ã€ŠZodiac Storyã€‹


 A Thousand Sparkling Diamonds

    The sky was resplendent in hues of azure, shining like a cloudy blue realm unmarred by imperfection. The clouds were tinged in soft pastel tones, blush pink blending with cream white. There was no sun, only the light of the Morningstar. It was neither day nor night, but a lost time in between, a beautiful warm dawn alongside a cool dusk. There was no ground, only infinite sky.

    Mihira loved it, loved the colours that enraptured her heart and gave wind to her wings. There are wings on her, but she could not tell what colour they are. White as a swan? Light green, pastel pink, pale blue? The colours of the rainbow? They were not visible, and no matter how much Mihira willed it, they never appeared. At least the world around her was colourful, as always. She had this dream numerous times, and each time added more colour and details to the airy world. Mihira always embraced the dream and never questioned why it came to her. Enjoy the beauty and wonder of the world, that was what she told herself.

    As she soared above the clouds, Mihira spotted a glimpse of gleaming towers reflecting the sky around them. The towers were mounted on floating cumulus clouds, and Mihira smelled the fruity scent of raspberries and rose petals on the wind. On her descent, she found the towers were connected by staircases made of clouds to a circular building attached to a courtyard. After flying down, she found a copper gate with carvings of little cherubs and swans and a swinging scale on top of it all. Something in her wanted to open it, to see the wonders that lay within the courtyard. She reached for the keyhole and-

    ¡°Mihira, wake up!¡±

    Mihira jolted awake, looking for her friend. The classroom was empty, except for Kaori, who was still shaking Mihira¡¯s shoulder, as well as some small weeds growing through the cracks.

    ¡°Kaori, why are you still shaking me? I-I¡¯m awake now!¡± Mihira managed to say a few words before being shaken again.

    ¡°Oh, you¡¯re awake!¡± Kaori stopped shaking her shoulder. ¡°Why are you falling asleep in an abandoned classroom again? There are other places to fall asleep in, like your bedroom, in an actual classroom, on someone¡¯s shoulder¡­¡±

    ¡°Ah Kaori, the best place to fall asleep is on your lover¡¯s lap or shoulder!¡± Mihira exclaimed. ¡°I know right now I am sleeping in our old classroom, but one day I will find the one to rest upon.¡± She looked around her old elementary school classroom and thought about the times she had fun with her classmates or that time she napped in the corner just before school, or that time she tried to make balloons for everyone. She wished her memories were as eternal as her daydreams.

    The school was closed, like most elementary schools in the country. There weren¡¯t enough children being born to justify keeping them open, or that was what the government stated. Too many Calamities have frightened the country, or so she heard. Mihira stood up and ran her hands over the grasses poking through the wood, and the little flowers too. The wind mourned alongside her, a low keening noise in the background.

    ¡°The world is changing, isn¡¯t it?¡± She said. ¡°It was only yesterday that we passed the tests for high school, right?¡±

    Kaori chuckled. ¡°That was last year, Mihira, and weren¡¯t you and Kaede worried about if you passed or not?¡±

    ¡°Yes! I didn¡¯t study and had to cram in one week, and Kaede had forgotten when the exam was taking place, so we had to cram together! We still passed somehow!¡± She laughed along with Kaori, soaking in moments that will never come again. ¡°I can always travel to Nagasaki, but I¡¯ll miss her.¡±

    ¡°You and me both.¡± Kaori contemplated the moment. ¡°Hina is also moving to Canada too. After the break ends, we will be the only ones left.¡±

    Mihira nodded. ¡°That¡¯s why we have to make this count.¡± She held up a medium-sized box. ¡°When is the gift exchange again?¡±

    ¡°Today. In ten minutes.¡±

    ¡°...oh.¡±

    While Kaori was pulling her across the field, Mihira asked herself how Kaori was able to run at such a breakneck pace. It was always like that since elementary school, Kaori dragging her to wherever Kaori wanted to go and Mihira following along. She wondered if the future will hold more moments like this, or will Kaori soon be gone as well? It seems like the whole world is falling apart, Mihira thought, with her friends scattered to the four corners of the world. At last, both girls reached their destination, although out of breath and gasping for air.

    ¡°Did you bring water?¡± She asked Kaori.

    ¡°No, did you?¡± was Kaori¡¯s reply.

    ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°Why are you daydreaming all the time? And what do you dream about?¡±

    ¡°The sky.¡± An unearthly sky of vivid colours.

    ¡°Ah, Mihira, head in the clouds and feet in the air! Come back down to Earth please, we don¡¯t want to lose you. Weren¡¯t you the one to set this up?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    Kaori sighed. ¡°Well, at least we are on time.¡±

    Mihira spotted two familiar figures in the distance, also running at the same breakneck pace. ¡°Hina! Kaede! We¡¯re over here!¡± She waves her hands in the air. Hina and Kaede wave back.

    Once all four were gathered, Hina unceremoniously dropped the tiny package on the grass. Mihira¡¯s teal package nestled on her lap, Kaede¡¯s gift with the green bow is the same size as Hina¡¯s, and Mihira noted that Kaori had a medium-sized box.

    ¡°You need to start taking proper care of your gifts Hina! We won¡¯t be seeing Mihira or Kaori in a while!¡± Kaede chided, her ponytail bobbing.

    ¡°I¡¯m too exhausted¡­why did you make me run¡­we could have had a leisurely walk,¡± Hina replied, heavily panting while leaning on the side of the bench.

    ¡°I like to be on time, and I will not let your laziness jeopardize this!¡±

    ¡°We are all here now, isn¡¯t that what counts?¡± Mihira interjected. ¡°I¡¯m here, so are both of you and so is Kaori. Hina, since you are here for only a few days, I¡¯m sure you can find time to relax! It¡¯s just important for Kaede to be here.¡±

    The effects of the looming separation were left unsaid.

    ¡°It might be helpful for her to have some routine, especially since she¡¯s moving elsewhere. Kaede, I understand your need for punctuality, but the future for Hina is very different from ours. This may be her way of coping with the changes in her life.¡± She smiled. ¡°Why not enjoy ourselves while we can, huh? I have a gift for Hina, a going away present.¡±

    Hina jumped at this. ¡°What is it?¡±

    Mihira gave the wrapped package to Hina. ¡°Why don¡¯t you open it?¡±

    After a flurry of wrapping paper, Hina was left with a box. Opening it, she gasped at the neatly folded lolita-style teal dress with cream-coloured lace decorations and matching parasol.

    ¡°Thank you Mihira for the dress and the parasol! In fact, why don¡¯t I try it on right now?¡± Hina started to unzip her jacket.

    ¡°I don¡¯t want a repeat of the last year of junior high.¡± Kaori covered her eyes with her hands.

    ¡°You¡¯re very welcome Hina, but I would like you to remain clothed for the rest of the gift exchange,¡± Mihira replied, hoping that Hina listened.

    After that crisis was averted and Hina was persuaded to not change on the spot, it was her turn to gift Kaede. Kaede immediately ripped through the package and found herself holding a beautiful jade necklace engraved with writing. Kaede thanked Hina, which was rare enough.

    The next gift was for Kaori. The small box that Kaede gave had a tiny white cushion inside, with two small deep blue earrings. Kaori replaced her old white studs with the new blue earrings and marvelled wordlessly at them.

    Mihira was last, but not least. As she eagerly awaited her gift, her mind drifted off to what it could be. Maybe Kaori stitched together a piece of clothing? A beautiful lolita style dress like what she had sewn for Hina? A sketchbook? A boxed set of her favourite anime series? The medium-sized box wrapped in pink that Kaori held outwards seemed to hold a million possibilities. Mihira took it from Kaori and unwrapped the box. Opening it, she found something she hadn¡¯t thought of.

    It was a circular medallion, made of burnished copper that shone in the afternoon light. Four sections were either pale blue, or light pink, or split in half between the two colours. The top section was equally split in colour and contained a triangle pointing upward with a line going through it, which was also half blue and half pink. The left section had an open triangle with a dot inside, with the triangle being pink against the blue. The right section had a yang symbol outlined in blue against pink. The bottom section was empty. Turning it around, there was the symbol for women, with the circle and the two lines crossing each other. The medallion was revealed to have an inside compartment, dedicated to blush, eyeshadow, and a makeup brush. Mihira¡¯s appearance in the compact mirror was different though. Gone were the black hair and brown eyes, replaced with hair split between blush pink and sky blue, with similarly split eye colours. She seemed to be wearing different clothes, but her glasses were still the same. Mihira blinked, but her reflection never changed.

    ¡°Thank you, Kaori.¡± She was still wondering why she looked completely different in the mirror. ¡°I like the makeup kit inside.¡±

    ¡°Ah, you¡¯re welcome Mihira! To be honest, I felt like the amulet was meant for you. I found it at a small store selling trinkets, and it just seemed right to give it to you.¡±

    She pondered the locket, with its strange mirror and bizarre symbols. ¡°I like it!¡±

    That was truthful. It was very pretty, and she didn¡¯t want to say anything that may insult Kaori.

    Kaede stared at the amulet. ¡°What are these markings? Those symbols look like the ones on my younger sister¡¯s diary that she swears is magical. Something about Western alchemy or¡­¡±

    Could this be the beginning of a magical journey, like what Kaede and Kaori loved to watch? Mihira occasionally watched magical girl shows with them. Something about love and friendship triumphing over evil appealed to her.

    Hina looked at the amulet. ¡°It looks like something you would buy at a fan convention, not a small store. Maybe Kaori was too lazy.¡±

    ¡°I would not give my dearest friend second-hand merchandise Hina! How dare you think that!¡±

    As Hina and Kaori got into an argument over whether the amulet was genuine craftsmanship or cheap plastic, Mihira traced her fingers over the amulet¡¯s many etchings, wondering what they all meant.

    After all of them said their goodbyes and promised to see each other soon, Mihira found herself on her bicycle through the streets of Tokyo. It was quiet, with a tinge of melancholy. A leaf landed on her nose, then the wind took it away as quickly as it came.

    This world has ceased its motion.

    She perked her head up. Sometimes, the wind spoke to her in cool breezes and warm gusts.

    I do not understand why humans seek to divide themselves with imaginary borders and refuse to move from these imaginary boxes drawn on flimsy paper. That¡¯s why nothing ever gets done, no justice or fairness or love. They just sit in their little boxes and hope the problem goes away.

    ¡°I think there is still justice and fairness, and there is love in this world. I love my friends, for example, and they love me too.¡± Mihira wondered who would be listening. The wind never talked to her like this before.

    You are young, sweet child, though your soul is familiar. Your friends are scattered far away though.

    ¡°Yes, but we can still keep in touch, and Kaori is still here in Tokyo with me.¡±

    The world is about to end, and yet you still want for others?

    ¡°Even though we are apart, I still can be friends with everyone. Distance isn¡¯t a problem.¡±

    The wind seemed to chuckle. Distance, ah yes. The distance you can cover, I see it. Distance won¡¯t be a problem in the future.

    Come to think of it, the wind sounded like Kaori. ¡°I was thinking about my gift from Kaori and the symbols on the amulet seem magical. It¡¯s probably magical.¡± What kind of magic though?

    Magic that may save this sorry world. You do need to use your words carefully though.

    ¡°Huh?¡± The wind died down, and she was left with no answer. Silence infused the air, and Mihira couldn¡¯t hear the wind anymore. She started pedalling again, thoughts still on the wind¡¯s cryptic responses.

    After reaching her apartment and unlocking the door, Mihira made udon noodles for herself. Eating alone, she thought about inviting Kaori, Hina, and Kaede for a sleepover. Being alone brought an eerie and unnatural feeling to Mihira, one that she refused to dwell on. Her phone was drained, as she forgot to charge it last night. Finishing quickly, she jumped on her bed and examined the amulet. It hasn¡¯t changed, but she knew exactly what Kaede would say.

    ¡°If you ever find yourself in a situation that looks like the beginning of a magical girl show, just shout out as many transformation phrases as you can. Weird objects are probably what enables you to transform, so hold onto them. Be careful of beings that look like cats, if they try to get you to sign a contract, run away. Always keep a secret identity. Hope you get something better than miniskirts. Find a way to attack without shouting a long-winded transformation phrase. Conventional weapons are just as good as magical ones.¡±

    Mihira nodded. Now is the time to test Kaede¡¯s advice, but first, she should find out what those symbols mean. She looked at the triangle with the line running through it and tried to concentrate.

    Moistness. Warmth. The air governs the movement of all things.

    Next, Mihira stared at the triangle with the dot.

    A need to initiate, to take a stand, to talk. Go seize your destiny.

    Last was the yang symbol.

    Upwards, a wave rushes.

    Flipping the amulet, she pondered the large symbol for femininity.

    Love, passion. Sweet-smelling roses, beauty in all forms.

    Mihira knew what to try. She raised her amulet high in the air.

    ¡°Libra Star Power, Make Up!¡± Why not try her zodiac sign?

    Nothing happened. The door to her balcony was squeaking in the wind.

    "Strange copper amulet, please!" Still nothing. Do mysterious medallions have names?

    "Raspberry Metamorphose!" Favourite food? She wondered if she watched too many old anime with Kaede and Kaori.

    Night seeped into the sky, leaving a deep blue-black colour in the cloudless sky. Mihira thought it was a great time to fall asleep, especially since she had not progressed with unlocking any possible magical powers of the amulet. While she wasn¡¯t sure if the amulet was magical, something within her felt that it was magical in some way. Mihira fell asleep and curled around the medallion, initially in a dreamless sleep.

    The air was sharp and clear, Mihira noticed. The Morningstar still sat high in the celestial ceiling, but there was no pastel sky or strange cloud-bound structures. Instead, there were pine trees, a clear but sombre sky, and the lapping sounds of cool mountain water. She found that the horizon was bordered by a long series of mountains, each one enhancing the quiet atmosphere. The water stretched into the horizon as well. Walking along the water''s edge, Mihira turned around at the sound of a bark. A long-legged dog with a reddish brown coat and some white areas was following along with Mihira. Mihira patted the dog on the head, which the dog appreciated, its tongue lolling. Over a clearing, there seemed to be a miniature castle with bright green roofs and little balconies that overlooked the wide body of water, still lapping at Mihira¡¯s feet. There were red chairs in the distance and she had the stirring feeling that this wasn¡¯t as fantastical as her previous dreams.

    ¡°Beautiful all the same,¡± She spoke aloud.

    The dog barked. Startled, Mihira noticed that the beach has turned into pink diamonds. She scooped some of the diamonds and tried to stuff her pockets with them, but a gust of wind issued from the mountains, knocking her down. The sky and the mountains faded from her vision.

    ¡®What do you want?¡¯

    Mihira wasn¡¯t sure who was asking, still dazed from the blow.

    ¡®Your desires, your ideals. What kept your life afloat?¡¯

    My friends, Mihira thought, Kaori, Hina, and Kaede. Will I see them again?

    If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

    ¡®Yes, and others, although I can not guarantee you will find any of them agreeable.¡¯

    Mihira wanted to ask more questions, but the world spinning in her vision had tired her.

    Mihira woke up still clutching that copper medallion. The smell of fresh pine and cool mountain breezes clinging to her room, filled her nostrils. Her confidence was restored, and she took the amulet with both hands.

    ¡°I know that Kaede would be annoyed if I did not follow all of her directions, but I trust whoever spoke in my dream.¡± Mihira took a deep breath. ¡°I want balance, and I want fairness. I want everyone to cooperate, and I want a partner. Someone to love and cherish, to hold me when I can¡¯t hold myself. I don¡¯t want to lose my friends forever.¡± She did not often think of the state of the world, but she has seen the news frequently. ¡°There is still love and beauty in this world, and I wholeheartedly believe in this. So, if this is truly a magical trinket, grant me powers to balance this world.¡±

    The amulet remained eerily silent until it exploded into a ball of pink and blue light. Mihira felt the wind again, but instead of knocking her over, it embraced her like a close friend. Mihira embraced it too, and the wind spun her harder. Reaching for her glasses, she fumbled around until she got ahold of them and placed them on her nose. Her bedroom was a mess, her blanket thrown onto her vanity dresser, her newly made dresses splayed on the floor, and the door to her balcony was gone. The smell of raspberries and rose petals filled the air, and Mihira took a good whiff. Only then did she notice that there was a light blue hair strand in her vision. Running over to her vanity, she threw her blanket on the floor. For the first time, she did not make the bed and clean up after herself. No, she wanted to see what happened to her appearance.

    The answer was that she changed drastically. Gone was her ordinary look of black hair and brown eyes, replaced with the bicoloured hair of light blue and blush pink split in half from her reflection in the amulet. Her eyes were of two different colours, the blue under the pink half of her hair, and the pink under the blue half of her hair. She was wearing white, a half-moon collar closely hugging her neck. The only non-white parts were the copper star, alongside two wings pressed close to her chest and two circular belts, with one arched. Her gloves reached her wrist, the base of which was decorated with blue and pink diamonds. Her skirt and stockings were split between blue and pink as well, but her shoes were the same. The sleeves consisted of feather-like appendages, and overall, it resembled something Mihira would have designed.

    Mihira took her glasses off. The world remained blurry. Her severe myopia can''t be cured by magic. She sighed as she put them back on. Surprisingly, they were unchanged by the magic appearance-wise. There were also a lot of white feathers floating in her room. Next to her, she felt the wind beckoning her outside. Following it, she finally discovered where her door had gone. A gaggle of residents were gawking at what remained of her white door on the sidewalk. Mihira suppressed a sigh. That was a beautiful door, she thought, she wished she hadn''t broken it. She looked above. Dawn had tinged the clouds with pastel tones of orange and pink. Slowly, Tokyo was starting to wake up. The wind brushed her face.

    Tell me, how does it feel?

    "Beautiful, the sky looks like the one in my mind.¡± All of the clouds were perfectly symmetrical, not a single wisp out of line. The call of boundless sky called to her as if the glittering spires of her daydreams awaited her beyond the horizon. Mihira wanted to reach for it.

    Fly.

    Startled, Mihira gasped audibly. ¡°Fly? I have no wings, I can¡¯t fly.¡±

    Who said you have no wings?

    The mirror, Mihira thought, with my own two eyes. Her eyes were fallible though, and all Mihira observed was that she was in a white lolita dress. She noticed the feathers flying in her room, but no source was found. Her right foot stepped onto the balcony, and Mihira stared at the ground, the hard concrete sidewalk, and the nearby maple trees. Can she fly? Does she have wings?

    ¡°If this is a dream, I¡¯ll wake up before I hit the ground,¡± She whispered, leaping off of her balcony.

    Her hair flew back, and she heard the gasps of pedestrians below. The asphalt edged closer and closer to her eyes. Her glasses flush against her face, Mihira hoped that the wind was not lying and that she possessed wings. Otherwise, she will meet her great-grandparents very soon. She¡¯s already passed the fifth floor, so she thought of her friends. Will she ever see them again after they have left? One day, Mihira vowed, she¡¯ll use her wings to find Hina and Kaede and Kaori, and then they will meet together and have fun again. The distance between Mihira and the ground decreased, and Mihira started screaming. Suddenly, the scent of raspberries burst into the air and she shot into the air, ascending higher than she ever has been before. It wasn''t until she found herself staring at her reflection in a glass building that she realized why. Two outstretched wings, cream in colour. One was tinged in blue, the other in pink. Overhead, the sky beckoned her, and she responded in kind.

    No wonder humans dreamt of flight, to behold the world from such a vaunted position. Tokyo was awakening in the early hours, with many starting their Friday workday and others riding their bicycles with a carefree attitude. All are minuscule to Mihira. Threading between buildings, she caught glimpses of the shining azure of Tokyo Bay and flies onward. In the early hours, the water sparkled in the morning light. Mihira lightly touched the water and smiled at the cool refreshing sensation. She ascended higher, watching the city melting into mist and fading impressions of stocky towers. Before she knew it, the only thing below her were fluffy clouds. The Sun bathed her in warmth and comfort. Clouds surrounded her, their wispy forms forming little landscapes. The wind called to her, and she shaped it, formed a ball, and gently released it. It makes a hole in a nearby cloud. Mihira giggled and used the wind for shearing off sections of a cloud. Shaping it into a dress, she wondered if she could use that technique for other purposes.

    Before long, she has created a cloud wardrobe full of shoes, dresses, skirts, and shirts. She¡¯s also made a basic sewing machine, a needle, and three spools of misty thread. The power of the wind in the palm of her hand, she thought, oh how Kaori would have enjoyed it so. While Mihira always felt connected to the wind that whispered sweet nothings, it was Kaori who dreamt of magic and flying. Often, she confided to Mihira that she wanted nothing more than the sensation of freedom and flying to wherever her heart desired. Hina would have loved to see the clouds, Mihira thought, to nap among the stars. Mihira¡¯s thoughts turned towards Kaede, who would have wanted to study the sky, the mysterious chamber in which Calamities brewed.

    You are thinking of your friends now? When you have a whole sky to yourself?

    ¡°Why would I not? They would have done more than me, making home supplies out of wisps.¡± Mihira saw the sky as a beautiful landscape to admire, as she curled a small puff of wind between her fingers.

    Do you understand your gift?

    ¡°The wind and the wings are gorgeous. I can fly, I can control the wind, and¡­not much else.¡± A few things were nagging at her mind as well, but Mihira thought that the wind would explain everything.

    Ha! Silly girl, for you to think I will give you all of the answers! I will tell you this though. Look at your precious amulet, and tell me what you see.

    It took a while for Mihira until she found her amulet. It looked the same, except for the gleaming glyph of her zodiac sign and the letters V and two Is on the bottom.

    ¡°The sign for Libra and a V and two Is.¡± Mihira watched as the foreign letters shifted in her mind. ¡°Wait, those are the Roman numerals for seven.¡± She was not the worst in her English classes, but she was not a student who can instantly recite passages from literature, especially not Latin.

    Ah yes. The gift of being able to speak, understand and communicate in multiple tongues. Fitting for the Lady of the Clouded Courts.

    ¡°Lady of the Clouded Courts?¡± The spires on clouds, the interconnected structures, the copper gate, the seat of her undying admiration. ¡°Is that connected to the Seventh House?¡±

    They are the Seventh House itself. Beauty incarnate, they represent the universal principles of justice and harmony. Of course, it would be better to see them with your own eyes, not through daydreams.

    Mihira nodded. ¡°Where is it? Can I take my friends with me?¡±

    That lies within the Lady¡¯s mind and the Scales of the Four Winds. My Lady had never blessed me with such knowledge. The Scales lie to the west, in a land that fights the sea tirelessly. Once, the Seventh House would have been amenable to mortals, but no longer. Find the watcher who stands vigil amidst mountains, the one in your dream. Then you can bring your friends.

    What kind of land fought the sea?

    A sharp scent broke through, and Mihira caught a whiff. There were notes of sorrow and isolation, she thought. Overhead, the sky darkened slightly. The little gusts that previously twirled around her now fled, leaving her alone with the sound of wingbeats. Not just her wings, but something else¡¯s wings. Who or what is coming? Her cloud wardrobe was starting to dissipate into small wisps. Mihira wanted to shout, to ask who was flying, but something inside her told her to keep shut. As the wingbeats sounded closer and closer, she hoped that she remained unseen by whatever this was. The clouds were gone now, and all she could see was a storm cloud. No, not just a storm cloud, but larger, with a bulging bottom and roiling lightning that sought to challenge the Sun¡¯s light. A Calamity, like what Kaede loved to study, except this one is in the path of Mihira, her friends, and her city. Mihira had the wind at her command, but she didn¡¯t know what she was facing. She could not fight a Calamity on her own. It was better to wait, and she descended below.

    Her patience was rewarded. Below, she saw the bulge in the cloud, threatening to burst at any moment. It remained intact, save for one small detail: pale wings like a bat that occasionally emerged from the sac of the storm cloud. Mihira hoped that whatever it was couldn¡¯t see her swooping and trying to get a closer look. Her small risks were rewarded. The wings looked like a bat, it seemed to be a part of the clouds themselves, there were times when it stuck out a pig-like nose and sniffed, and its feet were shown to be clawed like a hawk. It was larger than Mihira, likely the size of her apartment building. Strangely, Mihira was completely transparent. She touched her fingers, making sure that they were present. At that moment, she crossed the threshold out of ignorance and found herself face to snout with the creature. Its black beady eyes paid no attention to her, and Mihira breathed a sigh of relief. Unfortunately, that caught its attention. It shrieked loud enough that Mihira thought her eardrums burst and agitatedly beat its wings.

    ¡°Ayah!¡± Mihira shouted, finding that she returned to being visible. ¡°I¡¯m not here to hurt you! I was wondering why you are in this cloud-¡±

    One stroke and that was all it took for one of the cloud-coloured wings to send Mihira tumbling out of the sky. Regaining her balance, Mihira floated upwards before she realized that the creature was charging forward, barreling through all of the clouds. Moisture clung to her wings, but she soared in spite of it. The strange creature was descending, two great wings flapping. The bulge has disintegrated, and Mihira felt the sting of torrential rain on her face. The storm and the creature were descending, further and further into the city. Mihira dove down, willing the wind to assist her. A Calamity of this magnitude is bad enough, but a strange creature that acted like a wild animal? Disaster awaited Tokyo. She had to find her friends, and soon.

    The rain and the hail made it hard to see where Mihira was going. Trying to find Kaori¡¯s house was nearly impossible. At least Mihira managed to become invisible so that there would be no one to impede her. With the red spire of Tokyo Tower in view, she landed on it and started to look around. Hail the size of golf balls showered Tokyo, while the rain whipped at the exposed trees below. The strange creature¡¯s bellows could be heard, even though it wasn¡¯t in the vicinity. Mihira wanted to talk to it, to ask it to calm down, but she was the aggressor in that situation, and she had to wait. In the meanwhile, she needed to find her friends. It had been a while since she visited Kaori¡¯s house, but she recalled that it was two minutes away from Tokyo Tower. She stretched her wings and dove, barely managing to not get hit by the massive hail. Her wings seemed to be partially waterproof judging by the way the large drops rolled off of them, but the rain soaked into her hair.

    Who is the Lady of the Clouded Courts? The wind never answered her question, but she seemed to be related to the Seventh House, which is where Mihira¡¯s gifts came from. She knew that she connected to the wind in ways that none of her friends comprehended or that she had a talent for ¡°drawing out the inner beauty in people¡± as Kaori put it, but not in a magical sense. Mihira still pondered at the identity of the Lady, and why the seeming mistress of the Seventh House bestowed her powers on a small copper amulet.

    At last, Mihira arrived on Kaori¡¯s balcony and knocked on the door. Shielding her body from the rain and hail with her wings, she waited for a response. Right after shedding her invisibility, Kaori opened the door, a green toothbrush still stuck in her mouth.

    ¡°Who the f-¡± Kaori squinted as the rain punted her face. ¡°Who are you? Why are you on my balcony?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s me, Mihira.¡± Wait, her hair and eyes are different. ¡°I just look a little different right now.¡±

    ¡°Mihira? How did you get up here? I didn¡¯t hear you come up the stairs, and you certainly aren¡¯t athletic enough-¡± Kaori finally caught sight of the giant cream-coloured wings. ¡°How did you get those? Where can I get some?¡±

    ¡°From the copper amulet that you gave me.¡± Mihira held up the medallion. ¡°There are such things as magical girl trinkets, there¡¯s probably more.¡±

    Kaori nodded. ¡°As much as I want to know all about this.¡± She waved at Mihira and her large wings. ¡°You should come inside, there¡¯s a Calamity out there.¡± Kaori glanced at her narrow doorway, and back at Mihira¡¯s wings. ¡°Actually, why don¡¯t you enter through the skylight? Or can you detransform?¡±

    Mihira shrugged. ¡°I¡¯ll use the skylight.¡±

    When she dropped down, hailstones filled the floor. Hina yelped and tried to hide behind Kaede¡¯s back. Kaede herself remained resolute, but Mihira noticed her hands were shaking. Kaori is still brushing her teeth, though her eyes darted wildly across the room, at Mihira, and up in the clouds.

    ¡°I¡¯ll say thank you to my parents for the Calamity-resistant glass, but I would have rather have no Calamity. By the way, where were you, Mihira?¡± Kaori asked.

    ¡°In the sky.¡± Mihira pointed upwards.

    ¡°With the hail, and the rain, and the wind, and, wait, how long have you had wings?¡± Hina babbled out before Kaede rolled her eyes. ¡°Most people don¡¯t have wings!¡±

    ¡°We were worried for you! We called you several times, and you didn¡¯t answer. We all thought you were stuck outside. There were reports about a monster and I-¡±

    Kaede never finished her sentence, since the large glass window overlooking Kaori''s balcony shattered into a million pieces. The girls yelped while Mihira sneaked into the living room. A furred paw had burst into the living room and was rummaging around, knocking over two white chairs and the dinner table. Mihira knew that it was the creature from the clouds, playing with the furniture.

    ¡°Mihira? What¡¯s out there?¡± Kaori whispered. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±

    ¡°The wild creature I was telling you about,¡± Mihira replied, unfurling her wings. ¡°Maybe I can lure it out.¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t it attack you? How do we know it won¡¯t do that again?¡± Hina asked.

    Hina had a good point. ¡°I¡¯ll stay back.¡±

    ¡°Wait, what if you hit it with wind attacks?¡± Kaede suggested.

    ¡°I¡¯d say we should be more concerned about why it¡¯s attacking us,¡± Kaori jumped in.

    ¡°I think it¡¯s because I appeared threatening.¡± How did she become visible?

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure how anything you did could have set that thing off, but I¡¯m not an expert in whatever that is.¡± Kaori seemed deep in thought. ¡°Didn¡¯t you say it was in the Calamity?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Maybe Calamities are sentient,¡± Hina offered an answer before Kaede smacked her back. ¡°It might be true!¡±

    Mihira thought about it. It was probably defending itself, which meant that it perceived her as a threat, most likely because she invaded its space. It sensed her breathing, but she wasn¡¯t sure if the wings, her voice, or her suddenly becoming visible set it off. Whatever it was, she can¡¯t be seen as the aggressor. She opened her amulet. The compact mirror greeted her, along with the dazzling variety of shades available. Mihira noticed the makeup brush in a shade of blush pink. Makeup can enhance my look, she thought, or it can be used to conceal.

    After careful deliberation, Mihira was ready. Letting her wings trail behind her, she looked behind her at her friends. Hina''s long hair covered her head as she dozed off on the floor, Kaede was monitoring the immediate area, and Kaori was wary, her eyes quickly darting around. Her toothbrush was still in her mouth though. Mihira smiled slightly and walked out onto the balcony. The clouds were not finished with Tokyo yet, as multiple buildings had their roofs pulverized due to hail. The creature before was bellowing, a loud rumbling sound that moved her a few centimetres to Kaori''s TV. Bracing herself, Mihira called out to the towering creature.

    "I''m not here to hurt you." She dropped her wings further to the ground, making her seem smaller. "I am not a threat, see? I''m harmless." The makeup she applied was intended to soften her features; to portray her as meek. "I want to know about you, why you came here, and where you came from.¡±

    The creature has both eyes fixed on Mihira, and its breath threatened to overpower her nose. It seemed to be listening though.

    "If you need a home, there are always the forests nearby or the clouds above. Unfortunately, you can''t stay here. I know you would want shelter, but the hail you bring is not good for the people here." She waved her hand at the destruction wrought on the buildings and the trees. "These clouds, this hail, they may seem natural to you, but they aren''t for humans. It damages our homes and it makes it harder for us to find food safely." Mihira hoped the creature understood her, even though she was shaking inside.

    Eyes studied her, rolling from the top of her wavy hair to the soles of her white shoes. As long as it trusted me, Mihira thought, all will be well. She thought of harmony, of the wind soothing and calming all around her.

    "I can take you to a safe place." Mihira extended her hand out. "One with plenty of food and no humans like me. All you have to do is come with me." The message was persuasive enough, right?

    The creature looked at her hand and roared to Mihira¡¯s surprise. Noticing that its eyes were fixed on the amulet, she stowed it in Kaori¡¯s potted plant, but it remained fixated, attacking the potted plant and shredding it into pieces. In a mad dash to save the transformation trinket, with one swoop of her wings Mihira knocked it out of the balcony¡­right at Kaori¡¯s feet.

    The creature lunged into the living room, spreading glass fragments into the smallest corners. Its clawed forelegs reached out in a display of aggression toward the girls. Kaori held her hands in front of her face, preparing to defend herself against an onslaught of glass and claws until she felt the brush of soft white feathers.

    ¡°Don¡¯t hurt them! They have nothing to do with us!¡± Mihira¡¯s eyes teared up. ¡°I can move my amulet to a safer place.¡± She lifted the amulet. ¡°See? I will put this in that drawer over there.¡± Mihira stepped over to Kaori¡¯s drawer. ¡°And I won¡¯t touch it, alright?¡±

    It still lunged forward, while Kaori and Kaede screamed. With a quick movement, Mihira blasted two twin gales at the creature. She hoped she didn¡¯t hurt the creature severely.

    ¡°I¡¯m so sorry for that, but I said don¡¯t hurt my friends!¡± If they were hurt, she wouldn¡¯t know what to do.

    The creature stopped and watched. It pointed at Kaori and circled around her head.

    ¡°She¡¯s my best friend,¡± Mihira questioned why it seemed interested in Kaori. ¡°We¡¯ve known each other since elementary school.¡±

    To her surprise, a furred grey paw clasped her hand in seeming agreement. The eyes of the creature betrayed no hidden sensibilities, only that it trusted her. Mihira gently shook its paw, still in mild shock. She wasn''t expecting it to agree that easily, but before she left, she must say goodbye.

    After attempting to calm everyone down when they caught a glimpse of the creature on Kaori''s balcony, Mihira stood awkwardly in front of her best friends, shuffling her feet.

    ¡°Mihira, you still have hail on your wings. I¡¯ll go grab the blow dryer.¡±

    One minute later, Mihira was brushing off small pieces of hail into Kaori¡¯s sink while her wings were blow-dried by Kaede, who admired the shimmering feathers on Mihira¡¯s back. Hina was standing in the doorway with her mouth open in an expression of shock and Kaori was still brushing her teeth. After the cleaning and drying process was finished, Kaori jumped on Mihira.

    ¡° Do you have some sort of tool or weapon? Are those real feathers? Does this have anything to do with the wind whispering you talk about? Are there any other magical girls? Does everyone get a lolita dress? Does everyone have elemental powers?¡± Kaori rambled. ¡°Tell me everything!¡±

    Mihira summarised what the wind whispered to her friends, and demonstrated the fact that she had control over the wind by blowing a gust of wind at Hina, who wanted to feel the air outside. ¡°Yes, Hina, that large creature out there was inside the Calamity.¡±

    ¡°Can I take it with me to sleep?¡± Hina asked.

    ¡°No, it¡¯s larger than your bed. And it''s a wild animal."

    "Maybe there are other smaller creatures?" Hina snapped her fingers. "What if they are the cause of Calamities?"

    "Hina, you''ve been listening too much to Riku-san and their insane theories again. I¡¯ve told you multiple times that-¡± Kaede started.

    ¡°What were you saying about the person you have to find?¡± Kaori asked.

    "There''s someone out there that I have to find. They¡­might be like me." The watcher in the mountains, whoever they are. "I¡­would like for you to come with me to find them." She can''t bear to leave her friends, not when they were on the verge of separating. ¡°...I don¡¯t know where they are though.¡±

    ¡°Mihira, I love you, but I¡¯m not built for the travelling lifestyle. I would only be a burden to you. Besides, how can I keep up with you?¡± Kaori waved at Mihira¡¯s wings. ¡°I don¡¯t have wings to fly wherever I want to go, nor any powers. Where are these mountains anyway? There aren¡¯t any European-style castles near the mountains here.¡±

    ¡°My thinking was that it is either in Europe or other Western nations, like the United States or Canada,¡± Kaede interjected. ¡°If you are Libra, that means that there are probably eleven other girls with amulets, right? Did the wind say anything about the other girls?¡±

    ¡°No, only the watcher in the mountains. I had a dream about mountains, with a cute dog following me around.¡± Mihira answered.

    ¡°Huh.¡± Kaede scribbled down on a notepad. ¡°There might be twenty-three other girls then.¡±

    ¡°Should I still go?¡± Mihira hasn¡¯t been outside the city, let alone the country. ¡°If I leave, will you be safe?¡± Without her friends¡­what will happen?

    ¡°You don¡¯t need to worry about me and Kaede!¡± Kaori stared at Hina, still snoring. ¡°We can take care of Hina. You should go and find the watcher. Maybe they will be the partner you¡¯ve been looking for.¡± She smiled widely. ¡°You have a rare chance, so fly forward and seize the moment!¡±

    ¡°What about our parents?¡±

    ¡°Oh don¡¯t worry! If I can effortlessly lie to my parents about how I am failing Math, I can easily lie about your whereabouts and what happened here to yours!¡± Kaori winked.

    With that, Mihira understood what to do. She wrote a small pink card for Hina, stating that she¡¯ll be gone for a while and that she hoped to see her soon. For Kaede, Mihira promised that she¡¯ll send whatever she learns about Calamities to her immediately. For Kaori, Mihira hugged her.

    ¡°I¡¯ll be back soon,¡± Mihira stated. ¡°I¡¯ll let you know when I find a partner.¡±

    ¡°I know you will, Mihira. You and your charming face should accomplish that quite easily.¡±

    One last glimpse at Tokyo, at her friends waving goodbye through the broken glass, Mihira breathed in the ocean air. Her wings extended to their full length, and she ascended into the sky, the wind at her back and a companion at her side.

    This is the dream, this is the harmony you¡¯ve been seeking all your life. Balance the world, and let yourself soar above the lands of fairness and love.

 Yellow Kites In A Tornado Of Our Own Making

    Once upon a time, there was a cafe in the heart of an unceasing storm.  The air was abuzz with endless chatter.  Patrons gossiped about what was on their minds over warm cups of chai tea, interjecting their thoughts between sips and sighs of pleasure.  Most had gathered around in groups of three or four, each one trying to outcompete the others in terms of words per second, the cadence transforming itself to a rapid-fire staccato over who said what and how dare they slander this and that.  Most of this chatter concerned the weather, especially the biting gales strong enough that hardened steel bent to their will, or the recent uptick in Calamities around the globe.  Between these bubbles of conversations weaved a girl with a cup that was always full of espresso, and never without a word to say.

    ¡°Oh, I think your date will love that colour of tie!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, the wind isn¡¯t going to let up, might as well bunker down here in the pub.¡±

    ¡°Awwww!  I love your cat!  I wish I could own one¡­¡±

    ¡°Huh, so you work for that corporation?  The telecommunications one that promises to build Calamity-resistant fibre optic cables?  Tell me more!¡±

    ¡°I love the presentation of this dish, can I take a picture to post on social media?¡±

    The conversations between the girl and the patrons flowed at a steady rate.  She loved the vibrancy of the patrons, despite being trapped inside the pub during yet another record-breaking storm.  More than once, she contemplated live-streaming a Calamity to boost her following on social media.  It was the most popular thing to live stream nowadays, and it would have allowed access to more potential networking contacts and associates.  She even mentioned it once or twice with a co-worker of hers.  However, she was refused at every turn, especially since she was at risk of being injured or dying in the middle of a potential live stream.  Besides, she found people much more interesting and worthy of attention, rather than another natural disaster.

    Observing those around her has been a hobby of hers.  That young woman who rapidly rhythmically tapped her foot with her eyes glued to her phone, her unfocused eyes darting around the room?  Waiting on an essential text from a friend or significant other, or one that she thinks is important.  That couple, their tea untouched, eyes averted, arms a fair distance apart?  She was probably on the verge of a breakup, and imminent considering the woman was fingering a locket with a picture that was not her boyfriend''s.   The man in the corner, with his pinched face talking forcefully over the phone with an oh-so-very expensive briefcase?  Something must have happened to his fibre optic cables, so integral to his business practices.  People are like books, the girl thought, you just have to keep turning the pages.  Earlier today, she had stepped in and given the couple a nod, wanting to see how close they were.  The man gave her a flirtatious grin, only to be glared at by his girlfriend.  To turn the pages, the girl had to make an effort.

    The modern-style lights in their slender cylindrical form are now shaking side to side, a symptom of the blustery gales outside.  Already, one window was forced open as a chilly breath greeted the patrons of the bar with what waited outside.  There was a group clustered in the corner, whispering excitedly with their eyes darting with animation only found in those that have located their object of obsession.  Storm chasers, the girl concluded, here to film the next Calamity.  There was nothing special about a Calamity, not when you have the news cycle pumping twenty-four-hour blurbs about the latest disaster to strike the globe or the latent social unrest that seemed to always bubble to the surface but that never overflowed despite the media¡¯s dire predictions and warnings.

    Perhaps that¡¯s why everyone here is worried, the girl thought.  The telltale signs of anxiety were painted as clear as day on everyone¡¯s faces, from the little girl crying on her mother¡¯s lap to the old ladies¡¯ faces creased with a sense of worry.  It was as if all were anticipating the climax of some great play, waiting for the moment to unfold onstage and for their roles to be played to perfection.  The girl observed strong trees bending before willful gales outside and spied the billboards tossed in the air like a child¡¯s unwanted toy.  The roof of this very pub was creaking, resisting the powerful force of the wind, daring and free.  Her briefcase was at her feet, from which the girl took her laptop.  The girl opened it, wondering what she should post.  Should she bundle her post with hashtags bemoaning the state of the weather?  Maybe, but she should take a picture of her latte.  It was custom ordered, the cream in the perfect shape of a daffodil.

    She took the picture, uploaded it to social media, and drank her latte.  Outside the window, she spied a lone woman, walking to the pub.  What was she doing out here?  In the middle of a growing Calamity of all places?  The government had ordered that everyone should stay inside for their protection, and to descend into the basements if they had one.  Unfortunately, the pub was not built with a cellar and so the girl and the patrons waited out the storm with enough caffeine to spread gossip and sow discord.  The girl focused on the woman, a fascinating subject in her eyes.  The woman¡¯s face was obscured by large yellow-tinted sunglasses that covered half of her face.  Her head was wrapped in a sheer scarf with strands of light brown hair wriggling in the howling wind.  The girl touched her own light brown hair.  The gait was light, the woman¡¯s high heels not making a sound, though that can be excused by the interference of the weather outside.  The posture was relaxed and straight, but not so rigid as to suggest uptightness or an austere disposition.  As the woman came into view, the girl saw the woman turning in her direction.  Though she could not see the woman¡¯s eyes, she felt the measured weight of someone equally focused, of a woman who has contemplated more than her fair share of people and found them wanting.

    If she could have described that moment, she would have said it was one for the books.  The woman stopped in front of the window, stared into the girl¡¯s eyes, and removed her sunglasses.  Daffodils, that was the girl¡¯s first thought, daffodil yellow eyes.   Upon further examination, the girl spat out her latte.  It was like staring into a mirror, with both of them possessing the same small nose, the same high cheekbones, the same youthful radiance, and the same mouth open in surprise.  The only detail marring the reflection was the woman¡¯s eyes, those bright striking yellow eyes.  The woman''s ovaline face contorted from an expression of shock to one of brimming curiosity, examining the girl''s face.  Self-consciously, the girl touched her face, feeling the curve of her cheekbones.  Who is this woman, and why does she look like her?  Dropping off a few euros, the girl hurried out into the entryway and out of the door.  The woman was now about ten paces away from the girl, and walking fast.  The girl tried to run forward, calling the woman fading away in the distance.  A small slip and her feet are swept up by a gust of air.

    She was moving fast, too fast for her liking.  The girl passed by the woman, the woman only glancing at the girl as the wind pulled the girl away.  Dodging a well-lit beer hall sign, she collided with a mighty linden tree.  The linden tree was still standing when the wind returned the girl to her current path.  She reminded herself why Calamities were off-limits as she sailed over the Spree and knocked her head on the nearby bridge.  Still awake, the girl wiped her eyes to find the woman watching her from under the bridge, and that the cafe window is approaching rather quickly.

    The lively atmosphere in the cafe and the window were shattered by the girl, the storm outside sending her back to where she came from along with many glass fragments.  The wind, free to wreak havoc as it saw fit, tossed the patrons¡¯ cups into the air.  In the meanwhile, the girl was groaning in a pool of glass and blood, eyes barely keeping awake.  Her ears rang, and she could barely make out the rushed and hurried voices of the cafe goers.

    ¡°Is she okay?¡±

    ¡°I thought that glass was impervious!¡±

    ¡°Someone, call 112!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t call the police, I¡¯ve got this under control.¡± The voice carried no trace of an accent, yet the girl somehow knew that the voice was not a Berliner one.  Surprisingly authoritative, the patrons of the cafe stopped to listen.  The girl strained to hear more but eventually collapsed into a deep sleep.

    <hr>

    Yellow, that was all she saw.  Yellow flowers stretched into the horizon, yellow wispy hair tangled in front of her eyes, and a yellow kite trailed in the springtime breeze.  Leaves swirled around her, green, yellow, and red, as she sprinted across the field.  There was someone in the distance, slightly out of view.  She could only make out hair the colour of daffodils in two neat little braids, and a hand pulling the same kite that followed her.  Her legs were stubby, and she called for the other girl in a child¡¯s voice.

    ¡°Wait for me!¡±

    The other girl¡¯s laughter sounded from across the small hill. ¡°You better catch up!¡±

    She ran faster, towards the sound of the other girl.  The sky above was free of clouds, with only a small grey orb in the sky.  Catching up, she found herself, or a girl that looked identical to her when she was a child.  Blond hair that had darkened to a light brown in adulthood, baby fat that has been long gone, a bubbly smile that transformed into a quick smirk.  The only differences between this girl and her childhood self were the yellow eyes and the medallion hanging from her neck.

    ¡°What did you want to show me?¡± She asked.  The words were not her own.

    ¡°Watch this!¡± At once, the girl cupped her hands.  Waiting for a few seconds, she removed her hand to reveal a miniature spinning tornado in her hands.

    ¡°Wow!  That¡¯s so cool!¡± The voice was a child¡¯s voice, innocent and carefree.

    ¡°I know right?¡± The other girl threw it into the air. ¡°Now we have more wind for the kites!¡±

    The mature part of the girl was sure something was going to go wrong, but the childlike part of her wanted nothing more than to see the kites fly higher in the sky.

    They did, and spectacularly at that.  The girl noticed that the only difference between the two kites is the colour of the ribbons: black for her, and white for the other girl.  She looks down.  Black shoes and white shoes.  Both of them are wearing yellow, one in pants and the other in a loose-fitting dress.  Their hair was whipping in the wind, but they didn¡¯t care.

    Who was the other girl though?  An inkling of a recollection tried to force itself into her mind,  but she recalled the other girl nought.  Did she meet her before in her childhood?  Why do they look identical?  These and more questions swirled in her mind.

    The tornado increased in strength, and she felt her feet slowly lifting from the ground.  Before long, the kite string drew taut, and the girl is swept into the air, hanging onto the kite.  She wasn¡¯t scared though, for she knew in her heart that she would not die in this tornado.  The other girl called out to her, but the words were too faint¡­

    <hr>

    She awoke with a pounding headache and a pillow underneath her head.  Instantly, she moved her head only to immediately yell in pain.  Her entire body ached and all the girl accomplished was rolling over onto the floor.  Someone was kind enough to bring her briefcase back.  How much time has passed?  She was moved to her hotel room, and someone had the decency to give her a cup of coffee.  There was a note on the floor, so the girl stretched and grabbed it.  Unfolding it, she noted that the note was in English.

    To Thomasin (Yes, I did have a look at your wallet, don¡¯t freak out),

    The girl stared at the note, was about to get mad, and realised she would have done the same thing.  She continued reading, admiring the calligraphy of her mysterious saviour.

    Let me begin by saying that I am sorry I ignored you while you were being tossed by

    the storm outside.  I had pressing concerns on my mind, and I did not intend for you

    to be put in harm¡¯s way.  I follow you on social media, and that is why I was surprised

    by your appearance at the cafe.  It isn¡¯t often I see a familiar face in the capital of

    Germany.  It is standard that rescuers do not ask favours from those in need of

    rescue, but I must ask that you grant me one boon.  I would love for us to have

    dinner together on Wednesday afternoon if you don¡¯t mind.  I do admire your

    portfolio, especially the places you have travelled and all of those photos!  If you

    aren¡¯t feeling well enough to meet, I have provided the perfect remedy to your

    problems.  It¡¯s under the table that I put the espresso shot on.

    There was an envelope underneath the table, and as the girl wrenched it out, a medallion fell onto her chest.  It was palm-sized and made of some strange dark grey metal.  Divided into five sections, with a large central section, coloured yellow and black.  The girl stared at it.  No other remarkable characteristics, except the strange symbols on the front and the back.  There was an upwards pointing triangle with a line, a curved line with a dot, a symbol that resembled the white part of yin-yang, and a stickman with a crescent on its head.  Unlocking the latch, the girl marvelled at the contraption.  On the edge was an extendable antenna that connected inside the medallion, while the inside contained a speaker, two left and right arrow buttons,  and multiple coloured lights.  One of the coloured lights was blinking yellow, so she extended the antenna and tapped on a small button.

    ¡°You found it?¡± The voice was unmistakable.

    ¡°Yes.¡± The person who said not to call the police, was the doppelganger?

    ¡°Oh, how wonderful.¡± Her voice carried a transatlantic accent. ¡°Are you well enough to meet today?¡±

    ¡°Today?¡± It was Wednesday already?

    ¡°Yes, you were knocked out pretty hard by the storm.  I¡¯m glad you weren¡¯t more severely injured.  Honestly.¡± The girl observed the woman hitching her breath. ¡°You will be well, well enough to stand if I believe so.  There isn¡¯t anything wrong with you physically.¡±

    The call ended.  The soreness and the pain were gone.  The girl stood up and caught herself on the table.  How?  She couldn''t leave the floor previously.  Now she has the strength to stand, albeit with the help of a table.  The note on the table with the espresso shot may have some answers, she thought.  Drinking the entire shot, she unfolded the note.

    This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

    You may be wondering how you have the strength to stand up.  We can talk about it over dinner.  I''m planning it as you read this.  I hope you''ll like the candles I chose: lemon-scented candles.  I''m sure they will help loosen our tongues soon.  A trick for a trick, as you like to say.

    -P

    The entire note smelled like the woman drenched the paper in lemon-scented perfume.  The girl liked the smell of lemons, but she gagged from the potent stench.  Why would anyone put that much perfume on a single note?  Especially one with a large blank space¡­wait a minute.

    A trick for a trick, huh?  One of the oldest tricks the girl had learned was how to write secret messages with lemon juice from her friend.  Conveniently, there was an unlit candle and a lighter nearby.  Within one minute, she had lit the candle, hoping that the fire alarm was inactive today.  As she moved the candle up and down the note, what was once blank was now forming yellow-brown words.

    Meet me at the Hotel Adlon Kempinski Berlin at 6:00 pm.  When you talk to the receptionist, tell them you are looking for Helen Otroi.  Follow the receptionist, and do exactly as they say.

    Oh, and take a deep breath when you go outside of this room.  You may be overstimulated.

    -P

    Overstimulated?  No, the girl is usually the one overstimulating other people.  This will be nothing.  Opening the door, she smiled confidently¡­until she stepped fully outside.  The sudden rush of static and noise overwhelmed the girl.  Out of the noise, she heard snippets of conversations.

    ¡­Why is she like this...

    ¡­Please stop crying, please stop crying¡­

    ¡­What a terrible view¡­

    ¡­Goddamn him!...

    Somewhere in that cacophony, she picked out the flapping of a butterfly''s wings, the sound of leaves rustling in the wind, a baby crying upstairs, and the Spree flowing through the heart of Berlin.  She tried breathing as the note said.  In, out, in, out.  She needed focus, she thought.  All of her failed bets with her friends, all of the places she has travelled to, the languages she¡¯s heard and spoken, her doppelganger¡­she took a deep breath.  The sounds slinked away from her mind, and the girl sighed.  She pulled out her phone, luckily stowed away in her jacket pocket, and searched where the hotel is.

    After a long argument in which the girl ¡®borrowed¡¯ a bicycle from a woman who will never see her bicycle again considering how much she complained about the girl borrowing it for the day, she arrived at the address of the hotel.  The five-star hotel was next to the Brandenburger Tor, the quadriga standing prominently against the sky.  Inside, the front desk was manned by a young man about her age, who perked up when the girl entered.

    ¡°Welcome to the Hotel Adlon Kempenski Berlin, Frau¡­?¡±

    ¡°Frau Webber.¡±

    ¡°How may I help you today Frau Webber?¡±

    ¡°I was invited to this hotel by a Frau Otroi, her full name is Helen Otroi.¡± It occurred to the girl that she was never given a floor or a room number. ¡°I¡¯m supposed to be meeting her at 6:00 pm today for dinner.¡±

    Oh, that¡¯s who she wanted to meet today!  I can see the resemblance.

    The girl blinked. ¡°Who do I resemble?¡±

    He turned to her in surprise. ¡°I didn¡¯t say anything.¡± She¡¯s a lot more like Frau Otroi than I thought.  Sometimes I think my personal space gets invaded more than I¡¯d like¡­ahh, I have to show Frau Webber the room!  ¡°Follow me this way.¡±

    She had not invaded this man''s personal space, she was merely asking questions!  Why would he think that?  The man led her through a luxurious wing of the hotel, yet she still heard multiple conversations, not as intense as back in her hotel room.

    ¡­Holy shit this is expensive¡­

    ¡­Where is room service?!...

    ¡­Should I lie about the window¡­

    Finally, they ended in front of a room at the end of the hallway.  A ¡°Do Not Disturb¡± sign was hung on the door handle.

    ¡°And this is where I leave you, Frau Webber.¡± What were the instructions again¡­ah yes!  When you go inside the room, there is a glass of water.  Drink all of it, and put the glass on your head.  Lay on the couch and place the heart-shaped pillow under your head.  The glass will have fallen off your head by this point.  Ask Frau Otroi if Sunset Glow will breed with Midnight Rose, then point at the horse statue.  This guest has strange requests, why did I sign up for this job?

    ¡°Thank you.¡± The girl replied.  Helen Otroi is more secretive than her boss, and that¡¯s saying something when your boss has called you in the middle of the night five times and sent you cryptic instructions.

    The girl inspected the door.  Nothing unusual.  She knocked, once, twice.  At once the door swung inwards, and hot shower steam hit the girl¡¯s face.  The woman from the cafe greeted her with a smile.  She must have recently stopped showering, the girl thought, judging from the steam, the bathrobe, and the towel-wrapped hair.  Her eyes were still that sharp shade of yellow.

    ¡°Come on in!  I¡¯ve been waiting to meet you for a while now. Take a seat at the table over there.¡± The woman pointed at the dark-coloured table near the window.

    The girl ignored the woman and grabbed the glass of water on the kitchen countertop.  Drinking all of it in one gulp, she gagged from the lemon juice and water mixture.  Placing the glass on her head, the girl wobbled carefully to the couch, using her right hand and moved the yellow heart-shaped pillow to a comfortable position for her head and the glass.  Surprisingly, the glass remained on her head despite the movement.  The woman observed the girl in that critical fashion, eyes scanning over every part of her body, and the glass tipped over at that very moment.

    That¡¯s my cue, the girl thought. ¡°You think Sunset Glow will breed with Midnight Rose?¡± She pointed at the statue of a horse in the middle of galloping, the same colour as her medallion.

    The woman cleared her throat. ¡°Sunset Glow is a strong stallion and can endure a greater strain on his body no matter the weather, Calamity or no Calamity.  Midnight Rose is swifter, more clever than most mares her age, and adaptable too.  Yes, I do think they would make a fine pair, just like us.  Without any romance, of course.¡± That transatlantic English accent is still present.

    The girl stared at the woman more closely. ¡°Who are you?  Why are we identical in everything other than the colour of our eyes?  Why didn¡¯t you want the police involved?  Why did you give me an amulet?¡±

    ¡°The police didn¡¯t need to be involved, and the fewer people interfering in your recovery, the faster you will regain your full strength.¡± The woman¡¯s fingers danced on the bathrobe-covered arm.

    ¡°You didn¡¯t answer my first question: who the hell are you?¡±

    ¡°A woman, as you say so in your head, and good job on following those instructions perfectly.¡± Now the girl is intrigued and alarmed by her attitude. ¡°Don¡¯t be alarmed, I¡¯m only listening to your mind, just like you and that young man.¡±

    The girl¡¯s interest is piqued now. ¡°No one in the world has telepathic powers.¡± No one else has yellow eyes, whirlwind eyes that never stopped darting.

    ¡°You are oddly poetic, Miss Webber, for an English influencer.  Tell me, when were you walking around the hotel, were you hearing the voices of the rest of the guests, or did you assume that?¡±

    Now that the girl was thinking about it, she didn¡¯t hear anything.  No, only the receptionist a few times, and the rest¡­

    ¡°Ah yes, the realization.  Yes, we can both read minds and do other things as well, like persuading you to come.¡±

    She can read my mind. ¡°And you on the amulet, what was that for?  Why didn¡¯t you help me in that tornado?  What else can you do?¡±

    ¡°To persuade you to come.  The moment you heard my voice, your body ignored all of its pain receptors telling it that it is in need of repair.  That does not mean I healed you, you¡¯re still hurt from that beating.  It¡¯s why you¡¯re on the couch and not standing up.  It¡¯ll go away in a week or so.  I was busy with other things while you were battling that tornado.¡±

    It would have been better if this woman let the police handle this.  The girl could have better medical care than magical persuasion. ¡°You still haven¡¯t answered my question.¡±

    The woman sighed. ¡°To answer your original question: I¡¯m your twin sister.¡±

    A sister?  The girl was an orphan.  There were no records of any living siblings. ¡°How could you be my sister?¡±

    ¡°Now that¡¯s a long and complicated story.¡± The woman perked up, a smile growing. ¡°Do you want to hear it, Castor?  Like the old days?¡±

    ¡°Castor?  Like the mythical twins?¡±

    ¡°Why yes, that is your name.  It¡¯s the same with me, I¡¯m Pollux, but I go by Helen so that people don¡¯t give me weird looks and get confused about how to spell my name.  You can go by Clymnestra if you want.¡±

    ¡°Sure.¡± Names are like clothing, you used them in certain situations and discarded them when you no longer required them anymore. ¡°I¡¯ll go by Clymnestra.¡±

    The woman chuckled. ¡°You have an odd attitude to names.  Reminds me of the time we were flying kites after I summoned that tornado.  I don¡¯t know why, but I kept it.¡± Her eyes started to water. ¡°By then, I couldn¡¯t find you, so I guess it was a nice memory.¡±

    That was in her dreams, Clymnestra thought. ¡°I don¡¯t remember that.¡±

    ¡°Of course not, you lost consciousness and your memory¡¯s half-erased.  Besides, that was four hundred years ago, give or take a decade.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, four hundred years ago?!  How the hell are we twin sisters?!  How old are you?!¡±

    The woman shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t know how old I am.  The only one who would know is the Timewarden, and I don¡¯t know where they are.  All of us are long-lived, but if we are significantly injured, we enter a period of stasis for recovery.¡±

    Clymnestra examined Helen.  No obvious scars. ¡°How was I injured?  Why?¡±

    Helen paused. ¡°I¡­wasn¡¯t there.  All I know is that our connection was severed, and I could no longer sense your presence.¡± Her gaze drifted off to the sunny sky outside the window, eyes cast downwards.

    ¡°Are there others?¡± Other than the Timewarden.

    ¡°Yes, including you and me, there are twenty-five of us, scattered around Earth.  The database in the Eleventh House or the wall on the Eleventh Gate is our best chance of finding the others.  Either that, or we keep searching.¡±

    ¡°How long have you been here?¡±

    ¡°Can I elect not to answer?¡±

    Clymnestra probed Helen¡¯s mind.  There were memories of her and Helen watching butterflies and catching them in a small net, the one with the tornado, and a curious one of Helen twirling a white and gold pen like a baton.  Most of Helen¡¯s memories were tinged with nostalgia, especially with Clymnestra, however, some of them seemed inaccessible.

    ¡°...if you were going to do that, I should have mentioned that half of my mind is blocked off.  Apparently, this is a side effect of being in this world.¡± Helen coughed.

    Blocked off?  Could Clymnestra do that on her own?  She imagined a large filing cabinet, like the one her boss has, except with each drawer labelled properly.  Sorting this cabinet, she placed certain parts of herself inside, locked it, and threw away the key.

    ¡°I¡¯m surprised you could do that easily.  I remember we used to play those little games where you would try and hide your thoughts from me.  You know, you always lost to me.¡± She chuckled. ¡°Maybe after all this is over, we can play a game, just you and me.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, sure.¡± Clymnestra had no clue what Helen was talking about, but some part yearned to be closer. ¡°What else did we do together?¡±

    ¡°Outside of games?  Well, we collected knowledge.  You had this book that you were always struggling to carry, I had this pen that I was quite good at using.  Oh, and there was the time we broke the energy in our home.¡±

    ¡°What was this energy?¡±

    ¡°I think it would be better if I show you.¡±

    Helen grabbed her white and yellow pen and a book with a black cover with yellow edging.  On top of the book was an amulet identical to Clymnestra¡¯s own, except with the black and white colours reversed.  She also brought out a phone and switched to loud music.

    ¡°Why do we need music?¡± Clymnestra yelled over the music.

    When you tap into the amulet¡¯s power, there¡¯s an aftereffect.  It¡¯s different for everyone, but for us, it¡¯s an explosion of sound.  I can¡¯t deafen the sound after the transformation so if we want to transform without attracting attention, it¡¯s better to disguise it as loud music rather than a sonic boom.  It¡¯s also much easier to draw energy from a source with which we have an affinity.

    Clymnestra stared at the amulet in her hand. What do I need to do?

    The amulet responds to what you want, so speak your mind.  I think we are the only ones with amulets that respond to non-verbal directions.

    Her thoughts turned to her own wishes and she closed her eyes.  The music synchronized with her heartbeat, and she thought about the people at the cafe.  How they live and laugh, despite all that happens outside.  How different they all are, so many stories left unread.  She wanted to learn more about them, to read about their triumphs, their tribulations, and all their joys and sorrows.  To understand another person fully, would be the greatest gift of all.

    The amulet emitted a high-pitched sound, exploding in yellow light.  Across the room, she observed another yellow light burst into existence.

    This is where we take on the amulet¡¯s energy as our own.  Don¡¯t resist, it¡¯ll be over in a few seconds.

    Clymnestra wished that she did not leave her phone in the hotel room.  A symphony of spring overrode all other sounds.  Even though she could not see anything other than blinding yellow, a sensation of childlike wonder bubbled to the surface.  She reached out into the sparkling lights and a wave of mirth sprung to her fingertips.  A child¡¯s laughter filled the area, and it was no more.

    ¡°Damn it, I forgot about that part.¡±

    Clymnestra turned towards Helen, and the broken window behind her.  In fact, almost all of the ceramics and glassware are shattered beyond repair.  Parts of the walls were caved in, the floor is cratered beneath both of their feet, and the music was still blaring loudly into the evening.  Helen¡¯s hair was daffodil yellow now, tied in upwards twintails just above the cracked floor.  The two coverings were white with yellow stripes, with the sign of Gemini on it.  The bathrobe had abruptly vanished, replaced by an outfit in yellow and white, a conjoined skirt with a chevron and a nearly sleeveless top combo.  The stockings were thigh-high and had a yellow spade pattern, and seemed attached to her footwear.

    Thanks for the compliments, but I think you should take a look at yourself.

    Helen smiled slightly.  A comment wormed its way into Clymnestra¡¯s head, but she stopped its manifestation, especially in the presence of a mind reader.  Taking Helen¡¯s surprisingly undamaged phone, she opened its camera function.  Like her twin, her hair and eyes were a lively yellow, with her hair down to her waist in two thick strands.  Unlike her twin, her outfit was black instead of white, and she had black pants, not a white skirt.  It still has the same pattern.  Both of them have a simplified symbol, a rod and some intersecting lines in yellow on their chest.  The two most striking parts of their ensemble were the arm guards with a detached yellow blade-like projection with a yellow jewel at the base and the two wire-like appendages attached to an oval device covering their ears.  Interestingly, they looked like teenagers.

    You like it, don¡¯t you?

    That teasing smile again.  This time, Clymnestra returned the favour.

    I¡¯m glad I have pants.  I don¡¯t like skirts very much, always found myself tripping over myself when I run in one.  Although I find the pants a little tight.

    Hehe, you¡¯ll get used to it after a while.  Don¡¯t worry about the damage to the room, I''ll call the manager and we will get this mess sorted out.

    ¡°Let me try something before we call the manager.  It¡¯s already destroyed anyway.¡±

    Clymnestra cleared her throat and shouted.  The last of the cabinets broke into a thousand glass shards, and the table warped under her voice.  She giggled.  Oh, she hasn¡¯t had this much fun since she was playing as a child in the pond near the local orphanage, or so she thought.

    ¡°Heh, now that¡¯s the spirit.  Oh, and this was the book I was talking about.¡± Helen handed over the large black book. ¡°I kept it for you.¡±

    The book was surprisingly light despite its size.  The pages were empty though, with nary a trace of ink on them.

    ¡°...that¡¯s strange, it was almost filled up when I last read it,¡± Helen muttered.

    ¡°It¡¯s been a while, maybe it''s all erased or something.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve tried erasing everything in there as a prank.  It didn¡¯t work and you threw the book at me once you found out.¡± Helen rubbed her temples. ¡°You didn¡¯t bring any of your stuff back from the hotel, do you want me to go grab it?¡±

    I¡¯ll pick up my stuff from the hotel room, and I already have a bike.

    Granted, the bike already had an owner, but does that matter?

    Oh, now that¡¯s hilarious. Helen smiled even more. It¡¯s nice seeing you again after all these years, you and your bubbly laughter.

    Aw, miss me already?

    A little.

    On her little bike, Clymnestra beamed.  Clymnestra, she could get used to that name.  She borrowed a pair of yellow-tinted shades from Helen for disguising her eyes, and the sun was casting a gorgeous yellow tint upon Berlin.  Who knew that coming here after a prolonged two-month trip was the event that kickstarted a new period of her life?   As she admired the people milling about the river, some sharing intimate conversations, some kissing under the evening sunset, she thought about Helen.  How they shared the same tics, the same expressions when they were happy, the same expressions when they remembered.

    And the same expressions when they were hiding something.

 From Lively Peaches and Vermillion Feathers, Beget Monochrome Art

    Sundays in the city known as Rio de Janeiro, especially on the cusp of winter, tended towards the balmy and pleasant.  Most people would be enjoying themselves on one of the many beaches or relaxing in their homes.  In one specific house, the granddaughter would be drinking peach-flavoured juice on her balcony while the grandmother would be waiting for seemingly nothing at all.

    This was not one of those Sundays.

    ¡°You take the left, I¡¯ve got the right!¡± Fel¨ªcia steered the little white cloud towards the right limb of a flaming monstrosity.

    Her partner could barely be seen from above, yet Fel¨ªcia spotted the dark green tail feathers dashing through the molten edges.  High above her head, the clouds remained a roiling dark grey, while her cloud left a streak of blue.  What laid before her was a creature almost the size of Christ the Redeemer, a fiery beast that threatened to singe her hair off.  Once she passed the blazing edges of what seemed to be fingers, she took five cards from her pocket and threw them at the seams of the creature¡¯s right arm.  With a snap of her fingers, the cards became a tide of water.  It let out a cry of pain.

    ¡°Not so strong now, huh?¡± If only a little bit of water hurts this thing, she¡¯ll be done in no time.

    The creature roared in defiance and swiped at her.  Fel¨ªcia easily dodged, her cloud climbing higher.  As a response, she threw more cards, all spouting water.

    ¡°Is that all you can do?  No wonder only one girl gave you trouble.  I wouldn¡¯t even call this a Calamity!¡±

    It must have heard her, for that was when a fireball lit the dark sky.  Before Fel¨ªcia reacted, a vicious song erupted, creating a metal wall that absorbed the majority of the fireball.

    ¡°It would be polite to thank this humble servant of the light.¡±

    Fel¨ªcia rolled her eyes.  She never understood how the other girl could be heard amidst this chaos, and she certainly never understood the girl¡¯s many absurd names.  Who called their child the great and powerful Sun Summoner?  If her av¨® heard this girl¡¯s name, she would have cast one of her signature disappointed looks.

    ¡°You can¡¯t hear me!¡± She yelled into the darkened sky.

    No response.  Typical.  Her tail curled inwards, just before she spotted a girl anxiously peeking over the wall.  In a split second, her cloud was obliterated by flames and Fel¨ªcia tumbled down to earth.  Grabbing onto a lone tree with her tail, she jumped down, while the other girl sprinted over.

    "Fel¨ªcia, are you alright?" She started checking over Fel¨ªcia''s feet. "Your feet seemed to be unburnt."

    "I think this would go a lot better if you figured out how to work your damn amulet." If her av¨® was here, she would have yelled at Fel¨ªcia for using coarse language.  The other girl was still fighting, singing songs of brave warriors and flinging metallic columns at the fiery monster, who bellowed loud enough to be heard on the other side of the world.

    The other girl''s eyes watered. "I am trying, for you, for my L¨£osh¨©, but¡­the words are not coming.  I will try harder, but I do not know if it will work."

    "Dulce¡­I know you are."

    The world beneath her feet buckled under the power of song and fire, as meteors lit up the sky.  Bright as the coming dawn, the other girl was faltering, the melody becoming ever so slightly weaker.  Fel¨ªcia tried to summon her cloud, but only tendrils of mist gathered at her fingertips.  As much as she didn¡¯t want to admit it, they weren''t winning.  Unless Dulce activates her amulet in time, Rio is doomed.

    <hr>

    The warm sun decided to shine favourably on Fel¨ªcia today.  Climbing a nearby house, she tasted the balmy air as she skipped across tiny alleyways and raced the vultures as they flew.  It was nice to explore her neighbourhood, half cramped and crowded with clotheslines as it is.  Her pursuers were less lucky, often tripping themselves over or taking a long time to climb the least steep buildings.

    "Get back here, you little-!" Whatever the leader meant to say died in his mouth as his head smacked into yet another clothesline.

    Fel¨ªcia bit back a smirk as the owner of that clothesline verbally accosted the gang chasing after her.  The rooftops of her favela were like a second home to her.  Here, her nimble legs and arms enabled her to survey her own little kingdom of roofs and little corners.  There was no place that Fel¨ªcia hadn''t explored to its fullest extent.  It probably helped that there hasn''t been a major Calamity in Rio since seventeen years ago, so none of the houses have been considerably destroyed.

    "Get her!  I don''t care what happens to her, but don''t wreck the package!"

    She rolled her eyes and climbed faster.  For all she knew, that insulin was probably stolen from some rich snob or some other gang.  Why does it matter if she used it for her own purposes?  It would probably be better used than whatever they planned for it.  All she had to do was get back home before she gets scolded by her av¨® for breaking curfew again.  Fel¨ªcia knew that she can go home in a heartbeat, but she wanted to enjoy herself today.

    "If you think you can catch me, think again!" They were fools if they thought otherwise.

    This enraged the entire gang, judging by the increased clanging noises coming from the rooftops.  At last, she found herself in a small corner with two clotheslines above and ringed by three houses, neither of which had any doors or windows or easily found handholds on her side.  A quick search revealed a few small crates that could be used to climb onto the clotheslines.  However, there was a minor issue.

    "So, this is where it ends for you."

    Her pursuers, to her surprise, had caught up to her.

    "Why would I think that?" She held out her arms. "You''re nothing to me.  What, who gets smacked in the face with a clothesline?"

    The leader''s face seemingly popped a vein. "Now listen here, little girl.  Give me back what you stole, and I''ll promise that you won''t get shot in the face."

    "Oh really?  Do you really have a gun?" Fel¨ªcia smiled at the leader''s increasingly purpling face. "I bet you say that to everyone you threaten.  Or you would have if you actually were a threat.  Who needs six people to chase a little girl?  Oh that''s right, you do."

    Now she knew she was going to get it. "I wouldn''t be saying that.  As you said, there''s six of us and one of you.  I see no way out of here.  You''re trapped here."

    That might be true, but she has a special trick in case anything happened. "I would like to make a correction.  You''re trapped here."

    With that, she pulled out an electrum medallion.  The leader pulled out a gun and cocked it in front of her face.

    He smirked. "Now you have nothing to say?"

    "Actually yes I do." Fel¨ªcia breathed in deeply. "I want to reshape the world into one where chaos can reign free."

    Her medallion enveloped itself instantly in a flash of reddish gold light.  She felt her body changing, her limbs becoming longer and a tail growing.  Once that was complete, she waited.  A second layer, she heard the familiar thud of magnets attracted to her.  Thankfully, the gun was partially magnetic as well, ripping itself out of the leader''s hand.  Taking advantage of the confusion, Fel¨ªcia socked the leader in the jaw with her amulet and grabbed the gun.  Focusing her energy into it, what was once a gun was now chrysanthemums, gracefully falling from her hands.  She looked at the gang, all slightly trembling.

    "So, who wants to challenge me now?" Fel¨ªcia settled into a fighting stance, beckoning them with her hand.

    It turned out that all of them were dumb enough to rush at Fel¨ªcia.  She rolled her eyes and tapped her foot.  Stone gave way to soap.  Two of them slid into the nearby wall, knocking them out.  Somehow, one of them passed the soap floor and nearly punched her.  Fel¨ªcia dodged and jumped on the clothesline.  Holding onto the clothesline, she swung her legs into her opponent''s head.  He lost his balance and promptly fell victim to the soap floor, joining his friends in a pile.  Two of them had surprisingly good balance and used the walls to clamber over.  She smirked.  Did they think they were going to get to her?  Her right arm touched the soap, smooth and sweet smelling.  To the two men''s surprise, the soap instantly transformed into quicksand, pulling them into the ground.  A light tap, and they found themselves sealed in stone.  Thankfully, it reformed around them.  The leader was shaking in his boots.

    "Y-you dare steal from me?" He fumbled around his pockets. "You''ll regret this."

    Fel¨ªcia dug in her amulet, pulling out a deck of playing cards. "How about you pick a card?"

    "What kind of nonsense-"

    "Pick a card."

    The confused man picked a card. "Here."

    She checked the card. "The King of Spades." She checked the back. "Looks like you drew gold.  Pretty valuable, and most people find it pretty to look at.  You won''t be stuck long."

    "Stuck?  What the h-"

    Before he finished, Fel¨ªcia snatched the card from his hand, kicked the crates, and threw the card at the crates.  The crates transformed themselves into gold, while the gang leader struggled to break himself free.

    "Not so much a little girl now, am I?" Fel¨ªcia left him there while she jumped onto a nearby rooftop.

    The sky above was darkening, a bit faster than what Fel¨ªcia expected.  Rio doesn''t get much rain in the winter, and it wasn''t sunset yet.  Ignoring that, Fel¨ªcia whistled and concentrated on the rooftops.  Water condensed, forming a small bluish-white cloud that soon became semi-solid.  While she was not opposed to climbing to her house, today she felt like relaxing a little.  She hopped on the cloud and the cloud raced across the rooftops.  Various colourful windows and doors passed by Fel¨ªcia, all of which she has seen before.  Something caught her eye though.  A vulture, watching her intently and flying somewhat close.  That was new, though it was most likely nothing.  She wasn''t as paranoid as her av¨®, who always glared at strangers and gave the evil eye to those who accidentally crossed her path.  Most likely, the vulture just happened to be looking and flying in her general direction.

    After a few minutes, she reached her house.  A modest house, it was blessed with a balcony and two floors.  The family clothesline swayed in the wind.  Usually, Fel¨ªcia found her av¨® glaring through one of the many shutters and no lights on.  Today though, the first-floor lights were on, and the door was slightly ajar.  For the first time, Fel¨ªcia felt as if someone was watching.  Rushing through the door, she looked around frantically.

    "Av¨®, why''s the door open?  Are you alright-huh?"

    Her av¨® cast one of her signature disapproving frowns at Fel¨ªcia. "Neta shut the door."

    She did what her av¨® asked, shutting the door and locking all five locks behind her.  A strange scene unfolded in front of her.  Av¨® was in her wheelchair, her steely gaze never wavering.  Next to her was a girl not much older than Fel¨ªcia, her head buried in Av¨®''s lap and sobbing.  The girl''s clothes were barely recognizable as clothes, tattered as they were.  What was shocking was that Av¨® was gently stroking the girl''s head, her weathered hand running through black matted hair.  A current of envy rose within Fel¨ªcia before she suppressed it.  It became replaced by curiosity.  Who was this girl?  Fel¨ªcia had never seen her before, and her av¨® hasn''t left her house ever since she could remember.  The fact that her av¨® was comforting the girl meant that she knew this girl somehow.  How though?  Av¨® didn''t have many friends, and not many of them have granddaughters around Fel¨ªcia''s age.

    "Hi," Fel¨ªcia started. "How do you know my av¨®?"

    The girl ignored her and took off to the washroom.

    "Wait, I just want to know-hey!" Fel¨ªcia felt her tail yanked by Av¨®. "Why did you do that?  I just want to know more about this girl."

    "Give her some privacy.  It''s rude to intrude on others." Av¨® tsked.

    "You aren''t very affectionate to other people.  What''s different about her?"

    Av¨®''s brow creased. "She''s been through a lot recently, and your habit of interfering will not help at all.  All she needs is time, not questions."

    Fel¨ªcia sighed. "Alright, fine." She took out the insulin from the amulet. "I brought back some more insulin." Hopefully, it will be enough for next month.

    Inserting the insulin into the needle, she injected the needle into her av¨®''s stomach. "Can you tell me anything about her?"

    Her av¨® sighed. "You are bound to find out somehow, whether I let you or not.  An old friend of mine took a girl under his guidance.  Apparently, she''s come here.  If she wishes to give you more answers, it''s up to her."

    Fel¨ªcia knew that she wasn''t going to get any more answers from her av¨®.  After all the insulin in the needle was drained, she cleaned up, kissed her av¨® on the cheek, and knocked on the bathroom.

    "Sorry about that, but are you alright in there?" No response. "If you are fine, can you tell me why you are here?" No response. "If you need anything, let me know.  My av¨® can''t reach the rest of the tissue boxes." No response. "Alright, good night."

    As much as Fel¨ªcia wanted to ask questions, her av¨® would be setting her a suitable punishment if she did so.  She shuddered.  Heading upstairs, she swore someone was dashing in front of the window.  Latching the shutters tight, she opened her bedroom door.  Three days worth of laundry exploded in front of her.  Pushing that away, Fel¨ªcia fell on top of her bed.

    "Release me from the chaos and reshape me into normalcy." A smaller light emanated from the medallion, bathing her in its glow.  She felt her tail dissipating into thin air, and her arms and legs returned to their normal proportions.  At last, she closed her eyes.

    When she woke up, the sky above remained an ashen grey.  Wiping her eyes, the sky refused to become a proper sky blue.  A Calamity?  Not out of the question, but Rio hasn''t been affected by a Calamity in more than a decade.  Fel¨ªcia''s thoughts turned to the girl now probably sleeping in their guest room.  Who was this old friend?  Why hasn''t Av¨® ever spoken of him?  They must have been close, otherwise, Av¨® would have never taken his ward under her roof.  For that matter, why was the girl in tattered rags and her shoes nearly worn out?  Where did she come from?  All those questions and more buzzed in Fel¨ªcia''s head.  Turning the corner, she noticed the door to the guest room slightly ajar.  Checking the hallway for any sign of her av¨®, she knocked on the door.

    "Can I come in?"

    The door opened.  The girl from last night looked at Fel¨ªcia with red puffy eyes.  Her black hair was slightly less of a mess, and she was wearing some of Fel¨ªcia''s clothes that she had outgrown.  For some reason, the T-shirt seemed to almost become a dress on her.

    ©`?Hola, c¨®mo est¨¢s? ©`The girl asked.

    ©`Uh, ?estoy bien? ©`The girl spoke Spanish?

    ©`Ahh, eso es bueno. ©`The girl smiled a little©`. ?Cu¨¢nto espa?ol hablan?

    ©`Solo un poco, prefiero si hablamos en portug¨²es.

    "Oh." The girl nodded. "I hope that my Portuguese is passable." She brightened up. "Where are my manners?  My name is Dulce Catalina Cabrera Vidal, and I''m pleased to make your¡­acquaintance?"

    "Yeah, you''re saying it right.  If we''re going with our full names, I guess I''ll share mine.  Fel¨ªcia Luara Nunes Pessegueiro, and you can call my av¨® Sra. Tanaka.  She will slice your head off if you call her anything else."

    Dulce''s face was drained of colour. "But she is such a caring woman."

    Caring is not a word that is normally associated with Av¨®. "In a manner of speaking, she isn''t cutting off heads anytime soon."

    "Ah," Dulce seemed to calm down. "I apologise for my conduct last night.  I should have said something."

    "You had your own stuff to deal with.  Who doesn''t?  Though I''m surprised that Av¨® was that concerned with your wellbeing."

    "I suppose it was because of the understanding between L¨£osh¨© and Sra. Tanaka." Dulce opened the door wider. "Come in!  I can explain more in this¡­umm, room."

    Fel¨ªcia stepped into the guest room.  It was surprisingly clean despite the lack of use throughout the years.  Dulce''s old clothes were folded neatly on the shelf while her shoes were laid out on the floor.  A box made of maple was wedged in the corner.  One of the drawers was slightly ajar, and Fel¨ªcia sneaked a glance at some round object before Dulce shut it tight.

