Thursday.
The fourth Legion interview they'd be conducting that week. Courtney couldn't wait until Saturday, when all the interviews would be over and whatever chaos would occur would be set in stone. At least then she wouldn't have to worry about as many uncertainties - like if the next interview would be with a legitimate psychopath.
"This one hasn't come up with a name yet," Achilles had said on the way to the alley. "Her ability, however, is to create shields."
"Can't even come up with her own name," Light Master said with a smirk. "Is she really serious about this?"
"I didn't come up with my name either," Courtney pointed out.
"And you aren't dedicated enough to the Legion."
This kid really got on her nerves. She was focusing on releasing her anger when Achilles cut in.
"Don't worry. Lightning's here with us, isn't she? That shows dedication."
"Um..."
The soft voice interrupted their discussion. Courtney spun around, surprised that nobody had noticed the girl approach. She looked almost like a model, with almost perfect proportions and meticulously styled hair. Even her outfit looked like it had been chosen to flatter her as much as possible.
"My apologies!" Achilles said, holding his hand out for her to shake. "You must be Haven."
"Yes. It's very nice to meet you." Haven shook his hand and giggled, like she was ecstatic to meet her hero.
"These are fellow Legion members, Light Master and Lightning." Courtney stuck up her hand when Achilles said her name, still wary of this girl. She didn't know why, but something felt off.
"Lovely to meet you," Haven said, smiling broadly. "Sorry if I'm late."
"You're not late at all!" Achilles said. "Thank you for agreeing to an interview."
"Oh no, thank you for considering me." Haven giggled again, batting her eyelashes. It didn't look like it was deliberate or forced, but the motion was almost over the top as far as Courtney was concerned.
"So, you're Haven?" Courtney asked, trying to get her away from Achilles and his googly eyes.
"Yes. Sorry I couldn't come up with a name. I thought really hard, but couldn't find anything I liked."
"Don't worry about that!" Achilles said. "I'm an expert at names. I chose Lightning's after all."
"What's your Miracle, Haven?" Light Master asked, swaggering up to her like some kind of tough guy. It was almost comical since he was still at least a full head shorter than her.
"Um...I can make shields or something." Haven held up a hand and a nearly transparent film appeared between her and Light Master. "I think they're supposed to be impenetrable."
Light Master rapped on it first, then frowned. After a moment of thought, he shot one of his lasers at it, and the film absorbed it with a slight glow.
"Nice," Courtney said. "Can I hit it?"
"Sure." Haven shifted her stance like she was bracing herself. Good. Courtney was gonna hit this with all she had. Well, as much as she could give without breaking her hand. She quickly slipped the metal plates into her glove and took a breath.
In a single breath, it was over. A bang resounded through the alley, and Haven's barrier remained unaffected. Courtney, meanwhile, shook out her wrist.
"Dang. That is hard. It didn't even move. I'm used to Jumper who just bounces around when you hit him."
"You hit Jumper?" Achilles asked in shock.
"It's for practice. I taught him how to take a hit and now we spar every so often. He's probably the only person I don't have to worry about injuring. If you throw that man down a level or two by accident he just hops right back up."
"Jumper?" Haven asked. "I'd love to meet him too! I mean, if I can join the Legion that is." She lowered the shield and held her hands behind her back, looking at them anxiously.
"Well, then let's continue the interview," Courtney replied. "What are your interests, Haven?"
"Well, I work at a bar in the evenings for now. I graduated high school and started working from there. I'd really like to work with all of you. I know my ability might not be much, but I hope it's useful to you!"
Dodging the question? Or just missing it? Courtney couldn't tell.
"Don't say that," Achilles replied. "Your Miracle is wonderful! Neither Lightning nor Light Master's attacks made it through. Could you contain Paris even, I wonder?"
"Depends," Haven said bashfully. "I think I could maybe? It can't be too big though. This is about as big as I can go." With that, she made another shield, this one large enough that Courtney could barely fit in it if she ducked.
"How close do you have to be to make it?" Courtney asked. "Like, could you make a shield from twenty feet away?"
"I don't know." Haven frowned in thought as the large shield disappeared. "Let's see." She reached out her hand and the film appeared again, this time thirty feet from them. But it didn't seem easy for her. A bit of sweat seemed to be forming on Haven's perfect face. Finally with a small gasp she let it go.
"Again!" Light Master said. "And Lightning can hit it again."
"You up for it?" Courtney asked. Haven looked at them uncertainly, then nodded.
"One minute please. That took a lot more out of me than I thought it would."
"It's fine if you do ten or twenty feet. I can still test it."
"Okay." Haven smiled, but this one was more...grim? Like she was resigning herself to this. Was it that hard on her?
Didn't matter. The film was up twenty feet away and Courtney ran to hit it again. This time, it shuddered and vanished. Her hit hadn't gone through, but apparently the strength of the shields varied depending on how far away from Haven they were.
"Lame," Light Master said.
"Sorry. I've never done that before," Haven replied, looking down in shame.
"Well, it withstood at least one hit."
"It's a wonderful Miracle," Achilles said, applauding. "I'm sure with practice the distance barriers will get easier and easier. We need to discuss the interview, so you can go now. Thank you very much for your time. We'll get back to you next week."
"Thank you very much!" Haven replied. "I'll look forward to hearing from you." She smiled at them again before turning and trotting away, her short skirt bouncing slightly with the movement.
"Ugh," Courtney said. "Her power is something else, but I'm not so sure about this one's personality."
"What do you mean?" Achilles asked. "She seems like a wonderful girl!"
"I mean, she is kinda pretty," Light Master mumbled.
"That's not a personality trait," Courtney said sourly.
"No not that!" Light Master yelled. Surely his face was red under that mask of his.
"She has a beautiful personality!" Achilles declared. "Soft-spoken and humble. She seems very eager to help us out."
"She's like a princess," Light Master added in a mumble.
"I've got the name for her too!" Achilles said proudly. "She makes barriers and she looks like a princess, so she can be Barrier Maiden! We'll have to talk to her about it next week."
"Great. I guess she's in then," Courtney said with a shrug. "What's tomorrow's interview looking like?"
"Rose," Achilles replied immediately. "Miracle is 'thorn whip' though I'm not entirely sure what that means. Ben says he looks good, though."
At least someone was supposedly filtering these applications. Courtney just wanted to go back to bed. This stuff was exhausting. At least this time she had a first name to work with when she talked to Barron.
Haven glanced back at the Legion. The three of them seemed deep in discussion.
Hopefully she had done enough.
She'd spent extra time on her makeup that day. Extra time selecting the perfect outfit. And way too much time putting her hair up. After working last night, she was completely worn out.
But it'd be worth it. Calculating every flutter of her eyelashes, the angle of her head, each minute bit of body language. All so they'd like her and she could join the Legion.
"I'll show you," she whispered, so no one would hear. "I'll definitely show you."
She let out a sigh, ran a hand through her hair to scratch the itch that had been bugging her since before she arrived. Only now could she risk messing up her painstakingly made hairstyle.
With any luck, next week she'd be in the Legion and not at the bar. But for now, she had to go home and take a nap before another evening of rowdy men staring at her ass.
