Unbreakable Bonds

"I don't even know why I did it.. I guess it was because Morris trusted him. And I trust Morris." -Raina on why she revived Valos

Raina leaves and seeks out a place to think and fume. She finds her ally and friend Mindstryker brooding on a high rooftop, having abandoned his drinks with Kalius and Melody. He apologizes for what happened, promising that he would get the designs for the collar and find a way to remove it. They also start planning on how to take down Melody, hopefully through legal means. Raina reveals, to Mindstryker's fury, that she revived Valos, although she doesn't understand why herself.

Unknown to them, Melody has sent Owl Lass to spy on Mind. While Raina cannot identify or even place what she senses, she simply feels through her cat that they are being watched and warns Mind. However, he cannot detect anyone either, but to be safe, they fall back on using telepathy which cannot be overheard. They do however, keep talking about mundane things aloud. Talking and planning, they agree that Mindstryker should remain close to Melody in the position of trust he has gained. She then takes things a step further and asks if there is anyway to make the link they share permanent, as it doesn't work over long distances.

Mindstryker is extremely reluctant, citing that he has only established such a link with one person. Raina quickly deduces that that person is Morgan, the cop who betrayed and framed him and cost him his police force job. Understanding his hesitation, Raina offers to wait until he trusts her more. However, he disagrees and says that he already does trust her and is willing to make the link. He explains that while they will have easy access to each other's minds, it is still possible to keep secrets. Raina assures him that she has no secrets to keep from him anymore and that she just wants to know she has someone who she can trust implicitly. With some effort, Mind establishes a permanent tie between their minds, allowing thoughts and emotions to pass freely between them.

They, and other available members, are summoned by Melody to Atlas to hunt down someone that Melody says is a criminal. However, everything is thrown for a loop when their target reveals the truth about the "Phalanx of Paragon", to the present members' horror. Appalled, Raina and Mindstryker retreat through Ouroboros and then to Talos to figure out what to do since their current plan had been to revive John and remove the need to have Melody as a leader. The revelations about John and the true purpose of the Phalanx prove to be too much for Melody who snaps and goes insane.

They then seek out Grim to see if he can undo the magical lock on the collar. Raina assures them that she can handle the last 2, but her magic is tied into her blood and can only effect her physical form, not the collar. After a short explanation, Grim agrees to preform a spell that should undo the magical lock, as it seems to be of Midnighter make and the necromancer is versed in their spells. However, the only location that has the power he'll need to draw on is Dark Astoria, a place Raina swore to never visit again after a disastrous first visit. They both explain to Mind that their last visit ended when Raina attempted to attack Grim. Her cat, for some reason, is driven to near insanity by the magic that flows in Dark Astoria. Somewhat reassured by their link, Mind is confident that he can help hold the cat back long enough for Grim to preform the spell. The spell is preformed and the magical lock is broken. Needing to 'let off steam', Raina rushes off to slaughter zombies while Mind tells Grim about their mental link. Grim responds to the news with, "I hope you atleast got a smoke afterwards."

They then contact Kalius and go to a safehouse belonging to a friend of theirs to plan their next move and settle on a main plan. The decide that it is important to keep John dead and remove Melody from power. For now, they want to find more allies and get things in place before making their move. They are summoned by Melody to Atlas again, where she apologizes to Raina and removes the collar, saying that it had been out of line. She then leaves to go to the base, but Raina and the others have decided to go through with their plan to legally remove her from leadership. Then Grim suddenly seems to remember something in leave. Suspicious, Mindstryker follows him. All their plans screech to a halt when John, aka Arbiter Death, signs onto the SG comm. Horrified, Raina demands of Mind to know what happened, and is informed that not only has Grimaulkin revived John, but is telling him about their conspiracy.

Frightened that Mind is going to be trapped and killed by John, she, Kalius, and the helpful spirit Mystic's Shadow storm the base to rescue him and, if they can, kill John and Grim. The ill-considered battle goes very badly and Raina is forced to pull both Kalius and Mind out, attacking John and knocking out Grim in the process, and escapes back to their safe house. The lot are furious that Grim has betrayed them and immediately tell Jasson Striker to ensure that Grim cannot enter the safe house. Mind and Kalius are taken to Jasson's medical ward to treat their wounds. Overstressed from the recent events and worrying for her friend's health, Raina spends some time in the bar talking to Jasson before deciding to follow Kalius to Pocket D. There, she is somewhat surprised to find a remorseful Grim talking to Kalius. He doesn't speak to her, but Raina does catch up with an old friend, Amorphic, now known as Parallel.