    "Sorry, L¨£osh¨© told me to keep the contents of the box a secret.  Anything else is fine."

    Fel¨ªcia smiled.  Finally, some answers. "You speak Portuguese fairly well.  Who taught you?"

    "L¨£osh¨©!  Other than Portuguese, I was also taught French, English, and Chinese.  I can understand French, I am¡­somewhat fluent¡­in English, and I¡­speak not much in Chinese.  I have never spoken to a native Portuguese speaker so I had no idea if I was good or not." Dulce looked at Fel¨ªcia. "Am I?"

    "Yeah, you are decent, I¡¯ve heard worse.  So if your first language is Spanish, are you from another part of Brazil?  Or another country?"

    "I am from Costa Rica." Her accent is faint.

    "That''s far away from here."

    This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

    "Yes indeed.  It was a wide journey walking here.  Sometimes I had people drive me part of the way, and I hitched a boat ride once, but mostly walking."

    That explained the condition of her clothes. "Why?  Also, it¡¯s long, not wide, and you used the wrong gender for journey.  It¡¯s masculine."

    "I had a reason." Dulce grimaced. "I''m sorry¡­this may be a while."

    Fel¨ªcia wanted to say something, but she kept quiet.

    "I can do this." She took a deep breath. "L¨£osh¨© and I lived alone.  Sometimes, I would run errands for him, just going to a store and getting certain items.  That day, he sent me out for some inkwells.  I was in the store for fifteen minutes and left.  By the time I came back¡­by the time I came back, the house was a smoking ruin.  I searched for him everywhere, yet when I finally found him¡­" Dulce teared up. "He was just curled around this maple box.  Get away from here, he said, go to Rio.  The box, she''ll know what it means.  I''m glad you''re safe and sound¡­I don''t want to lose you.  His eyes started to close¡­I opened up the¡­first aid kit, tried cardiopulmonary respiration, tried everything.  Nothing worked." She planted her face in her legs. "Nada funcion¨®.  Le enterr¨¦... si hubiera llegado antes, podr¨ªa haberle salvado... o si..."

    "Stop," Fel¨ªcia commanded. "You were in the store for fifteen minutes.  How long does it take to get home?"

    "...twenty minutes."

    "Almost an hour then.  Even if you barely stayed at the store, you probably wouldn''t have reached him in time.  Even if you did get home, you probably would have been killed as well." Who killed Dulce''s teacher?  What does Av¨® know about this? "I don''t know what to say, but I''m sorry for your loss."

    "...thanks," Dulce muttered.

    Fel¨ªcia shrugged. "So what''s in the box?"

    "I wish I could tell you, but L¨£osh¨© told me to never say a word unless they are trustworthy."

    That round object in the box¡­maybe if Fel¨ªcia divulged her own secret, that would be helpful. "Your round object, I think I have something similar." She took out her electrum amulet. "Does yours have sections like mine?"

    Dulce stared, but a look of recognition flashed across her face.

    "The top section says metal." Fel¨ªcia pointed out the kanji. "The right section means yang and the left section is Yang Metal." She flipped the amulet. "Each of these little symbols is connected to a specific zodiac sign."

    Her curiosity piqued, Dulce nodded along. "What is yours?"

    Fel¨ªcia smirked. "How about I show you? Oh, do you have anything magnetic on you?"

    Dulce shook her head.

    "Then we should be fine.  To reshape myself, seek chaos." Fel¨ªcia grasped the amulet as the familiar sensation took hold.

    When it was finished, Dulce was astonished. "What a beautiful sight!  How was it done?"

    She adjusted the golden circlet on her head. "Say a sentence, and it just comes.  It seemed to be connected with whatever I wanted."

    "Your eyes, are they-"

    "Yeah, they''re red."

    Dulce nodded. "Why did you ask about magnets?"

    "First time I transformed, all of the magnets stuck to me.  It took an hour to take off every single one.  Oh, and there are two hidden sections." She flipped it to the front. "Bottom section means nine, and the character in the middle means Monkey."

    "That explains the monkey tail."

    "Yeah, I also turned into a monkey the first time as well.  It took a while for Av¨® to stop trying to hit me with a broom."

    Apparently, Dulce was not used to wild animals being shooed away, judging from her expression. "Were you okay?"

    "Yeah, I''m already pretty nimble.  It wasn''t that hard to dodge."

    Dulce breathed a sigh of relief. "I understand that we have only known each other for a day, but I believe that L¨£osh¨© would have chosen to trust you.  I will show you my own medallion." She opened the drawer and pulled out a similarly shaped amulet.

    Unlike Fel¨ªcia''s amulet, it was not made of electrum.  Instead, it was pitch black and looked sharp enough to cut.  It was divided into sections, only they were as black as whatever the rest of the medallion was made of.  On top was the kanji for earth, the right read yin, and the left was Yin Earth.  The centre section was blank and white.  Fel¨ªcia had no clue what the character on the back corresponded to.

    "L¨£osh¨© said that this was the second most important." Dulce looked down. "Apparently¡­I was the most important."

    "Did he tell you how to transform?"

    "No, all he mentioned was that I would know when the time-"

    It was only a moment, and before Fel¨ªcia reacted, the window was smashed in by a small figure.  Out of instinct, Fel¨ªcia dove to protect Dulce.  With a touch, the sharp glass transformed into harmless bits of sand that coated the floor.

    "Who the hell are you and why did you decide to break into my house?" Fel¨ªcia shouted at the trespasser.

    The trespasser gave an impassive look. "This servant is only carrying out the orders of the light.  The matter of a mere window is irrelevant."

    "You broke into my house, so I think I''m in the right to demand a damn explanation!"

    The bird mask of the stranger bobbed with his¡­her head. "Very well, it is clear you are unaware of my existence.  This one has many names.  The Great Beacon, the Sun Summoner, the Singer of Metal, the great and powerful Dawnbringer-"

    "Why the hell are you here?!"

    "You are a rather imprudent monkey.  On the day this one was awakened to the truth of the world, a dark and mysterious force was instructed to oppose the light.  As a former believer in the dark powers, this one''s faith was tested and proven true in conflict with this creature.  For two days, this one has harried that foul creature across the great and magnificent ocean that divides our two lands.  In the false belief that this one had vanquished it, this servant languished until the sacred fowl informed this one that her assumptions were incorrect.  Due to this one''s fight, the abomination was directed to this fair city.  Its instrument of destruction is fire, which it wields as fireballs that scour the night sky and cause calamity in its wake.  The sign of which is the darkening of the sky-"

    So the sky darkening wasn''t a trick of the light.  Then¡­"You led a fucking Calamity into Rio!?  This city hasn''t seen a single Calamity since over a decade ago, and now you lead one into the heart of the bay?!" She wasn''t supposed to swear, but her av¨® was in danger.  Surely, she can forgive some cursing.

    "As this one was saying, the foremost sign of its presence is the dark sky.  The moment this one received the message, she sought visions, glimpses of those that could assist her from the heavenly messengers.  When this one found you flying high on your misty steed, she knew that you could provide much-needed assistance to the light.  To assure victory, this one watched you and this fair lady here."

    The vulture, the figure last night.  That was her?

    "We must hurry.  The creature is sure to make landfall today with fire and brimstone in accompaniment." She reached out with her hand. "Trust this one, for if you refuse, this city will be sunken into the mists of time like drowned Venice."

    "If you think I would accept your offer after barging into my house, think again."

    "Actually, the rooster has a point."

    The rooster in question visibly brightened, her tail feathers bristling. "Finally, someone acknowledges this one''s talent."

    Dulce continued. "Two is better than one when it comes down to taking down..erm, a stronger opponent.  I do not know Fel¨ªcia''s strength, or yours, but if the two of you worked together, maybe you can defeat the Calamity.  You both gave the same element, do you not?"

    Fel¨ªcia contemplated this.  She was never the best at working in a team, and the other girl seemed more interested in her own ego, but as long as they did as needed, it was good enough.

    "Fine, I''ll help you fix your mistakes on one condition: You don''t tell me what to do, I won''t tell you what to do as well."

    The girl in the bird mask nodded. "This one agrees to your proposal."

    Fel¨ªcia''s amulet started glowing, bathing the room in a sea of orange.  Symbols flashed against the amulet.  All Fel¨ªcia recalled was a triangle, a square, and a circle with a wiggly line before it returned to normal.

    "It is a sign.  We must depart!"

    It probably wasn''t, Fel¨ªcia thought.  She didn¡¯t know what was happening with her amulet, but a sense of familiarity washed over her.

    <hr>

    Despite Dulce''s proclamations, her feet started to hurt.  Fel¨ªcia pulled herself to the tree.  A kick with her heel made Fel¨ªcia grit her teeth in pain, but her feet sank into the mud all the same.  In front of her, the sky was alight with fireballs and the clanging of metal.  Although Fel¨ªcia noted that the various steel columns inside the creature are melting in the heat.  Her feet are starting to hurt less, the soothing sensation doing what it was supposed to do.  Next to her, Dulce was staring at her amulet.  What is it that you want, Fel¨ªcia wanted to say, what do you want the most in the whole world?  What Fel¨ªcia wanted was to fight, yet her body refused that command.

    "...where is she?" Dulce asked.

    Fel¨ªcia scanned the sky, leaning on her right foot.  There was no sign of the other girl.  Come to think of it, she hadn''t heard the telltale singing in a while.

    ©`?El gallo!

    As much as Fel¨ªcia barely liked the other girl, even she wouldn''t have wished harm on her.  Cursing in pain, she forced herself to keep running.  A small pile of feathers seemed to be heading in her direction.  Catching her, Fel¨ªcia set her down immediately.  Dulce was not far behind, checking the other girl over.

    "...this one is fine.  Do not worry," The other girl stated as the smell of burnt feathers wafted. "The feathers shall grow back into their full finery."

    Dulce looked at the sky, the soot and smoke staining it black. "There is no possible way to win.  We should go home, say goodbye to Sra. Tanaka-"

    "No!" Something about her defeated attitude re-energized the other girl. "If we give up now, we''ll leave thousands to a fiery end.  Should we accede to submission, this creature shall end the cities of beautiful Brazil much like Rio today.  When we meet our ends, do you wish that burden upon your soul?"

    "Great speech," Dulce murmured. "But I question how we are supposed to accomplish this."

    "Your amulet," Fel¨ªcia stood up, despite the massive pain. "Back home, you said two is better than one.  Well, the three of us can easily defeat that.  I find it hard to believe that someone like you, who travelled across the Americas for the promise of shelter, would have nothing that drives you.  Your teacher believed in you, for whatever reason."

    Dulce nodded. "I do not know if this will succeed." She traced her fingers on the amulet. "All I have ever wanted was a simple life, learning from L¨£osh¨©, drawing, giving back to the community, and helping people when needed.  Now more than ever, I want to rise above, above the obstacles and challenges that I face.  I need to be resilient to face all that is to come."

    Nothing happened.

    Dulce shrugged. "That was a good-"

    The amulet exploded.  For a brief second, the three girls were awash in black and white.  Finally, Fel¨ªcia thought.

    The moment her feet lifted off the ground, Fel¨ªcia wondered if all transformations had a side effect.  The tree that she was leaning on earlier was uprooted, as well as some of her neighbours''  houses.  Multiple shirts, free of their lines, floated like birds.  When she looked down, almost all of her neighbourhood was suspended in the air, ripped out of the earth.  The other girl was visibly in shock and trying to swim through the air.

    "Meeeee¨¦."

    She looked at the origin of the sound.  There was a sheep flailing around, its white wool a stark contrast against the black sky.  Grabbing onto a branch, she dove in and caught the sheep in her arms.

    "Meeeeeee¨¦." The sheep looked at Fel¨ªcia.

    "Dulce?"

    "Meee¨¦."

    "Well, alright then.  Keep us in the air, I''m pretty sure that sudden contact with the ground will kill everyone.  Do you know how to become a human?"

    Dulce shook her head. "Meeee¨¦."

    "It''s simple.  Think of yourself as a human.  Imagine hair instead of fluffy wool, or something like that."

    She took Fel¨ªcia''s advice to heart, for no sooner was Fel¨ªcia done speaking that she felt a comfortable sensation in her hands.  White wool, attached to a human arm.  Dulce stared back, her white hair billowing with her large cloak.

    "I guess it worked?" She asked.

    Fel¨ªcia nodded. "So, ready?"

    "Yes." She took out a small paintbrush. "I remember using this."

    "I''ll leave you to it."

    As a house swung into view, Fel¨ªcia grabbed onto the clothesline and used it for momentum onto another clothesline.  The other girl had apparently recovered, judging from the loud chanting that seemed to fill Fel¨ªcia''s ears.  Fel¨ªcia herself summoned the little cloud and hopped on after enough clotheslines.  The towering creature was unaffected, its feet firmly rooted.  Guiding the nimbus upwards, she spied the other girl forcing metal girders around the molten legs.  The titan called forth more meteors from above, but they were suspended in midair.  Fel¨ªcia grinned, grabbing a few cards from her amulet and speeding along next to the creature.  As she moved, she noticed Dulce on one of the buildings drawing something with her paintbrush.  Interestingly enough, the ink hung in the air.  With her other free hand, Dulce flicked and the meteors soared upwards into the sky.

    Coming close to the creature''s head, Fel¨ªcia let loose a barrage of mud and sand.  With another card, she transmuted it into stone.

    "Heh, it''ll never see me coming."

    Something about Dulce''s transformation set her mind running.  While she never tried it, maybe she possessed the power of magnetism.  Swinging back to the other girl, she tapped on her shoulder.

    "Hm?  Why are you here?" The rooster''s mask reflected the light of the fireballs.

    "I need to ask you a favour." For her idea, Fel¨ªcia needed to work with this girl, crazy as she is. "Can you make some iron rods?"

    "Oh?  This one made the agreement upon the condition, insisted upon by the monkey, that her business would not be interfered with."

    "I am not-"

    "Very well, then this one has her own terms to dictate in the future.  What are your designs regarding the rods?"

    "Stick them in that monster, see if I can attract other magnetized objects, and maybe ask Dulce if she can draw something."

    "What makes one think that she can execute this design?"

    "You know how everything lifted in the air once Dulce transformed?  For me, anything that was magnetic was attracted to me.  I might be able to harness this."

    "A risky design, but one with no failures should we succeed.  Very well, this one will produce the needed rods."

    The other girl started singing again.  The air shimmered as iron rods took on shape.  At that moment, Dulce appeared cradling a goat horn and holding her paintbrush in one hand.

    "What are these for?" She asked.

    After a quick explanation, she nodded. "If I draw a fence, it may delay it long enough for you to enact your plan.  As for where¡­the bay perhaps?"

    Fel¨ªcia agreed.  Directing the little cloud to the bay, she loosed most of her deck in the bay.  Two iron rods erupted out of the surface of the water.  She tested with a gentle nudge.  They stuck together.  Satisfied, Fel¨ªcia looked up-and found the giant starting to break free of the fence, a molten fist emerging from the paint coming off of the fence.  Calling for her cloud, she zoomed in front of the giant.

    "Hey!  You there!"

    The fist stopped trying to grasp Dulce, whose cloak seemed to be unharmed.

    "How about we play a game?  Just you and I, a little game?" Fel¨ªcia grinned. "Pick a card.  If you draw Hearts or Diamonds, you''ll remain trapped.  If you draw Clubs or Spades, I¡¯ll free you.¡± Although in the battle she wasn¡¯t able to touch the creature without being severely burned, she trusted that it would be easily visible.

    Though there was no sign of acknowledgement, the hand reached out and delicately touched one of the cards.  Before it burnt to a crisp, Fel¨ªcia read the card the creature picked.

    ¡°The Ace of Clubs.  A deal¡¯s a deal.  Dulce, ?borras el valla!¡±

    Dulce did as asked, while the other girl looked askance at her.

    ¡°What are you doing?¡± She asked Fel¨ªcia.

    ¡°Just trust me.¡± She whispered into the rooster¡¯s ear

    Soon, the fiery creature was freed, surprisingly docile to the girls.  Fel¨ªcia watched Dulce painting and motioned with her hand to the creature to the bay.  The other girl followed, softly warbling all the while.

    The water sizzled inside the bay, with steam clouding Fel¨ªcia¡¯s face.  Her cloud trembled, apparently not used to near-boiling temperatures.  Dulce was working on the finishing touches, and the other girl was waiting patiently, holding a few cards in her hand.

    ¡°Alright, so there is a prize at the bottom of the bay.  Go grab it, and I¡¯ll let you go.¡±

    The creature lumbered outwards, with steam following in its wake.  Fel¨ªcia trailed behind, watching the surface of the water.  At the deepest part of the bay, it lunged downwards, presumably in an attempt for the prize.  Above her, the rooster is watching with interest, hanging off of a floating staircase.  The creature¡¯s body is starting to cool off, its hands and legs sizzling into solid rock.  With only the back having any sort of blaze, Fel¨ªcia floated closer to the back.

    She almost wished a prize was at the bottom of the bay, and snapped her fingers.

    The cards whistled in the air as they spun, Fel¨ªcia brushing her fingers against them.  In an instant, small fireworks exploded above the creature''s head.  The sudden rising of the head prompted the other girl to cry out.  The metal rods impaled the giant through the chest provoking a roar and a vicious swipe.  The girl jumped and kicked the stone hand.  Fel¨ªcia realized that there were spurs on the back of the girl''s shoes, sharp and pointed.  They formed a small crack in the creature, who released a bellow of pain.  Watching it trying to remove the rods, Fel¨ªcia descended below the surface of the bay.  The iron rods barely breached the surface.  She held onto it with her hands, focusing her willpower into the two rods.  Above, the towering giant was fighting the rooster and Dulce when it seemingly lost its balance, but she knew better.  Urging the cloud up, they breached the surface with water droplets clinging to her hair and clothes.  Attracted by the rods in the ocean, the rods in the giant propelled themselves to them.  Fel¨ªcia moved to the side as a wave of water rose from the giant.  She smirked when she looked at its face.  The stone melded with the rest of it, rendering it blind.  Hopefully, that gave enough time for Dulce.  She zoomed around the titan.

    "How does it feel to be tricked by a teenager?  Actually wait, three teenagers." Fel¨ªcia held up three fingers. "Can you see my fingers?  No?  How come?  Is that because your face is covered with stone now?"

    She heard grumbling beneath the waves.  It heard her.  Dulce was still putting the finishing touches.

    "So you can hear me still?  Tell me, why are you here?  Surely not to fight teenagers, since you are doing a terrible job of it."

    There was no sound.

    "Oh nothing huh?  Now-"

    A hand grasped Fel¨ªcia, with the cloud disappearing into mist.  Her feet are throbbing again.

    ©`?Ahora Dulce!

    She needed to escape first.  The giant''s hand is forming a fist, but the space is large enough for moving around.  She wasn''t able to squeeze through any of the gaps between fingers as a human, but¡­as a monkey she can.  The only problem is how.  Is it the same as transforming?  Probably not, otherwise, she would have transformed into one the ten times she used the amulet after the first time.  She tried to imagine herself as a monkey.  One with dark brown hair and a tail and¨C

    A soothing feeling overcame her.  When she lifted her hands, they were decidedly hairier and rougher.  Her tail was larger now.  She scurried towards the gap between the index and middle fingers.  Finally free, just enough time for Dulce''s massive net to start falling towards Fel¨ªcia.  Dulce was floating on a beam, her paintbrush tracing a faint shape around the giant.  Fel¨ªcia summoned the nimbus, who obeyed her immediately.  Dulce was nice enough to leave tiny holes, which Fel¨ªcia happily sped through.

    The shape was now complete, so Dulce floated upwards on her ladder.  Fel¨ªcia tried to speak, but all that came out was screeching sounds.  She popped back as a human a few seconds later.

    "Do you know what''s going to happen?" She asked Dulce.

    "I do not know, but it would be best to be a safe distance away," replied Dulce.

    The shape was now a gaping square maw, swallowing the giant, the net, and a decent amount of seawater.  Dulce erased it quickly.  Heading back to the city, Fel¨ªcia dismissed the cloud.  Dulce was reassembling the favela, and the rooster was watching the horizon.

    "I never had the time to ask, but you mentioned you came across the ocean.  You from Portugal?" Fel¨ªcia asked.

    "No, this one is not from the sun-kissed lands of Iberia, despite this one''s proficiency in both of their tongues.  This one is from a beautiful land of rich wine, passionate love, and bright summers."

    "France?"

    Fel¨ªcia swore the girl beamed as bright as the sun. "Oui."

    "You know, you were pretty alright for someone who led a Calamity here and broke my window."

    "And this one would speak to your skills and quick mind despite your ill-tempered character.  Now, this one believes that a fair lady seeks your attention."

    Dulce waved at Fel¨ªcia, only for the other girl to take her hand.

    ¡°It was a pleasure serving the will of the light alongside you, and this one finds you much amicable and of great power.¡± The rooster leaned in and kissed Dulce¡¯s hand.

    Dulce blushed red. ©`U-uh-uh, gracias.

    ©`De nada. ©`The other girl just smiled.

    They just met, what right did that girl have to kiss her hand?  Fel¨ªcia rolled her eyes.  The gall of that girl.

    A few minutes later, she was walking with Dulce back to her home.  Dulce''s spirits seemed to be lifted, her two black strands bouncing with her smiles.  Fel¨ªcia noticed sheep ears where Dulce''s ears would usually be.

    "You know, the three of us make a great team.  It has been a while since I have talked with anyone without fear, and I would like to be with you and the Dawnbreaker." Dulce mentioned.

    "Thanks for the sentiment."

    "You know, there is another item that L¨£osh¨© gave me.  A¡­world map with many dots.  No labels, maybe you can help?  Am I saying this right?"

    ¡°Probably where the others are located.  Was France on the map?  And yes, you¡¯re getting slightly better.¡± Are all of the French as crazy as the other girl?

    ¡°From what I¡­remember, yes  But you can help!¡±

    Her smile was beaming and deeply genuine.  To explore the world, outside of her little empire¡­A tempting thought, but-

    "Sorry, but Av¨® needs me."

    "Of course!  It is important to attend to family.  The Sun Summoner and I will be here for a day or so." With that, Dulce walked off. "Tell your abuela to not worry about me!"

    "I will!"

    Calling up the cloud again, she commanded it towards her house.  There, she was startled by her av¨® staring.  Three suitcases were packed and Av¨®''s room was empty.

    "Av¨®, what-"

    "Neta." Av¨® straightened up. "Go with the girls, Dulce and the other one.  I have to leave this house.  Don''t worry about me." She kissed Fel¨ªcia''s forehead. "Go."

    "Why-" The shutters were shut in her face.

    What was going on?  Fel¨ªcia was about to leave when she spotted an unfamiliar object attached to her house.  Upon closer inspection, it was a thin black antenna.  At the tip was a blinking hot pink light.  Fel¨ªcia glanced around.  There was no one nearby, animal or human.  A single touch and peaches tumbled at her feet.  Fel¨ªcia took a bite out of one and placed the rest on the cloud.  Away she flew, yet questions danced in her mind.

    Who placed that antenna on her house, and why?

 Commemorate This August Era With Five Azure Storms

    ¡°Students, since you all have done an excellent job on your presentations and gotten above 85% on average, I would like to introduce a friend of mine. As I can clearly see, your presentations are well-done and well-researched. However, the final project will take more than just mere research. As your teacher, I always would recommend a primary source over secondary sources, and my friend does Calamity research on behalf of the government. Now there are a few rules: No asking about anything relating to the government, no asking about her life outside work, and be on your best behaviour.¡± G¨¡o J¨¬ngy¨ª switched on the computer. ¡°Hu¨¢ Y¨³f¨¥i, you¡¯re on camera.¡±

    A woman with an upright posture popped up on screen, wearing a tucked in shirt under a business suit and smiling slightly. ¡°Hello class. As your teacher explained, I do work for the government. I am a meteorologist specialising in Calamity detection, and I lead a team of individuals dedicated to understanding Calamities. At what point did the Calamities start appearing? Who can tell me that?¡± These are children, they are not her co-workers, so don¡¯t be so harsh, she thought.

    Ten hands started waving high, each student wanting to be picked. Y¨³f¨¥i picked the one in the back. She always felt partial to those in the back. ¡°Tell me your name.¡±

    ¡°W¨¢ng Hu¨¤nm¨ªng. The Calamities started appearing thirty-three years ago.¡±

    ¡°Can you tell me where?¡± No answer. ¡°Does anyone have an answer?¡±

    A girl at the front raised her hand. ¡°D¨¯ng W¨¦nzh¨¥n, and the first Calamity happened in the Pacific Ocean.¡±

    ¡°That is correct. While my team does specialise in detecting Calamities before they officially become a threat, we also research into the origin of Calamities. Scientists at the time of the first Calamity had believed that it was the result of rapid climate change, which was projected to come with increasingly strong natural phenomena, such as wildfires burning out of control and razing the land to the ground or hurricanes which broke the Saffir-Simpson scale.¡± The students were nodding along, while a select few in the back row were nodding off. She made note of that.

    ¡°Now, it has been determined that natural disasters of that scale would only arrive sometime in our present day, not in the 2020s. What is known is that Calamities do not conform to the older models and categories. Rather, they exceed that. The first Calamity was an earthquake close to the Ring of Fire, which triggered a tsunami that flooded the city of Shanghai, where your school stands today in fact. Many of the victims of the first Calamity were caught off guard due to lack of attention to warning signs, something your fellow students in the back row may want to keep in mind.¡± Everyone turned around to the students in the back, who all started becoming alert.

    Another student raised their hand.

    ¡°Yes, you may speak.¡±

    ¡°Zh¨± M¨ªnshu¨¡ng. During my research, there were mentions of multiple types of Calamities, and a lot of unsupported theories that there could be a supernatural cause behind them. Can you tell me more?¡± She seemed curious. A lot like Y¨³f¨¥i when she was much younger.

    ¡°Ah hahaha!¡± She was told she laughed weirdly. That can¡¯t be true. ¡°Yes, I have heard about those theories. In regards to the theories saying that there are monsters inside, we have recorded unexplained solid masses inside the Calamities. However, this was found to be the result of faulty sensors, and we replaced those accordingly.¡±

    A few students were astonished at this revelation. Some had started nodding off again, and shook themselves awake after realising.

    ¡°As for the multiple types of Calamities, there are two main types,¡± she continued. ¡°The first is geological, a category defined by Calamities with origins in natural geological processes, such as earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, and floods. The second is atmospheric. Tornadoes, hurricanes, micro bursts, water spouts, acid rain, the ones that are the most famous due to their high frequency in comparison to the geological category. This is also my focus in terms of research. We have been debating on adding a cosmic category, but that is up to the United Nations, not us.¡± Zh¨± M¨ªnshu¨¡ng started writing all of this down in a small journal. Another student in the front row was eagerly taking notes. She smiled. Ah, young people, always quick to write stuff down.

    Another hand shot up. ¡°So what have you and your team done so far?¡±

    ¡°We have developed new technologies in order to better detect Calamities, especially in radar technology and satellite imaging technology, like the ¨¢o Gu¨¡ng satellite system, so we don¡¯t strictly work within the bounds of our purview. That said, most of our time is spent reading the data sent by our weather balloons and satellites and sending our interpretations to our government liaison. Most of the meteorologists on the team, including me, are looking into cloud seeding as a form of preemptive measures against future Calamities.¡±

    ¡°Why can¡¯t you let us ask about your work with the government?¡±

    ¡°In regards to my work with the government, I prefer not discussing it outside of work, because what I do for the government and what I do outside of government collaborations are two separate things. I would like for them to remain separate spheres.¡±

    ¡°Hey!¡± One of the students was using his phone in class, much to J¨¬ngy¨ª¡¯s grumbling. ¡°This says that a teenager built the ¨¢o Gu¨¡ng satellite system, but that can¡¯t be right.¡± He stared at the article on his phone. ¡°I¡¯ve been around my classmates, and they can¡¯t build anything. What kind of teenager can do that?¡± Several of them shot the student with dirty looks, and J¨¬ngy¨ª was sighing audibly. ¡°What, I was speaking the truth!¡±

    ¡°All of us, no matter what our age is, have the potential to make their mark on the world. You can be a highschool student or someone my age, but as long as you have the conviction to see their vision through, I think that they can achieve anything. In the near future, I would suggest that you start thinking about your own future. What do you want to accomplish in this lifetime? Think about that.¡±

    The calm atmosphere was broken by this statement, and the students all started clamouring over their teacher and threatening the student with the phone until she finally managed to calm the high schoolers down into something resembling order.

    ¡°Do you have any more questions for Hu¨¢ Y¨³f¨¥i?¡± Twenty hands went up in an instant. ¡°Other than her government work she specifically stated not to ask her about?¡± All of the hands went down. ¡°Alright, class is dismissed. Remember, your final project is due in one week! If you wish to further contact Hu¨¢ Y¨³f¨¥i, you must ask for permission from me first, as she has a busy schedule and can¡¯t always be around to answer questions.¡±

    As the class filed out, all of them whispering about Y¨³f¨¥i, G¨¡o J¨¬ngy¨ª sighed.

    ¡°Thank you for taking time off to talk to the class, and I apologise for their bad behaviour.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it! They have time to grow up, they can make mistakes. And I¡¯m glad I had a chance to talk to your class! I¡¯m a little surprised you decided to make this class on Saturdays though,¡± Y¨³f¨¥i stated. Children are so fun, she thought.

    ¡°I want them prepared. I¡¯ve seen your weather broadcasts, and I¡¯m worried about the future.¡± J¨¬ngy¨ª looked out the window. ¡°They¡¯re getting worse, worse than when we were in school.¡±

    Her friend was right. The predictive models for the next three decades foretold a grim future. The changes in atmospheric conditions indicated that the atmospheric Calamities become more intense over time. One had indicated that there will be a hurricane that will move more than one thousand kilometres inland. The loss of life in almost all of those scenarios were at minimum in the hundreds of thousands. Even the models where cloud seeding was perfected still predicted a huge loss of life.

    ¡°They are, but there¡¯s a solution somewhere. We just haven¡¯t found it yet.¡±

    J¨¬ngy¨ª nodded ¡°Thank you for the words of confidence. Let¡¯s talk again if you have time!¡± With that, the call ended.

    Y¨³f¨¥i sighed. That was a lot of talking for today. She loved other people, but sometimes she preferred the company of tea, weather data, and M¨¦nm¨¦n instead. Besides, her pants were itchy. She logged off her laptop, walked past M¨¦nm¨¦n¡¯s home, and changed to more comfortable wear. Despite what her coworkers thought, she knew how to relax. Outside of her house and M¨¦nm¨¦n, she acted as a professional. If her co-workers and subordinates saw her in her home¡­the loss of face would have ruined her. After boiling water, she poured tea into another cup, then into her own teacup, dumped that out, and smelled the tea.

    ¡°Mhmmmm, red tea.¡± Y¨³f¨¥i murmured.

    Once the boiling water was finished, she poured the tea into the teacup. Setting it down on a low table, she sat on her knees and prepared to drink a sip. Unfortunately, her phone started ringing. Answering it, she waited for her co-worker.

    ¡°Chief, how do I fix the satellite protocols? They don¡¯t seem to be working.¡±

    ¡°What exactly is the issue?¡± Over its eighteen years of operation, ¨¢o Gu¨¡ng never had any major issues, apart from nine years ago.

    ¡°One of the satellites seems to be down, A2?¡±

    ¡°Hmmm, are any of the stations receiving a signal?¡±

    ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°Try rebooting some of them, and send up Test Protocol #09. It was specially created by me in the event of something of this nature occurring. That should help troubleshoot some of the more obvious issues. If that doesn¡¯t work, I can find the satellite remotely using its linked partners. If anything else happens, call me back.¡± The benefits of building a satellite system as a teenager: being called in for anything ranging from the interface between computer and satellite not working to someone accidentally spilling tea. The latter has happened more than once.

    He called back. After a fifteen minute phone call, she hung up after trying to fix the issue and scolding the man after he accidentally turned off the satellite dish. Hopefully the tea isn¡¯t cold by now. She drank it, savouring what was left of its warmth and flavour. Ahhh, such a good taste. She could feel herself melting into its pleasant aroma. A minute later, her m¨¡m¨¡ called her.

    ¡°M¨¡m¨¡ hi! How have you been?¡± She made a mental note to go see her mother sometime after the weekend.

    ¡°Hello Y¨³f¨¥i, I¡¯m doing well! Retirement suits me and your b¨¤ba. I haven¡¯t seen you in a while.¡±

    ¡°Busy schedule, but I can come and see you on¡­¡± She checked her calendar. ¡°...Thursday!¡± Thankfully, she was able to take time off that day.

    ¡°Wonderful! Now-¡± Y¨³f¨¥i heard a scuffle in the background. That must be her l¨£olao.

    ¡°Y¨³f¨¥i!¡± It was her l¨£olao. ¡°Have you found someone yet?¡±

    ¡°Ummm, no. I¡¯m really busy with work, and I¡¯m not interested at the moment.¡± Not again¡­

    ¡°That¡¯s great. Now, when you come here on Thursday, I want you to meet this nice young man. He¡¯s about your age, he has a good job as a physician¡­¡±

    Y¨³f¨¥i¡¯s face became increasingly worried and flushed. ¡°Oh no! I think the connection¡¯s failing, and I probably have to hang up now. See you!¡± She hung up the phone. Ah, the perks of being a leftover woman.

    She poured one cup for M¨¦nm¨¦n, and placed it on the table. In the water, Y¨³f¨¥i spotted M¨¦nm¨¦n swimming over to the table, his scales glinting underneath the various lights she had set up around the house.

    ¡°Aw, are you joining me today?¡± She smiled.

    M¨¦nm¨¦n stopped and stared at her with his left eye. A few bubbles escaped his mouth.

    ¡°Haha, you know that I can¡¯t actually give you tea. I can drink it for you if you want.¡±

    The carp just stared unblinking. Y¨³f¨¥i wasn¡¯t surprised. Carp don¡¯t have eyelids.

    ¡°Hmm, since you can¡¯t answer me, I suppose I¡¯ll drink this for you-huh?!¡±

    M¨¦nm¨¦n was bumping the side of the see-through pond. Y¨³f¨¥i leapt into the pond, splashing water behind her. Checking M¨¦nm¨¦n, his gills flaring widely and his mouth completely open, she determined that he was choking. There wasn¡¯t anything for M¨¦nm¨¦n to choke on though, so what is it? Regardless, he was choking and she needed a cloth. Y¨³f¨¥i grabbed a sterile set of tweezers and a towel. Wrapping the silver carp in it, she inserted the tweezers into his mouth. Metal made contact with¡­what sounded like a solid object, and too large to use tweezers. She tried to pull it out to no avail. All the while, M¨¦nm¨¦n was thrashing around, and slapping her with his tail.

    ¡°Hold still!¡± She shouted, grabbing a larger set of tweezers. ¡°Try and spit it out!¡±

    Eventually, he did, and a large round object flew out of his mouth and clattered onto the floor. M¨¦nm¨¦n wriggled himself out of her grip and splashed into the water. He milled about for ten seconds before swimming away.

    ¡°Oh, thank goodness you¡¯re safe, but how did you manage to eat that?¡±

    Picking up the amulet, the first thing she noticed was that it was pearlescent, with multiple words written on the teal sections. The word for earth was on top, the traditional way of writing Yang on the right, and the character denoting Yang Earth years was on the left. The central and bottom sections were empty. Whoever carved this had perfect calligraphy, she thought. Even she couldn¡¯t have written those perfect strokes. Turning it over, there was an ancient character for the earthly branch for the year of the Dragon. It seemed oddly appropriate, seeing as how she was born in the year of the Dragon. It still hadn¡¯t explained why and how M¨¦nm¨¦n managed to eat it, considering that he was a filter feeder. She felt an ominous feeling flowing through her.

    The inside was a surprise. Y¨³f¨¥i glimpsed a miniature barometer, a thermometer, an electronic anemometer, a hygrometer, what seemed to be a rain gauge, and a lightning detector. If someone gave this to her as a gift, she would have gladly accepted it. Again, she praised the person who designed this and somehow managed to fit many weather instruments into one small amulet. This would have been very useful when she was younger.

    You have it now, don¡¯t you?

    Y¨³f¨¥i whirled around. ¡°Who are you?¡±

    An ally. That amulet is helpful for a meteorologist, but it could be used for so much more. You need the words first.

    ¡°The words for what?¡±

    The words to unlock your true potential. You named him after the Gate, you should know what I¡¯m talking about: how to find the Key to the Door to the Fifth Gate.

    ¡°The Dragon Gate? Yes, I named M¨¦nm¨¦n that, but how much more can I ascend? Do I have to become part of the government? The General Secretary?¡±

    A bit less worldly, and more transcendent. You are on the right track though. The voice paused. Can you hear it?

    Y¨³f¨¥i listened closely. Was that water? At first, it was a trickle, but then¡­a rush. In a minute, she sprinted to her balcony. She had originally chosen her apartment due to its proximity to two great bodies of water: the East China Sea and the Yangtze River. Now, the Yangtze River was striving to meet the sea, its banks overflowing. Below, she saw coursing currents rushing past houses, unstoppable in its wake. Some slammed into walls and concrete, while others washed away the trees and cars into a muddled and undefined mess. Certain houses ended up being small islands, but the worst was the people screaming. A family was trying to get to higher ground, only for a man to be swept away by the currents. Y¨³f¨¥i quickly redialed and called her co-workers.

    ¡°Chief! I was just about to call you-¡±

    ¡°Call the emergency Calamity task force for Shanghai and tell them to head to all areas that are close to the Yangtze River. There¡¯s a geological Calamity there, and tell them that the Yangtze River has completely flooded.¡± She ended the call.

    Running over to the stairs, Y¨³f¨¥i unlocked it, and rushed down as quickly as possible. As she descended, the sound of rushing water started echoing. By the time she was on the ground floor, the water was a roaring echo and she heard voices on the other side of the metal door. Opening it, Y¨³f¨¥i was greeted by about forty or fifty people banging on the entrance doors. She scrambled for the key, and found it. Unlocking it, she watched as they poured into the lobby along with the floodwaters. It hit her in the face and sloshed against the walls until it settled to roughly waist deep levels. Everyone was soaking wet and bedraggled. Her clothes clung jealously to her body.

    ¡°Thank you. Do you live in this building?¡± An elderly woman asked.

    ¡°Yes.¡± Y¨³f¨¥i pointed at the stairs. ¡°I can show you the way to the top of the roof. My apartment can fit everyone while we wait for evacuation. Follow me!¡±

    After some grumbling and realising that the water is slowly rising, everyone decided to follow her. The stairwell echoed with the sounds of people young and old. There were some babies and children crying, and occasionally one of the elders fell, to be supported by any of the adults nearby. Once Y¨³f¨¥i unlocked the door, they all flooded in. Some of the adults were gaping at the myriad ink wash paintings and terracotta pottery. There was a group of children trying to pet M¨¦nm¨¦n, who decided on slapping the children¡¯s faces with his tail.

    ¡°M¨¦nm¨¦n, don¡¯t slap people¡¯s faces!¡±

    ¡°You talk to your fish?¡± A young woman asked Y¨³f¨¥i. ¡°Isn¡¯t that a little weird? From my experience, only crazy people talk to animals.¡± She stared at both Y¨³f¨¥i and M¨¦nm¨¦n with more than a hint of disdain.

    ¡°Yes I do talk to my carp, and he makes for a great listener. Now excuse me while I call for a helicopter to evacuate us all, including you, to a safer location.¡±

    She dialled the task force¡¯s phone number. ¡°Hello, this is Hu¨¢ Y¨³f¨¥i.¡±

    ¡°Ah Hu¨¢ Y¨³f¨¥i! You¡¯re the one who called about the Calamity.¡±

    ¡°Yes. I need a helicopter or a small airplane. Anything that can fit on the roof of my apartment building and can seat forty to fifty people.¡± She counted everyone. ¡°Make that forty seven people. Currently, they are in my apartment after fleeing the rising floodwaters. I¡¯m in Gaoqiao, in the building spray painted blue.¡± That needed to be cleaned after this.

    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll send over a small airplane. It should be there within the hour.¡±

    ¡°Thank you.¡±

    The sound of a wail broke through, with everyone staring at the source of the commotion. Y¨³f¨¥i pushed through the crowd. There was a man and woman comforting each other.

    ¡°Is everything alright?¡± She asked.

    ¡°I can¡¯t find my son! Where is he?¡± The woman yelled for her child. ¡°B¨¢izh¨²! B¨¢izh¨²!¡±

    Soon, more people were shouting for their children, begging anyone nearby if they had seen their children. Overall, there were two boys and two girls missing. Y¨³f¨¥i tried to look as well, but the only children she spotted were already with their parents. Suddenly, there was shouting at the window.

    ¡°B¨¢izh¨²!¡± The woman in a drenched shawl shouted. ¡°He¡¯s over there!¡±

    Everyone gathered around the open window. Near a small balcony a few blocks away, the four children were stuck on a small sheet of metal, which was slowly dislodging from the balcony. Around them, the floodwaters were at full power, pushing against anything in their way¡ªbe it cars, people, or trees. Most of the parents had entered a fit of despair, and some were thinking of how to get their kids back. Y¨³f¨¥i was taking her jacket off. She kept the amulet though. It seemed¡­right to have it. She walked to the edge of the pond, where M¨¦nm¨¦n swam up to the glass. He stared worryingly at her.

    ¡°Hey, I¡¯ll come back.¡± She smiled.

    M¨¦nm¨¦n was satisfied at that answer and flicked his tail.

    She cleared her throat. It¡¯s generally impolite to be yelling at a group of strangers, but this was necessary. This needed to be fast.

    ¡°Everyone get away from the window!¡±

    All those clustered at the window made way.

    ¡°What are you doing? Why is your jacket off?¡± The young woman from earlier asked.

    ¡°It¡¯s only going to increase drag, and I¡¯m going to save those kids.¡±

    She took off running, her feet pounding against the hardwood floor. Running past the astonished onlookers, she reached the window and leapt into the waters below.

    The landing was rough, with Y¨³f¨¥i narrowly avoiding a trash bin and a bench. After resurfacing and reorienting herself, she spit out water and tried to find the children again. They were due north of her, but the current was pushing her to the west. She recalled her breaststrokes, one arm forward, then the next, then the next, then the next¡­soon she was pushing against the current, using any available buildings to propel herself forward. Dodging someone¡¯s smart car, she weaved in between the various cars in the water, diving when the surface became too crowded with debris. The sky overhead was a cloudy grey. Was it just her, or were the waters still rising? She wasn¡¯t an expert in geological Calamities, but she knew the water level shouldn¡¯t be increasing. At this rate, it would be at the same level as her apartment.

    Eventually, she reached the children. Most of them were shivering and wet. Pushing herself onto the balcony, her feet landed on solid ground. She thought about possible solutions. Leading the children in swimming is out of the question. The amount of debris and hazards in the water made it unsafe, and there¡¯s the possibility that one of them would be swept away or that they succumbed to hypothermia. If she directed the little raft instead¡­

    ¡°Hello!¡± She waved. ¡°My name is Hu¨¢ Y¨³f¨¥i, and I know where to find your parents. All I need you to do is to stay on this no matter what, alright? I can pull any of you back on if needed.¡±

    They all nodded, although one of them started shaking.

    ¡°Where¡¯s my mother?¡±

    Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

    ¡°I¡¯m scared.¡±

    One of them started crying.

    Oh, these poor children. She scanned the water, watching a tree dipping below the surface, a streetlight bobbing along, and to her dismay, several human bodies floating. She covered the kids¡¯ eyes, despite one of them squirming underneath. They shouldn¡¯t be exposed to this, she thought.

    ¡°What are your names?¡± She asked. If she knew their names, then they would be more comfortable around her. At least that was what she was told by her psychologist cousin.

    ¡°Li¨¢ng B¨¢izh¨².¡±

    ¡°Hu¨¢ng Sh¨¡nq¨ª.¡±

    ¡°J¨©n Zh¨¬m¨ªng.¡±

    ¡°M¨¨ng Xi¨¤m¨§i.¡±

    Y¨³f¨¥i nodded. ¡°Xi¨£o Li¨¢ng, I want you to grab onto this corner.¡± She pointed out a small part of the sheet that wasn¡¯t sharp. ¡°Xi¨£o Hu¨¢ng, grab this corner.¡± She pointed to another corner of the sheet. ¡°Xi¨£o J¨©n, hold onto this. Xi¨£o M¨¨ng, this is your corner. I don¡¯t want any of you to hold onto each other, alright?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Good.¡± She scanned the water. ¡°Hold on tight. On five, we¡¯ll be in the water, alright?¡±

    ¡°Alright.¡± Li¨¢ng B¨¢izh¨² replied. ¡°M¨¡m¨¡ is safe?¡±

    ¡°Yes she is. I¡¯m sure she¡¯ll be very happy to see you.¡± Now¡¯s the time. ¡°Get ready! One, two, three, four, five!¡±

    She pushed the lightweight sheet of metal into the floodwaters. All five of them hit the water in a splash, with M¨¨ng Xi¨¤m¨§i spitting out water off the side of the makeshift raft. The return journey was quicker and Y¨³f¨¥i¡¯s movements swifter. The current was rapid, and more than once she had manoeuvred the raft away from large debris such as a piece of someone¡¯s roof or a particularly large streetlight. Thankfully, the children remained calm throughout the whole ordeal. She kept a close eye on them. If they huddled together for warmth¡­no! If they tried to get too close, if one of them fell overboard, that meant the whole group would be overboard. There seemed to be no hazards in the water, so she relaxed a little.

    When they reached the apartment, Y¨³f¨¥i noticed that the water had reached the second highest floor. There was no sign of the airplane. She grumbled under her breath. If her apartment flooded, the only escape is the top of the roof, and if the water is increasing this much, the entire building would be underwater. She hoped they arrived here quickly.

    ¡°Everyone above me!¡± Y¨³f¨¥i yelled at the anxious crowd. ¡°I need help getting the kids into the apartment!¡±

    A sudden clamour rippled through the crowd as the parents pushed their way forward. J¨©n Zh¨¬m¨ªng yelled and waved at his b¨¤ba. Once Y¨³f¨¥i enlisted the crowd to help with pulling the children up, she relaxed more. Her legs were tired, maybe brewing some tea would be nice. Most of the kids were reunited with their parents, all of them chatting amongst themselves. The only one left was Li¨¢ng B¨¢izh¨². His m¨¡m¨¡ was eagerly waiting, arms outstretched.

    ¡°Almost there!¡± Y¨³f¨¥i lifted the boy to his mother. Her legs seemed to be made of lead, given the way they buckled after she was done.

    ¡°Are you alright?¡± L¨£o Li¨¢ng asked.

    ¡°I think so-ah!¡± The little raft immediately capsized, sending Y¨³f¨¥i tumbling into the water. She coughed out water, grabbed onto a small ledge underwater, and set a mental note for mouth rinsing afterwards. Her ears must be plugged, as she understood none of what the crowd was saying. Wiping the water off her face, she squinted. Someone was reaching for her and yelling, though all she heard was muffled voices.

    ¡°What?¡± She shouted, though the sound was quiet to her ears.

    Y¨³f¨¥i turned to her left¡­and was immediately greeted with a piece of concrete slightly larger than a dresser coming downstream. It slammed into her head, knocking her out.

    She was no longer aware of her surroundings, but she felt bruises on her upper body. Her clothes were torn and her hair pooled around her head. Despite her efforts, she was sinking, far beneath the surface. Y¨³f¨¥i tried to swim, yet her arms seemed to be made of lead. Her eyes were slowly closing, yet she tried to keep them open.

    Calamities are tough to deal with.

    Was she hallucinating? She felt a burning feeling in her chest. Water, she¡¯s drinking water.

    You saved them though. Helping people¡­that¡¯s not something I have experienced in a long time. I wasn¡¯t sure what to expect at first, but you are what I was hoping for.

    Y¨³f¨¥i wasn¡¯t sure what was happening. Was this what dying people experienced? Her body was sinking, and the surface seemed so distant¡­

    Y¨³f¨¥i, think about your life. Check your amulet.

    The amulet? She checked her left hand, still gripped tightly around the pearly amulet. The amulet seemed to have a fiery quality to it now. What she wanted out of life? She wanted to answer with spending time with those she loved, drinking tea, and working; but that wasn¡¯t the right answer.

    Prickles of sunlight danced through the watery depths, illuminating the various people trapped underneath the surface. Surprisingly for most people, Y¨³f¨¥i wasn¡¯t afraid of Calamities nor had she ever felt a burning hatred or extreme numbness towards them. They were a puzzle, a mysterious phenomena to which the solution is ever fleeting. Their origin was a mystery, and no real answer was ever found for their appearance. It always fascinated her, these skysent events that left devastation in their wake. She was tied to them in a way no one understood. A part of her had always thought they were unnatural, as their formation rarely indicated by the predicted forecasts. Her only issue is the loss of life. If she learned how they came to be¡­could the world be saved?

    She gripped her amulet. Something bubbled up inside of her.

    ¡°I want to know the Calamities, how they came into existence, why they appeared thirty-three years ago, and how to stop them. I want to be more, more than a meteorologist, a friend, a daughter. I want the world to be saved, to rise above, and for everyone else to do so as well.¡±

    With that finished, she closed her eyes. The last thing she saw was the amulet emitting azure light¡­

    The first thing she heard was the soft sound of rain falling. Being underwater felt strange, and the open sky seemed more beckoning, more welcoming. Y¨³f¨¥i followed the sound of rain. She was ascending faster than usual, and the surface seemed much closer than it should have been. Almost there¡­finally! The raindrops were soothing, even though it would have made the flooding worse. She looked downwards¡ªand was astonished at the sight of a tail. A scaled tail of deep azure, a very long tail at that. Somewhere down there, there were two paws like a tiger with five claws like an eagle. The entire body from the tail was snakelike and equally blue in colour. She felt long trailing whiskers like a catfish on her face and she noted that she now possessed a camel-like head. Was Y¨³f¨¥i a dragon?

    She probably was, but that was not important right now. That rain cloud needed to be moved elsewhere and there were people depending on her. With a thought she pushed it out to sea. That worked as the rain cloud drifted away. She tried to move the water away from the streets, but it refused.

    No you can¡¯t do that. Water is not under your domain.

    Under her domain? There are others then? Y¨³f¨¥i found her amulet hanging off of one of her claws. The centre and bottom sections were filled in with the traditional character for dragon and five respectively, as in the zodiac. She still needed to go back to her apartment. Moving forward was a breeze, one accomplished by sheer force. Occasionally, she watched the flooded streets for any survivors, but there were none. The only people she found were floating face down. Gently lifting them on her back, she carried onwards.

    Her apartment was almost flooded judging from the water level. All of the people that were in her apartment earlier were now boarding a small aircraft parked on her roof. L¨£o Li¨¢ng was holding one of Y¨³f¨¥i¡¯s emergency fish tanks where M¨¦nm¨¦n was swimming around and talking with the soldier in front of the aircraft. As Y¨³f¨¥i neared the rooftop, the people down below started gaping and pointing at the large dragon above them. The soldiers around the aircraft took notice and warned their leader, gesturing wildly and shouting.

    ¡°Is that a dragon? I thought they weren¡¯t real!¡±

    ¡°Am I hallucinating?¡±

    ¡°Dragons are peaceful, right?¡±

    ¡°Wait, are those bodies on its back?¡±

    The leader of the group of soldiers looked up at the sky. ¡°What is your purpose here?¡± The same person she was calling earlier, and why were they so late?

    Y¨³f¨¥i slowly landed. ¡°The people on my back, I want them returned to their families.¡±

    She lay down, with the soldiers unloading the corpses onto the small aircraft. Some of the parents were covering their children¡¯s eyes. Her initial thought was carrying everyone to safety, but unless she washed herself thoroughly, no one would want to be on her back.

    ¡°L¨£o N¨£inai, have you seen the woman who lived in this apartment? Her name is Hu¨¢ Y¨³f¨¥i. She was swept away by the current when she was rescuing my son and three other children. Did you see her body?¡± L¨£o Li¨¢ng asked. ¡°I have her fish.¡±

    ¡°Hu¨¢ Y¨³f¨¥i is safe and sound, she¡¯s on the outskirts of the city. Don¡¯t worry about her.¡± It felt odd referring to herself in the third person, but would anyone have believed that she turned into a dragon?

    ¡°Dragon, you were helpful today, so I¡¯ll ask you. They say that you have power over the weather and can control floods. I¡¯m not a believer in my n¨£inai¡¯s stories, but seeing you¡­it seems like there is some worth. Can you stop the flooding?¡± The leader asked.

    ¡°No, it is not within my power.¡± She needed to ask the voice more about this later. ¡°You were late coming here. Tell me why.¡±

    ¡°The flooding is not only in Shanghai. The entire Yangtze River flooded over. From Qinghai to the East China Sea, we¡¯ve had to evacuate many civilians before reaching here. Thankfully, it seems that all of the civilians are accounted for and alive.¡±

    A reasonable explanation, and fortunate. She would have verbally eviscerated the man otherwise, dragon or no dragon. ¡°Make sure everyone is evacuated far from the city limits, especially near areas close to the Yangtze River or the East China Sea. Have you checked the headwaters of the Yangtze?¡±

    ¡°No, as we have been focused on civilian evacuations.¡±

    Y¨³f¨¥i nodded her head to the west. "If we investigate the headwaters, we may be able to prevent any further damage or flooding. Who else is in the vicinity?¡±

    ¡°Five helicopters, and about five brigades of ten people each. Four are assisting in evacuation efforts, while the fifth is in charge of keeping order among the evacuees.¡±

    Considering the damage that the city has taken and the multiple people that were displaced, leaving at least two brigades is necessary. Only two brigades should be necessary, and three helicopters.

    ¡°We take your brigade, two brigades if they aren¡¯t busy with their duties, and three helicopters to the headwaters.¡± She¡¯s a dragon, so she should be faster than the helicopters. ¡°I¡¯ll go ahead and scout ahead. If there is any potential danger, I will circle back and warn you and anyone else in the chain of command. First, we should evacuate everyone.¡±

    The leader of the soldiers nodded and shouted for his men.

    After two round trips and the safe evacuation of all civilians, Y¨³f¨¥i watched the three helicopters in formation. Thankfully, the leader secured a larger plane for transportation. Below her, she felt each individual blade of grass waving in the breeze. The trees rustled, leaving her alone to her thoughts. The worst flood type Calamities as measured by her colleagues had the Yangtze River flooding partially or at least until a certain level had been reached. The water level wouldn¡¯t have risen as high as it did, and certainly not to the height of her apartment building. Were they getting stronger, like some models predicted? What was the true cause of Calamities? Something moved in front of her: a white crystal directly in her face. She turned to her right, facing a black crystal. On her left was a red crystal, while behind her was a bluish green crystal. Looking up, she spotted a yellow crystal floating above her head. She waved her head, and the crystals moved slightly, but stayed in relatively the same position. They seemed harmless, so she paid no further attention to them. Besides, she had the unfolding Calamity on her mind.

    Travelling across green plains and winding blue streams, Y¨³f¨¥i tested the extent of her abilities. After two hours of confusing the soldiers and touching the crystals, she concluded that the crystals are connected to the natural elements. Based on her observations, the five crystals corresponded to the five phases in ancient philosophy, including the colours. Wood, fire, earth, metal, and water. It explained their positioning as well. Y¨³f¨¥i controlled the weather, summoning rain clouds and the wind with ease. Holding onto a crystal made summoning certain phenomena better, such as the black crystal assisting in rain summoning and the white crystal in calling down lightning. Of course, she tried to project an aura of supreme majesty to the soldiers, hiding her relative inexperience.

    They passed by the city of Chongqing, equally overrun with flooding. The task force present assured them that they were handling the situation and were not in need of further assistance. Survivors were few though, and they left the city with a heavy heart. Y¨³f¨¥i thought about the five elements. Water can be contained by either earth or wood. Verdant grass gave way to pale yellow plains, and she summoned small rain clouds to hydrate the soldiers.

    At last, they arrived at the geological origin of the Yangtze River. The Dangpu River was equally flooded, as the water seeped into the marsh-like banks. Strewn across the floodplain were the carcasses of helicopters and fighter planes. The lack of any movement disheartened her¡ªuntil she caught sight of something that shouldn¡¯t have existed.

    There was a snake in the waters, looking as if it had arisen from the rivers itself. Its great coils lapped around six times as it bared its fangs against a bird also made of water. The bird let out a cry, and Y¨³f¨¥i noticed that where the bird¡¯s feet were supposed to be was attached to the snake¡¯s tail. They were still fighting though¡ª and spurting water into the river. To her relief, neither the bird or the snake spotted the three helicopters, the planes, or Y¨³f¨¥i herself. The leader of the soldiers motioned for everyone to hold their positions.

    ¡°What is that? Why did no one relay that there was a massive monster that was contributing to the Calamity?¡± He stared at the debris left on the floodplain. ¡°Something¡¯s wrong.¡±

    She remembered the unexplained reports of solid masses inside Calamities, how she easily dismissed it as the result of faulty equipment or incorrect interpretations of the data. Now though, those reports were becoming more credible. The leader was right: why was no one informed of this being at the centre of the Calamity?

    ¡°Whatever this is, it¡¯s either causing or significantly contributing to the flooding. We need to contain and capture the beast, dead or alive. I can soar above the clouds and sap its strength. You can surround the area and prevent it from escaping. I know there is a large tank on one of your planes, so we can use that as a form of temporary containment until we reach Shanghai.¡± She was surprised he listened to her, but she felt as if there was more than an authoritative voice at work.

    He nodded. ¡°Your plan is sensible. Brigade on the right flank, your task is to recover any bodies from the downed aircraft. Brigade on the left flank, your task is to lay down a temporary dam. My brigade, we¡¯re supporting the dragon when she¡¯s in the skies. Anything she commands, do it.¡±

    ¡°Since none of your conventional weapons are able to pierce, immobilise, or disable the creature, I propose that we build a wall consisting of earth and possibly any non salvageable wreckage. That being said, any possible other equipment and gear you are carrying may be useful later. As soon as you are done, retreat immediately.¡± She wanted no loss of life, she had already seen enough today.

    ¡°Yes ma¡¯am!¡±

    Everyone set out to do their assigned tasks. Y¨³f¨¥i soared upwards into the clouds, which covered most of her long body. Far above the world, she observed the two heads embroiled in conflict¡ªoblivious to the makeshift dam forming around them. The helicopters were doing as instructed, carrying the downed aircraft to the wall¡ªand as she noted sadly, pulling more and more dead bodies from the wreckage.

    She clutched the bluish green crystal and felt the energy coursing through her body.

    Flexible and supple, able to expand further and generous in its gifts.

    Wood was strengthened by water, and it could be either trees or wind, she thought. She summoned wind, exhaling it onto the two heads. As the wind blew by the bird¡¯s head, some of the water was carried away by the breeze. The miniature earthen and aircraft wall was fully erected around the creature, encircling them completely. Y¨³f¨¥i descended slightly, watching everything from above.

    Flicking a claw in the direction from which they came, Y¨³f¨¥i gripped the yellow crystal. As she held it, she noticed that there was some loose soil near the snake¡¯s tail. The bird still hadn¡¯t noticed itself being picked apart by the wind. Y¨³f¨¥i asked the soldiers for some assistance in digging a large hole.

    ¡°Alright, those on the left of me, grab any shovels and start digging. Be careful, and if the creature makes any sudden move, retreat immediately. Those on the right, support your fellow soldiers and anyone else who needs assistance.¡±

    Afterwards, the resulting hole engulfed most of the floodplain, and she commanded them to retreat and leave the creature to herself for now. With one swipe of her tail, the earth on which the snake was resting crumbled to the bottom of the large hole. The bird finally noticed that the wind was draining it¡ªand dove onto Y¨³f¨¥i¡¯s head.

    The weight of the water threatened to drown Y¨³f¨¥i, but her body reformed into a gust of wind. She tore through the bird¡¯s throat in an instant. Water gushed from the bird¡¯s neck as it let out a vicious cry. The snake head was not assisting the bird head, distracted by the soldiers retreating. At the sight of one quickly backing away, the snake head tried attacking them, only to be stopped by Y¨³f¨¥i. Solidifying herself, she stared at the snake''s cold and unemotional eyes.

    "Your fighting with your other head is flooding the rivers that the water is feeding into and causing mass casualties. Come with me, and tell me where you came from. This can be either peaceful or by force. Choose wisely,¡± she stated.

    The snake head stared back before lunging, initially aiming for her tail¡ªthen darted for her head.

    Y¨³f¨¥i ducked underneath the massive fangs and shot upwards, avoiding the sharp beak of the bird and diving straight into another cloud. Making sure that none of the soldiers were in the vicinity, she held the white crystal and called down lightning upon the two heads, turning the creature into a small lake. Y¨³f¨¥i waited a few minutes, in case of something happening. Sure enough, the creature reformed and she sent a lightning bolt downwards.

    The original plan couldn''t be used¡ªthe electrified water was too dangerous and that she couldn¡¯t disable the creature long enough for transportation, she thought. The hole wouldn¡¯t be enough to seal the creature. Her only options were to guard the hole or¡ªwait, she realised, didn¡¯t dragons have the ability to transform into humans? A human form may have more options than her current form. Although she would be significantly more fragile as a human being¡­

    She floated downwards and motioned to the nearby soldiers.

    ¡°In five minutes, I want you to shoot out flares, so as to distract the creature. Make sure they are watching. Either that, or feed it more electricity.¡± She shot upwards again.

    She imagined herself as a human being and a soothing feeling overtook her. She relaxed instinctively¨Cuntil she realised she couldn¡¯t float anymore. The sudden plummet surprised her, and the flowy hanfu she was wearing did not slow her descent. The ground was getting closer and closer before her eyes¡ªshe waited for certain death before looking at her hand. There was a paper-like umbrella in her right hand. After some manoeuvring, she managed to open it, sighing in relief as her descent slowed down significantly. Drifting through the air, she observed the two heads. They were distracted, watching the bright red flares flying high into the sky. She looked closely at the umbrella, and thought, if it was magical, would it be able to trap those two?

    Thrusting it forward, she floated right above the creature¡¯s heads. The water that comprised their body started rising upwards as little droplets. The last thing both heads saw before they were completely sealed within the umbrella was the slight smile of a woman in blue hanfu.

    Soon after, with the umbrella sealed, she started to fall towards the ground again. She was about to transform, but a net quickly scooped her up. Looking up, she found the friendly face of one of the pilots waving at her. She waved back.

    After collecting herself, Y¨³f¨¥i presented herself in front of the commander. He was about her height, and seemed confused. She met his gaze, and held out her wet umbrella.

    ¡°Take this to the Calamity research facility in Shanghai. I want the creature inside studied and tested. If anything similar appears in a Calamity, capture it and bring it there as well. Do not let this out of your sight until you reach Shanghai.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± The leader seemed to want to ask another question. ¡°You are a dragon, right?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s complicated.¡±

    Neither of them said anything.

    ¡°Thank you for your help today,¡± she said.

    ¡°It¡¯s not a problem.¡± He returned a wiry smile. ¡°Thanks for stopping the Calamity, and capturing this creature. Do you want to come with us?¡±

    ¡°No thank you, but thank you for the offer. I live somewhere else.¡± Being honest in this situation was going to be difficult. She wanted to tell him, but something told her to be quiet.

    He took her umbrella, leaving her alone with the five crystals zooming around her. Looking over the side of the helicopter, she leaped from it and gripped the bluish green crystal. In a minute, she started flying, overtaking everyone else.

    After depositing herself in Shanghai and covering her blue antlers with a towel, Y¨³f¨¥i explained her disappearance by being swept away by the currents, where she happened to catch the eye of a mysterious azure dragon who thankfully dropped her off in the outskirts of the city. She was using the towel so that her hair didn¡¯t become soaking wet and there was nothing underneath them. The tail was much easier to hide underneath the hanfu. The hanfu was stolen from a specialty shop after her clothes were soaked. It was definitely free and was not the result of magic.

    Everyone somehow believed her. Even M¨¦nm¨¦n.

    The quick but thorough shower cleared her mind. Were these creatures the origin of Calamities she was looking for? There have been teams sent into the hearts of storms, but none have reported anything close to what she witnessed today. Did they come from Calamities? Not entirely implausible, though when she sealed it, the Calamity stopped. Maybe it was a feedback loop, the creatures generating the Calamity and the Calamity generating the creature. Do all Calamities have hidden monsters inside? She still needed to file her report on this latest Calamity. The government must be informed of this. The more the world knows, the better prepared they will be and the less casualties too.

    There is another way.

    Y¨³f¨¥i looked up.

    What you now possess is incredible. The power over weather, and to transform into the elements, and more besides. I¡¯m sure you have seen the crystals.

    Oh yes. They are currently crowded around her and lodging themselves in her dark blue hair.

    They are¡­clingy. There is an artefact more powerful than them though. When you look at your ink paintings, what else is depicted alongside dragons?

    ¡°A pearl?¡± Usually, it was on fire. This beggared her disbelief when she was younger.

    That is the Key. Unfortunately, its whereabouts are unknown. The only known fact is that it¡¯s in one of the oceans of the world in the lands born of words and order.

    ¡°You mentioned keys alongside doors and the Fifth Gate. What is the Fifth Gate?¡±

    The Fifth Gate is a wondrous city, full of colour and magnificence. It is a seat of power and connected with the First House. All Gates are connected to Houses.

    ¡°And a Door? First House?¡±

    A Door is what the Keys unlock. Something about not wanting intruders entering without permission. The First House is ruled by Aries. I have never been there myself, since it¡¯s too hot for my liking.

    ¡°That makes sense. There¡¯s the Western zodiac too? Do you know where everyone is then?¡± Aries, Aries¡­she¡¯s drawing a blank there.

    Unfortunately no.

    ¡°Who are you? Are you the amulet?¡±

    No! I would never want to be an inanimate object! I¡¯m afraid I can¡¯t tell you.

    ¡°Well, as my b¨¤ba always said, never underestimate a Hu¨¢ when they want to know something.¡±

    If you want to save the world, find the Fifth Gate. You¡¯ll find your answers there.

    The next day, Y¨³f¨¥i was sipping tea with M¨¦nm¨¦n watching from his pond. He jumped up and splashed her as she retold her story to him.

    ¡°Now I have blue eyes and hair! I look like the Azure Dragon when I¡¯m a dragon. Hmm, I wonder if you can become a dragon as well.¡±

    M¨¦nm¨¦n stared blankly.

    ¡°You know, they say that carp can become dragons through perseverance. If I can¨Chuh?¡±

    Someone was knocking¡­on her balcony door? The only stairwell from her apartment was through the lobby. If it was those graffiters who spray painted her roof, Y¨³f¨¥i would not mind giving them an earful about how they needed to stop vandalising people¡¯s properties or their parents would be dutifully notified about their children¡¯s illegal activities. She liked helping people¡­unless they abused her hospitality. Nevertheless, it might be someone from yesterday looking for something they left behind, but the balcony wasn¡¯t connected to the ground¡­

    ¡°I¡¯m coming!¡± She walked briskly, hastily wrapping her blue antlers in a towel. ¡°I¡¯m opening the door!¡± Taking out her keys, she unlocked it and opened it.

    She was not what Y¨³f¨¥i was expecting. Standing on the balcony was a child about fifteen or sixteen years old with oversized glasses and a white dress with a metal belt. The hair was in two colours, but what grabbed her attention were the massive wings that nearly dwarfed the young girl in size.

    ¡°Doko desu ka?¡± The girl asked.

    Y¨³f¨¥i only knew a few phrases in Japanese. Thankfully, ¡®doko desu ka¡¯ was one of them. ¡°I don¡¯t speak Japanese, and I¡¯m Chinese. You¡¯re in Shanghai, and this is my balcony. Do you want to come in and have some tea?¡± Her towel slowly fell off onto the floor.

    The girl kept staring. ¡°You¡¯re pretty.¡±

    She spoke Chinese? That¡¯s new. ¡°Thanks? My name is Hu¨¢ Y¨³f¨¥i.¡±

    ¡°Oh! Nice to meet you Hua-san, I¡¯m Tenhou Mihira. I flew here!¡± For the first time, Mihira took note of Y¨³f¨¥i¡¯s antlers. ¡°Those are nice! Did you make those yourself? My friend likes to cosplay as animals a lot.¡±

    ¡°Those are real. The wings you have, how do you have them?¡±

    Mihira dug into her dress, pulling out a copper amulet. ¡°I got it from this amulet, or the magic that empowers it. It¡¯s the same reason I understand what you are saying! Do you know any lands where it fights the sea?¡±

    Y¨³f¨¥i thought about it. ¡°No, not really. I have an amulet just like yours.¡± She pulled out her own pearlescent amulet.

    Mihira studied it. ¡°You¡¯re the Dragon? That explains the antlers. I¡¯m Libra.¡± She pointed to her wings. ¡°That¡¯s why I have wings, and I would like some tea, thank you very much for offering.¡±

    Y¨³f¨¥i nodded, gesturing inside. ¡°Why don¡¯t we talk this over? Tell me everything.¡±

 Brown Vines, Shield Me From The Abyss

    ¡°Subject 06, a member of the species Triticum aestivum, has grown to a respectable one hundred and fifty three centimetres.  Among its peers, it was the fastest growing treatment at a rate of fourteen centimetres a day.  It is under the Amulet treatment in which the manipulated variable is the application of an unidentified energy source.  It is the only treatment to exceed one hundred and fifty centimetres as all other treatments and the dark and light control groups have fallen below the one hundred centimetre mark.¡±

    Amalia shut off her recorder.  Six carefully cultivated plots of Triticum aestivum laid before her eyes.  The light control group of wild T. aestivum had grown to be the second tallest of the test groups.  The dark control group had been the shortest, being stunted at a measly fifty centimetres on average.  Both the first genetically modified T. aestivum and Calamity resistant variant developed by her colleagues had reached ninety four centimetres on average.  The second genetically modified variant had reached an average of seventy seven centimetres.  The sixth was of the most interest to her as it was treated with a variable that was still unknown to Amalia.

    The variable itself laid flat on her work bench.  Two days ago, she determined that the material was solid black carbon.  She still was unaware of what could have made those etchings, but when she reached a proper laboratory, she¡¯ll find out.  The downwards pointing triangle with a line across is connected to earth, according to an old alchemy textbook.  The yin symbol was positioned to the right of the medallion.  The Roman numeral for six was at the bottom.  The sign in the centre was Virgo, from astrology.  There was also another symbol in the shape of a sickle.  Amalia had never believed in the irrational pseudoscience known as astrology.  Sometimes, her cousin would show her the daily horoscope, but she ignored him.

    ¡°If human fate was dictated by faraway planets, wouldn¡¯t astronomers and astrophysicists be controlling us right now?  But that is not true.  The true meaning of human fate is what we make ourselves.  No outside force controls us, only ourselves.  Extracting order from the chaos known as life, that is a human striving."

    That was the last thing she said to her cousin before he left for a job as a receptionist in Germany.  She couldn''t care less about astrology or any other unproven pseudoscience that only existed to defraud people.  What was fact was the amulet had an energy source unknown to mankind.  In a proper laboratory, she would have studied it.  She was not, much to her chagrin.  The ability to enhance plant growth was a powerful one, but what else could this small amulet hold?  So far, results had shown that it granted a transformation into new clothing, it contained a digital library and various miniature storage compartments to fit any new samples inside.  The only residents were several seeds of T. aestivum.  Amalia was content with this system.

    The alarm blared, a siren flashing red over the plastic roof of Amalia¡¯s holding space.  Long ago, she would have covered her ears, but now she was cleaning up, brushing all of the dirt from her workbench into a small metal bin.  She memorised the exact positions of the plants, where each treatment group was located, and stowed away the amulet.  On cue, her guard burst in, clad in all black with goggles and a mask covering their face.  They always came after the second alarm.  In the early days, they would have messed up her work space, haphazardly throwing away every carefully cultivated sample and rampaging through her small cot.  Now, they just put everything on the floor gently and searching every tiny indent.  To be fair, if Amalia had been the job of making sure no one escaped or was planning on escaping, she would have done a rigorous job of searching.

    That did not mean that she liked it, nor would she deny that her hands tensed when the guard did not place the containers exactly where they were supposed to be.  Her stomach was in distress and she was almost about to chew her fingernails again.  Amalia tried to keep still, but the gun in the guard¡¯s hands made her uneasy.  Even after all this time, she still quivered in spite of herself.  She was a woman of science, she told herself, with a rational mind.  A rational mind did not quiver, it assessed the situation and planned accordingly.  The surviving cultivars of T. aestivum were growing at a rate that would be acceptable for mass production and future distribution among the world¡¯s breadbaskets.  Amalia ate five meals daily, all of them equally nutritious and filled with sufficient amounts of carbohydrates, proteins, fats, and vitamins.  The gun in the guard¡¯s hands was not bad, she should not be scared.  She has held a gun before, and used it.  The gun was not bad.  The gun was not bad, it won¡¯t harm her.

    The gun was not bad, it was the people who held the gun that gave it bad intentions.

    She took a deep breath.  Inhaling, exhaling.  The guard was rummaging through her belongings now, underneath her mattress.  There were only two rooms, and one of them was the bathroom.  Amalia was thankful that at least the bathroom walls weren''t as translucent as the plastic walls that made up her holding cell.  Her off white cot was located next to the door, and she only had a pillow and a threadbare blanket.  Her workbench was straight across the door and her plants were located on the wall left of the door.  The only light source was an LED lamp that hung precariously from its little hook.  She wasn¡¯t sure if the others had the exact same arrangement or if it was completely different.  She had no outside privileges ever since she was brought here, and Amalia wasn¡¯t aware if her colleagues also did not possess outside privileges.  Certainly, she heard nothing else other than the orderly marching of the guards.  How long had it been?  She wasn¡¯t permitted a calendar, nor was the amulet equipped with one.  If she had to guess, it was at least a week or so.

    Before then, she recalled, she had been excited.  More than she had ever been in her entire life, or at least that had been what she remembered.  Unfortunately, she left her journal at home.  When her application to join her dream initiative was accepted, Amalia jumped on her bed and yelled at the stars.  As a graduate student from the University of Zurich who wanted to do more research into the field of biochemistry, she had been enamoured by the idea of working alongside fellow researchers.  The chosen project was about manufacturing new cultivars of various grain crops for better Calamity resistance as well as branching into hybridization and genetic engineering.  Amalia was the youngest member of the team, and it was her first major research project since becoming a graduate student.  She had been mostly assigned to DNA sequencing and occasionally watching over the T. aestivum control treatments and other treatment groups.  There were other crops that were being studied, such as Oryza sativa, Zea mays, Avena sativa, Hordeum vulgare, and Secale cereale.  Her colleagues, who numbered twelve in total, were in charge of testing and growing the plants, building new varieties based off of experiments and cross referencing previous attempts.  She got along well with them, enough to know their first names, but she preferred to keep to herself as they did.

    When it appeared, she had been storing some T. aestivum samples when she had noticed a small black disk on the shelf.  When she had taken it out, she had found that it fit her hand perfectly.  After she had ended her work for the day, curiosity had come over her.  Through trial and error, she found the phrase in order to activate the amulet and done so.  The euphoria had been nothing previously  known to her, as if she was reorganised and deconstructed on a cellular level.  Further qualitative observations were that the act of transformation had been accompanied by the disappearance of Amalia¡¯s lab coat and goggles and that her eyes had become a deeper shade of dark brown.  She had felt the presence of the treatment groups more and had been able to distinguish between each and every stalk.  After recording her observations in her notebook, she had fallen asleep.

    The next morning she hadn¡¯t been able to find it.  Fifteen minutes of fruitless searching later, she had decided that the best course of action was to measure and record the rate at which the T. aestivum samples were growing.  Soon after she had taken her final measurements for the day, she had been grabbed from behind and her mouth covered by a thick black glove.  Amalia tried to scream but whoever had been holding her had placed a chloroform laced cloth on her mouth.  Before losing consciousness, she had heard the sound of Jacques punching someone before being knocked out himself and Ada equally putting up a fight.

    When she had been woken up, Amalia had been prodded by a baton into showers.  She hadn¡¯t mind the showers, intense as they were,  but she¡¯d heard Fabienne screaming in pain and Matteo yelling at their captors over how hard the water was.  It had been hard to enjoy the experience after that.  Afterwards she had been given two light grey uniforms with her name stitched onto them as well as one white lab coat.  All had been too large for her but she knew that she wasn¡¯t going to get a better fitted one.  The guard who knocked her out blindfolded her and escorted her to her holding cell.  One hundred steps later, they had undone the blindfold and locked her inside.  Strangely some of her T. aestivum samples had been present, sitting on a plastic structure fed by hydroponics.  Even stranger, she had finally found the amulet wedged tightly at the bottom of the sample containers.  Amalia must have misplaced it by accident.  Nonetheless, it had been comforting to hold.  Later on, she had discovered that it had a beneficial influence on plant growth once transformation was initiated.  Whoever created it must have had a higher understanding of the workings of the universe, beyond what Amalia or any other scientist was capable of.  If this was mass produced,she thought,  it would greatly improve agricultural yields by a yet undetermined metric.

    She was not one to exaggerate, but to put it simply, it might have been the scientific discovery of the decade.  If Amalia had been able to talk to anyone, she would have told her colleagues about the potential of this amulet.  As of now she hasn¡¯t had a conversation with anyone since coming here.  Not even the guard spoke to her except in occasional grunts and taps on the shoulder.

    Her door dinged in its peculiar low pitched sound.  There was a plate of whole wheat bread, some bratwurst, and asparagus that was heating up the plastic food compartment.  Amalia wasn¡¯t allowed to retrieve her own food.  Instead it was delivered presumably by her guard.  She still didn¡¯t know why she was being kept here, but they seemed to have a vested interest in keeping her alive.  Were the others being fed as well?  Were they alive?  Why was she here?  Questions circled around her head as she ate her bread.  She was surprised that she wasn¡¯t given the bare minimum to eat.

    Hello?  Bonjour?  Ciao?  Allegra?

    Huh?

    Can I have some of that bratwurst?

    Amalia put down her bread.  What was that?

    Errr, a voice!  In your head!  You¡¯re going crazy.

    What?  No, she was not.  As a rational mind, she was in complete control of her mental faculties.  There were no voices in her head, clearly it was her own thoughts.

    Don¡¯t be silly, Frau Wald.  I¡¯m not you, you¡¯re not me.

    How¡­what?

    My sister can be a bit nosy.  We are voices in your head, and she picked up your thoughts.

    When you¡¯ve been stuck in the back of a van for the past week or so, you would want to find someone who has an interesting mind.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but who are you?¡± she asked.

    My name is Pollux, but you can call me Helen.

    I¡¯m Clytemnestra.

    You can also call her Castor if you want.

    I prefer Clytemnestra.

    How was this possible?

    Telepathy, mind reading, whatever you want to call it.  We both can read your mind.

    Amalia Wald, graduate student at the University of Zurich, majored in biochemistry with a minor in plant biology.  Graduated with summa cum laude as an undergraduate.  You live with some of your cousins, and oh he¡¯s your cousin?  And you have¡­an amulet?

    Wait, an amulet?  Ah, I see.  The Vine Touched Servant of the Sixth House.  You did feel different compared to everyone else in the building.  Have you learnt the location of your Key?

    What is happening?  She had not ascertained the location of any key, nor had she any clue what the two voices were discussing.  Vine Touched Servant?  The Sixth House?  How were they in her head?

    You are intelligent, you can figure it out on your own.

    She has no clue who we are talking about, Helen.

    The Servant that I knew was smart and well-read.

    We confused her.

    Amalia was not confused, she was only unaware of the majority of the nomenclature used in this discussion.  As a rational mind, she must not give into fear, even though she was shaking and clutching her amulet.

    Your amulet can do more than you think.  You aren¡¯t limited to plant growing.  Have you used your weapon yet?  Oh I see that you don¡¯t know what I am talking about.

    She continued eating.  The repeated invasions of her privacy were annoying.

    It¡¯s not very private.  Your mind is unprotected.

    Where are they?

    Oh, we¡¯re driving to Geneva.  Helen left her key with an old friend.  Hopefully they¡¯re still there?  Helen hasn¡¯t talked to him in over thirty years.

    I¡¯m sure that he will be glad to see me.  The conversations late at night, the parties we held on his balcony, oh those were wonderful!

    When were these parties?

    Most of them were in the early 2020s.

    Amalia stopped eating to give a mental glare.

    We all wore masks!  Most of us anyway.  Did I?  It¡¯s been a while.  Anyways, do you know where the Sun Summoner is?  Or their location?

    She¡¯s clueless.

    She had finished her meal, and scrubbed the plate down vigorously in the sink.

    You¡¯re in a room?  That room seems tiny.  At least you had a toilet.  I was travelling to France one time and forgot my pocket change, and I couldn¡¯t use the toilet.  Thankfully there were some nearby bushes¡­

    What was wrong with these people?  That must have been deeply unsanitary.  She was tapping her foot on the ground and clutching the amulet tighter.

    Your colleagues are alive.

    Her hand was unclenched.  So they are alive.  Are they well?

    Huh, interesting.  Did you know that your colleague had a constipation problem?

    Amalia knew that Jacques had¡­issues with his bowel movement.  She had helped him find medicine that would help him in solving this problem based on research papers and various medical journals.  He had been forever grateful to her, although that had never stopped his sour outlook on everything and everyone.

    Yeah, that¡¯s nice.  He¡¯s been trying to go for over an hour.  Honestly, I¡¯m here to see what happens when he passes it through.  The absolute joy in the future is what keeps me going.

