rubies, and sapphires, sat on top of his head. He had a golden scepter that was only a few inches away from being called a staff.

Despite how flashy and over compensating the Emperor was dressed it was the man standing directly next to the Emperor that drew my attention the most. A hitch in Jane's breath drew my attention to her. I glanced in her direction and saw that her eyes were as wide as saucers. Alberto and Damon had similar expression on their faces as well.

"That's impossible…" Jane gasped, her voice cracking slightly from shock.

"He was dead. I saw his corpse myself…he was dead…" Alberto gasped.

I turned to look at the man in question and found him staring directly at me. Our eyes locked and found myself locked into a staring contest with a man that I had killed months ago.

"Anansi Paragon…fuck a duck!"