Sonya stood alone aboard the Idol. She’d taken a portal there rather than going back to Dharan right away. The boys needed to be dropped off, for one thing, and for another, she had questions. Before she went and asked them, though, she shot off a text to the phone she’d left with Ishtar. If she had been closer, she would have just synced up and taken advantage of their connection through their ability. The other option was just calling her back, but having “Sonya Chernovna” dissolve into one of Ishtar’s statues and disappearing from the judge’s room seemed… bad.

She snickered to herself as Ishtar’s response came in.

”Proceeding as planned. A creature that resembled Rift appeared. It was dealt with. More details when we reconvene. Return soon. Black Lotus was called away. Did you do something to trigger Heroic dungeons?”

Sonya’s face went through a series of twitches and expressions as she read the frustratingly frank text. She let out a sigh. “I… don’t even know where to begin with her on things like this.”

”Maybe? Pandora’s Seal stuff. Blame your girlfriend.”

Sonya shut off her HUD and grinned when a much faster response came in than the last one. She waved her hands in front of her face. “Ooh, I’m Ishtar. I’m too grumpy to admit I like the spooky goddess lady,” she said and hopped into a chair, crossing her legs. She considered calling for Marta but decided against it. She deserved a break, and Barry was on board. It would be nice for them to spend a little time together.

“Nectar it is,” she mumbled, and with a pop, created a soda. She sipped at it, sighed, and set it down before leaning back in her seat. “Okay, Old Man Set. What did I do wrong?”

When her eyes opened next, she was standing in the grassy field of her inner world. There was a small cottage built next to the pond that had grown a little bigger since the last time she was here. There were also signs of other creature comforts and… Are there more trees in here? she wondered. Nah. Can’t be. I don’t remember doing that. She shrugged and walked over to the door of the little wood cabin. It was one story tall and rather cute, rustic even. It had a slightly leaning design to it that she attributed to Loki’s tastes.

She raised a hand to knock, the door opened, and she got a faceful of Pandora.

“Oh! Sonya! There you are! It’s been a little while,” she said brightly and took Sonya by the hand she was just about to knock on the door with. “Come on, let’s go somewhere else and talk.”

“I’m standing right here!” Loki shouted.

“And you can keep doing that, cretin!” Pandora shouted over her shoulder and started marching away. Sonya let herself be dragged off by the pretty girl, because why not? She never refused this kind of thing. Oh, old habits are starting to crop back up. Is it just in my nature? She mused on the deeper philosophical meaning of her dirty old man syndrome as she was brought to the far side of the pond… lake. Was it a lake now? Her head felt funny.

“Sonya?” Pandora asked. “Sonya, you’re grinning like a buffoon.”

Sonya turned to her and smiled broadly. “Hard not to grin with a pretty girl dragging me off.”

“Sonya!” Pandora barked. “What is- Oh dear. Set! Get over here!”

Sonya snickered and sat down on the ground, leaning onto her hand and stretching out to show off a bit. She waggled her eyebrows a little at Pandora and, with a flick of her wrist, called up a flower that she sniffed. She was just about to put it in her mouth when Set walked over and planted himself between a bewildered Pandora and Sonya. Sonya craned her neck a little. Why was he getting in her way? Her eyebrow twitched, and she sat up. “Excuse you,” she growled. “I was talking to the lady.”

He whacked her one on the head, and she hit the ground, grabbing at the spot. “Ow! Shit! What the hell, Set!” she demanded and blinked, shaking her head a little and looking up at him. “What…” She looked at Pandora, who was looking away with a mixture of shock, amusement, and embarrassment. “Wh-what did I just do?”

“What was your declaration, young lady?” The old man asked patiently, crouching down to look her in the eyes and check her face. “You seem alright besides some backlash.”

She held her head. “Ugh… right. I forgot that's why I was here. …I forgot something?” she frowned. “That’s alarming.” She looked up at him, and he gave her a hard, hard look. She winced and cleared her throat. “Duality.”

He sighed. “That explains that. Pandora?”

“Mm?”

“I know you’re bickering, but go get your pet trickster.”

“We’re not bicker-”

“Pandora, please?”

“Fine!”

Sonya watched Pandora leave and couldn’t help herself. She started to leer, but this time she managed to catch herself. She shook her head and cleared her throat. “Woah, I really don’t like that,” she said and looked up at Set. “I did it. I know I did it right. I took a real hard look at everything, and it made sense. I figured out that I wasn’t supposed to come up with an end-all, of course, but, yeah. I made my declaration.”

The old man sat down across from her and crossed his legs, a smile on his face. “What happened after that?”

She shook her head. “I uh… I felt a change happen. I guess I look different after declaring. My friends reacted.”

“Good, a physical change is part of it. Then what?” he pressed. She glanced up to see Loki approaching, his hair fluttering around his face. He looked concerned. Next to him was a more bashful-than-usual Pandora, hiding behind him a little bit. Sonya felt the compulsion to wink at her and pinched herself in irritation. Set noticed. “Good. Control it. You have two options right now. Get it out of your system or dominate it.”