    Amalia tried to picture him having issues again.  His gut refused to respond to a high fibre diet, no matter what kind of food Amalia picked out.  Why would this person be happy about that?

    Gotta find something to keep you happy in these trying times.  Listen, I feel bad listening to your thoughts about this situation.  I¡¯m not sure where you are exactly, and it doesn¡¯t look like you know either.  Based on your thoughts, it seems like asking for your permission first is a good idea.  Do you need anything?

    Logically, what Amalia needed was to discover the method by which these two were accessing her mind.  There had been recent advances in neurology in the United States, whereby a machine could manipulate the brain waves of test subjects.  It hadn¡¯t been approved for human test subjects yet.

    I meant do you need anything physically?  Or mentally?  Wait Helen, turn right¡­no that¡¯s a left.  Is that a truck¡ªoh shit that is a truck!  Turn left!  No right!  Not again¡­oh phew we missed that tree.

    What a strange building¡­ah I hear Jacques now.  And Ada and Fabienne and Matteo and Elias and Laura¡­

    So they are alive, she thought as she smiled wider. ¡°How are they?¡±

    She cupped her mouth, her eyes darting to her door.

    Ada is awake and pacing her room.  Wow, that¡¯s not a lot of space.  Fabienne is brushing her teeth?  Did she just wake up?  Matteo is handcuffed to his bed.  Apparently he kicked his guard in a very sensitive region, good for him.  Laura is recording about some crop measurements¡­I have no clue what she is talking about.  I should have taken Latin.  Elias is¡­ummm, what happened to Elias?

    Elias¡­was he hurt?

    I can detect he¡¯s alive, but not much else.  The others are too far away.

    That usually happens when they are either dreaming, in a coma, or in a vegetative state.  Amalia, do you remember anything about the Sixth House?

    What was the Sixth House?

    Where you live, or used to live.  The Sixth House is bound to the Tenth Gate, and governed by the Servant, which would be you.

    They were most likely manipulating her brain waves in order to send messages.  If they could hear others¡¯ thoughts, they might have been using a new machine, one that could decode beta rhythms into audio files.

    No, that is not how our powers work.

    We¡¯re breaking you out.

    What?  No?  She''d get shot, then they might move to other people, then they might get shot because she¡¯d tried to escape¡­

    Relax, I¡¯ve done this a bunch of times.  All we need are some rope, maybe some explosives, a lockpick, and you.  We definitely need you.  You are essential.

    Why can¡¯t we ram this van into the building?

    It¡¯s probably going to break.

    I¡¯ve done it before, it didn¡¯t break.

    We borrowed it from some fruit seller, it will break.

    It was at that point that Amalia decided that sleep was good.  The camera above her blinked an electric blue as it always had.  She pulled her blanket over her and fell asleep quickly.

    Wake up, wake up, wake up!  It¡¯s a new day!

    Which sister was it?

    It¡¯s me, Clytemnestra.  Helen and I are twins, presumably.  That¡¯s what she told me.

    The door dinged.  Today¡¯s breakfast consisted of plain oatmeal.  Once she was done with her morning routine,  Amalia ate it, cleaned it in the sink, and placed it back into the plastic food compartment.  The thought of starting her day as planned made her stomach content and satisfied.  Clearing her workbench, she took out the amulet and washed it under the sink.  Drying it with a spare towel, she held it outwards at an arm¡¯s length making sure that her body was positioned correctly.  Any possible deviation could lead to an experimental error and the introduction of unknown variables.

    ¡°My only wish is to serve the cosmos and maintain order amidst the swirling chaos.  It is my duty to shield the cosmos against entropy, and I understand the magnitude of what I am to do.¡±

    The amulet burst into dark brown light, and swirled around Amalia.  She felt vines entangling through her body, deconstructing it and building it anew.  Once it was done, she rushed over and took measurements of the Amulet treatment group.  To ensure that the amulet didn¡¯t contaminate the results, Amalia stored the other treatment and control groups in the bathroom.  It was not ideal, but to ensure a controlled environment, she did what she had to do.

    They should be still growing.

    What?

    The aftereffect of your transformation would be hard to suppress,unless you have immense self-control or have cultivated enough in order to develop willpower.  Based on your mind, I don¡¯t think that is happening.  That said, your mind also says that the others aren¡¯t growing as fast so you might be subconsciously repressing their growth afterwards.

    If she was doing that this whole time, that meant that the entire experiment and all of her quantitative observations were wasted.  She couldn¡¯t have had a subconscious bias when she started using it though, as she had not anticipated any of its effects.  Amalia checked in the bathroom anyways.  The T. aestivum samples had not grown at all.  While she may not have had bias on the first day, subsequent days would have introduced bias as she had seen the effects of the amulet.  Did that mean that all of her notes had been useless so far?  She felt herself picking at her nails again.

    Maybe they aren¡¯t?  Hey Helen, can you tell if Amalia¡¯s plants are growing?

    No, I can¡¯t.  Only the Servant can identify if a plant has grown because of her or naturally.  Why don¡¯t you try and sense if that is the case?

    Amalia washed her hands, and picked up the amulet.

    The amulet won¡¯t do anything, it has to be you.  It¡¯s only a conduit.

    She still held it in her hands.  It prevented that itching feeling.  She focused her concentration onto the plants, trying to detect any abnormal changes in growth rate.  According to the scan, there was no interference in the natural growth in any of the treatment groups or the control groups.  Therefore, the research had not been affected by any outside variables.  Her stomach relaxed internally.

    Interesting, although if there was anyone with a weaker aftereffect, it would be the Servant.

    Cool technique with the plants, but let¡¯s talk about escape planning.  Helen and I are parked in front of this massive building.  It¡¯s a dark grey and it¡¯s lined with an electric fence.  Not too many cameras¡­anyways, do you know when the guards rotate in and out?

    She only knew the one guard.  There were two alarms that came on daily.  The first came roughly one or two hours after the at nine meal, just before the noon meal.  The second was just before the night meal.  Amalia counted about eighteen steps from when she first heard the guard walking into her holding cell to when they opened the door.  She unfortunately did not know the activities of the guards, but she had heard them soon after the noon meal and right before sleeping.

    Good job at remembering.   Now keep your chin up.  I¡¯m going to get some explosives.

    ¡°No!¡± Amalia cupped her mouth.  Explosives would draw attention in any escape attempt.  A subtler method must be found, something that would be unnoticeable and couldn¡¯t be detected for a long period of time.  Something like¡­plants.  If she utilised the chlorokinetic capabilities of the amulet, she may be able to severely weaken the structure of the wall behind her.

    That¡¯s a smart plan, probably better than mine.

    She mentally nodded.

    That¡¯s awfully convenient, but what works in our favour, am I right?  Let me do something quickly.  It¡¯s better to have redundancies than to be unprepared, right?  You thought of this just now.

    Are you sure this will work?

    Yes, I¡¯m confident.

    If anything happens to you, I will smash into the building with this van.

    The plant that must be chosen for the job would have to be small and unnoticeable.  That removed the majority of flowering plants.  It would have to be a climbing plant, so she narrowed down her list.  This climbing plant would have to be destructive to any wall.  Running through her mental list again, she selected Parthenocissus quinquefolia.  That would be suitable.

    Now, she needed to make a large enough hole in order to grow P. quinquefolia and to find seeds of P. quinquefolia.  Something crackled inside her left hand.  Opening it revealed at least forty small black seeds of P. quinquefolia.  All that was needed now is for¡ª

    Her door opened, and the guard entered.  The guard stared at her, and her dark green uniform.  Neither of them said a word.

    The guard broke the awkward silence, their messy black hair slightly out of place in comparison to their bun. ¡°Amalia Wald, based on your good behaviour, you have been granted certain privileges.  You now have the privilege to be outside of your space, but you must be accompanied by me at all times.¡±

    Amalia couldn¡¯t find a good response. ¡°Uh¡­uh sure?  Can I¡­go outside now?  And¡­can I put a coat on?¡± In typical circumstances, she would remove all personal protective equipment before leaving a laboratory, but this was not under typical circumstances.

    The guard had no response.  Amalia quickly put on a lab coat, long enough to cover the lace-like decorations and the hard boots, and stuffed the P. quinquefolia seeds inside the pockets.  She took off the wispy veil as well.  Better to not attract attention.  Once she was done, the guard took her arm and typed in a keycode.  Unfortunately, they blocked the exact sequence with their arm.  Outside of her automatically closing door, she discovered that there was a second door.  Cold mist began pouring out of unseen vents, filling up the entire space.  After it dissipated, Amalia was yanked by the guard past the door.

    If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

    Bright light flooded into her eyes, and she reflexively covered them.  Beneath her was cold stone with no trace of any plant life.  The light was too bright, and she wanted to run over and turn down the intensity.  The prod of a muzzle stopped her though.  Slowly she adjusted her vision.  The source of the blinding light was a flood light mounted high above a small plastic structure and directly facing the entrance of her prison.  It was small, she thought, and she was surprised that everything fit inside it.  There were guards milling about, all dressed identically in black.  In some of the plastic structures, the faint outlines of various cereal crops could be seen.

    At another structure next to Amalia¡¯s cell, she found Ada being pushed out of the entrance by another guard.  Ada noticed Amalia, and wrangled herself free of her guard¡¯s grip.

    Perhaps it was due to the lack of social interaction with the others, Amalia thought.  Certainly, if her guard never talked to her like Amalia¡¯s guard, her reaction made sense.  Either way,  Amalia tried to warn Ada¡ªonly to feel like all of her skin had caught on fire.  Her body became limp as electricity coursed through it.  She spotted Ada experiencing the same sensation as well.

    ¡°You have not earned the privilege to talk with others.  Don¡¯t make me do this to you.¡± The guard pulled her up and placed Amalia¡¯s head on their shoulders.

    The guard escorted Amalia around the base, stopping only to grab a nut bar.  Amalia made a quick deposit of the seeds in her pocket near a small dent in the wall.  The base itself was small, consisting of around sixteen small plastic structures, thirteen of which housed those like Amalia and Ada.  Presumably, the three others were reserved for the guards.  The entire building was laid out in a grid of criss crossing asphalt.  Notably she sensed no plant life except for the seeds gestating in the ground.  Eventually, they stopped back at her holding cell.  Once the guard left her alone, Amalia shuddered.  There didn¡¯t seem to be a door or anything that could be construed as an entrance or exit.

    So there are more people here than I initially thought.

    Helen?

    You would be correct.  I¡¯m surprised that you managed to activate your shielding ability so quickly.  The Servant was a reactive person, so the way it manifested made sense.

    Her what?  Some part of her doubted that the twins wanted to help her escape, but she banished those thoughts.  If that were true, they would have reported it to whoever was holding her long ago, unless this was a long gambit and she was taking their bait¡ª

    No, this is real.  Clytemnestra wants to help you escape, and considering you have an amulet, I will help you.  I don¡¯t know the Servant as well as the Summoner, but I know that there should be a peridot on your wrist.  If not, flip the covering.

    Amalia flipped open the covering and found the peridot in question on her left arm.

    Make sure you have plenty of room.  It¡¯s motion sensitive, and it¡¯s large.  Surprisingly extravagant for someone who claimed to be a mere humble servant of order, but I¡¯m not a person who judges people.  Firmly flick your wrist.

    She did as Helen suggested¡ªand something large materialised in front of her.  Before long, she was holding a circular shield that covered the majority of her body.  Peering over the edge, she found that the shield was emblazoned with the face of a woman serenely gazing.  The entire shield was a dark green but lightweight.  Amalia doubted it was made of carbon like the amulet.

    It¡¯s carbon, but magically enhanced carbon.  I¡¯ve held it several times, and I took Castor spinning on one of your spare shields.

    It was not magic, Amalia thought.  Magic only existed in fantasy stories and folk tales.  The real world was not home to anything magical, much less plant magic and summoning shields out of nowhere.  Barring an unprecedented leak of unknown and untested technologies in the present day, it was likely that the amulet and the shield were highly advanced technology, at a point where the distinction between technology and magic became blurred to those that were not used to it, possibly futuristic.  Nonetheless, she could use this technology to her benefit.

    You know that¡­alright, whatever keeps you cooperative.  I¡¯m not sure what else you know about.  It¡¯s clearly obvious that you don¡¯t know anything about your partner, the Sixth House, or the Tenth Gate.  You know that your amulet has a library stored inside of it, which is better than nothing.  I¡¯ve spent some time with the Servant, so I might be able to teach you some of her techniques.  The fundamentals are that each amulet draws in energy from the environment¡­

    The next few days were dedicated to training from Helen.  Although Helen couldn¡¯t help her with growing plants, especially since Amalia wasn¡¯t sure if any further changes to the T. aestivum samples¡¯ physiology would become noticeable, they managed to further Amalia¡¯s understanding on how to use her shield.  She was able to complete fifteen different hand and wrist motions with her shield and could easily perform most simple manoeuvres.  Amalia also discovered that she could project force fields with her own hands.  Helen seemed to think that she was progressing.  Amalia wasn¡¯t sure about that.

    ¡°Tell me about the Sixth House, and the Servant.¡±

    The Sixth House is aligned with that of the sign of Virgo, and connected to the Tenth Gate, which is aligned with the sign of the Rooster.  Your House was full of trees and you frequently pruned them.  Apparently, you wanted to ¡°make it orderly and presentable.¡±  You wanted a shield from the Warrior because you saw yourself as a guardian of order.  I didn¡¯t understand at the time, and I still don¡¯t.  Outside of the plants and the force fields, you had amazingly good vision and the annoying tendency to correct everyone¡¯s mistakes.  You mentioned once that you can detect the history of an object, although that hasn¡¯t been activated so far.  Although this entire place is messing with me¡­

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± She felt comfortable speaking aloud now.

    The lesser aftereffect is not only because you are weak.  Neither Clytemnestra or I can read any of the guards¡¯ minds.  We can only sense your mind and the others that are held captive.  Clytemnestra thought it was connected to what they were wearing or something inside the building.

    That explained why she needed the guard positions and shifts.  She had abandoned her project with the T. aestivum samples, but they were still useful.  So far, she has been slowly improving their health and resistance to diseases, not that there were any pathogens where she was.

    Slowly, she learnt that the cold mist was to sterilise all life, as what happened when she forgot to protect a small sample of T. aestivum seeds.  Inside the pocket, she discovered that they withered from exposure.  Amalia hadn¡¯t gained any other privileges, but she was left alone for longer periods of time outside.  The P. quinquefolia was growing nicely, seeping into little cracks that ran the length of the wall.  The wall was not built of any material that Amalia was familiar with.  It was pitch black and warbled slightly.  Any further investigation was impeded by her guard who watched her nightly.  For some reason, they had taken to staying longer in Amalia¡¯s cell.  From a rational perspective, it was unlikely that the gun would be discharged inside the holding cell.  That didn¡¯t stop Amalia from rushing over and holding her amulet tightly once they left.

    One day, her guard stopped grabbing her roughly, and started only pointing in the direction that they wanted Amalia to go.  It was a nice change of pace from previous interactions.  Helen also told her that she was leaving for Geneva tomorrow.

    Whoo, finally I can rest.  It¡¯s nice to not wear anything in bed.

    Amalia gave a mental look of shock to Clytemnestra.

    No, not like that!  I don¡¯t like wearing anything other than pyjamas to sleep.

    We have a problem.

    Has their escape attempt been discovered?  Did Amalia make a mistake?  Was it obvious that she was planting seeds or making them grow?  Was she too obvious?

    It has nothing to do with you at all.  My old friend died of natural causes.

    Amalia was sorry for Helen¡¯s loss.

    Humans aren¡¯t very long-lived, even with your medicine, and he died a few weeks ago.  I was at his house¡­I can¡¯t believe it, he¡¯s dead.

    Why would you think he couldn¡¯t be dead?

    He could be a shapeshifter!

    People can¡¯t shapeshift!  Although that would have been useful when I was at Emma''s place¡­

    At least he died happy?

    He died alone.  I¡¯m banned from his house.  Apparently, the woman in charge of his estate thought I was ¡°intruding¡± and I told her I wasn¡¯t sure that he was dead or not.  I also needed my stuff back.  For some reason, she decided to show me a picture of his dead body.  When I said ¡°I¡¯m not leaving until I see proof¡± I wasn¡¯t expecting that!  Fifty seven years well lived.

    Fifty seven?  Amalia expected in their nineties, or at earliest their mid seventies.  Her aunt was fifty seven, and she showed no signs of suddenly dying of natural causes.

    Helen, people don¡¯t die of natural causes at fifty seven.  The youngest I had seen die of natural causes was at seventy four, and that was at my coworker¡¯s father¡¯s funeral.  The reading of his will was awkward.  I have never seen anyone become so feral over a piece of paper.

    The last time I was on Earth, I knew many people dying in their fifties.

    When was that?

    The early 2020s.

    Of course people were dying younger, there was a pandemic going on at that time!

    And what about before that?

    Bad healthcare?  Back me up here Amalia, you know more about life expectancies.

    If this man was living in Switzerland, then he could expect an average life expectancy close to eighty five years.  He died twenty eight years prior to the average life expectancy for his gender and nationality.

    See Helen?  That man did not die of natural causes.

    The issue was that he decided to have no children or marry anyone.  He also decided to not write a will, so in the chaotic mayhem that followed his death, they held an auction to distribute his worldly possessions.  That also meant the Key.  I haven¡¯t had any luck tracking down what was being sold, and who got which item.  All I know is that it was a private auction, and there were international buyers.  I don¡¯t know which countries.

    He obviously didn¡¯t die of natural causes.  Didn¡¯t he have siblings or one insanely long lived grandmother?

    They all predeceased him.

    Did they die of natural causes?

    They also died of natural causes.

    I¡¯m thinking it¡¯s murder.  Amalia, what about you?

    Amalia thought it was a good time to go to sleep.  As she clutched her pillow and drifted off to sleep, she could hear them arguing in her head.

    It¡¯s natural causes, that photo showed me that he was at rest, he was ready to leave.

    The mortician shaped the face.  No one wants to look at their loved ones and be reminded that sometimes, people can die with a face of terror¡­

    Hello there.

    Was it already morning?

    It is not morning, but we don¡¯t know what morning is.  We would like to thank you for giving us life, Vine-Touched Servant.

    Had someone else acquired the same technology as the twins and was now using it to contact her?  Why would they have woken her up?

    The twins?  The ones that interfere with your mind?  We are not the same, because they are only two beings.  We are many.  You planted us in the ground, and helped us grow.

    Since when had she planted anything?  The only thing she had planted recently were the P. quinquefolia seeds and¡ªshe was going crazy.  Audiovisual hallucinations were a symptom of social isolation.  She did have the twins in her head though?  Or maybe they were figments of her subconscious that had arisen to torment her in her captivity¡­

    You are talking to your plants, that is reality.  We understand the job that was given to us, and we are working hard to weaken the wall.  Would you like to see through our leaves?

    She was already hallucinating plants talking to her, she thought; why wouldn¡¯t she experience a visual hallucination caused by isolation from fellow human beings?

    Inside the leaves, Amalia glimpsed a world high above the ground.  The floodlights were all pointed at the entrances of the holding cells, almost as if whoever set them up wanted those that were trapped inside to be disoriented once they reached the outside.  Some guards marched around, although she saw some of them entering and leaving a large structure.

    Can I get closer for observation purposes?  she asked the plants.

    No, none of us were able to settle there.  Besides, we like heights better.

    Understandable, considering your biology.  Am I able to hear anything?

    No.  We can¡¯t hear but we can see.  We want to be reunited with our siblings on the other side.  It¡¯s this wall, something is blocking us, but we are doing our best.  Sleep is good for your brain, Mother.

    Mother?

    You grew us, so theoretically you should be Mother, although you did not contribute any genetic material.

    I¡¯m not a mother, call me Frau Wald.

    Sleep, Frau Wald.

    Someone dragged her roughly from her bed.  Amalia groggily rubbed her eyes and grabbed her amulet out of instinct.  Her guard?  What were they doing here?  Suddenly, they grabbed her waist and shoved her into the hallway.

    ¡°Wh-what is happening?¡±

    ¡°Keep quiet.¡±

    Amalia did what the guard bid her to do.  After the mist was done with cleansing and sterilising both of their bodies, the guard grabbed her arm and dragged her along, her feet barely managing to keep pace with the guard¡¯s nimble steps.  Had they been that agile before?  She couldn¡¯t remember.  All of the floodlights are off, and unlike the past excursions there were no guards stalking the asphalt grid.  In the span of five minutes, both the guard and Amalia were near the large structure that she saw through the leaves of P. quinquefolia.  The wall was fractured, various vines and tendrils flourishing amidst the cracks and fragments of the void like barrier.  The guard pointed at the ground and at Amalia¡¯s head.  She assumed that the guard wanted to keep her head down.

    ¡°Wait here.¡± The guard entered the large plastic building with a keycard.

    Amalia stayed where she was.  Sitting on the pavement brought more questions into her mind.  It was unlikely that there were only guards to keep them captive here.  Like her holding cell, there were most likely cameras that guarded them as well.  She spotted one camera above her, choked by P. quinquefolia.  All of the other cameras she had spotted were entangled or blinking blue.  Had they seen her transform during her experiments?  If they did, wouldn¡¯t they have removed her and experimented on her?  Actually, why was she here?  Those questions swirled around her head until a click and the whoosh of an automatic door brought her attention to her guard.

    ¡°It¡¯s safe.¡± The guard beckoned to her. ¡°Follow me.¡±

    She was going to, but she stopped in her tracks.  The guard had been acting suspicious, and not like themselves.  Common sense dictated fleeing, but the situation left her with no safe refuge.  In a split second, she darted into the guards¡¯ structure, away from the guard¡¯s reach.

    What she expected was all of the guards to be immediately alerted to her presence.  What she found was most of the guards present slumped over on a long rectangular table, some of them crumpled up on their chairs, and four splayed in an undignified position on the floor.  On another table was a row of computer screens, all glowing an electric blue.  A coffee machine was situated in the corner and she smelled the aroma of freshly brewed coffee in the room.

    ¡°It¡¯s not what you think.  Listen, we need to leave quickly¡ª¡±

    Amalia grabbed her amulet, whispered the transformation phrase quietly, and summoned the carbon shield.  The guard remained motionless.

    ¡°Oh shit¡ª¡± The guard muttered.

    She couldn¡¯t comprehend what happened next.  She thought the guard was readying their gun to use on her.  In any case, that wouldn¡¯t matter.  Amalia hit them on the side of their head with the edge of her shield, knocking the goggles off of them.  Her hyperventilation kicked in.  Had she just hit a person in the head?!  Why would she have done that?!  Had she been reduced to violent measures?  She was a scientist, one equipped with a rational mind, not a person who hit people in the head with a technologically advanced shield.

    ¡°It¡¯s fine¡­my head is still ringing¡­should have explained myself better¡­or said my name.¡±

    Amalia faced the guard clutching their head.  Bright yellow eyes blinked at her.

    ¡°Nice to finally meet you in person.¡±

    Clytemnestra?

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m her.  It turns out that the reason we couldn¡¯t read the guards¡¯ minds are in these little helmets.¡± Clytemnestra knocked on her helmet. ¡°I couldn¡¯t find an exit, but there¡¯s a backup plan.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m so sorry¡­¡± Amalia apologised.

    ¡°It¡¯s fine, I¡¯ve had worse.¡±

    ¡°How did-¡±

    ¡°Did you know that an innocent little girl looking for medicine to treat a scrape works extremely well?  These guards may be cold to you, but they certainly weren¡¯t to a child.  I managed to persuade a sympathetic guard to allow me inside, and then I borrowed his clothes.¡±

    What did that mean?

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, they¡¯re alive.  I think I left them in a storage closet.¡±

    Did she know why everyone was here?

    ¡°Unfortunately no.  There are no paper archives, and their computers just got wiped.  I drugged the coffee, so don¡¯t drink it.  Thankfully, at least most of the guards liked espresso.  The rest I sent a message saying that there was an urgent message at Site Alpha, but after that all of the electronics shut off.¡± She waved at the computers. ¡°I don¡¯t know what happened there to be honest, but I did find out why I couldn¡¯t read Elias¡¯ mind.¡±

    Clytemnestra grabbed a hold of some pink coloured curtains and shoved it out of the way.  Elias was hooked onto a ventilator and was completely still, the machines around him slowly beeping as his vitals remained stable.

    ¡°The notes here say that he has been in a coma for a week.  Apparently he did try to escape, and got four bullets in the back for his trouble.¡±

    Amalia dropped her shield, letting it clatter on the floor.  She wasn¡¯t close to Elias, but she knew that Laura was fond of him.  Elias didn¡¯t move.  Why had they all been taken prisoner, and why would they¡­why would they¡ª

    ¡°Here, put these headphones on.  They¡¯re industrial grade, and I found them in a drawer.  Are you able to put any shields around the rest of your colleagues?¡±

    Amalia shrugged, until she remembered the plants.  If her dream was real and she could see through plants, then she could use them to protect everyone.  She closed her eyes, imagining a shield around herself and Elias.  Once she opened them, she was high above the facility like her dream.

    We are not a dream.  We are real, like you and Castor and Pollux.

    How did you know those names?

    We sense our siblings on the other side, and they tell us everything.  Now imagine the shields that will protect your colleagues.

    Amalia pictured it.  Soon, she found eleven light brown coloured domes surrounding some of the structures, and far below, Clytemnestra was walking in front of the wall, and opened her mouth.

    We will not be long for this world.  Thank you for giving life to us, and we know what we were here for.

    What do you mean¡ª

    Amalia¡¯s mind was shoved out of the gestalt consciousness.  Before she could react, the entire building was shaking.  Only her and Elias remained motionless.  Everything was vibrating and she heard something collide with the ceiling, until it stopped.  Peeking outside the door and taking off her headphones, she found Clytemnestra sighing.

    ¡°Whoo, that was¡­a lot¡­of screaming.  At least¡­it¡¯s broken now.¡±

    Sunlight shone upon Amalia¡¯s face and outside there was grass and the dancing of birch trees in the wind.  The wall was broken, shattered into a million chunks that surrounded Clytemnestra.  Amalia sensed her colleagues were awake inside the shields.  Outside, there was a teenager running towards them with yellow twintails dangling in the breeze.

    ¡°Castor!¡± The girl on the horizon shouted.  She sprinted into Clytemnestra and hugged her.

    Amalia looked back and forth between the two of them.  They were twins¡­most likely fraternal.  Those were the majority of twin births.  Amalia blinked.  The girl looked like a teenager¡­but they spoke like adults in her head.  Sensing that her colleagues needed to exit, she let down the shields.  She picked up her own shield, as all of her colleagues rushed towards her.

    ?C¡¯est quoi ce bordel?? Jacques exclaimed, looking at the wall.

    ¡°Frau Wald, are you alright?¡± Ada asked. "What are you wearing?"

    Amalia looked down at her uniform, which was unlike the light grey uniforms that her colleagues were wearing, especially considering the veined lace-like decorations between her chest and arms.  The twins stopped embracing each other as the one in massive twintails pointed out a large flash of light.

    ¡°I¡¯m...I¡¯m wearing something from¡­¡± There was no logical or rational explanation that could properly quantify how Amalia acquired this uniform.  Could she say that she possessed an amulet that had the capabilities to draw from an alternate power source?  What if it converted this energy into solid tangible clothing?

    Gunfire erupted on the far side.  Everyone ducked while Amalia flicked her shield up.  Instantly, a transparent dome formed around them and defended them against the bullets.

    Can you make the shields mobile and only cover your colleagues?  Because the bullets are ricocheting all over the place.

    Amalia noticed Helen ducking and dodging various bullets, some of which were ricocheting off of the massive dome that Amalia erected.

    ¡°So¡­ummm¡­I have a device that can erect shields.¡± That was suitable for now. ¡°Can you¡­can you run past the trees?  The shield is impenetrable, but Elias needs help.  He¡¯s¡­he¡¯s¡­¡± Amalia pointed at the building. ¡°He¡¯s in a coma.¡±

    Laura gasped in shock and broke off into a run towards the building, a small protective shield rotating around  her.  The others decided it would be best to sprint away together with any samples that they were holding, and Matteo expressed interest in studying Amalia¡¯s device for research purposes.  As they did so, Amalia flicked up several shields to protect against incoming bullets of her own.  Clytemnestra¡¯s hair changed to be the same lemon yellow as her sister and she started whacking the guards with her gun.  Eventually, they ended up together, cornered by several guards.

    ¡°Do you know how to use a gun?¡± she asked Clytemnestra.

    ¡°No, but today¡¯s a good day to learn new things!¡± Clytemnestra placed her finger on the trigger. ¡°The weight is interesting.¡±

    ¡°Yes, but be careful of the¡ª¡± BANG! ¡°Recoil.¡± Newton¡¯s third law of motion at its finest.

    The recoil knocked Clytemnestra backwards into a nearby wall.

    One of the soldiers was clutching their right arm in pain.  Amalia shrugged as she threw up another shield to block yet another barrage of bullets.  Clytemnestra recovered and had two black wires impale the ground in front of them, and sneezed.  The ground cracked beneath their feet as everyone made way for the cracks.

    Out of the corner of her eye, Amalia spotted Laura pushing Elias on his hospital bed out of the guards¡¯ quarters.  Unfortunately, some of the guards noticed as well and gave chase.

    Clytemnestra alternated between shooting them, recovering from shooting, or screaming at them, at one point using her wires to trip several guards in pursuit.  Amalia placed a few shields around the two of them.  However, she noted that when she was not concentrating on them, they tended to fall.

    Having finally outrun their pursuers, Amalia and Clytemnestra sequestered themselves near the now demolished wall.  Laura met up with them, with Elias¡¯ prone body laid out on his bed, his vital monitors beeping wildly.  Another wave of gunfire erupted, Amalia shielding all of them with a force field.

    Now that she saw Clytemnestra¡¯s face closely, the twins did look identical.  Amalia chalked it up to a trick of the light.

    No, that was shapeshifting.  Otherwise I would have never fit into that uniform.  Helen taught me while I was moaning in pain in the back of the van.  She seems to have ditched the van though.

    Amalia warily peeked out from her shield.  Helen was backed into a corner, holding a small white pen.  Instead of the van, there was a bus outside near the trees.

    Amalia glanced back at the panicking Laura.  Between the guards, the distance between them and the bus, and Elias, it was highly unlikely that they could escape without incurring injury.

    ¡°Should we¡ª¡± Amalia pointed at Helen¡¯s back against the wall.

    ¡°Helen¡¯s fine, don¡¯t worry,¡± was Clytemnestra¡¯s response.

    Helen held out her pen, and pointed it at the crowd.  None of them seemed to be intimidated by the pen and rushed her.  She sighed and pressed a button.  In the span of a second, the little white pen in her hand expanded in size and segments until its tip was speared into a guard¡¯s chest.  Helen retracted it and started to use it as one would use a spear.

    Both pen and twintails whirled in the air as Helen fought back the guards surrounding her.  At one point, Amalia witnessed her throwing the pen into the wall with a guard hanging on.  She tapped a yellow jewel on her forearm, summoning her pen back into her hand.  That must be another form of advanced technology, Amalia thought, where a simple pen can be a disguise for a larger weapon.

    I think that would be our cue to start sprinting.  How good are you at running?

    Amalia was terrible at running.

    Time to refresh those skills!

    Clytemnestra took off, occasionally shooting into the crowd.  Amalia flicked up a few shields to protect Laura and Elias, and helped roll Elias¡¯ bed onto the grass.  Behind her she spotted Helen giving chase.  Finally they arrived at the bus where Amalia helped Laura carry Elias¡¯ bed onto the back of the bus.  She wanted to say something to Laura, but a sudden lurch caused her to be thrown against the back of the bus.

    ¡°Go faster Helen!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m trying here!  Do you want to take the wheel?¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t drive well!¡±

    Amalia wanted Helen to slow down, as her body collided with the walls, the floor, and the back of the bus yet again.  Clytemnestra signalled to Amalia to shield everyone.  A few seconds later, the road behind them was left a pile of rubble.

    Surprisingly Elias was still alive.  Laura and Amalia worked by keeping the bed mostly stable and not jostling around the seatless bus.

    Matteo wanted to use Clytemnestra¡¯s gun to shoot the guards, only for Amalia to remind him that he wouldn¡¯t aim well inside a swerving vehicle.  The twins were arguing and spinning the wheel too quickly, often veering off of the road and onto the grass.

    They left the guards behind and Amalia looked backwards once the bus stopped lurching.  The building that she was in loomed tall over the disappearing horizon, a perfect semicircle all in pitch black.  She sensed the energy of her T. aestivum samples and told them to head into the wild.

    Once they slowed down to a safe and comfortable pace, Amalia started asking her colleagues questions, and them of Amalia.  Based on the collected information, none of their guards spoke to them.  Some of them, like Fabienne and Laura, had some of their cereal crop treatment groups from the experiment placed in their holding cells.  Fabienne recalled waking up to her guard snapping off stalks from the Z. mays Calamity resistant treatment group.  Jacques recounted how he had numerous issues with the guard¡¯s treatment and once berated his guard to their face one night.  Somewhere in the back of her mind, Amalia detected Clytemnestra giving Jacques a mental smirk.  Matteo remembered that he once briefly heard a commotion and then the sound of gunfire.  Other individual testimonies pointed towards that being the incident that sent Elias into a coma.  Among everyone, there had been no mentions of why they were held captive, or in the case of Fabienne, why they were taking some of the samples.

    ¡°Frau Wald, what do you mean the cameras in your room and the facility blinked blue?¡± Ada asked incredulously.

    ¡°Madame Vogel, it is not just her.  All of our cameras had a blue blinking light,¡± Jacques answered.

    ¡°That¡¯s impossible.  My brother worked at a security company, and he once brought a broken version of that exact type of security camera home.  Once we fixed it, it blinked red, not blue.¡±

    Amalia saw Helen peeking behind and focusing on the wheel once she noticed Amalia noticing her.  Clytemnestra was balancing a laptop on her knees, both jumping every time Helen hit a road bump which was often.  A sudden ding arose from the laptop.

    ¡°Hey Helen!  I got the buyers¡¯ list from that auction!¡± she shouted.

    ¡°How?¡± Helen shouted back.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know!  Something popped up and sent me the entire list!  I can read it out to you!  There''s Italy, Ireland, Morocco, Costa Rica, South Korea, Poland, China, Germany, Canada, Greece, the Czech Republic, Malta, Norway, South Africa, Egypt, Brazil, England, Australia¡­the list is long.  There¡¯s no names listed, so I think it was anonymous.¡±

    ¡°Good enough.  We¡¯re going to Italy!¡±

    ¡°Ummm, we need to drop everyone here at the hospital, especially Elias.  His condition will worsen if we keep him with us.¡± Amalia hoped the twins listened to reason.

    ¡°Why can¡¯t we find a doctor in a nice back alley?  They would have experience but they¡¯re out of the way.¡± Clytemnestra suggested.

    Laura looked like she would punch Clytemnestra in the face.  Ada gave a disappointed look to her.  Jacques furrowed his eyebrows at her in his perpetually annoyed way.

    ¡°An actual hospital, please.¡± Amalia would never have a shady doctor be in control of Elias¡¯ life.

    Clytemnestra and Helen shared a look and shrugged. ¡°That might be a good idea.¡±

    The bus, which she learnt was ¡°borrowed¡±, travelled swiftly into Geneva.  Although Amalia wanted to stay with her colleagues, her gut told her to travel with the twins.

    A few hours later, she was with them as they argued over whether to go to Italy or to Ireland or any of the places on the buyers¡¯ list.  The loud and frequently ear piercing arguments unsettled her, so she found those industrial grade headphones and put them on.  The peace and quiet was much better, especially since she escaped from captivity.  Still, she clutched her amulet.  There¡¯s more to this situation than her and her colleagues¡¯ kidnapping, she thought.

    <hr>

    ¡°How much footage was lost?¡±

    ¡°At least a week and a half¡¯s worth of footage.¡±

    ¡°So no one fixed the problem?¡±

    ¡°None of us are great with technology, so no one detected it until it was too late.¡±

    ¡°Did the intruder steal anything?¡±

    ¡°Only a few minor files, but the self-destruct protocol kicked in quickly.¡±

    ¡°Good, what about the scientists?¡±

    ¡°They are recuperating at the H?pitaux Universitaires de Gen¨¨ve.¡±

    ¡°Keep a close eye on them, and don¡¯t kidnap them again.  Which one of them is the Servant?¡±

    ¡°We aren¡¯t sure.  The loss of footage coincided with their length in captivity.¡±

    ¡°Have you secured all of their samples and test subjects?¡±

    ¡°Some of the scientists took them in their escape, but we have recovered a decent portion.¡±

    ¡°Good.  Send them to Site Alpha and send the wrecking crew too.  Leave no trace.  We don¡¯t want another Costa Rica.¡±

 Take Up This Terracotta Armour, For The Hunt Begins

    The waves brushed gently against the smooth water-worn rocks of the shore. The smell of fresh pine wafted into her nose. Above, the sky was mottled with little clouds that Jenny kept pointing out. According to her, they were cumulus clouds. The tall peaks of the Rockies stretched in front of Willa, and the Sun was intent on killing her eyes. In the grass, she smelled rabbit and gopher. Sometimes there was a faint scent of moose, deer, or big-horned sheep nearby.

    ¡°Why won¡¯t you take a vacation? It would only be for a month or two, and besides, you should have a lot of vacation days saved up over the years.¡± Jenny pointed out.

    Willa snapped back to the conversation. ¡°I prefer to work.¡±

    ¡°Can¡¯t you work remotely?¡± Jenny smelled like old dirt and metal.

    ¡°Yes, but I don¡¯t know where I would go if I do this.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s see, you told me that you had gotten an amulet in the middle of the woods. Then, a voice spoke to you saying that you are needed somewhere and gave you vague instructions. What were those instructions again?¡±

    ¡°Go to the wall that divides the land, a testament to willpower.¡± It was vague, and the clearing they were in had a faint scent of something. Maybe she should ask Jenny when she finished working for the day.

    ¡°It could be the Great Wall of China. There are already human bones inside, I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if there was a hidden treasure. It could be that US-Mexico border wall, but that was unfinished and left to rot, so I don¡¯t think so.¡± Jenny put herself in her characteristic ¡®I¡¯m thinking very hard¡¯ pose, her hands on her chin.

    ¡°Both are equally far away, and I prefer staying in Canada, thank you very much.¡±

    ¡°Your sister left for Italy, and she¡¯s younger than you.¡±

    ¡°Dana always wanted to leave for Europe. It¡¯s been her dream since she was twelve.¡± Willa preferred the familiar comforts: the prairies, the fresh mountain air, driving past the wind farms that never ceased spinning, and her siblings. She wondered how Clara and Liza were doing.

    ¡°And you can have that dream too!¡± Jenny looked at Willa with those wild dark brown eyes that once promised that pranking the principal by dumping a vat of milk wouldn¡¯t get them in trouble. It did.

    ¡°I¡¯m not following any dreams, I¡¯m perfectly comfortable where I am.¡±

    ¡°Well, I¡¯m not pushing you to do anything then.¡± Jenny relaxed onto her red chair. The red chair smelled like mountain air, paint, and plastic. ¡°So how does it feel to smell everything in sight?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s fine.¡± It was as natural as breathing to Willa.

    The chairs were made of plastic and were hard. Both Willa and Jenny found them awkward to sit on, but the views the red chairs gave were stunning. The clear view of the Rocky Mountains always awed Willa, along with the view of Waterton Lake.

    One time, after her sister¡¯s wedding, Willa took a trip past the Canada-US border, where a clear-cut line signalled where Canada ended and the US began. Glacier National Park was a wonderful experience. Although Clara didn¡¯t land, she...decided to have a different experience with her groom. The stuff married people do, Willa thought, thinking of when she opened the hatch to the guest cabin. That was something.

    A white glove, soothing, caressing Willa¡¯s shoulder. A large mirror, and a cracked reflection.

    Willa stared into space. That again. Jenny thought it was connected to the amulet, seeing as the visions started appearing when Willa grabbed it. Willa thought it was a trick of her mind, but they felt real. She didn¡¯t mention the persistent unnerving feeling, or that she occasionally sniffed out a wrong scent.

    Jenny kept checking her walkie-talkie. It buzzed with a crackling static.

    ¡°Another call?¡± There had been a recent spate of sightings of wild animals roaming around the townsite in the past few weeks, especially deer and raccoons. Currently, park rangers had been looking for a grizzly bear who was rummaging through campsites. All rangers had been authorised to euthanize it should they come across it, much to Jenny¡¯s consternation.

    She checked it. ¡°Sighting of a grizzly near Cameron Creek. I¡¯ll see you tomorrow.¡±

    Jenny put on her beige hat that smelled of pine needles and vanilla-scented shampoo. She headed to her truck and drove off the gravel road. Willa got off the red chair, took one last look at the clear mountain water, and headed back to the hotel.

    She appreciated the view of the lake from the main floor of the hotel. Jenny had saved enough money for seven nights at the Prince of Wales, and for that Willa was grateful. As an annual tradition, they would book a night or two at the Prince of Wales Hotel. The small chair in the lobby allowed room for one person, and that was all Willa wanted. The smell of brewing tea wafted in, as well as the persistent old wood scent that permeated the air. Her nose crinkled at the pungent odour of some perfume that clung to a lady sitting two chairs away from Willa. She ended up coughing at the cheap cologne of a nearby guest. Some of the guests in the lobby made it hard for Willa to concentrate fully on her work. The budget for the security firm refused to sort itself out, not with her being frequently distracted by the scents of unwashed strangers, ranging from the somewhat sweet floral fragrance of a mature woman to the stench of a teenage boy. Willa hoped that her nephew would know about deodorant and how to apply it in the future.

    The scent of raspberries filled the air. A girl¡¯s smile, beautiful white columns, the wind whispering in her ear, a guide in the dark.

    ¡°Okaasan! Otosaan!¡±

    The sound of feet being dragged haphazardly across the floor shook Willa from her daydream. Close to her seat, a teenage girl was being led by her parents away from the seating area in front of the large open window. Willa took a whiff of the air. Raspberries. It wasn¡¯t like other scents where it was inherent to the person. It was like someone or something rubbed off on this girl. She took another whiff and instantly recoiled. The scent was close, too close for comfort.

    Willa shuddered at the idea of a stranger approaching her.

    She continued working on the budget for the year, checking the expenses incurred, the profits earned, and any numbers that she missed while she was distracted. She worked late into the night when the Sun dipped behind one of the peaks beyond the horizon and most of the guests were going into their rooms. She was about to retire when she was tackled by someone.

    ¡°Ate, ang habang panahon tayong hindi nag salita. Kumusta ka na?¡±

    ¡°Oi Liza, hindi mo ako kailangan harapin.¡± Why did Liza do this every time?

    ¡°Liza! Bumaba kay Willa!¡± Clara marched over to Willa and ripped Liza from clutching her sister tightly.

    ¡°Ate!¡± Liza shook herself off. ¡°Buti ni Willa.¡±

    Willa was lying prone on the ground. Her sister used to be one of the top athletes in high school, and her physique and strength showed that. The scent that clung to her was familiar, that of sweat and moisture. She must have taken a run before greeting Willa.

    ¡°Are you okay?¡± asked Clara.

    Despite being shorter than both Liza and Willa, Clara radiated a formidable aura that served to keep all three of her younger sisters on their toes. Her scent was that of clean mountain air and oranges. Probably her shampoo, Willa thought.

    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m fine.¡± Where were Miguel and Nina?

    As if on cue, the two little sneaks came sprinting from the staircase.

    ¡°You¡¯re it!¡± Miguel yelled.

    ¡°No you missed me, so you¡¯re still it!¡± Nina yelled back.

    ¡°No, you!¡±

    ¡°No, you!¡±

    ¡°Kids, stop yelling. Everyone¡¯s trying to sleep, so don¡¯t make any noise, and you two weren¡¯t supposed to be running around.¡± Clara sighed. ¡°You two are going to be the death of me.¡±

    Willa chuckled. ¡°Didn¡¯t you say that to Dana and Liza when they were in school?¡±

    ¡°Yes, and you were a little menace too. Don¡¯t think I¡¯ve forgotten that time you flooded the van with water because you wanted to experience swimming in a safe environment.¡± She smiled and hugged Willa. ¡°You should come up north sometime. I haven¡¯t seen you, the kids haven¡¯t seen you.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m busy with work,¡± Willa retorted.

    ¡°But you just type on a computer,¡± Miguel pointed out.

    ¡°I do, but when I type on that computer, it helps the people I¡¯m working with money.¡± Willa had no clue how to explain accounting to a six-year-old. ¡°Without me, their work would be harder.¡±

    ¡°How¡¯s it been living in Pincher Creek with Jenny? It has to be good, or you would have visited me in the last three months.¡± Liza jumped in.

    ¡°It¡¯s fine, and it¡¯s easier for her to live close to where she works. Sometimes we take trips to see the bison or Lundbreck Falls.¡± The two of them had shared a love of the outdoors. When Jenny suggested that she and Willa should move to be closer to one of the national parks for her job, Willa easily agreed.

    Liza nodded. ¡°Nice to be breathing all of that fresh mountain air. I should come down here more often, or you can visit me in Canmore. It¡¯s the same atmosphere and perfect for a morning jog.¡±

    ¡°In a couple of weeks?¡± Will she still be here in two weeks? Her amulet bulged in her back pocket. She spotted Nina eyeing her pockets, but the girl didn¡¯t say anything.

    ¡°Sounds like a deal. Something different after five years, good change of pace.¡± Liza started stretching her arms, with Clara ducking every time Liza¡¯s outstretched arm went near her head.

    ¡°Where¡¯s Jason?¡± Willa asked Clara.

    ¡°He¡¯s working too. New solar panel installation in southern Saskatchewan. He sends his apologies, and wishes he can be here.¡±

    ¡°Why are you both here?¡±

    ¡°To surprise you, duh.¡± Clara shot Liza a look. ¡°Is there any other reason?¡±

    ¡°No. Did you book rooms at the hotel?¡±

    ¡°Just two nights. Is Jennifer working late?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± Willa¡¯s shoulders tensed. She hadn¡¯t been able to identify the scent, only that it smelled wrong. Different from the overpowering raspberry scent from today. ¡°There¡¯s been a few bear sightings around town. Be careful.¡±

    Afterwards, they all retired to their rooms. Willa dove into her blanket and soon found herself beginning to close her eyes. Later, she heard the sound of a door opening, and Jenny flopping onto the bed out of exhaustion. A new scent clung to her, that of well-worn gravel and¡ªthat wrong scent. Willa fell asleep later.

    Morning broke, and Willa stretched. Being careful not to wake Jenny, who was still snoring with one arm hanging off the bed, Willa prepared herself for her morning jog. She changed into her athletic wear. She knocked on Liza¡¯s room and asked her if she was ready for a run through the town

    ¡°No thanks. I think today I¡¯ll be lifting weights.¡± Liza opened the door wider to show weights of various sizes on the floor. ¡°Thanks for the offer.¡±

    Clara wasn¡¯t much for running, and neither Miguel nor Nina would have been interested. Jenny was still asleep. She was running alone today.

    Willa started at the field next to the hotel. She looked both ways for big-horned sheep and other people. Neither was present, so she took off after saying the phrase that activated her amulet. She¡¯d grown faster since receiving the amulet. She wasn¡¯t a boastful person, but Willa suspected she might be able to outrun Liza one day. Willa rushed past the field onto the rocky face of the cliff, skidding in her brown boots and kicking rocks. She could taste the dust that sprayed on her face.

    Once she reached the shore, she stopped running. The water sparkled, clear as Clara¡¯s bronze skin. She chuckled at the memory of Clara flaunting her acne-free skin when they were all going through puberty. Liza learnt a lot of swear words very quickly during that period, even though their mother reminded her not to swear in their house.

    ¡°Konnichiwa?¡±

    That raspberry scent again. Her shoulders tensed as she turned to face the sound of the small voice. The girl from the hotel was watching Willa, her phone out in her hand. She seemed to be examining Willa, a thought that made Willa on edge. She wobbled her hand.

    ¡°Nihongo wa hanasemasu ka?¡± The girl took a step closer.

    She was speaking Japanese. Jenny had blasted enough anime into Willa¡¯s head in middle school to know what it sounded like.

    ¡°Boat!¡± She pointed to the docks. Willa stared back, unsure what to make of this girl.

    The pale girl with the overpowering raspberry scent walked next to Willa and shoved her phone in Willa¡¯s face. Her ears pricked up. Teenagers, she thought, why are they like this?

    ¡°Atashi no tomodachi wa shitte imasu ka?¡± The girl asked.

    Willa tried to move away, but the teenager was relentless. She refused to stop hounding Willa as they sprinted past the rocky beach and into a nearby picnic area. Willa¡¯s tail was upright, as she sniffed the other girl. Raspberries, strong as ever.

    The teen kept pointing at her phone, swiping to a group photo with her and three other girls. One of the girls stood out to Willa, the one with shoulder-length hair and round glasses. She looked familiar.

    ¡°Tenhou Mihira.¡± The girl stated. ¡°Tenbin-za. Anata wa inu desu.¡± She pointed to Willa¡¯s head and tail. ¡°Nishikawa Hina.¡± She pointed at herself.

    Willa wanted to run off, but Hina pulled out her texts and clicked on the most recent messages. Again, Hina stuck her phone in Willa¡¯s face. She pulled down her helmet, but she could still see that the contact was listed as Unknown. The unknown person was typing.

    That¡¯s her.

    Willa checked the camera on the phone. Was it on?

    Have you been smelling anything strange lately? Probably in the past two weeks or earlier?

    Willa froze. ¡°How do you know?¡±

    Your ears, tail, and the fact that you have been running around in a suit of armour, all point

    towards you being the Dog. I¡¯m surprised that you haven¡¯t tried to sniff this phone yet.

    ¡°I don¡¯t sniff people¡¯s phones, and I don¡¯t like strangers invading my personal space.¡± Willa glared at Hina.

    This is important. I¡¯ve been listening to your friend Jennifer Chang¡¯s walkie-talkie. The recent wildlife sightings are not because of natural migration, but¡ª

    ¡°We¡¯re done here. Leave me alone.¡± Willa sprinted away, leaving Hina and her phone behind.

    How did they access the park ranger frequency? She would bring this up to Jenny after work, and where were Hina¡¯s parents? Why weren¡¯t they keeping a leash on their child? And that scent¡­she sniffed the air again. It was still there, but what was it?

    Snarling, a light blue trail against dark skies, wings of white.

    Willa shook her head. What was in her head? These weren¡¯t daydreams, but it felt like she had lived through those experiences. Jenny had once suggested talking to a therapist or a psychologist about the visions. She might take her up on that offer.

    After detransforming, Willa walked up to Clara¡¯s room and knocked lightly. Clara opened the door, the bags on her eyes contrasting against the light.

    ¡°Willa?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve been having these images in my head for two weeks, and I don¡¯t know why, but they sound and feel real, and I want to find a psychologist,¡± Willa explained.

    Clara stared. ¡°Come in. Liza has decided to watch over the kids today.¡±

    Willa followed and placed herself on the bed. Clara was on the opposite side.

    ¡°What kind of images are you seeing?¡± she asked.

    ¡°There¡¯s this person with white-gloved hands, and I feel like I know her. She touches my shoulder in a caring way, but I¡¯ve never met anyone like her before.¡± Jenny was her only friend and Willa wouldn¡¯t let a stranger touch her like that.

    Clara nodded in her ¡®Interesting, please continue¡¯ way.

    ¡°I also remember¡­me in conflict with something or someone. It doesn¡¯t seem like a dream, but like I have lived it.¡± Willa sighed. ¡°Do you have any idea what this means? Why am I seeing things that have never happened to me?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure myself, and I would recommend a psychologist, but Willa? I¡¯m your big sister. If you have any problems, I¡¯m always here.¡± Clara beamed. ¡°You can call me at any time, and you won¡¯t disturb me.¡±

    ¡°Thanks,¡± Willa said. The soothing aroma of oranges filled her nostrils.

    Clara¡¯s phone started ringing. She picked up and put the caller on speakerphone. ¡°Liza?¡±

    ¡°Mom guess what! Ate Liza and Ate Jenny found a dead bear!¡± That was Miguel¡­wait what?

    ¡°Miguel sweetie, where are you?¡± Clara asked.

    ¡°By that path near those big falls.¡±

    ¡°Alright stay where you are, me and Ate Willa are coming to get you.¡± Clara put Miguel on mute. ¡°I leave her with the kids for one day¡­¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s just go.¡± Willa bounced off the bed, grabbing the keys from Clara. She¡¯s seen what happened when Clara drove in a cloud of anger, and she refused to repeat that experience.

    A half-hour later, Willa and Clara found themselves next to a shaded clearing. Jenny was examining the corpse of a massive grizzly bear, its jaws agape. Willa waved her hand against the flies that started to buzz around her head. The stench of decaying flesh hit her nostrils, as she narrowed her eyes against the black haze. Clara was shepherding the children away from the bear''s corpse.

    ¡°Willa! I was just about to call you!¡± Jenny waved, her latex gloves stretching to her wrists. ¡°I found the bear that everyone was looking for, but now a rogue moose is roaming around near Upper Waterton Lake. Most of the park rangers are tied up there, so I would like a helping hand.¡±

    ¡°Willa¡¯s here?¡± A voice piped up. Although the carcass¡¯ scent masked numerous scents, Willa recognized the characteristic cologne and bleach scent of Jenny¡¯s brother. She waved.

    ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re not the only person here who had her siblings show up.¡± Jenny nodded. ¡°I would have sent him away, but he wanted to learn more about animal decomposition.¡±

    Caleb stuck his head above the bear¡¯s stomach. ¡°Nice to see you again! You should come to look at this. The rate of decomposition is fascinating.¡±

    Willa trod over to the belly of the bear. Caleb was wearing a face mask, a cap, and latex gloves. Currently, his hands were deep inside the bear¡¯s intestines with gaping holes. She sighed. Willa had accepted a long time ago that Caleb and dead things were a package deal.

    ¡°So what did you want to show me?¡± She asked.

    ¡°Alright, so according to Jenny, your bear has been dead since yesterday, right? Using this guidebook, the decomposition of this bear matches that of a bear that has been dead for longer. This is a bit weird, right?¡± He pointed at a wriggling section of the bear¡¯s innards. ¡°If you see here, that section of the intestines has become a maggot colony, and there are empty pupae inside. Those flies are black blow flies, which have a lifespan of two to four weeks. So this bear has been dead for longer than yesterday, I would say about two or three weeks. There are also beetle larvae inside the stomach, which helps to date the time of death. And there¡¯s something else as well!¡± He gestured to the bear¡¯s head. ¡°Look into its eyes, and tell me what you can observe.¡±

    Willa peered into its eyes, or rather, its eye sockets. It had no eyes. ¡°There aren¡¯t any eyes.¡±

    ¡°Yes, and that is a great mystery. I would have expected the eyes to remain, but here they were gone, without any trace.¡± Caleb looked at Willa in his ¡®So what do you think?¡¯ way.

    ¡°It¡¯s¡­different.¡± Her interest in deceased things only extended to being aware that people die. Her shoulder had been a place to cry for her sisters and cousins and Jenny, although Willa often found herself dry-eyed. She grieved, but not outwardly.

    Certain that Caleb was done showing her the parts of the corpse that interested him, Willa inhaled deeply¡ªand the wrongness of the scent sent her head twitching. If she had dog ears, they would have been flattened. The wrongness permeated the entire glade, and its potency threatened to make Willa gag. Something was wrong, she thought, turning her head back and forth. Jenny was mourning the dead bear, while Caleb kept examining the insides of it. Clara was chewing out Liza over taking the children near the trail. Why doesn¡¯t anyone notice how wrong this place was, she thought. The decaying flesh was sloughing off, and the wrongness grew stronger. Willa remained alert, her eyes darting quickly between her friend and the shadow-casting trees that surrounded them.

    ¡°Something¡¯s wrong,¡± she stated.

    ¡°It¡¯s a dead bear, and some of the other rangers are heading up here. Don¡¯t worry about me. I have PPE, and it doesn¡¯t appear that the bear was diseased.¡± Jenny gave Willa a thumbs up. ¡°Caleb, can you go with Willa?¡±

    ¡°But this bear is fascinating. If I can ask my friend at the body farm¡ª¡±

    ¡°I am your older sister and I know you are studying to be a medical examiner, but a bear isn¡¯t the same organism as a human. Please go.¡±

    This time, Liza took the wheel since Clara was too incensed to drive, Caleb preferred to write inside his journal about the specifics of bear decomposition, and Willa was too nervous. As Liza regaled Nina and Miguel with tales of marathons she ran or that time she and Dana briefly vandalised their old high school, Willa watched outside the windows. Occasionally, she would see a glimpse of unmoving shadows or eyes watching her, hidden beneath the trees. She shuddered and was still on edge by the time they reached the hotel. The open fields now contained long shadows that stretched into the distance, and she felt the presence of more than old ghosts in the darkened hotel.

    Sleeping couldn''t dispel any of the creeping images that filled Willa''s mind, nor could she sleep. Her eyes remained wide awake, as she stared at the windows overlooking the town. She tossed and turned all night, haunted by visions.

    They''re overwhelming us, light the signal fires!

    Over here!

    Libra, look out! Below you!

    So here, right?

    My hands are stained, tell me, is this how I''m supposed to live?

    A creaking noise sounded from the main floor. Willa jumped out of bed and fiddled with her pockets until she grasped the amulet. Peering around to make sure she was alone, she whispered the transformation phrase.

    "Let me guard those who I love with zeal and fidelity, and beware the mark of the relentless hunt."

    The amulet burst into a terracotta-coloured light, as sepia marks appeared around her body and head. From those marks came forth armour and some clothes. Willa knew that her ears and tail were beginning to sprout from some of the other marks. Her senses sharpened, with that wrong scent making her nose wrinkle.

    She opened the door to her floor, the circular chandelier above hanging precariously and gently swaying. There is no wind, Willa thought. In all of her five years living in Pincher Creek and travelling to Waterton in the summer, the wind had never entered the hotel.

    That wrong smell was everywhere, but it was strongest on the main floor. She tiptoed to the grand staircase, rounding each corner with a sniff. There was a large stone disk that always hung by her side, but she has never used it. Now she held it in her hand. If anything happened, it would be something to protect her.

    At the end of the staircase, her ears pricked up. The sounds of sleeping guests resonated across the hotel. Nothing unusual.

    In the middle of the night, the windows and chandelier cast long foreboding shadows into the hotel. Willa¡¯s own shadow was contorted as she sneaked against the walls. The scent was becoming stronger the closer Willa got to the reception desk. Suddenly, her amulet started blinking a pale orange. She tapped on it, trying to turn off the blinking lights¡ªand that¡¯s when it attacked.

    On instinct, Willa punched whatever decided to attack her with the discus in hand. Her hand connected with bone. It couldn¡¯t bite but kept trying to shove her away.

    Willa retreated to the dining hall, where she opened her amulet. Inside was a radar, with a blinking pale orange dot heading steadily towards her. Someone had left a stray flashlight on the bar, so she picked it up and turned it on. Illuminated within the harsh glare was a moose, eyeless like the bear. Willa shuddered. The wrong scent emanated from the crazed moose. She quickly dodged it as it careened into the bar, smashing multiple bottles with its antlers.

    Taking advantage of the temporary lull, she scrambled back into the main lobby. Only the haunting wind, the sound of her breathing, snoring guests, and the crackling of hooves against glass could be heard in the hotel.

    Willa gripped her discus as she stared down the deranged moose. She sprinted towards the wrought iron gate near the elevator, wrenched it open, and watched as the moose jammed itself inside it. Death and decay wafted into her nose. The moose struggled to free itself from the tight space, kicking the gate in the process.

    Willa wondered if she should wake Jenny up to deal with this. Outside of the Chang family hunting trips, she never dealt with animals in any capacity. She was about to call Jenny when the moose ripped apart the wall of the elevator, knocking Willa onto the reception desk.

    A pop sounded from her left shoulder as she screamed in pain.

    No one stirred, except for some quiet feet, and the moose turned towards Willa. She swore that malice crossed its face before it charged her.

    Her legs refused to move, and she fumbled for anything. She wouldn¡¯t throw her discus, who knew if it came back? She couldn¡¯t stand still though. There were some small rings on the left side. Willa had no clue what it did, but she held one in her right hand anyways.

    The moose charged at her, intent on something. When it reached her, she grabbed its neck and slapped the ring onto it. The ring formed a tight circle around its neck. The moose tried to stomp on her but she twisted to the side for the helmet to catch most of the blow. The ringing refused to cease, making her clutch her head in pain. The moose was trying to bite off the collar which kept tightening around its neck and beeping repeatedly.

    Warning: 3 seconds to neutralisation of the acquired target.

    What? Willa tried to pop her dislocated shoulder back into place to no avail. The collar on the moose started pulsating rapidly in a strobe of terracotta light.

    Commencing neutralisation of the target.

    The moose¡¯s body shook with great energy until it exploded into fine dust.

    Neutralisation of target completed. Seek a new target for the hunt?

    Willa staggered to her feet and warily approached the collar beeping sky blue. The dust of the moose lay scattered over the floor of the hotel. Good luck explaining any of this to the receptionist, Willa thought, the cleaners, or anyone with a functional brain. She picked up the collar and put it back on her waist.

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    Willa turned around, her left arm hanging limply. The young girl from yesterday was watching her, her phone shining brightly in the night.

    ¡°Hokori wa ereb¨¥t¨¡ kara kita nodesu ka?¡±

    You should have listened to me.

    ¡°I told both of you to leave me alone,¡± she snarled.

    The moose and its ilk are what your friend and the Park Rangers have been chasing for the past two weeks. I don¡¯t know what they are, but your collar was effective at killing it. I doubt that any kind of conventional weaponry would be effective. Work with me to eliminate this threat.

    ¡°And why should I?¡±

    Think of the people here, your friend, her brother, your sisters, and your niece and nephew. We both know that if these creatures run amok, they would be a danger to the guests and the rangers here.

    Willa marched herself up the stairs, ignored Hina¡¯s pleading eyes, and closed the door behind her. Wincing in pain, she lay down and slept. Her arm would heal, just like the marks where the cage had imprinted onto her back.

    The morning sun arose, and Willa flopped out of her bed. Her arm was aching, but she could feel her shoulder wasn¡¯t as dislocated as last night¡­last night. Hina, the moose, the phone asking her to work with them¡­her dislocated shoulder. The bed next to her was unoccupied. Written there was a note saying that Jenny was working, and wouldn¡¯t be back until late in the evening. The wrong scent had infiltrated the bedroom. That was likely because of Jenny chasing after corpses. Wait, Willa thought as she steadied herself, that moose was dead. She killed a moose with a collar. The bulky armour she wore felt heavier. What was going on? How was she going to explain this to Jenny? She closed her eyes, and her hand instinctively reached for the disk.

    You can call me at any time, and you won¡¯t disturb me.

    Ate Clara would know what to do.

    ¡°The hunt has ended, and my oath has been fulfilled,¡± she whispered to herself as the armour fell away into sepia marks. Her left arm had almost healed, and she marched herself to Clara¡¯s room. One knock later, Clara opened the door, the bags in her eyes getting darker.

    ¡°Hi, Willa. Do you need anything?¡± Clara asked, her exhaustion evident.

    ¡°I need to tell you something.¡± Willa looked around. ¡°In the room.¡±

    ¡°Sure. Kids, me and Ate Willa are going to talk privately, okay? Just stay put.¡± Clara folded the sheets, letting Willa sit beside her.

    ¡°What¡¯s been troubling you lately?¡± she asked.

    ¡°Those visions I¡¯ve been having¡­I should tell you something. I think they¡¯re connected to this.¡± She took out her amulet. ¡°I found it in the forest when I was hiking alone. It lets me transform into a dog.¡± Nothing happened when she transformed, so she wouldn¡¯t be hurting anyone. ¡°Can I show you?¡±

    Clara nodded. ¡°Of course you can.¡±

    Willa held her amulet in the air. ¡°I swear this, I will pursue all that flee from my vigil. Let the hunt mark them, and let me pursue them with zeal and fidelity."

    Terracotta light enveloped her. Sepia marks appeared from her body once more, forming armour around her arms, legs, and torso. An exhilarating feeling overcame Willa, as the world burst into the faint scent of freshly cleaned linens and ube ice cream.

    Once it was finished, Clara was astonished. She looked at Willa from the metal helmet down to her combat boots. Willa took off her helmet.

    ¡°Awwww, your ears!¡± Clara smiled. ¡°Do they move? Can you move them?¡±

    Willa flattened one of her ears, then raised it up.

    ¡°Wow!¡± She blinked. ¡°If you take away the amulet, will your visions stop?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure.¡± Sometimes, she stored it in her suitcase. The visions still occurred.

    ¡°Well, if you-¡±

    ¡°Mom!¡±

    Miguel burst into the room. ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± He pulled down his shirt collar to reveal a sepia-coloured mark in the shape of hunting rifle crosshairs in the middle of his collarbone.

    Willa and Clara exchanged a look.

    ¡°Did you-¡± Willa started.

    ¡°I only saw a flash of light, and then you were there. Miguel, where¡¯s your sister?¡± Clara asked.

    ¡°In the bathroom.¡±

    Clara got up, walked over to the bathroom, and grabbed Nina. Checking her collarbone, she also sported a sepia marking in the same shape as her brother¡¯s. Nina wasn¡¯t as bothered by it as her brother, who returned to the bathroom to try and scrub it off.

    ¡°Miguel!¡± Clara abandoned Nina and Willa. ¡°Get over here!¡±

    After wrangling a struggling Miguel into the bedroom, Clara flopped onto the bed. Willa rolled her over and propped up a pillow beneath her head.

    ¡°Ate Willa, why does your hair look like a burnt carrot?¡± Nina asked. ¡°Why do you have a tail?¡±

    Willa touched one of her side braids. ¡°Good question.¡± It was the colour of a burnt carrot, but not a burnt carrot.

    If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

    At that moment, someone decided to knock on the door. Willa made the kids promise not to run off or leave the room before she opened the door. A shirtless Caleb and Liza in her athletic apparel were standing there, both sporting the same sepia marks on their collarbone and smelling of dried blood.

    ¡°Hey Willa, do you know-woah where did you get that suit of armour? And those ears!¡± Caleb exclaimed, staring at Willa¡¯s erect ears.

    Willa stared at Liza, pleading with her eyes to help her.

    ¡°That was her old eighth-grade cosplay!¡± Not like that! Willa wished she had telepathy.

    ¡°I¡¯ll explain inside.¡±

    Clara recovered and was now sharing the bed with her kids and Liza. Caleb put a T-shirt on by order of Clara, and Willa was explaining to her family and Caleb.

    ¡°...so I found this amulet in the woods, and it transformed me into a dog. After I was turned into a dog, I started wandering around the trail and into the townsite. Someone called Parks Canada, and that¡¯s where Jenny and a couple of rangers found me. They thought I was an off-leash dog, so they took me and-¡± Should she say what happened? No, it¡¯s embarrassing.

    Clara picked up on the lack of words. ¡°What happened?¡±

    Willa¡¯s eyes darted between Liza and Caleb. Could they see the marks on her back?

    Clara¡¯s eyes narrowed. ¡°What. Happened.¡±

    ¡°I was put in a cage and then I transformed into a human.¡± The strain of metal on her back¡­

    Clara¡¯s eyes narrowed. ¡°Jennifer and I will talk later.¡±

    ¡°Is any of this connected to the dust that¡¯s clinging to the floors in the lobby?¡± Liza lifted her shoes, covered with fine dark red dust on the bottom.

    ¡°That was my fault.¡± Clara would be pissed if she mentioned killing animals in front of Miguel and Nina. ¡°There was a girl as well, Hina Nishikawa. She¡¯s staying at the hotel.¡±

    ¡°The Japanese girl that kept following me yesterday?¡± Liza pursed her lips. ¡°She was kind of odd, but I thought she was just admiring my muscles. Heard her phone go off a few times, something about the Dog¡­wait is that you?¡±

    Willa¡¯s tail twitched. ¡°That one.¡±

    Caleb put his hand in the same posture as his sister. ¡°Is she interested in forensic entomology by any chance?¡±

    She shrugged.

    After tracking down Hina based on the potent smell of raspberries that trailed behind her, Hina followed them back into the hotel room clinging on to her phone.

    ¡°Konnichiwa!¡± Hina waved at everyone in the room. ¡°Fuwafuwa no shippo!¡± She pointed at Willa¡¯s tail, which stood erect and seemed especially fluffy today.

    ¡°She likes fluffy tails?¡± Caleb asked.

    ¡°You speak Japanese?¡± replied Liza.

    ¡°A little bit, enough that I can translate what she¡¯s saying. By the way, are you interested in the unique funerary practices of various nations?¡±

    Hina looked puzzled.

    ¡°Anata no kawari ni honyaku dekimasu.¡±

    Hina gasped. ¡°Hai!¡±

    Clara and Liza alternated between asking questions, Liza asking out of curiosity and Clara asking from a position of wariness.

    Hina started talking. ¡°One of her friends is a Mihira Tenhou, and she has an amulet with the sign of Libra.¡± Caleb stopped to let Hina keep talking. ¡°Her friend likes fashion, like those large poofy Victorian dresses. She had a dream about meeting a dog in the mountains, and to look for the watcher in the mountains.¡±

    ¡°The Watcher keeping her eternal vigil, unsullied by impurity and falsehoods.¡±

    ¡°As I should. Can you apply the elixir there?¡± Someone touched her shoulder, applying a liquid that made Willa twitch and moan. ¡°Thanks.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re welcome.¡± A white gloved hand squeezed her hand. ¡°Take care.¡±

    Willa blinked. Huh? Who was that?

    ¡°...and this person on the phone wants to talk with everyone, especially my sister.¡±

    ¡°How does she know about Jennifer?¡± Clara asked.

    Caleb repeated the question to Hina in Japanese. Hina responded back.

    ¡°She says that her contact knows a lot of things.¡±

    ¡°And who is this contact?¡±

    ¡°She doesn¡¯t know. They texted her while she was searching for astrology and the Chinese zodiac on the Internet.¡± Hina piped up. ¡°They told her that their identity needed to remain hidden, but they wanted to help Hina find her friend¡¯s partner. Since she was in Canada at the time, they recommended trying to go to the Rockies.¡± Hina asked something. ¡°Also, Hina wants to know if this used to be a castle, or a fancy house.¡± Hina should not have accepted a text message from a stranger. Who knew what they could do?

    ¡°No, it has always been a hotel,¡± answered Willa.

    Caleb translated, and Hina muttered something under her breath.

    ¡°Willa?¡± Jenny burst into the room, ignoring the startled looks of Caleb and Clara. ¡°Can I talk to you about something?¡±

    I was waiting for you.

    Jenny whipped towards the phone. ¡°Text to voice messaging?¡±

    Yes, although that isn¡¯t an important issue. I have located the reason why there have been multiple sightings of aberrant wildlife. Someone has hidden multiple beacons around the town and in the wilderness surrounding Waterton National Park.

    ¡°Do you know where they are?¡±

    Yes, sending the coordinates to your phone right now. I¡¯m also sending them to your fellow park rangers as well.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think you know my¨Cwhat?!¡± Jenny grabbed her phone out of her pocket as her phone kept repeatedly beeping. ¡°How do you have my number?!¡±

    In case you fail, I wanted to make sure at least someone knows where these are located and the knowledge to disable them. That information is located in the last text message. Whoever made the beacons made it so that they could only be disabled physically and not remotely. Since you¡¯re aware of the zodiac and your friend Willa, I trusted you with the majority of the information. I¡¯m fairly certain about who has been planting these beacons.

    ¡°Wait, maybe we shouldn¡¯t disable all of the beacons.¡± Jenny put her hands in that characteristic thinking posture. ¡°Even if we disable all of these beacons, there still would be wild animals. As painful as it is for me to suggest this, it¡¯s clear that they are long gone and can¡¯t be saved or rehabilitated.¡± Jenny sighed. ¡°We are going to have to euthanize these animals.¡±

    ¡°What if we make traps, like when we went with Dad on his hunting trips? Willa, you know what I¡¯m talking about,¡± Caleb suggested.

    Those ones? Willa remembered them clearly, trudging through the long grass, waiting for the ducks and their magnificent flight. Caleb was pulling a fake duck on a string while he chatted with Jenny, and their father was setting up traps. She remembered him daring her to shoot the most ducks, and his shocked face when she presented him with twenty-five ducks. It wasn¡¯t that hard, all she had to do was close her eyes and listen. It helped that they had a distinct scent. "Sure."

    Caleb smiled widely. "Jen Jen can join me with trapmaking."

    ¡°Don¡¯t call me that!¡±

    ¡°I know how to shoot things,¡± Liza added.

    ¡°Since when do you know how?¡± Clara asked.

    ¡°Since I snuck out and joined Jenny on one of her family hunting trips.¡± She smiled, proud of her accomplishments. ¡°I don¡¯t know what could be used, I don¡¯t have a hunting licence and I don¡¯t own any guns.¡±

    ¡°I still have some of my dad¡¯s old hunting rifles, ammunition, and scopes,¡± Jenny mentioned. ¡°They still work, but I don¡¯t think it will completely work. Caleb mentioned that they were dead, and hunting rifles don¡¯t work if they¡¯re already dead.¡±

    Willa¡¯s eyes turned towards the rings and collars on her waist. They were effective at killing that eyeless moose. It could be useful.

    ¡°These rings on my waist, I don¡¯t know how they work, but one of them exploded a moose in the lobby.¡± That was a reasonable explanation of the events last night.

    Jenny nodded. ¡°That explains the complaints from the cleaners when I woke up this morning.¡±

    ¡°Wait, if Willa can turn into a dog, wouldn¡¯t she be able to help hunt down the animals? She¡¯s always had a good sense of smell even when we were kids.¡± Liza looked at Willa. ¡°Isn¡¯t there something like a hunting dog? Do you know what kind of dog you are?¡±

    She shrugged. She looked like a dog, good enough for her. ¡°Yeah, I can help with that.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll send out a message to the rangers in case they see you so they know not to put you in a cage again.¡± Jenny started typing on her phone. ¡°They should know by now, but¡­¡±

    ¡°What about Hina?¡± Clara pointed out. ¡°Her parents need to know about this, or one of us has to look after her.¡±

    Hina muttered something.

    ¡°She said that you don¡¯t have to worry about her parents. They¡¯re sleeping and left her free to do whatever.¡± That explained how she was at the bottom of a cliff waiting for her, Willa thought. ¡°She wants to watch over the kids.¡±

    ¡°No offence to her, but I¡¯m not trusting a teenager with my kids alone. I¡¯m staying behind. Jennifer, do you have a spare walkie-talkie?¡± One was tossed to her. ¡°Thanks.¡±

    Hina pointed at the amulet.

    ¡°She says that there should be something inside the amulet, like a makeup kit.¡±

    Willa opened up her amulet. There was a miniature radar, light blue lines beeping as she looked at the crowded radar filled with eight blinking sepia dots.

    ¡°Huh?¡± She looked up as Caleb stared at his collarbone where the sepia mark was now blinking, glowing and stopping in regular intervals.

    Everyone had this, even Hina who was entranced by the blinking light on her collarbone. Willa watched as one of the dots paced around the room twice with Liza doing the same actions as the blinking dot.

    ¡°I can track all of you.¡± Willa showed everyone the inside of the amulet. ¡°It doesn¡¯t say which dot is which person, but if I can sense your scent I can know who is who.¡± Indeed, the scent of everyone was sharper, although the raspberry scent of Hina was overpowering above all other individual scents.

    If we don¡¯t disable some of the beacons, what if we lure the animals to a certain area? Surely, that would make your plans easier to execute and I can concentrate my powers on other, more pressing concerns.

    ¡°Like a kill zone? What kind of pressing concerns?¡± Jenny asked.

    Something else. It¡¯s not relevant to this part of the world.

    Willa questioned the aloofness of this unknown contact, and why they chose to hide themselves. Clara muttered about the insecurity of talking to someone you don¡¯t know and Internet safety¡­before slapping Jenny on the cheek.

    ¡°What was that for?!¡±

    ¡°Putting my sister in a cage!¡±

    Evening fell over the valley quickly. Caleb managed to acquire the needed supplies, while making the cashier at the local sports store uncomfortable with frequent forays into the topic of human decomposition. Jenny sighed as her brother recounted the tale to her.

    ¡°I feel bad for Vincent,¡± she stated to Willa at the bar later that day.

    ¡°I feel worse for Caleb.¡± Willa drank her beer.

    Clara explained the situation to Miguel and Nina and made them promise to keep safe and to listen to what she told them. Both of them took a liking to Hina, and soon pestered her with many questions.

    ¡°Where¡¯s Japan? Is it nice there? Why are you here? Why are you tall?¡± Miguel asked.

    ¡°How old are you? Can we play games on your phone? Do you want to play tag?¡± Nina asked.

    Hina took it upon herself to enjoy the pleasures of staying at the hotel, from tasting the food served in the dining room to cuddling Willa¡¯s tail. Liza filmed the exchange where Willa had to force the girl off of snuggling with her admittedly fluffy tail. She refused to delete it, even after Willa turned into a dog and nipped at her heels in annoyance.

    Most of the traps were set up far from the townsite so that no one was injured. Liza still had to calm down and attend to a middle aged man who managed to entangle himself in one of Jenny¡¯s handmade snares.

    ¡°Almost there¡ªhyah!¡± Liza yelled as the man fell face first into a spare mattress provided by Willa. ¡°You alright there?¡±

    The man nodded.

    ¡°Good enough!¡± Liza swung down from the pine tree.

    Jenny reset the trap, after relocating to a more remote location. Willa assisted with the preparations, and training Caleb and Liza on how to use the collars on medium sized rocks on the beach. She tinkered with the collars and the discus on her own time. Most of them were metallic in texture and scent, and all of them were engraved with the Chinese character for dog. In total, she had thirty-three collars and one discus. The wrong scent still remained in the remote trails and in the townsite, and Willa knew that the darkness lingered too long underneath the pine scented mountains. The scent of rope and Jenny¡¯s calloused hands smelling of summer leaves and home grounded Willa to Waterton.

    ¡°You¡¯re still thinking about your visions?¡± Jenny asked.

    Willa nodded.

    ¡°I¡¯m sure there¡¯s an answer to them, out there in the world. Whatever it is, I don¡¯t think you can find it by staying here.¡± Jenny finished up the knot she was tying.

    What was her purpose in all of this? Willa never imagined herself at the centre of anything other than a quiet, mundane life in Pincher Creek, growing old with her sisters and Jenny. Something gnawed at her spleen. This was supposed to be her life.

    ¡°That¡¯s what you want?¡±

    Another vision. Not now, she thought.

    A slivered moon cast its glow on the land below. Willa didn''t notice the change, except that the wrong scent had intensified. She and Liza were alone in the woods, the leaves rustling softly. Willa¡¯s ears pricked up with the sound of the whistling wind. Flipping open the amulet, she watched the comforting beeping of the radar dots. Behind her, Liza¡¯s mark blinked in tandem with her dot on the radar. Clara broke out her spare makeup kit, but despite the egregious application of foundation, the marks shone through the layers. The marks weren¡¯t distracting in the dark, only a slightly brighter point of light. Willa closed her eyes and concentrated on the sounds and scents of the forest. The grazing big horned sheep, the buzzing sounds of horseflies, the chirps of the grasshopper¡ªthat.

    There was a herd of elk, yet the scent that entered her nostrils felt wrong. Willa started toward the direction of the elk but stopped. Better to become a dog to remain undetected. Standing back, Willa shifted into a dog. Liza was visibly stunned by her sister¡¯s transformation as the armour began to mould into the dog¡¯s body, but remained silent.

    Willa¡¯s ears flattened as she trekked through the forest, the elk scent strengthening as she crept closer to their location. There, a herd of six elk grazed in an open field, inattentive to the two interlopers in their midst. Liza readied a collar and aimed at the largest bull, a specimen that would have graced the centrepiece of any hunting lodge were it not for its rank scent that smelt distinctly of wrongness.

    Willa inhaled. No other sources of wrongness.

    Liza handed Willa another collar, which remained clasped between her teeth. The herd was still not alerted to the presence of the two sisters. She crawled slowly into a nearby overgrown tree, making sure that none of the elk noticed her presence. Eventually, she spotted her chance.

    After she dove into the clearing, the first elk she came across didn¡¯t have a chance to react to her presence before it was collared. Willa bit the leg of another. It almost gored her, were it not for Liza shooting its antlers off with a spare shotgun. Left wounded, it couldn¡¯t do anything with an exposed neck and Willa facing against it. Afterwards, she spat out chunks. Even as a dog, she thought that meat was rancid.

    Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed the elk head stirring. She put a collar around its mouth and sprinted to aid Liza. Barking to get her attention, Liza understood and dove into the forest, taking some spare collars.

    The remaining four followed them into the woods, not noticing the strangely well-trodden path that dog and hunter were taking. That was their undoing, for multiple snares entangled them. Liza and Willa easily collared all four of them, with Liza covering her nose and mouth with a scarf and Willa finding a safe bush to stick her head in. Soon enough, red dust covered most of the forest floor.

    Willa caught the wrong scent coming downwind from close to the falls. Tracking the scent, she found herself in a mixed group of animals, ranging from Canada geese honking loudly at the waterfall to several black bears staring intently into Willa¡¯s eyes. She sensed that most were aware of her and Liza¡¯s presence. Well then, she thought, it didn¡¯t matter if she tried to retain the element of surprise.

