The Reckoning

[Gifted]

Cyrus's identity was becoming more well-known; apparently it had gotten out somehow not only that the Reckoners were there and who they were, but that they had formed an uneasy truce with the Epics of the city in order to try to hit a major new High Epic. This actually turned out to be something of a good thing, though. While some people treated him with hostility, others were very pleased to meet him and several shopkeepers offered him all sorts of goodies to bring back to the rest of the team.

[Raven]

Cyrus tried not to take advantage of any of the shopkeepers, but he was thankful all the same. Mercy was very uneasy with this, and did her best to avoid attention. Before too long, they headed back and entered the cave once more, setting the food down for people to dig in.

[Gifted]

"Wow! How did you afford all this?" Joan asked, stunned by the drastic increase in quality.

[Raven]

"Bug hasn't been careful, people are starting to recognize us, and they know what we're doing," Cyrus said.

[Gifted]

"People gave you this stuff?" Joan understood, but she was shocked.
"...Probably some talkative Enforcement." Rick noted. "They would have had to be told not to shoot at Mercy, and probably the rest of us too. You can't expect that many people to keep a secret." He smiled, though. It was a nice surprise.

[Raven]

"Knowing about the Reckoners and recognizing me on sight are a bit different," Cyrus pointed out.

[Gifted]

"Maybe they were shown pictures of the rest of us. Wouldn't surprise me if Flare had plans to take us out the minute Nightmare is dead. But so far it looks like it didn't work out bad for us." He smiled and grabbed a pastry. "These used to be my favourite. I haven't had one in years."

[Raven]

"Hopefully we can get out of here before that happens," Cyrus muttered.
"I miss Nightshade's apples," Katrina said. Ryan glanced at her, a bit surprised.

[Gifted]

Joan nodded, remembering gathering fruit in Cerbera. "The nice thing about all the fruit having been grown by an Epic is you never get that one random sour one in the bunch."

[Raven]

"They were always perfect," Katrina agreed. "Not that I'd want to go back there. Black Rose would use any excuse to try to get rid of me."

[Gifted]

Joan laughed. "Iris was telling me there were rumours you two didn't get along." She laughed.

[Raven]

Katrina scoffed. "Understatement," she said. "If not for the fact that Nightshade could beat either of us in a fight, I would have tried to kill her. And I know the same went for her."

[Gifted]

"Could he have beaten you both in a fight? I've never heard of him actually fighting." Joan mused.

[Raven]

"That's because he usually did it from across the city," Katrina said. "He didn't just grow it, he could control the entire thing from his home, and his favorite method for anyone who wasn't a high Epic was poisoning the fruit. That's why he chose his name."

[Gifted]

"Okay but that's not a fight, that's just murder. That's the sort of thing is what makes me wonder, to be honest. Anyway, couldn't Black Rose just grow her own food?"