She was really starting to get worried. “What is happening?”

“Duality.”

She squinted at him, and her eyes widened. “I snapped at you. I’m so sorry.”

“It’s fine. What happened next?” he repeated.

She frowned. “It lasted like two seconds, and then I was really, really tired. I nearly fell over. Last time something close to that happened, I had merged a bunch of abilities without having a core power to handle the mana.”

“That was stupid,” Loki said and got an elbow from Pandora. “Ow!”

Pandora scowled at him. “Loki, hush, this is serious.”

Set’s expression was stormy. “Two seconds and a backlash like this?” He furrowed his brows and rubbed his chin, his aged face looking even older than usual. “Why did you, of all people, experience backlash? It doesn’t make sense. You’ve told us about your story. Your sister has filled in the blanks. There’s no way with your reputation.”

“Reputation? What does reputation have to do with it?” Sonya asked.

He closed his eyes and sighed. He clearly was too focused on his thoughts. “I can feel that you are Declared. Then… why?”

“Maybe she’s been sleeping,” Loki pointed out. “Can’t imagine why, but hey, it would explain it.”

Set scoffed and turned to the trickster. “Don’t be absurd. Her instincts would have clearly-”

“I’ve been sleeping. What’s wrong with that?” Sonya asked, tilting her head a little. 

All three of them stared at her, aghast. Loki was the first to facepalm. Pandora covered her eyes and sat down. Set rounded on her and grabbed her face. “Have you not been feeling tired when you wake up? How often do you sleep, Sonya?!”

“Uh… every night? I feel a little groggy in the morning, but right as rain after a coffee. Honestly, I’m feeling stronger every day. I wasn’t sleeping for a little while, but I wanted to, so I did.” Sonya mumbled. “I’m really not liking this. Did I mess up?”

Loki burst into laughter, and Set stared at her with wide eyes. “Every day? How are you not dead?”

She’d never seen the old man so animated before. He was grabbing her face and turning it left and right to try to get a good look at her. She just kinda let it happen. She was so lost. He finally let go and just chortled before rubbing his face. “Stop sleeping. Today. Understood?”

“Okay, on it,” she said. “A few questions.”

“You may ask.”

“Why? Did I mess something up? Can I fix it?”

“I’ll start with the latter two,” the old man said and gestured for Loki to sit down next to him. “Loki here will explain the former. He is far more experienced in that particular subject. I brought him over in case you became erratic during your backlash. It seems it’s worn off, though.”

Sonya glanced up at Pandora and was relieved to not feel the immediate urge to do unspeakable things and gave her an apologetic smile. “Sorry.”

She shook her head and moved to join the other two. Set cleared his throat. “First off, no, you did not mess anything up. There is nothing to fix here, and your foundations are fine. They would have been at risk if you had continued, I think,” he frowned. “The issue here is that any other new Claimant I’ve ever heard of who’s done what you’ve done withered away as a consequence. We do not sleep, Sonya. Just cut that habit out and you will recover to your actual full strength.”

“Actual,” she repeated and looked at Loki.

The trickster smirked at her. “Why do people sleep, Sonya?”

“To… rest and recover? Uh… theories speculate about a number of things, but scientifically we don’t fully understand it. Something, something, short-term memory to long-term memory,” she counted on her fingers. “Subconscious-”

“Mortals are converting their experiences into Karma when they sleep. That karma is coated onto the soul and becomes a part of who they are - memories, experiences, impressions,” he said the last word with a great deal of emphasis. “As they do so, they touch the world’s karma. I think you called it the ‘Collective Subconscious’ during your Claimancy. Amusing speech, by the way.”

“Glad you liked it!” She laughed. “Okay, so... What?”

“You’re at a point where you can understand more about abilities and what they are, Sonya. What all of this is,” Pandora said patiently. “You grasp the concept of Karma, not just philosophically, but what it is as a force, yes?”

“Well, yeah,” Sonya frowned and mulled it over. “Connections between people; our impressions of one another. I remember learning from you that the world’s karma, the thing you make a world pact with, is like a living history, right?”

“Some individuals have more of an impact than others,” Pandora said. “Based on what you’ve told us about the abilities that awakened during your ‘flash,’ these abilities are based not only on us but also on figures who could not have possibly been alive during our time. Why?”

Sonya sat up straight. “Because they made an impact on the minds of people, who slept, and that impact was transferred to the world’s history. When abilities came back, those impressions became powers that never existed before.”

Set nodded. “Yes, that is our theory as well.”

Loki leaned forward and pressed his hands on his knees. “So, Sonya. What the hell did you claim?”

Sonya gaped at him as it finally clicked. “The impressions of me! People’s impressions of me!”

“A share of them, yep.” Loki nodded and turned to Set. “It’s what… a tenth or something for a Claimant?”