    Strangely, all of this felt natural to Willa, as she tore through the ranks. She had hunted before, but as a human and always with a snare, trap, or gun. She had never hunted with her sense of smell, although that was helpful at times, or with her teeth. This though¡­the adrenaline pumped through her body, driving a thrill Willa had never experienced before.

    Liza also had success in collaring the wild animals. That shotgun was useful in distracting them. Willa noticed that shooting off heads and necks couldn¡¯t prevent the animals from moving, only the collars. She also had a ferret aiming for her amulet, which she fended off easily.

    Once they were finished, Willa panted, staring at the crescent moon. Liza''s walkie-talkie crackled to life.

    "This is Jennifer Chang, hailing anyone on this frequency. There''s a congregation of animals gathering at the Prince of Wales Hotel. Does anyone copy that?"

    "Copy that, this is Liza. Me and Willa are finished with the wild animals near Cameron Falls.¡± She looked over the horizon, spotting some roaming wildlife close to the townsite. ¡°We¡¯re fairly close by, do you want us to head there now?¡±

    ¡°Copy that. Yes, as soon as you can.¡±

    Liza motioned for Willa to follow her. They crept into the sleeping townsite, a few tents pitched and smelling of humans. The wrong scent lingered on some of the tents though, and Willa took care to avoid them. Strangely, no animals bothered her or Liza as they trekked through the deserted town.

    Willa kept her tail close down, her ears pricking as she caught wind of a powerful wrong scent coming from the field near the hotel. Closing her eyes, she sensed its origin: a cluster of animals more numerous than those that gathered near the falls. The scent drew her in as she tracked it up the hill.

    Upon reaching the entrance of the hotel, she opened her eyes with Liza finally catching up to her. Most of the animals were standing motionless, paying no attention to the reddish brown dog or the woman with a shotgun. Willa snuck around an eyeless white-tailed buck and a similarly eyeless wolf. Liza squeezed herself between two big-horned sheep and past a few eyeless rabbits. Come to think of it, all of the animals gathered at the hotel had no eyes, Willa thought as she made contact with a vacantly staring hawk.

    Walking around the entrance, Willa sniffed something wrong. A side door. She looked to Liza, who shrugged and opened it. It swung open.

    ¡°Huh? Shouldn¡¯t it be harder to open?¡± Liza muttered to herself.

    Willa followed through. She had seen the side door before, but it hadn¡¯t been large enough to swallow a moose whole. She sniffed again, catching wind of an unfamiliar scent close to the door frame. Someone had tampered with it. Her thoughts never lingered, for Liza waved for Willa to trot over. At the tall window, the congregation of animals watched intently. Willa felt the need to watch them back. That felt right for some reason.

    A scream echoed from the third floor. It sounded like¡­Clara? Liza and Willa glanced at each other before rushing up the stairs.

    Across the open area where the chandelier hung, Willa caught the metallic tang of blood and the growl of a large grizzly. She growled back, loud enough for the grizzly to hear and issue a challenge. Liza was running around the barristers, shouting about her sister¡¯s health. The menacing bear flashed its teeth and jumped on the chandelier. Willa barked and leapt onto the chandelier, her teeth sinking into the bear¡¯s neck. The bear roared, trying to claw Willa off of its back. She held on desperately.

    ¡°Clara! Oh shit, Clara!¡±

    Liza reached where their sister was, lying in a pool of blood and unmoving. Willa¡¯s nostrils detected the scent of blood to be¡­human in origin.

    Out of anger, she aimed her teeth at the bear¡¯s ear, biting down hard on the small nub. The bear roared in pain. Its right front paw was about to swipe Willa off of its back before a shotgun blast rang out in the dark of the night. Liza reloaded her shotgun again, anger driving her into shooting the bear square in the chest one, two, three, five times. Each time, the bear roared. It was about to pounce back onto the balcony¨Cuntil Willa shifted back into a human and hit it with the discus, stunning it temporarily.

    She tried to collar it, but it refused to budge and bit into her right arm. Willa bit down on her tongue to keep from screaming in pain and wrenched her arm from its mouth. She still clasped the collar in her hand but with rivulets of blood running down her arm. Already, she felt her body knitting back together underneath the skin. Her armour wasn¡¯t damaged, but her arm stung. Behind her, Liza was grabbing gauze, towels, anything to stem Clara¡¯s bleeding.

    The wrong scent entered into Willa¡¯s nostrils as the bear lunged forward, intending to push Willa off of the chandelier. Willa moved out of the way, as the chandelier kept swinging from the weight.

    Clearing her mind, she closed her eyes. The metallic scent of blood, Liza¡¯s frantic breathing, Clara¡¯s shallow breathing¡­a strange scent. Near the chest of the bear was something empty and devoid of scent, but Willa could still pick it up via her sense of smell. She lunged forwards, punching the bear in the chest with her left hand.

    The chandelier swayed as the bear and woman tangled with each other. Eventually, Willa prevailed by smashing the bear¡¯s arms with her discus and then collaring it. The bear began to claw at the collar, with Willa choosing to jump off of the chandelier and onto the fourth floor. Wincing in pain, Willa was aware enough to watch the bear explode into red dust.

    Serves it right, she thought, for injuring her sister. Her right arm seemed to be mostly healed, so Willa pushed herself onto one of the barristers.

    Clara¡¯s eyes fluttered as Liza put pressure on her stomach wound to stem the bleeding. Willa opened the door into an empty room and took all of the towels. She handed them off to Liza, who exchanged the already bloody towels with the fresh clean ones.

    ¡°...Willa? Liza?¡± Clara¡¯s voice was weak.

    ¡°Hey, you¡¯re awake! That¡¯s good.¡± Liza slid a few extra towels underneath Clara¡¯s head. ¡°Can you be awake a little longer?¡± Her hands trembled slightly.

    The towels were absorbing a lot of blood, as Clara weakly turned her head around to face Willa. A pang of guilt hit Willa. If she had been there, maybe¡­maybe this wouldn¡¯t have happened. Why hadn¡¯t Willa stayed with Clara? She could have protected her better, maybe she wouldn¡¯t have been hurt and lying on the floor bleeding out¡­

    ¡°Where are the kids?¡±

    Silence descended on the sisters. In an instant, Willa leapt from her position and searched every single room on the fourth floor, and then the third floor, and then the second¡­

    ¡°Miguel! Nina! Where are you?!¡± Willa called out.

    No response.

    ¡°Hina!¡±

    No response there either. They weren¡¯t in the lobby, the dining area, or the reception area, or the main entrance. Many of the animals started dispersing, heading down the cliff. Willa inhaled. No strong raspberry scent wafted into her nose, nor the scents of Nina and Miguel. Above, she also heard Liza opening and closing doors rapidly. She headed upstairs.

    ¡°Did you find them?¡± Liza asked.

    Willa shook her head. ¡°I couldn¡¯t detect their scents either.¡± Where had they gone? They couldn¡¯t have gone further than the field.

    All of the hotel guests had been woken up by the commotion. Some immediately gaped at the sight of Clara and helped to stabilise her. Others just stared blankly at the increasing amounts of red dust that carpeted the hardwood floors. Someone asked for a refund, and another person complained that their boat keys were missing and that their trip to Glacier National Park was ruined. Liza was trying to calm everyone down to no avail.

    Suddenly, a light raspberry scent caught Willa¡¯s attention. Following it down the stairs, the trail ended at the side door. From there, it dissipated, intermingling with elk, moose, deer, and rabbit. Willa sniffed again. Still nothing. She opened her amulet. The only dots present were Liza and Clara, with Clara¡¯s dot slowly fading in and out. Willa held it to the sky and sprinted out into the field and back. No other dots showed up.

    Someone tapped her from behind. Willa whipped around, her eyes darting around. A woman was holding her cellphone in her hand.

    ¡°Hi, someone called me on my phone and wanted to talk to an armoured woman? I don¡¯t know who she is.¡± She handed the phone to Willa and took a good look at her. ¡°What¨C¡±

    ¡°Leave.¡±

    The woman nodded and waited inside the hotel. Willa answered the call.

    ¡°Your friend and her brother need your help. They lost their walkie-talkie ten minutes ago. They¡¯re being cornered at the beach by a pack of wolves.¡± The voice sounded electronic.

    ¡°I can¡¯t find my niece, my nephew, or Hina on my amulet. Do you know where they are?¡± Was there a range limit? Willa looked again. At the very edge of it were two dots, Jenny and Caleb. No group of three dots appeared on her amulet.

    ¡°Forget them, not the priority. What¡¯s important is that you are the only one in the area with the ability to combat these creatures. Your sister is mending your other sister. Don¡¯t worry about the children.¡±

    ¡°Excuse me?! They are my priority, they¡¯re my family. Where are they?!¡±

    The person on the other side ended the call. Willa placed the phone back into the woman¡¯s hand.

    Upstairs, Clara was unconscious, but she was still breathing. One of the guests who was a paramedic told her and Liza that they had done all they could, and that any further help would have to be from medical professionals. Willa and Liza protested, wanting to stay by their sister¡¯s side. Eventually, the paramedic won out.

    ¡°I¡¯m glad for what you have done for her, but she¡¯s safe right now. All we can do is wait for the ambulance, or for an airlift.¡± The paramedic looked at the two sisters gently. ¡°It¡¯s alright.¡±

    A minute later, Willa and Liza were outside the hotel. Liza kicked a rock out of frustration, while Willa kept her eyes on the horizon. She watched the water ripple and splash against the rocky beaches.

    ¡°Now what?¡± Liza asked.

    Willa took a deep breath. ¡°I¡¯m going to find Clara¡¯s kids and Hina, and then I¡¯m going to help Jenny and Caleb.¡±

    ¡°Good plan.¡±

    There were faint traces of raspberry in the field. Somehow, Hina and the kids had managed to skid down the cliff without any injuries. Following that, the trail led north towards the town proper, and went cold near the water. Willa wanted to swim into the water to find the kids, but Liza reminded her that Jenny and Caleb still needed assistance.

    Travelling through the murky woods, Willa dispatched a few rabbits and squirrels with the collar. Through the townsite, they found themselves close by the same red chairs where, days earlier, Willa and Jenny had discussed the future.

    There wasn¡¯t a pack of wolves. No, there were more than that. Willa smelled deer, moose, at least three bears, multiple big-horned sheep, and hawks. A speck waved hello in the distance. That was Caleb. Another speck waved rapidly in the air. That was Jenny.

    A hawk dove for Willa¡¯s amulet, only to be shot by Liza. Willa took advantage of this by collaring the hawk. All of the animals turned towards Willa, as their eyes filled with an eerie pale flame. Willa growled, and leapt into the fray.

    What happened next passed her by in a blur. All Willa remembered was that she tore through half of the animals there with her discus lighting a sky blue trail through the moonlit night. Her legs buckled more than once, yet Willa kept fighting onwards. At one point, Liza covered for her as Willa found herself facing off against a white-tailed deer.

    Eventually, all four of them were forced to the edge of the water, a crowd of animals hemming them in. Liza kept her gun cocked, yet both she and Willa knew that she was running out of pellets. Jenny kept her eyes on the skyline, waiting for reinforcements. Willa still had collars and her armour was soaked in blood. A particularly menacing cougar growled, forcing the four into the water. Willa kept her eyes trained on the animals, watching for any sudden movements.

    Suddenly, Caleb tapped Jenny¡¯s shoulder.

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°I hear something.¡± Caleb turned his head towards the mountains.

    Willa¡¯s ears pricked up. Sure enough, she heard a low rumbling, and coming closer by the second. Her eyes shifted focus as the source of the rumbling sound came into view. It was¡­

    ¡°A boat?¡± Liza exclaimed. ¡°Who¡¯s boating at this hour?¡±

    There was indeed a boat in the water. Sleek, smelling of fresh mountain water¡­and coming right at the beach. What were they trying to accomplish here?!

    ¡°They¡¯re heading for us!¡± Willa yelled.

    She yanked Liza to the right as Jenny did the same to Caleb. The boat was larger than Willa initially assumed, yet whoever was driving it had enough skill¡ªor stupidity¡ªfor the boat to completely jump out of the water. She watched as the boat gracefully sailed over her head before crashing into the pack of animals, leaving a messy trail of pulverised wet rocks and several animals caught within its trail. The propeller ceased spinning, clearly never being able to run again. Willa¡¯s nostrils detected something¡­raspberries?

    Hina popped up behind the driver¡¯s seat. ¡°Ha~a.¡±

    ¡°What happened?¡± Nina¡¯s voice was familiar and comforting to Willa, who let her shoulders relax. ¡°Where¡¯s Ate Willa and Liza?¡±

    Hina pointed at Willa. Nina waved to Willa. She waved back, happy that her niece was safe.

    ¡°Who are you waving to?¡± Miguel¡¯s safe!

    ¡°Ate Willa.¡±

    ¡°Oh hi, Ate Willa!¡±

    Willa jumped into the boat. The deck was empty, only containing two children and one teenager. She sniffed the air. There were three sheep approaching the boat. Gunshots and shotgun pellets rang in the air. Willa¡¯s ears instinctively flattened from the noise, but perked up at one of the sheep leaping onto the deck. In an instant, she punched it in the face and whirled around to face the other two.

    ¡°Hina! Take the kids below the deck!¡± she shouted.

    Hina seemed to have understood, taking Miguel and Nina down into the boat. Meanwhile, Willa was fighting off a ram. After collaring it, Willa dashed to another ram, shifting into a dog and biting into its neck. She did the same to the next ram, and she continued fighting onwards¡­

    There was more than what she assumed. Based on preliminary reports, she was led to believe that there would only be a force of ten thousand. Enough that the Eleventh Gate could repulse them without assistance. Confident in her scouts¡¯ reports, she had only posted a meagre force of a hundred scouts along the Wall. Now, in the thick of battle, she estimated that the true number of this force was roughly between a hundred thousand and three hundred thousand in number.

    She tore through them all with her measured advance. Her discus sailed through the void, a light blue trail against the dark. Some of her fellow scouts were fighting alongside her, their fur standing out amidst the dark turmoil.

    Before she left the Wall, she called upon assistance from the Houses and the Gates, whoever was ready to fight alongside her. She knew the Warrior would come, her appetite for war and combat unable to be quenched for long. Sure enough, in the far distance a blur fought her way through the enemies, her axe weaving in and out on the battlefield. Her partner wasn¡¯t present, as expected. If the Sovereign descended from her high and mighty Gate, she sniffed, that would be a miracle. On her right, one of the twins was fighting off enemies with a swift flick of her wrist, her pen lance darting in between those they were fighting. She wanted to leave, she could hear that clearly.

    Oh, are you done fighting yet? Pollux, are you okay down there?

    Fine so far!

    The twins. She wanted to sigh, but first she had to deal with the incursion. It was her duty after all, she was not one to shirk her vigil for something as trivial as ¡°going to tease the King¡±.

    She sprinted across the field, the invaders falling beneath her feet. There was a winding bonelike creature, long and sinewy. She closed her eyes, and lost herself in an ever-shifting terrain of scents. The Warrior¡¯s cherry scent drifted in and out of the battlefield, while the twin¡¯s lemon scent was consistently located on her right. The creature that she wanted to track smelled of old bones and hatred, a deep malice that carried purpose.

    The trail laid before her was clear. She sent her discus soaring into the pitch black of the void and shifted into her canine form.

    All trembled before her paws as she hunted her prey. The scent shifted to the left, but she kept track of its movements, always staying abreast. Finally, she cornered it close to the edge of the Eleventh Gate and the abyss beyond. It shrieked, while she barked in response. Pouncing upon the creature, it shrieked more before biting into her ear. She tore away herself, watching as the ear regenerated. After it finished, she bit into its neck. The creature¡¯s eyes lost its pale lustre as she tossed it into the void and shifted back into a humanoid shape.

    A scout with golden yellow fur approached her, his eye marred by a large scar. ¡°We¡¯re suffering heavy casualties. Reports say that the eastern section of the Wall has sustained the loss of ten scouts, and reports from the other three sections are slow in progress due to the lack of able messengers.¡± The scout punched another invader in the face as he continued. ¡°The twins left.¡±

    Of course they did. ¡°Give the order to fall back for now. The Wall must not be breached.¡± She would not fail her oath now of all times.

    She continued fighting, her armour slowly accumulating scratches and dents. She didn¡¯t mind, for her external appearance never concerned her. Her oath entailed her to watch, keep vigil between the Eleventh Gate and what laid beyond, and to defend when necessary. Recent events have charged her to fulfil the defence part more frequently. She never complained as some did. She was bound to the oath she swore, for eternity. That drove her to keep fighting against superior numbers. The Wall shall never fall, she swore that.

    A harmonious chime sounded from above, driving the invaders to their knees. She took advantage of this, driving many of them back into the void. Above, wings fluttered as the Scales chimed once again. A forceful gale drove them further back, while the Scales balanced back and forth. Some of them disappeared, replaced by little whirls of wind and the fresh scent of raspberries. Judgement, she knew it so well. The Scales made their final declaration when the portal was closed, leaving a clear blue area. The Lady swooped down, her wings folding upon landing.

    ¡°Where have you been?¡± The Warrior asked, her axe being tossed between her hands as her eyes narrowed. ¡°Sitting in your House without a care while the rest of us fight?¡±

    The Lady ignored her and reached out to her. ¡°The battle¡¯s over. Come with me.¡±

    They¡¯ve done this before. The Lady summoned a gust of wind to hold her aloft while she flew back to the Wall, that stalwart bastion of vigilance. Once she landed, she asked for status reports from the scouts present. The signal fires that burned brightly atop the towers changed to burning orange. The terracotta coloured stone of the Wall was comforting to her. According to the status reports, no section of the Wall was breached. The eastern sections have sustained some damage. Messages were to be sent to the Sixth and Tenth Houses. The healing elixirs were running low, so she sent out orders for the Fourth Gate. A blur sped past the ballista and the towers, wanting to return to the First House.

    The Lady redirected the wind back onto the open space near the border, blowing it forwards. The heat contained within the wind caused her to take off her helmet. Her ears flicked up. The Lady looked out of place along the Wall in her white dress devoid of any speck of dirt and ethereal wings compared to many of her scouts running around with their snouts dirtied by soot and ash. Her lace blindfold covered her eyes, but she knew instinctively what she wanted. She took her by her white gloved hand and led her down the tower doors.

    Inside was a ladder, through which she led the Lady carefully. Many of the scouts barely paid the two any attention. Here, the stone was marred by the scars of past battles as they pulled past sections turned inky black. Along the Wall were cannons manned by soldiers, who readied for any potential disturbances with bows, swords, and axes. Inside the Wall were rows and rows of battle-ready weapons, primed for war. She took the Lady into a small room, filled with maps of Earth and relative locations of the Gates and Houses. The centrepiece of this room was a circular table, onto which she slammed.

    ¡°I may not agree with the Warrior often, but I must ask this: where were you?¡±

    The Lady gave no response.

    ¡°We both swore the oath together, as partners. The Seventh House and the Eleventh Gate are bound by oath, and I will not have you shirking your duty.¡±

    Her wings shimmered. ¡°I had my reasons.¡±

    ¡°If this is about the Mistress, don¡¯t. That scorpion was never worth your attention or your time.¡±

    ¡°It wasn¡¯t about her.¡± The Lady looked forlorn. ¡°But¡­have you ever thought about the costs of what we do?¡±

    ¡°No.¡± It was not her place to think about such trivial matters.

    ¡°I know I used to be reluctant to go to Earth, but you should come one day!¡± The Lady swept her hands across the table. ¡°There are trees, more vast than the ones in the Sixth House! The air is livable by a slight margin.¡± She winced. ¡°It¡¯s not as balanced as in the Seventh House...but the people! Oh, the love that¡¯s in the air!¡± The Lady swooned a little. ¡°Come with me to Earth one day!¡±

    ¡°How is this relevant to the conversation about the dereliction and abandonment of your sworn duties? Even the twins stayed longer than you.¡±

    The Lady¡¯s wings folded themselves around her. ¡°I wanted to tell you¡­there¡¯s a woman I met recently. She¡¯s beautiful, kind, sweet and gentle, and I love her.¡±

    The tone of voice¡­not again.

    ¡°I want to bring her to the Seventh House.¡±

    No. ¡°A human in one of the Houses or the Gates will cause disruption and disorder. Our duty is to uphold the integrity of the border. You cannot do that when a mortal resides in your own House.¡±

    ¡°Love can coexist with duty. If any of us can do it, it would be me, the Spirit of Balance.¡± The Lady stood tall. ¡°I can do my duty and love someone, feel the close bond between lovers. If they can love, why can¡¯t I? I want something more than war and duty.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s what you want? Fleeting love that will only last as long as this human lives? The choice, our only choice, if we are to choose between duty and love, is duty.¡± She had already forsaken any chance of love, although there was not long ago¡­that was different. ¡°The presence of anyone from the Lower World would split your focus between what is true and what is false. You can not prioritise the life of one person over an entire world.¡±

    The Lady¡¯s wings stopped shimmering, as the Scales moved back and forth between balance and imbalance. ¡°There is a way to achieve this. I¡¯ll show you one day.¡±

    She crossed her arms as the Lady tapped the door twice before exiting. Sighing, she pored over the reports from the battle.

    ¡°Willa? Are you alright?¡±

    Willa opened her eyes. The Sun was out, shining directly in her eyes.

    ¡°What happened to Ate Willa?¡±

    ¡°Shhh, don¡¯t look.¡±

    The last thing Willa remembered was fighting a wolf¡­it was daytime now? ¡°What happened?¡±

    Jenny put her hands on her hips. ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry about the safety of the kids or Hina, or anyone here. On the other hand, you need a shower.¡±

    ¡°That was awesome!¡±

    ¡°Caleb, she doesn¡¯t need to hear that right now! And there are children here!¡±

    ¡°Ate Liza, why can¡¯t I see anything?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m already in big trouble with your mother. I don¡¯t want you to see anything.¡±

    ¡°Ate Liza, where¡¯s Mommy?¡±

    ¡°...oh fudge.¡±

    Jenny and Caleb dragged Willa into the campsite washroom. She winced when they took off her helmet to go and wash it. The amount of blood on her armour, on her clothes and everything was too much. When she was done showering, she looked at the beach. The sight made her gag. Thankfully, Liza moved the kids and Hina far away from the area.

    ¡°...did I do all of¡­that?¡± She asked Jenny as they walked away.

    ¡°Yes, you did.¡± Jenny¡¯s concern was apparent. ¡°Are you okay? You looked like you were in a trance. And before you say anything, I¡¯ll explain everything to the park rangers.¡±

    ¡°I had another vision.¡± This one was longer though. Who was the Lady?

    ¡°Oh. What did you see?¡±

    ¡°This massive wall and there was a lot of fighting. There were these scales and an angelic figure. I was arguing with her.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s new.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s new.¡±

    They walked in silence the rest of the way.

    Once they got back to the hotel, Willa collapsed on the bed out of exhaustion. She slept for the entire day. Once she was well rested, she asked Liza about the kids and Clara.

    ¡°The kids are fine, they¡¯re with Hina right now.¡± Liza nodded. ¡°She seems like a good kid. Clara got airlifted to Foothills Hospital. They told me she was stable, but she was in a coma right now. Jason dropped everything and is driving here at breakneck speed, or something like that. His text messages were illegible.¡±

    Willa nodded and buried her head in a pillow. Clara¡­

    For the most part, the kids were unhurt. They seemed to have adopted Hina as a big sister figure, which Hina didn¡¯t mind at all. Willa tried to resist the urge to hug them tightly and never let any of them go. Hina herself went through something similar with her friends and slept through the Calamity. She was planning to sleep through this one as well, but she noticed a menacing bear in the lobby, so she grabbed the kids and left the hotel immediately. After she was told about Clara, she mumbled for a bit and stated that she hoped that Clara recovered and that she was sorry about the confusion.

    Hina must have inherited her heavy sleeper tendencies from her parents, because they had slept through the entire night. They both hugged their daughter, glad that she was safe and sound¡­until they discovered that their daughter had stolen someone¡¯s keys and taken their boat on a joyride. Despite Hina¡¯s protestations that she did it to protect Miguel and Nina, they still forced her to apologise to the man.

    ¡°Gomen nasai!¡± Hina bowed deeply to the confused man. ¡°Gomen nasai!¡±

    The man was deeply confused until Jenny translated what was going on. He fainted once he was shown the extent of the damage to his beloved boat with its many scratches against the hard rocks.

    Caleb took many photos of the aftermath of the fight on the beach, with each photo making Willa¡¯s face increasingly blanched and drained of colour.

    ¡°Can I send this to my friend at the body farm?¡±

    Out of nervousness and tiredness, Willa quickly nodded her head.

    ¡°Thank you so much!¡± He turned around. ¡°Are you alright though?¡±

    Willa shook her head.

    As promised, Jenny explained the entire situation to her superiors and coworkers as best she could. The beacons were disabled and placed into a storage container to be transported to Calgary, and then to the Northwest Territories. Everyone believed Jenny, especially after she dragged back one of the bodies left behind after the fight. After a thorough autopsy corroborated her statements, Parks Canada promised that they would be watching for any further signs of this occurring.

    A few hours later, Liza and Jenny were sitting next to Willa. Miguel and Nina were shooting water guns at each other, laughing as they got soaked. Hina joined in with a water gun, playfully shooting at the kids. Liza smiled and tried to give Nina tips on how to effectively soak her brother and Hina in water. It worked.

    ¡°Willa, don¡¯t beat yourself up over Clara.¡±

    She stirred. ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m your Ate Liza, and I know when my younger sister is feeling happy, and this is not it.¡± Liza hung her arm around Willa. ¡°When I¡¯m frustrated or when I need a breather, I clear my mind by going on a run. Also, Jenny and Caleb told me you weren''t fine."

    Jenny shrugged when Willa glared at her. "You need a break from work or something."

    All of a sudden, Hina approached the three women, carrying a cell phone.

    You didn''t have to worry about the kids at all. I would like to talk to you and Hina Nishikawa alone, in a private setting.

    At this time? Willa looked at Liza and Jenny.

    "I''m sure it won''t take long," Liza assured Willa. "You''ll be back in no time."

    Willa followed Hina back to the hotel, where Hina turned on her laptop in her room. As Hina typed on it and talked to herself, Willa wanted to say something.

    "Thank you for looking after Miguel and Nina when neither Clara nor I could." Hina turned around.

    Hina kept typing, but Willa saw the faintest hint of a smile on her lips. Once she was finished typing, the computer whirred to life. An app opened, allowing for the unknown contact to type.

    The beacons that the park rangers found were of unknown origin. This is the first time I''ve seen anything like this. It sends out pulses on an unknown frequency, meant to resonate with an unknown quantity. Based on my resources, I have determined the most likely source of the beacon.

    Hina leaned in closer, eyes glued to the screen.

    Aliens.

    Hina nodded as if aliens were a reasonable explanation for the beacons. Willa wasn''t convinced.

    The aliens most likely planted these beacons to prepare for their invasion. Based on the way that the beacon has been handled, I suspect that the aliens can take on a humanoid form. How it relates to your ability to become the Dog, or if it is related, is unclear at the moment. Any possible chance of a government cover up is minimised due to your actions regarding Parks Canada.

    Willa didn''t know much about what was going on, but she was sure that it wasn''t due to an alien invasion.

    I have also located the location of your Key, based on your conversation with Jennifer Chang. It''s in the British Isles. I found a computer terminal through which I can send you and Hina Nishikawa. Preparing the transportation sequence now.

    "Wait! What about my sister and my friend? What about Hina''s parents?"

    They have been informed through text messaging.

    "Before we go, I want to ask: who are you?"

    Very well then. I won''t reveal myself often, but considering our shared situations, my identity may be helpful.

    On the screen, the words shifted until Willa was no longer staring at the words Unknown. Instead, it spelled out Ganymede.

    "Who¨C?" Willa started.

    The computer rattled before sucking Hina and Willa into the screen. It beeped and shined an electric blue with a symbol of two waves imposed on it before shutting down.

 Into The Murky Sea Green Depths We Dive

    They always told her to be wary of the ocean, of the two great seas that surrounded her homeland. For most of her childhood, she regarded the sea with an aura of mystery and reverence. She knew about the dangers of drowning beneath the waves, and of swimming too far out. The sea called out to her regardless of the warnings passed from parent to child, ancestor to descendant. It was a strange life, she knew, but she could not accept any other form of existence.

    When she first entered the sea, it was out of boredom. Something about the mundanity of life, or was it the couscous she had that day? The moment she stepped into the sea, it was as if she had found a purpose in her life. She knew that most people found their purpose later in life, yet she wanted that purpose now. Thinking back on it, it must have been that childish instinct to have everything right then and there. That explained it well enough. That cerebral purpose entered her mind the moment her knees were submerged in the water. Its intent strengthened and moulded itself in her mind as she released herself from the soft wet sand. As her hair streamed around her, she found a watery world waiting beneath her. She wanted to explore longer, and so she returned time and time again. Soon, her mama found out and reluctantly explained everything, especially about Baba.

    Now, her bare feet wriggled into the warm sand. She hated shoes. They were uncomfortable, and she felt a tingling sensation when she wore them that itched and numbed her. Here, she didn¡¯t have to wear shoes. The green waves reached as far inland as where her hair trailed off. The ocean was green, a rich green that she would observe in faraway pictures of similarly faraway places. She had no desire to travel the world, only to explore the sea¡¯s depths to her heart¡¯s desire. The sea, ever the fickle one, had become more fickle and capricious over the years. Calamities birthed from its depths had devastated the coastlines of many countries that bordered it. The ocean too had become treacherous, driving sailors and pilots alike to familiar haunts, away from the chaos of an open ocean. It was different in her dreams, the sky a darkly hued violet and as peaceful as the gentle waves underneath her, just as she made them.

    She stood up, just as the waves rushed in and receded just as quickly. The footprints she left behind were small but sturdy, every step measured and controlled. Her feet picked up more and more, and soon she was swept into the rhythm of the sea, those pounding waves and the call of a long lost heart. A dancer¡¯s body, they told her, a dancer¡¯s body fit for the movement of the drums, a shikha¡¯s body with hips and feet to shuffle, a shikha for the rolling waves and the tumultuous tides.

    One day, something else called. In a trance, she followed its desperate calls and into the depths she dove. Through the seaweed and the darting schools of fish, she found it. It fit into the palm of her hand and seemed to be lost. They were both lost, so she stayed there with it. Everyone wanted companionship, she thought, so she gave it her friendship and time. In return, it gave her abilities beyond her dreams.

    When they pulled her out of the water, it had been five hours since she had been swept away into the sea¡¯s embrace.

    She had been young when the Calamity hit the shores, sweeping away many, including the man who would have been her baba. If a Calamity hit again, a Calamity brutal enough to end the world in a swift and decisive stroke, would she embrace it like the sea embraced her all those years ago? She had always thought that her purpose was clear. Now, the amulet she held in her hand had given her more to think about.

    Here was her home. Her home was torn apart by a Calamity bringing waves the size of which she could not fathom, dragging hapless animals and people into its hungry maw. There were bodies broken upon the sand. Whether she knew them, she refused to ascertain. The tainted knowledge would only have burdened her steps more. She walked slowly, looking for signs of life. Somewhere in her heart of hearts, she knew that there were none here, and none anywhere else no matter how far she walked or swam. Farther away, the great shadow of a cargo ship run aground created a foreboding atmosphere. Splinters of wood were scattered across the beach. The water seeped between her feet, reaching further than it should have been. In this desolate landscape, the wind tore at her face, wild and free. The choppy waves forbade passage to her, so she was stuck amidst the ruined coastline. Her amulet trilled in her hand. She carried all of the dashed hopes and unrealised dreams of this world, but she wished that she never did.

    What the amulet had revealed to her¡­it changed everything. Looking back at the deluge that cost so many lives before and after¡­nothing was the same, and yet somehow¡­her purpose was clearer now.

    Save the world from the Calamities.

    <hr>

    In the early summer, tourists migrated to a small village close to the Atlantic Ocean. It was nice, the sea making for a mood-setting atmosphere. The locals were charming, some pleasant enough and able to speak the many languages of these tourists. Others were¡­others were others.

    The village was nameless. Either that, or there was a name long forgotten to the river of time. Regardless, the community was tight-knit. The population was small, roughly within the range of a hundred or two hundred. They were close to the capital, enough that a decent number of the younger population had visited and found the capital or their village wanting. That was not what attracted the local and foreign visitors here.

    It was the dancers. A small subset of the population were dancers, ranging from wise middle-aged women to young adults in the blossom of their youth. They were more of an attraction for foreigners than those who lived in the country. Everyone was used to it by this point in time. Most of them were their sisters or daughters.

    Today, all were gathered around a raised platform set up for showcasing the dancers. The musicians took the stage first, setting up their drums and kemanjeh. The crowd shuffled in anticipation. A young man was watching the dancers going up the stage, grumbling about some of the leering men. He relaxed when the performance started.

    The performance started with the shuffling of feet, the dance enticing those with their melodious vocals and swaying hips. The dancers were moved by the drums¡¯ beat, carrying the harmony of some long-forgotten past, back when there was only the constant sea, the mountains, and the sand. The stage moved with the dancers¡¯ hips. Their singing was enchanting to the visitors, as some broke formation and shimmied to the floor, slowly undulating to a standing position again. A dancer whipped her waist-length hair now and then, flashing a smile to the charmed audience. Finally, with the end of the swaying sleeves and the shimmies across the stage, the performance ended. As the dancers shuffled off, another dancer in green took the stage. This one was young, with half of her hair covering her face and a large purple belt hanging on her hips. She took one look at the crowd and steadied herself. She listened, heard the start of the drums, and her bare feet leapt for the stage.

    She danced like the world was going to end tomorrow, giving her performance a finesse and power unseen before. Her feet swept across the stage like waves overtaking the land. The gold jewellery entangled in her hair clanked and mingled together with each movement of her head as she whipped it fiercely, scattering light everywhere. Her arms pulled her enthralled audience into her performance as her chest rippled outwards and inwards, drowning them in an undertow. She shimmied across the stage, bringing the audience to a crescendo with her liquid footwork on the wooden stage. The large belt on her hips bounced back as she belly dropped from the stage and slowly ascended upwards like a rising wave, just as she practised for five years. The green caftan waved in between each spin as the young dancer rotated around herself, back and forth and back and forth, just like her forbearers. At the very last second, she swept away her sleeves and unveiled a sparkling amulet shining with seawater. The young man got up from his seat and was about to say something when the shikha whispered some words and the stage was enveloped in sea-green light.

    Once everyone was done, they found that all of them from those at the very edge of the crowd to the ones standing closest to the stage were soaked in seawater, some of whom had started to leave to spit out the aforementioned water. On the stage was the young dancer in a sea-green outfit that flowed around her. A choker hung around her neck with heart-shaped sections floating in a nonexistent wind. Her bare feet touched the stage, and she danced further. That billowing outfit wowed and dazzled the crowd with its wave-like movements, except for the young man who held his head in his hands. For her finale, she summoned two balls of water beside her. Those two balls then diffused into shining streams as she rotated in quick succession, diving with her and encircling her waist. All applauded for the young dancer once she was finished and the water fell onto the stage. She waved back and walked off the stage to the young man¡¯s disappointed face.

    ¡°What were you thinking?! Mama hid the truth from you for a reason, a very good reason I might add! You can¡¯t pull out this trick every time! What if this gets posted to social media?¡±

    ¡°Relax Samir, I¡¯m sure we are safe and secure here. It is only used for one or two shows.¡± She stood up. ¡°I¡¯m responsible for myself. Anything that happens because of my actions is on me.¡±

    Samir grumbled and facepalmed. ¡°Can you change so no one else notices?¡±

    The dancer mumbled something underneath her breath and detransformed. She strolled alongside Samir. ¡°How is your pen pal?¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s doing well. Being back in Lisbon and unwinding is doing him good. He said my Portuguese is getting better.¡± Samir beamed. Samir with his stern face softened by his sister.

    She smiled. ¡°That¡¯s nice¡ªHuh?¡±

    SNAP. A camera clicked to the surprise of the girl and Samir.

    ¡°Hello.¡± The girl, despite her prowess at dancing, never had any admirers.

    A face poked behind the camera, eyes staring. ¡°Hello to you too.¡±

    ¡°May I ask why you are taking pictures of me?¡± She looked at the camera, sleek and shiny. ¡°Can I see them?¡±

    It was a boy and his camera, silver and steady. ¡°I was watching you dance today. It was¡­beautiful. I thought about taking some action shots, but I couldn¡¯t find any good angles. I thought that once the performance was over, I could ask you for pictures¡­I should have asked first.¡±

    She waved her hand. ¡°It¡¯s fine. What¡¯s your name?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m Khalid, I live in Casablanca like the movie!¡± The girl was confused. ¡°Oh sorry, I¡¯m used to introducing myself this way. I like old American movies, and my roommate does as well.¡±

    ¡°Where did you live?¡±

    ¡°I was studying at a private school in America until last month when the school year ended. I¡¯ve been touring all of Morocco until I have to go back to school.¡± He clicked on his camera. ¡°These are the photos of you.¡±

    Samir approached him, towering over him like a statue carved from hard stone. The girl watched as Khalid scrolled through his gallery. There were blurred shots of her, and the other dancers, and clearer ones of her. Her with those eyes, those sea green eyes that enchanted and enthralled, or so her mama said.

    ¡°Do you like them?¡± he asked.

    ¡°Yes. Yes, I do.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡±

    Samir gave her that look, but Khalid, Khalid with the pleading eyes and the sleek and shiny camera deserved an answer. ¡°My name is Nahla.¡±

    <hr>

    When she was younger and met enough Mohammeds that she could not distinguish between them, she asked her mama how she could remember every Mohammed.

    ¡°No one names their child only Mohammed. They usually give them two names to distinguish them from the other Mohammeds.¡±

    Nahla tried, but she forgot their names in time. Even with the second names attached did not help. Her solution was to ascribe to every person she met a set of characteristics based on their appearance, demeanour, and behaviour. It helped her remember everyone, like how Samir had eyes that laughed as he read his friend¡¯s latest letter or how Mama trembled as the waves splashed against the shore. Mohammed with the glinting eye for rare wares, Mohammed with the voice that promised breathless ecstasy, Mohammed with the delicate spider-like fingers¡­

    Khalid was new, a breath of fresh air amidst salt and rocks. He looked through the world with eyes of glass, polished and sharpened with a clarity and focus that Nahla had not encountered before. Most of his photos were stored in scrapbooks kept at his home, or lovingly framed. He carried around both digital and film cameras that printed out strange images that absorbed colour the longer it was waved under the sunlight. Khalid mentioned something about a dark room to develop film at home as well.

    He gifted her a bouquet of irises the next day. That resided on a shelf in a pot refilled with water daily. Nahla made sure it was freshwater. Samir was unimpressed with the bouquet and pointed out that the flowers would wither and die in a week.

    The day after that, she performed a private dance for Khalid while Samir sat beside him. She didn¡¯t use the amulet; best to save it for a larger audience. Afterwards, Khalid congratulated her and showed her some action shots that he snapped while she was lost in the flowing currents of the dance. When he returned tomorrow, he promised he would have all of the photos printed.

    He kept his promise and invited Nahla for a sojourn into a local souk in Casablanca. She accepted. Samir accompanied them, and Nahla bought a bracelet made of raw pearls that fit snugly around Khalid¡¯s wrist. Khalid admired the gift and sprinted off, ostensibly to find Nahla another gift. He returned with beef kebabs still smoking.

    Nahla and Khalid were snacking on their fresh kebabs, with Khalid smiling as he took a bite. Samir positioned himself between them and alternated between keeping an eye on them, eating his kebab, and reading his book. The delicious taste of the kebab was savoured by Nahla.

    ¡°Have you lived here your entire life?¡± Khalid asked, looking over Samir¡¯s outstretched legs.

    Today, they were at the coast, where the waves lapped the boys¡¯ pants and Nahla¡¯s skirt. Nahla was enjoying the fresh ocean breeze, Samir was intent on finishing chapter thirty-four of his book, and Khalid was taking landscapes and panoramas of the Atlantic coast.

    ¡°Yes I have,¡± she responded, letting the saltwater tickle her feet.

    ¡°That must be nice. The last time I was here before this month was after I graduated the ninth grade. My baba¡­he¡¯s distant. We talk every four months.¡± He took a snapshot of a passing bird.

    Nahla looked at Samir and whispered, ¡°Can I tell him?¡±

    ¡°About what?¡±

    ¡°About Baba.¡±

    ¡°...no.¡±

    Nahla accepted the answer and watched Khalid take photos of the scenery. She felt sorry for Khalid and his distant baba. Did he have a mama? Or was she long dead like Samir¡¯s baba? She remembered nothing of the man. He would have been her baba, had he lived. Samir could recall a man with a talent for fishing and who was always willing to ruffle his hair whenever he pouted as a child. Samir¡¯s baba swam on occasion, but not at the skill where he would¡¯ve survived a Calamity. A Calamity as fierce and raging as the one that the village was caught in, heaving heavy rain and driving massive waves tall enough to swallow date trees and buildings whole would have left no survivors. If it weren¡¯t for a select group of twelve, the village would not have evacuated in time. Samir¡¯s baba was among those twelve. One of his accomplishments during that time was finding a baby drifting amidst the roaring waves and diving in to save her. Paddling to shore, he found the baby a safe place in his wife¡¯s arms before being torn away by the currents in front of his family¡¯s eyes.

    If she ever met him, she owed him a thank you for saving her all those years ago.

    ¡°Do you want to go swimming?¡± Nahla pointed at the sea, which was calm, scattering light across its surface.

    ¡°Yes!¡± Khalid replied with a brightness in his eyes.

    Samir was about to respond, took a look at Khalid¡¯s enthusiasm, and decided on an answer. ¡°Sure.¡±

    As per usual, Nahla dove to the bottom, watching as Samir cautiously observed Khalid practising his strokes. She giggled as Khalid splashed Samir with a wave generated by his arm. Samir responded by smacking a powerful wave towards the cheerful boy. They immediately launched into a war, leaving Nahla smiling at the depths. She had hoped that they would get along.

    Do you like both of them?

    Nahla nodded, floating upwards in a circle. It would have been nicer if she had a tail.

    The amulet is still by your side.

    That¡¯s right, it was.

    Show them the power of the ocean. It¡¯s better than their measly attempts at waves.

    She nodded. Who was she to deny the ocean itself? She summoned the words to transform, bubbles rising from her mouth as water surged beneath her. Suddenly, Samir and Khalid were being pushed back to shore by a powerful wave. Samir groaned as he noticed the girl with a fishtail at the bottom of the ocean. Khalid took pictures of the enormous wave before being soaked by the wave.

    ¡°Yay for waterproof cameras!¡± he shouted.

    Nahla washed up ashore later, her hair drenched and hanging loosely on her right side. Samir called it a day and escorted Nahla back home. Khalid headed back to a car undamaged by Calamities or any sort of weather. The two waved goodbye before the car sped off into the afternoon.

    <hr>

    That night, Nahla found herself in a watery world, as always. A door arose out of the depths. That was surprising, Nahla thought. It was usually multiple doors. At most, there would be twelve. This door was made of a silky material that rippled when Nahla touched it. She pulled and twisted on the doorknob and entered the dream.

    She beheld a darkened sky, with streaks of violet breaking up the monotonous blackness. Shards of glass floated in the sky, each one a still frame of something. There were many shards with her face imprinted upon them. The ground was made of the same dark material as the sky, that rippled as she stepped on it. Khalid was sitting on a chair surrounded by a belt of glass. Nahla pushed away some of the shards.

    ¡°Khalid?¡± He was distant, staring down at the dark ground.

    Khalid straightened his back. ¡°Nahla?¡±

    Is he alright? She twirled around, letting the glass shards catch on her flowing ribbons. This was a nightmare, she thought, he would prefer a happier dream.

    ¡°I can give you a different dream.¡± She waited for a response.

    ¡°Wait what?¡±

    She cast off the dreary sky, leaving it to be devoured by moonlight. The ground beneath her was transformed into a pale yellow sand that crinkled between her toes. She summoned the ocean next, the scent of the sea rushing into her nose. The water washed away the chair Khalid was sitting on, leaving him wet as the tide overcame him. He spat out seawater.

    ¡°I¡¯m in a dream?¡± he asked.

    ¡°Yes, you are dreaming.¡±

    ¡°Or is this your dream and I¡¯m being dreamt about¡­¡± Khalid stared at her. ¡°That¡¯s the same outfit you wore at the end of your dance.¡±

    She drifted off. The glass shards were photos, she realised. There was a panorama of the beach where they were today, exquisitely capturing every detail, from the grains of the sand to the hairs of their heads. The other shards yielded the same level of detail. She flicked one, sending it spiralling. It was gorgeous, she thought.

    ¡°You like taking pictures.¡± She should ask why he was having a nightmare, but she refrained from doing so. If he wanted to share, he would do so on his own time. ¡°They¡¯re beautiful and so detailed.¡±

    ¡°Ummmm, yes I do.¡± Khalid stared at the world around him. ¡°And you like to dance.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± She stepped closer to him and twirled.

    ¡°Would you like to dance? With me,¡± he clarified. His voice so sure in the daytime sounded meek and feeble at night.

    She smiled. ¡°One dance.¡±

    Khalid tried to replicate her style of dance as best as he could. He had experience dancing, but not the kind that Nahla was an expert in. More than once, he fell face first into the sand, picking himself up. He was getting better, she noted, although he kept falling every time he tried to do a belly drop. It probably didn¡¯t help that every time she smiled, a wave would roll over him, leaving him with a mouth full of seawater and wet sand.

    After he completed three shimmies, Khalid decided to relax.

    ¡°This was a nice dream.¡± He looked at Nahla. ¡°Am I lucid dreaming?¡±

    ¡°Yes you are.¡± Would he accept that she can explore the dreams of other people?

    ¡°If I am, well this was a nice dream.¡± He sighed. ¡°Next time, I¡¯ll teach you how to dance.¡±

    ¡°Next time.¡± The door had reappeared again.

    She opened it.

    When she woke up, she must have been smiling since Samir was staring at her from the doorway.

    ¡°You entered his dream, didn¡¯t you?¡±

    She smiled wider. ¡°It was a nice dream.¡±

    ¡°Please tell me you didn¡¯t change anything.¡± One look confirmed his worst fears. ¡°Why would you do that?! What did you do?¡±

    ¡°I changed it to a beach.¡± That was a sufficient answer.

    As Samir walked off with a stormy look in his eyes, Nahla watered the irises. They were still alive and thriving.

    <hr>

    Days passed. Khalid hadn¡¯t shown up in a while. Nahla performed on the stage twice, neither performance requiring a transformation. Samir finished his book, wrote another letter to his Portuguese pen pal, and was now attempting to grow a beard. His progress amounted to a few thick bristles that itched him and more than a few teases from the men of the village. Nahla thought it would take longer. A month or two at least.

    After the third performance, Nahla and Samir were discussing the merits of teaching men to dance when they found Khalid¡¯s silver car parked nearby. The doors slid open to reveal Khalid waving from the backseat.

    ¡°Nahla!¡± Khalid ran up to her, only stopping short of Samir¡¯s glare. ¡°I was looking for you!¡±

    He was? Where had he been these past few days?

    ¡°I wanted to invite you to a party.¡±

    ¡°Where is this party? Who¡¯s at this party?¡± Samir asked, a sharp edge in his voice.

    ¡°The party¡¯s at my house.¡± Khalid was visibly nervous. ¡°My father invited a lot of people, and I was hoping that Nahla would join me.¡±

    A minute of silence filled the air. Nahla looked to Samir with his dagger-like stare and then to Khalid with his pleading eyes. ¡°We need a minute.¡±

    Samir and Nahla walked off to the stage, far away from Khalid.

    ¡°Please tell him no. I don¡¯t trust him.¡± Samir sighed. ¡°You¡¯ve only known him for a week.¡±

    ¡°And in his dreams,¡± responded Nahla.

    ¡°Did he know it was you?¡±

    A pause. ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°Then it doesn¡¯t count. We also never met his father. We don¡¯t know what he is like.¡±

    ¡°If we meet him, we can tell if he is nice or not.¡± Although judging from Khalid¡¯s mentions of him casted an ill shadow on him.

    ¡°If you are truly wanting to go to this house, I¡¯m coming with you. You can¡¯t ask me to leave, and you will not be spending time with Khalid alone.¡±

    Nahla accepted those conditions. Why would she argue with her brother?

    She told Khalid with his bright eyes like the sun her answer. Afterwards, she kept smiling to herself as she tended to the irises.

    A day later, she wasn¡¯t surprised when a limousine was parked directly in front of the village. Samir peeked inside.

    ¡°These flowers are a waste of money,¡± he grumbled.

    Irises of all colours filled the limousine. Blue, purple, red, orange, yellow, black, white, peach, rose, all were placed around the limousine. Nahla found the fridge stocked with kiwis and took one. She offered a kiwi to Samir, but he declined.

    The holographic displays that peppered the limousine informed Nahla and Samir that their destination would be reached in one minute. She looked out of the window and suppressed a desire to drag Samir to the windows. Khalid¡¯s house was massive, the size of ten houses squeezed in together, and decorated with tall white pillars. Peering out Samir¡¯s side of the window revealed two rectangular pools, neatly trimmed hedges, a few date and palm trees, and a veritable gaggle of women conversing amongst themselves. The limo parked itself inside a discrete room close to one of the pillars. It was still larger than her house. Streams of cool air poured out of what Nahla believed to be small vents, although she couldn¡¯t observe where they were located. Samir¡¯s face remained as still as the undisturbed surface of a pond, though Nahla could tell that he was equally astonished by Khalid¡¯s house as she was. She looked for Khalid, before the doors suddenly slid open and a trail of gold coloured lights lit up from the doors to an entrance glowing in the same gold light.

    ¡°The entrance to the house is this way. Before you go, would you like a change of clothes?¡± A soothing female voice echoed.

    Another gold light blinked and dissipated to reveal an entire rack of dresses, blouses, shirts, and formal pants. Nahla decided on a light green floor length kaftan with embroidered gold swirls and loosely fitting short sleeves. That way, she thought, she could hide her bare feet from the partygoers. Unfortunately, it didn¡¯t seem like there were any suitable shirts and pants for Samir. After asking the electronic voice and being given private spaces to change, Samir emerged with a freshly pressed navy blue djellaba and black babouches. He refused a matching fez.

    Now that both were ready to enter the house, Samir knocked on the wall. It briefly shined a golden light before enveloping them. When she reopened her eyes, she was amazed by the amount of people inside the house. Women in colourful kaftans greeted Samir and Nahla and talked amongst themselves. Men walked around the tiled room, content with chatting amongst themselves. Who Nahla assumed to be Khalid¡¯s family¡¯s servants were busy carrying trays and passing off drinks to unattentive guests. A man of European descent was cooking something in front of an astonished crowd. Nahla searched the room looking for any signs of Khalid. Meanwhile, Samir was fending off interest from many women who were intent on asking him about who he was.

    ¡°Let¡¯s head outside,¡± he stated.

    Nahla agreed. There were too many people here.

    Outside was nicer and Nahla could breathe more easily. The Sun was shining down on the guests. Every time that Nahla or Samir felt hot, they were sprayed with a cooling mist from various stations located around the garden. It definitely kept them cool. There were also stations placed around the garden where it would automatically fan you as well. Nahla still couldn¡¯t find Khalid, but she found a girl that seemed to be lost and looking for directions. She tapped Samir on the shoulder and whispered that she was going to that girl. He shrugged.

    The girl was not from Casablanca, or Rabat, or anywhere in Morocco based on how pale she was. She wore a green kaftan with short sleeves, but Nahla was more interested in her hair and how it managed to be so curly and thick.

    The girl noticed Nahla¡¯s interest in her and greeted her with a ? Bonjour. ?

    ? Bonjour ! ? Nahla greeted her. ? Comment ?a va ?

    ¡ª ?a va bien, et vous ?

    ¡ª ?a va tr¨¨s bien. Comment vous appelez-vous ?

    ¡ª Je m''appelle Dulce Catalina Cabrera Vidal. Comment vous appelez-vous ? ?

    Was Nahla supposed to introduce herself with her full name? She had never had a conversation this long with anyone in French. Samir was busy watching something, so Nahla had to make a decision. Probably her full name¡­wait¡­sure.

    ? Je m¡¯appelle Nahla al-Rahim. ? She hoped that was good.

    Dulce appeared surprised. ? Enchant¨¦e¡ªattention ! ?

    Nahla looked around as Samir hollered at her and grabbed her arm as two people in the middle of a fight barrelled towards them, destroying the hedges in their path.

    ¡ª Voc¨º idiota miser¨¢vel com cara del pau, por que caralho voc¨º nos trouxe aqui?! ¨C One of the girls shouted at the other one.

    ¡ª ¨¦ para o relaxamento de nossas almas e mentes, e esse gentil cavalheiro teve a dec¨ºncia de oferecer sua casa a esses pobres perdidos que precisavam desesperadamente de descanso. ¨C The other girl responded in what Nahla thought was a melodic voice.

    ? Que disent-elles ? ? Nahla asked Dulce. It sounded familiar.

    ¡°A gentleman invited them to this house.¡± Samir fixed his gaze towards Dulce. ¡°Do you know who exactly invited you to this house?¡±

    Dulce asked nervously. ? Qu¡¯est-ce qu¡¯il a dit ?

    ¡ª Il m''a expliqu¨¦ qu''un homme vous a invit¨¦s chez ici. ? Nahla responded.

    Dulce was about to respond when Khalid appeared in front of them, a camera hanging around his neck.

    ¡°Nahla, you made it! Oh Samir made it too, I thought he was going to stay home. Welcome to my house!¡± Khalid waved at the gardens, the trees, and the massive yellow house.

    Nahla just nodded. ¡°You have a nice house!¡±

    Samir gave Khalid a death glare. Khalid wilted from the piercing intensity.

    Dulce was standing there, accepting a beverage from a nearby waiter.

    ¡°Who are these people?¡± Samir gestured at the tall girl with the dark brown hair picking leaves and twigs out of it, and the girl in the kaftan and golden boots. Nahla was surprised that the girl in the boots wasn¡¯t uncomfortable.

    ¡°Guests! My father invited them, but I think that Dulce and Nahla might share some common interests. Dulce paints as a hobby, and she wants to someday sell her paintings. She speaks three languages: Spanish, French, and English. Her friends are named Fel¨ªcia and¡ª¡± Khalid turned towards Dulce. ¡°Your friend that showed up in an orange outfit, what was her name?¡±

    ¡°Her name is the¡­Summoner of the Sun.¡± Dulce replied.

    ¡°Thank you.¡± Khalid cleared his throat. ¡°We don¡¯t know her name. She speaks for all of them and accepted my father¡¯s invitation to the party on their behalf.¡±

    That girl was marching up to them. ? Salutations, nos h?tes agr¨¦ables et plaisants. Ceci s''emploie le nom : ¨¦vocatrice du Soleil. Ceci vous remercie tellement pour votre r¨¦ception chaleureuse et vos offrandes de sanctuaire ainsi que du r¨¦pit tant que ce servante humble en a besoin. Son voyage destin¨¦ sera p¨¦rilleux et rempli de menaces. Les t¨¦n¨¨bres se cachent partout : dans chaque recoin et renfoncement. Soyez prudents. Que la Lumi¨¨re vous guide vers la voie de s¨¦curit¨¦, de la paix et d''honn¨ºtet¨¦. ? She held out her gloved hand, her confident smile as bright as the Sun.

    Nahla shook her hand. She barely understood French, even with what middle school and tourists had taught her, but the Sun Summoner seemed to be amiable. Was she wearing a golden mask? No one else was wearing one. The Summoner with the golden mask concealing her face, how mysterious and otherworldly and enchanting. What a dashing face she must have underneath, Nahla thought.

    Samir was watching the other girl, Fel¨ªcia, brush off the leaves and twigs stuck to her brown djellaba. She seemed intent on glaring at every person who gawked at the sight of her, like Samir.

    ? Bonjour ! ? Nahla greeted the girl with stringy dark hair.

    Fel¨ªcia stared at Nahla. It¡¯s so similar to how Samir glared at people, she thought. Would they get along with each other? Maybe she also liked books.

    ¡ª Quem voc¨º deveria ser? ¨C Fel¨ªcia asked in an inquisitively harsh tone.

    ¡ª Ela ¨¦ minha irm?. ¨C Samir responded in an equally harsh tone.

    They glared into each other¡¯s eyes, the tension between the two growing ever so slightly and making those around them nervous. Nahla took notice of Fel¨ªcia¡¯s wiry frame, barely filling the djellaba. After a few moments of intense staring, Samir and Fel¨ªcia broke into a fierce and clipped conversation, their tone and pitch evolving from terse and clipped to curious and relaxed. Her eyes were lively and full of laughter when her face softened, Nahla noticed. Fel¨ªcia with the laughing golden brown eyes quick to humour and daggers alike, the Summoner with her white gold mask revealing everything and nothing, Dulce with her striking appearance and an artist¡¯s delicate speech¡­Khalid¡¯s father had far reaching connections. Khalid was tapping her on the shoulder, nodding over to a nearby palm tree close to Samir. She followed him, gingerly grinning at the thought of being alone for a little while.

    ¡°I apologise for not greeting you in the garage, my baba wanted me to meet a few people and talk to them.¡± He sighed. ¡°I invited you here because I want to get to know you better.¡±

    Oh, that made sense. ¡°Thank you for the kiwis, those are my favourite food. I¡¯m surprised that the kaftans were fitted perfectly for me.¡±

    Khalid¡¯s smile brightened. ¡°I guessed at your measurements to be honest. My seamstress made all of the kaftans that were displayed for you.¡±

    His seamstress made all of that? Wait, he had a seamstress for himself?! ¡°They¡¯re beautiful!¡±

    ¡°I will let her know about your praise.¡± Nahla noticed that he was wearing the raw pearl bracelet she gave him. Something inside her warmed at the thought and she felt her cheeks grow hot.

    ¡°Thank you for inviting me here Khalid, and for the flowers and the limo.¡± Now that she was thinking about it¡­his family owned a limo.

    ¡°You¡¯re welcome Nahla! You can come here at any time!¡± Khalid realised what he said. ¡°Ummm, yeah, as long as I can clear it with my baba.¡±

    Seeing his shoulders sag, Nahla wanted him to cheer up. ¡°I haven¡¯t met your baba, but this distance between you two, maybe talking about it and how it makes you feel to him will repair the distance.¡± She stopped herself. ¡°Are you fine with me giving you advice? If I overstepped¡ª¡±

    ¡°No no, it¡¯s alright.¡± Khalid appeared to be deep in thought. ¡°I¡¯ll think about it.¡±

    A watch on his left hand beeped. Khalid checked it, his expression becoming marred with worry. Samir was also approaching them, a look of fury on his face.

    ¡°Nahla, we¡¯re going. And you,¡± He pointed at Khalid. ¡°Stay away from my sister.¡±

    ¡°You two can¡¯t leave.¡± Khalid held up his watch. ¡°There¡¯s a Calamity heading towards Casablanca. Some of the guests are heading back home where they will be protected from the Calamity. The rest are sheltering with us.¡± A Calamity? Her feet had turned to lead.

    ¡°What protections do you have against a Calamity?¡±

    As if to answer Samir¡¯s question, a buzzing noise emanated from outside the outer hedges. Suddenly, the house, the gardens, and the pools were surrounded by a massive shield that covered all under a transparent dome.

    ¡ª O que est¨¢ acontecendo aqui? ¨C Fel¨ªcia asked, looking around hurriedly.

    Samir started translating as Khalid explained the dome. ¡°It¡¯s a Calamity shield. We had these recently installed. It should protect against all weather related Calamities, which according to this app, it is.¡± Khalid¡¯s face briefly flashed with shock. ¡°Stay here, please.¡±

    ¡°What about my village?¡± Poor mama, if she saw this again¡­after everything that had happened eighteen years ago.

    Khalid rushed off to talk to a security guard, and returned. ¡°The guards will head to the village to pick everyone up and lead them to a safer location. In the meanwhile, come with me.¡±

    Neither Samir nor Fel¨ªcia were budging, until Nahla and Dulce gently tugged at their sleeves. They followed Khalid into the large house, now devoid of bustling guests. He led them down tiled stairs and into a room where an imposing man who resembled Khalid waited.

    ¡°Baba?¡± Khalid snapped his attention to the five guests. ¡°Wait in this room while the Calamity passes over. There¡¯s a phone to call me or any of the servants.¡± He led them in and shut the door.

    The room contained a screen and two sofas. Fel¨ªcia, Fel¨ªcia with the golden brown eyes darting curiously, bounced onto a couch. The Summoner''s mask betrayed no emotion as she sat down and watched the walls. Dulce was touching the walls, admiring them with a trained eye and delicate touch. There were some muffled conversations beyond the doors, but Nahla couldn''t hear what they were talking about. Samir paced the room, before deciding to use the phone. It was old, with buttons that needed to be pressed before you could dial.

    "Where are we?" he questioned.

    "It''s the spare entertainment room, and the safest room in this house," responded Khalid.

    "How do we know that there is a Calamity coming to Casablanca?"

    Nahla heard Khalid sighing over the phone. "Turn on the TV to the news channel."

    If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

    Grumbling underneath his breath, Samir grabbed a nearby remote and turned on the TV. It was already on the news channel, showcasing a fearsome Calamity bringing multiple rainstorms to the west coast of Morocco. Nahla''s heart panged for her village. She hoped that her mama and everyone were evacuated in time. Samir for his part slumped onto the sofa next to Nahla.

    "It''s true then."

    "Yes." There were some muffled words. "I have to go now. Nahla, Samir, Dulce, Fel¨ªcia, stay put. Sorry Nahla about the¡ª¡± The phone abruptly hung up on them, leaving a loud buzzing sound.

    For a few minutes, silence reigned as rain pounded from far above them. It¡¯s so different, Nahla thought, to be in a Calamity. Certainly, she had never encountered one before, unless she counted the one from which she had been rescued. That was a long time ago¡­she hoped Samir was doing well. He was old enough to remember his father, and how he passed on. She moved closer to him, feeling his nervous hitching breaths with his hands interlocked on his head. Something within her stirred. Leave, it said, leave and never turn back. She ignored it.

    ¡ª Aquele cara rico, voc¨º o conhece? Como? ¨C Fel¨ªcia asked Nahla, her eyes boring into her face.

    Nahla nudged Samir, shaking him from his stupor. Samir translated for Fel¨ªcia as Nahla explained how she met Khalid, and his invitation to his house and how Samir accompanied her. Fel¨ªcia nodded along and asked a bunch of questions. One was where they were from, which Nahla told them was a village near the coast not far from Casablanca. Another was the extent of her relationship with Khalid, the answer to which Nahla had to think about. Her face felt warm as she thought about the bracelet of raw pearls. She chose an answer after a minute.

    The Summoner was watching the door intently. Nahla tried to imagine what eyes laid behind the mask. Bright eyes, sorrowful eyes, fiery eyes, blank eyes, she wondered. Meanwhile, the Summoner was approaching the door. Nahla noticed that part of her djellaba was stretched outwards into a ball-like shape. The Summoner knocked on the door once, and then started trying to wrench them apart with her feet. The doors groaned slightly as the Summoner yelled about people, Calamities, a light, Fel¨ªcia, a fair lady, and the doors. Nahla wished she had learnt more French. They refused to budge, as Fel¨ªcia got up, whispered to the Summoner, pushed her aside, and tried to open the doors. Nothing happened.

    ¡ª Portas idiotas! ¨C Fel¨ªcia yelled in anger. ¨C Voc¨º, cara alto, me ajude aqui!

    After a minute, Samir stood up and tried to open the doors with Fel¨ªcia and the Summoner. Five minutes later, Samir called Khalid again.

    ¡°Hello?¡±

    ¡°Why won¡¯t the doors open?¡±

    ¡°The doors lock on their own sometimes. That room never had that problem before. Hold on, I¡¯m coming down to fix it.¡±

    The phone hung up on them. The Summoner whispered to Fel¨ªcia, who rolled her eyes at her. Fel¨ªcia whispered to Dulce, who whispered back. The three of them kept whispering back and forth until Samir glared at them.

    ¡ª Voc¨º nos fez perguntas, agora responda algumas das minhas. De onde vieram todos voc¨ºs? Nenhum de voc¨ºs ¨¦ claramente do Marrocos ou de qualquer outro lugar do norte da ¨¢frica. ¨C Samir stared the girls on the other side down, adjusting his posture to his full height.

    Samir watched as Fel¨ªcia glared at him, prepared to give him a verbal lashing of her own until Dulce looked at her. Her shoulders were visibly relaxed. Eventually, Fel¨ªcia began to reveal why and how they came to be in Morocco.

    They all came from Brazil and were distant cousins to each other. Their ancestor left as an inheritance a badly drawn map to the final location of a hidden ancestral treasure. Eventually, after crossing the Atlantic Ocean via a boat, they became lost and headed towards the nearest city, which happened to be Casablanca. There, Khalid¡¯s father noticed that the travellers were exhausted and offered them a place to stay. The Summoner accepted the offer on the fact that they were in need of rest. Nahla doubted that explanation, but she kept her thoughts to herself. The Summoner wasn¡¯t talking at all, being content with marching around the room.

    ¡ª A verdade n?o deve ser enterrada. ¨C The Summoner stated.

    Fel¨ªcia shouted in Portuguese and the argument between them quickly degenerated into a fight, which Dulce stopped after they hurtled into a corner of the room. Nahla was feeling tired and decided to sleep. She lay down on the sofa and started to drift into the evening''s embrace.

    There were no doors this time, though four doors quickly appeared. She recognised Samir¡¯s door with its strong wooden material. The other three were new. The first was alternating white and black, with different whorls of colour swirling across its surface. The second was made of white gold, as bright as the Sun such that Nahla could scarcely glance at it without fearing it burning her eyes. The third changed each time Nahla glanced at it.

    She picked the second door, trying to cover her eyes as she pushed against the door. Stumbling onto soft silken grass, she found the Summoner trying to leave, marching around the plains.

    ¡°This one¡¯s rest and roosting has ended, for the Calamity that was sprung upon these unfortunate souls. The churlish monkey sought to distort the truth, on which the foundation of the Light has rested upon. Truly, the imposing man and the water dancer would have been leal allies to summon upon for the cause of the Light. Let us hope that her lies do not sully this bond.¡± The Summoner noticed Nahla¡¯s presence. ¡°You have great power, this one sees clearly. This one names you dream weaver, for you have floated into this one¡¯s dreams and woven a tale of grace.¡±

    Nahla noticed that she remained masked in her dream, and that long dark green feathers unfurled from behind her. She knew that some had dreaming personas different from their true appearances, and yet she was certain that the Summoner did have tail feathers in real life.

    ¡°What truth?¡± she asked.

    ¡°That of our true purpose. Such power possessed by a personage not of the Light is unthinkable, until the monkey. You are not aligned with the growing darkness, otherwise you would have been banished by the searing brand of the Light.¡± The Summoner was taller than Nahla, and the grass slightly trembled as she moved closer. ¡°Truly, we are not so different. This one possesses the song of metal while you channel your power through your dance.¡±

    The Sun was hot, so Nahla moved it slightly until she felt cooler. The Summoner watched her closely as the Sun moved to the right. It was still bright, which satisfied the Summoner based on her upturned smile. There were many roosters and chickens wandering around, Nahla noticed.

    ¡°Dream weaver, there is a Calamity afoot. Wake this one so that this one can continue to serve the will of the Light.¡± The Summoner asked.

    ¡°That¡¯s not how it works.¡± Could Nahla wake anyone? No, she most likely couldn¡¯t.

    ¡°Very well, this one will wake herself on her own.¡± The Summoner let out a soft sun-kissed smile. ¡°This one sees you respect this one with your heart and soul, and this one shall reward you one day. Let the Light bless you on your voyages.¡±

    Nahla wanted to say more, but the door reappeared. She could wake herself up, Nahla thought, as she walked through that door.

    The door was open now, Samir standing steady beside the door. Dulce and Fel¨ªcia had vanished, leaving no trace behind. The hallway outside was filled with an air of foreboding. She wondered if it was evening or night already, for she found no light in the room or the hallway. The Summoner had shed her yellow djellaba, now sporting the same dark green feathers Nahla saw in her dreams. Before Nahla could ask her anything, the Summoner charged into the darkness while singing. Samir shrugged. Most of his nerves had vanished, based on his upright posture.

    ¡°No sign of Khalid or anyone other than the three girls,¡± he mentioned to Nahla.

    Nahla peeked out of the doors. Had any of the lights been working when they had descended? They certainly weren¡¯t now. As she walked across the corridor, her feet touched something wet and sticky. Looking downwards, she noticed it was a puddle of blood. There were more scattered throughout the hallway. Samir was carefully watching Nahla and the hallway. They were alone, she knew that. Best to find the exit.

    ¡°Is the Calamity still out there?¡± she asked Samir. Something stirred within her.

    ¡°Probably, though the TV shut off a few minutes before you woke up,¡± was his reply.

    Thankfully, Dulce and Fel¨ªcia weren¡¯t among the bloody pools. Nahla noticed darker shapes near some pools. She decided not to look. Samir walked slightly ahead of her as they ascended the steps, looking warily for any threats. More blood pooled at the edge of the steps, staining her kaftan. Where was Khalid? The last time she heard his voice, he was heading down to fix the broken doors. She hoped he found safety somewhere. Samir looked out into the open foyer, where more blood awaited them. Nahla tried not to think about where the blood came from. The lack of the security guards'' presence worsened her thoughts. Finding what appeared to be an empty room, Samir slightly nudged the door¡ªand nearly vomited from the sharp metallic stench.

    "Don''t go inside," he ordered Nahla.

    She listened to him. The room next to the one that smelled of blood was thankfully empty and free of any dead bodies. Outside, Samir shut the door behind Nahla. She pulled out her cobalt amulet, etched with the signs of Pisces and Neptune.

    ¡°Give me their souls, and I will reveal their innermost dreams amidst a turbulent ocean at the end of it all. Forgive them, and let the sea wash them away.¡±

    The amulet burst into sea green tinted light as Nahla felt a familiar pulse within herself, like the heart of the sea beating in tandem with her own heart. It was a dance she had done before, being swept away by currents born anew and infused with an ancient soul. She supposed there was a certain magic in this ritual, as her clothing flowed around her body leaving her dressed in a sea green outfit complete with small purple jewels placed around her body. The scales on her cheeks, neck, hands, and feet were still present. Nahla greatly liked the fact that it didn¡¯t include shoes.

    The ribbons on her hands and ankles flowed as if they were swept about by the ocean currents. Nahla knocked on the door, signalling for Samir to open it. As soon as that was done, she was confronted with the sight of a girl in a large white fur-trimmed cloak covering her entire body and Samir getting up from the blood soaked ground. Nahla wondered if the girl was overheating in that cloak. The other girl was just as surprised to see Nahla as Nahla was surprised to see her. She noticed that the girl had sheep ears and her bangs were black while the rest of her hair was white. The girl was familiar, but Nahla couldn¡¯t quite place where she had seen her before. The other girl was about to say something, but stopped herself. Above them, a crystalline chandelier was hanging precariously under the weight of a mysterious figure with a dark brown monkey tail dangling from above. Nahla also found this figure familiar, but she still had no idea who that might have been.

    ¡°Hello, who are you?¡± she asked the two.

    Neither answered her question, although the girl with the monkey tail was opening her mouth when the girl with the sheep ears put her finger to her mouth. They appeared trustworthy, so Nahla and Samir followed them through the rest of the foyer. As with the hallway, it was shrouded in darkness and covered in blood. The sheep-eared girl¡¯s cloak never soaked in blood despite being drenched in it. Sometimes Nahla thought the darkness surrounded her and the other girls, inspecting them for something. There was still no sign of Khalid or the Summoner. She hoped they found shelter somewhere, far away from the carnage. Samir checked each room, with the same result: blood and sources of blood. Nahla felt terrible for those that had passed on, and hoped that they would find peace in the afterlife. At least the Summoner and Khalid weren¡¯t among them. The girl with the monkey tail and dark hair with tips of gold kept picking up various items, sometimes stowing them away in her pockets.

    Once, a tendril of darkness formed and grabbed Samir by the ankle, hoisting him upside down and searching him. Nahla was about to summon water when he was unceremoniously dropped onto the floor. The tendril was evidently satisfied and slinked back into the shadows.

    ¡°Samir! Are you alright?¡± Nahla asked.

    ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± He picked himself up.

    They continued onwards. Occasionally the girl with the monkey tail would tap Nahla on the shoulder, but stopped once they reached the next floor. Littered with bodies, the room opened up to the foyer below. The girl in the white cloak knelt down and took out a paintbrush. She drew a stele inscribed in words that Nahla could not read. The girl with the monkey tail was scavenging the dead bodies, murmuring to herself in the process.

    ¡°This is strange.¡± Samir knelt by a dead body. ¡°I¡¯ve seen dead people. Never have I seen this much blood around them. The colour of their skin¡¯s wrong too.¡±

    Nahla peered down. Most of the bodies were security guards, she noticed, and all were pale, surrounded by blood. Staring at the sheep-eared girl, she realised she should do something for these fallen guards. Taking a deep breath, she conjured water and shaped it to her will. Seawater became a scroll filled with winding words. She sealed it on each of the guards individually, a prayer that they will be safe after death in the afterlife.

    Each guard had a gaping hole where the blood spilled outwards. She wondered how much blood soaked into the floor. Certainly, the walls were splattered with crimson blood. There was a struggle here, she realised. With the amount of blood¡­had it been drained out of their bodies? Nahla tried to look for medical supplies, while the girl in the white cloak seemed to have the same idea and tugged on the monkey girl¡¯s sleeve. The other girl shook her head.

    ¡°Samir, maybe we should look for medical supplies, or we can search for survivors?¡±

    ¡°No. There are more floors, and no one knows what¡¯s out there or how everyone was drained of their blood.¡± Samir motioned with his head. ¡°We should find Khalid. Forget the medicine, I doubt there would be survivors.¡±

    Nahla listened, and so did the girl in the fur-trimmed cloak since she stopped trying to look. She did draw more steles inscribed in a language Nahla couldn¡¯t read. The other girls followed suit. The girl with the golden circlet was unfazed by the dead bodies, while the girl in the white cloak held a heavy heart. This wasn¡¯t the first time the white cloaked girl had seen death, Nahla realised, based on her downcast look. The other floors had been the same thing, with Nahla and the girl with sheep ears creating monuments for their sacrifice. No medical supplies, no survivors, and no sign of Khalid or the Summoner. Her feet dragged as she carried on.

    They finally found themselves on the highest floor. The unnatural darkness that shrouded the house sprouted shadowy tendrils that sensed them as soon as they ascended the stairs. To their surprise, they charged at the girls and Samir. Nahla summoned water to her hand and formed a watery shield which the tendrils could only surround, trying to squeeze them inside. The girl with the monkey tail muttered something under her breath, taking out a deck of playing cards. The girl with the sheep ears watched carefully, drawing what looked like a lantern with her paintbrush. Nahla took a deep breath as the shadows surrounded the shield and released it onto the shadows. In the chaos, she fashioned watery doubles of herself, Samir, and the other two girls, sending them down the stairs. The shadowy tendrils followed suit, leaving the group alone.

    ¡ª Voc¨º ¨¦ uma bruxa ou algo assim? ¨C The girl with the braid and monkey tail asked Nahla. ¨C Quem quer que esteja controlando essas sombras n?o ¨¦ muito esperto se estiver perseguindo ilus?es.

    She spoke Portuguese? But there was only one person other than the Summoner¡ªoh. Nahla looked at Dulce and Fel¨ªcia with fresh eyes. Dulce¡¯s eyes widened. She probably was realising that Nahla was the girl standing in front of her, Nahla thought.

    A scream sounded in the hallway from a familiar voice.

    ¡°Khalid!¡± Nahla sprinted after the source. Was he fine?

    The answer was found at the entrance of a metal door with an electronic keypad. The Summoner was throwing metal darts into the darkened room as shadows attacked her. Khalid was trying to type into the electronic keypad causing it to scream ERROR into the void.

    ¡°Come on, come on, come on¡­ah!¡± He ducked as a tendril swiped him, barely missing his head.

    The Summoner was yelling about the light and driving back the darkness as she tangled with the tendrils of darkness, slicing them into pieces with metal rods and her own darts. A card thudded into the nearby wall, transforming into an axe. Fel¨ªcia picked it up, slamming it into the door. There were more people screaming inside. Dulce was drawing more lanterns that the darkness tried to quench. Nahla created bubbles of water around everyone while she slammed a wall of seawater into the shadows. She hoped that everyone in the room was fine. The Summoner and Samir were moving to assist Fel¨ªcia, the Summoner singing into existence a crowbar which she tried to use to pry the door open. Nahla created a wall of water and shoved it hard into the door, snapping it off of its hinges and washing everyone into the centre of the room.

    The blood inside intermingled with the seawater as multiple people lay bleeding out, tendrils of shadow driving deep inside their bodies and ripping out their innards. A man who Nahla assumed to be Khalid¡¯s father was looking upwards at a growing dark miasma that encircled the room, along with some survivors.

    ¡°...You dare enter my home, slaughter my men, leave a trail of bloody massacre through every floor, and now you dare make demands of me. You insolent pig, I¡¯ll put you down like the scum you are¡ªKhalid?¡± He blinked in surprise. ¡°What are you doing here?¡±

    ¡°Baba? What¡¯s going on?¡± Khalid was fearful, nervously looking upwards.

    The tendrils stopped what they were doing and encircled Khalid, lifting him high into the air. Another wrapped around his neck, jabbing a sharp point into his neck. Nahla was about to summon water, only to be stopped by Samir¡¯s fearful gaze.

    ¡°Leave my son out of this. What do you want? Money? Influence? Power? Tell me and I can give you it the second you say yes.¡± The man kept his composure, yet Nahla could tell that he was shaking inside.

    The tendril drew closer, drawing blood from Khalid¡¯s neck as his father pleaded for his life. Suddenly, the tendril released Khalid from its grip and dropped him on the floor. Nahla rushed over to him, checking if he was fine. Other than the blood staining his djellaba, all else was fine. She was about to call out to his father¡ªwhen a black scorpion tail struck him in the heart.

    ¡°Go fuck yourself.¡±

    Khalid dove for his father before being smacked by a dark tendril into the wall. Nahla summoned water to cushion his landing. The Summoner grabbed the scorpion tail, utilising her darts to stab it. The tail twitched slightly, the darts having little to no effect on it. She instead resorted to singing, driving metal rods to her hand. The black tail swiftly retreated into the dark mist. The darkness was poised to strike again as Khalid¡¯s father groaned. Black tendrils were spreading from where the stinger stabbed him. A few men were searching mahogany cabinets, scouring for a cure to his malady. Dulce and Samir were cautiously watching from where the door used to be, and Fel¨ªcia was shouting at the darkness above.

    ¡ª Olhe para voc¨º se escondendo nas sombras. Voc¨º n?o gostaria de enfrentar algu¨¦m que fosse igual a voc¨º? ¨C She held up three cards. ¨C Escolha uma carta, qualquer carta. ¨C She smirked, flicking the cards between her fingers. Is this a magic trick, Nahla wondered.

    Whoever was controlling the black mist ignored her and focused their efforts on the cabinets. The ebony strands destroyed the cabinets, seizing them and shrouding the room in complete darkness. Not even Dulce¡¯s lanterns nor the Summoner¡¯s call for the light penetrated the darkness.

    A hoarse voice pierced through the darkness. ¡°Someone¡­who¡¯s here¡­¡±

    Nahla responded, ¡°I¡¯m here Sidi.¡±

    ¡°The medicine cabinet¡­fourth from the left¡­green container¡­¡±

    Nahla trudged over the wall on her left, feeling the cabinets with her fingers. Instinctively, she gripped a vaguely greenish container. She conjured multiple illusions of her taking similar containers from the cabinets and set out. From the groans of pain, she found Khalid¡¯s father easily. While she couldn¡¯t see anything, she predicted that his chest must have been covered by those dark tendrils.

    ¡°How do I apply this?¡± she asked him.

    ¡°It¡¯s¡­a cream¡­find Hassan¡­he knows how to¡­use it.¡±

    She was closer, maybe she could use it on him? Except¡­he wasn¡¯t family, and that was strange, touching an unrelated man. Samir wouldn¡¯t like it either. Nahla decided to look for Hassan. She hoped he was among the living, she thought. Several lanterns shone through the darkness and Nahla finally found Hassan, bleeding out from his stomach but still aware enough for Nahla to explain everything. He sprinted to his boss¡¯ side, opening the container and applying it. Suddenly, Khalid¡¯s father¡¯s breath became less painful and more relaxed as he slowly returned to full health. Nahla looked at the label. It wasn¡¯t in Arabic or Amazigh or even French. She wondered what was in the container.

    Khalid¡¯s father reached for his phone requesting backup while the Summoner stabbed the dark mist with a metal rod. Out of what Nahla supposed was sheer rage, the dark mist pushed the Summoner outside, Fel¨ªcia and Dulce following after their friend. Samir grabbed Nahla¡¯s arm and together they sprinted into the hallway.

    There were still surviving security guards, but most of them were preoccupied with the growing darkness hunting them. The Summoner removed at least twenty darts from inside her boots while Dulce was busy drawing multiple physical shields that surrounded herself. Samir moved to protect Nahla before one of the pools of blood grew a tendril and slammed him to the floor. She rushed to his side, brushing away the darkness and checking him over.

    ¡°Are you fine?¡± she asked.

    ¡°Look out!¡±

    She ducked just in time for her to miss being hit by Fel¨ªcia being restrained to the wall by crimson strands bolting across the hallway. She muttered something in Portuguese and pressed her hand firmly onto the tendrils. Within seconds, they turned into water falling away and releasing the girl with a wicked smile on her lips.

    ¡ª Portanto, n?o ¨¦ poss¨ªvel controlar a ¨¢gua. Ei, garota peixe, aqui est¨¢ voc¨º. ¨C Fel¨ªcia shouted with a mirthful grin before running off.

    Was she talking to Nahla? Nahla called to her, but the nimble-footed girl couldn¡¯t or wouldn¡¯t answer. Finding a foothold on the ledge, Fel¨ªcia leaped off, dodging all of the tendrils that sprang from the blood and the darkness. Nahla created a few fake security guards with guns, or what she thought guns looked like. Did Khalid¡¯s security guards have guns? She would ask him later. Nevertheless, the watery guards advanced on the inky darkness, currently trying to disarm the Summoner of sharp metal shards while darkness tied her down gently. Samir recovered and punched someone in the face. That person spat blood on his feet and rushed off. Who was that, Nahla thought. Further thoughts were interrupted by an outpouring of water and a cackling Fel¨ªcia at its head. Her cards spun in her hand as she flipped through them and shuffled them. Dulce was completing several lantern drawings and lit them in successive order, driving away some of the darkness.

    The Summoner broke free of her bondage and seemed to grow still. White gold orbs appeared inside the black fog, shaking wildly. The girl with the dark green tail feathers looked satisfied as she searched for the orbs. Out of the corner of her eye, Nahla noticed a woman slinking around and that the orbs disappeared from the dense fog. The Summoner didn¡¯t seem to notice, but Nahla conjured a stream of water to hit her in the back. She turned around¡ªfinding a stranger poised to strike. The crack of a whip sounded as the Summoner jumped into the air. Nahla received a brief ¡°merci¡± before the Summoner kicked into dark mist. She disappeared, Nahla thought. Sprinting towards Dulce, she found herself surrounded by blinding light¡ªand a lurking shadow.

    The woman that was shadowing the Summoner now loomed before them, her hand gripped on a thin black whip. Dulce was shaking, but chose to meet this stranger¡¯s weighted gaze. The woman didn¡¯t say a word, only opening the windows nearby. The Calamity raged outside of the shield, pelting the ground with fat droplets. Inside was calm and serene, other than the combined yelling in Arabic, Portuguese, and French in the hallways and the screeching of the darkness. Nahla noticed that one of the hedges had a missing section, large enough that a person could fit through. She wanted to ask about the hedges, but the woman had disappeared before she opened her mouth.

    Fel¨ªcia had successfully turned most of the blood into water, but there were some pockets of resistance. They were dedicated to feeding off some of the security guards as their co-workers tried to free them from the needle-like tendrils. Nahla snuck around, covertly prying the crimson tendrils away from the humans. Thankfully, some of them were trying to feed off her fake security guards, their bodies slumped in a corner. Despite the fact that they were only water, she shuddered at the thought of those dark tendrils feeling her and looking for her blood.

    A sudden clang, and Nahla found Samir and the woman facing each other. The woman was holding her whip in her right hand and Samir was in his fighting stance. Nahla knew that Samir had fought once or twice against older boys over their cruel taunts, but this woman was not like those boys. While Nahla had never fought anyone in her life, she knew that between someone¡¯s fists and someone¡¯s whip, the winner would not be the person with the fists.

    She conjured some water from the pools and snaked them through the black gloves of the woman. Eventually, the water formed a second hand around the whip. She seized her moment and yanked the water. It didn¡¯t quite work, but it did make the woman notice Nahla.

    Samir tried to tackle her, but she was too swift. Despite her shaky grip, she still managed to drive a nasty jagged tear across the back of Samir¡¯s djellaba, cutting to his skin dripping a raw scarlet.

    Nahla managed to rush out of that section of the hallway quickly, trying to reach Samir. Was he fine?! All Nahla heard was Samir groaning, his blood soaking into the richly decorated rugs. Hold on, she thought, she was coming! Please hang on a little while longer!

    Something snapped above her head, and she turned around to notice the woman¡¯s whip just barely missing her head. It reached another security guard with a gun raised, wrapping around the throat. Nahla was about to yell¡ªbefore the woman pulled hard on the whip, leaving an audible CRACK as the guard slumped to the floor.

    Nahla couldn¡¯t find it in herself to scream, only that her feet had turned to stone and her heart was racing. That poor guard laid there unmoving. Stilling her heart, she kept running away from the woman. She stopped by the room where they found Khalid''s father. Khalid himself was taking photos of the destruction, the ripped Persian carpets, and of Nahla. Nahla in her flowing skirts of sea green and purple jewels, untouched by wear and unstained by blood.

    He stood by his father¡¯s body, the chest showing the lightest flutter of movement, the only sign that he was alive. Despite all of the conflict happening before, all Nahla wanted to do was to make sure everyone was fine, to become what the Summoner called her in their shared reverie. Dream weaver, could she weave a peaceful dream for all of them, one where no one would ever have to fight, to kill? She could not begin to understand everyone, but Dulce¡¯s eyes, her haunted eyes that have seen the finality of life¡­if she could remove that, give her life¡ª

    Someone yanked her arm. Nahla conjured a watery shield before her back landed on the floor.

    ¡°Samir! Why are you¡ª¡±

    Samir did not yank her to the ground. Sure he had pulled her tightly before, especially late at night. It wasn¡¯t Samir¡¯s deep brown eyes with hints of brotherly warmth tucked away, but blood red lenses that revealed no eyes, only a cold unfeeling stare. The woman from earlier kept her hand gripped tightly upon her whip, though Nahla watched her rearrange her fingers several times. There was no face to drown in, only a mask from which the wearer breathed heavily through. It covered her entire face and the long black braid covered the rest of her head. Everything was black and fit the woman like a second skin. Nahla noticed with mounting panic that the woman sported multiple throwing knives on her chest. For a moment, they stared at each other. Finally, the silence was broken when the woman decided to cough.

    She was about to speak when a metal rod flew across the room and crashed onto the back of her head. It clamoured to the ground where it lay. The woman whipped around in time for her to dodge the Summoner¡¯s golden spurs aimed at her head.

    ? Maudite servante des t¨¦n¨¨bres ! Va-t''en au fond d''ab?me duquel tu es partie ! ?

    The woman wasn¡¯t visibly affected by the blow to the head, though Nahla felt that the corridor steadily became more gloomy. One minute, the Summoner was readying another attack. The next, a black scorpion tail jabbed the Summoner in the shoulder, making her wince in pain and slump to the floor. The woman stood behind, hand gripped tightly around the whip as her tail retracted back into her body. It was that moment that Nahla dashed into the watery shield, grabbing the cream before anyone asked her. She was about to reach the Summoner before a stinging sensation forced her to drop the cream. Nahla''s hand stung as she watched the woman retrieve the green container. It only lasted until a monkey''s tail wrapped around the woman in black''s head.

    ¡ª Sentiu minha falta? Tenho um presentinho para voc¨º, j¨¢ que se recusou a jogar. ¨C Fel¨ªcia shouted cheerfully. ¨C Pegue isso!

    Nahla ducked onto the floor just as a gun flew through the air. The woman prepared to duck only for the gun to transform into a shower of lotus petals. The woman stopped to hold one in her left hand¡ªbefore ducking to avoid Fel¨ªcia swinging a metal chair into her head. She lashed out with her whip, but the girl with an ever present smirk kept dodging.

    ¡ª Ha! Se voc¨º chama isso de chicote, ent?o minha av¨® era uma rainha. Esse fiozinho n?o pode me tocar. Tudo o que voc¨º faz ¨¦ se esgueirar na escurid?o e apunhalar as pessoas quando elas menos esperam. Voc¨º n?o ¨¦ p¨¢reo¡­.

    For a moment, all stood still as Nahla watched the woman. The wild movements of Fel¨ªcia stopped, replaced by her swaying gently until she hit the ground with a thud. Nahla watched with horror as she groaned, struggling to get up while she cried tears of blood. Some crimson blood was escaping out of her mouth in startled spurts. Nahla tried to manipulate the blood, but it was no use. It refused to respond, and suddenly it felt as though pressure closed around her throat.

    The woman was coming closer, the cream secure in her grasp. Dulce was still present, silently gasping in horror at what befell her friends. Nahla summoned a watery hand and sent it to secure the cream. Dulce was drawing something that looked more and more like brightly coloured balloons. The hand secured the cream, just in time for a hundred balloons to be drawn into existence. Immediately the woman noticed the absence of the cream. Unfortunately, picking apart the culprit when there were many balloons in her face was hard.

    After the cream was safely deposited, Nahla rushed to the Summoner. It wasn¡¯t as bad as Khalid¡¯s father, yet the poison spread through her right shoulder. She managed to apply one layer of cream before a lashing tail and whip impaled all of the balloons. The woman was swivelling her head wildly, watching for any signs of movement. The Summoner started to stir before Nahla motioned for her to be quiet, though she sighed in relief. Darkness trickled in the hallway, some prodding at Nahla¡¯s face. Suddenly, a vase was smashed as the woman was stunned by the sudden appearance of Nahla¡¯s brother. Across the hallway, Fel¨ªcia was free to move, her nose bleeding profusely.

    The struggle between the two continued close to where Khalid and his father were. Nahla ran after them. Would Samir be fine? She knew that he seemed fine, but she was still worried. Nonetheless, she took cover underneath a cherry table before the woman kicked Samir in a certain sensitive area and flipped him into the table, smashing it into splinters. Nahla winced as one found its way into her foot. Thankfully, Samir didn¡¯t land on her.

    Samir noticed her before she could speak. ¡°Are you hurt?!¡±

    Nahla just pointed at her foot. Samir nodded and pulled the splinter out. She had to suppress herself from screaming in pain.

    The woman noticed that Khalid¡¯s father was still alive and was advancing on them when a lasso restrained her right hand. The other end was tied to a stray wooden beam with Dulce nervously watching. The Summoner was staring daggers at the woman with darts at the ready. Samir frowned.

    ¡°One of my old friends used to know a guy with throwing knives. He said that throwing knives isn''t always the primary weapon of a person. When it isn¡¯t, they would store it where their non-dominant hand would be able to reach it.¡± Samir pointed out the throwing knives. ¡°That¡¯s not usual.¡±

    Nahla studied the sheathes more closely. It looked like it was impossible for anyone to reach with their left hand. She thought about how the woman gripped her whip in her right hand, and how it always seemed unsteady. Something else caught her, with the woman reaching for her whip¡­with her left hand.

    Oh.

    Dulce restrained the wrong hand.

    The woman grabbed the whip and tore a vicious slash that scarred the pale yellow walls and snapped the rope in half. Dulce was briefly surprised before dashing away from the crack of a whip. Khalid noticed Samir and was about to move before the whip caught him, reeling him in like a fish.

    One of the throwing knives was plucked from its sheath and held against Khalid¡¯s throat. Nahla wanted to try and save him, but the woman was resolute. Though the woman never said anything, Nahla knew that if any of them approached, Khalid would die by her hand. A trickle of blood fell from where the steel met his neck.

    She looked at Khalid, his terrified eyes darting between the window and the people surrounding him and the woman. Did he recognise her, Nahla wondered, from their shared dream? Now, her attention was on the woman in black. Was she hurt by Khalid¡¯s father? Why did she want to end his life? Nahla wasn¡¯t inclined to think that there was malicious intent for her or the other girls. Maybe she was more hurt by the Summoner¡¯s metal rod than Nahla realised. How was Nahla going to approach her? Physically wasn¡¯t an option, not when Khalid¡¯s life was determined by the direction of the knife to his bobbing throat. The woman wasn¡¯t sleeping, so contacting her in her dreams wasn¡¯t an option either. She hoped the woman understood Arabic.

    ¡°Are you doing well?¡± she asked.

    Samir sighed, but she continued on. ¡°If you¡¯re hurting, you can tell me. It¡¯s safe here.¡±

    The woman gave no reaction, but she wasn¡¯t trying to send darkness or bloody tendrils after anyone so Nahla thought it was working. Khalid was fiddling with his camera.

    ¡°Maybe we can talk later, after all of this, but please put the knife down. I don¡¯t know what issues you have with his father, but Khalid is innocent.¡± She hoped the woman listened. ¡°Please.¡±

    The woman refused to drop the knife. Khalid stopped messing with his camera. Before Nahla could do anything, he snapped a photo of the woman, the bright lights disorienting the woman long enough that Khalid managed to slip away¡ªbefore the woman recovered, grabbed him again, and threw him head first through a nearby window.

    Glass flew out the window with Khalid falling through the air. Nahla was about to summon a net made of water, only for Khalid to stop falling while the glass shards shattered onto the hedges below. She noticed Dulce out of the other window with her hand outstretched. After letting Khalid ascend and setting him down on the floor, he decided to sit down.

    ¡°Wow, that was¡­impressive and cool. How did you do that?¡± he asked Dulce.

    ¡°It¡¯s a simple magician trick,¡± Dulce answered.

    Khalid nodded. ¡°I should try and learn it.¡± He looked at Nahla. ¡°You were trying to talk her down, and I messed it up. I¡¯m sorry.¡±

    ¡°No, it¡¯s fine! Anyone with a knife to their throat would have probably reacted the same way. Are you fine?¡± She checked him over, her feet growing lighter with the lack of severe injuries.

    ¡°No, it¡¯s¡ªwait she¡¯s still here?¡±

    Both girls turned around. The fight was still ongoing, as Fel¨ªcia started using the nearby furniture as weapons. Currently, she turned one of the Persian carpets into an inflatable flamingo pool float and dragged the woman with the scorpion tail around by the neck with the float. The Summoner was throwing darts at her while Samir just watched. The dark tendrils watched as their mistress made no move to encircle any of her opponents. Eventually, the woman popped the inflatable with her tail and walked off. She was about to approach Khalid¡¯s father, but after noticing the amount of security guards surrounding him, she kept on walking. Before she left, she sprinted next to Nahla. Nahla felt her hands become lighter. The woman straddled the broken window and launched herself from there. Dulce looked over the window.

    ? Elle est partie. ? Dulce checked beyond the hedges, appearing satisfied at the woman¡¯s disappearance.

    Nahla nodded and helped Khalid up. She was about to give him back the green cream when she noticed that it was missing. She frantically checked her sleeves, skirt, and the floor. Nothing. The woman in black must have taken it, she thought. Nahla wondered what the cream was.

    Khalid dusted himself off, wincing when he dusted off glass fragments, when his father approached him, prompting him to stand at attention. Khalid¡¯s father stared down at his son and turned to face everyone else. Nahla noticed that he didn¡¯t react at the sight of her fish scales, Dulce¡¯s sheep ears, Fel¨ªcia¡¯s monkey tail, or the Summoner¡¯s tail feathers.

    He merely nodded towards one of the servants, who beckoned for the group to follow him. Samir begrudgingly agreed.

    ¡°Hopefully, we can both go home.¡± Samir winced as he walked down the stairs. His back was bleeding, and Nahla wished she had held onto the cream a little while longer.

    ¡ª Salvamos seu traseiros e ele nem sequer agradeceram¡­ ¨C Fel¨ªcia muttered to herself, casting cold gazes at Khalid¡¯s father and Khalid.

    They were all escorted to one of the rooms untouched by the battle outside. Except for the painting hanging by a single nail, the room was nicely furnished.

    Nahla waved to the servant before he left. ¡°Excuse me! What happened out here?¡±

    ¡°You mean the woman? I suppose that she must have snuck in during the party and waited for all of the guests to leave. She killed most of the guards¡­that much blood shouldn¡¯t be possible. A few of the staff tried to fight her off¡ªyou can guess at how well that went.¡± He sighed. ¡°Other than that, she didn¡¯t hurt us. Having dark tentacles gagging you wasn¡¯t pleasant, but at least we aren¡¯t dead. Oh, and all of the white chocolates vanished.¡±

    Nahla nodded. ¡°Are you feeling well?¡±

    He shook his head. ¡°Thank you for asking though. Someone should be here with refreshments shortly. In the meantime, please wait here.¡±

    The door shut quietly behind him. The Summoner was reclining on a beige-coloured couch. Nahla couldn¡¯t tell if she was sleeping. Fel¨ªcia was lounging on the couch across from the Summoner, her arms draped on the floor and her feet high in the air. Dulce was next to Nahla with her cloak covering most of the grey-coloured couch. Samir was on her other side, watching the curtains surrounding tall windows.

    She wondered how Khalid was doing. The Summoner showed no reaction to her questions, though she did say yes when she was asked about her shoulder hurting. Dulce was napping with her cloak acting as a blanket. Samir informed her that Fel¨ªcia wasn¡¯t interested in answering any questions about her well-being. The girl with a tail of green feathers suddenly stood up.

    ¡ª Essa farsa mesquinha chegou ao fim.

    The Summoner threw a circular object made of white gold that clattered onto the glass table while she fished inside Fel¨ªcia¡¯s pockets. Tapping Dulce¡¯s shoulders lightly, she managed to procure a dark ink-like amulet from her. There were three of them on the table now, but Nahla couldn¡¯t read the symbols written on them. She pulled her own amulet on the table.

    ¡°So¡­where did you all really come from?¡± Samir asked.

    They received their answer from Fel¨ªcia after Dulce agreed. They all were coming from Brazil, but the Summoner and Dulce were from France and a country called Costa Rica respectively. They were following a map, though they couldn¡¯t read it. The Summoner decided to land in Morocco for rest, confident that the oceans were ¡°calling to her, a symbol of the Light¡¯s dominance.¡± Dulce thought that if they kept it secret, then no one would be looking for them. Nahla decided to not press on why Dulce was afraid of telling other people or who was looking for them, though she understood.

    She checked on the Summoner again, her face forever stoic. Her shoulder twitched frequently. Some part of her wanted to peel back the mask to see what lay beyond unblinking white, but she never made a move. It was just her and the seemingly dreaming rooster with the red combed hair. At least, Nahla thought she was sleeping. She searched for her dreams, but none revealed themselves to her. Dulce was sketching. Where were Samir and Fel¨ªcia? Light fluttered with the curtains, dappling with each light ruffle. Has the Calamity already passed? Was that where they were? No, Nahla thought, Samir would have never taken the time to enjoy the warm feeling of surviving a Calamity. He would have had his head stuck in a book, reading and questioning why it was written this way. Or¡­terrified and shaking.

    The door outside was open, perhaps Nahla should take a look? Once she left the threshold, she noticed that the marks of the previous conflict were left untouched. Samir had his ear to the wall and was translating to Fel¨ªcia, who every once in a while would squint and mutter something in Portuguese. Nahla snuck into a small alcove, and put her ear against her wall. The first thing she noticed was that the walls were able to carry sound well inside. The second thing she noticed was that Khalid and his father were talking¡­loudly.

    ¡°What do you mean you¡¯re sending me away?!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s for your protection. I can¡¯t let what happened to you today happen again. You will be travelling with an escort of five security guards, and a trusted associate will be meeting you at the airport¨C¡±

    ¡°Why am I going to Zurich of all places?! I can stay here just fine!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s safer there. The events of today have proven that the security here is insufficient for us and requires improvement.¡±

    ¡°That doesn¡¯t mean you have to send me to a completely different continent because of a minor home invasion¨C¡±

    ¡°You were thrown out of a window! Before that, you had a knife to your throat! I don¡¯t know what this woman is capable of or what she wants, but I know that she has a vendetta against this family¨C¡±

    ¡°You talk about the ¡®family¡¯, yet after Mama died you had no hesitation sending me across the ocean alone and grieving and not knowing any English! Also, don¡¯t forget that she was trying to kill you too! For all I know, her issues are with you and you only! Your reaction to anything is to push everyone away, even your own son and I¨C¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re dismissed.¡±

    Samir and Fel¨ªcia vanished when the doors started to open. Khalid stumbled out, noticing Nahla immediately.

    ¡°You heard all of that, didn¡¯t you?¡±

    She nodded.

    ¡°...yeah. We don¡¯t have the best relationship.¡± He sighed. ¡°I don¡¯t want to go to Europe, not when I¡¯ve only been here for two weeks. The last time I came home was during the winter break in America, and he had left for some business function in Korea. Sometimes, I wanted to talk to him, but lately, he¡¯s been withdrawing away from me, sending me to these far-off places. And then when we do talk¡­¡± He gestured to the closed door. ¡°That happens.¡±

    Nahla nodded.

    Khalid slumped to the ground and buried his head in his legs. ¡°His first reaction to his son being thrown out a window was to send him far away, to someone who I don¡¯t know. Not comforting him, sending him to a country that he¡¯s never been to for his safety. At least I can take some good photos there.¡±

    He¡¯s been hurt badly. ¡°Maybe there¡¯s a good reason for his disappearances, maybe there isn¡¯t. He should listen to you, and what you want.¡± She thought about how her own mama mourned for her husband for three years. ¡°Grief takes a lot of time to heal from. Both of you might be hurting, and you¡¯re expressing it in different ways. Sometimes talking can help, but it¡¯s not a steadfast solution.¡± Samir had shut himself away in his books while his mama mourned, always looking out of the window to the shining ocean out of fear. Nahla had no one to mourn.

    Khalid nodded, looking up at Nahla with tears in his eyes. ¡°Thank you for the advice. I wish I had something to give you.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s fine.¡±

    ¡°No, seriously. I brought you here to talk and look where we are. The next time we see each other, I¡¯ll teach you the dance they taught me in school, like I promised."

    Dancing¡­so he did remember.

    Samir was standing in front of the window, the curtains blowing in his face when Nahla arrived back at the room. Should she tell him that she was with Khalid alone? He would disapprove, she knew, but he¡¯s her brother.

    ¡°I spent time with Khalid after the conversation ended.¡±

    Samir¡¯s shoulders sagged in apparent disappointment. ¡°I told you not to be alone with him alone. Especially now¡­¡± He looked beyond the horizon.

    Nahla peered through the curtains. The shimmering translucent shield was still up.

    ¡°I don¡¯t trust him or his father. I might not like the woman who broke in, but there has to be a reason that she would sneak into someone¡¯s house and try to murder them.¡± He looked out the window. ¡°Why are these shields up? The Calamity ended already.¡±

    Nahla looked. She noticed the hedges that the woman showed her were facing the window. The Calamity had indeed ended with no traces of it other than some downed trees outside of the shield.

    ¡°Why would he invite you to his house¡­.¡± Samir trailed off, lost in thought.

    Nahla sought a seat beside Dulce, who had finished her sketch. The sketch was of a crab, waiting along the beach. It was a realistic rendition, Nahla thought, to be almost lifelike. If it wasn¡¯t on a piece of paper, she would have believed it to be real. Almost immediately, she created a small red crab, which menacingly waved around its pincers. Suddenly, the paper crab lifted itself off of the page and challenged the watery crab to a duel. Soon the two crabs were fighting each other to the amusement of Dulce and Nahla. Fighting each other with pincers was cute, Nahla thought. Dulce seemed to think so too. Fel¨ªcia decided that Dulce¡¯s crab was more likely to win and kept encouraging it in Portuguese. The Summoner had not awoken and Samir wasn¡¯t paying attention to the crab fight.

    Eventually, Dulce¡¯s crab subdued Nahla¡¯s crab, raising its pincers in a moment of triumph. Fel¨ªcia clapped a lot, her face beaming in delight. Nahla clapped as well while Dulce patted her small happy crab who waved in enjoyment. Nahla patted her crab too, making it happy as well.

    Someone knocked on the door, startling Nahla. Her crab dissolved into water while Dulce managed to sneak her crab out of the window.

    ¡°Hello? Is this where Nahla is? I¡¯m supposed to bring refreshments to her, Dulce, Fel¨ªcia, Samir, and¡­I can¡¯t read English. Someone else.¡±

    ¡°This is Nahla!¡± she responded.

    The door was opened by a young woman with a tray of various drinks and maakouda. ¡°Refreshments are here!¡± She set them down on the table.

    Once she shut the door, the Summoner shot up from her resting position. Dulce picked up the tray and handed each person a glass. Nahla wondered what kind of drink it was. It was coloured white, which was an interesting colour. Looking around the room, all of the drinks were either black or white. Samir was intently examining the drinks while the Summoner helped herself to the maakouda and the drinks. Fel¨ªcia hesitated, but after seeing the Summoner gulp down her drink, shrugged and ate a maakouda. Nahla was about to drink when something jolted her. Startled, she looked around.

    Take a closer look.

    The room seemed fine.

    No, a much closer look. You can control the sea, surely you can handle one drink?

    Usually, the voice only was present for important matters. One drink¡ªwait.

    Nahla examined the drink she held. It seemed fine on the surface, but when she dug deeper and pulled at the water, something else was there. What was that? Nahla tried to pull at it, but it refused to move. She looked around.

    ¡°Did you drink this?¡± she whispered to Samir.

    ¡°No,¡± was his reply.

    ¡°There¡¯s something in these drinks. I don¡¯t know what they are.¡±

    Samir nodded, opened the window, and poured out his glass onto the bushes.

    Nahla tried to get the Summoner¡¯s attention. ? Ne bois pas ?a ! ?

    The Summoner stood up to respond¡ªand promptly crashed into the table. Dulce suppressed a scream while Fel¨ªcia¡¯s eyes widened in shock, darting to her half-full glass and the Summoner¡¯s empty glass.

    ? On y va ! Maintenant ! ? Dulce yelled.

    Nahla turned to Samir and Fel¨ªcia. Hopefully, they will have answers. Fel¨ªcia began to wildly gesture and made some sort of single-finger gesture to the Summoner while Samir translated as she spoke rapidly.

    ¡°So Fel¨ªcia has a¡­cloud? A cloud that floats, it can hold two people¡­yes I know it¡¯s a cloud. She can take herself and¡­slow down! I don''t know Portuguese that well! So your friend can float people like she did with Khalid? Okay¡­no I am not carrying your friend! She¡¯s not your friend, she¡¯s your¡ª¡± Samir looked at Nahla. ¡°I can¡¯t say that in front of Nahla. I can take Nahla¡­just because I¡¯m tall doesn¡¯t mean I have super strength. Why can¡¯t you take the unconscious girl with¡ª¡±

    Footsteps resonated throughout the floor. Samir and Fel¨ªcia exchanged a look before she emptied herself of all of the various items she took from the dead guards. After some transformations, they formed a massive layered stone barrier that surrounded the door. Nahla noticed Fel¨ªcia¡¯s eyes starting to close. Dulce noticed too, unbuckling her cloak just in time for it to catch Fel¨ªcia once she fell unconscious. Samir slung the Summoner on his shoulder, grumbling.

    ¡°What do we do now?¡± Nahla asked Dulce and Samir. ¡°What about Khalid?¡±

    ¡°Enough about Khalid! We need to get out of here before those guards arrive! If anything, I¡¯m pretty sure Khalid lured us here.¡±

    Nahla doubted that, but this wasn¡¯t the time to voice her opinions

    ¡ª Fel¨ªcia, acorde, por favor! ¨C Dulce whispered to a sleeping Fel¨ªcia.

    For a brief second, Fel¨ªcia stirred, waved her hand, and fell back asleep. Enough time for a small blueish-white cloud to appear in front of the window.

    When the guards burst into the room after taking a drill to the barrier, they found a small cloud zooming away and a girl floating in the sky.

    <hr>

    This was new to her.

    She spent twenty minutes poring over the control panel, its multicoloured wires taunting her with their complexity. Which wire controlled which? Was it the blue one or the purple one? Or was it the red one? It had always been the red one, but sometimes, it was black. Either way, the bolt cutters she stole from the shed needed to be used quickly. The overhead cameras had just finished their sweep of the western grounds. If they caught her before she escaped¡­

    She had done puzzles before and solved them with ease. If that fucking asshole hadn¡¯t hit her with a metal rod, she would have been out of the mansion and lost to the world.

    Her gaze landed on the cream that sat snugly within her palm. What was in it? It acted faster than any drug she had seen. She would have to look into that.

    Nevertheless, she focused back on her task at hand. Why was this complicated? Actually...why did she need to think about this? They were already on high alert, and she could disappear faster than they could blink. The guards were dead, she had made sure of that. Readying her bolt cutters, she allowed herself a smile.

    After she set some of her dark strands on the control panel, she watched the shield fall away. Tossing the bolt cutters in a nearby hedge, she detransformed¡ªjust in time for her to spot a floating white cloud passing through and a fluttering white speck.

    Huh, so they figured it out.

    She took off her mask, reached into her stash of white chocolate and bit into it. Mmm, it tasted good. Her thoughts turned to the girl who tried to talk to her, the one with the fish scales. She replayed the words in her mind. Something for another day.

    Sauntering off into the clearing, she let the darkness shroud her before heading to a crowded souk where she melted into the crowd like a ghost.

 The Bay Road and the Teal River Converge Upon Pink and Azure Plains

    Rest, she thought, finally. Urantsog approached the small pond, its outer banks having long dried out judging from the dusty and dry texture. She looked at her reflection and drank heavily from the water. As a human, she would have taken out her pots, scooped the water, and boiled it mercilessly until she was sure that no bacteria remained. Since she was an animal and had drunk from lakes only a shadow of what they once were without any ill effects, Urantsog was confident that she wouldn¡¯t sicken and die.

    The pond water was cool and refreshing, quenching her thirst. She shook her mane, spraying water across the more parched areas of grass and on her saddle.

    Her hoof still itched, even after two days ago when she galloped across the plain almost a hundred times. Whenever she checked it, it looked like a normal hoof. She had seen horses with various issues, ranging from cracked hooves to cancerous growths. She shuddered as she remembered her favourite mare looking at her mournfully as her ?v?? examined both of her rear hooves. Urantsog missed her, even though it had been twenty years. Chimeg was faster than even her aav¡¯s greatest stallion, and Urantsog remembered her neck held high, always wild and free in the steppes. She always joked that Chimeg was her sister, given how alike the two were. In more than one way, that was true. Her hoof was an issue. She would check it later.

    Looking around with her ears pricked, she sensed no danger. Urantsog located a medium-sized patch of grass and started to chew on it. She wasn¡¯t sure if it was because she was a horse or that was because she had supernatural abilities, but the grass tasted good. Urantsog looked behind her. The cart was intact, her saddle and attached equipment looked like it was prepared for combat, and her dismantled ger was still present. Good, she thought. As much as she liked sleeping under the stars, her ger would have better protection against a Calamity should one arrive. She wondered how her ancestors would have reacted to the Calamities, whether they would have spread further away. She knew that her nagats egch used to live in Ulaanbaatar before the Calamities hit. With the Calamities, many had turned to the lifestyle of their ancestors, assimilating into those that kept to their traditional lifestyle. Ulaanbaatar was still inhabited, but was deserted every time there was an alarm. She had been there. It was stifling, feeling boxed in on all sides, and enough buildings that she felt small and insignificant compared to those towering structures. Urantsog preferred the open steppes, to be able to run wild and without a care.

    In other words, absolute freedom.

    She told her aav as much, she would settle for nothing less. When she had been younger, she had felt a special kinship with her family herd, envying their free-spiritedness and carefree nature. They didn¡¯t need her family; they could be independent and self-reliant. She had resolved to be the same when she grew older. Archery, wrestling, horse riding, taming those that refused to bend to anyone¡¯s will, she had done them. She had outshot her d¨¹¨¹ on their respective horses, wrestled her eej to the ground after a long tussle, and outraced her aav with the help of Chimeg. She had been challenged among her tribe and upheld her titles each and every time.

    Much to her annoyance, that didn¡¯t apply to her mission. Retrieve her Key from the ghosts of warrior women, find her Gate based off of the location given by her Key¡­wait for her partner to find their Key and their Gate, or House, or whatever that amulet was saying. No, that would be partners. She gritted her teeth. The success of a once in a lifetime mission depended on two people that she had never met and whose capabilities she didn¡¯t know. Her amulet wasn¡¯t forthcoming on the details, and she hated charging into anything blindly. She could find both Keys, find both Gates, and then enter them. Unfortunately, Urantsog was bound by an ancient bond and couldn¡¯t enter the Gates alone. She needed a partner. If they were slow, she wouldn''t help them. They should know how to find their own Key.

    Urantsog had some ideas of where her own Key could be. Ghosts could refer to a mass casualty event, a battlefield where the dead were laid to rest where they fell, or a mass grave. She needed to research who the warrior women were. No one in her tribe knew anything about any famous warrior women within their territory or any nearby territories, nor mass graves.

    Her hoof still itched. Urantsog would examine it later.

    Out of nowhere, her ears pricked up. The sound of roaring thunder reached her. Far into the distance, fissures of lightning snaked across the sky, sending a chill down Urantsog¡¯s intestines. She buried it. Fear had no place in her mind, not when there was a mighty Calamity to fight.

    She remembered the gigantic blind worm with jagged teeth crawling within the earth. How it tried to intimidate her family and tribe into fleeing. How she picked up the amulet she had found that day and shouted the words that engulfed her in a cloud of smoke. How she rose to the challenge and defeated the horrid worm with its sickly pulsating flesh, parading its corpse through the settlement. This would be no different. All this was was another opponent to prove her skills against.

    She tucked her ger and cart safely away, and checked her saddle. It remained nestled against her. Good.

    Urantsog glanced upwards, finding the source of the storm. An azure dragon, its scales gleaming in the evening sunlight. The shadow it casted was larger than the buildings she had seen at Ulaanbaatar, long and sinewy and wriggling. No matter, she would triumph over them all the same.

    And so she charged ahead.

    <hr>

    ¡°Hehe?oh that tickles!¡± Mihira giggled as the blue-green crystal burrowed snugly into her wings. For the past few days, it spent more time with her than Hua-san and the other crystals, always tickling her or wrapping itself in her wings. Hua-san told her that it was harmless, so she let it be. It was a nice companion. She wanted to name the crystals, but she couldn¡¯t think of names for them. For now, this one was dedicated to soaring with her in the air next to Hua-san. Sometimes it would blow puffs of wind in her face to tease her.

    Above the sky, she had never felt so carefree and happy. The wind was still there, occasionally whistling and imploring Mihira to ¡°find the land that resists the sea.¡± She still didn¡¯t know where that was. Hua-san had a few ideas but most of them were far away, like America or Europe. They confirmed that it wasn¡¯t in East Asia after searching along the coastline. Hua-san thought it was referring to a saltwater dam or something along the coast.

    ¡°What¡¯s on your mind?¡±

    Mihira turned around, the blue-green crystal disentangling itself from her wings. Hua-san¡¯s massive head was craned towards her back, where Mihira was lying on.

    ¡°Nothing, but thank you for asking!¡± Mihira paused. ¡°Is there anything on your mind?¡±

    ¡°Me? Not at the moment.¡± Her head turned towards the storm behind them. ¡°Other than the Calamities. Was your furred beast causing the Calamity? I remember you mentioned that it was hidden among the clouds. Did you notice it forming hail within its mouth or its paws? You also mentioned¡­¡±

    Hua-san asked more about the beast that Mihira saw, but all Mihira could think about was her beautiful green-tinged blue eyes and how they shined whenever she talked. Her antlers were gorgeous and so shiny, and when she was a human¡­Mihira had seen elegant women in her favourite anime, but she had never thought she would experience how graceful and kind Hua-san was. She was so successful too! She was in charge of running satellites that monitored the world for Calamities! She was so mature and willing to listen to Mihira talk about anything. And she was so strong, with her power over storms and the weather. She was very knowledgeable about Calamities, too. Hua-san had explained to her about the classifications of Calamities, how measuring the strength of a Calamity worked, and how the satellites functioned, but all Mihira could think about was how her movements were so refined and soft. It made Mihira wish that she had been there on that Friday afternoon. She also loved her fish, so much so that she brought him along with them.

    M¨¦nm¨¦n stared at Mihira through the glass container. Hua-san has good taste in fish, she thought. He also looked beautiful and healthy. Hua-san set out a list of instructions of when exactly to feed the carp and what to feed M¨¦nm¨¦n. So far, Mihira had followed the instructions to the letter. Sometimes, when she was napping on Hua-san, she could hear Hua-san conversing with M¨¦nm¨¦n. M¨¦nm¨¦n must be a special fish, she thought. Maybe he had secret powers, or he was advising Hua-san on what course to take. Kaede would love Hua-san. They could talk about Calamities and satellites and such.

    Meanwhile, Mihira had no clue where they were. The last time she had asked, they had been close to Tibet.

    ¡°...Tenhou Mihira?¡±

    ¡°Oh Hua-san!¡± She blushed. Oh no, did she catch her not paying attention? ¡°Sorry about that!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s fine. I wanted to ask you more about the Calamity you faced and the being within. So you managed to talk them down?¡±

    Mihira nodded.

    ¡°I see. There¡¯s a morphological and possibly psychological difference between the beings we encountered. If the others had encountered other creatures, then we can pinpoint if their appearance and the Calamities are connected. Based on us, that would be true, but I would like to meet others.¡± Hua-san looked behind her again, the antlers catching the glow of the Sun. ¡°That only started when I started thinking about, hmm¡­something I¡¯ll tell you later. Another thing: Who would you want to meet?¡±

    Mihira thought about this. She would want to meet the Dog, since they were supposed to be her partner. She also liked Hua-san, so maybe they could both be her partners? She would have to consult Kaori on this. Kaori was an expert on relationships. She was dating three boys at the same time; surely she could help Mihira with this dilemma.

    ¡°The Dog? She¡¯s supposed to be my partner,¡± Mihira answered.

    ¡°Oh.¡± The air was still. ¡°I don¡¯t know anything about my partner or the Western zodiac, but I would like to meet the Snake.¡±

    Mihira was surprised. She thought Hua-san would pick a cool or beautiful animal, like the Tiger, the Rabbit, or the Horse. ¡°Can I ask why?¡±

    ¡°Well, the Snake is sometimes called the little Dragon in Chinese culture, so I thought that we would get along. My l¨£olao always said the Snake was associated with intelligence and cunning, which is what we need to solve the origin of the Calamities.¡± Her voice sounded more determined. ¡°Although we both need to find the locations of our Keys quickly. If they are the solution to breaking the stranglehold of the Calamities, then we have to find them and our partners.¡±

    Mihira nodded. She wanted to meet more people. Maybe she could befriend them, and she could invite them into the Seventh House. That required her Key though, so that should take priority. Also, the wind had told her to go find it. She laid down on Hua-san¡¯s azure scales, her wings outstretched and draping over the scaled body.

    ¡°Hua-san? Can I ask you a question?¡±

    ¡°Sure.¡±

    ¡°When¡¯s your birthday? I told you that mine was the twenty-eighth of September, but you never told me yours.¡±

    Hua-san¡¯s head turned forward. ¡°Another day.¡±

    ¡°Alright.¡± She was left to wonder in silence.

    Mihira peeked below the clouds. Rolling plains full of short grass stretched out before her. The land was sparse, with little to no water in sight. There wasn''t much wildlife either, not from her vantage point. The sky was a clear blue, and some of her feathers were scattered in the light breeze. Below, there wasn¡¯t much else¡ªexcept there was a horse.

    Mihira stared at it before taking off her glasses and wiping her eyes. The horse was galloping across the plains, leaving a trail of dust behind it. Mihira wondered if it was wild or a runaway domestic horse. There was something bright on its back, too indistinct to see. What if it was hurting the horse?

    Kaori should have been here, and Hina, and Kaede¡­she missed them. If Kaori was here, she would have demanded Mihira to pet the horse and save the horse from danger. Mostly the petting part. Since Kaori wasn¡¯t here, she should save and pet the horse for Kaori¡¯s sake.

    ¡°Hua-san, there¡¯s a horse down there!¡± Mihira pointed out the dark smudge charging across the field. ¡°There¡¯s something on its back! Can I take it off?¡±

    Hua-san peeked down. The red crystal near her moved closer. ¡°It¡¯s a horse in the middle of nowhere. I doubt it¡¯s a domesticated horse. A wild horse can easily harm you, even with your gifts, so that would be a no.¡±

    ¡°Please? I know how to take care of myself! And I¡¯ll be careful! I know how to take care of myself around a horse!¡± That was a lie, but Kaori would tell her to lie for any reason.

    ¡°I sincerely think¡ª¡±

    Mihira stared at Hua-san with her sad eyes. The blue-green crystal nudged Hua-san¡¯s snout. ¡°My friends would have done the same thing.¡± Kaori always told her to use her eyes whenever she wanted something from other people. She felt bad using it on Hua-san.

    As she sighed, steam rolled out of Hua-san¡¯s nostrils. ¡°Sure, but to be clear, if you find yourself in trouble, I need to keep watch over you. Your safety is my priority.¡± Her head tilted downwards. ¡°I will be in the sky.¡± Her eyes flickered with compassion.

    With that, Mihira dove off of Hua-san¡¯s body into the cool air. Her wings lengthened and stretched outwards, letting white feathers fall off into the air. The breeze caught her and the blue-green crystal as she drifted downwards towards the horse.

    The horse appeared surprised by her sudden appearance. Mihira hoped that she hadn¡¯t spooked the horse. She hadn¡¯t brought fruit; there was only the crystal and that was inedible. Mihira didn¡¯t have any sugar cubes on her either. She supposed she could summon the raspberry scented wind, but that wasn¡¯t real food. Kaori would know more about how to talk to a horse. When they were younger, Kaori¡¯s dreams had been to own twenty horses and two stables. She blew her limited allowance on horse care books and how to ride a horse before her parents forbade her from buying any more hoof care supplies and telling her they couldn¡¯t afford a single horse, let alone a stable.

    The horse was gorgeous, with its long silky black mane and its lustrous bay coat. It seemed cautious, which made sense.

    Mihira couldn¡¯t help herself but imagine putting lolita style frills on a horse. No one had done it before, she remembered, and if the opportunity had arisen, she would have done it in a heartbeat. Would the horse appreciate it? She should try and think of what colours would work well with a bay horse. An elegant gothic lolita horse? She hadn¡¯t worked with that style before. Black and white? Would she accessorise the saddle as well? It had a pretty saddle. The bright yellow and red fabrics complemented the coat and mane of the horse, and there was some tube-shaped device in the shape of a horse¡¯s head coloured in yellow and red. The mouth was opening up with its teeth showing. Hard to accessorise that. Maybe she should remove it, since it seemed heavy. Wouldn¡¯t the poor horse be struggling?

    Mihira thought about what Kaori said about mounting a horse. There were procedures, but she couldn¡¯t remember. People mounted horses on the side, or at least that¡¯s what she remembered from Kaori.

    She moved to the left side of the horse, but the horse turned to face her. Moving the right side accomplished the same thing, the horse staring at her strangely. Mihira blew herself to the horse¡¯s back, only for the horse to rapidly rotate, its nostrils flaring. What did that mean? She tried to recall what Kaori said, but that was a blank space in her mind.

    Mihira was at an impasse. How could she mount this horse? Oh right, wings! She could fly over the horse!

    Deciding on that, Mihira gathered wind and released it into the ground. Shooting over the horse¡¯s head, she managed to leap over the horse¡¯s head and jumped onto the saddle. There were a few issues though.

    The saddle was uncomfortable to sit on. All Mihira felt was a large amount of metal and gear than anything comfy for a human to sit on. She was about to take it fully off, until something else dawned on her.

    The horse was mad.

    Before Mihira could fly away, the horse¡¯s nostrils flared once more before bay coloured smoke started shooting out, causing Mihira to panic and jump from the saddle. The horse reared upwards, its front legs arching above the ground. It planted its hooves into the ground, snorting, before charging at Mihira at full speed.

    Mihira dove out of the way quickly before the horse could run her over. The horse was about to charge at her again, but suddenly, an onslaught of rain poured onto the field. The bay horse snorted and reared at the dragon above.

    ¡°Hua-san!¡± Mihira yelled.

    Hua-san was more focused on the bay coloured horse, her long body just barely touching the ground. The horse wasn¡¯t deterred by Hua-san¡¯s appearance, only pawing at the ground and snorting more smoke out of its nostrils. Its eyes sparkled with what could only be described as something intelligent. Mihira worried for Hua-san¡¯s safety, and equally realised how much danger the horse had put itself in. She tried to create a wall of wind, only for the horse to ignore it and start charging at Hua-san.

    Hua-san simply ascended rapidly, slapping her tail against the horse hard enough that the horse flew backwards. To her surprise, the horse regained its balance and pulled at a brown string next to its mouth. The device attached to its saddle glowed for a few seconds before launching the horse into the sky.

    She blinked. Was that common with horses? She would ask Kaori the next time they saw each other.

    The horse whinnied before landing behind Hua-san¡¯s head. Hua-san descended quickly to the ground before abruptly turning and shooting straight up. Around Mihira, peals of lightning quickly enclosed the area as dark clouds started gathering. A quick snap of Hua-san¡¯s tail and the horse was sent flying into the air.

    Mihira summoned a whirlwind to soften the horse¡¯s landing, for which the horse thanked her by snorting and running towards Hua-san. For a split second, Mihira saw something dash quickly, but she ignored it. The horse was going to get hurt, or even Hua-san. The only issue was that she couldn¡¯t talk to animals. Would it respond to Hua-san? Hua-san wasn¡¯t in the mood for diplomacy, judging by her demeanour and the fact she hadn¡¯t talked to the horse yet.

    What should she do? Step in? That sounded like a good idea. The blue-green crystal nodded, based on its enthusiastic bobbing up and down. Mihira willed the wind to push her forward, and the blue-green crystal pulsated. The wind coalesced around her back before billowing hard, propelling Mihira and the crystal to the centre of the conflict. Hua-san completely encircled the horse in a rainstorm.

    ¡°I have no quarrel with you, and neither does the girl who tried to mount you. As long as you don¡¯t attempt another charge, we can leave you in peace.¡± Hua-san stared at the device on the horse¡¯s saddle. ¡°That device...I¡¯ve seen those before. I know what you are.¡±

    She was going to move closer, only for the horse to blow her off with a massive cloud of smoke. Mihira shielded her eyes and her wings while the little crystal drew closer to her.

    Come here?

    The wind was speaking to her? ¡°Can you help me? I¡¯m trying to find a way to stop Hua-san and the horse from fighting.¡± She dove in, close enough to the cloud of smoke. ¡°Horse, I¡¯m sorry that I scared you, but you don¡¯t have to fight the dragon. She¡¯s not trying to hurt you, she just thought you were going to hurt me, so she stepped in. I hope you can hear me.¡±

    You must be tired, flying in the midst of a storm? You should rest?

    Rest sounded good, but she couldn¡¯t leave Hua-san. Hua-san could take care of herself though. A wistful melody coursed through Mihira¡¯s body. She looked towards the area where bay smoke intermingled with grey clouds and the air was peppered with the occasional cries of a dragon and the neighing of a horse. Maybe she should rest? The blue-green crystal burrowed tighter into her wings. She petted it and touched the grass.

    Good? You need your rest? The big dragon can take care of herself, hmm? She doesn¡¯t need anyone to look after her?

    Of course! Hua-san was powerful enough. Mihira could have done only so much. The crystal kept vibrating rapidly against her wings and counter to the harmonic sound. Mihira clamped her hands down on it. Hua-san never explained to her how the crystals worked. Maybe it was reacting to the fact that Hua-san was in a fight?

    Listen to the melody inside you, that sweet heartbeat? Just relax, hmmm? Take it easy, slowly?¡­.

    Mihira closed her eyes. It was a long day after endless travelling. The crystal was quivering inside her wings. She swore she heard something move, but she dismissed it. Hua-san was here, if anything happened, she could rely on her.

    Suddenly, the crystal shot upwards, glowing a bright blue-green colour. Mihira tried to grab at it, only for something to slither up her arm and surround it. Before Mihira could summon the wind, it bit her on her wrists. She felt a loss of sensation in her wrists, her elbows, until it reached her arms. Soon, she couldn¡¯t feel her entire body or her wings, no matter what she did. There were black scales surrounding her, like a snake. From what she could see through her eyes, the scales were iridescent, teal streaks glimmering in the evening light. The taut scales all led to a woman¡¯s upper body. Black hair with red orchids decorating the sides framed her face and beautiful teal eyes stared at her with a look of indifference. The woman was holding a violin and a bow in her hands. Mihira tried to read what she could see of her expression, but to no avail.

    ¡°I must apologise for the dramatics, but I wasn¡¯t sure what you or the dragon were up to.¡± The woman said. ¡°The horse was a known quantity, but it would have been hard to subdue her. The rocket launcher on her saddle would have made for a messy situation. The dragon is powerful, and that¡¯s why I did not want to provoke it. You, on the other hand, were malleable.¡± Her voice was completely monotone, Mihira thought, no inflections or tone change. ¡°Since it seemed like you were allied with the dragon, it was best for us to talk. Alone. The venom should wear off in thirty seconds. We have thirty minutes until your ally realises you¡¯re no longer with her.¡± The woman leaned in closer. ¡°We should begin soon.¡±

    <hr>

    If anyone told Urantsog that she was going to be fighting a dragon with weather controlling powers, she would¡¯ve laughed it off as the result of too much airag. She had fought off a giant worm with teeth the size of a horse a week ago, so this wasn¡¯t out of the realm of possibility.

    The dragon in question was a fierce and mighty opponent. Despite her attempts to gain the higher ground, the dragon shrugged her off. Now, she was trapped between the dragon, the storm, and possibly the girl with the massive wings. She didn¡¯t expect an ally to a dangerous being, but she should have anticipated it. The worm had shown signs of intelligence too, the way it planted false burrows for her to smoke out and waste her time while it ravaged the plains. That meant she had to overcome this creature¡¯s capabilities.

    She galloped around in circles, watching for a weak spot. In a few seconds, Urantsog noticed that the dragon was always curling around a spot closer to its hind claws, where there was some clear box attached to it. If it was circling it, that must mean it must be a part of its body which needed to be protected.

    Pulling on the reins attached to the rocket launcher tightly with her teeth, Urantsog aimed it so that the rocket would have a slightly sloping upward trajectory. Pointing towards the dragon¡¯s weak spot, she fired the saddle cannon. The dragon noticed the missile heading for its weak spot, so it lifted its body upwards. Urantsog fired more shots at the dragon, but they never hit its weak spot. The dragon was slowing down though. She bit her lip in subconscious concentration. If Urantsog could shoot it in the head, that would take it down. Thankfully, the rocket launcher had unlimited rockets, so she didn¡¯t have to worry about running out of them.

    Hail and sleet started pouring down on her, so she focused her efforts on dodging those pellets. A few hit her hindquarters, making her wince in pain and slowing her charge. No matter what, Urantsog aimed her saddle cannon at the dragon¡¯s head and fired. She watched as it hit its mark just underneath the blue antlers, causing a cry of pain from the dragon.

    Good, she thought, while it¡¯s disoriented, attack its weak spot. She fired along its body, getting ever closer to the protected weak spot. The dragon winced and bellowed in pain.

    At last, it caught sight of the one that brought it pain through the smoke and it charged at Urantsog. Urantsog fled immediately, but her power wasn¡¯t going to sustain her any longer..

    ¡°Stop! I know what you are. Your amulet told you that you have the powers of the Seventh Gate?¡± the dragon called out.

    Urantsog stopped sprinting and halted. How would she know this?

    ¡°I suppose that not all of us are gifted with speech as animals so I have to ask something of you. Transform back into your human form now. That wasn¡¯t a request.¡±

    Urantsog snorted. As if she wanted to do such a thing.

    ¡°Do it now.¡± The dragon¡¯s eyes narrowed. ¡°Or do you want a snowstorm freezing you from the inside?¡± A black crystal floated by the dragon¡¯s claws as it¡ªno, she¡ªwas speaking.

    Urantsog gritted her teeth as she imagined herself as a human. Slowly, her hooves split apart into fingers as she began to stand upright on unsteady feet. How long was she as a horse? A week, more than a week? However long that was, Urantsog preferred being a horse over this gangly mess of a body. Her ears were upwards and her smoky black tail swished against the howling gale.

    This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

    ¡°You wanted me to transform? Do it yourself.¡± She grabbed the cannon in her hands and aimed it at the dragon¡¯s head. ¡°Prove that you aren¡¯t one of those monsters blessed with a smidge of intelligence.¡±

    The dragon appeared unbothered by the cannon pointed at her face, but Urantsog noticed that the long body was contracting. The clear box that she thought was the dragon¡¯s weak spot turned out to be holding a silvery fish of some kind. Was the fish special or something? Why would a dragon have a pet fish otherwise?

    After the transformation was finished, Urantsog was greeted with the sight of a woman dressed in ancient Chinese clothing and holding an azure coloured umbrella. Blue antlers sprouted from her head and there was a long tail of the same colour sticking outside of her clothing. She noticed that there were a few bruises on her neck and face, so she lowered her cannon.

    ¡°My name is Hu¨¢ Y¨³f¨¥i, and I have an amulet as well.¡± The woman held out a medallion identical to Urantsog¡¯s amulet, but with different symbols on it. The only symbol they had in common was the one on the right that translated into Yang in Chinese. ¡°As you have noticed, I¡¯m the Dragon who is bound to the Fifth Gate. No, I¡¯m not one of those creatures that infest the Calamities, but I¡¯m looking for a solution and I¡¯m willing to cooperate with you, as long as you don¡¯t shoot me again.¡±

    ¡°It wasn¡¯t that obvious.¡± She sighed. ¡°I understand what you¡¯re saying. My aav forced me to learn Chinese in my childhood. I¡¯m Urantsog, daughter of Khangal. You don¡¯t interfere with what I do, and I won¡¯t shoot you. I¡¯ll give you this: You put up a good fight.¡±

    Y¨³f¨¥i nodded. ¡°Now that we agree, we should¡ª Wait.¡± She turned around, glancing at the four crystals. ¡°She¡¯s missing.¡± With that, the woman in blue turned into a dragon and tore through the sky.

    Urantsog tried to think of who could be missing. Interestingly, the pain in her hoof or hand vanished. One less item to deal with. There was the dragon, the winged girl¡ª Oh it had to be the winged girl. The one who tried to mount her. She sighed and transformed back into a horse. If someone violated her personal space, she would not look for them, but since it was either that or risk the wrath of a weather controlling dragon, she decided that she could make an exception.

    Letting the smoke course through her veins, Urantsog took off in a blaze of smoke, jumping over a large hill and down an abandoned dirt path. Above her, she heard the telltale swishing of the dragon parting the clouds. A winged girl with a fancy dress shouldn¡¯t be hard to find amidst the barren plains and low scrubs. Urantsog charged up a hill, and then another, and then another. Still no sign. She could hear Y¨³f¨¥i calling out for the girl. Scouring the hills did nothing, and neither did flooding the plains with smoke. Why wasn¡¯t it working? She couldn¡¯t have flown far unless she was like the dragon. Speaking of which, that dragon was still frantically calling for her until she suddenly saw her diving in a particular direction. She followed shortly.

    There, she came across a prone girl with outstretched wings and a snake-like creature. Y¨³f¨¥i was encircling the snake in the air and was¡­talking to her? The snake was talking back, but Urantsog couldn¡¯t make out what she was saying. Galloping closer, she noticed that the snake girl had her tail twisted around the girl with wings, who didn¡¯t seem to be moving. Her eyes were wide open, but her glasses were falling off her face.

    ¡°Let the girl go,¡± the dragon stated.

    ¡°Oh? Is that all?¡± The snake had no change in tone when she spoke, other than the required inflections. ¡°I knew what you and N¨¢a Urantsog were doing. I wanted to have a private chat with Mihira before you found us.¡± Why wasn¡¯t her expression changing?! ¡°We¡¯re on the same side, there is no reason to fight here. Of course, if you decide to unleash a storm, don¡¯t forget that Mihira is with me.¡± Her tail nudged Mihira, who was still not moving. ¡°I won¡¯t harm you or Urantsog.¡±

    What?! How did the girl know her name? She was about to aim the cannon at the snake girl until she realised the other girl was at her mercy.

    ¡°Oh, Khangal Urantsog. How nice of you to join us.¡± Did this girl have a flat voice or what?! ¡°You don¡¯t need to shoot me. I was going to let the girl go. You both don¡¯t need to be wary of me. Taking Mihira here was a mere precaution. I do apologise for your hoof, N¨¢a Urantsog. I have my days of indolence.¡± Wait¡ªhow long had she been underneath her hoof?! ¡°I will let her go, as soon as you lower that cannon. We don¡¯t want that rocket of yours causing collateral damage, do we?¡±

    Urantsog grumbled and lowered the cannon. The snake girl did what she promised and released the girl entangled in her embrace. The other girl, Mihira, was on her feet instantly. Steadying herself, she walked towards the snake girl. Urantsog watched as they exchanged glances before Y¨³f¨¥i scooped Mihira up into her claws.

    ¡°Are you hurt?¡± she asked.

    ¡°I wasn¡¯t hurt! We just spent some time alone together, that¡¯s all.¡± Mihira looked behind her. ¡°You didn¡¯t mean to hurt me.¡±

    ¡°No, I wouldn¡¯t have.¡± Urantsog couldn¡¯t tell whether that was the truth or a lie. Her eyes betrayed nothing. ¡°I would gain nothing from hurting you, N¨¢a Y¨³f¨¥i, or N¨¢a Urantsog.¡±

    Lightning flashed across the sky. Y¨³f¨¥i looked at it and took out her amulet.

    ¡°The lightning wasn¡¯t from me. The readings indicate an atmospheric Calamity, the most likely classification being a Class D storm. I can neutralise it. Tenhou Mihira, I¡¯m leaving M¨¦nm¨¦n with you.¡± Y¨³f¨¥i put the crystal box in Mihira¡¯s arms. With that, she took to the sky again, hurtling towards a collection of patchy grey and white clouds.

    ¡°We should find shelter while Hua-san is out here,¡± Mihira mentioned. ¡°Khangal-san, can you help us find shelter?¡±

    Being referred to by her aav¡¯s name sounded strange to Urantsog, but she couldn¡¯t correct the girl with pleading eyes. Despite her misgivings, she had to grant shelter to the two girls. One was under the protection of a massive shapeshifting dragon with weather-controlling powers, and the other was too crafty to leave alone.

    With a snort, she raced the snake girl and Mihira to where she left her ger. Both kept pace with her, which somewhat endeared them to Urantsog. The snake girl was surprisingly agile even with the violin and the bow. Mihira was to be expected. She could fly.

    Once they reached the disassembled ger, Urantsog transformed back into a human and began assembling the ger. She gritted her teeth as she pulled a knot familiarly tight. She could tell just by looking at the two girls and their soft unlined hands that none of them knew how to assemble one. The snake girl started to play a lively melody while Mihira watched her, entranced by the music.

    ¡°So,¡± She lashed the wooden walls together and set up the two central columns. ¡°You speak Chinese? Both of you?¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± the snake girl responded. ¡°I speak Mandarin Chinese fluently.¡±

    ¡°I understand you, and Hua-san, and¡ªwhat¡¯s your name?¡± Mihira asked.

    The girl only stared. ¡°I will tell you later.¡±

    Urantsog started to stretch the white felt cover around the wooden frame with raw irritability. ¡°How long have you been underneath my hoof or my hand?¡±

    ¡°Since you passed by the Himalayas. I needed a faster mode of transportation, and you seemed perfect for the task.¡±

    She finished tying off the inner felt to the wooden frame. ¡°You should have said something.¡±

    ¡°You would have only reacted in fear, not with reason.¡± The snake girl switched to a more mellow symphony. ¡°Most people react in that manner. I wouldn¡¯t blame you if you were startled or scared.¡± She was surprisingly right, although she would have reacted out of annoyance or fury.

    ¡°Are you from the Himalayas?¡± The outer felt cover was almost around the ger.

    ¡°No, I wasn¡¯t. I travelled by plane to the Himalayas. The eastern border of Nepal to be exact.¡±

    Mihira gasped. ¡°You could afford air travel? How was it?¡±

    ¡°It wasn¡¯t bad. There were a lot of papers and forms to fill out beforehand. I had to announce my flight plan, where I was going, and any further connecting flights.¡± She switched again, this time to a soft and gentle harmony.

    That reminded Urantsog. ¡°You there with the wings.¡±

    Mihira flinched. ¡°Yes?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t mount me, don¡¯t touch the equipment on my back, don¡¯t do anything to me without my permission. Got that?¡±

    Mihira nodded. ¡°Sorry, Khangal-san, I won¡¯t do it again! I¡¯m sorry I put you through stress, I should have asked or thought about it more carefully. Do you want me to do anything to make it up to you? I can help set up the yurt!¡±

    Did she know how? If she wanted to wreck her ger, she would have asked her d¨¹¨¹. She scoffed as memories of her d¨¹¨¹ came back to her. ¡°If you can help me set up the ger, that would be fine. Listen to what I tell you.¡± Mihira seemed young. She could learn. ¡°Okay, hold the chair. We¡¯re going to set up the interior together and don¡¯t call me Khangal-san. That¡¯s my aav¡¯s name. Just call me Urantsog-san.¡±

    Mihira looked surprised. ¡°Where does this chair go?¡±

    ¡°Left of the door.¡±

    With the help of Mihira, Urantsog managed to finish setting up the ger in record time. It almost made her think¡­no, she was an independent woman. This was only temporary, and besides, Mihira tried to mount her. Although she acted like her d¨¹¨¹ whenever they play-wrestled in their youth¡ª

    ¡°Hmm.¡± The girl stopped playing. ¡°She¡¯s not here.¡±

    ¡°Who?¡± asked Urantsog.

    The girl with the violin turned to Mihira. ¡°Your friend the Dragon.¡±

    Come to think of it, Y¨³f¨¥i had been gone for a while. The little silver fish was swimming around frantically in its tank. The storm was gone, but no sign of the azure dragon in the clear skies above. Trepidation sank to her intestines. What could fell a dragon? Whatever reason Y¨³f¨¥i had for not showing up, Urantsog readied her bow and thirty arrows.

    ¡°Hua-san!¡±

    Mihira¡¯s wings expanded as the wind swirled around her before she took off east. The snake girl shrugged and followed her. Urantsog transformed back into a horse and shot her rocket launcher into the distance, letting herself pick up speed.

    <hr>

    Her umbrella was beginning to burst under the pressure, but Y¨³f¨¥i held it together. The storm she had captured was an atmospheric Calamity. The heavy rainfall pattern would have been enough to devastate the arid ecosystem here and any burgeoning plant life, so she opened her umbrella and imprisoned it. It was struggling against her grip and her head still hurt from being bombarded with missiles from Khangal Urantsog. She questioned why the other woman was deeply antagonistic to her, especially since she held an amulet as well. Either way, her vision was swimming and she found herself losing consciousness every few seconds as she flew above the steppes.

    Y¨³f¨¥i wondered about the mysterious Snake¡­she didn¡¯t feel like condemning would make sense. Her mind worked differently than hers... If she did mean harm, she would have targeted Khangal Urantsog¡­why the need for secrecy?

    Her eyes blinked, and within seconds, she plummeted out of the sky. The contusions and the bruises made it too hard for her to maintain flying. She tried to wrest her eyes open, but they refused to obey her commands. The black crystal tried to pry her eyes open, but it failed. Her umbrella and antlers felt like a dead weight slowly sending her to the earth. Some part of her grip was loosening on the umbrella, but she clutched as tightly as she could. She had to keep it contained, no matter what. Despite fighting the instinct with every fibre of her being, she eventually loosened her grip on the umbrella. Her azure claws were turning back into her human hands, and she felt her antlers disappearing. I¡¯m sorry, she thought faintly, on the verge of losing consciousness. At least M¨¦nm¨¦n was safe with Tenhou Mihira¡­

    Someone was calling for her and she heard thundering hooves across the plains. She struggled to open her eyes. All she could see was a white blur and the sound of wind blowing hard across the plains. It wasn¡¯t her, so¡ªMihira?!

    She didn¡¯t have the energy to make a sound, let alone scream. Note to self: Make sure Tenhou Mihira stayed where she was at all times. She was still falling, her umbrella couldn¡¯t be opened, and the wind was faltering. She tried to open her eyes fully to no avail.

    ¡°I got you!¡±

    <hr>

    Mihira conjured up a current of wind, enough to hold Hua-san¡¯s body until she figured out a better solution. Would the others be able to help? She didn¡¯t think that Urantsog-san could help with her rockets. Hua-san might be even more injured than she was right now, and she needed that energy to help close the umbrella. Mihira floated above her. What would Hua-san do¡­

    She would assess the situation first. They were falling, and Hua-san was shifting rapidly between her human and dragon forms. Mihira briefly caught a glimpse of the Calamity struggling to break free, so she sent a whirlwind to close it shut. That worked for now. She summoned more updrafts to slow down her body, but they were still descending. What should she do, what should she¡ª

    There was no time to move. Before Mihira noticed it, a stray lightning bolt escaped from the umbrella and launched itself into the air, striking the middle of her back.

    So she went tumbling, tumbling¡­.

    <hr>

    Both Y¨³f¨¥i and Mihira were descending rapidly now, passing through several clouds and the pale ground coming ever closer. She made out two dark dots, the Snake and Khangal Urantsog. She wanted to call out to them, but the strength to yell never came. Tenhou Mihira was falling slower than her, the wings adding additional drag to her descent. If Y¨³f¨¥i could control the descent¡ªshe had to risk it. She loathed this decision, but she would rather have a Calamity run amok than for Mihira to fall to her death.

    Y¨³f¨¥i opened her umbrella, unleashing the Calamity. She waited for an infinity¡ª

    Nothing. There was no crackling of lightning, no downpour of rain, no dark skies. Y¨³f¨¥i felt that her body was larger now, and the ground closer. She flexed her hands¡ªher claws? She was a dragon, but she couldn¡¯t ascend and Mihira was still falling. She tried to grab hold of Mihira, but the ground was closer than she expected.

    The unimaginable searing pain awoke Y¨³f¨¥i, but Mihira was still falling. Before anything could be done, her body fell on Y¨³f¨¥i¡¯s back with an audible CRACK.

    It was at this point that Y¨³f¨¥i¡¯s eyes finally closed.

    <hr>

    The dust flying in the air surprised Urantsog. She had to transform back into a human to clear the small rocks, fine dust, and some bits and pieces of small grass from her eyes. There weren¡¯t any small pools of water to wash out her eyes, so she settled for squinting at the other person beside her. The girl with wings, Mihira, was covered in fine dust and one of the wings was twisted at an awkward angle to the point where Urantsog wondered if it was going to fall off. Her glasses were mostly intact, other than one of the arms breaking off. She was light enough to carry in her arms, all things considered, but Urantsog wouldn¡¯t be surprised if she had a few broken bones. Urantsog had once broken her femur trying to jump onto her eej¡¯s favourite mare from another horse, and that took a year to recover from. From what she could tell, there was bruising on Mihira¡¯s legs, arms, and back. Most of these were swollen and soft to the touch.

    The snake girl had no expression, but Y¨³f¨¥i seemed to be in about the same predicament as Mihira. Both of them were unconscious and the only reason Urantsog knew Mihira was alive was because her chest was moving up and down.

    ¡°Hey! Is Y¨³f¨¥i alive?¡± she shouted.

    The girl was silent.

    ¡°Hello?¡±

    Now she was paying attention. ¡°Hmmm, that would be a yes. But I would still recommend a physician.¡± She touched the woman¡¯s chest still bundled in blue fabric. ¡°Her ribs are broken.¡±

    Urantsog set down Mihira and examined the other woman. The ribs were broken judging from her ragged breathing and what would most likely be a massive bruise on her chest. Could she rip open the clothing? She wasn¡¯t sure if that was possible.

    The land was foreign to her, but she remembered her aav selling horses one time at the western border. They traded words in a mix of Mongolian and Uyghur. Her aav taught her that language, in case she ever decided to settle further westward. She wasn¡¯t sure where the closest settlement was.

    ¡°You know where the nearest settlement is?¡± she asked the snake girl.

    The other girl responded with an impassive stare. It was starting to creep Urantsog out. ¡°My maps indicated that we were in Xinjiang. The closest settlement is Biaoertuokuoyi Village. I suppose you know how to speak Uyghur?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I do.¡± It felt weird calling someone without a name. ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡±

    The girl looked at her with blank eyes. ¡°Not now.¡±

    She didn¡¯t think she could get any answers from the girl with the violin. Transforming into her horse form, she sped towards the white ger, shoved it and the fish tank onto the cart, hooked herself on the cart, and raced back. Once there, she transformed back into a human. Interestingly Y¨³f¨¥i¡¯s blue clothing disappeared, replaced by a black wetsuit with scarlet accents. When Urantsog carried her, the wetsuit was strangely wet. Was it because of the storms? Mihira had on the same elaborate dress, and her wings were hanging by a thread. In thirty minutes, both Y¨³f¨¥i and Mihira were loaded into the ger. Urantsog let the familiar sensation overcome her.

    ¡°Where are we going?¡± She should have visited this area earlier.

    The girl pooled her body into a corner of the cart. ¡°Follow my directions.¡±

    Within no time, she managed to tow the cart, the girl with the snake body, and herself to the village. An old woman watched the bay horse and the cart attached to her with caution. The girl looked out of the cart, and Urantsog transformed into a human, startling the old woman.

    ¡°Excuse me, but do you know where the nearest doctor is?¡± she asked politely.

    The old woman quickly recovered from the shock of seeing a woman transform. ¡°Ummm¡­this is a small farming village. You can find one at Kashgar¡­why do you have horse ears?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a long story. It started when I found this amulet buried in a cliff¡­I¡¯ll tell you next time. Thanks!¡± Urantsog transformed back into a horse and raced into the horizon, leaving the old woman confused.

    Once they finally reached Kashgar, Urantsog raced into the hospital, shocking everyone there.

    ¡°Why is there a horse in the hospital?!¡±

    ¡°Looks like a Mongolian ger to me.¡±

    ¡°Why is there a half snake half human in the cart?!¡±

    ¡°...I¡¯m sorry, what?¡±

    She transformed again. This was getting exhausting, even for her. ¡°There are two girls in the ger, they might have broken bones. One of them has broken wings.¡± Should she find a veterinarian? She wanted to ask, but exhaustion came quickly to her. Within seconds, she found a bed behind one of the hospital curtains and started sleeping. A hot sensation washed over her, and she could no longer feel her tail or her ears.

    It didn¡¯t matter. All she needed¡­was¡­some¡­needed¡­rest¡­

    <hr>

    ¡°You summoned me here. Explain your reasons, or this is a waste of my time.¡±

    The woman looked at her. ¡°Sovereign, I called you for the annual status report. It¡¯s about the defences. The Tenth Gate had sustained heavy damages. They¡¯re becoming more coordinated, almost like how we plan our counter-offensives. The Servant¡¯s shields and vines help repair them, but I need further assistance.¡±

    ¡°Then explain how you need this help.¡±

    The woman tilted her golden mask. ¡°Well, if I wanted some strategies, I think I could use the Third Gate for some¡ª¡±

    ¡°Why would you think I would be able to intercede with the General of the Third Gate?¡±

    The sound of her booming voice terrified the woman. ¡°The Sage can¡¯t, or won¡¯t, she wouldn¡¯t say. Since we were close, I thought maybe you could be helpful.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re better off petitioning the Eleventh House. Now leave.¡±

    Y¨³f¨¥i woke up to darkness and the soft sonata of a maestro. The Snake looked different, with fully human legs and what looked like a robe covering her. It was hard to see, with all of the blinds and the curtains closed.

    ¡°...Mihira...Tenhou Mihira.¡± The last she had seen of her, the girl had landed on her stomach after being struck by a stray lightning bolt.

    ¡°She¡¯s safe?¡± The monotone voice was oddly comforting. ¡°A few broken bones, broken glasses, and broken wings. She¡¯ll live?¡±

    What?! Y¨³f¨¥i tried to leap out of the bed, but a stabbing pain forced her onto the comfort of the pillows. It was hard to breathe, and every breath was painful and stabbed at her stomach.

    ¡°You have a few broken ribs. You¡¯ll also live, hmm. Don¡¯t worry about Kun Mihira, she¡¯s in good hands. You don¡¯t need to worry at all?¡±

    The soft melody resumed playing, letting off some of the burden off of Y¨³f¨¥i¡¯s chest.

    ¡°Is¡­Urantsog¡­¡±

    ¡°Oh, she¡¯s sleeping peacefully? Don¡¯t worry, just relax.¡±

    ¡°And¡­M¨¦nm¨¦n¡­¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s safe with N¨¢a Urantsog.¡±

    ¡°Where¡­¡± It was hard to speak now.

    ¡°At Kashgar, in a hospital. I¡¯m surprised they agreed to treat you.¡± The girl stopped playing. ¡°Do you remember this region¡¯s history?¡±

    Kashgar¡­located in Xinjiang¡­oh. She nodded.

    ¡°So you do know.¡± The violin playing picked up in tempo. ¡°People act differently when faced with those they¡¯ve long considered their adversaries.¡±

    Her voice sounded familiar, now that Y¨³f¨¥i thought about it. There was a notepad left on the table. She grabbed it and scribbled down quickly as her body would let her. Ripping off the note, she reached out for the girl to take it.

    The girl gingerly took it, folded it, and started playing a different melody. A more familiar one, from when Y¨³f¨¥i had been invited to attend a concert two years ago as a reward for her hard work. She had been sitting in a box, yet when the performance started, all she could think about was the heart that had been poured into every finely crafted note. The star of that concert had been the Orchid of Chiang Mai, she recalled, a petite young girl who was named Arinya Sinaka.

    Arinya Sinaka must have noticed her since the tempo slowed down. Y¨³f¨¥i scribbled down some characters and passed them to her. The girl unfolded it. Note to self: she read quickly.

    ¡°¡®Am I a prodigy?¡¯ Hmm, that would be a yes.¡±

    Her eyes widened. ¡°The solitude¡­the loneliness¡­feel.¡± She coughed, a harsh hacking noise rising from her throat.

    ¡°Save your breath? You don''t need to talk.¡± Arinya started playing. ¡°A simple chord might be what you need.¡± She launched herself into playing, the rising and falling of the music calming Y¨³f¨¥i. ¡°I felt that too, so I know where you are coming from.¡±

    She remembered her childhood. Her b¨¤b¨¤ once told her that children born in the year of the Dragon were destined for greatness. Despite that, no one understood her inquiries and obsession with the Calamities. She had found solace in her isolation but she always wondered what it would have been if someone shared her understanding. She had always been connected to the Calamities¡­would Arinya understand? She wrote her thoughts down and passed them to the girl.

    ¡°The Calamities¡­hmm. My talents lie elsewhere.¡± The sound of a haunting melody filled the room. ¡°The flow in each harmony brings people peace, hmm? My instrument is a way to convey that peace and channel that to an audience. How do you convey peace?¡±

    Peace¡­Y¨³f¨¥i remembered that. When she had first drawn out her plans for a satellite system, it had been after her middle school had been destroyed by a surprise typhoon and the class had had to move to online learning. One of her teachers had permanent spinal cord damage from having the roof fall on her and had needed a wheelchair afterwards. If there was a way to predict Calamities, she had thought at the time, it could prevent what happened to her teacher from happening to anyone else. When she graduated from junior high school, she had shown it to a friend of her m¨¡m¨¡, who had shown it to her colleagues¡­

    The tribulations of a child prodigy. Too young, too smart, too gullible.

    She turned around to face Arinya, the sharp poking pains making her wince internally. The violin¡¯s neck rested once more on her sabai, and a sweet melody reverberated across the room.

    ¡°I wonder what they would say if they could see me now¡­¡± Arinya sighed. ¡°I can¡¯t say that I have a close attachment to the Calamities, but I was always fascinated by how they changed the world. The island nation of Lemuria, the towering dams of Holland, the ¨¢o Gu¨¡ng system¡­I heard Japan was planning a prototype for Calamity detection. It¡¯s a shame truly that the ¨¢o Gu¨¡ng system was only publicly available since, ah, five years ago? Yes, government secrets and such.¡±

    She knew it all too well. That reminded her of a girl with wings¡­why was her stomach in pain? Mihira¡­she wrote down some questions and passed them to Arinya, who read through the note carefully.

    ¡°¡®Where does the land fight the sea?¡¯ Hmmm¡­Lemuria had ascended beyond such concerns. Northeastern Italy and some of the Polynesian nations have long conceded defeat. The Netherlands must be where Kun Mihira¡¯s Key is located. Have you seen them? The dams they¡¯ve built? You could see them from the heavens themselves¡­I¡¯ll tell her once she wakes.¡±

    Tenhou Mihira¡­she thought back to the moment when she landed on her stomach. She should have done more. Summon some wind, catch her¡­the pain was too great. She had some more questions for Arinya, so she wrote them down.

    ¡°¡®What exactly happened to Tenhou Mihira?¡¯ Hmmm, how do I put this gently¡­she won¡¯t be waking up in the next few days or a week. Bird bones are hollow, aren¡¯t they?¡±

    Y¨³f¨¥i almost launched herself out of furor, only to stop when her ribs started to dig into her chest. She was left coughing, which served only to make her chest pain worse.

    ¡°It¡¯s alright, hmm? I¡¯m sure the doctors here will do their best.¡± She began playing again, but differently. At first, Y¨³f¨¥i thought it was going to be a calming piece, but it quickly crescendoed. Was it just her, or were there teal lights floating around Arinya? The music turned back to slow and soft notes, before rising again, higher and higher.

    At once, Y¨³f¨¥i felt pulled between two extremes. Let go, one said, let go of your ties to this material world, and ascend. Another whispered in her head, release it all, show them your might, how strong the ascendant Dragon was. She battled them both until the performance was finished and Arinya set down her bow.

    ¡°How did you like that, hmm? I taught myself that piece a long time ago. It had a name, but I forgot it. Time is like music, with its crescendos and diminuendos. We assign the years themselves their signatures, fortissimo for the big Snake and pianissimo for the little Snake. That¡¯s what they call the Dragon in Thailand, casting its shadow over all. Of course, snakes thrive in the shadows.¡±

    Y¨³f¨¥i nodded. It was all she could do. She was beginning to like Arinya Sinaka. ¡°Thanks¡­for¡­being¡­here.¡±

    ¡°That was never an issue,¡± She stated. ¡°When I found N¨¢a Urantsog, I wasn¡¯t sure if she was trustworthy or not. Hmm, considering everything, I doubt that she had harmful intentions. She was right to be suspicious of you.¡±

    She craned her neck.

    ¡°A friend of mine had encountered some¡­shall we say, difficulties? She was attacked by¡­an unexpected individual. It was shocking to her, but considering some¡­recent events, I suspected something else. Hence why I am here, and not in Thailand.¡±

    Her mind turned to Arinya¡¯s plight. What happened? Was her friend fine? ¡°Sorry¡­for¡­both.¡±

    Arinya was unfazed. ¡°It¡¯s in the past. There may be someone out there¡­¡± She picked up her violin again. A lively tune resonated with Y¨³f¨¥i¡¯s mind. ¡°Have you ever given thought to your partner? I know that Kun Mihira isn¡¯t your partner. We¡¯re supposed to have a special bond with them. Libra, Libra¡­it would either be lovely N¨¢a Urantsog or the Dog? Your opposite, hmm?¡±

    She nodded.

    ¡°That would make yours the Ram and mine the celestial Bull. Both with ancient history, hmm? The bull frolics in its pasture and the ram seizes the coming spring, yet here we are stuck on Earth. Though the bull is my partner, she would not be my lone protector.¡± She stood up and opened the curtains, revealing a silver river of stars. ¡°Above us all, the Scorpion sits and waits for the hunter. The old myths say that it once fell its foe with a single sting. Even a lowly scorpion could ascend to the heavens.¡± Arinya gripped the curtains harder. ¡°The power of a single fatal move¡­are you protected by the Ram?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±

    Arinya gestured to the starry sky. ¡°When is your birthday?¡±

    Despite the fortunes associated with the Year of the Dragon, Y¨³f¨¥i¡¯s birthday was fraught with the opposite. She had only shared it with her friends and her family, never with judgemental strangers.

    Seeing her hesitation, Arinya closed the blinds. ¡°It¡¯s fine if you do or don¡¯t tell me. Little snake to big snake, I can always keep a secret.¡±

    Arinya was different. Yes, she can tell her. ¡°2024 June 10.¡±

    For a moment, Arinya¡¯s eyes widened before she resumed her composed expression. ¡°Is that so? Your protectors, the twins, are sleeping now. I suppose I should let you sleep too. Good night, N¨¢a Y¨³f¨¥i.¡±

    With that, Arinya packed up her instrument, shutting the door behind her and leaving Y¨³f¨¥i alone with a cold hard sky.

    <hr>

    A new development.

    That was unexpected. Arinya thought she had ¡®discovered¡¯ how each of them worked. Kun Mihira was infatuated with her and N¨¢a Yufei. She suspected a certain level of fascination with N¨¢a Urantsog, but she would have to test that at a later time. Kun Mihira would be a stable ally, Arinya thought, in case the other two decided to turn on her. All she had to do was shower the girl with unprecedented love and attention and she would fall in line easily once her shattered bones healed.

    N¨¢a Urantsog was¡­unpredictable. She was pleasantly surprised at the fact that she didn¡¯t engage in hostilities against her. N¨¢a Urantsog could have left her out to sleep in the cold, yet she was welcome inside her home, even if begrudgingly. She had seen her make split-second decisions that ran contrary to what was in her self-interest, like running ragged across a field for four hours. She would be a last-resort ally. A bit unreliable, yet not someone whom Arinya would want to cross.