“In that area,” Set said. “Which begs the question of how she’s still alive. Impressions sustain us to a degree.”

Sonya cleared her throat and scratched her nose. “I’ve been… busy.”

The three of them gave her a deadpan look. “No shit,” Loki grunted.

“You picked up modern lingo quick!” Sonya laughed.

He chuckled. “Thanks! Stop sleeping, idiot!”

She gave him a thumbs up. “Right!”

He grabbed her by the shirt and looked her dead in the eyes. “Seriously, stop it or I will tell Ishtar about what I remember from our time in Titania’s trap. Mmkay?”

Sonya shrank. “Yes, yes, sir, got it, ten-four, over and out, definitely not sleeping ever, ever again.”

He smiled. “Good!” He let her go and leaned back, crossing his arms. “Wild that you survived doing that, though. Old Man was right. You’re in for a rude awakening after about a week or two. Not a bad thing, but you are gonna be kicking yourself.”

“So… if I’m understanding correctly, impressions are like fuel?” she asked.

Set waved a hand noncommittally. “Yes and no. Fuel implies that it is finite. You will recover it constantly, slowly recharging, but you can use it up rapidly to take on a Declaration form in your case. The impressions on the world's karma don’t just disappear when you get your due.”

Loki gave Set a sidelong look. “Not entirely true either,” he warned. “Impressions fade with time. There was enough of a mark to sustain the creation of new abilities from these people in your history, but I sincerely doubt they would support a Declared on that, let alone a Claimant.”

“What happens when your impressions fade?” Sonya asked, already having a gut feeling about the answer.

“We die,” Pandora said. “Wither away from neglecting our part in the world. You told me some of those silly myths about my family. Why do you think my grandfather went around having so many children, and my aunts and uncles would issue quests and challenges to young up-and-comers?”

Sonya leaned back in surprise. “Oh, it was to maintain their immortality.”

“Yes. My grandfather was obsessed with studying my great-grandfather’s abilities and trying to figure out how they worked. He came across as a diva, but in fact he hated being in public. He’d rather be working,” Pandora said with a sigh. “So he had lots of children to tell his story and expand it.” She hesitated and cringed. “Of all the things your stories got right, my great-grandmother’s reactions are disturbingly accurate.”

Sonya winced. “Oof.”

Pandora shook her head. “That was a long time ago.”

“In short, you have a responsibility to yourself to continue making impressions on the world,” Set said. “Sleeping only returns what you were collecting back to the world with recompense. I’m relieved we caught it when we did. Give it a few days, and you should be able to maintain a long enough Declaration to handle most problems at the level your time seems to be dealing with.”

Sonya let out a breath. “Alright. Thank you three for your time. I have a lot to think about now.”

She was about to get to her feet when she frowned. “Wait, does that mean declaring-”

Set raised a finger to his lips and winked. “You aren’t there yet, young lady. Patience.”

She rolled her eyes. “Bastard, I mean-” She coughed. “Thank you, sir.”

He laughed. “Grow well and think hard about what we talked about.”

She inclined her head and smiled. “I will. Thank you again.”

—

The room was a mess, papers strewn everywhere. The desk was flipped, and the lamp had been smashed against the wall. Ma paced back and forth in the ruin of the room he’d been assigned to stay in during this event that was turning into a circus. He ran his fingers through his hair. “Wukong!” he barked and kicked the desk again. “They hid Wukong from us!” He chewed at his thumbnail and started pacing again. It’s not too late. It’s on a delay. I can do something to clip the footage. I can’t have that transformation be seen!

He snarled and rubbed his face. “Dah! If the President sees this, the concessions we had to give to get back in this damn competition, if he knows that we could have had that boy in Shanghai, I’ll be ruined!”

A knock came to the door, and he whirled. “WHAT?”

“Ma, we need to talk,” Dubois said through the door.

“I’m busy!” he barked and turned away from the door. “Get lost, Dubois.”

The scent of something burning made him turn around, and the door swung open. Dubois was standing there with a gun in his hand. Ma flexed his own ability, one he’d carefully kept hidden after buying up one of those open contracts on the black market after Sowards died. Power surged, and he froze; the barrel was at his throat. “I would stop if I were you, Ma.”

Ma swallowed. “Understood. What do you want, Dubois?”

What has gotten into this man?

“I have something for you and some questions. You’ll answer them and accept what I have to give. Do we understand one another?” he asked.

“Ask away.”

“Why did you make that move the day Liberty died?” he asked firmly.

Ma’s eyes bulged. “You asinine little! You and that idiot Sowards pushed for it! The others jumped on the bandwagon. Why would you ask me such a…” He trailed off, and his expression turned hard. “You are not Dubois. Where is he?”

The man wearing Dubois' face pulled an envelope out of his jacket with a jade seal on it. He pushed it against Ma’s chest. “You don’t need to know. You just need to follow orders, Ma. Keep up the good work.”

“I don’t take orders from that old woman,” Ma growled.

“You do now.”