    That left her thoughts occupied with the Dragon. Such a glorified figure, looming larger than life. She expected more than what she had received. Life had given her a litany of disappointments; surely one more wouldn¡¯t make a difference. She knew Hu¨¢ Y¨³f¨¥i from the scientific papers her own n¨¢a would read on the way to work. The crown jewel of the Chinese government¡¯s bid for relevance amidst a barely buoyant status quo, the darling meteorologist in charge of Calamity research and prevention. Truly, what a magnificent rising star. She scoffed internally. Ha, what a thought. All dragons were auspicious, were they not? She had suspected it when she¡¯d realised N¨¢a Yufei¡¯s age, but surely, to have that birthday?

    What a cruel irony, the most promising of creatures to be born in an era of disasters on the day that started it all.

 Let The Golden Orange Rays Guide You To Your Destiny

    The sweet symphony of sonorous swords rang through the air as the two duelists, locked in mortal combat, prepared for the end of hostilities.

    ¡°Alberto, you cowardly wretch, scourge of Milano, despoiler of Liguria, villain of Firenze, prepare to meet the inferno below!¡±

    ¡°No, it is not I who shall perish today, but you Lorenzo! Your honour has brought upon you naught but sorrow! Why, here you are in only rags and a dull sword!¡±

    ¡°Fortune has forsaken me, but my ideals ring true, even if you can not see it. Your deceit and deception shall fall before my blade, and I shall have what is mine.¡±

    ¡°Never!¡±

    The two continued their immortal conflict with renewed fervour, their faces contorted into a rage as they focused their efforts on penetrating their opponent¡¯s defences. With each blow parried, the fighters were at a standstill, each unable to advance their position. As soon as one thrusted, the other countered. All the while, a young woman sat helplessly as she watched the two battling. Eventually, the villain was slain, his body pierced through by his enemy¡¯s blade and spurting blood from his ghastly wound. The victor cast away the blade and rushed to the woman¡¯s side.

    ¡°Oh, Maria! How you must have suffered at his side!¡±

    ¡°It is nothing, Lorenzo. As long as you are here, nothing shall daunt me.¡±

    They both stared longingly into each other¡¯s eyes.

    ¡°Cut!¡±

    Before the kiss? That was the best part about the scene. She moved in anyway.

    ¡°I said cut! Signora Agosti!¡±

    She broke away from the kiss. Nico removed the retractable blade from his chest, dusting himself off and taking off his shirt coated with fake blood. The director, Antonio, had his face marred by an ugly scowl.

    ¡°This is my production! When I say cut, that means to stop what you are doing!¡±

    ¡°Ah yes, this is your production! Do you remember who asked for this scene to be changed?¡± She respected the director¡¯s position and role as sole crafter of an artistic vision, but she was glad he changed it. Poor Giulia though, she was already overworked with her secretary job and now doing an emergency rewrite for the script wasn¡¯t helping matters.

    ¡°The earlier scene was more dramatic! More zeal, more tension, more passion! The might of man against the savagery of beasts! A lone wolf fighting against a trial by nature!¡± Antonio shouted with his arms flailing wildly.

    ¡°Truly, it would have been a testimony for the ages! A magnificent indie director set for the Palme d¡¯Or! But at what cost? On the backs of those under his creative watch? I would want no part in any film steeped in its actors¡¯ blood, nor can I condone those that sully themselves in the blood of unwilling participants!¡± she yelled back, barely missing her co-star¡¯s face with her gesticulating motions.

    ¡°True emotion and feeling must be extracted from authenticity, and no computer can capture that rawness! Lorenzo¡¯s fortitude and strength could not be wrought from any lesser actor, nor could Alberto¡¯s crafty and two-faced nature be brought forth underneath those of a lesser quality!¡± His swinging fists nearly hit the cameraman, Vittorino, who dived to the floor to escape them.

    ¡°Chiara¡¯s right. Listen Antonio, I¡¯ve worked under you for ten years now, but that sequence would¡¯ve taxed any actor. Not to mention, most directors stopped using live animals anymore,¡± Nico interjected. ¡°I respect your vision, but she has a point.¡±

    ¡°You see now! Even your protege, the one you¡¯ve watched from young man to mature actor agrees with me! I have always been a supporter of the performing arts and the desire for realism, but that was too far!¡± Clearly, her ideas were much better.

    ¡°You should be grateful for this opportunity! After all, you were only written for a minor role until Luka had to drop out due to illness!¡± Again both the actress and the director engaged in wild gestures, forcing everyone to either sidestep or duck.

    ¡°Grateful? I know my talents and I could have taken them anywhere else other than this film! Instead, I affirmed my commitments and fixed your flaws! Your temper, your¡ª¡±

    ¡°Enough! Both of you, shut up! It¡¯s been over two weeks, and neither of your bloated egos can let this go! You¡¯re worse than all of my cousins in New Manila!¡±

    Both Chiara and Antonio turned to the source of the interruption. Dana was staring at them, dressed in white pants and a black shirt, glaring at both of them through tinted sunglasses. Chiara approved of the outfit.  It fit with the surprise she had planned in advance.

    ¡°Ah, Signora Divata, I did not realise that you were present for this.¡± Antonio had a soft spot for Dana. To be fair, so did most of the cast and crew. Something about being a foreigner in a sea of Italians. Except for that one time she incorrectly called football soccer. That was unforgivable.

    ¡°Of course I was present. I¡¯m a part of this film, like everyone else.¡± Dana crossed her arms. ¡°I¡¯m going now. Thanks for today.¡± With that, she left. Chiara chuckled slightly, her heart warmed by sweet Dana¡¯s jabs, only stopping when Antonio glared at her.

    Chiara was left with Antonio and Nico. With a sigh, she thanked them both and kissed them both. Nico was nice and sweet behind his dramatic performances, and she liked working with him. She had a litany of issues with Antonio, most of which involved that incident from two weeks ago, but they have reached an understanding. Obviously, she had some say in what he does with the film. Of course, he also owed her his life.

    Behind the camera, Vittorino stretched out his lanky arms as he yawned from the floor. Chiara waved at him and gave him twenty euros and a good luck charm for his date today and thanked him with a kiss on the cheek.

    Claudia and Blanca were gossiping again, but both waved at Chiara as she chatted with them, thanking them for the sound stage equipment and lending their expertise. Claudia nodded and wished Chiara luck with everything, especially with her date. Blanca thanked Chiara for bringing the extra sound stage equipment from the warehouse. Chiara picked up her bag, gave them both their coffee orders for today, and kissed both on their cheeks.

    She snuck in the back to Giulia¡¯s office, stacked with crumpled up papers and one exhausted woman buried in her keyboard snoring away. She roused the older woman, who adjusted her glasses on her nose bridge and looked at Chiara more closely.

    ¡°I got you some ravioli from Giovanni¡¯s with the red sauce and the extra chopped basil.¡± Chiara dug through her bag until she found a container. ¡°Here you go, Signora. Do you want me to help you with writing?¡±

    ¡°Thank you for the offer Chiara, but that¡¯s why I have other scriptwriters.¡± She smiled.

    ¡°Trust me, I can do better than them. I¡¯ve been acting out their work for the past three weeks, and I have a few suggestions. Do you want to hear them?¡±

    Giulia giggled. ¡°It¡¯s alright, Chiara darling. Don¡¯t you have an appointment with the florist?¡±

    Chiara¡¯s heart skipped a beat. ¡°Ummm, I have to go. Ciao!¡± She kissed Giulia on the cheek twice before leaving.

    Before she left the studio, she met with the head caterer Gabriella and thanked her for the good food during today¡¯s shooting and brought her that gold ring that she had been staring at for the past week. She also thanked the three chefs in the kitchen; Alessandro, Martina, and Elia, for their hard work and gave them new gloves. With that, she hopped on her golden Vespa and sped off.

    The familiar Roman air welcomed her as she drove past nearby bistros and the smell of fresh lasagna wafted by. One of her neighbours, Giorgio, waved at her as she sped by his butcher¡¯s shop with its familiar smell of fresh meat. She waved back and asked if his shop was busy. He had the same amount of customers, and of course Augustus, but he wanted to let her know she¡¯d always have the fifteen percent discount. They parted ways. There were also some old scuola media superiore classmates of hers, Leonardo and Marco. They waved at each other, Chiara moving closer to chat about their old scuola days and the two men telling her about working at the museums and the number of ancient artefacts. Winding her way through the busy roads, she finally found herself at the florist¡¯s boutique. The little golden bell of her childhood rang clearly as she walked in.

    ¡°Ah, is that the footsteps of Soletta I hear?¡± Andrea wondered aloud.

    ¡°Yes it is Signor D¡¯Angelo.¡± He had known her since she was a small child, so she allowed her nickname to be used. Otherwise, she sniffed, she wouldn¡¯t have been as pleasant. ¡°I¡¯m here for the two bouquets.¡±

    ¡°Ah yes! The one with the nice array of sunflowers, and the one with calla lilies. How is your mother doing?¡± Andrea vanished to the backroom, arriving with two bouquets freshly wrapped and a wide beaming grin.

    ¡°She¡¯s well Signor, and how are your wife and children?¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re doing well! Renzo is settling down with that scientist finally, Gloria is pursuing the performing arts like yourself, and Allegra is studying hard at the University of Turin. Sofia misses home, but we all do.¡± Andrea sniffed back tears.

    Chiara nodded. ¡°I wish I could have seen it too.¡± Her mamma also missed her hometown, to the point where there were more than ten maps of it plastered on her bedroom walls.

    ¡°Ah Venezia! The beautiful and glorious city! The canals, the gondolas, the Basilica, the sea, the bridges! If I could see it one last time before that accursed Calamity drowned it, I would!¡±

    ¡°To Venezia and her beauty, may she live on in our memories!¡± Chiara held the sunflower bouquet in a mock toast.

    ¡°To Venezia!¡± Andrea matched Chiara¡¯s gesture with his own bouquet of blue larkspurs.

    After waving goodbye and with two kisses on the cheek, Chiara sped towards Apartment Laterano. She parked her Vespa on the curb, grabbed both bouquets, and rushed upstairs. Pushing the buzzer, she checked her reflection in the window. Her orange hair was smooth with no straying strands, her blue eyes looked alert and ready, her clothes were neat, and her skin looked flawless as always. Looking around, she found a flock of lovebirds and a couple of foxes lounging near the apartment, like she told them to. Calling them up, she held her fingers for the signal. After making sure they were ready, she was prepared when the door finally opened. On her cue, the lovebirds unrolled a red carpet from the door to where Chiara was standing, while one of the foxes stepped on a pedal, releasing orange and yellow balloons. The other fox held up a sign reading out ¡°For My Heart.¡±

    ¡°By courtesy of the one and only Signora Chiara Agosti, I invite you on a splendid evening with a scenic walk along the River Tiber, a dinner courtesy of Giovanni¡¯s, a tour of the Colosseo, and¡ª¡±

    ¡°Chiara, you can cut the dramatics and the long winding speech,¡± Dana laughed. ¡°But thank you for the calla lilies. Is that because¨C¡±

    ¡°Yes, you mentioned it was your favourite flower.¡± Chiara leaned in and traced Dana¡¯s neck with her finger and kissed her softly. ¡°I can interrupt you as well, you know? You have a gorgeous outfit on today.¡±

    Dana huffed while her cheeks warmed. ¡°Of course, of course. I¡¯m going to put these away.¡± She took the calla lily bouquet inside. ¡°And I¡¯ll join you in a second.¡±

    A minute later after Dana reappeared with a white clutch, Chiara¡¯s Vespa was cruising alongside the cobbled roads of the older sections of Rome, with Dana¡¯s arms wrapped around her waist. Her bouquet was stored in a small basket off to the side.

    Dana¡¯s lucky to have her, Chiara thought. A rising actress with great looks and a personality to match, who wouldn¡¯t want her? She said as much to Dana when they first met. All Dana did was laugh and scoff, and told her that she¡¯d seen people like her all the time growing up. Something about contending with condescending classmates.

    ¡°So this is where all of the locals go,¡± Dana stated once they pulled up at Giovanni¡¯s.

    ¡°Of course we all go here. I¡¯ve known Giovanni since I was a toddler, my mamma has known Giovanni since she started off working as a dishwasher and then worked her way up to become a chef until she retired, every Veneziano knows Giovanni, he¡¯s popular with the Romanoi, and it¡¯s close by, so that¡¯s why I always bring Giulia¡¯s orders from here.¡± Chiara stopped the Vespa and extended a hand to Dana. Dana took it after taking off her white helmet, hopping off the back of the golden Vespa.

    Once they got to Giovanni¡¯s, Chiara shared a few kisses on the cheek with the waitress who had worked there. ¡°Ciao Delfina! My regular spot?¡±

    ¡°Of course Chiara.¡± Delfina waved to Dana. ¡°Ciao! Are you the girl that Chiara was telling me about? I thought she oversold your beauty, but it seems like I¡¯m the one mistaken.¡±

    ¡°If it was about a girl who was enchanted by the beauty of Europe to the point where she decided to pursue her dreams across the ocean, then yes, I am that girl,¡± Dana answered with a hair flip.

    Delfina chuckled. ¡°I like your spirit.¡±

    ¡°Why thank you, it¡¯s one of my greatest qualities.¡±

    Both of them arrived at the table. Chiara swiftly pulled out a chair, and took off Dana¡¯s jacket and hung it behind the chair. Dana smiled while organising and dividing the cutlery between them. With both of them sitting down, Chiara started ordering from the menu, choosing rigatoni con la pajata and Frascati Superiore DOC as its partner. Dana chose coda alla vaccinara paired with Cesanese del Piglio DOCG. With Delfina dashing through the bistro yelling about the new orders, Chiara and Dana shared some bread dipped in olive oil and a special vinaigrette courtesy of Delfina.

    ¡°Where in Canada did you live?¡± Chiara asked while swirling her bread in the olive oil. She heard about Canada before, how wild and untamed it was.

    ¡°I was born in Edmonton. It¡¯s not the biggest city in Canada, or the province. It was nice and I remember growing up there fondly. I still have my senior year yearbook.¡± Dana took a bite of the olive oil soaked loaf.

    Chiara nodded. ¡°I wasn¡¯t born in Roma. I love her, she¡¯s my favourite city in the whole world and nothing could compare to her, but I was never a native like Antonio or Nico.¡±

    Dana finished chewing. ¡°So where were you born then?¡±

    ¡°Venezia. The city that has now sunken beneath the waves.¡± Chiara thanked Delfina as she brought the dishes to them. ¡°My mamma had to flee the city as it was sinking, caught between the sea and the high winds.¡± The way her mamma had told that story, it had swelled her young heart at the time. ¡°She was younger and discovered her floor was soaking wet. Rushing outside, she found even more water, so much water that the famed bridges were starting to sink and the gondolas were beached upon the walkways. When she realised what was happening, she commandeered an abandoned gondola and rode out with her family in tow. Suddenly, there was a crack! An old church had fallen into the sea, sending high waves to tear down the old homes and any that tried to escape its grasp. My mamma guided the gondola, always one step ahead of the rushing waves. She nearly fell overboard five times, and had to save her own mamma from the encroaching tide and the rubble of the old houses there. Finally she made it ashore, exhausted and sapped of her strength. Then she had me on the beach.¡± As a young girl, she had always dreamt that she was meant for greater things in life. Surely such a harrowing backstory was a recipe for greatness. Her thoughts flashed to the golden amulet in a small compartment of the Vespa, but she turned her attention to her sweet Dana.

    Dana finished her piece of vaccinara. ¡°That sounds interesting. My third eldest sister was born in a Calamity too. A sudden snowstorm had buried this other city, Calgary, in twenty centimetres of snow. My parents were occupied at the time and it took them eleven days to come home with my older sister. Clara and Liza were staying with our eldest ate, and I wasn¡¯t born yet.¡±

    Chiara sipped her wine. ¡°You told me you were the youngest of four. As an only child, I¡¯ve heard horror stories from my classmates. No personal space, no time for yourself, and they¡¯re always clingy and annoying.¡± At least that she had heard. She wouldn¡¯t have minded siblings.

    ¡°Oh, I love them, even if I gave them grief and they did the same. Except Willa, she¡¯s a quiet kid who grew up into an even quieter woman. Clara and Liza are more like you, Clara especially. One day, I¡¯ll take you to meet all three of my sisters. Oh, and you should see Miguel and Nina.¡± Dana finished her plate.

    Chiara smiled. ¡°Your nephew and niece, correct?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Miguel¡¯s in first grade and Nina is in kindergarten. Have I shown you pictures yet?¡± Chiara shook her head no. ¡°It¡¯s only been two weeks, I haven¡¯t shown you?! Alright.¡± Dana pulled out her phone. ¡°This is Miguel¡¯s first drawing of an octopus, this is Nina¡¯s first star for getting the order of the planets right, this is Miguel¡¯s first football game, this is Nina¡¯s first hike¡­¡±

    Chiara loved it when Dana talked about her family. Something in her eyes lit up when she talked about them.

    After they both finished, Chiara sent for Delfina and paid for the entire dinner. She also waved at Vittorino and his date, a wispy girl who she learned was named Viviana. Smiling, she handed them fifty euros for any future date-related expenses and looked above. A flock of doves were flapping their wings overhead. She whistled and pointed at the couple. Immediately, the doves swooped onto the table. Chiara moved her arms and whistled again, which prompted the birds to start singing. Viviana looked amazed by the singing doves, while Dana laughed.

    ¡°Of course you would try to do that with them,¡± remarked Dana.

    ¡°I have something special planned for tonight, cuore mio, you just don¡¯t have the necessary clarity yet.¡± Chiara waved her arms. ¡°I could ask the Sun to shine upon your fair face, weave threads of gold and silk for an unsung beauty, and ask the birds and the beasts to perform for your glimmering heart.¡± She flashed a winning smile. ¡°Can you imagine anyone able to do that?¡±

    Dana scoffed. ¡°Silk I could get from a seamstress, the Sun shines everyday, but I have to concede it to you, you have a special talent. Is Augustus joining us?¡±

    ¡°Not today, he¡¯s busy.¡± Ah, he spent too much time at Giorgio¡¯s. He needed exercise, yet he was content to lounge around. ¡°Not even your sisters could hold a candle to me.¡±

    ¡°Ohhhh, Clara would look down on you, if she was younger. Of all my sisters, she would have powers beyond imagining. I¡¯d imagine Liza would too, but not as flashy as you. Willa though? She¡¯s so boring, I doubt she would ever have magic or any sort of powers. She became an accountant. Out of everything, she chose to be an accountant.¡± Dana shrugged. ¡°Whatever she wanted, I guess.¡±

    Along the Tiber River, Chiara walked with Dana, dragging her excitedly along. Occasionally, a bird would arrive to set the mood with a sweet chirp, causing Dana to chuckle. She was wowed by the Tiber River and the many bridges spanning it, and shared her wish list of countries and landmarks to visit one day. Chiara had always thought that Italy was the greatest country in the world, but she listened. The way Dana talked about it, it lit up her face and brought passion to her sparkling brown eyes. It always made Chiara smile to see her heart be happy.

    ¡°So, I¡¯ve seen the Eiffel Tower, Big Ben, the Duomo di Milano, the Duomo at Florence, and the Brandenburg Gate. The landmarks left are the astrological clock in the Czech Republic, the Florentine art galleries since they were closed for renovation the last time I was there, Vatican City, and¡ªwhat the fuck?!?¡±

    Screams of terror arose from the sidewalk, with an old man being carried by two young men as they tried to outrun the source of the chaos. Chiara made sure that Dana was safe and unharmed before rushing out onto the street. A pale white bus had crashed into a lamppost and was slowly backing up. Immediately, Chiara sprinted towards the Vespa, opened the small compartment underneath the back seat, and grabbed the golden amulet. The bus was still backing up when Chiara knocked on the back door. She could see someone slumped on the ground and two people at the front.

    ¡°Hey! You two! Watch where you¡¯re going next time! You almost ran several people over!¡± She gestured at several people still in shock from the sudden appearance of a bus. ¡°Get out of here or I¡¯ll¡ª¡±

    Out of nowhere, the bus backed up quickly, with Chiara having to dive out of the way of the bus¡¯ warpath. Once it finally got back onto the road, it immediately crashed into another lamppost, which would have crushed a woman if Chiara hadn¡¯t grabbed her away from the falling lamppost.

    ¡°Signora! Are you alright?¡± Chiara asked.

    ¡°Yes dear, I¡¯ll be fine. It¡¯s nothing I haven¡¯t seen in my lifetime.¡±

    By this point, the bus had subsequently slammed itself into a bunch of oak trees. For a second, she thought she heard someone speaking English before it reversed again, nearly plummeting into the river, and finally managed to align itself to the road. All of the cars were honking, their drivers unleashing a tirade of swears, and more than one Vespa tried to ram into it out of anger. Dana had taken Chiara¡¯s golden Vespa and drove up to her.

    ¡°I already called the Carabinieri, so they can take care of that rampaging bus.¡± Dana narrowed her eyes. ¡°Chiara, I know that look in your eyes. This does not call for it, especially what happened last time. You remembered what happened the last time you transformed?¡±

    Something was special with that bus. Chiara didn¡¯t know how to explain it, but she knew that she couldn¡¯t be a regular bystander in her heart. ¡°I¡¯m doing it.¡±

    Dana sighed. ¡°Of all of the issues I could argue with you on, I know I can¡¯t change your mind.¡± She flipped open her sunglasses case and took out the ones with the darkest lenses.

    Chiara started running and held her amulet in her right hand. ¡°Let the glorious rays of the Sun reveal my true majesty as I chase the glory that was forever promised.¡± Within her hand, the golden amulet brightened as a golden orange light enveloped her and everyone else. Before the light completely overtook her, she noticed Dana covering her eyes with the darkened sunglasses. Her heart exploded into golden light beams that shot around her. The rest of her body poured bright and terrifying light outwards as she felt the familiar sensation of her hair being tied and the lion tail sprouting from her back. Not for the first time, she felt a small object shimmer above her head but never materialising.

    Closing her eyes, she sprinted forwards, the hard light beneath her feet becoming platforms to step on. Around her, there were multiple car crashes and motorcyclists clutching their faces in pain. She wished there was a way to limit the spread of her power, but she hadn¡¯t found a way to control it.

    There! The bus was careening into multiple cars as everyone either dashed, intentionally rammed into, or swerved out of the way of the out-of-control bus. Who drove like that, Chiara thought. Those were thoughts for another time. For now, she summoned square chains made of hard light and shot them at the fleeing bus. Neither of them missed and they attached themselves to the bus, bringing it to a screeching halt. She dismissed the platform beneath her and yanked on the chains. The bus moved slightly, but she detected something. A strange energy signature, one that responded to her light, but¡­it moved? It felt like it was a living and breathing being¡ªher chains were cracking from this new energy. Chiara intensified her focus on maintaining her grip on the bus, but the other person was not as weak as she had thought. Her will was unbreakable, and she felt herself solidifying her control over the chains¡ª

    What happened next was unclear, and befuddled her mind afterwards. All that Chiara remembered was that she was in control of the situation, and then there was an explosion. Not physically, but she felt it in her brain. A cacophony of catastrophic calamities that burst both of her eardrums and made her clutch her ears in pain as the bus formed a shield around itself and drove away. The Sun shone brightly today, exuding energising vivacity, so she soaked up the rays and let it soothe the ringing in her ears. Dana drove up and rushed to her side. She couldn¡¯t hear much of what Dana was saying, only that she seemed to want her to ride on the Vespa with her.

    The ringing still persisted, but she could still make out some more words from Dana as they drove to her home. Once they arrived at her doorstep, Chiara leapt out of the seat only to slam into her wooden door. Her head was still in pain, so Dana took her key to Chiara¡¯s house from her pocket and unlocked it for her.

    Chiara had a hard time trying to stand up, eventually collapsing on the couch as her ears slowly stopped ringing like a bell. Dana, for her part, locked the door behind her and asked her something. Chiara nodded, unsure of what she wanted. All she could think about was that she was in a position of weakness. She should have been doing something about that bus, not lying around waiting for the pain to subside. She steadied herself on the couch, reaching for the door with a golden rod formed out of light. When she couldn¡¯t stand up, she made hard light crutches to rely on. The ringing was almost gone, but she still felt disoriented and almost ready to collapse again. Dana was yelling at her for something, but she didn¡¯t have the strength to argue back.

    ¡°...you can¡¯t go¡­! ¡­have powers, but¡­! But so do the people in the bus¡­clearly you¡¯re not in any shape to do anything about... Just rest for the night, and thank you for the flowers, the dinner, and the walk. Now if you excuse me¡­that you don¡¯t run off and get yourself killed. Again.¡±

    After multiple attempts at trying to exit her house only to collapse onto the floor, she decided to recuperate on her chair. Dana seemed to want her to sleep off what happened. She didn¡¯t have the energy to drag herself upstairs, so she slept on the chair next to the couch. She muttered to herself as the shimmering rays transformed her back into the clothes she was wearing today and drifted off to sleep soon after.

    Hello there. It¡¯s been a while, hasn¡¯t it? Do you¡­no, you won¡¯t remember. But I remember you and the light that burns within you. Your heart knows best. Trust it. Can you do that for me? One last thing? I¡¯ll let you wake up now. Remember the twins.

    Chiara groaned as she woke up. The first thing she noticed was that she had been moved to her comfy king sized bed. The second was that she heard shouting from outside her house. She twisted her pinky in her ear. She guessed hearing was a blessing and a curse¡­now that her strength was returned to her, she leapt out of bed and opened the window. Dana was yelling at a vehicle, wildly gesticulating and telling them off in English. Chiara looked through the window. It would¡¯ve been easier to see what it was if it wasn¡¯t midnight, with only the moon serving as a light source. She barely understood what Dana was saying, yet when the drivers exited their vehicle, her heart skipped a beat. Though she couldn¡¯t say for sure, she knew it was the drivers from the runaway bus this afternoon. They were burlier than expected. Dana was reaching for her white clutch where she kept her mace canister, but Chiara felt like she was being useless, watching her girlfriend being outnumbered. Opening the window all the way, she jumped out of it and landed on the bus, making a loud noise as she did so. Dana was briefly surprised, but looked more concerned at the two men who slowly turned to face her.

    ¡°Get out of here!¡± she yelled at Dana as she pulled out her amulet. ¡°Or at least put the glasses on!¡±

    Dana nodded and put on her glasses. Knowing that Dana was safe, Chiara recited the incantation allowing the familiar shimmering light to encase her from within. Once that was done, a bright golden sphere of light radiated from within her chest, driving the two men backwards. Dana for her part ignored it and sprayed her mace canister in the direction of the nearest man, who effortlessly dodged it. Chiara was surprised. Shouldn¡¯t they have been blinded? What happened to the Carabinieri? Someone was screaming inside the bus. One of the men was about to run back to the bus when Chiara snatched them in a golden cage. The other man was in the middle of a fight with Dana who was hellbent on trying to cut him down with a metal pipe she picked up.

    ¡°Who are you? What are you doing here?¡± A new energy signature registered in her mind. It resembled white noise, like a lot of people talking at once. It was coming from the man she held in a cage, who was now changing like quicksilver.

    Of course, you would be the one to do this. You were a pain then, and you still are now.

    Chiara was about to speak up, but found herself silenced. The man¡ªno, girl standing before her grinned, her yellow twintails not quite matching the cage she was locked in.

    No, you can¡¯t talk. Since you¡¯ve always believed in honour, I¡¯ll play by your asinine rules today. No one can talk now. This is all in your head.  You can¡¯t hear anything either. Don¡¯t blind me or my sister again. That said, this was a misunderstanding, so let me alleviate that. My name is¡ª

    The back doors on the bus opened and a young woman about Dana¡¯s age fell to the ground. Chiara detected the same energy signature as the one resisting her solar chains. She appeared harmless and blinded by the light, so Chiara let her be. On the other hand, the man overcame his blindness and was close to shoving Dana through the door to Chiara¡¯s house. Dana was resisting thoroughly, but she wasn¡¯t strong enough to defy the man. Chiara was strong enough. With a wave of her hand, golden claw-like structures grabbed hold of the man, flinging him far away from Dana.

    ¡°Are you hurt?!¡± she yelled at Dana.

    ¡°No.¡± Dana straightened herself. ¡°I¡¯ve had worse.¡±

    Chiara wanted to say something but realised something. They could speak now. What did¡ª

    As if on cue, the man started screaming, causing the concrete to break up and Chiara and Dana to be flung into the walls of Chiara¡¯s house. She noticed that cracks were starting to form in the white stone. The girl who had stumbled out of the bus had on headphones and was standing there, watching warily. Chiara tried moving, but the sheer wind caused by the man¡¯s voice made her unable to budge. She searched the area, until she felt Augustus lounging. Help me, she thought, on your honour and your debt to me. Above, the girl broke free of her cage with the help of an enlarged pen and was now standing on the bus.

    I know you better than you do. Based on your mind, you don¡¯t remember me, my sister, or the Servant. I know that you are too proud to admit defeat in any situation. Give up now, and let us work something out. Dana would like that, wouldn¡¯t she?

    Something about her mentioning Dana lit up her heart in fury. With a roar, she reached out and concentrated on making an explosive light, large enough to disorient the man. From behind the man, a light formed behind him¡ªand emitted a pulse. The girl that was standing there turned around while the other girl was disoriented and fell off the bus.  The veiled girl appeared startled by everything. The man shifted like quicksilver into the form of a yellow-haired girl with her hair in long strands.

    ¡°What was that?¡± The girl asked. ¡°That was louder than¡ª¡±

    Chiara had sensed Augustus¡¯ presence a moment ago, but she wasn¡¯t expecting him to arrive so quickly. Before the girl could blink, Augustus was on her, claws out and baring his fangs, snarling directly in the girl¡¯s face.

    ¡°So letting him wander around was useful after all,¡± Dana muttered.

    Chiara decided to not repeat that to Augustus.

    The girl was shocked and tried to manoeuvre around Augustus, but he kept his paws firmly placed on her arms and legs. She was about to scream before Chiara conjured up a hard light muzzle and snapped it onto her head. The lone girl with the brown hair summoned a shield and the girl in the twintails found her footing.

    I should have known¡­of course you had already gathered some allies. Call off your lion and we can have a civil discussion.

    ¡°Augustus! Get off the girl!¡± Chiara shouted.

    He snarled. ¡°I thought you said you needed help. Hmph.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll get you meat from Giorgio¡¯s later!¡±

    Augustus relented, letting the girl scramble to her feet. He did approach the girl behind the shield, who looked at him with apprehension. Chiara wondered who she was. Before she could say anything, the girl who Augustus freed grabbed her hands and with a spare piece of rope, bound her hands together.

    ¡°Sorry about this but¡­¡± She tightened the bonds. ¡°Helen said this was necessary.¡± How much do you know about everything?

    Chiara summoned a small light beam and was about to cut herself free before the girl pointed at her open mouth.

    I can incapacitate you if you try to free myself.  I can scream. Satisfied at Chiara stopping her escape attempt, she visibly relaxed. You don¡¯t know much, so I can¡¯t get answers from you. I was hoping for someone who knew more about this. The girl stared at Chiara. Who were you talking to in your dreams? Do you know? No, it doesn¡¯t look like it.

    Chiara ignored the weird girl¡¯s comments and marched herself into her house. The indignity of being tied up by a teenager and forced to sit and watch a complete stranger examine every photograph in your house was humiliating. Of course, she couldn¡¯t escape, not with the stranger¡¯s twin keeping watch.

    Helen¡¯s a little curious. She doesn¡¯t mean any harm.

    Thankfully, she had Dana and Augustus. Dana betrayed no emotions, only with her white clutch ready to grab at a moment¡¯s notice. Chiara reached for her left hand. Augustus was content to watch from the brown patterned carpet, but he was watching with the eyes of a predator. Underneath his flicking tail and bored expression, Augustus was waiting for his turn in the spotlight.

    ¡°Who¡¯s this woman?¡± Helen asked while holding a framed picture of a woman holding a younger Chiara on her lap.

    ¡°That¡¯s my mother. Put the frame back down.¡± Chiara conjured up a sceptre made of golden light which tapped on the floor harshly.

    ¡°Thirty three years and you haven¡¯t changed at all.¡± Helen put the frame back on the dresser. ¡°What do you do in your spare time now?¡±

    ¡°I act in front of an adoring audience.¡± Ignoring tee looks Dana was shooting her, Chiara straightened up. ¡°I¡¯m younger than thirty three, so how do you claim to know me?¡±

    Someone else entered. The girl with the shields, Chiara thought. Augustus turned to face the girl, his tongue sticking in and out. The veiled girl noticed this and ducked into the washroom, closing the door behind her.

    ¡°So how old are you then?¡± Helen leaned on the expensive black dresser.

    ¡°Twenty four, and how old are you? Fifteen? Sixteen? You¡¯re just a child fooling around.¡±

    Helen straightened up. ¡°Is that so? I found that everyone always underestimated children.¡± Something lurked behind her bright yellow eyes, and Chiara felt an older power stir in the room. ¡°I remember the King of old claiming that she could beat anyone with only her bare hands and her light magic. I¡¯m not much of a fighter, but I¡¯m sure I can keep up.¡± The white pen from earlier reappeared in her hand.

    ¡°Helen?¡± Her sister raised an eyebrow. ¡°I thought we were here to make friends, not unearthing old grudges and having a fight in someone¡¯s living room. Besides, we need to do something about the lion or Amalia will keep having panic attacks in the bathroom.¡± She looked at Chiara. ¡°Can you prove that you have absolute control over your lion and it won¡¯t suddenly try to attack anyone?¡±

    ¡°Alright first of all, Augustus is a he, and second of all, he is not my lion or anyone else¡¯s lion. He listens to me, but I don¡¯t control him. That¡¯s what we agreed on.¡± Chiara flicked her ponytail over the front of her shoulder. ¡°Right Augustus?¡±

    ¡°Hmph.¡± Augustus blinked. ¡°If you wish.¡± He rested his head on his front paws, his tail idly flicking the air.

    ¡°Thank you.¡± Chiara¡¯s tail curled around her leg. ¡°Who are you?¡±

    Helen and her sister exchanged a glance. ¡°We¡¯re the Gemini of the Third House. In other words, we have amulets like you. The girl represents the Maiden of the Sixth House. We¡¯re looking for our Key, and we think it might be here.¡±

    When she first found the amulet, a voice mentioned something about the Fifth House. She didn¡¯t remember the rest of the explanation since she was more focused on the power that it granted her and what she could do with it. She could stage her production, design her set however she wanted, be the star of¡ª

    We both can read your mind.

    Dana touched the back of her head. ¡°The heck was that?¡±

    Augustus remained undisturbed.

    It was the twin with long strands that framed her face who spoke first. ¡°My name is Clytemnestra.¡± Chiara felt a disturbance from her, like two voices with one overlapping. ¡°We were led to believe that the Key could be in Rome based on an anonymous tip. Can we stay here while we look for the person who took it?¡±

    Outside of the chaos and mayhem that the twins caused, they weren¡¯t malevolent. She didn¡¯t like being tied up in her house so she summoned a sliver of light to cut herself free, letting the ropes fall to the floor.

    ¡°I¡¯ll accept your terms, as long as you recognise me as your leader and you listen to everything I tell you. I know the city better than both of you, so you¡¯ll need to bask in my guiding light.¡±

    Clytemnestra choked, Dana smacked her head, and Helen was unfazed.

    ¡°Of course, that was the sole condition,¡± Helen sighed. ¡°We¡¯ll be co-leaders, along with Clytemnestra.¡±

    ¡°Excellent!¡± Chiara hugged Helen, knocking her into the wall. ¡°I¡¯ll help you find your thief!¡±

    As Chiara selected the freshest and most delectable raw pork from her spare freezer for Augustus, she found Dana and Clytemnestra talking in between bites of salami.

    ¡°What happened to the Carabinieri?¡± Dana asked.

    ¡°Oh, we took care of them,¡± was Clytemnestra¡¯s reply.

    Dana stopped eating and squinted her eyes at the response.

    Augustus had decided to sit at the bathroom door near the stairs. Chiara whistled at him and he turned his head around.

    ¡°For what reason¡ªI see.¡± He snatched the pork from Chiara¡¯s outstretched hand and began gnawing on it. ¡°Do not presume that I will eat out of your naked hand for the rest of my life. I intend to head back to the savannah where I belong.¡±

    Chiara nodded. ¡°A king among the rabble? That¡¯s what you told me the second time we met.¡± The idea of being a king sounded like a good idea to her.

    ¡°Exactly.¡± He tore the meat apart.

    The bathroom door creaked. Two brown eyes quickly peeked behind the door before it shut completely. That must be Amalia, Chiara thought, the girl who had the shields.

    ¡°Hello?¡± Did she speak Italian? The twins spoke it fluently, but Chiara noticed that one of them had an accent. ¡°Amalia, right? Do you speak Italian?¡± Silence answered her. Clytemnestra mentioned her having panic attacks over Augustus. ¡°Augustus won¡¯t hurt a soul, only if they disrespect him.¡±

    The door opened slightly. ¡°B-but he still¡­attacked Clytemnestra.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true.¡± Chiara didn¡¯t specify how Augustus was supposed to help her. Of course, he would act on instinct. ¡°I asked for his help, and she was attacking me and my girlfriend.¡± She had checked in on Dana, who refused to promise to unleash her mace canister on the twins the next time something similar should happen. ¡°He¡¯s peaceful otherwise.¡±

    The door opened further. ¡°I understand your logic, but would he attack other humans? How are his teeth? I read that man-eating lions were more prone to this behaviour because dental decay made it harder for lions to chew and digest their prey, so they would seek out humans.¡±

    Chiara looked at Augustus and his sharpened canines. ¡°He¡¯s not a man-eater.¡± She had an idea. ¡°You should come out.¡±

    The door opened slightly. Brown bangs overlaid Amalia¡¯s face as she took a tentative step outside the bathroom door. Augustus stood up, causing Amalia to back up against the wall. He approached her, licking his lips, before pressing his face against her shoulder. Amalia froze as Augustus continued to nuzzle her.

    ¡°W-what is he doing?¡± Amalia stuttered out.

    ¡°Nuzzling, he told me that lions do it to bond with each other.¡± She was glad that Augustus was being nice to humans other than her, Dana, and Giorgio. ¡°He doesn¡¯t share his favour with anyone, so be grateful for that. It¡¯s fine to nuzzle him back, he would appreciate it.¡±

    Amalia slowly lowered her body so she was at eye level with Augustus. She reached out her hand and awkwardly patted him on the shoulder. Augustus was puzzled, but he let Amalia pat him.

    ¡°...why would you let a wild lion loose in a large urban city? There are zoos and nature reserves nearby if I¡¯m not mistaken,¡± she asked.

    ¡°He didn¡¯t want to go to a zoo or a nature reserve.¡± Chiara knew Augustus was comfortable with her sharing his background with others, so she told Amalia. ¡°I met Augustus on the film set I was performing on. The director¡¯s vision required the utmost accuracy to real life, so he contacted this group that held exotic animals. The arrangement was made two weeks before I met him, so when we did meet¡­¡± She balled her fists at the memory. ¡°To create authenticity and to sell the idea that a lion would be a murderous beast, they starved him. He was so hungry that, when we met, he tried to devour my costar Nico and nearly bit off Antonio¡¯s head before I had to tackle him to the ground and force him to yield. That was also when I learned I could talk to animals and we formed a special bond shortly after.¡±

    Amalia blinked. ¡°I¡¯ve utilised Mus muscularis specimens during my undergraduate research, but I always followed the ethical guidelines when using live specimens. I¡¯m sorry that Augustus had to endure that and that your colleagues suffered as well.¡± Something shifted in the woman¡¯s gaze. ¡°If I may ask, how old is he now? Does he know how to hunt?¡±

    Chiara nodded with energy. ¡°I talked to a zoologist, Dr. Maria Lombardi. She said that he was about four years old, but she wasn¡¯t sure if he could be reintroduced into the wild and survive for more than a month. From what Augustus could remember, he had been captive since he was a cub but he was taught by older captive lions how to hunt. I usually get him meat from Giorgio¡¯s but he would hunt foxes, raccoons, herons, cranes, and wild boars in his spare time. Of course, most of that time was spent sleeping beside Giorgio¡¯s butcher shop.¡±

    Augustus turned towards Chiara. ¡°I do not sleep, I merely recharge from a day¡¯s worth of hunting.¡±

    ¡°You sleep.¡± Chiara ruffled Augustus¡¯ dark brown mane, earning a deep-throated purr from him. ¡°And I have to sleep as well. I¡¯ll show you to your room Amalia. It¡¯s right down this way¡­¡±

    Chiara showed Amalia the guest bedroom where she would spend the night and Dana put the twins up in the old wine cabinet. Before both of them tucked in for the night, Dana laid the blanket flat on the bed and snuggled close to Chiara.

    Dawn broke, sending a small golden ray into Chiara¡¯s bedroom. Chiara was always the first to wake up, so she shoved open the curtains letting the sunlight spill into the bedroom.

    ¡°Rise and shine, cuore mio!¡± Chiara clapped her hands loudly. ¡°Today we are catching a most devious thief! Where may this foul and nefarious scoundrel lie? We may never know until we seize the day and shine a most unwanted spotlight on this deed!¡±

    Dana covered the blanket over her face to shield herself from the sunlight. ¡°Chiara, it¡¯s only seven in the morning. Let me have my beauty sleep.¡±

    Someone knocked on the door. ¡°Good news! The person who gave me a list of buyers gave me the bank account of the Italian buyer, their name, the exact branch of their bank, and how much they have in their bank account! Which is much more than I have in my bank account!¡± It was one of the twins.

    Chiara replied, ¡°I¡¯ll meet you in the hallway.¡±

    Once she closed the door softly behind her, she noticed that Clytemnestra was struggling to balance a laptop in her hands.

    ¡°The buyer from Italy has an account at BNL, and the last purchase was an eleven thousand euro purchase a few weeks ago at a private auction in Geneva, Switzerland,¡± Clytemnestra flipped the laptop. ¡°This person was nice enough to throw in a picture of the man!¡±

    Chiara tried to not let her jaw drop as the name ¡®ANTONIO QUATTROCCHI¡± and the face of her boss stared at her from the laptop screen.

    ¡°...I¡¯m sorry, but I don¡¯t think he is your Italian buyer.¡± Antonio rarely travelled outside Rome, let alone Italy. ¡°He¡¯s a homebody. I know that his family members use his bank account for miscellaneous shopping. Maybe it¡¯s one of his family?¡±

    Clytemnestra shrugged. ¡°It wouldn¡¯t pick up on that, only that the bank account under his name made a payment at a private auction held soon after a man died. Do you know where he lives?¡±

    ¡°He won¡¯t be at his house. Antonio always leaves last, he¡¯s probably looking over the footage shot.¡± That was an odd quirk of Antonio¡¯s, using film stock instead of digital cameras. ¡°Give Dana a few minutes, she needs her beauty sleep.¡±

    One beauty sleep for Dana later, Helen was hitting the white bus.

    ¡°We should take this! I doubt the Vespa could fit everyone,¡± she exclaimed.

    Chiara, Dana, and Augustus exchanged looks between them. Neither of them was getting inside a bus probably wanted by the Carabinieri.

    ¡°Wait, Chiara¡¯s neighbour just left work¡­wow, he has a van.¡± Clytemnestra started eying the white van with ¡®GIORGIO¡¯S FINEST MEATS¡¯ plastered in bright green letters. Dana smacked her head while Augustus nodded approvingly. Amalia nervously smiled.

    After cramming everyone into the van, Chiara parked the van just outside the studio lot. The twins were the first to disembark, followed by Augustus and Amalia side by side. Chiara and Dana entered the building first after forbidding Augustus even thinking of coming with them and letting Chiara detransform.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think Antonio would stoop that low. Yes, he had numerous issues mostly because his auteur vision trumped everything including performing animal ethics, but to steal a dead man¡¯s belongings? No, that¡¯s not like him,¡± Chiara vouched.

    ¡°I¡¯ve only known Antonio for a few months and I wholeheartedly agree with you, but that computer wasn¡¯t lying. The twins are crazy, but I think they¡¯re being sane here.¡± Dana knocked on Antonio¡¯s door. ¡°Signor Quattrocchi? It¡¯s me, Dana Divata and Chiara Agosti? We need to ask you about something.¡±

    The doorknob jiggled and Antonio appeared. ¡°Ah Signora Divata, it¡¯s my pleasure to be graced by your presence.¡± He nodded. ¡°Signora Agosti.¡±

    ¡°Likewise,¡± responded Chiara.

    ¡°Signor Quattrocchi, sorry to bother you, but someone asked us about a recent theft they endured. They found the bank account that conducted the purchase.¡± Dana pulled out the laptop and opened it to Antonio¡¯s bank account and his face. ¡°Can you explain this to me?¡±

    Chiara searched his face for signs of innocence. After their screaming match over Augustus¡¯ treatment, she believed that Antonio had good intentions despite somehow ignoring the warning signs of a malnourished predator.

    Antonio took a few minutes to fully comprehend everything as both Chiara and Dana explained everything, leaving out the twins and how they stumbled upon this information. ¡°¡ªSignora Divata, I¡¯ve always thought you were the smartest out of my crew. Read the date of this alleged transaction that I supposedly made in the hinterlands of Switzerland.¡±

    Dana turned around the laptop. ¡°5 June 2057?¡±

    ¡°Exactly, and Signora Agosti, what scene were we shooting on that day?¡±

    Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

    ¡°Roll 9, Scene 15?¡± Chiara answered.

    ¡°And like all scenes I film, I was physically present on the lot that day, from sundown to sunset.¡± He suddenly slammed his fist into the table, startling both women. ¡°So how was I able to attend a private auction in Geneva for the possessions of a man I never knew when I was busy filming the greatest sequences a maestro could execute?!¡±

    Dana sighed. ¡°You have a point¡ª¡±

    ¡°Of course, I have a point! Who else would¡ª¡± Antonio¡¯s pupils narrowed. ¡°That slothful bastard! I swore to him on my nonna¡¯s grave that he would never receive a single euro cent from my account after he spent ten thousand on frivolous games! My wife has been too lenient on him, always saying that he will learn to change his ways! From now on, I will make him pay for mooching off of my success and refusing to get off his lazy ass!¡± His face purpled in rage. ¡°That¡ª¡±

    ¡°Excuse me, but who are you talking about?¡± Chiara asked.

    ¡°My son!¡± Antonio yelled at her. ¡°My useless oxygen-sucking wastrel of a son! If you need to find him, he¡¯ll be at my house that I bought and paid for!¡±

    Once everyone was safely ensconced inside the van, they pulled up close to Antonio¡¯s house.

    ¡°He wasn¡¯t lying,¡± Clytemnestra mentioned. ¡°When I read his mind, all he was thinking about was that someone deceived him. He never once thought about trying to hide anything from Dana.¡±

    ¡°Wait, you said he hid nothing from me, but what about Chiara?¡± Dana asked.

    Clytemnestra kept silent. ¡°He was thinking about her talent¡­and the fact that someone paid him a lot of euros to cast her in his passion project.¡±

    ¡°He still thought I was talented, right?¡± asked Chiara.

    ¡°He did, but the money helped.¡±

    Antonio was always adamant that nothing was to compromise his artistic vision. Chiara wondered what caused that sudden shift, but decided that it didn¡¯t matter.

    Augustus was allowed to go inside, and they left Amalia, Dana, and Helen together in case something happened. Antonio had told Chiara once, during a dinner at Giovanni¡¯s, that he locked everything once he left the house. Clytemnestra left to circle the building, her long strands blowing in the light breeze.

    Alright, so I checked out the building. There are two floors, two windows in the back and two windows in the front. There¡¯s also a chimney. I think our best bet is to sneak into the first floor through the back window and then¡ª

    ¡°I think that going through the back window is unfitting. No, if I wanted to confront someone, I would face them like a true hero,¡± she declared.

    Chiara asked her friends to shield their eyes before transforming and kicking in the door, sending splinters flying through the hallway.

    The first detail was that Chiara noticed that there was a recent expenditure of energy that clung stubbornly to the walls and hardwood floor. If she had to describe it, it would have been a dark miasma tainting everything it touched. Strangely, nothing appeared out of the ordinary. Augustus must have noticed the rank smell judging from his reflexive recoiling at anything he inhaled. Clytemnestra was more interested in the miscellaneous objects that haphazardly decorated the corridor.

    A dishevelled man sitting in a chair awaited them in the living room, surrounded by a clutter of monitors on one side and a chaotic arrangement of art and various ceramics on the other side. He grinned a little and waved with his right hand at Chiara.

    ¡°Good afternoon Signora Agosti. I¡¯ve heard tales about you from my father.¡± The man grinned. ¡°He was too much of a coward to face me, so he sends one of his employees to do his dirty work?¡±

    Chiara was bewildered. ¡°No, we¡¯re here about you using your father¡¯s bank account and buying something that belonged to my friend here.¡± She gestured at Clytemnestra who was busy examining one of the computer monitors.

    He laughed bitterly. ¡°Is this about the private auction? I barely got my money¡¯s worth.¡± He pointed at an abstract painting of yellow and black. ¡°Eleven thousand euros? Give me a break.¡±

    ¡°Are you an art collector? I see you¡¯ve amassed a gallery that anyone would be jealous of.¡±

    The man focused on the sound of Clytemnestra¡¯s voice. ¡°Who are you?¡±

    ¡°Just someone also interested in art, the same as you.¡± She observed the canvas. ¡°This was made by Luule P?rtelpoeg. I saw this exact painting at an art gallery in Tallinn a few years back. The curator there told me that a signature of Luule¡¯s was that there were always brushstrokes in the shape of a tree painted in the corner. I tried to find it on all of the paintings, but I never found the tree on that piece.¡± Clytemnestra pointed out something in the corner of the canvas. ¡°I see it here.¡±

    The man chuckled. ¡°And what did any of that mean?¡±

    ¡°You have very expensive tastes, Signor. Not just in genuine art, but in computers. Look at this state-of-the-art PC! I don¡¯t think you have your own money away from your parents since you¡¯re not an independent contractor and these items are far beyond even the most lucrative jobs. Oh, and before you say anything, your father had shared his opinions on your indolence with us.¡± Clytemnestra sniffed the air. ¡°The way you are slouching in your chair tells me that you don¡¯t get up often, so why does it smell like bleach here?¡±

    The man blinked nervously. ¡°I don¡¯t use bleach.¡±

    ¡°I know that¡¯s a lie,¡± Clytemnestra affirmed. ¡°You¡¯re hiding something. When you waved to Chiara, you waved with your right hand, right? A right-handed person would not put the computer case on their right and their mouse on the left, and I know you may not be the neatest person but,¡± She picked up the mouse with the edge of a black book. ¡°I don¡¯t think you would leave blood underneath your devices.¡±

    With that in mind, Chiara sensed the faint tang of blood¡­everywhere. It wasn¡¯t only the walls, it was the tables, the computers, the paintings, the ottomans, the floor, and most especially Antonio¡¯s son. Clytemnestra must have noticed too, dragging a spotless ottoman. Everything was spotless here as well, Chiara thought, so why could she detect blood?

    ¡°I knew you were hiding something, but I wasn¡¯t able to tell until now.¡± Clytemnestra plopped the ottoman close to the man¡¯s feet. ¡°Come here, your feet must be cramped. You must want to put up your feet and relax after a long day, don¡¯t you?¡± A vibrating sensation resonated through the room. ¡°Listen to me, let me help you. Tell me your name.¡±

    ¡°Raffaello Quattrocchi.¡± He put up his foot and relaxed his grip on the chair¡ªand instantly yelped in pain as a crimson stain erupted from his knee. ¡°What the hell¡ªwhy did I put my foot up?!¡±

    Chiara wasted no time, slicing open Raffaello¡¯s pant legs to reveal a hole that was gushing out blood on his knee and a soaked-up wad of tissue paper. ¡°Who did this to you?¡±

    ¡°This crazy asshole!¡± Raffaello yelled in pain. ¡°I don¡¯t know who they are, but they came here, tore the place open, kneecapped me, and yelled at me over a stupid green container! It looked like some moisturiser, so I swore at them! Then they decided to¡ªI can¡¯t even comprehend this, they took my blood from the wound and made a freaking whip with it! They whacked me in the head with the container, whipped my back with my blood, smacked me with a prop tail, and all I could make out was that I wasn¡¯t worth killing or something! They spoke in the most insane accent too!¡±

    Clytemnestra was staring at the paintings again. ¡°Did they rearrange your furniture?¡±

    ¡°No¡ªhow the hell are you this calm?! It was some other group, two women in dark green robes! I couldn¡¯t see their faces or anything with those damn high hoods! They were asking the same thing about a green container, one of them slapped me, the other wiped my hard drive with my games, they rearranged everything, and they just left me here! All I caught of that conversation was that a mistress left her stench all over this house?! Both of my parents are faithful to each other, so I don¡¯t know what the hell they were talking about!¡±

    Augustus stared at a print left close to the computer. ¡°This smells of food.¡±

    Clytemnestra suddenly dove behind the Luule P?rtelpoeg painting and snatched a small business card from behind. ¡°How did you hear of the auction?¡±

    ¡°A private email¡ª¡± He yelled as more blood spurted from his knee. ¡°I thought there would be some electronics, you know, that would have been worth more to resell. All that old man had was a bunch of paintings, boxes, and a bunch of old junk, so I bought one painting. They told me that it was a pre-Calamity era painting and those can easily go for one hundred sixty euros on¡ª¡± Raffaello paused. ¡°Never mind. The point was like I told that asshole and the two women, I had nothing to do with whoever organised the auction and I never talked with them face to face. Also, since it seems the two of you are a lot nicer than the other three people who visited me, can you take me to a freaking hospital?!¡±

    Augustus, previously unmoved by the constant yelling of Raffaello, rushed on top of the man and roared in his face, pressing his paws into Raffaello¡¯s knees as he did so. Raffaello ended up screaming at the top of his lungs as more blood spurted from his knee.

    ¡°Augustus, don¡¯t hurt him!¡± Chiara shouted. ¡°He might be an indignant mooch of the highest order, but he isn¡¯t our enemy and he should be treated at a hospital!¡±

    Clytemnestra was muttering in English. All Chiara caught were the words ¡°alley¡± and ¡°dump¡±. Dana had been teaching her English, but it was an incongruent language with no underlying reason within its grammatical or pronunciation rules¡ª

    Violent shaking commenced soon after, leaving some of the monitors to crash onto the floor and the paintings to free themselves of their nails. Chiara created some hard light handrails for everyone to either hold on to or bite into while they waited for the Calamity to finish. She created her handrails, but that didn¡¯t stop the constant rattling. After the shaking, Amalia jogged into the room, gagging at the latent smell of iron.

    ¡°W-we have an issue,¡± she sputtered out. ¡°A Class T Calamity, it struck in the heart of the city.¡± Amalia¡¯s eyes widened as an aftershock passed through the house. ¡°T-there¡¯s something wrong outside.¡±

    After convincing Raffaello that Augustus wasn¡¯t a man-eating lion, Chiara with the help of Amalia¡¯s shields carried him into the increasingly cramped van.

    ¡°Who is this?¡± asked Helen.

    ¡°The actual Italian buyer.¡± Clytemnestra showed her the painting. ¡°Is this our Key?¡±

    ¡°No, but it looks nice. We can take it.¡± Helen pointed towards the meat locker. ¡°Put him there. Since we already have five people and a lion, there isn¡¯t much standing or sitting room.¡±

    Both Amalia and Chiara loudly protested against this idea. ¡°He has a broken kneecap!¡±

    ¡°We could also leave him¡ª¡±

    ¡°No, we are not leaving him in the house,¡± Chiara pointed out. ¡°At least two different groups have tried to target him for their ends, and I refuse to abandon an innocent bystander when he needs medical attention. As co-leader, I¡¯m ordering you to accept Raffaello Quattrocchi as a temporary member of this group until such time he can receive sufficient medical attention.¡± He wasn¡¯t much of an ¡®innocent¡¯ bystander, but Chiara thought that he would be more helpful alive and recuperating than dead from blood loss. What if they came back?

    Helen shrugged. ¡°Fine, but he¡¯s still going into the meat locker. As co-leader, there is no room.¡±

    Despite Raffaello¡¯s protests, he was placed inside the meat locker. Chiara hopped into the driver¡¯s seat and steered the packed van towards the Colosseo, where Amalia was pointing.

    ¡°When I was taking a geology class as part of my second-year undergraduate options, the professor reviewed common Calamity classifications and since they were a seismologist, Class T and Class V Calamities were covered extensively.¡± Amalia leaned closer to the windshield. ¡°This does not look like a typical Class T according to my notes.¡±

    Chaos reigned in the winding roads and the packed buildings. They passed by a knocked-over bakery, a wrecked fountain spewing water across the streets, and a couple struggling to untangle themselves from a fallen table. Chiara wanted to step out of the van to help, but something was pulling her to drive onwards. Besides, people were already helping the couple to their feet.

    Her heart was pulling her to somewhere, away from the crowd. She couldn¡¯t see it, but she felt that the Sun was watching over her and let it be her guiding star. The van eventually stopped at the Piazza del Popolo, where the cracks in the earth were evident¡ªand strange. The cracks were glowing yellow with tinges of orange and red.

    As soon as Chiara left the van, she was confronted with glowing embers the size of her eyes and a smoky quality to the atmosphere. All of that smoke was clouding her vision, so she cleared it with a blast of light. A sudden growl arose. Somehow in her heart, she knew it wasn¡¯t Augustus.

    A towering being faced her now. Great black horns curved inwards adorned its bull-like head while six glowing eyes affixed onto Chiara. Four spider-like legs surrounded the largest crack, large enough to fit the creature inside of it twice over. Her heart was beating faster, drowning out all other noises.  Go forth, it told her, go forth and seize the morning glory. This was what her heart was guiding her to, Chiara thought. The beast lay before her. Slaying it would stop the earthquake, she thought.

    Dana was outside of the van, Augustus standing at her side, surprised at the tall creature before her. ¡°What the fuck is that?!¡±

    Amalia had a shield out and guarded all four of them before any of them thought about doing anything. Her face seemed stoic and unyielding, but Chiara noticed her shield arm shaking as she peeked through the transparent shield.

    Clytemnestra looked through the front door windows. ¡°That¡¯s new.¡±

    It was Helen¡¯s expression that caught her. She was staring at the creature and its menacing legs with a look of trepidation and something akin to¡ªrecognition.

    ¡°No¡­it can¡¯t be¡­it¡¯s not supposed to be here in the Lower World¡­the Artist¡­we banished it, all of them¡ª¡± Helen blinked. ¡°I don¡¯t have a look of trepidation.¡± Her eyes darted away from Chiara like she was lost in thought.

    Clytemnestra climbed out of the window. ¡°Helen, are you alright?¡±

    Helen straightened up. ¡°Yeah¡­yeah I am.¡± Within seconds her white pen appeared in her hand, elongating until it was barely reaching the top of Chiara¡¯s height. ¡°So they left me with everything¡­I still can¡¯t believe it all falls to me and my sister.¡±

    Chiara had no clue what she was talking about. All she could focus on was the infernal creature in front of her, staring back into her very heart. They both sensed each other¡¯s presence; she knew that her heart was anticipating its every move while it studied her, all of its eyes hyper-focused on her.

    She made the first move, creating a light pillar to vault over to the Egyptian obelisk for a better line of sight. The creature had one long patch of black fur on its back. Otherwise, it had a hairless torso with too many prominent ribs. The being noticed her and launched itself into the air, its legs digging into the ancient monument. Chiara jumped on instinct, barely missing it crushing the top of the obelisk with its horn. Her heart roared as she conjured a sceptre. Something about holding a sceptre in her confidently clenched hand felt right and yet again, a brief shimmer appeared overhead. She was going to smash the sceptre into its head, but the creature caught her with one of its legs. A white and yellow pen sailed through the air, piercing one of the horns. The creature bellowed, focusing its attention on Helen with her twintails blowing in the breeze. She ignored it, jumping on its back and fending off the other legs. Chiara created a spear in the middle of the air, poking at the being¡¯s many eyes while freeing herself from the monster with a solid light block. Helen was being harassed by the multitude of tiny ribs or legs on its back, nearly getting her pen entangled before the legs were blasted apart by her twin sister¡¯s voice.

    Ciao Chiara! Do you know anything about what this is? And why does it resemble the crack in the earth that looks like a portal into hell?

    I know what it is. Helen¡¯s resigned voice echoed in Chiara¡¯s mind.  There isn''t such a thing as hell, but¡­I suppose that it would be the same for a human. Can you¡ª

    Chiara couldn¡¯t hear what Helen was saying anymore. Neither could Clytemnestra who was currently tearing apart the many legs on the creature¡¯s back based on her confused look. Helen was still on the creature¡¯s back. Chiara¡¯s chest glimmered weakly, but it was too faint. She called forth chains and wound them around the being¡¯s glowing horns. With them tightly bound, she leapt off the creature, tugging at them and telling Augustus mentally to locate Dana and Amalia and bring them to a safer place. The creature¡¯s horns were glowing warmly, but she ignored that. Helen was trying to signal to her, but Chiara couldn¡¯t make out what she was saying. This was easy, she thought, all she had to do was to take it down. It was that simple, bringing down a monster and being celebrated for her feats of strength. She could picture the crowd right now. Tightening her grip on the golden chains, Chiara dragged the spider-like creature off of the obelisk, sending it and the twins toppling downwards. The impact it made sent tremors through the piazza, causing another crack. Helen was the first to recover, rubbing her head.

    This is why I never liked working with you. You barely listen to orders, and you always think you¡¯re always right in whatever you do. I can¡¯t believe the General trusted you enough to¡ªlook out!

    Chiara barely sneaked a glance over her shoulder before a black leg clutched her and threw her through multiple buildings until her head hit stone and her entire body collapsed into the water. Rubbing her head, she recognised where she was. The Fontana di Trevi, one of Roma¡¯s most famous fountains, a beautiful tourist attraction¡ªand the incoming landing spot of the creature who threw her across several streets. Before Chiara could react, the being wrapped her in its legs before revealing two long fangs from its mouth. Several pedestrians cried out in fear and quickly ran off. Chiara tried to summon something, anything¡ªuntil those two black fangs pierced her chest and extracted her heart.

    What did hearts look like? She always drew it red and in, well, a heart shape. Sometimes, when Dana fell asleep on her shoulder, she thought of her heart as Dana-shaped with all the colours that accompanied Dana, whether it be black and white Armani clothing or a casual sundress. She imagined it beating to the sound of music, or in the heat of the moment.

    Chiara didn¡¯t expect her own heart to be solid gold and smooth. The fangs wrapped around the golden heart as the six eyes all looked at her with a mix of satisfaction and contentment. The heart entered the creature¡¯s mouth and it was about to grab her by the leg when Helen¡¯s pen struck it in the face. It bellowed and was about to sprint before stopping abruptly. Afterwards, it left as abruptly as it had arrived, bounding over the houses and bistros. Helen¡¯s pen flew back to her hand.

    ¡°And this is why¡ª¡± Helen was staring at Chiara¡¯s chest. ¡°What¡­¡±

    Clytemnestra was following behind her, her eyes widening. ¡°This is a worse problem than I expected. Amalia!¡±

    She remembered everything in a blur. All she could remember was Dana shouting, Helen equally shouting, everyone was noisy¡­the light¡­where¡­was the Sun¡­Augustus¡­Dana¡­Raffaello¡­hospital¡­sunlight?...couch¡­house¡­floor¡­agitation¡­no¡­

    <hr>

    The Sun was above her¡ªand so were the other planets. The Moon was a planet, right? Why did she feel like Dana would be annoyed if she suggested that? Her chair was made of gold, which suited her. Checking out the ornamentation on the chair with the gold leaf and the carved roaring lions clutching suns beneath their claws, it fit someone of her standards. A carved symbol of the glyph of Leo and below that, a circle with a dot in the middle like her amulet.

    The Sun, her mind supplied her, that¡¯s the Sun.

    She checked out the other two chairs beside her. One of them was silver with a crescent moon below circles with curved tails.  Cancer, her mind told her, this is Cancer.  The other one was made of carbon with a sickle below the letter M with a loop.  Virgo, her mind informed her.  The chair directly in front of her was platinum. Surprisingly, she wasn¡¯t in an elevated position, nor were any of the chairs. She wished she was at the head of the table and able to direct the other eleven members of this table. Unfortunately, the table was perfectly round and decorated with stars. It looked beautiful too.

    She tried to rearrange all of the chairs and grabbed a spare ottoman to put her golden chair on top, but the golden chair was too large and kept falling backwards. She kept trying though and conceded defeat after the fiftieth attempt. All twelve chairs were switched back to their original positions. Chiara noticed a wooden door decorated with flowing white squares with Chinese characters inked in red. Opening it led to a nearly identical room with twelve chairs and a square table. Two of the chairs were elevated, she noticed, one made of wood and one made of a pearlescent material with a jade chair sitting in the middle. She was drawn to the electrum chair sitting between an obsidian chair and a white gold chair. That chair was marked with unreadable Chinese characters. The ceiling wasn¡¯t stars like in the other room, but animals in a circle. There were twelve intricately carved animals, and she paid special attention to the monkey.

    She blinked, and the rooms became combined. There was no door or wall in between them, but there was a window with opaque dark curtains. She moved back the curtains and peered through the glass window.

    There was nothing behind the curtains, and nothingness reigned supreme outside the room.

    She gazed into the void,

    And the void gazed back.

    The floor beneath her began to break and she screamed as she, the chairs, the furniture, and the rooms fell into an endless and infinite void. Her feet were unravelling, unspooling into golden light and orange motes that flitted before her eyes. Chiara tried grabbing onto the golden chair, only for that to dissolve into the abyss. She continued screaming until her mouth finally unspooled into balls of light.

    The King falls to her doom. A voice boomed in her mind. Without your crown, your sword, your sceptre, your heart, what are you? A bright-eyed performer? No, you are nothing. Without your regalia, your royal trappings, you are worth not even a speck of dust.

    She had no mouth to refute that statement, and soon she had no mind. All of it¡­all was dust in an eternal and hungry void¡­

    <hr>

    ¡°Chiara! Can you hear me?!¡±

    ¡°How is this possible? The human body needs the heart, which is an essential organ needed for life. This is impossible by medical standards¡ª¡±

    ¡°This body isn¡¯t human, it''s a faulty assumption.¡±

    ¡°I can read her thoughts now, Helen¡¯s idea worked.¡±

    Chiara found dancing lights above her head. ¡°What happened?¡±

    ¡°Shhhh.¡± Dana! Her voice immediately soothed her. ¡°Don¡¯t move, Helen is going to be putting some finishing touches on¡ªher invention.¡± There was a small yet sour tone.

    The sound of tape ripping was heard, and now someone, probably Helen, was putting the tape¡ªon her back?! Why her back?! Did she gain several breast sizes?! Why did her chest feel massive?! She touched her chest and felt a soft indentation. What¡­

    Chiara, please don¡¯t freak out.

    The reassurance was too late. Chiara was ripping out wads of paper towels, cotton pads, Kleenex, and¡­wires?! Three batteries were running amok. Eventually, she finally got to the innermost layer. Tearing it in half, she wasn¡¯t expecting what she saw.

    A light bulb. There was a single-lit filament light bulb¡ªin her chest cavity. Where her heart used to be. She could see a white ribcage and her organic lungs working heavily. There were wires threaded within her ribcage and multiple batteries. The worst part was the shifting golden edge of the massive hole in her upper chest.

    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t take out the light bulb if I were you.¡± Helen. ¡°That¡¯s the only thing keeping you alive. I was thinking about switching it out for an LED light, but your girlfriend told me to shove it in you or she¡¯ll mace me, so we¡¯re keeping the light bulb. I wished you didn¡¯t have to rip up the protection. Virgo! Can you reapply the protective layer and all of the redundant circuits?! Thanks!¡±

    ¡°Why don¡¯t you use the hospital tape you stole when we dropped off Raffaello at the hospital? Or better yet, we find Chiara¡¯s original heart and sew it back in!¡± Dana yelled.

    ¡°Hospital tape is better.¡±

    Chiara wanted to protest her body being poked and prodded like a science experiment, but she felt a moist cloth shoved into her face and the great need to sleep overtook her¡­

    She woke up, again, but her chest was now twice its normal size. Everyone was circling her.

    ¡°As much as I loathe to say this, don¡¯t rip out the bindings.¡± Amalia sighed. ¡°You are alive and conscious because of the contraption Helen rigged in your chest cavity, despite it violating medical ethics and human physiology.¡±

    ¡°She can survive,¡± Dana chimed in, but Chiara knew that she was more than a little worried for her wellbeing based on her eyes anxiously darting to her heart and the floor.

    Clytemnestra shrugged while one of the black wires attached to the device on her ear fed her prosciutto while the other was fiddling with a black book. ¡°We aren¡¯t going to talk about the massive bull-spider hybrid that ripped out her heart and possibly has otherworldly origins? No? Okay.¡±

    Helen tensed, her eyes darting around the room as if expecting she would be attacked at any moment.

    ¡°Helen,¡± Chiara stated in a low voice. ¡°Before we started fighting, you mentioned that this creature wasn¡¯t supposed to be in the ¡®Lower World¡¯. What did you mean by that, and how much do you know about our opponent?¡± She pointed at her chest. ¡°Now¡¯s not the time to be withholding information.¡±

    ¡°Fine.¡± Her voice seemed more weary and aged than her appearance suggested, though Chiara doubted she was as young as she looked. ¡°This wasn¡¯t my first time fighting these creatures or encountering them. When the Gates and Houses were stable, we kept them contained on the other side.¡± She grabbed her pen and started drawing on a spare napkin. ¡°The Gates and the Houses aren¡¯t real physical structures. Think of it as a separate world, like another planet except unreachable other than the use of specific Doors.¡±

    ¡°Doors?¡± Clytemnestra asked.

    ¡°A Door is a gateway we built to reach our Gates and Houses from the Lower World, which is the term for the material universe.¡± Helen drew a circle, labelled it Earth, and drew a lot of Xs on the circle. ¡°There are more than twenty-four Doors, and the Keys could open any of the Doors we set up. However, due to some unexpected circumstances, there are only twenty-four Doors open and they¡¯re the pair-bonded ones.¡±

    ¡°What is a pair bonded Door?¡± Amalia asked.

    ¡°Twelve pair-bonds corresponding to one Gate and House, and both representatives need to be present in front of the Doors with their Keys to unlock them. For example, me and Castor are partners with the Horse of the Seventh Gate, the Virgo is partners with the Rooster of the Tenth Gate, and the Leo is partners with the Monkey of the Ninth Gate. The whole system is controlled by the Ninth House, but until we find the Wanderer, I would not recommend going there.¡±

    ¡°You didn¡¯t mention anything about the¡­impossible organism we were facing. For that matter, you never explained why Frau Agosti can survive without her heart or the lack of major blood vessels surrounding her heart,¡± Amalia pointed out.

    ¡°The impossible organism, as you call it, is not impossible in the space beyond the material universe. Titanic beasts beyond your wildest imaginations, hiveminds coordinating billions of drones, creatures that would destroy your mind, beings that embody the primal forces of the Lower World, we were charged with containment and defence. Some wanted to try a preemptive strike, but that never worked out. Beyond the heavens, there¡¯s only a ceaseless infinity.¡±

    A baleful song took root within Chiara. Your life is meaningless and your body is weak. She ignored it.

    ¡°The Artist had this specific type of creature trapped in one of the paintings in the Eighth Gate.¡± She sighed. ¡°This one must be another member of its kind, or it¡¯s the same one freed from her paintings. Regardless, it¡¯s alive and it has the golden heart of Leo, which isn¡¯t the most ideal situation.¡± Helen shrugged. ¡°Her heart is crucial to her function.¡±

    Her what? Chiara would ask about this later.

    Dana clutched Chiara¡¯s hand harder. ¡°The golden heart of Leo¡­when I first found out about Chiara¡¯s amulet, I remembered that Leo rules the heart.¡±

    ¡°Yes that¡¯s correct, but if you wanted to lop off my hands or Castor¡¯s hands, you won¡¯t gain anything. The golden heart of Leo is special because her heart contains a second energy source, almost as powerful if not more powerful than her amulet. Speaking of which, where is it?¡±

    ¡°Back seat of my Vespa,¡± Chiara answered.

    Helen nodded. ¡°There¡¯s a reason for the massive energy storage, and you told me all about it after you defeated me in a duel and proceeded to shove your victory in my face. You mentioned that you can¡¯t bleed as long as the morning glory is in your heart. Also, we all can run off the sources of our powers, hence why you are comfortable in the sunlight and why sticking a lightbulb in your chest was a good idea.¡±

    Dana¡¯s phone started ringing. ¡°It¡¯s¡­Liza?¡± Her eyes widened. ¡°I have to take this call.¡± She rushed upstairs muttering in Tagalog and shutting the door behind her. Augustus followed her upstairs and waited outside the door. Chiara hoped everything was fine with Dana¡¯s sister. They called every once in a while to talk to Dana and check up on her, but¡­Dana would let her know if she was needed. Otherwise, she would focus on finding her heart and taking it back from the monster. Amalia was humming to herself and making small shields with her fingertips, spreading the earthy energy around the room. That gave Chiara an idea.

    ¡°I have an idea of how to find my heart.¡± Chiara stood up, undoing some of the haphazard construction of the protective layer around her upper chest. ¡°Whenever Amalia uses her powers, like the time I stopped your out-of-control driving, I noticed a special energy signature, unique to the individual. I haven¡¯t felt it a lot, but I think the twins have their own. If I can track the creature¡¯s energy signature or my own, we can find my heart and restore it to its rightful place.¡± Chiara pumped her fist into the air. ¡°I have a plan. With Amalia¡¯s shields, we can corner the beast in an area of our choosing, perhaps a grand arena where I can hold down the monster. Augustus is good in a skirmish with humans, but not in a pitched battle with an otherworldly being. I want you on harassment duties. Clytemnestra, you can do crowd control with your telepathy and keep others away from any battle. Helen, you¡¯ve fought these creatures before.¡± She sighed. ¡°Since you¡¯re an expert, I need your help.¡±

    Helen grinned. ¡°Finally, some humility from the mighty King.¡±

    Of course Chiara was mighty; she had the power of the Sun! She needed to check on her girlfriend first. After kissing both of the twins on the cheeks, she headed upstairs to check on Dana.

    ¡°Has anything happened that¡¯s been a concern?¡± She asked Augustus.

    Augustus turned to her. ¡°She is making noises that attract predators. Entering the room is the best option.¡±

    Chiara slowly opened the door to the guest bedroom. Dana was sitting on the floor, half-wadded tissues littering the floor around her and staring at her phone¡¯s bright screen that illuminated her tear-stained face. Chiara immediately rushed to her side and grabbed some tissues for Dana to blow her nose in.

    ¡°What happened?¡± Chiara hugged her. ¡°Do you need anything else? A glass of water? Is everyone fine? Do you need to leave?¡± She tried to think of how much plane or boat tickets to Canada cost.

    ¡°I don¡¯t need to leave,¡± Dana forced out through the sniffles. ¡°I need to be here, I heard the conversation downstairs. You¡¯re always the one leaping into danger, always playing the hero. I know you want to protect others, that¡¯s fine. I fell in love with you for a reason, but I don¡¯t think your plan is going to work out the way you want it to.¡±

    ¡°The plan¡¯s going to work, trust me. Nothing will go wrong.¡±

    ¡°Nothing?! Chiara, your heart¡¯s gone, ripped from your chest by a monstrous bull! You fainted not once, not twice, but three times on the way here! We thought you died multiple times! I want your heart back, but not at the expense of your own life! My sister¡¯s fighting for her life because she¡¯s in a coma, my other sister was kidnapped, and my entire family was terrorised by a bunch of animals, including my niece and nephew! I love you Chiara, and I don¡¯t want to lose you or anyone else I care about!¡± Dana ended up crying into Chiara¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Please don¡¯t take any risks¡­alright?¡±

    Chiara nodded and embraced her. Her tears soaked into her outfit as Dana kept sobbing into Chiara¡¯s shoulder. She also put a blanket around both of them.

    After Dana fell asleep, Chiara carried her to Chiara¡¯s bedroom and cleaned up the wads of tissue paper lying around the guest bedroom. Bidding Augustus good night, she tucked in Dana. The protective layer was starting to fall apart, so she put some tape on her back before falling asleep.

    The twins remember? The younger one does, or is it the older twin now? No matter, the maiden is also present. I¡¯m surprised you haven¡¯t had a consort yet, or are you reserving that title for a certain someone? You should locate your heart quickly. The dog would have been a boon, but the water bearer has secluded her from prying eyes. Seize the morning glory with your unburdened hands and from there, you will find deliverance.

    She checked the bed. Dana was still sleeping, probably exhausted from yesterday¡¯s events. How was her family doing? Chiara had never talked to any of Dana¡¯s sisters, the whole ¡°only have been dating for two weeks¡± matter, but Dana loved them, so she loved them in turn. Plane tickets were exhaustingly expensive, especially last minute, but she would send Dana on the next flight if possible.

    Chiara wondered if the twins could read minds when a person was dreaming. Clytemnestra asked her about a voice when they first met, was she thinking about it at the time? Dana was awake, her eyes red from crying last night and fully changed.

    ¡°What I said last night...I still stand by it. If you¡¯re adamant about this plan of yours, then I can¡¯t convince you to step away. A Divata never shirks from what she has to. If you¡¯re going out there, I¡¯m coming with you. There¡¯s no better way of preventing you from being nearly killed. The twins won¡¯t, and Amalia and Augustus aren¡¯t enough.¡± She stared at Chiara. ¡°You have no self-preservation at all. Even when we first met, you tried to subdue a lion by holding his jaws open with your head in his mouth. Someone has to be that little voice in your head telling you when not to leap.¡±

    Chiara acceded. ¡°Don¡¯t put yourself in harm¡¯s way and always follow my lead, because you know I¡¯m always right.¡± She smiled charmingly.

    ¡°Of course you say that.¡± Dana brushed away some of Chiara¡¯s hair. ¡°You still have blood tangled in your hair.¡±

    ¡°Does it matter?¡± She kissed Dana. ¡°See you downstairs.¡±

    Dana pulled the twins out of bed while Augustus and Chiara gently nudged Amalia out of bed. After everyone was awake and the twins were unceremoniously dumped onto the couch, Chiara redid the bindings on the protective layer and concentrated, trying to spread the light everywhere.

    ¡°You can¡¯t do it. Your heart is specifically the seat of your control over light: without it, you can¡¯t make your own light,¡± Helen remarked.

    Chiara would use something else¡¯s light then. The Sun was weak today, barely letting in any light. She reached for the frail rays and held them tightly, fixing them in their positions. She searched for her heart across the city of seven hills. The Sun touched the land and she cast her willpower into its ever-present beams. She called to it, and it to her, a light to another light. A stream of gold broke through the windows and into Chiara¡¯s waiting hands. Once she grabbed onto the stream, she felt its anxiety and its desire to reunite with her. Chiara would give it all that and more.

    Due to the pressing need to find the heart before the monster left Roma, Clytemnestra ended up in the driver¡¯s seat¡ªand was about as skilled as her sister in driving. Chiara had promised Giorgio that the truck would be returned in immaculate condition. That was becoming less and less likely by the second as Clytemnestra narrowly missed toppling over a man trying to deliver food.

    ¡°Sorry! I¡¯m not used to driving large vehicles!¡± she shouted at the angry man.

    ¡°Do they not have driving lessons in England? That¡¯s the second person you¡¯ve nearly turned into a pancake,¡± Dana snarked.

    Chiara couldn¡¯t understand the conversation, solely focusing on the connection sustained between her and her heart. She also checked on Dana occasionally, even when she insisted that she was fine. She could feel its pulsating rhythm through the open city. The roar reverberating through the city solidified her desire to return her heart to its rightful place.

    Before the van stopped, Chiara leapt out the back with Dana and Augustus following close behind. The monster was there, this time with a glowing golden light within its stomach. Her heart, Chiara thought, the one that rightfully belonged to her. A lot of people were running away from the monster and blood was smeared across the Spanish Steps. Chiara found her determination filling her up like a well.

    ¡°You there! How dare you defile one of the great landmarks of this fair city with the blood of her denizens! Give me back my heart and leave this city alone, or else you will force my hand.¡± Chiara tried to summon a beam of light, but it fizzled in her hand. She was also feeling a little drowsy.

    The beast was making deep vocalisations, almost as if it was¡­laughing? Chiara ignored it.

    They don¡¯t talk and none of them have sapient intelligence. Trust me, I¡¯ve tried to read their minds. Nothing coherent is present.

    Helen?

    They don¡¯t think like us or humans. The ¡®legs¡¯ on its back are highly flammable, but you¡¯ve lost your connection to make your own light and we haven¡¯t found the Warrior. What I was trying to tell you earlier was that the horns emit an ultrasonic pulse that can disrupt our telepathic messages. Be prepared¡ª

    The horns were alight again, and the beast¡¯s six eyes were trained on Chiara and her protective layer that was falling apart. Her eyes darted to Dana, who took out¡­a set of car keys.

    ¡°I know I can¡¯t help you here, but¡­¡± Her eyes lit up in that typical Dana way. ¡°That doesn''t mean I¡¯m completely useless.¡±

    ¡°Where are you going?¡± Chiara asked.

    ¡°To the studio. Remember that giant machine I told you the crew was setting up? It was supposed to be a surprise, but now seemed like a good time.¡± Dana waved. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about me, and also, don¡¯t die. Death won¡¯t stop me from punching you in the afterlife.¡± She smiled before dashing into a car.

    Chiara watched the monster, mindful of Dana¡¯s route.

    Do you think you can challenge a child of the void and live? Give up little girl, give up your fool pride and resign yourself to your fate.

    Chiara ignored the small annoying voice in her head. She could do this, heart or no heart. With her sceptre at her side and Augustus flanking her, she took the high ground of a nearby cafe. Her legs ached, but she ignored it. Making sure that Dana was clear of the area, she stomped into the building. The bull snorted and extended its four legs into the stone, cracking it. How was Chiara going to retrieve her heart from the stomach? She looked at Helen and her lancelike pen, and Augustus crouching behind a nearby fence, and found a solution.

    ¡°Helen! Aim for the big legs! Not the little ones!¡± She yelled, jumping to avoid being slammed by one of the black spider-like legs into a nearby wall. A flock of pigeons were roosting nearby. A distraction? Yes. Chiara whistled and pointed at the beast¡¯s six fiery eyes. The birds took flight and harassed the great beast, with two of the pigeons flying away with two eye-shaped prizes. Augustus had grasped one of the beast¡¯s legs and was tearing it apart. According to the scant thoughts that graced her mind, he didn¡¯t need assistance. She swatted another leg with her makeshift metal sceptre, causing it to recoil slightly before swooping onto her head. Chiara couldn¡¯t move fast enough, but a pleasing DONK sound resonated. Amalia had her shield above her head, straining under the repeated jabs and attacks. A protective dome formed around the two women. Chiara peeked underneath the shield. She looked at Amalia¡¯s shaking arms and remembered the trace of life emanating from her shields.

    ¡°How much can you lift?¡± she asked Amalia.

    ¡°I¡¯m used to carrying heavy objects, but I don¡¯t have the strength of a powerlifter.¡± Amalia flicked her gaze at Chiara. ¡°What¡¯s on your mind?¡±

    Chiara looked over to where Helen was fighting off another leg of the creature. ¡°Your energy signature has traces of growth and nature. Can you control plants?¡±

    Amalia nodded. ¡°That skill isn¡¯t as developed in a crisis, but it¡¯s something that my amulet can perform adequately well.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s the strongest plant that can carry two women who can jump far?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re thinking of a tree. With strong roots, enough time to establish itself in the soil, and favourable conditions including sunlight, adequate water, and soil composition; you will have a strong tree able to survive in its specific biome.¡± Amalia carefully searched Chiara¡¯s face. ¡°Unless you need it right now. Normally, I wouldn¡¯t recommend trying to rush a tree¡¯s development, but we are in a crisis. I would recommend Salix alba for your purposes.¡± She winced as the pounding grew more intense. ¡°I¡¯m going to grow a S. alba seed right now. When I release the shield, the growth will be accelerated beyond regular parameters. Make sure Helen is with you.¡±

    Chiara waited for the silent countdown. As soon as the shield had fallen, Chiara grabbed the edge of Amalia¡¯s shield and flipped onto the face of the shield. The woman looked familiar, she thought, before jumping again to hold on to a rapidly growing willow tree branch. She missed, her fingers just grazing the leaves, but she managed to land on a lower branch. Her chest felt like it was on fire, but she hung on. Everyone was depending on her, she couldn¡¯t falter now. The beast¡¯s horns were no longer growing. From her ascending perspective, Helen noticed the growing tree and was charging up the trunk, Clytemnestra was attacking the creature with sonic blasts, and Dana was thankfully far away and close to the studio. She had no time to ponder anything, once she felt the beast¡¯s sulphurous breath on her skin.

    Chiara stuck her head through the branches. Helen wasn¡¯t going to make it up the tree trunk.

    ¡°Helen! Throw your pen up here!¡± she yelled.

    ¡°Why¡ª¡±

    ¡°Do it!¡±

    Helen lobbed her white and yellow pen up, which Chiara nearly fumbled before managing to grab it by the tip. It looked nice, and she briefly imagined it being paired with a golden sceptre before focusing on what she was here to do. Climbing to the top of the tree, she dove down. Once she was below its neck, she thrust the pen forward into its stomach. Chiara wasn¡¯t prepared for the amount of blood that gushed out of its wound, spraying her from head to toe. Finally, the pen stopped cutting close to the creature¡¯s abdomen. Spitting out black blood and wiping her face with a spare hand, she steadied herself on the pen and pushed away the bleeding flesh.

    The putrid scent that emanated from every orifice made Chiara want to gag. Nevertheless, she mustered her courage and walked forward. Everything inside the stomach disgusted her from the rotting flesh to the undigested bones, but a small beam of light encouraged her resolve. At the top of what Chiara supposed was a bulging mass of soon-to-be-digested food, her heart was pushed against the wall. She grabbed it. The heart started to glow, illuminating her face.

    The heart of the King¡­I wonder how fragile it is.

    The scurrying of insects didn¡¯t bother Chiara nor did that persistent voice unlike the one in her dreams¡ªuntil one of them started to peel back the protective layer, exposing her lightbulb heart and the rest of her chest cavity. She yelped as one of the bugs attacked her ribcage, threw it as far as she could, and hobbled out of the chamber, millions of little beetle-like insects giving chase.

    See how the great lion cowers from her adversaries? They¡¯re only bugs, beneath your notice. Or perhaps your hubris has fallen? Can you see it now?

    She ignored the voice yet again. She was Chiara Agosti, holder of the golden amulet, wielder of the power of the Sun, tamer of beasts, and she would not die in a stinking monster¡¯s innards. They had ripped apart the protective layer, fully exposing her internal organs to the outside world. Clutching her heart, she pushed back the pulsating flash and stepped back onto the pen. The insects were crawling slowly towards her¡ªwait. Could she talk to them? She tried to send a signal, flee, eat¡ªthat worked. One of the beetles dashed back in and started to gnaw inside the body. That¡­wasn¡¯t something she lingered on for long. It was also only one insect, and the rest of them were all too eager to devour her flesh. There was only one way, she thought. Wrenching the pen free of the beast¡¯s flesh, she dove backwards into the sky.

    With her hair whipping in her face and her heart running amok, Chiara had to nudge the heart close to her completely exposed chest. The chest formed small tendrils of light connecting to the heart¡ªuntil her chest completely absorbed her heart, light running over her chest healing it from the haphazard surgery that Helen had performed. Chiara felt a resurgence in power and the Sun was shining brighter than before¡ªthe ground was closer than she expected.

    Before she could do anything, a net broke her fall.

    ¡°So is this how it feels to save the day? Because I¡¯m starting to understand why you enjoy it so much.¡± Dana grinned behind a massive harpoon, hair flapping in the wind. ¡°Ciao Signora Agosti.¡±

    ¡°Ciao Signora Divata.¡± Chiara laughed heartily.

    ¡°Dana what is that?!¡±

    ¡°Relax Vittorino, Chiara will explain shortly.¡±

    Chiara wriggled in the net to face Vittorino and Viviana with her mouth agape. Nico was standing around, clearly confused.

    ¡°Is that a lion''s tail?¡± Viviana asked.

    ¡°Yes,¡± she replied. ¡°You can ask Dana or your boyfriend. Check his shoulder.¡±

    Viviana mouthed something to Vittorino, who mumbled something in reply.

    Chiara summoned a blade and cut herself free. ¡°Now that you are here¡­where am I exactly?¡±

    ¡°Close to the Museo dell¡¯Ara Pacis,¡± Nico answered. ¡°I know that you were able to tame an out-of-control and starving lion, but that?!¡± He pointed at the rampaging beast. ¡°What¡¯s your plan for that?¡±

    Chiara smirked. ¡°Oh, I have a plan alright¡­¡±

    She was glad that the reunification of her heart had also cleansed her of the guts, the blood, and everything from that foul creature. Vittorino was in position, and Helen had picked her pen up. Amalia and Clytemnestra had followed Augustus back to where she and the film crew were camped out.

    ¡°So you are sticking with your original plan,¡± Dana stated.

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Then I am coming with you. Someone has to protect you from yourself. At least, I''m staying nearby with the harpoons.¡±

    Chiara nodded. Dana was already aiming the harpoons at the creature and Amalia was forming a shield around them. Her heart was beating vigorously in anticipation of the battle ahead. The creature was still rampant, smoke pouring out of buildings. Amalia, Dana, and Helen followed her, the shield she wielded at her side. Once they were close by, Helen sent out a telepathic blast. The beast bellowed in pain. Chiara noticed that the wound she left with Helen¡¯s pen had closed up. She called up golden platforms again, traversing them until she was at the creature¡¯s eye level. Shooting off two spears of golden light, she easily caught the beast¡¯s attention. The enraged bull was now charging at her, albeit at a slower pace than usual. From her height, it looked like Augustus was successful in tearing off one of its legs. As it clattered close to the Tiber River, Chiara knew it was time.

    ¡°Amalia!¡±

    Amalia held up her shield as a massive dome sprung up, trapping the monster in. Chiara platformed her way to the monster, punching it in the face and dragging it with golden chains to the riverfront. Dana shouted as the extra nets ensnared the remaining three legs of the creature while her harpoons struck its torso and shoulders. Chiara dropped the chains and proceeded to drop a hard light sceptre onto the monster¡¯s head. It roared in rage and tried to headbutt her, only for Chiara to smack it in the head again. Helen was attacking the little ¡®legs¡¯ on its back and was almost on its neck when the beast lurched and sent her toppling. Luckily she managed to impale her pen in the abdomen. Under too much strain, the nets and the harpoons snapped, sending the beast tumbling into the Tiber River.

    Chiara jumped off the platforms. ¡°Good work everyone!¡±

    Amalia nodded and smiled slightly. Clytemnestra saluted her and Dana breathed a sigh of relief while removing the flesh from the harpoons. Viviana was busy pressing Vittorino for the details and Nico was watching the river. Chiara decided to watch the placid river. Helen¡­wait, Helen was stuck on its abdomen with her pen. Why hadn¡¯t she resurfaced¡ª

    Get everyone away from the river now!

    A massive swell of water erupted, washing everyone in river water. Dana was about to reach a building when a black leg grabbed her. Amalia shrieked as another leg grabbed her and Vittorino while Augustus and Nico were struggling against another leg wrapped tightly around them. The beast roared, black fangs entangling a limp body in its jaws. Helen was unconscious by the looks of it, but judging by the deep cuts on the horns, she hadn¡¯t gone down without a fight.

    ¡°Helen!¡± Clytemnestra shouted.

    She¡¯d missed this, she¡¯d missed the idea that the beast would take her heart and her friends¡­

    Wallow in your pain girl, wallow in the pain you caused. Dana would have never been here if you hadn¡¯t insisted on facing this creature head-on. Neither would the film crew that you so dearly love and cherish. How will Antonio feel once he learns that you¡¯ve killed his closest friend and his cameraman?

    She hated this voice and wished that it would stop talking. The only people left were her and Clytemnestra. Everyone else was trapped or incapacitated. She couldn¡¯t attempt to restrain the creature without hurting everyone, Clytemnestra was too far away, and everyone was too restrained by the legs to do anything useful. In the distance, she could see everyone struggling to escape, from Amalia jamming multiple shields between her and the legs to Augustus biting down hard on the leg holding him to Dana kicking the legs and attempting to spray mace upwards with her mouth clenched around the canister.

    Some part of her heart lightened with their resistance. Thoughts of spending time with the film crew, showing off her stunts in front of them, saving Antonio from Augustus all those days ago, delivering Giulia her meal every day, and seeing Dana smile with each new gift and listening to her talk about her family. She thought about Augustus and his dreams of going home to the savannahs of his childhood, how he always accepted Chiara as a friend even though their first meeting involved him trying to kill her, and his frequent denials of caring for everyone even when he accepted pats from Dana and Giorgio. Even though she hadn¡¯t spent much time with Amalia and the twins, she knew that Amalia¡¯s fears were lessening, and she was regaining some measure of confidence. Helen was an old soul and whatever she had seen had affected her immensely, but the bond she shared with her sister was helping her.

    How much do you remember? About everything?

    Nothing? Who was this? Why did this person from her dreams think they knew everything about Chiara? Wait, why were they outside of her dreams?

    You may think you stand alone but think of this. A king has a crown, a sceptre and a divine right to rule; they also have consorts, advisors, courtiers, and subjects. Think about them, your girlfriend, your companions, your friends.

    She always had. Every moment she experienced with them, she kept them in her heart.

    Seize the morning glory with your hands.

    Her heart was glowing now, shedding golden light. The Sun was a little brighter today. The beast roared and its grip on her friends tightened, but Chiara was undeterred. She was going to save them and defeat the monster. No one was going to stop her.

    Take it! Take it now!

    Her heart pounded, the glow increasing in intensity. Seizing the moment, she created platforms, charging up across the river, and leaping into the fray. Touching her chest with her right hand, she seized the glowing light from her heart¡ªand pulled out a golden hilt wrapped in red cloth. Wrenching the object clear of her chest, she was awed by it. The pommel was in the shape of a lion¡¯s head, and attached to the hilt was a long golden blade that shone like sunlight and ended with a sharp edge. The crossguard had two ends in the shape of a circle with a dot in the middle and it fit her hand perfectly.

    Morning Glory, that¡¯s its name.

    The beast bellowed, but Chiara detected a small hint of fear. Morning Glory pulsed with energy, and she released it. Beams of golden light spiralled out of the blade¡¯s tip and pierced through the legs and fangs holding everyone captive. The beast roared in pain while everyone was falling. Chiara swooped in with a hard light net, managing to catch Dana in her arms.

    ¡°I told you I wouldn¡¯t be hurt, cuore mio,¡± she teased Dana.

    ¡°Oh please, you would have died if I hadn¡¯t been there to catch your fall.¡± Dana rolled her eyes, but Chiara knew that she smiled a little.

    Once she managed to get everyone on solid ground, they were all relieved. Nico, Vittorino, and Viviana thanked Chiara and her ¡°magic sword¡±, Dana checked to make sure Chiara and everyone else were alright, Augustus and Amalia were relaxing, and Clytemnestra was trying to wake Helen. All she needed to do was take care of the creature infesting the river. She met the beast¡¯s gaze.

    ¡°Now that everyone is out of the way, I¡¯ll show you true combat! Come and test your might against mine! Or are you afraid that I¡¯ll defeat you at full strength?¡± she yelled at the beast.

    The beast roared in defiance as Chiara leapt into the air, sidestepping its swipes, and swinging her sword into its back. The resulting force pushed it across several streets and caused multiple car horns to go off. Chiara followed on steps of hard light, swinging her sword and driving the creature away from her friends. The beast managed to get in a few blows of its own, sideswiping her left shoulder and nearly taking out her leg. Eventually, she managed to trap it inside the Colosseo. In this ancient arena, the two combatants faced each other down, Chiara with her golden sword and the beast with its mighty black horns. Both were covered in dust and dried blood, which surprised Chiara since some of it was her blood. She smiled despite her injuries and twirled her sword.

    ¡°Do you know what this is?¡± she asked the beast. ¡°It¡¯s called the Colosseo. People used to fight here for glory, gold, and for the entertainment of the Colosseo¡¯s patrons. Most of the time, it was impersonal combat.¡± She smiled. ¡°But you, who decided that my heart, my friends were mere collateral? I think that makes this very personal, but I am nothing if not an entertainer. Why not put on a show to remember for the ones you¡¯ve sought to wound?¡±

    The beast roared, although it wasn¡¯t much of a threat at this point with one leg missing and the rest having their tips sliced off by hard light beams. Chiara took up her sword and dove at the beast.

    Its horns glowing, the beast charged at Chiara who somersaulted upwards and plunged Morning Glory into one of its horns. Cracks began to appear and she lost her grip once the horn separated.

    The painful roar from the monster gave Chiara enough time to summon five beams that pierced through the faint traces of the cut she made with Helen¡¯s pen. Reopening the wound certainly made it hard for the beast to attack her, as it was concentrating on guarding its open wound. Chiara gripped Morning Glory with both hands and parried its leg strikes.

    The beast on its last reserves of strength made one last ditch effort, swinging its remaining horn at Chiara. Dodging it, she swatted away the horn with a well-timed light blade before leaping and driving Morning Glory into its neck.

    In its death throes, the beast collapsed backward, sending dust everywhere. Chiara wiped her forehead with the back of her wrist. Morning Glory was covered in black blood, but it still shone in the Sun¡¯s afternoon rays. With a flick of her wrist, the blade was clean again.

    Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of a dark figure on top of the Colosseo with a whip. She blinked and the figure vanished. A trick of the light, she supposed.

    Augustus was the first to reach her, licking her wounds with his tongue. Everyone else pulled up in Giorgio¡¯s van and Vittorino¡¯s orange Vespa. Chiara¡¯s smile widened with Dana¡¯s appearance and they shared a deep kiss. Amalia watched intently, only interjecting when they were finished.

    ¡°There are several reporters outside of the Colosseum, and I¡¯m afraid of the compromised structural integrity.¡± Amalia¡¯s attention was turned by the presence of some small plants. ¡°I¡¯m going to try an experimental technique.¡±

    She placed her hand on the Colosseo. Within seconds, the Colosseo shook off millennia of dust¡ªand started to grow back missing sections. Nico was stunned while Amalia¡¯s eyes widened as the Colosseo was restored to its ancient glory. The seats were cleaned and polished, and everything looked ready for a gladiator duel.

    ¡°This¡­needs to be studied in a more controlled environment,¡± Amalia muttered.

    Chiara decided to leave the Colosseo and meet her future adoring fans. Stepping out of the Colosseo, she waved with her left hand at the flashing lights and the snapping cameras. Someone already had their microphone out.

    ¡°Signora! What happened here? Did you kill that bull or spider creature that was wandering around Rome? What¡¯s with that sword? Is that yours? Where did it come from? Who are you? What happened to the Colosseo?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll answer your questions in due time, but first, my name is¡ª¡±

    ¡°The King of Beasts!¡±

    Chiara stared at Clytemnestra. The reporters fell silent. How could she take away her spotlight?! After defeating that creature, Chiara thought she had earned some public gratitude.

    Sorry, but Helen and Amalia want you to keep quiet about your name. Due to some past circumstances, we are currently in need of secrecy.

    Other than being chased by the Carabinieri? Speaking of them, what exactly happened?!

    It¡¯s a long story. The short answer is that it¡¯s unwise to ask them for help hiding us.

    She was going to answer some questions anyway. Snatching the microphone out of the reporter¡¯s hands, she coughed loudly. Everyone¡¯s attention was restored to her.

    ¡°I did kill that creature by myself, it came from an otherworldly dimension, and my sword is named Morning¡ª¡±

    One sharp telepathic blast later, and everyone except Clytemnestra and Chiara were clutching their heads in pain. Vittorino was removing every camera and phone from the camera operators while Nico was tossing them in the meat locker. Helen was awake and sitting on the floor, but Chiara noticed that her hands were twitching.

    The side effect of being in contact with the abyss for too long. I shapeshifted to hide any traces of taint, but there are some things you can¡¯t hide with enough lies.

    Can I try and wipe their memories?

    That¡¯s an advanced skill and I can¡¯t do that. It¡¯s better to persuade them that the King never said anything. By the way, did you pull ¡®The King of Beasts¡¯ from my mind?

    Yes.

    ¡­okay, we are going to need to discuss pulling thoughts from my mind. Did you persuade them all to forget everything that happened yet?

    Yes.

    Perfect.

    Chiara checked in on Nico, Vittorino, and Viviana. All three were in good health, no major injuries, and only had minor scratches for their ordeal. They were going to head home. Chiara was about to ask Dana, but she knew what the answer would be.

    ¡°No, I¡¯m not staying in my apartment. All we are doing is getting your Vespa and your amulet, and besides¡­¡± She smiled. ¡°Remember how my Ate Willa always had an impeccable sense of smell? There¡¯s a reason for it¡­I just want you to meet her one day. The last I heard of Liza was that she was being abducted by someone inside the computer. I¡¯ll join you on your journey. I want to see you and my sister safe, and I can¡¯t do that if I¡¯m stuck in Rome.¡±

    Chiara accepted. Dana wasn¡¯t some wilting flower that needed constant protection.

    Clytemnestra was reading something. ¡°Amalia tried reading this, but she gave up since it was in English and she can¡¯t read English. Do you speak English?¡±

    ¡°No, ask Dana.¡±

    ¡°Alright, thanks.¡±

    Dana and Helen were gathered around Clytemnestra. Chiara had no clue what they were trying to read or what they were talking about.

    ¡°What¡¯s in your hand?¡± she asked Clytemnestra.

    ¡°When we were at Raffaello¡¯s house, I found this card behind the painting he bought at the auction. Now, based on what I¡¯m reading, I¡¯m thinking that it¡¯s from one of the three people that visited him and severely injured him, one of the buyers off of the mysterious list, or both.¡± Clytemnestra showed the green card to Chiara.

    ¡°I can¡¯t read English. Dana, what does it say?¡±

    ¡°Seven Sisters Investment Holdings, headquartered in Dublin, Ireland. Established in 1989.¡±

 Behind Terracotta Walls, The Finest Green Rose Stands Resolute

    Today was supposed to be a time to relax. R¨®is¨ªn wanted the familiar comforts of a rosewater-scented bath, with the bath being sweetly accented by actual pink rose petals and green apple-scented candles lining the room. The linen towels would have been freshly pressed and her auburn hair would be floating dreamily in the water as the bath accentuated her natural beauty.

    No, she had to be sitting in an abandoned computer cafe negotiating¡ªthe mere word sent a tremor to her neck¡ªwith the bitch who stole her money through a computer terminal.

    ¡°If you refuse to turn over my money, rest assured that I will use the considerable financial and human resources at my disposal to track you down to whatever hovel you¡¯ve holed yourself in, strip you of everything that you held dear, and dump you in a place where neither heaven nor earth can find your worthless body,¡± she threatened.

    I believe that you have considerable financial resources and people to do as you bid. I

    doubt you would be able to find me. I¡¯ve concealed my presence in the real world. No virtual inspector would be able to discover my location.

    R¨®is¨ªn sneered at the flickering blue symbol on the computer. Aquarius the Waterbearer, just like her lessons taught her.

    ¡°If you truly have no fear of me, then you would be party to all of your financial assets seized, liquidated, and turned over to my company and family, whom you¡¯ve deeply wronged.¡± She already had her phone out. She could call the company¡¯s chief cybersecurity experts, and ask them to comb through every crumb that this would-be hacker would have inevitably left behind.

    I¡¯m not afraid of your company, your board, or your family. There are more dangerous threats

    loose in the world. I think your family would be well aware of the nature of your threats.

    She kept a calm fa?ade. Aunt Alcyone always told her to never show any weakness in the face of her enemies. R¨®is¨ªn imagined herself on top of a throne of bones, dominating over all that opposed her. She would think about the exact structure later. For now, she sought restitution. The liquidation of the ingrate¡¯s bank accounts satisfied her. Their home was unlikely to be worth much, but the land would be valuable enough. Another property of hers to own. As for the bitch¡­she was hers to do as she pleased, once she found out their identity.

    ¡°Return the twenty million euros you stole from Seven Sisters Investment Holdings without any latent Trojan horses or any such viruses, and you will be untouched.¡± R¨®is¨ªn narrowed her pale green eyes. ¡°This would be a mercy.¡±

    I will decline your offer and make a counteroffer instead. Your ill-gotten twenty million euros, with no strings attached, directed to the bank account registered in Lemuria. In return, I will require your services in escorting two persons of interest. One is a close friend of the Libra of the Seventh House, the other is the Dog of the Eleventh Gate.

    This person claimed to possess the Dog and¡­a random human? Tch, they couldn¡¯t take the Libra herself and decided to grab the next best person. How worthless.

    You can accept my offer, or I use it for my ends. There are a few charities in need of a large

    donation. For the Orphans of Calamity Fund, the Red Cross, and Amnesty International, a boost in their finances would do wonders. It would be in your name, seeing how you exemplify the virtue of generosity.

    The threat of them touching her money made R¨®is¨ªn recoil internally. She summoned her hammer in case she needed it. The ingrate lived in the digital network, so smashing computer terminals wouldn¡¯t be helpful. The company¡¯s IT experts couldn¡¯t find where the money had vanished. They were a ghost, nearly untraceable. To send her an encrypted message telling her to meet here alone and with such insane demands that any sensible person would have refused, they must have been desperate.

    ¡°Why do you need me for an escort?¡± she asked the flickering blue waves. ¡°You could have easily hired someone.¡±

    Because my enemies are merciless against any private security company or escort service I

    could think of hiring. I need the Taurus of the Second House. The girl is defenceless and only

    the Dog would not suffice. I¡¯m looking to acquire the Key for the Door to the Eleventh Gate and

    return it to its rightful owner.

    The Keys¡­Aunt Asterope talked about them. Twenty-four artefacts imbued with the energy of the cosmos and the universe scattered in fear of dangerous powers taking advantage of them. She had begged Aunt Asterope for the location of her Key to possess it when the time came, but R¨®is¨ªn knew that the location was never entrusted to anyone and the fall of the Second House rendered that information lost.

    To sweeten the deal, I¡¯ll reveal my cards: The Dog of the Eleventh Gate is known as the

    Watcher on the Wall, and she sees all, even those that wish not to be found or can¡¯t be found. Perhaps her powers and abilities would be of use to you.

    She was about to rebut the Aquarius¡¯ argument, but she couldn¡¯t find anything. The computer terminal started glowing an electric blue before exploding and ejecting two people onto the cracked tiles. One of them was a girl her age, her long black hair covering her face as she looked at R¨®is¨ªn¡¯s white horns with something that could be called admiration. It was strange. The other was a woman dressed in ancient Chinese armour the colour of terracotta like the terracotta army and a helmet of the same material in the same colour. A nearby computer terminal blinked on.

    Here are the two you promised to escort. As soon as you attain the Key, I¡¯ll give back your money. When you go back to your limo, there will be a file named ¡°for_europa¡±. There will be three fake passports and three tickets to a flight from Dublin Airport to Lake District Airport that leaves tomorrow at 0400 hours. Further instructions will come once all three of you have landed.

    The girl started speaking to the computer terminal in another language. Japanese? How did the Aquarius know her code name?

    The Key is located in a semi-remote location. Due to the lack of the Internet and the rarity of technologically equipped vehicles in this location, I am unable to assist any of you past landing at Lake District Airport. If needed, the Japanese girl has my phone number, but only in emergencies.

    The computer shut down, leaving R¨®is¨ªn, the girl with black hair, and the Dog standing in an abandoned computer caf¨¦ in the middle of the night. She supposed she was stuck with them until she got her money back and visited vengeance upon the Aquarius for daring to steal from her. The limo was suitable for them, as the Aquarius could be watching for any signs of mistreatment.

    ¡°Come with me,¡± she demanded.

    The girl eagerly followed, chatting with her phone. The woman shrugged and took off her helmet, revealing hair the colour of a burnt carrot and two upright dog ears. She also had a bushy tail, R¨®is¨ªn noticed. The girl¡¯s clothes were mediocre and not becoming of a proper aristocrat, as her Aunt Taygete would have said.

    Once in the black limo with the rain pounding, she secluded herself in the section reserved for board members of the Seven Sisters. R¨®is¨ªn was thankful that her dress absorbed none of the rain. She did like it, often playing in it when she was younger.

    ¡°Seamus, the Pleiades Mansion!¡±

    ¡°As you say, Ms. ¨® Laoghaire!¡±

    The limo lurched forward. R¨®is¨ªn liked the absolute obedience of the staff and servants. No one at the Seven Sisters dared to think of usurping any of the Pleiades, such was their grip on the company. She rolled down the window behind her and felt the soft rain on her skin. In her hand, she imagined a teardrop-shaped emerald and it manifested in her hand. Leaving it in Seamus¡¯ favourite drawer, she waited. The two at the back didn¡¯t make a fuss except for the girl¡¯s awe at being in a limo.

    The familiar sight of Pleiades Mansion comforted her. It was made in stone, dating back to the founding of the company. Ivy vines snaked across its dark and foreboding facade, yet the topiary was amusing. Aunt Electra was always changing the shapes. Sometimes they were giraffes, serpents, elephants, or bulls. They were bulls, as they have been since she left three weeks ago. R¨®is¨ªn oversaw their maintenance, as one of the few manual labour duties she had.

    Once Seamus stopped, a valet opened the door for her. Neither of them had to worry about her being wet owing to the large stone archway attached to the mansion. He also opened the door for the Dog and the girl, who were both surprised by the valet¡¯s presence. R¨®is¨ªn knocked on the door, which Callum opened.

    ¡°After you, Ms ¨® Laoghaire. I see you have guests as well.¡± He nodded to the Dog and the girl. ¡°What are your names?¡±

    ¡°Nishikawa Hina.¡± The girl bowed deeply. This was a way to greet others in Japan. R¨®is¨ªn needed to refresh herself on Japanese etiquette rules.

    ¡°Willa Divata Baccay.¡± The woman spoke English with a brisk accent, likely from the Americas.

    ¡°Come in.¡± Callum beckoned all three in.

    Hina had found herself a chair to watch the maids handle the laundry. Willa didn¡¯t bother to sit, leaving for a discrete room on the left. R¨®is¨ªn felt at home with the white marbled floors and double staircases. The dark blue ceilings were patterned after the Taurus constellation, while the floor beheld the Seven Sisters in stellar form. The maids were mostly cleaning and tidying up the place. Several were walking briskly with piles of fresh laundry. R¨®is¨ªn approached the bronze cowbell and started ringing it loudly. All of the maids and servants stopped what they were doing.

    ¡°I need to leave for a flight to Dublin Airport tomorrow that will depart at 4:00 am. I want three suitcases filled with travel-ready clothes and outdoor clothes and all of the necessary items from my vanity within the hour. For the guests, pack two suitcases each. In my absence, everyone reports to their head, and the heads will report to Callum in all manners.¡± R¨®is¨ªn clapped twice.

    In an instant, the maids all scurried to perform their duties. Hina appeared to be astonished by the speed at which they shuffled in and out of the rooms.

    One of the servants approached her with the emerald green telephone. ¡°Excuse me Ms. ¨® Laoghaire. A telephone call from Mr. Conor ¨® Ceallaigh.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll take that, thank you very much.¡± She nestled the bulky telephone underneath her chin. ¡°Dia duit Conor.¡±

    ¡°Dia duit! How¡¯s my parents¡¯ nest egg?¡±

    Ah, the impish and all-knowing Conor ¨® Ceallaigh. ¡°It¡¯s growing well on Lemuria. I¡¯m surprised you haven¡¯t hijacked your parents¡¯ private jet and flown there.¡±

    ¡°And I¡¯m surprised that you haven¡¯t been shaving off the little eggshells to fund your family¡¯s, ah what should I call it, extraneous activities?¡±

    ¡°Am I supposed to act as if you were an innocent saint? I doubt that the hedge fund investors consented to having their money used to stage Shakespeare plays and James Joyce productions in Irish Gaelic.¡±

    ¡°You wound my heart, my little rose! As long as we, ah, keep skimming only the tiniest bit off of our eggs, we should be fine. Speaking of which, did you catch the person who skimmed off your eggs?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s being dealt with privately, none of your family¡¯s money was touched.¡±

    ¡°Great! Sl¨¢n go f¨®ill, tabhair aire.¡±

    ¡°Sl¨¢n go f¨®ill, tabhair aire.¡± She hung up.

    R¨®is¨ªn watched the maids and servants quickly packing everything up in seven grass-green suitcases and walking up the stairs, her tail flicking lazily. Portraits of herself lined each wall. Aunt Celaeno painted her on her birthday each year, watching her blossom from infant to dawdling toddler to lively child to young lady. She fixed some of the more crooked portraits as the servants scurried about, their cow tails flicking like her own.

    When the seven sisters sought to recreate the Second House in what they called the Lower World, R¨®is¨ªn wondered how they managed to adapt. Certainly, change was hard. She could attest to that, being suddenly enrolled in a private school at the age of twelve and forced to interact with her peers. Luckily she had managed to befriend Conor and join a reputable club, but her fate had always lain beyond the Lower World and its denizens.

    Someone was yelling at something. It was none of the maids or servants. Probably one of her guests. Hina had been spirited away to a changing room by two of the strongest maids, so it had to be Willa, the Dog. Approaching the extra room, she listened through the keyhole.

    ¡°Let me talk to them, all you¡¯ve sent them was a single message!¡±

    Silence.

    ¡°What do you mean ¡®it¡¯s for my good¡¯?! I need to talk to Liza, Dana and Jenny¡­my oldest sister is in a coma! I want to talk with them? Wait what are you¡ªdon¡¯t hang up on me!¡±

    R¨®is¨ªn had sprinted away from the door in time for Willa to slam the door wide open, tears falling from her eyes. She motioned for three servants to fix the door. Meanwhile, Hina was dressed in a white blouse with a ruffled collar and two pockets, beige dress pants with discreet pockets, and black polished shoes¡ªand now chasing after Callum¡¯s black bull tail.

    ¡°Ms. Nishikawa, I must beg of you, my tail is not to be used as a duster¡ªgah!¡±

    The maids that dragged her into the changing room were now trying to drag her away from a frightened Callum. Willa was standing in the middle of the floor pondering the massive constellation below her, her tail twitching.

    R¨®is¨ªn coughed to grab her attention. ¡°If we want to be able to board the plane, we have to detransform. It¡¯s in a public airport.¡± She reminded herself to wring the Aquarius¡¯ neck for putting her in economy class.

    Willa nodded and left with a maid in tow. Terracotta light emanated from one of the changing rooms. Following her example, R¨®is¨ªn sequestered herself and recited the words to detransform.

    ¡°Prosperity has been acquired and the rose is no longer in season.¡±

    Green light bathed her, leaving her hair a little less reddish and her eyes a little bit duller. She summoned maids to dress her with a ring of the cowbell and let them apply sweet-smelling perfumes and lotions to her body.

    Two hours later, Willa had been outfitted in one of R¨®is¨ªn mother¡¯s old adventuring outfits, complete with a plaid cap to her surprise. She had on a white sundress with pink roses patterned on it. Without their respective animal traits, they looked more like Hina than any of her staff.

    ¡°You look nice,¡± she complimented Willa as they both entered the limo.

    Willa didn¡¯t say anything in return.

    R¨®is¨ªn commanded Seamus to drive them to Dublin Airport. All of the necessary forms were already prepared in the compartment. She used the biometric scanner and unlocked the terminal inside the limo. She clicked on the file labelled ¡°for_europa¡± and watched as her amulet printed out all of the fake passports and the tickets needed to board the flight. R¨®is¨ªn was glad that it wasn¡¯t a ferry. She hated going near the ocean.

    ¡°Passports please?¡±

    All three of them handed over their passports one by one. The boarding agent scanned them and read their names out.

    ¡°Grainne Doyle, Saori Inoue, and Alma Mendoza?¡±

    All of them nodded.

    ¡°The two thousand euro fee for flying with any airline?¡±

    R¨®is¨ªn deposited the cash in front of the boarding agent, causing Willa and Hina¡¯s eyes to widen in disbelief.

    ¡°The insurance forms stating that the airline is not liable for your health and safety in the case of an unexpected Calamity?¡±

    The forms were pushed in front of the agent.

    ¡°The insurance forms for your luggage, stating that the airline is not liable for the safety of your luggage and has permission to jettison them in case of emergency?¡±

    She reluctantly handed the forms over. The thought of any of her belongings being jettisoned to save the flight disgusted her and she internally winced at such a vulgar and outrageous action. If any of these inferior beings thought to even smear her perfect suitcases¡ª

    ¡°Alright. All three of you are cleared for flying.¡±

    Hina thanked the lady while R¨®is¨ªn and Willa pushed past the gate before a group of talkative individuals followed. After getting through Customs, they were stuck waiting for their flight. Hina left to buy donuts. R¨®is¨ªn and Willa waited for her, neither saying a word. Not for the first time, R¨®is¨ªn wondered how much Willa would want to be paid to find specific people.

    After realising that Hina was taking too long and helping her order donuts despite her distaste for the inherent inferiority of airport food, they walked back to their gate. The same group from before was behind them. R¨®is¨ªn decided to go to the jewellery store, trying on whatever cheap imitations they had. Leaving the store, the girls continued onwards. Aunt Maia taught her to be aware at all times, especially when she was alone.

    They were being tailed.

    Willa must have noticed them as well, dragging them around the airport and at one point trying to mask their presence by standing close to a fast-food restaurant. Now that R¨®is¨ªn thought about it, Willa¡¯s nose crinkled every time she was close to her. She thankfully resisted and managed to keep her signature rosewater and apple scent untainted by the smell of fryer grease and oil. The flight was starting to board, so R¨®is¨ªn pushed everyone to their gate. After they finished checking in, she looked behind her¡ªand saw that the same group was also boarding with them. R¨®is¨ªn and Willa started picking up the pace a little, slightly dragging a confused Hina along with them.

    R¨®is¨ªn stored all of their suitcases in the overhead compartment across from them, much to the consternation of some of the other passengers. The saving grace of their economy class seats was that they were facing a window. Unfortunately, the view was mostly blocked by an aeroplane wing. Hina didn¡¯t mind taking the window seat while Willa chose the aisle seat to guard them and R¨®is¨ªn was left alone with the middle seat.

    While putting her seatbelt on, the screen on the back of the seat in front of her crackled to life. Electric blue started overtaking the mandatory aeroplane safety video.

    ¡°The enemies you mentioned, they¡¯re sitting at the back,¡± R¨®is¨ªn relayed to the Aquarius.

    I¡¯m already aware of them. Nothing will happen on this flight.

    R¨®is¨ªn had more questions, but since the aeroplane was taking off and she did not want to ask questions while her ears were popping, she waited until the plane was aloft in the air.

    Hina decided to fall asleep, leaving R¨®is¨ªn alone with a silent Willa. Her eyes were still red. Feeling more than a little bored with a stoic wall beside her, she decided to probe the worthless ingrate.

    ¡°How do you know my code name? Only my family calls me Europa.¡±

    According to my files, Europa is one of your courtesy names, and the one currently used.

    When going over the history of the Second House, Aunt Alcyone had not covered her titles or list of names. She knew she had multiple names, but not the true name.

    The Houses used courtesy names frequently, bestowed on them by the Gemini of the Third

    House three thousand years ago. The Gates used courtesy names as well since it was them who had brought the custom from ancient China. Ganymede is a courtesy name of the Aquarius of the Eleventh House. It¡¯s not my real name.

    ¡°You hide under falsehoods because you¡¯re afraid of retribution.¡±

    I¡¯m not the one spinning falsehoods. Your family has always operated under a facade of respectability and abused their control over others¡¯ money for their purposes.

    ¡°How dare you besmirch the Pleiades¡ª¡±

    Do you want to lecture me on image and respectability? There¡¯s a reason why you want to

    protect the Dog and it has nothing to do with twenty million euros and everything to do with the Seven Sisters.

    The nerve of this bitch¡­R¨®is¨ªn turned towards Willa. Her eyes were wary, but she spoke nonetheless.

    ¡°What solution?¡±

    In the event of an attempted offensive, I have various countermeasures in place.

    ¡°Oh really?¡± R¨®is¨ªn sneered. ¡°What can you do?¡±

    Any attempt to leave their seats would be crushed by the flight attendants. Voice mimicry

    through a computer could be easily accomplished, but not as well as the Gemini could do it.

    The flight controls are under my purview and the black box answers to me and only me. I could

    crash this plane into the Atlantic Ocean and erase its very existence from the world. Of course,

    I¡¯ve planned methods of escape for all three of you. Your survival is important.

    Willa¡¯s eyes were scanning the area. Her gaze stopped at a mother rocking her baby to sleep, a man regaling the man beside him with a jaunty song, a woman sleeping in her partner¡¯s lap, and two small children drawing in an activity book.

    ¡°What about the other passengers?¡±

    The objective is of paramount importance. If they are the price to pay to achieve it, so be it.

    The Aquarius spoke like her Aunt Taygete, only more uncouth. Willa¡¯s grip on the seatrests strengthened, but she didn¡¯t say anything afterwards. Hina was still dozing off underneath clear blue skies. She remembered that the Libra was known to be discerning in her choice of lovers and friends. Ms. Nishikawa wasn¡¯t a girl she would consider refined by her or Aunt Taygete¡¯s standards. What were the Libra¡¯s friends like? R¨®is¨ªn knew that the others wouldn¡¯t be as instructed as thoroughly as she was. The Libra¡¯s judgement was known to be absolute, and she was not known to make any wrong decisions. Perhaps there was a well-hidden reason why Hina was chosen to be the Libra¡¯s friend.

    The Dog has shown a brusque manner at times. How much money would Willa accept? She was astonished by her pulling out two thousand euros for the agent, so that should be enough to pay her off. Unless she demanded more for her skillset. In that case, R¨®is¨ªn wouldn¡¯t go any higher than five thousand euros. More than that, and that would be blatant robbery. She smiled at the thought. Aunt Alcyone helped set up her bank account and taught her how to manage her finances. She would have loved to hear her mother and aunts¡¯ voices one more time¡­but all she had was the Dog. R¨®is¨ªn tapped on Willa¡¯s shoulder.

    ¡°I want to pay you two thousand euros for your services in tracking down seven individuals.¡± Willa didn¡¯t respond. ¡°Three thousand euros.¡± Nothing. ¡°Four thousand.¡± Still nothing. ¡°Five thousand, that¡¯s my final offer.¡±

    ¡°Who?¡±

    She jumped a little internally. ¡°Who?! Does that matter? How much do you want? I know you have tracking and detection powers beyond comparison.¡±

    Willa shrugged.

    ¡°I¡ªYou must want something. Everyone wants something. What about whoever Liza, Dana, and Jenny are?¡±

    That seemed to have Willa¡¯s attention. ¡°Ummm, I don¡¯t want anything.¡±

    Explaining this¡ªthis is worse than explaining their appearance to new investors and why the robes were necessary. ¡°The Seven Sisters are the women who raised me from when I was born to who I am now. Their names are Maia, Electra, Taygete, Alcyone, Celaeno, Asterope, and Merope in that order. My last conversation with any of them was three weeks ago when they departed. Their last known locations are known only to me. I will pay you five thousand, six thousand, seven thousand, ten thousand euros if you could just find them.¡± Why was she offering more than her set maximum amount of money?!

    Willa¡¯s face¡­softened. ¡°They¡¯re your family. That¡¯s why you want to pay me.¡±

    R¨®is¨ªn hmphed.

    Willa seemed to take that as a time to smile. ¡°I feel lost here. Ganymede¡­is a person, and I can¡¯t agree with Ganymede¡¯s methods. I want to go home and be with my family as well.¡± Her eyes were piercing. ¡°I know you don¡¯t want to be here. I have three sisters and a niece ten years younger than you. If any of them were in your position, they would be doing what you are trying to do. So I won¡¯t accept your money, but I¡¯ll still help you find your family.¡± She raised her right hand.

    ¡°Left hand.¡± Why did everyone assume she was right-handed?! Even her classmates tried to shake her right hand after seeing her write and draw in class!

    Willa used her left hand to shake her hand.

    The flight passed without incident. Hina woke up just in time for the food cart to pass by their row, ordered apple juice, drank all of it in one gulp, and slept again. R¨®is¨ªn refused the food and Willa accepted some small pretzels. They ate in silence, R¨®is¨ªn occasionally glancing at Willa. After that conversation, she felt more comfortable around her.

    ¡°What does the Key to the Eleventh Gate look like?¡± she asked Willa just before they descended.

    She shrugged. Perhaps, R¨®is¨ªn thought, there shall be a great trial to prove Willa¡¯s worth. Aunt Electra reminded her daily that to be worthy of holding her Key, she must pass the test suited to her.

    Once they landed, they rushed through the arrivals section of the airport. On their way to the exit, R¨®is¨ªn noticed the group that was following them being stopped by airport security. More officials swarmed them and all she caught was that the group was on a no-fly list from quickly whispered gossip. This must have been the Aquarius¡¯ doing. Hina¡¯s phone started to ring and she answered it.

    ¡°Konnichiwa? Ano, Ganimedo-san!¡± Hina handed the phone to R¨®is¨ªn. ¡°Sore wa anata no tame desu.¡±

    R¨®is¨ªn accepted the call. ¡°What do you want?¡±

    ¡°Go to the bus station. Enter the bus closest to the crosswalk.¡±

    R¨®is¨ªn relayed that information. ¡°And now about twenty million euros¡ª¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ll get your money when you deliver the key to the Dog, and not earlier.¡±

    Ganymede hung up.

    Grumbling internally, she kept pace with an excited Hina. Willa was watching out for anyone suspicious, judging from her constant head swivelling. The bus station had four buses, two of which were accepting passengers. R¨®is¨ªn was about to approach the bus, before being tapped on the shoulder by Hina.

    ¡°Karera wa shitsumon ga ¨­ sugimasu.¡± She pointed to the bus driver, who was being questioned by a group of men.

    ¡°Have you seen a Filipino woman with an athletic build, brown eyes, and black hair travelling with two teenagers recently? One of the teenagers is Japanese with long black hair, brown eyes, and a skinny frame; the other is Irish with auburn hair and green eyes with a stocky build?¡±

    R¨®is¨ªn dialled the unknown number on Hina¡¯s phone. ¡°Find us another bus. Yours is compromised.¡±

    ¡°Take the other bus furthest from the crosswalk on your right. All buses will now be accepting passengers.¡±

    She hung up and directed everyone and their suitcases to the other bus. The bus driver didn¡¯t ask for identification and thankfully neither did he ask for a fee. They all took seats in different rows and stuffed their suitcases underneath their seats. The bus quickly drove off, but not before the same group of men managed to board the bus.

    Willa and R¨®is¨ªn shared a glance before Hina discreetly showed them her text messages from the row in front of both of them.

    Don¡¯t leave. That will draw suspicion.

    The men quickly filed into the bus seats. Two of them decided to sit next to Willa. The rest seated themselves in a seemingly haphazard fashion. Aunt Celaeno always taught her to look for patterns, and she was seeing that now. Three took up the row closest to the front, Hina was boxed in, and R¨®is¨ªn was also surrounded by three, including the two next to Willa. She was separated from the man by an old lady. The man seemed amiable enough, tipping his hat to her. She noticed that all of them were wearing hats with large brims, obscuring their faces from the camera. Willa was looking increasingly uncomfortable.

    The bus drove off. R¨®is¨ªn still found the English countryside beautiful with its green fields and rolling hills. She would always prefer the Irish countryside, but this was pleasant enough. It was a long fifteen minutes, during which R¨®is¨ªn decided to imagine all of the ways she would punish these men for following her. She could transform right here, turn them all into precious gems, smash them with her hammer, summon petals to befuddle them, summon petals inside their stomachs, hit them with her bronze amulet...she eyed the man¡¯s expensive hat. Such a pity.

    The tourists on this bus were admiring the landscape and snapping photos. Willa was more focused on the two men talking about the weather, with one of them occasionally eying her. Hina had managed to stay awake and kept jabbing her elbow into the dark-haired man beside her. When he looked at her, she promptly pretended to sleep, knocking into a disgruntled middle-aged man who mumbled something in Welsh. The men were quiet, only stopping to chat about the weather, the landscape, their non-existent social media pages, and their non-existent families. They must be inferior in some way, R¨®is¨ªn thought, or why would they be here chasing after three girls?

    The man in her row was discussing the stock market with the old lady.

    ¡°...so my thoughts were that the new American biotech company is on the rise! I decided to buy a few stocks, and after selling them, I was rewarded richly! I think the price is about ten euros right now. You should buy it now before they climb any higher.¡± He looked at R¨®is¨ªn. ¡°Sorry ma¡¯am, but can you excuse me? I want to speak with the young lady near the window. Do you mind if we switch seats?¡±

    ¡°Oh, no need!¡± The old lady happily traded spots with the young man.

    The young man was content with relaxing in his seat, yet something glinted at his belt. A metallic device, with a liquid-filled chamber. It wasn¡¯t like anything that R¨®is¨ªn had seen, but she remained wary regardless. There were multiple exit points, all of them through the windows. She had the strength to grab Hina, but the transformation had to be fast. R¨®is¨ªn knew nothing about the man sitting beside her whistling, or who he was working for. Considering they were outnumbered, interrogation was not an option. Besides, she doubted that Willa would agree to her breaking their hands with her hammer.

    She and Willa shared a glance. Aunt Asterope had a code for quick emergencies: blink for the number of seconds for the beginning of your plan. R¨®is¨ªn blinked three times, mouthing the word ¡°seconds¡± in English. If this went well, it wouldn¡¯t matter if the men caught on. Willa blinked in acknowledgement. R¨®is¨ªn shared it with Hina, touching the back of her wrist instead. Hina droopily nodded.

    Close to the three-second mark, the young man moved closer to her.

    ¡°Excuse me miss, can I move a little closer? I seemed to have dropped something¡ª¡±

    Both of them had their weapons out. The moment he grabbed his syringe gun, she already had her bronze amulet out.

    ¡°Call forth the bounty of the spring and let fortune favour the emerald fields. Prosperity is not within my grasp and the rose is in season.¡±

    Pink rose petals swirled around her neck, creating a necklace in the shape of the Taurus glyph while her body became encased in a crystal. Emerald rose earrings sprouted from her ears as her horns crystallised. Her hair gradually became reddish and her green gown manifested around her body. The bronze hammer formed out of rose petals and she sent crystalline shards flying everywhere, catching on multiple people¡¯s clothing.

    Two rows behind her, Willa also transformed, managing to put on her helmet as the two men tried to puncture her skin with a syringe gun. The man tried to inject the syringe into R¨®is¨ªn¡¯s neck, only for the needle to shatter on impact. R¨®is¨ªn smiled before smashing his skull with her hammer. It made a satisfying crunch.

    Grabbing Hina from the seat and knocking aside the man beside her, R¨®is¨ªn smashed her fist through the window, with Willa trailing behind. The men were yelling and chasing them. She started running, remembering her mother¡¯s maxim: ¡°A strong mind needs a strong body.¡± Of course, she had immediately defeated R¨®is¨ªn in hand-to-hand combat.

    They charged through the plains, R¨®is¨ªn creating unbreakable diamond barriers and sapphire columns to slow them down. They weren¡¯t equipped with long-range weaponry, which made sense considering how strict the United Kingdom was with guns and no one expected anyone to be carrying around bows in this day and age.

    Willa was running quickly, finally shapeshifting into a reddish brown and white dog. Hina was still groggy. Shooting showers of sharp emeralds at her opponents, R¨®is¨ªn quickly checked Hina. Her neck had been nicked by the syringe gun, likely while R¨®is¨ªn grabbed her. She kept sprinting, following Willa.

    Finally, they managed to outrun their pursuers, with Willa circling the area and transforming back into a human. She sniffed the air.

    ¡°We¡¯re clear.¡±

    R¨®is¨ªn let Hina down. She was sleeping now. Meanwhile, R¨®is¨ªn observed the surrounding area. There were a few stones scattered here and there, but there was an intact wall section further away. Aunt Maia had drilled geography into her head, so she knew where they were based on the airport they left and her limited knowledge of the Eleventh Gate. Unfortunately, Aunt Celaeno¡¯s lesson slipped her mind, but she knew that the Dog guarded a wall between existence and non-existence.

    They were standing near Hadrian¡¯s Wall. Willa was observing the area. Did she recognise where they were? It was hard to see her expression as the helmet obscured part of her face. She was interested in the rocks and was looking at one with a worn-out inscription in what looked like Latin.

    ¡°What does it say?¡± she asked Willa.

    ¡°Cave canem,¡± Willa replied¡­her voice was deeper now. More earthy.

    Before R¨®is¨ªn could react, Willa pressed her amulet into the stone. It glowed yellow, with yellow lines streaking off into the horizon in geometric patterns. All of them formed a square, or squares within squares, and they were perfect. They shone like the earth itself had decided to embrace Willa.

    Willa herself was changed. Her eyes glowed yellow, and so did the rest of her body. Her armour was floating and it seemed she was caught in a trance. Her amulet glimmered, with all five symbols lighting up with terracotta light. Everywhere else was lit in yellow squares, sectioned off and shaped like a wall.

    She tried to remember her lessons. The Gates utilised five types of energy, each with a corresponding colour. Wood was blue-green, fire was red, earth was¡­yellow. The Dog and the Eleventh Gate were associated with earth, so it made sense the site of the Key of the Eleventh Gate was in yellow. The squares almost overlapped where R¨®is¨ªn supposed the original wall once stood. She felt the brimming stability, the steadfast resoluteness emanating from its core, and felt rejuvenated by it. She was connected to the element of earth as well.

    The Dog of the Eleventh Gate has come to fulfil her duty.

    The energy spoke?

    Of course we do, Keeper of the Gardens. The Wall is stirring for the first time in three cycles. The towers stand erect for their commandant and the beacons eagerly await the signal that will call upon the forces of the Upper World to bear arms against those that wish for its destruction. The scouts slumber still, but in time, they shall be called upon to shield the Lower World as their duty demands of them.

    She sensed a hidden clause there.

    Propriety has forced our hand here. The Dog has neglected her duties to such an extent that her obedience to the tenets of the Eleventh Gate was in doubt. Such a lack of conviction in the face of unimaginable adversity is unthinkable. To prove this candidate¡¯s fidelity in the face of time unending, there shall be a trial. If she is to undertake the mantle of the Watcher on the Wall with all of its attendant responsibilities, she must have a pure and unsullied mind.

    The squares pulsed with a greater intensity as Willa briefly struggled against them before finally yielding and letting her arms hang limply.

    ¡­interlopers in our midst!

    A low buzzing sound resonated far beyond the horizon. The men she knew immediately. Hina was still unconscious and Willa¡­she tried waving her hands back and forth. Nothing. She couldn¡¯t do anything to Willa nor could Willa help them.

    She was going to have to defend them by herself.

    <hr>

    Someone was reaching for her. Wings filled her vision.

    ¡°One day¡­one day, I will judge everyone.¡±

    There was a towering figure who held the four winds in the palm of her right hand and a magnificent copper scale in her left. She struggled to keep her eyes open.

    ¡°By their oaths, by their actions, all shall be weighed.¡± The corner of the figure¡¯s mouth upturned. ¡°So where do you stand?¡± She held up her scales. ¡°Your mortal impressions in exchange for the Key to the Eleventh Gate.¡±

    She wanted to protest but was struck by a forceful gale.

    ¡°A fair exchange.¡± The figure kissed her gently on the forehead. ¡°A kiss for your memories.¡±

    She wanted more of that sweet breeze, but she was falling, falling¡­

    ¡°Legionnaires of the Legio VI Victrix! We march on Helios¡¯ rising!¡±

    She blinked. Where was she? Who was she? ¡°Excuse me, what¡¯s going on?¡±

    Whoever was yelling out the orders immediately pulled her close, close enough that she could smell the olive oil and wine on his breath. ¡°Did you not hear me, Legionnaire Canis?! Once the Sun has risen, we are marching on the unwashed barbarians! The two raiding parties were a distraction and they were gathering north of here! So listen to my orders and get dressed!¡± With that, he shoved her back into the wall, causing her to wince.

    She looked down at herself. All she was wearing was a wool spun shift dyed a dark orange-brown and some well-maintained sandals. Everyone around her was frantically putting on lorica segmentata and galea, so she grabbed the closest silver galea and stuck it on her head. For some reason, the top of her head hurt once the cold metal touched it like there were supposed to be ears on her head. Ignoring the pain, she stripped quickly, letting the shift drift onto the floor. She¡­was surprised at how flat her chest was. She wasn¡¯t sure, but she instinctively assumed she always had breasts. Her chest was as flat as the roads of Rome. It was an interesting observation, but¡ª

    ¡°Hurry up!¡±

    How was she supposed to put this on?! Thoughts migrated to her head.

    Pick it up over your head, then slip your left hand through the left aperture, and then your right hand will follow. Lace-up the back, and all will follow smoothly.

    She followed the instructions in her head. Once she was finished, she felt considerable pain in her lower back. Did she do something wrong? No, something was there. She loosened the segmented armour and felt the pain go away. She did the same with the galea, freeing herself from the low-level aching.

    ¡°What are you doing?!¡±

    She straightened up. ¡°Sir!¡± Wait, sir?

    The man in front of her was equally as confused by her choice of words. ¡°That armour was supposed to protect you! What are you going to do when they stab you from behind and your guts spill out onto the field? And you are to address me as Centurion Servius Varius Nerva!¡±

    She froze for a moment. ¡°Ave Centurion Servius!¡±

    ¡°Ave Legionnaire Canis.¡± He looked her in the face. ¡°You¡¯ve been at this post for eleven months.¡±

    She nodded. She didn¡¯t know. ¡°Why am I here?¡±

    ¡°You are here to be trained as a proper legionnaire of the Legio VI Victrix. You, Legionnaire Canis, were sent from Helvetica with a note that you are willful and disobedient. You are growing into the ideal of a legionnaire, but you have certain things to learn. For example, when I say there is a proper way to wear lorica segmentata, there is only one way to wear it!¡± He was yelling again.

    ¡°Ave Centurion!¡± She put it back properly. ¡°I think I have it down, Centurion!¡± She was in pain, but at least she obeyed.

    Servius nodded and examined her. ¡°Good, it is properly secured and you are less likely to die in battle. Now you need to work on your speed and readiness.¡±

    He gestured to the field, where all of the legionnaires were forming a testudo, while she was still barely dressed. ¡°A legionnaire must be quick and sharp, ready to march at a moment¡¯s notice. For today, you are alternating between latrine duty and watchtower duty.¡±

    He handed her a sponge on a stick. ¡°Do the latrines quickly. It is almost time for cena.¡±

    She nodded. ¡°Ave Centurion!¡±

    Following the path to the latrines, she felt a little out of place. The armour was comforting and familiar, but where was she? She remembered no Wall or Helvetica, but any clues to her past were hidden. Centurion Servius seemed trustworthy enough despite the yelling, so she followed his lead. Something nagged at her, but she washed it away with the first stroke of her tersorium.

    The smell was awful.

    <hr>

    Willa wasn¡¯t waking up. The earth energy that ensorcelled her proved to be as immovable as its nature, never bending to R¨®is¨ªn¡¯s will and strength. Her connection to earth wasn¡¯t enough to sway the resolute patterns. Worse still, Hina was unconscious from the syringe gun. R¨®is¨ªn had left her on a hillside, where she was still sleeping. The energy pools were erecting barriers around the area.

    Taurus of the Second House, how well do you understand the source of your abilities?

    ¡°What do you mean ¡®do I know about the energy that is all around us and powers the amulet¡¯, of course I know about that!¡± Did it think she was an airheaded fool? What an absurd thought.

    It appears that the Dog of the Eleventh Gate was not aware until she came in possession of the amulet. This was an assessment since it was likely you might draw from the reservoirs and therefore destabilise the trials.

    R¨®is¨ªn hmphed. Aunt Celaeno had taught her that if enough energy was gathered, it would begin to possess sapience, but she didn¡¯t warn her of how disobedient the energy was. Wasn¡¯t the Eleventh Gate known for obedience? Once she gained access to the Second House, she would ensure it bent to her will.

    We are loyal to the Eleventh Gate and its Watcher, not to you.

    Ignoring the yellow squares, she climbed to the highest hill within the area. Aunt Electra had taught her that the highest point was the most defensible point. From there, she surveyed the men and women setting up black boxes around the area. They hadn¡¯t noticed her yet. Good.

    When she had taught her about her powers, Aunt Celaeno had mentioned that she could draw energy from anything created by her powers, which included crystals. R¨®is¨ªn reached into herself and grew four emerald pillars that startled the people down below. Some of them immediately found buzzsaws and set to cutting down the pillars. Others noticed her standing on the hill in a bright green dress and grabbed¡­crossbows. How stupid were they that they thought crossbows would be effective against her? Even if the United Kingdom had less strict gun laws than her native Ireland, she would laugh it off.

    The bolts started flying anyway as they bounced harmlessly off of her skin. Unfortunately, they kept entangling themselves in her hair. Angrily tossing them aside, she set her gaze on the offenders and concentrated. The emerald pillars pulsed with green light as the crossbow wielders found themselves coughing out pink rose petals. She smiled when they fell to their knees. Like her Aunt Alcyone said, don¡¯t stop until they are begging for mercy.

    Meanwhile, the yellow squares were holding their own against the black boxes projecting five coloured rays at the walls. Only two rays passed through the bright yellow walls, a red ray and a white ray. More walls were springing up, but exposure to the rays seemed to weaken them.

    She wasn¡¯t particularly agile, but her Aunt Taygete had taught her basic evasion techniques in case she was ambushed. Leaping off her chosen hill, she landed on one of the boxes, crushing it under her heel. Someone shot several crossbow bolts into her face, but that only made her more annoyed and her hair gradually more tangled. Gritting her teeth, she slammed her hammer into the ground, shocking them before running off and stomping on the boxes until they were dust beneath her square heels.

    As expected of the Taurus.

    ¡°Well, I saved you, so you should do something in return.¡± She looked at Hina. If she was harmed, then Ganymede would refuse to give her money back despite her wrongfully stealing it in the first place. If the Libra found out, against her absolute judgement¡­R¨®is¨ªn shuddered. ¡°Hide her, defend her with your life.¡± Hina was useless out here.

    The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

    A small yellow square formed around Hina. Your idea of ¡°favours¡± is a strange concept. Doing your duties as expected is what you should have been doing all along.

    The energy was idiotic. Making others owe things to her was the best feeling in the world. Was she missing something? She felt like she was. All of their weapons were destroyed, and she doubted that they had anything comparable.

    This was going to be easy.

    <hr>

    Latrine duty was taxing, and the spare water she used to wash out the toilets had a rank stench that lingered on her skin a little too long. Even the cold metal of the armour couldn¡¯t disguise it. She was getting better at putting on her armour more quickly judging from the decreased berating from Centurion Servius. Speaking of the centurion, he was kind enough to lessen the hours spent cleaning the latrines and more time scouting the north side of the Wall.

    She was there now, along with a fellow legionnaire named Marcus who served latrine duty. He hailed from Cyrenaica and had a habit of incurring Centurion Servius¡¯ wrath, enough that he taught her a few tricks on how to clean the latrines efficiently. She mentioned that she was from Helvetica¡­she thought.

    A snarling bear, a swinging chandelier, the blurred-out faces of small children, a copper farseeing telescope with eyes on all of the Lower World¡­

    She felt like she was needed elsewhere, but she had duties here. While latrine work wasn¡¯t the most glamorous, it was sorely needed at the Wall, where everyone is crammed into quarters. Hygiene was important, she had told Marcus. Cleaner latrines correlated with less disease among the men, and fewer diseases meant a stronger fighting force in case of a Pict attack.

    ¡°But still, it¡¯s disgusting? Seeing everyone¡¯s shit every day, and why are we out here anyways? Is this a twisted punishment devised by Centurion Servius?¡± He shook his head. ¡°I would rather be back cleaning the latrines than this.¡±

    ¡°Scouting is as equally important as latrine duty.¡± She squinted her eyes. ¡°Without us being here, we wouldn¡¯t have any information on the Picts¡¯ movements or possible weak spots in our defences.¡±

    He nodded. ¡°That¡¯s what my father always told me. Work hard, and the gods will give you their favour. I still prefer the training field over this.¡±

    That resonated with her. She remembered someone telling her to always ¡°work hard, play hard¡±. Someone named¡­Clara? She was missing something, but she had to focus on the task at hand: report anything suspicious to Centurion Servius and eliminate any Pictish scouting parties.

    Nothing out of the ordinary. There was a lone sycamore tree in the distance. The grass swayed gently in the breeze, the blue sky shined overhead¡ªwait. She crouched, motioning Marcus to lie down. This wasn¡¯t something taught by the centurion. Where were all of her skills coming from? She was certain that she wasn¡¯t originally a legionnaire. Her former life was a question for another time. Marcus kept popping up, but her nose smelt something different. Something human.

    Dry leaves crackled underneath someone¡¯s feet¡ªbut it wasn¡¯t her or Marcus.

    Brown eyes in the grass locked with blue eyes in the shade of a sycamore. Gleaming iron armour glared at blue-painted skin. No one made a sound as the Roman scouting party and the Pictish raiders assessed the other group. Two Romans against five Picts.

    The blue-eyed man charged first, his sword pointed at Marcus. She moved to defend him. Sword met scutum in a clash of iron. While she was holding down the man, Marcus was guarding her back against two of the painted warriors. The other two men circled them, waiting for an opening.

    ¡°Do you have an extra shield?¡± asked Marcus.

    She shook her head. ¡°One shield for each legionnaire.¡±

    She knew the inherent subtext beneath his question: they were defenceless from above. If one of the Pict warriors were armed with a bow and arrows, they would be dead in a rain of arrows before they could signal the Wall. They only had two, but they were locked into a testudo formation, preventing the Picts from cutting them down. What did she observe about the weapons they wielded? The man who attacked Marcus had only a shortsword, the two men currently assaulting her scutum had a sword and a spear each, and the two circling them had spears¡­and bows. She relayed all of this to Marcus.

    ¡°The two with bows and arrows should be our main priority,¡± Marcus stated, lowering his pilum. ¡°Can you see where they are?¡±

    She couldn¡¯t see them, but she could detect the scent of their blue paint. ¡°On your right.¡±

    He nodded. ¡°We¡¯re pushing soon. Get ready, I¡¯m moving forward.¡±

    They pressed their backs against each other. She smelled a certain tenseness among the sword-brandishing warriors.

    ¡°Now.¡±

    Marcus rushed forward with her defending his rear. She couldn¡¯t see who he was attacking, but she heard the screams and yelling characteristic of a fight. Hearing one man slump to the floor, the other started nocking arrows. He was closer to her than to Marcus, so she tapped him on the hip and they managed to stun the blue-painted archer before she managed to stab him with a pilum¡­her breath hitched as she looked into his eyes. This didn¡¯t feel right, but she felt like she had done this before, at another time.

    You did, more than once. I¡¯m grateful for it, but sweep aside your burdens.

    A warm breeze wafted through the air, smelling of raspberries¡ªand the scents of the three remaining Picts. Quickly, she motioned to Marcus where they were with a bump of the shoulder, and they marched towards the Picts. One of them yelled and charged at them. Marcus tried to impale him on his pilum but to no avail. The tip was briefly stuck in the warrior¡¯s shield until Marcus wrenched it out and jammed it directly into the warrior¡¯s stomach. His sword clanged against Marcus¡¯ iron scutum uselessly. Now there were only two to worry about¡ª

    Arrows blotted out a small white cloud in the sky. She peered over her red and yellow scutum. The blue-eyed man had picked up his companion¡¯s bow and had started loosing arrows. Based on the trajectory of the arrows¡ªthey were going to hit her and Marcus in their backs.

    ¡°Marcus, arrows! The archer is on my right!¡±

    They quickly manoeuvred out of the rain of arrows. The blue-eyed man was skilled with the bow judging by the rapid shower of arrows, but Marcus was quicker. He sprinted at the man, overpowering him and knocking the bow out. The man managed to disarm Marcus of his pilum and was about to puncture his arm when Marcus stabbed through his eye with a gladius. She winced as blood started gushing from the man¡¯s eye and pooled onto the formerly green grass¡ªwait, they weren¡¯t together and their scutums were no longer interlocked.

    Marcus realised it judging from his increasingly widening eyes¡ªand so did the lone raider. She barely had any time to yell before the raider overwhelmed Marcus¡¯ scutum and picked up his pilum. The raider managed to severely wound him before she tackled the Pict to the ground and stuck her gladius in the stomach. Something in her ached¡­and yet her gut sensed that there was more to this than just a scouting party. Both men were still alive, which went against orders¡­but Marcus was bleeding out, and fast. Without the medici ordinarii, he was going to die on the field.

    She was holding someone, bleeding out¡­on a carpet. Somewhere, a short time ago.

    She shook her head. Whatever was in the past had to wait. Right now, her fellow legionnaire was hanging between life and Pluto. Shielding herself preemptively, Willa dashed to Marcus¡¯ body and dragged it onto the scutum. Waving her pilum, she forced the other two raiders to stay away while she started running back to the Wall with the scutum.

    Here.

    The wind blew pieces of pink cloth gently into her waiting hands. She quickly applied pressure to Marcus¡¯ wounds and she switched directions to push him like it was a sled.

    ¡°Hold on Legionnaire Marcus! We¡¯ll get to the Wall in no time! Roma Eterna!¡±

    ¡°Roma Eterna¡­¡± trailed off Marcus weakly.

    They managed to reach the Wall slightly before Marcus lost consciousness. The medici ordinarii scrambled around Marcus, lifting him and carrying him to a nearby medical tent. Centurion Servius¡¯ gruff face greeted her upon arrival.

    ¡°Ave Legionnaire Canis! How did you and Legionnaire Marcus come by your injuries?¡±

    ¡°Ave Centurion Servius!¡± She gulped. ¡°A Pictish scouting party of five set on us. We managed to finish off three, but the other two were left alive.¡±

    His face grew red. ¡°Your orders were to annihilate all scouting parties, regardless of anything else, was it not?!¡±

    ¡°Yes, but Legionnaire Marcus had sustained such grievous wounds that it was necessary to prioritise him first. Without him, the Legion would be missing a crucial part of itself. With him, we would be able to regroup and fend off any further Pictish attacks.¡±

    Centurion Servius¡¯ eyes flashed yellow. ¡°You were supposed to obey orders first. A legionnaire is replaceable, but I¡¯ll see to it that he is in good health. Latrine duties, now.¡±

    Yellow wasn¡¯t a natural eye colour. Just what was happening, and who was that voice in her head? She sounded familiar¡­

    <hr>

    They brought more weapons.

    When R¨®is¨ªn heard that the men were shouting for ¡°qi bullets¡±, she confidently assumed that they were mere tricks and not worth thinking about.

    That was until the bullets started ripping through the walls, showering the fields with whistling air and a leafy smell. She was briefly shocked but regained her composure. Aunt Taygete wouldn¡¯t have it any other way. Besides, she was invulnerable to everything, Willa had her armour and Hina¡ª

    Oh right. Hina was only human.

    Hina managed to wake up, only to yelp when R¨®is¨ªn tossed her behind another hill as the bullets rained over the plains and penetrated Hina¡¯s barrier. Now Hina was staring at the holes in the yellow walls, slowly repairing themselves from the bullets.

    She winced slightly as another blue-green projectile whizzed by her head. Some had landed in her hair or her face, but they usually dissipated, unable to penetrate her skin. R¨®is¨ªn¡¯s only issue was that they messed with her already messy hair. They haven¡¯t ruined her face, thankfully. The walls rebuilt themselves to withstand the assault, but she noticed that some of the holes weren''t being repaired as quickly as before or were taking longer.

    The energy squares around Willa shifted. Her entire body was overlaid with crisscrossing lines of yellow energy and squares formed around her abdomen, pulsating intensely.

    What needs to be done needs to be done. The secondary power source will be used for the defences and the primary power source will be dedicated to the Watcher¡¯s trials.

    The squares transformed, becoming rounder and slowly turning into circles filled with white energy. They remained on Willa¡¯s body though. R¨®is¨ªn grasped the hammer in her hand and let the power of earth flow through her neck.

    The next wave of people idiotic enough to challenge her came forth. She stomped into the earth, sending shockwaves across the land. The rest who weren¡¯t stunned by her seismic wave were cleaned up by her hammer. For some of them, she noticed that the hammer glanced off their armour without leaving a mark. She solved that issue by punting them with crystal columns that jutted into the sky and anyone else who remained by summoning rose petals inside of their bodies. Aunt Alcyone had always taught her to inflict maximum pain on her enemies. They were getting too excessive, and she couldn¡¯t smash through yet another wave. Where were they coming from? Whoever was giving these people orders, since it was readily apparent the fools were just following orders, must be eliminated.

    ¡°Oh,¡± Hina piped up. ¡°Here.¡±

    She reached into her jacket pocket, grabbed a fistful of assorted cut gemstones, and threw them at R¨®is¨ªn. R¨®is¨ªn left them hanging in mid-air.

    ¡°Ganimede-san kara no okurimono desu,¡± was Hina¡¯s answer before ducking underneath another shower of blue-green bullets.

    The next time she saw Ganymede, she would beat her into a pulp for two reasons: stealing her money and trying to put her into Ganymede¡¯s debt. She floated the gemstones across the field and let them grow, creating barriers and sharp spikes that impeded the men¡¯s movements. The white energy made circles around the men, skewering and impaling them within each circle. If they got too close, R¨®is¨ªn was there to slam her hammer into their chests. When one of them attempted to grab her from behind, she used her mom¡¯s old technique and broke their arm in one motion. Picking them up and throwing them away like the trash they were was satisfying. Was this how her mother and Aunt Alcyone felt?

    She dealt blow after blow to the invaders, rose petals swirling around her as she knocked several men clear out of the area with her hammer. Those that tried their strength against her might were swiftly disabused of such silly notions, as their broken bodies attested.

    There were more people than there had been on the bus, and they were becoming outnumbered. For each crystal barrier she raised and every person the circles impaled, more would take their place. She had to protect Hina from the bullets too many times. Was she too weak to learn basic defence skills? R¨®is¨ªn silently bemoaned the fact that her getting back her rightful money was contingent on keeping this stringy girl alive and unharmed.

    Eventually, there was only her, twenty circles, and Hina peeking over the top of the hill. The group surrounding them were talking amongst themselves. R¨®is¨ªn allowed herself to settle in on an emerald chair. With such pitiful attacks, she doubted that they would have much to offer.

    ¡°Hold your fire!¡±

    ¡°What do you mean ¡®hold our fire¡¯? The walls are coming down!¡±

    ¡°Look with your eyes! That¡¯s metal energy patching up the walls, not earth energy! The wood qi bullets won¡¯t do anything against the wall now!¡±

    ¡°We can keep firing on the girl.¡±

    ¡°Look carefully! Don¡¯t you see the horns, the tail, the green dress, and the hammer?! That¡¯s the Taurus! Didn¡¯t you listen to the briefing?¡± So they knew who she was. Her family had always kept it a closely guarded secret; hence why she could never have friends at the Pleiades Mansion. How did they know?

    ¡°...and how is that relevant?¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s invulnerable to anything physical! Bullets, cannon fire, even dropping a bomb on her won¡¯t do anything! Switch to the red bullets, and where are the fucking gas canisters?!¡±

    She winced. That word was horrendous and utterly vulgar. When she was being taught by her Aunt Celaeno about her gifts, they covered her invulnerability and that she could not be harmed by anything physical. Gas on the other hand¡­

    A metal canister sailed over the white and yellow walls. R¨®is¨ªn¡¯s eyes widened before she took out the chair, bludgeoned the canister, and tossed what remained back over the walls. More canisters were coming in, more than she could swing her hammer at. Hina must have noticed as well, taking out her phone and presumably dialling the Aquarius. R¨®is¨ªn noticed the white parts of the wall burning and only had a second to shout ¡°Duck!¡± before a barrage of red-hot bullets started spraying into the clearing. Two of the bullets struck Hina¡¯s phone, which fell to the ground sizzling, and her hands, causing her to shout in pain. The field was littered with canisters, and the white circles could do only so much. Suddenly, the canisters started shooting out bay-coloured smoke. R¨®is¨ªn coughed and tried to head towards higher ground, but to no avail. She could feel her strength being sapped slowly as she dragged herself up the hill. Hina had already collapsed into the soil and the squares around Willa became more tightly bound.

    Merope¡­mom¡­

    <hr>

    She pulled her head out of another latrine. Sometimes she felt like the toilets were endless.

    ¡°Are! You! Kidding! Me! What! Is! Wrong! With! This! Latrine!¡±

    At least Marcus was here, and physically well.

    ¡°Quit your whining and clean faster if you want to participate in the march!¡±

    Centurion Servius was also here, after saying that they both needed a ¡°lesson in diligence¡± and wanted to lead by example. All three of them were on latrine duty today before the planned march into Pictish territory. Based on the reports that she and Marcus brought back recently along with other scouting parties, battle with the Picts was imminent.

    ¡°Legionnaire Canis.¡±

    She stood at attention. ¡°Ave Centurion Servius.¡± The pain had lessened on her back and her head since she came to the Wall on the border of Britannia.

    ¡°You mentioned pink cloth fluttering for you to use to patch up Legionnaire Marcus¡¯ wounds.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    His eyes flashed yellow again. ¡°A sign of Venus¡¯ favour.¡±

    The goddess of love and the mother of the Roman people? She wanted to ask what that meant when a messenger came in with a scroll and whispered into Centurion Servius¡¯ ear. The messenger immediately left.

    ¡°What was that?¡± Marcus asked.

    Centurion Servius grunted. ¡°Picts spotted north of the wall. The march will commence at dawn.¡±

    She nodded. For some reason, the order, the drilling, even the yelling¡­this felt right. Knowing what to do, being told what to do, without the burden of having to figure things out for herself¡­like at the security company she used to¡ªno, still worked at. What company though? Legions don¡¯t have companies, she thought as she assembled her lorica segmentata in record time, earning an approving nod from Centurion Servius. Her hasta, galea, scutum, and gladius were all equipped and she lined up in formation alongside two legionnaires she knew as Gnaeus and Septimus.

    As they advanced, her errant mind tried to piece together all of her fragmented memories. She used to work for a company unconnected to the legions of Rome¡­she had fought before, but not in a cohesive unit. She knew who she had fought alongside well, better than even her fellow legionnaires. Actually¡­how had she come to know their names in the first place?

    The trumpet sounded, bringing her full attention to the coming battle ahead. Whatever she was once had since passed, and she was needed here. Something tugged at her gut. Two young girls¡­they needed her. Then or now? Her gut instinct told her to push all thoughts aside, and so she did. Readying her hasta, she waited for the painted warriors to come pouring out of the fields. Looking at the legionnaires¡¯ determined and stoic faces, she felt a little out of place. Who was she before Helvetica¡ªor was she ever at Helvetica? Wouldn¡¯t she be able to recall where Helvetica was? How could she not know where she had come from? Was she ever from Helvetica in the first place?

    The hastas rattled in anticipation, and the scutums were firmly planted into the ground. All she had to do was to stand her ground. Something within her gut told her she was made for this. The last line of defence against a foe beyond mortal comprehension, standing beside a blinded woman with white wings¡­

    Awwww, are you thinking of us together?

    Venus?

    One of the many names I took over the centuries, but not my true name.

    Who was she?

    Tut tut, later.

    She wanted to ask more, but there was a crash in the scutums in front of her. The centurion behind her yelled to advance and the hasta on the front lines were lowered. From her view, she observed multiple columns almost buckling against the raiders, but they were easily repelled. A scent entered her nostrils.  Trees, paint, dirt, determination, behind the legion, slightly obscured.

    She faced Centurion Servius, currently engaged with three Pict warriors. ¡°Centurion Servius!¡±

    ¡°Legionnaire Canis!¡± He pushed one of the men off with the scutum into a waiting hasta and finished off the other warriors with a swipe of his gladius. ¡°What moves you to speak now?¡±

    ¡°I detected a scent coming from the rear of the Legion! It¡¯s more similar to the Picts than our legionnaires. I suspect a sneak attack while the Legio VI Victrix remains focused on our enemies in the front.¡± How long ago had she joined the legion? Time seemed like an endless abyss¡­

    The centurion nodded. ¡°Those at the rear, hasta at the ready! Guard the rear with your lives!¡±

    Centurion Servius turned towards her. ¡°Thank you Legionnaire Canis.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re welcome.¡± She still felt as if Canis wasn¡¯t her real praenomen. Come to think of it, was she Roman? She looked markedly different from the rest of the legionnaires.

    CRASH. The sounds of surprised Pictish swords meeting iron scutums reverberated through the battlefield as the legion defended its rear. Based on the cacophony, they were surrounded. Her ears twitched, and she was the first to notice the jagged breaths of a Pictish raider before any of the legionnaires noticed he had breached the testudo¡ªand the first to impale him on her hasta. Her breath hitched as she looked into the dimming eyes of the raider. Her breathing slowed down. This wasn¡¯t her first time, but yet it never got easier¡­

    Another fell, then another, another, another¡ªthey all kept falling underneath her discus. When she was finished, her matted ears covered in blood, she finally let herself rest next to a fallen soldier and closed his eyes. The soldier looked familiar, almost like¡ª

    Conflict bellowed forth. She was stuck in an endless cycle. Advance, impale, skewer, assist, advance, impale, skewer, assist, rinse, repeat. She tried to catch a glimpse of Centurion Servius but to no avail. Her muscles strained underneath her armour, but she had to carry on. She had to.

    ¡°Willa?¡±

    A little girl was at her door.

    ¡°Can you help me with this long-division question?¡±

    She got out of her bed and walked with the girl to their dining room table.

    ¡°I got to where eighty-one divided into eleven seven times because eleven times seven equals seventy-seven, but now I still have numbers left over.¡±

    ¡°Dana, there are two methods to dealing with leftover numbers. You can set them off to the side as a remainder, or you can use a different method. What is eighty-one minus seventy-seven?¡±

    ¡°Ummm, four?¡±

    ¡°Okay, so we put four down here.¡± She guided Dana¡¯s pencil to write down the number four. ¡°And we put a zero here.¡± She wrote down zero. ¡°How many times does forty go into eleven?¡±

    ¡°Three!¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s three times eleven?¡±

    ¡°Thirty-three.¡±

    ¡°So we can subtract thirty-three from forty, and that will give us seven and we put the decimal point here. We can keep doing this until¡­¡±

    Dana was¡­Dana was¡­her sister. She had three sisters: Clara, Liza, and Dana. She¡­ also had a niece and a nephew. Where were they? Where was she? There was something else she needed to remember, something more urgent.

    Before long, the battle raging across the fields was dying out. The Pictish dead outnumbered the Roman dead, their blue paint a telltale sign. On the far right, a tree briefly glitched yellow. Another legionnaire stabbed a dying raider with his yellow-tinted gladius. She took some time to bury the Picts, saying last rites in a language that had never been heard on the shores of Britain at that time. After the last rites in English were finished, she checked her armour. It was damaged, but not in the way that she expected. Yellow squares denoted areas of damage. Looking at her surroundings, she picked up a distinctly cold earthly scent, causing her to straighten. The soldiers didn¡¯t have yellow squares on their bodies or faces, only her.

    ¡°Ave Legionnaire Canis!¡±

    She stood to attention. ¡°Ave Centurion Servius!¡±

    They saluted each other. Despite her increasing wariness of the situation, Centurion Servius was a comforting presence. Something was nagging at her mind though.

    ¡°Thank you for your assistance with the troublesome Picts.¡± He adjusted his galea. ¡°Without your help, we would have been ambushed in the rear and our efforts would have failed in defending the wall. Despite my earlier misgivings, you are on your way to becoming a proper legionnaire, well-versed in discipline and loyalty to Roma.¡± He held out his hand. ¡°What do you say?¡±

    She was tempted, but something held her back.  Two girls, a bus, Cave canem, Hadrian¡¯s Wall¡ª

    Hadrian¡¯s Wall, called the Wall when it was in use during the Roman Empire under Emperor Hadrian, long before she was born. Before Willa was born, before her family was born, before Hina and R¨®is¨ªn were born¡­

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but I can¡¯t accept your offer. I have people to protect, and they need me right now. They¡¯re in danger, and unfortunately, that is more important. Besides¡­¡± She looked around at the too-blue sky and the too-green grass. ¡°I don¡¯t think this is real.¡±

    Centurion Servius nodded. ¡°I understand.¡±

    Suddenly, she remembered who the soldier was¡­She looked into the centurion¡¯s face.

    ¡°I saw you die¡­¡± In yet another fleeting recollection.

    ¡°Yes, I died, or rather the real Servius Varius Nerva died defending his empire from the Picts. I¡¯m only a constructed visage of him. What you have witnessed over the past hour was a trial set by the person who created the reservoir. It was supposed to test your values. Loyalty, fidelity, duty, agreeability, observation skills, willingness to cooperate with others¡­you passed. Except for the part where you publicly rebuked my orders, but I¡¯ll ignore it.¡±

    A trial set by someone in the far past¡­ ¡°If it¡¯s a test, why?¡±

    ¡°To see if, without your memories, you would still hold to your oath. Even without the assistance of the scattered Lady, you still do, so before we part ways, I want to give you something. A reward for your troubles.¡±

    He reached behind his cloak and pulled out a terracotta-coloured telescope. It looked well made, with curling patterns that resembled a dog¡¯s tail over its body and little copper bands in between each section. Willa felt it with her right hand. Like it was supposed to be there. She hooked it on her hip.

    ¡°Thank you Centurion Servius for this gift, and I hope¡­¡± What do you say to someone who has been dead for the past two thousand years? ¡°I hope you have a long rest.¡±

    He nodded. ¡°Ave Willa. Protect the Key at all costs.¡±

    ¡°Ave Servius, I will.¡±

    The world around them dissolved into yellow squares. Despite the recent uprooting, Willa was at peace with herself. Maybe it was because she had her Key, or because of the two girls. She was a bit worried for R¨®is¨ªn though¡ª

    Her eyes opened to bay-coloured smoke.  It stung her eyes and caused her to take a step back as she shielded herself with her left arm.  The telescope hung from her waist.  Out of instinct, she hoisted it with her right arm and peered through its eyepiece.

    There were trucks parked outside and groups of men and women pointing at them with unidentifiable weapons.  Peering to her left and right revealed translucent crystalline barriers, mostly emerald but with sections made of diamond, ruby, and sapphire.  Since there were no gaps between them, Willa assumed that they had remained unbroken.  Servius mentioned she was in there for an hour, so how was she seeing through the walls?  For that matter, where were R¨®is¨ªn and Hina?

    The black smoke was interfering with her ability to sniff them out, so she grabbed her amulet and flipped it open.  A terracotta dot was beeping to her right, along with a green dot just a little further away.  Her lungs felt like they were on fire, but she soldiered on.  Finding them didn¡¯t take long, though she kept having to kick away the gas canisters spewing out smoke.  Hina was surprisingly light and Willa managed to lift her onto her shoulders.  R¨®is¨ªn¡­weighed more than she expected.  She knew that she would be heavier than Hina based on her stockier build and curvier body, but she wasn¡¯t expecting to have to drag her to the wall.

    Both of them were unconscious and she internally despaired at their condition. She tried CPR on both of them but to no avail. Neither of them was waking up, so she took out her telescope and examined them.

    All she saw were severely damaged lungs. Her lungs were fine though, probably because of her regenerating cells. If Servius could give her a telescope in her mind and it was still here¡­she could do something.

    Earth is a stabiliser.

    She summoned a few yellow squares and channelled her energy into Hina. Slowly, she felt the effects of the smoke more as her vision swam and she found it harder to keep awake. A small gasp shook her out of it and her vision returned. Hina was sitting up straight now and staring at her raw hands that were slowly turning back to her fair skin tone.

    ¡°Ehhhh?!¡± She shouted. ¡°Wira-san, anata no shippo ga hitsuy¨­desu!¡±

    Willa couldn¡¯t grant Hina¡¯s request as she was busy trying to resuscitate R¨®is¨ªn into the world of the living. She was barely there, her lips already turning a greyish-blue. Willa couldn¡¯t detect anything¡ªexcept a small hard green core close to her neck. She latched on to that and channelled the reservoir into that core. The core started to briefly light up¡ªand shone like a brilliant gem. Willa stared. Did it work? She hoped that the young girl woke up¡ª

    SMACK.  Willa¡¯s hand ached as the slap of R¨®is¨ªn¡¯s hand broke her fingers.

    ¡°I don¡¯t want your pity!¡± she shouted. Willa wondered about how her family raised her yet again.

    They were on top of the ruined wall. The smoke was still bad, and Hina nearly doubled over in pain, but everyone was alive.

    ¡°What do you see out there?¡± R¨®is¨ªn asked, rubbing her neck.

    ¡°Ten trucks, twenty people with strange weapons, about seventy containers, and two cages.¡± Willa adjusted the telescope. ¡°The weapons aren¡¯t guns, but they¡¯re holding bullet-shaped objects inside cylindrical chambers.¡±

    ¡°Of course they wouldn¡¯t have guns. Otherwise, they would have been stopped the moment they decided to drive out here. And the bullets are called qi bullets.¡± She nodded to the land. ¡°They¡¯re connected to five elements. Are they red or blue-green?¡±

    ¡°Mostly red.¡±

    ¡°Hmph.¡± R¨®is¨ªn created two large emerald pillars in the sky. ¡°I¡¯ll scourge them from this earth.¡±

    With that, she focused her attention on slamming the pillars into the ground beyond the crystal walls, causing the earth to shake and sudden cries to arise from the fields beyond. Willa winced as the sounds of the men and women amplified within her ears. She knew that they were the ones launching the gas canisters into the walls, but that didn¡¯t make the sounds any less discordant and wrong.

    You can end it.

    Who was saying this? Hina couldn¡¯t speak English, and she was busy hiding behind a hill. R¨®is¨ªn was creating more pillars to pound the land into submission and was completely focused on that task.

    You have the Key. That meant that we recognised you as a viable candidate. Therefore, you can wield this reservoir as you see fit. The Taurus hasn¡¯t changed, but you have. Earth and metal combined would have made one more unyielding, more willing to hold fast to their oath. There was always more earth than metal infused. Follow your instincts.

    Were there voices in her head now? She truly felt out of her comfort zone now. Who could she turn to? Her family and friend were an ocean away or in a coma, and she didn¡¯t have a phone to call Dana. Ganymede would have stopped her from calling Dana anyway. Listen to her instincts. Her gut was telling her to trust the mysterious yellow squares.

    We can read your thoughts with assistance from the Third House. Remember: this is only a fraction of the power of the Eleventh Gate. The Door can be found by searching through the telescope.

    She would do that later. She needed to return everything to normal. Yellow squares and white circles appeared around her body, concentrating near her gut. The white circles gleamed.

    Pattern targeted. Candidate has resonated with the reservoir based on latent energy signatures. Control granted. Candidate given Overseer privileges. System is locked on.

    Willa opened her eyes¡­and she saw everything. Her environment was amplified to such a degree that she could distinguish each blade of grass by scent alone. The men and women facing the emerald pillars smelled distinctly of a murky and wrong substance, along with fear. The bullets fired from their weapons smelled of wood and smoke, along with an oddly familiar scent. She couldn¡¯t place it though. The pillars smelled like rose petals and green apples.

    Containment was the best option. The land wasn¡¯t badly damaged from the pillars and she felt the earth call out to her. It wanted to obey.

    Yellow walls erupted from the ground as those surrounding the reservoir were imprisoned by the land itself. White bars forbade their exit while the giant pillars pounded punitively against the ground. Their trucks sustained damage, enough that they were no longer operational. The pull of metal was too strong for the land and it sucked in white energy as the trucks crumpled against their weight. More towers arose as the land rearranged itself, extinguishing the smoke. The metal left over was leached into the land as Willa watched over it all.

    ¡°I¡¯m finished. Release me, I¡¯ve done what I¡¯ve needed to do.¡±

    The candidacy was well earned. Very well, your Overseer privileges have been relinquished. If this is what you could do with pure elemental energy, the Eleventh Gate is yours for sure. Don¡¯t forget the trial, and remember your duty. Do as you must, not as you will.

    She lost most of her senses and fell to her knees, aware of her gut aching and the rest of her body feeling as if it had been stabbed through the stomach. It took two minutes for her to fully wake up. Hina was tapping her shoulder and motioning for her to get up. Willa accepted Hina¡¯s hand and walked to the outer walls, occasionally stumbling and getting back up. There, she was greeted by the sight of R¨®is¨ªn throttling one of the women by the throat and shoving his face against the white bars.

    ¡°Who sent you? Where did you get these weapons? How do you know who I am? And how dare you mess up my dress and my hair!¡± At the rate she was shaking the woman and the strength she¡¯d shown previously, Willa was worried she was going to break the woman¡¯s neck.

    The woman spat at R¨®is¨ªn¡¯s feet. ¡°I¡¯ll say nothing.¡±

    She grabbed the woman¡¯s throat harder. ¡°Ha, and what¡¯s holding you back? Money? I have fifteen billion euros under my name. Your words would be handsomely rewarded if you choose to talk. Or¡­¡± She grabbed her hammer. ¡°You might have to look into dentures in the future.¡±

    Willa grabbed R¨®is¨ªn¡¯s left arm. ¡°Don¡¯t do anything. They¡¯re not going anywhere, and we got what we needed.¡± She tapped the telescope.

    ¡°I refuse to leave these scum without some answers.¡± R¨®is¨ªn smashed the woman¡¯s face against the bars. ¡°Talk now, or I¡¯ll break your skull.¡± Again, Willa wondered what kind of family raised R¨®is¨ªn. She was about the same age as Hina, but¡ª

    ¡°They gave the weapons to us, told us that we needed to keep them on hand and that they were one of a kind. Special. No one else in the world can make them. They gave us five types of bullets.¡± A young man spoke up. ¡°All I remember was something about the First House, whatever that meant, and that the bullets were made in¡ª¡±

    Someone slapped him. R¨®is¨ªn looked interested though.

    ¡°The First House? Was there a mention of the Aries?¡±

    ¡°Errr, no. They mentioned that they didn¡¯t have the resources to pursue the Aries, especially since she left her last known location and they couldn¡¯t track her.¡± He craned his neck. ¡°They mentioned that the Eleventh Gate would have been useful except for the¡ª¡±

    Someone knocked him cold judging by the thud against the earthen walls. Willa winced in sympathy while R¨®is¨ªn pushed the woman backwards by the neck. Thankfully, her coughing meant that the woman was alive. A yellow square started pulsing on the wall. Willa touched it.

    We can contain the malefic elements here. In the meanwhile, the land has sensed the presence of the Aquarius. She¡¯s beyond the scope of our sight, but her signature is present in a horseless carriage.

    Willa still found the concept of energy reservoirs that could carry a conversation strange, but it was real and she accepted it. Seconds later, a brand-new car rolled up and stopped in the middle of the field. Its doors unfolded like wings and the resigned voice of Ganymede commanded from the front seat interface in both English and Japanese.

    Get in.

    R¨®is¨ªn hmphed before noticing that all other forms of transportation were wrecked beyond compare and begrudgingly climbing into the driver¡¯s seat. Willa climbed into the passenger¡¯s side, mildly surprised that the steering wheel was on the other side, and Hina decided to take a nap in the backseat with her pockets bulging with a small object. Small prehensile tweezers started wrapping gauze around her hands.

    You¡¯ve managed to acquire the Key to the Eleventh Gate¡­at the cost of a phone, your lung

    capacity, and the regenerative capabilities of the Dog. The transfer of gifts was an unexpected development. I would need to research to determine if this is temporary. Do not engage in unnecessary conflict.

    ¡°Give me my money back,¡± R¨®is¨ªn demanded.

    Not yet. We need to be in a secure location for the transfer. This is a self-driving car

    programmed for a specific destination. Do not try to drive the car to another destination.

    The car drove off, leaving behind the wreckage of ten trucks and multiple earthen cages. How long were those inside going to be in there for? Willa tried to think about the energy that she had witnessed. It responded to her so well¡­but she had never seen anything like that in her life. This was getting stranger, but she didn¡¯t feel overwhelmed. Almost like she was used to it at some point. Something was off about all of this, even more than when she was in the simulation. There was something off about the Eleventh Gate.

    How was R¨®is¨ªn acting calmly about this? She hadn¡¯t given out much information about her family, but from what Willa had been able to gather, her family knew more about what was going on. Now they were missing and R¨®is¨ªn wanted to find them.

    Her hands instinctively touched the copper telescope. From her blurry recollections, this had the power to watch the Lower World, whatever that meant. With this, she should be able to find R¨®is¨ªn¡¯s mother and aunts. Besides, this should lead to the Door, which was where they were heading.

    She took up the telescope while R¨®is¨ªn was arguing with Ganymede about her money.

    ¡°Show me the locations of the Pleiades.¡±

    She got a splitting headache. All she saw were skyscrapers and the scent of steel and sweat, someone being repeatedly slapped and the scent of darkness, a dark and deeply wrong corridor, neon lights and a faint scent of raspberries, a bridge and the scent of grapes, and a garden covered in flowers smelling as sweetly as R¨®is¨ªn.

    ¡°If you¡¯re trying to find my family, they put on a charm that makes them untraceable.¡± R¨®is¨ªn shrugged. ¡°I thought that you could find them, but we need the Eleventh Gate to do that. I¡¯ll tell you later.¡±

    Willa looked through the telescope. ¡°Show me the Door to the Eleventh Gate.¡±

    She opened her eyes to a road in the middle of the mountains. The mountains weren¡¯t like the Rockies. No, the scent was different. Linden, oak, beech, elm. All were suited to a climate different from southern Alberta. A car charged through the road, its headlights blaring in the noontime landscape. Willa tried to step back to dodge, but the car passed through her.

    Shocked, Willa glanced around. This was a temperate climate, something she remembered from her middle school classes. She thought about Dana and her Europe trip. There were some pictures Dana had shared in the family group chat that resembled where she was. The Alps! Dana had shared a picture of her spending the night in a Swiss chalet and joking that she was staying in a ¡°discount Prince of Wales¡±. Clara had agreed that as a hotel, the Prince of Wales was more superior to a ¡°simple house¡± as a joke. Liza countered with the fact that Swiss chalets were first and the Alps had ¡°the best ski slopes¡± and¡ª

    She missed her sisters. After all of this was over, Willa wanted to return home to her family, Jenny, her work, and her home in Pincher Creek. Her eyes were drawn to a beautiful lake in the mountains, dappling in all of the Sun¡¯s glory. Upon that lake sat a stalwart castle basking in the sunlight, yet Willa could feel a certain presence.

    Come, it said, unlock the Door and fulfil your time-honoured oath.

    It beckoned her, pulsated with such temptation that she wanted to follow it.

    Wait, her instincts pointed out, the Eleventh Gate was dangerous.

    Right. She needed someone else, someone who she could rely on¡­she had a partner, didn¡¯t she? The Libra, Hina¡¯s friend. She couldn¡¯t take the Door by its lonesome.

    ¡°Show me the Libra, Mihira Tenhou.¡±

    Was she in a hospital now? It was nighttime outside and she wasn¡¯t alone in the room. A woman with what she thought was Mongolian clothing based on Jenny¡¯s ninth-grade presentation was sleeping in a chair with the scent of grass and victory. The main focus of her attention was the scent of raspberries coming from the girl in the hospital bed.

    The glasses Hina talked about were beside the girl¡¯s bedside with a bit of tape around the nosepiece. The girl was breathing softly on a ventilator. Two great white wings tinged in blush pink and sky blue were stretched on metal platforms and held together with a steel apparatus. Despair filled Willa¡¯s gut. The ventilator, her eyes not moving, and her fragile body¡­just like Clarain a pool of her blood, not breathing, completely still¡­not again. She hadn¡¯t met the girl, but she felt an affinity to her and wished to heal her. What were the values the trial tested? Loyalty, fidelity¡­teamwork. She knew that Ganymede had said that she no longer had any regenerative capabilities left, but she had been wrong about the importance of family. Ganymede could be wrong about this too. She placed her palms on Mihira¡¯s wings and waited. Terracotta marks formed along the edge of the girl¡¯s wings and Willa was about to press her palms against the pulsating pink lines.

    ¡°You can¡¯t intervene.¡±

    Willa tilted her head up, ears pricked for any intruders. She smelled nothing though. Everyone inside the room was asleep and she could easily identify their scents. There wasn¡¯t anyone else in the room, so who¡ª

    ¡°You won¡¯t be able to sense me. And neither of them can either.¡±

    She turned her head to the door¡ªto herself. An older version of herself, closer to Clara¡¯s age than her own, but still unmistakably herself. There were minor differences, like the fact that the terracotta armour was missing a few scales or that the other Willa was missing the tip of her right ear.

    ¡°¡®Do not intervene in the affairs of the Lower World.¡¯ That was the third article I was sworn to. No matter what one sees in the All-Seeing Telescope, one can not force their will upon the Lower World as they see fit.¡± She fixed Willa with a hard stare. ¡°You¡¯re supposed to be going to the Eleventh Gate and following the oath that you have neglected for the past thirty-three years. Why haven¡¯t you done so?¡±

    Who was this woman who looked almost exactly like her? Was she from the strange memories that weren¡¯t quite memories? Willa looked at the woman quizzically.

    ¡°Go to the Eleventh Gate. Without it, a crucial part of the Border¡¯s defence is compromised.¡± The other Willa coolly looked down at Mihira. ¡°This is not important.¡±

    Something about the woman rubbed Willa the wrong way, but she stayed quiet. The woman put on her helmet and stared at Willa.

    ¡°She can heal on her own.¡±

    Heal on her own¡­? Willa looked between the ventilator and Mihira¡¯s shaking breaths. This wasn¡¯t something she could heal from. She refocused her efforts, letting the terracotta lines spread across Mihira¡¯s wings when her arms were grabbed behind her.

    ¡°Do not interfere.¡± The other woman¡¯s terracotta eyes dug hard into Willa¡¯s own. ¡°Stand down and leave.¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s hurt! Look at the ventilator!¡± Willa wrenched her arms from the other woman¡¯s grasp. ¡°I don¡¯t know who you are or what duty was abandoned for thirty-three years, but my duty is to that girl!¡±

    The woman¡¯s gaze hardened. ¡°Such worldly attachments only distract from fulfilling the ties that bind us to the Eleventh Gate. Forget those. Only one bond matters.¡±

    Willa¡¯s eyes twitched. How could she say that¡­ ¡°What about your partner? What about Servius Varius Nerva?¡±

    She didn¡¯t know if the woman¡¯s gaze could darken further, but it did. ¡°My partner has had her follies, but she knew better than to stand in harm¡¯s way. The centurion¡¯s memory was meant to stand as a test. I had no attachment to him otherwise.¡± The woman¡¯s eyes momentarily flickered.

    She was worse than Ganymede, Willa thought. At least Ganymede helped with the undead animals at Waterton. This woman wouldn¡¯t have cared less. Willa redid the terracotta marks and watched as the energy poured from her gut and into the wings itself. What duty was she talking about thirty-three years ago? Willa was twenty-seven. She wasn¡¯t born yet. Willa was fine taking on another extra responsibility, but¡ª

    The woman slammed into her chest and both of them tumbled onto the floor, passing through the table. Willa was faster to get up and tackled the other woman to the floor. She retaliated by swiping her foot across the floor, knocking Willa to the ground. Mihira¡¯s breathing grew shallower all the while the two women were pummelling each other into submission.

    ¡°Follow the oath. There is no need to¡ª¡± The woman dodged Willa¡¯s fist. ¡°To overcomplicate such immaterial matters. The oath is all you need.¡±

    She didn¡¯t know what oath the woman was talking about, and frankly, Willa was tired. With one last kick to the chest courtesy of a move Liza taught her, Willa turned to Mihira, Hina¡¯s friend and someone¡¯s daughter, and focused all of her willpower and fortitude on her soul. The terracotta marks pulsed and shone. The woman was still alive and stared wearily at Willa.

    ¡°I know that you wholeheartedly believe this was worth it, but trust me, this is minor in the long run.¡± Her eyes looked weary. ¡°It¡¯s for the Lower World¡¯s good¡­¡±

    Willa didn¡¯t hear her. She wasn¡¯t hearing much of anything. As her eyes started drooping and her body slumped down¡­she hoped that it was good enough.

    <hr>

    Somewhere in a bustling hospital, two large white wings started fluttering, scattering feathers all over the hospital bed.

    And Mihira awoke.

    <hr>

    This was turning into R¨®is¨ªn¡¯s worst day. First, her money was stolen by the bitch known as Ganymede. After that, she was forced to serve as an escort and to fly in economy class. After that indignity, R¨®is¨ªn¡¯s hair and clothing were ruined by qi bullets and the maddening revelation that someone knew about the Houses and the Gates. Ganymede refused to rightfully give her money back and to top it off, Willa decided to faint out of nowhere, and now Ganymede was blaming her for it when she had nothing to do with it.

    Great.

    This was not foreseen. Reprogramming the car to drive to the nearest mall entrance that is

    less frequented by visitors¡­.destination set. Do not aggravate the Dog¡¯s condition further than

    you already have.

    ¡°Again, it wasn¡¯t my fault! She was staring into her telescope one moment, and the next she fell unconscious! I had nothing to do with this!¡± This woman and her stubborn insistence on her being at fault here. Well, she wasn¡¯t. Something itched at her throat.

    The rudimentary sensors located within this vehicle indicated that the Dog had overexerted

    herself. While the telescope is an unknown variable, the scans indicated that the regenerative

    capabilities were transferred to you and Hina Nishikawa. Which means that you are to blame

    for her condition.

    She ignored Ganymede¡¯s admonitions and decided to watch Hina in the backseat napping. Her mind was untroubled by all that transpired, R¨®is¨ªn thought. She wondered if the Libra was as equally carefree as her friend. The Libra, Aunt Alcyone had once told her, was connected to the air element, yet both held beauty in high esteem. She was flighty, or at least that¡¯s what her Aunt Asterope had mentioned after a long night of dealing with the investors. If the Libra was Japanese, she should learn a few basic phrases. Aunt Maia had tried to teach her multiple languages, but she had no natural aptitude. All she knew were a few basic phrases in Irish Gaelic and Thai.

    Willa was slumped over the dashboard. She refused to rouse after R¨®is¨ªn poked her in the shoulder or after being lightly tapped on her arm. Aunt Celaeno mentioned that unlike hers, some of the others¡¯ powers weren¡¯t as sustainable and needed more energy. Energy was drawn from the amulets, she mentioned, but if that wasn¡¯t available, the energy from their environment or their bodies would be used instead. R¨®is¨ªn assumed that their amulets had the same amount of energy needed to do anything, so what was wrong with the Dog¡¯s amulet¡ª

    Water dripped onto R¨®is¨ªn¡¯s face. In disgust, she wiped her face with her hands. It was coloured black, which was a strange colour for water to have. Black water was associated with¡ª

    Doko de sore o teniireta nodesu ka?

    R¨®is¨ªn was about to protest when she realised that the question was directed towards Hina¡ªwho was now holding one of the element guns in her hand.

    ¡°Jimen de mitsuketa yo, Ganimede-san,¡± was Hina¡¯s response.

    R¨®is¨ªn hoped that one of the qualities that made the Libra select Hina as a friend was proper training in weaponry and how to use them. The Aquarius appeared as a logo of two glowing blue waves, but R¨®is¨ªn knew that she was deep in thought.

    Change in destination. The car will park outside the Bramalea City Centre by the least

    frequented entrance. I have already finished hacking into the mall¡¯s surveillance network and

    the surrounding areas. You are to acquire three burner phones, all three marked by the

    Aquarius glyph. Be wary of any suspicious persons, and I will meet you at the Scotiabank

    ATM.

    She hated being used as an errand girl, but she reminded herself that the Aquarius was holding her money hostage. The sooner she completed these degrading tasks, the sooner her funds would be rightfully restored to her. If not¡­she had a hammer and several cybersecurity experts working on finding the Aquarius¡¯ location.

    R¨®is¨ªn exited the vehicle and detransformed. Too many people would ask questions about her horns and tail, and her dress was covered in dirt. She took a green cap and lowered it so that the security cameras couldn¡¯t see her face. Even if the Aquarius claimed she had complete control, R¨®is¨ªn felt safer with the cap obscuring her face. It wasn¡¯t as good as the Pisces¡¯ illusions or the Libra¡¯s glamours, but she had to make do. She could have made her own burner phones, but R¨®is¨ªn suspected that the Aquarius wanted complete control over what they could do with their phones.

    She located the store easily enough. It was in a retro 2020s style, with the phones lined up in tidy little rows. The three phones with glowing blue waves spinning on the screen were easy to spot. Based on the make and model, they weren¡¯t worth it to pay for. R¨®is¨ªn swiped them cleanly, just like Aunt Alcyone had taught her. If you want something, she said, take it. The sundress had enough hidden pockets that she deposited all three into those. As she was about to leave the store, a group of girls walked in.

    ¡°So that new boy¡­he¡¯s kinda cute?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, but honestly, I think that Heath is cuter. Have you seen his dimples, the way he smiles?¡±

    ¡°Counterpoint, Celeste is cuter than both of them. Her eyes are so blue¡­¡±

    ¡°Counter counterpoint, it¡¯s this hot billionaire boy that I¡¯ve been following on social media. He¡¯s from Morocco, and look at him! He¡¯s so dreamy¡­and he¡¯s staying in Geneva too!¡±

    Some small part of R¨®is¨ªn wanted to join the conversation. She had talked to Conor, but that was heavily restricted. She couldn¡¯t tell him about her fate, show him her gorgeous home, nor was she permitted to bring him to the Second House once it was reclaimed. In a way, she envied the four girls and their carefree nature. She desired a connection just like that, where she would have her friend that was all hers, not like sharing Conor with the rest of his friends. She wanted the Second House, her partner in the Sixth Gate, and all the money in the world. R¨®is¨ªn would have what she wanted, no matter what it took.

    She wanted her suitcases¡ªher suitcases?! Where were they?!

    R¨®is¨ªn mentally retraced her steps. Her suitcases had been loaded into the limousine and later checked in as carry-ons as they should have been. She had taken all of them out, and loaded them onto the bus¡ªthe accursed bus! The men and women who decided to dirty her hair and her dress with unclean English dirt had taken her poor innocent suitcases and for what?! To use against her as emotional blackmail? They probably weren¡¯t even stored properly! R¨®is¨ªn winced at the thought of all of the grunge that would be collecting inside the unfortunate suitcases. When they met, and oh they would meet again, she would come at them with all of her vengeance.

    She found herself at the ATM, just as the Aquarius instructed. Hina was fidgeting with the element gun and the standard greeting screen shifted to a black screen with two blue waves outlined. To her surprise, Willa was propped up in a wheelchair with her eyelids flickering. She was in the clothes that the maids had prepared for her.

    Show me the phones.

    R¨®is¨ªn fished inside her pockets before revealing the phones to the Aquarius.

    Good. With the assistance of the archives, I¡¯ve extracted a coherent thought from the Dog¡¯s

    brain. The Door to the Eleventh Gate is located near Lake Geneva in Switzerland. The castle in

    the All-Seeing Telescope is currently being identified by a computer program. Where were the

    Seven Sisters¡¯ last known locations?

    As if R¨®is¨ªn would reveal them to her. ¡°Only if you wake up the Dog. I will reveal it only in her presence, once she awakens.¡±

    Willa¡¯s prone body was immediately sucked into the ATM. Most people were more interested in the frequent discounts than the ATM, R¨®is¨ªn noticed, or trying to take off their clothing. Come to think of it, she was starting to swelter as well. She eyed Hina¡¯s element gun. No fire bullets.

    Done. This recipe from the Fourth Gate should work temporarily. The effects will wear off in

    ten minutes, so tell us quickly.

    Willa was ejected back into a wheelchair, her eyes wide open and darting wildly.

    ¡°Not quite what I had asked for, but you stuck to the letter of your word.¡± The sheer insolence of this woman. When they finally met in person, she would smash her into the ground. ¡°The day I awakened, my mother convened an emergency board meeting. Within a few days, events had transpired such that they could not continue to hide in isolation any longer. I was to stay at the mansion until the Key was safely returned and find the Door from there.¡± She watched the people milling about. Good, no one was watching.

    ¡°The eldest sister, my Aunt Maia, headed to Sydney to investigate a mysterious plane crash where all of the crew and passengers disappeared without a trace. My Aunt Electra was headed to America as the Key was believed to be hidden there. Aunt Taygete slipped into Costa Rica to track down the assailants who murdered one of our clientele and to find a disappeared PoI. The middle sister, Aunt Alcyone, left for Lemuria to secure our finances. Aunt Celaeno was bound for Tokyo to find the Libra and to Chiang Mai to find ¡°someone¡±. Aunt Asterope and my mother headed to Geneva to secure some assets left in limbo. Their last known location was in Rome, trying to arrange a meeting with one of their agents.¡± If the Dog¡¯s Door was near Geneva, would she see her mother and Aunt Asterope again? She looked at Willa, whose eyes seemed to be open against her will. ¡°Is that all?¡±

    Yes, that is all. You can check your bank account for the money.

    R¨®is¨ªn tapped on the ATM and selected the option for Seven Sisters Banking. She had memorised her credit card and banking account number, so she typed it in. Pulling up the transaction history, she looked at the number on the screen.

    €10 000 000

    Where was the rest of her money?! R¨®is¨ªn banged on the ATM harshly until the insipid blue waves appeared on the screen.

    I gave you your money back.

    ¡°You gave me half of the money back! Where is the rest?¡± Stowed away in a secret bank account? Syphoned off for the Aquarius¡¯ personal use? Or the worst outcome: being donated to charity?

    The rest was safely deposited in a bank account hidden away from prying eyes. I foresaw that

    you would not continue to cooperate with me if I gave back the full amount, so I gave you half

    of the money. You have a net worth of €15 billion. Surely ten million is worth nothing to you.

    Oh, it was worth something to R¨®is¨ªn. She huffed. ¡°When this is all over, I will grind your bones to paste.¡± She mentioned foresight¡­her Aunt Celaeno mentioned that in connection to the Eleventh House. ¡°You can see¡ª¡±

    I won¡¯t answer that. Have your amulet at the ready, and remember, Hina Nishikawa is only a

    human. Don¡¯t hold anything against her.

    The Aquarius and her stupid absurd statements¡ª

    A jet of black water squirted out of Hina¡¯s gun. People gave her dirty looks and continued walking towards their destinations.

    ¡°Gomen¡ª¡± Hina started.

    The air around her started to get hotter¡ªand then she saw it.

    R¨®is¨ªn managed to push Hina to the ground before a spinning double-headed axe on fire crashed into them. It kept spinning until it crashed and indented into the mall floor, causing panic among the shoppers. Axe¡­her mother had covered this¡­who wielded an axe? Whatever the case, she took out her bronze amulet and transformed, letting the crystals fragment and fall onto the floor. The petals obscured her body enough that no one was able to identify her.

    The petals immediately caught on fire and turned into cinders. She looked around for the intruder¡ªuntil she saw the scarlet blur heading straight at her. R¨®is¨ªn made out the faint outline of ram horns amidst the blazing streak.

    ¡°You motherfucker!¡±

    She had no time to respond or condemn her unseemly demeanour before she was punched in the face with a fiery fist.

 Paint Us A Brillant Monochrome Tapestry of Constellations

    Dulce waited under the warm and comfy blankets, snuggling in tightly.  She was waiting for a bedtime story from L¨£osh¨© as promised.  Her eyes were beginning to droop, but she had to stay awake.  It was her reward for thinking of an effective survival plan in case she was lost in an urban area, and she wanted L¨£osh¨© to tell her favourite story.

    The pillow was so inviting though¡­she could almost feel her head relaxing into the fluffy pillow and her drifting off into a comfortable and restful sleep.  Her bedroom was dark, but she saw the little paint splashes from when she was experimenting with different colours.  There was electric blue, jade green, silver, scarlet red, and royal purple.  She also saw splotches of a warm golden orange, lemon yellow, earthy brown tones, gunmetal grey, a deep sea green, magenta, peach, and vermillion.  All of the colours intermixed on her white canvas-like walls, like a beautiful tapestry.  Dulce wondered what the best colour was.  She had an affinity towards greens, reds, and purples; however she could not decide on what single colour to paint her room.  All three colours were equally good in her eyes.  L¨£osh¨© told her that she was in no rush to pick, but Dulce wanted to¡­

    A creak of her wooden door signified his entrance.

    ¡°Xi¨£o Y¨¢ng, are you still awake?¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡± She cupped her mouth.  That came out louder than expected.

    He chuckled. ¡°Sometimes, I doubt you are a goat when you roar like a tiger.¡±

    Dulce laughed.  L¨£osh¨© said funny things sometimes, like when he believed that her drawings can bring out ¡°inner powers¡±.  He still displayed them around the house, especially her special room with all of the watercolours and oil paints.

    L¨£osh¨© pulled up a once white chair, now drenched in a long dried mix of peach and vermillion. ¡°What story do you want to hear tonight?¡±

    She wiped her eyes. ¡°The Zodiac Race!¡±

    ¡°Again?  You asked for it last month as well.¡± He smiled. ¡°But I¡¯ll read it to you, as long as you¡¯re not tired.¡±

    She nodded.  Dulce was five going on six, she could stay awake for twenty minutes.

    ¡°Where should I start, and where is my book?  Ah here it is.¡± The man with greying hair and a long moustache and beard got up and plucked a hefty and well-worn book from a bookshelf facing Dulce¡¯s window. ¡°The old Yu¨¨ family history book, passed through the centuries.¡±

    She was always awed by the book and how thick it was.  L¨£osh¨© treasured the book, which was a record of his family history, along with myths from China.  From his quiet and reassuring voice, Dulce had immersed herself in the star-crossed romance of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl, the happier legend of the White Snake and her attempts to marry her beloved, and the misadventures of Sun Wukong from a rocky birth to gaining immunity from death for him and his fellow monkeys through trickery and deceit.  She wrapped her dark grey blanket around herself and watched as L¨£osh¨© turned the yellowed pages of the book.

    ¡°A long time ago, before us, before the Calamities, before my family moved here, before the oldest imperial dynasty of China, there was only Heaven and Earth.  Earth was where all animals resided, where they were free to do as they wished, but there was no time.  No calendar had been set out, no structure, and no order.¡±

    Dulce nodded.

    ¡°In Heaven, there was a deity known as the Jade Emperor, who wished to create a calendar for the inhabitants of Heaven and Earth to live by.  There was a second purpose as well: he alone could not defend Earth from outsiders who wished harm on its inhabitants, so he wanted protectors as well.  For this task, he decided that twelve animals and twelve protectors would be sufficient enough.  He sent out a pronouncement to all members of the animal kingdom: Compete in this race on behalf of your species, and you will be granted a place among the zodiac.¡±

    Dulce¡¯s eyes were beginning to close shut, but she wiped them with the back of her hand.

    ¡°Two best friends, the rat and the cat, heard of this proclamation and both mutually agreed to help each other get a spot on the zodiac.  Once the race started, the cat and rat were racing past the woods, leaping over small ledges, and were almost at the end when they came across a large and fast-flowing river.  They were both equally terrible swimmers, and both were bound to drown if they attempted to swim across.  Suddenly, there was a tremor!¡±

    She gasped.

    ¡°Much to their surprise, there was an ox preparing to cross the river.  The rat and the cat begged for a ride on the ox¡¯s back, for if they were to swim on their own, they would surely die and be swept away by the swift current.  The kindhearted ox was ever generous, and let the two climb on his back.  As the ox was making his way across the river, the rat¡¯s secret ambitions bore fruit.  When the cat wasn¡¯t watching, the rat pushed the cat off of the ox¡¯s back.¡±

    Dulce always felt bad for the poor cat.  She tried to imagine being betrayed by her best friend, but it was too sad to think about.

    ¡°Once the ox was near the river, the rat leaped off onto the shore and ran the rest of the way, securing first place.  The ox lumbered in at second place, happy and content with his position.¡±

    She nodded. ¡°The rat seems mean.¡±

    ¡°They are known for their intelligence and quick wit, so it might have been in the self-interest of the rat.¡± He cleared his throat. ¡°A roar resonated throughout the clearing as the tiger, the second most powerful animal, had battled the currents to take third place.¡±

    ¡°Was he happy about being third?¡±

    L¨£osh¨© chuckled. ¡°I was not there, but I would say that it was unlikely the tiger was satisfied.  On a small log was the rabbit.  She had thought that hopping on the rocks was the best solution, but the jagged edges cut into her paws, so she decided that a log was best.  Her little kicks weren¡¯t doing anything against the mighty river¡ªuntil a gust of wind blew her to shore and she was able to claim fourth place for her courage.¡±

    Dulce nodded.

    ¡°The source of that gust was the dragon, the most powerful animal.  He was expected to be first, but first he had to bring rain to a village stricken by drought and then he saw the rabbit in distress and blew her to shore.  For this, the Jade Emperor awarded the dragon with fifth place.¡±

    She waited for the next part.

    ¡°The sound of thundering hooves signalled the arrival of the horse.  He had managed to find a shortcut and expected to speedily secure a position.  In his haste to charge to the finish line, he failed to notice a stowaway in his hoof.  When he was about to reach the finish line, the snake slithered out of his hoof, startling him, and managed to secure sixth place.  The angry horse was seventh.¡±

    Dulce created a miniature blanket fort around her.  Her favourite part was coming up.

    ¡°Next were the goat, the monkey, and the rooster.  All three decided to cross the river together, with the goat helping direct the monkey and the rooster on when to paddle.  When they finally got to shore, they decided that the goat should take eighth place because of her role in bringing the group together in harmony, the monkey ninth place, and the rooster tenth place.¡±

    She loved this part.  Three friends working together to achieve their goals appealed to her, especially the peaceful goat.

    ¡°The dog dragged itself onto shore.  Even though he was a strong swimmer, he found the river water too tempting and frolicked in it for an hour before returning to the race.  He was granted eleventh place.¡±

    Swimming sounded fun, she thought, maybe L¨£osh¨© would teach her one day.

    ¡°Hours passed and the Jade Emperor briefly thought about closing the race when suddenly, an ¡°oink¡± was heard from the shoreline.  It was the pig, who had been racing until he discovered a cache of food.  Scarfing it down, he promptly fell asleep and when he woke up, crossed the river.  Thus, he was awarded twelfth place.¡±

    Dulce was getting tired, but she still wanted to ask a question. ¡°What happened to the cat?¡±

    L¨£osh¨© stayed silent for a moment. ¡°Some say that the cat survived and swore eternal vengeance against the rat.  That¡¯s why rats and cats hate each other now.¡±

    She nodded. ¡°What happened¡ª¡± She yawned and tried to keep her eyes open. ¡°What happened to the twelve animals?¡±

    ¡°They were placed on the calendar, and the Jade Emperor placed them as his guardians of the Earthly Gates.  Now I see that you are starting to fall asleep, so I¡¯ll let you rest.  Tomorrow, we can practise on how to stitch wounds and small injuries, but go to sleep first.¡±

    Dulce had already fallen asleep under her blanket.  L¨£osh¨© smiled and closed the door behind him.  She briefly mumbled something, but quickly fell into a deep sleep.

    <hr>

    L¨£osh¨© had promised to take her to the beach.  When asked if she preferred the Pacific or the Atlantic, she said at the time it didn¡¯t matter to her.  Both sides held equally wondrous beauty, and truly, all that mattered was that she had someone to share the experience with.

    She had seen both oceans alone during her momentous journey.  Two great bodies of water, sea green and azure blue brimming with white seafoam that waxed and waned with the tide.  She had trekked through verdant green forests, stared into the eyes of a slow moving sloth and its long three claws, discovered a holy ghost orchid deep in meditation, and ventured through rocky grey mountains all by her lonesome.

    Right, she thought, that was the issue.

    Dulce was facing the coast of a different sea, far removed from the azure blues and turquoises she familiarised herself with over the course of her travels.  The Mediterranean was a deep blue-green, and she had not seen seafoam in a while.  Once Fel¨ªcia had woken up, she found a small island with no inhabitants.

    ¡°La Fauchelle,¡± she told Dulce. ¡°It¡¯s part of the Galite Islands owned by Tunisia.  No one lives here so we should be safe.  Hey, can we do something about the dumbass rooster?¡±

    ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°Well, if she didn¡¯t gulp down an entire glass of whatever it is that those insane rich people gave us, maybe we wouldn¡¯t have to worry about being chased around by their private security?¡±

    Dulce decided not to mention that Fel¨ªcia also drunk half of her cocktail and simply nodded.

    There was another island, but she found it hard to make out any features with the constant fog.  Fel¨ªcia mentioned that it was not foggy here before the Calamities.  The Sun Summoner had proclaimed it as a sign of ¡°a subtle taint upon which the abyss had lain upon the lands for impropriety towards itself¡±.  The gold edged brunette rolled her eyes at this and mumbled something about ¡°weather patterns¡± and ¡°chicken-headed fluff¡±.  She was grateful for Fel¨ªcia deciding to teach her more Portuguese, but Dulce was still left questioning the wisdom of teaching her all of the swear words first.

    She went swimming with Nahla yesterday.  The girl had gone on her daily fishing trip and wanted to show Dulce the wonders of the sea.  At first, she was hesitant.  She could not swim, but the girl promised that she would be safe.  Dulce heard of the sea¡¯s beauty before, but she would have never believed that it would be that gorgeous!  All of the iridescent patches beneath sparkling turquoise waters, Nahla¡¯s rippling dark sea green tail, the violet streams that flowed from her waist, the way her hair billowed like a jellyfish underwater¡ªDulce felt awed at the visual appearance of the undersea world.  Sometimes it felt a little¡­too beautiful, but she was content enough to not question it.

    Most of them had settled into a routine within the week they had been on the island.  Samir would help prepare the fish, clams, and other mollusks that Nahla brought in, then everyone would sit by an open fire that Fel¨ªcia helped start.  The flames and the heat made her a bit wary, so she usually took her meals further away from the fire than everyone else.  The Sun Summoner had a talent for storytelling as she regaled a captive audience with epic tales of bravery, sacrifice, and courage beyond words, except Fel¨ªcia, but Dulce had caught Fel¨ªcia smiling at the younger girl¡¯s impassioned delivery.

    L¨£osh¨© would be happy for her, she mused.  He was always pushing her to make friends with people her own age and not ¡°spend her precious time with old men¡±.  She wondered what he would think of Fel¨ªcia, the Sun Summoner, Nahla, and Samir.  Would he like them?  Dulce thought he would.  He liked everyone back home, no matter who they were or where they hailed from.

    ¡°¡®Something passed down through the ages.¡¯¡± she repeated.  Help everyone, no matter what.

    Her eyes turned towards the sketch she was working on.  She drew out a sheet of paper, and had the barest outline of a face.  Dulce tried to recall as many details as she could.  Did he have a strong jawline?  She remembered it being that way.  His ears were large enough that she liked to pull at them as a toddler.  His eyes should be a little smaller than hers, and¡­did he have an angular nose?  A Roman nose?  Maybe even a hooked nose?  How many forehead creases did he have?  Did he have any?

    She stared at her unfinished drawing.  It had only been a month¡­she can¡¯t have forgotten everything about the man who raised her.  Come to think of it, was L¨£osh¨©¡¯s eyes actually shaped like a teardrop?  She wished she had a reference photo, but they would be all lost by now¡­

    ¡°Hail to the fair lady!¡±

    Dulce turned around.  The Sun Summoner had her hands behind her back, her beaklike mask observing Dulce¡¯s sketches.

    ¡°Whose visage are you envisioning now?¡± The girl brushed away her red¡­comb?  Dulce still wasn¡¯t sure what to call it.

    ¡°It¡¯s¡­someone I once knew.¡± Could she tell the Sun Summoner?  Her integrity was unquestionable, but she wanted no burdens for today. ¡°What are you holding behind your back?¡±

    The Sun Summoner whipped out a wreath of bluish purple flowers with a wide grin on her face. ¡°This one knows that the taint of the abyss has lingered on this land long enough that this one can sense it, but this one is assured that these flowers are free from any such miasma.¡± The white gold mask tilted as the Sun Summoner moved closer to Dulce. ¡°Would my fair lady like a flower wreath for her troubles?  This one blessed them with the clarity of the Light.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    Dulce found the girl¡¯s gestures of kindness sweet and endearing.  First there was kissing her hand after the battle in Rio de Janeiro, then the Sun Summoner professing a desire to write a song for her, and now the flower wreath.  She watched as the girl gently placed the wreath around her black hair¡ªand murmured in shock as the girl started singing a rousing ballad, causing a metal pavilion to spring up and enclose the two.  A small easel sat in the corner.

    ¡°If the fair lady ever finds herself led astray by dark thoughts that cloud one¡¯s clear vision, there will always be a place for her no matter where she finds herself as long as this one takes breath.¡± The Sun Summoner motioned for Dulce to take a seat.

    Dulce sat down.  She decided to detransform out of tiredness.  Thankfully, she no longer had a massive cloak to worry about draping over the metal chair.  Listening to the Sun Summoner chatter about the Light and its wondrous benefits, it brought a smile to her face.  Did she know¡­maybe not the specifics, but the general feeling of loss?  She must say, the Sun Summoner was quite different from Dulce¡¯s first shameful impression of her.  When she used such strange pronouns, Dulce thought that she was a delusional idiot, not helped by the mentions of the Light.  As she had come to learn, that was clearly not the case.  The Light was the way by which the Sun Summoner perceived the world, just as how an artist perceives through tints, shades, and tones.  It just happened that her view was more diametrically opposed to most others¡¯ perceptions of reality.  A lot of creative minds were eccentric.  L¨£osh¨© liked to talk to the moon.  She used to draw crabs and pretend that the crabs talked back to her.  It was not shameful, but merely a difference in sight.

    ¡°---This one was amazed by your prowess at cartography.¡±

    ¡°My prowess?  Did you mean the map I drew?¡± She must have been a child when she drew it, and Dulce still couldn¡¯t wrap around the fact that L¨£osh¨© would save her work.

    ¡°The peaks of each mountain sharp enough to cut through any lies, the blue of the ocean so deep to drown oneself, the light of the Sun that so fairly gazes upon the Earth below¡ªit¡¯s as if you captured the very essence of the physical world!  Truly, such a talent could have only been bestowed on the fair lady by the machinations of the Light!¡±

    Dulce took out the well-worn map.  Before she knew about her powers, she had always found it strange why L¨£osh¨© would save every drawing she had ever drawn.  They used to be hung in the meditation room, swaying in the breeze whenever L¨£osh¨© decided that fresh air was needed.  If she can bring her drawings to life¡­she scanned the map.  Every scribble, every stroke¡­if there was a way to decipher it, it must have been hidden within the map itself.  It was part of L¨£osh¨©¡¯s final gift, it must have meant something beyond another one of her doodles.

    ¡°Thank you Sun Summoner for the inspiration!¡± She opened the door to the pavilion. ¡°Do you need anything else or do you want to come¡ª¡±

    ¡°No,¡± the girl stated. ¡°If the fair lady is happier now, then this one¡¯s task has been successfully completed.¡±

    There was a small clearing up on the hill that Dulce was climbing.  It used to be completely flat, but the first thing Dulce noticed was the massive hole in the middle.  Despite the fact that there was no pile of dirt nearby, she knew where it had gone, staring at the massive peach tree with its succulent fruit hanging perilously close to the ground.

    ¡°Hey Dulce!  You should eat one of these!  They¡¯re amazing!¡±

    Fel¨ªcia was munching on a ripe peach, its juices running down her mouth.  Dulce had been teaching Fel¨ªcia Spanish in return for Portuguese lessons, and the younger girl had been a bright and curious student.  She pronounced every word perfectly, all of the grammatical articles were almost correct, and rarely mixed up similar sounding words.  There were a few mistakes, but it was better than what she expected from a first time learner.  Dulce nodded, and was given a peach.  She pulled out a knife that she drew on their first day here and a plate, and began cutting the peach into slices.

    ¡°What should we try first?¡± Fel¨ªcia waved her hand over a small patch of grass, creating a napkin to wipe her mouth with.

    Dulce unfolded her map carefully, setting it out on top of sheets of blank white paper she had drawn out previously. ¡°I was thinking that we should use your transmutation powers¡ª¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not one for laziness, but maybe we can take it a little easy today?¡± Fel¨ªcia was moving her hands, stretching them and rotating them around her wrists. ¡°Changing things takes a lot of energy.¡±

    She nodded. ¡°What are your suggestions for today?¡±

    ¡°Well, we already tried the secret lemon writing, but I¡¯m guessing that your teacher didn¡¯t want to ruin your drawing because nothing showed up.  What about the Sun?  If you can encode hidden passageways with moonbeams like that fantasy series I read as a kid, the Sun could work.  More useful too, the Moon changes like that.¡± She snapped her fingers.

    Dulce always enjoyed painting under the cold moonlight.  The full moon tickled her creative fantasies and drew out her emotions onto the paper.  The Sun could work, and Fel¨ªcia was right, the Sun was more constant than the Moon with its waxes and wanes.  She placed it in the centre of the clearing, the afternoon Sun shining radiantly upon it.

    ¡°On the other hand, I don¡¯t remember the Sheep being strongly associated with the Sun.  Did your L¨£osh¨© say anything about the Sun?  Different times, like ¡®is it special in the morning?¡¯¡± Fel¨ªcia asked.

    ¡°Not that I remember.  All I know is that to have the Goat or the Sheep as your Hour Pillar,  you have to have been born between the hours of 1:00 pm and 3:00 pm,¡± was Dulce¡¯s reply.

    Fel¨ªcia looked around. ¡°Not enough stuff here to make a clock.¡± She covered her eyes and looked upwards. ¡°The Sun is past noon, so give it a few hours?¡±

    A few hours later, Fel¨ªcia was unleashing creative insults and swear words at the luminous Sun.  Dulce was not proud to say that she recognised all of them, but she did.  Once the girl¡¯s monkey tail stopped lashing wildly, Fel¨ªcia relented.

    ¡°The Sun isn¡¯t helping and I don¡¯t see the Moon.  I don¡¯t remember the Moon being special to the Sheep, do you?¡±

    Dulce shook her head.

    ¡°It had to be specific to you then.  Did your L¨£osh¨© teach you any special drawing techniques?  An ancient brushstroke passed down through the family lineage?  Calligraphy brushes blessed by the ancestors?¡±

    She was taught special techniques, but none of them were related to drawing, and she had no tangible possessions that weren¡¯t consumed by fire. ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°What are your thoughts?  It¡¯s not like it was meant for me, you did draw it as a child.¡±

    Dulce squinted at the arcane symbols marked upon the map.  A few jumped out to her, like the four directions.  There was a wind rose in the left corner¡­wait.  She looked at the compass.

    ¡°L¨£osh¨©, what does this hanzi mean?¡± She had asked.

    ¡°This hanzi means south.¡± He traced a brush over each individual stroke.

    ¡°Why is it pointing up?  Should it not be north?¡±

    ¡°It should be, but in the days of ancient China, it was tradition that a compass always pointed upwards to the south.¡±

    Dulce rotated the papers, reversing the map so that the bottom of the compass rose was pointing north and the top to the south.  The shapes within better resembled the six continents, yet still as enigmatic and mysterious as ever.  Withdrawing her obsidian amulet from her green kaftan, she looked at it.  Black and white, just like her clothes.  She wished that the world was as monochrome as her amulet.

    ¡°I want to redraw this colourless world so that all will know shades of resilience, tints of flexibility, and tones of tranquillity.¡±

    The amulet exploded into black and white.  Dulce was affixed in a void of white, black paint running along her midsection.  From the void came a stream of white paint.  She felt herself used like a canvas, watching as her clothing was sketched into existence.  Her hair was erased and then redrawn with a fluffier texture and recoloured with white, leaving two long strips of black at the front.

    When she opened her eyes, she first noticed Fel¨ªcia holding the map while they and the tree were both strapped down.

    ¡°I honestly love floating around weightless but,¡± Fel¨ªcia gestured to the barren ground. ¡°Not a lot of good places to climb.  I¡¯m also tired, so there¡¯s that.¡±

    Dulce nodded and motioned for everything to obey gravity.  Both she and Fel¨ªcia slumped to the ground while the tree remained rooted.  She summoned her calligraphy brush and hovered over the map.  Still, nothing jumped out at her.  She drew out a few transparent strokes.  Nothing.

    ¡°Should we try again?¡± Dulce¡¯s eyes flickered to Fel¨ªcia¡¯s ochre coloured hands. ¡°Or should we try a different approach?¡±

    Fel¨ªcia sighed. ¡°I¡¯m a bit tired, but I want to know as much as you do.¡±

    It was at that moment that Dulce noticed Fel¨ªcia¡¯s bloodshot eyes. ¡°You are not well, we can pursue this tomorrow morning¡ª¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s been a month, we do this now or never.¡± Fel¨ªcia¡¯s hands started moving, changing the dirt into an object with a metallic glint. ¡°This should¡ª¡±

    She coughed to her right side.  Dark crimson blood splattered on the pale beige dirt.  Before Dulce could react, Fel¨ªcia¡¯s eyes rolled to the back of her head as she fell backwards.

    Oh no no no no no no¡ªDulce started screaming.  What was she thinking!?  If she had been more attentive, she would have noticed that Fel¨ªcia was not healthy enough to use her powers.  If she had not pushed Fel¨ªcia to help her with deciphering the map, then Fel¨ªcia would not be lying on the ground bleeding from her mouth and possibly close to death¡ªquickly, Dulce touched Fel¨ªcia, whose wide open eyes were staring at the sky in open horror.  Out of sheer panic, she squeezed her hands tightly¡ªonly for Fel¨ªcia to close her eyes.  Dulce continued screaming.

    Wait, her mind muttered.  Focus and think clearly and carefully.  The Sun Summoner and Nahla were either far away or fishing in the depths of the ocean.  She wasted valuable seconds panicking and screaming when she should have devised a solution.  Dulce stopped hyperventilating and took in deep breaths.  Like L¨£osh¨© taught her, the more she hyperventilated, the less oxygen flowed to her brain.  Turning Fel¨ªcia to her side and taking up her brush, she drew a map of the body meridians outlined in various colours.  Dulce knew that it was not a correct anatomical model, but it helped her visualise each organ system when she was younger.

    From what she remembered, blood fell under water.  She drew a small stroke, outlining every major blood vessel in black.  It was a destaurated shade though.  The woman had caused a lot of blood loss.  Dulce highlighted all of Fel¨ªcia¡¯s bone marrow in black.  In order to stimulate the bone marrow with L¨£osh¨©¡¯s healing techniques, she needed to find Fel¨ªcia¡¯s large intestine.  Thankfully it was handily outlined in white.  Dulce drew a small tube, inserted it into the white reservoir, and led the flowing energy into the bone marrow.  L¨£osh¨© would have used needles and potions, but she could not remember how to draw those.  The white energy was accelerating the development of red blood cells, but Fel¨ªcia was not waking up.

    She was about to call for the Sun Summoner when Fel¨ªcia suddenly woke up, gasping for air and coughing up dark crimson blood.  Dulce steadied her as she hacked the rest of the blood out.

    ¡°Wh-what was that!?¡± Fel¨ªcia gasped.

    ¡°Ancient healing techniques passed down through generations,¡± recited Dulce.

    ¡°Where did your L¨£osh¨© learn this?  And why did you put me to sleep?¡±

    That shocked Dulce. ¡°I put you to sleep?¡±

    ¡°Yeah?¡±

    Dulce looked at her hands.  Putting people to sleep?  Her mind thought back to the mansion, and the cocktails.  They were black and white¡­just like her clothes.  The owner of the mansion knew more about them than he let on¡­

    ¡°Do you remember the cocktails that were served at the mansion?¡± She asked Fel¨ªcia.

    ¡°By that asshole with too much money who tried drugging us?  Of course I remember.¡± Fel¨ªcia¡¯s tail curled around her. ¡°Wait¡ªif you can put me to sleep, and that put us to sleep¡ª¡±

    Dulce nodded. ¡°Then it¡¯s likely that we have more undiscovered gifts than we know of.¡± She hoped that one of them was the key to unlocking the enigma of the map.

    ¡°You didn¡¯t answer my first question.¡± Fel¨ªcia tapped the ground lightly.

    Dulce thought about how L¨£osh¨© first explained it to her.

    ¡°L¨£osh¨©?  Why do you like to talk to the moon?¡±

    Dulce snuggled up closer to L¨£osh¨©.  The moon was full tonight, a lonely light amidst a sea of midnight black.  It was chilly, so L¨£osh¨© brought out the extra large dark grey blanket for them.

    ¡°Because she¡¯s visible tonight.¡± L¨£osh¨© sipped his specially brewed green tea.

    ¡°Who is she?¡± Dulce¡¯s small voice asked.

    L¨£osh¨© smiled knowingly. ¡°Have I ever told you the story of how the Yu¨¨ family received its name?¡±

    Dulce shook her head.

    ¡°Before my ancestor chose his name during the first Emperor¡¯s reign, he consulted his grandfather on the most auspicious name.  His grandfather was a respected apothecary who had left his work in the hands of his skilled children and grandchildren, but he had learnt his trade from his grandfather before him.  The man¡¯s great-great-grandfather had learnt his trade from someone else¡­for he had not the success that his descendants would come to have.  Only a small ramshackle cart and an ox that had seen better days, many people scorning him as he travelled.  He had come across a large hill, saw the moon, and prayed for good fortune in business.  The night was cold, and he was about to give up when a woman appeared before him.  Knowing much of traditional medicine, she taught him how to brew medicinal potions, the different medicinal uses of each herb, and special techniques revolving around the balance of energy within one¡¯s body and mind.  He cultivated his knowledge for ten years in her company until he proposed marriage.  The woman accepted, but she would tend to his house only when the moon hid her face from the earth.  They soon wed, and he set up his business in a small village.  Immediately, he won renown as an expert healer, but he always deferred to his wife in difficult medical matters.  Soon, the moon grew fuller, and the couple were blessed with many children.  Unknown to the man, his wife had other duties and was soon called away by a silver chariot.  Her husband pleaded with her to stay, but she could only give him a kiss and a book before being whisked away.¡±

    ¡°In honour of his ethereal ancestor, my ancestor took on the name of Yu¨¨, a homophone for the home of my many times great ancestor who still lives there¡­¡± His smile turned wry.

    ¡°Can I see her?¡± Dulce asked.

    If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.

    ¡°Yes you can.¡± He pointed at the dark spots on the moon. ¡°She¡¯s carrying out her duties to this day, if you look closely enough.¡±

    ¡°What does she do?¡±

    ¡°She pounds and pounds away with her mortar and pestle to create humanity¡¯s ultimate dream: immortality.¡±

    Dulce knew what to tell Fel¨ªcia.

    ¡°My teacher inherited his knowledge from his ancestors, and his ancestors learned the trade from their ancestors before them, and so forth until the progenitor of the lineage: the Moon.¡±

    Fel¨ªcia gave her a bewildered expression. ¡°How did that work out!?  The Moon doesn¡¯t have a¡ª¡±

    Dulce tuned out the rest as Fel¨ªcia launched into a graphic description of sexual reproduction, complete with hand gestures.

    ¡°That was not what happened, the Moon took on a human form.¡±

    ¡°Well, that makes things easier, but at this rate a human having sex with the Moon isn¡¯t the weirdest thing that has happened to the world.¡± Fel¨ªcia yawned. ¡°Gonna have to retire for today, I guess that woman had drawn more blood than I thought.  See you tomorrow.¡±

    With that, Fel¨ªcia turned into a monkey and left Dulce alone on the hill with the peach tree and the distant map.  She picked up the map and studied the corners.  There were a few scribbles on the map on various locations; she had counted twenty four scribbles in total.  Did they mean anything?  No one could decipher them.  Even when she briefly showed Nahla, the girl could not recognise any of the symbols.  Dulce re-examined it, holding up the corners.  Every angle yielded nothing.  No great revelations, no tantalising finds¡ª

    As the sun started to set, Dulce found herself in disarray.  She tried everything: the light of the sun, looking at it from the peach tree, drawing navigational tools with her brush¡ªnothing.  Looking at the shifting map, she wondered what compelled L¨£osh¨© to pick up a crying baby in the midst of a Calamity and raise it as his daughter.  This was something she created as a child, and yet she was no closer to solving it than when she was fleeing her home.  Compared to everyone else, she barely knew how her own powers worked.  If she knew how to use them better, maybe they wouldn¡¯t have been in the mansion, maybe she could have saved L¨£osh¨©, maybe Fel¨ªcia would not have had to deal with her community uprooted from the ground¡­sometimes, she felt like an extraneous extremity compared to her friends.  What good was she?  She accidentally put Fel¨ªcia to sleep out of ignorance¡ªha, what a joke.

    Maybe she should retire soon.  It was late, and she had not been gaining any insight for the past four hours.  Sleep was better than staring at a map for hours.  Dulce briskly walked past the flickering embers of the fire and crawled into her makeshift bed, watching the fog cloud the starless sky.  Seventeen going on eighteen, and still she was lost.  Dulce closed her eyes, and slept with tears brimming her eyes...

    Where was she?  The sky was clear, and she could see colourful streamers blowing by.  There was the small pond that she once called a lake when she was younger, and there¡ª

    Her house.  It was modest, more similar to Fel¨ªcia¡¯s house than the Moroccan mansion.  She remembered the white columns well, and the painted exterior!  The sky blues, the grass greens, and the blush pinks all came together, while the navy blue door stood out.  She walked up to the wooden veranda and twisted the brass knob to open the door.

    The smell of freshly brewed tea rolled through the corridor.  Everything was as it was: the billowing curtains, the ink wash paintings, Dulce¡¯s small corner of various art supplies¡ªand L¨£osh¨© was pouring tea in white robes.  Dulce took her customary seat in front of him.

    ¡°Where have you been?¡± he asked.

    Dulce sipped her white tea. ¡°I have been¡­elsewhere.¡± How was he alive, she wanted to ask.  She saw the ocean, she wanted to add.

    L¨£osh¨© nodded. ¡°I see that clearly.  Was there anything you would like to share further?¡±

    Dulce was still staring when his voice snapped her out of her trance. ¡°You entrusted me with a box before¡ª¡± She stopped herself. ¡°I need help with one of the items: a map with indecipherable lines.¡±

    The maple box suddenly appeared on the table, L¨£osh¨© quickly opening the lid.  Inside was a single item: the map with curled edges.

    ¡°Tell me what you see,¡± L¨£osh¨© prompted.

    Dulce looked it over.  The black lines were swimming in front of her eyes, changing thickness and direction. ¡°I do not see anything.¡±

    ¡°There has to be something,¡± L¨£osh¨© prodded. ¡°Something you must¡¯ve discovered.¡±

    ¡°I¨CI do¨Cdo not know.¡± Nothing made sense.  The continents were splotches of ink now, the scribbles becoming more meaningless¡­ ¡°Please help me.¡±

    ¡°You have to figure it out!¡± He clasped his hand on her left shoulder.

    ¡°Bu-but I¨CI do not know how!¡± Why was everything so hard?

    ¡°You must!¡± At that, his wrinkled hand burst into flames.

    Dulce yelled in panic, trying to find a source of water.  She reached out for her brush, but nothing.  The flames leaped across the maple floors and devoured it, leaving Dulce trembling and crying for L¨£osh¨©.  She screamed louder once she realised his hands were becoming ash in her palms.  No, not again, not again, she can find a way to avert this, somehow, somehow, lift the house!

    It failed.

    Dulce crumpled to the ground, watching her home become lost to fire again.  Her tears ran hot and heavy down her cheeks.  She barely mustered the strength to stand when seawater started lapping at the edges of her cloak and doused the flames.

    ¡°Are you alright?  I saw your door pulsing, so I came here to help!¡±

    The scene shifted so that the fires never touched the world.  All traces of her home were erased, much to her consternation.  Nahla noticed her downcast expression and restored her home.

    ¡°How much did you see?¡± Dulce asked her.

    ¡°Enough.¡± Nahla dried Dulce¡¯s tears. ¡°Do you want to wake up?¡±

    ¡°No.¡± The answer was quick.  It was not likely she would be able to experience home untouched. ¡°We can sit on the veranda.¡±

    Nahla spread her skirts so that most of it was covering her legs, but her feet remained barefoot.  Dulce shed her cloak in the hot weather.  Both were sitting over the edge, watching the ¡°lake¡± shimmer under the full moon.

    ¡°Your home is beautiful,¡± said Nahla.

    ¡°It was,¡± replied Dulce.

    ¡°Do you want to¡ª¡±

    Dulce shook her head.  The image of L¨£osh¨© in his last moments¡­

    Nahla looked down. ¡°I¡¯m not going to lie, I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll understand how you feel.  At least not in any way that doesn¡¯t come off as patronising.  If you ever want to talk though, I¡¯m here.¡±

    Dulce brushed against Nahla¡¯s teak coloured hands.  The sea green scales felt surprisingly smooth. ¡°Maybe later.¡± Maybe never.

    ¡°Was it ever deep enough to swim in?¡± Nahla held Dulce¡¯s pale hands now.

    ¡°It only reached my knees.  Do you swim often?¡±

    ¡°Yes!  Usually by myself since Samir prefers watching from the shore.  We should find a place to swim together, and I can ask the Sun Summoner and Fel¨ªcia.  If I see Khalid again, I¡¯ll ask him to join us, if that¡¯s fine with you.¡±

    The name stopped Dulce¡¯s heart.  Khalid.  Nahla¡¯s friend or crush, the one who lived in the mansion. ¡°Maybe not Khalid.¡±

    Nahla¡¯s face morphed into one of surprise. ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°He is¡­¡± Dulce tried to find the right words. ¡°We still do not know who ordered those cocktails.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not Khalid.¡± Nahla stated with utmost certainty. ¡°He¡¯s not the kind of person that would drug his friends.¡±

    ¡°Why did he invite you to his house?¡±

    ¡°He wanted to know me better.¡±

    Dulce wanted to point out that Nahla should not have accepted an invite from someone she had only known for a week at most, but she herself was travelling with people she had only known for three weeks.  A hypocritical statement for a fallible girl.

    ¡°Do you think that the woman is alright?  I know it¡¯s a strange question, especially after what happened, but I hope she is.¡± Nahla asked.

    An obvious attempt to change the topic, but appreciated. ¡°She left, she must have been satisfied.¡± After slaughtering most of the security forces, she should have been.

    ¡°I know I sound naive, but I think that she doesn¡¯t have malice in her heart.  There has to be a reason.¡±

    Malice enough for all of those guards, but Nahla struck a chord with Dulce.  When they were cowering underneath the onslaught, they saw the woman.  She could have drawn their blood like she did to Fel¨ªcia, or poisoned them like she did the Sun Summoner, but she did not.  The woman had simply shown them an empty path in the hedges.  No harm came to them.

    ¡°You are right.  Her target was the security, Khalid¡¯s father, and his associates.¡±  That did not excuse what she had done to Dulce¡¯s friends or Khalid, no matter her ambivalence on the boy.  If they met again, she hoped that their goals aligned; she feared for their survival if they clashed.

    The moon was dipping lower, its rays scattering across the surface of the placid ¡°lake¡±.

    ¡°You¡¯re waking up now,¡± Nahla said. ¡°I¡¯ll see you soon.  Remember, I¡¯m here, and so are Fel¨ªcia and the Sun Summoner when you need them.¡±

    Dulce nodded and watched the moon sink below the horizon¡­

    She woke up to the Sun shining¡ªand a familiar white gold beaked mask looming over her.

    ¡°The fair lady has awoken.¡± The mask tilted. ¡°This one had sensed that you require a companion.¡±

    ¡°Did Nahla tell you anything?¡±

    ¡°No, the dream weaver bore no revelations to this servant.  Rather, your howling into the night made it abundantly clear that you were in need of the Light and its cleansing powers.¡± The Sun Summoner fixed her gaze. ¡°What dark forces conspire to confound you and lead you astray from the path?¡±

    She was screaming in her sleep.  She needed to control herself, else she would disturb everyone else. ¡°How long have you been here?¡±

    ¡°Since the first morning rays, as is custom with followers of the Light.  This one was almost compelled to wake you, but sleep was becoming of your countenance.  Therefore, this one awakened the monkey in your stead and kept vigilance until such time that you had awoken.¡± The mask shifted. ¡°Does something trouble you?¡±

    Dulce wanted to say nothing, but what Nahla had said resonated.  She barely had any friends at home, only acquaintances, and her guardian was dead.  She already trusted Fel¨ªcia with everything.  The Sun Summoner was a good listener, and so she told her everything.

    The girl brushed away her red comb. ¡°You have a lot of strength carrying such dark matters within your heart, and if the darkness troubles you again, this one is here to dispel any corruption from your midst.¡±

    ¡°Actually I¡ªI wanted to ask for your help with the map.  Would you know anything about these?¡± She unfurled the map on her lap, along with the requisite papers.

    The Sun Summoner¡¯s mask betrayed nothing, yet she knew the girl was deep in thought.  She pulled out a white gold amulet and opened it.  All of a sudden, the girl¡¯s jade green tail feathers were standing alert.

    ¡°This one has beseeched the Light for mental clarity, and it has delivered a revelation.  The Light has distributed blessings among a select few, yet some are sealed away from us.  Whether due to the frailty of our mortal bodies or a divine restriction, the matter remains: we must achieve enlightenment before we are to uncover the secrets of the fair lady¡¯s map.¡±

    What would enlightenment entail?  Dulce looked at her hands, the hands that put Fel¨ªcia to sleep. ¡°We should bring in Fel¨ªcia and Nahla.¡± Samir was still recovering from the wound the woman in black dealt him.  She decided to heal him after she was finished conversing.

    The Sun Summoner tsked at the mention of Fel¨ªcia. ¡°As you wish, but should the monkey impede our endeavours, this one will not hesitate to dispel her from the island.¡±

    ¡°Please do not.¡±

    ¡°Very well.¡±

    As the Sun Summoner summoned a beaming Nahla and a belligerent Fel¨ªcia to the clearing, Dulce was thinking of the cocktails again.  If the cocktails were connected to her, then either Khalid¡¯s father or Khalid knew about them before they arrived.  How though, and for what reason?  L¨£osh¨© was generous with his medicine, but he had always forbidden her from bringing anyone to their house or showing her drawings to others.  Except one time with the woman in emerald green¡­

    ¡°Fel¨ªcia?¡± she called out.

    ¡°Yeah?¡±

    ¡°Have you ever had a woman in green robes visit your av¨® or you?¡± When she was six, L¨£osh¨© was sitting in the drawing room with a woman in green robes covering her head and an emerald green brooch.  He told her the woman¡¯s name, but she found it difficult to pronounce.  All Dulce remembered was that it started with an A.

    Fel¨ªcia started laughing. ¡°A woman in green robes visited you too?  The same thing happened to me¡ªbut yours wasn¡¯t attacked with a broom and chased out by an angry old woman cursing her, or was she?  I remember watching from my room that day.  Funniest thing that year.  Av¨® mentioned ummm, what¡¯s the word?  Ah yes, extortion.  We stopped getting visits after that and after my av¨® whacked a curious passerby with a cane.¡± She looked at the sky. ¡°Now that I think about it, that¡¯s probably how your L¨£osh¨© and my av¨® knew each other.  Beats my ex-lovers theory.¡±

    Dulce tried and failed to picture L¨£osh¨© in a relationship with Fel¨ªcia¡¯s av¨®.  She did not doubt the possibility. ¡°Do you think that the women were connected to the cream¡ªno.¡± Wrong shade, the cream container was too dark to be connected to the women.

    ¡°This one has never been visited by any green women in the past.  It appears that there are machinations beyond even the clarity of the Light,¡± the Sun Summoner proclaimed with a hint of¡­resentment?

    Dulce translated everything for Nahla, who replied with a shake of her head.

    ¡°Since we¡¯re answering each other¡¯s questions, here¡¯s something on my mind: Any of you know anything about hot pink rods?  I saw them stuck to my house back in Rio, then I made them into the peaches we were eating over the Atlantic,¡± Fel¨ªcia exclaimed.

    Dulce stilled. ¡°Were they long and thin with a hot pink sphere on top?¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    Dulce¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°I saw them in the middle of the forest a few days before¡ªa few days before the fire.¡± The look on L¨£osh¨©¡¯s face chilled Dulce to her bones.  She had never seen him that fearful in her life.

    Fel¨ªcia stopped fidgeting with her hands. ¡°Good thing that Av¨® fled the house.  Does anyone have an idea where they came from?¡±

    Everyone shook their heads.

    ¡°Well shit, so there¡¯s at least two groups chasing us for whatever reason, one of them¡¯s killed your L¨£osh¨©, the other one tried to drug us, and we¡¯re running around blind.  Or they¡¯re working together, again for unknown reasons.  Oh, and there¡¯s the woman in black, who we also know nothing about other than she¡¯s really good at killing people and hates one of the groups.¡± Fel¨ªcia looked at Dulce. ¡°Any progress with the map?¡±

    ¡°The Sun Summoner thinks that we have to be enlightened to understand it.  I-I think we have hidden powers.¡± She translated all of this for Nahla.

    ? Des pouvoirs cach¨¦s ? Samir m''a dit depuis longtemps que je ne doive pas chanter, mais je n''ai jamais demand¨¦ pourquoi. Ce serait peut-¨ºtre ¨¤ cause de mes pouvoirs magiques ? ? Nahla explained.  She was not allowed to sing?  That was strange.

    ? Soyez-vous capable de construir un r¨ºve commun donc que la Lumi¨¨re soit apport¨¦ chez nos esprits faibles ? ? The Sun Summoner asked.  Such a lyrical voice, Dulce noted.

    ? Oui ... mais parfois des malheurs se passent lorsque je cr¨¦e des r¨ºves. ? Nahla responded.

    A shared dream sounded wonderful.  Interesting how the Sun Summoner mentioned a special connection between herself, Dulce and Fel¨ªcia¡­

    ¡°Next were the goat, the monkey, and the rooster.  All three decided to cross the river together, with the goat helping direct the monkey and the rooster on when to paddle.¡±

    Dulce¡¯s eyes flicked between her sheep ears, Fel¨ªcia¡¯s dark brown tail, and the Sun Summoner¡¯s light orange hair.  The map lightly pulsed before falling silent.  Maybe the answer was cooperation, but she hoped that Fel¨ªcia and the Sun Summoner would get along one day.  Dulce found them more similar than both would care to admit.

    She did not question how likely they carved a place into her heart.  She could not, not when her heart was overburdened with a hole shaped like her teacher¡¯s white tea and pondering.

    Before she slept, she checked on Samir and Nahla.  Both of them were chattering animatedly in Arabic.  Samir waved at Dulce and muttered thank you in accented Spanish.  Dulce mouthed ¡°you are welcome¡± in return.  Once she was safely ensorcelled in her bed, she let herself sleep under the foggy night.

    Dulce awakened into a robin egg blue void.  Black and white piano keys encircled a white platform while colourful streamers entwined themselves around the keys.  Fel¨ªcia was slowly waking up while the Sun Summoner looked alert and ready for what came next.

    ¡°This took a lot of energy, so I apologise if anything is out of place.¡± Nahla¡¯s violet streamers waved as if in a nonexistent ocean. ¡°I¡¯ve created artificial dreams before, but things happen in these dreams.  Bad things, things that people want hidden.¡± She looked pointedly at Dulce as she spoke.

    If Dulce wanted her friends to work together, she should be willing to share.  It did not mean that they should be forced to share.  Glancing at Fel¨ªcia, she noticed the return of fidgeting hands.  The Sun Summoner stood without any seeming trace of emotion, though Dulce noticed a brief grimace.

    ¡°We¡¯ll go,¡± both said in unison before looking at each other with pointed stares.

    ¡°If neither of you are willing, we can try and find another way¡ª¡± started Dulce.

    ¡°This one knows and understands the consequences beforehand.¡± The Sun Summoner stepped forward. ¡°The plan had been set in motion.  Do it now.¡±

    Nahla conjured up a wall of water that rose high into the air.  Dulce noted that her eyes flashed a dark sea green¡ªalmost alien.

    ¡°Drown in your sorrows.¡±

    The water crashed onto the white platform, and all went black.

    ¡°L¨£osh¨©!  Stay with me!¡±

    All she heard was gurgling.  His clothes had fused with his skin, but she could not bear to look.  Only a few minutes, they practised this, thirty compressions, two breaths, thirty compressions, two¡ª

    ¡°L¨£osh¨©?¡± Nothing.  She tried again.  No breath came.  Before she knew it, the tears hit her hard, leaving her shaking and sobbing.

    There was a garden shovel nearby.  Dulce grabbed it and stared at her grimy hands.

    The only sounds that day were incessant sobs, a dying fire, and the sound of a metal shovel digging into the earth.

    Her tears running hot, Dulce¡¯s inner wound ripped open and bared for everyone to see again¡ª

    She was running.  It was a rare starless night.  No one was awake.  In other words, she alone was the master of this twilight world.  No one could judge her tonight.

    ¡°You, the President of Brazil?  Get real, you¡¯re just going to end up as one of those washed up good for nothing favela dwellers¡ª¡±

    ¡°Shut up¡­¡± she gritted through her teeth as she leaped over a rooftop and landed with a thud.

    ¡°You¡¯re at the top of your class, I¡¯m not sure why you want to do this.¡±

    ¡°Shut up¡­¡±  She vaulted over Senhor Garcia¡¯s clothesline, breaking into a running sprint.

    ¡°How could you throw away your future like that?  Do you know how much I invested in it?¡±

    ¡°Shut up!¡± she screamed into the sky.  How could her av¨® say that?  She was confined to a wheelchair, how was she going to navigate the streets!?  She needed help, and school was getting in the way.  Dropping out was the right decision, no matter what anyone said!

    Right?

    This was not hers.  She never ran across buildings or leaped onto roofs like¡ªthis was Fel¨ªcia¡¯s.

    She never told Dulce, and she knew this was never how Fel¨ªcia would tell her, if at all.

    ¡°Get out of my house!¡± CRASH.

    ¡°So it¡¯s your house now?  After all of these fucking years, now you want it?¡± BANG.

    ¡°At least I¡¯m better than you at cleaning this shithole¡ª¡± SMASH.

    She was in her tent.  It wasn¡¯t a true tent, but it served its purpose well.  She got grounded again, so she had no books to read.

    ¡°Ahem!¡± she coughed.

    The sounds of pots smacking into the kitchen cabinets made her wince.

    ¡°Back in the day, there once lived a brave knight¡ª¡±

    The yelling crescendoed.

    ¡°He was on a quest, as all knights are.  It was a quest to find¡ª¡±

    They were swearing at each other again.  They were always fighting.

    ¡°A quest for¡­peace and quiet in the realm.¡± She peeked out of her tent.

    A stray cutting board hit her in the head.  She was about to cry, but remembered.  They weren¡¯t going to pay attention to her anyways if she did.  All she could do was retreat into her tent and wish that the throbbing pain would go away¡­

    Dulce found herself hoarse, staring into the void.  Fel¨ªcia shifted her feet and the Sun Summoner adjusted her mask.  The Sun Summoner, who¡ªDulce could not have recontextualized that memory.  She could not, how, what¡ª

    ¡°That was better than most amusement park rides.¡± Fel¨ªcia laughed, but Dulce knew she was forcing it.  The Sun Summoner was staring into the distance.

    She found herself staring too long at both of them, and them at her.  Dulce averted her gaze.  Nahla was right, that was¡­harrowing.  What could she do?  She thought about Nahla and their conversation, so she held out her hands.  They held her hands as the scene shifted¡ª

    They were in a chamber.  Above them were engraved carvings of twelve colourful animals, ones that Dulce instantly recognised from L¨£osh¨©¡¯s stories of the zodiac.  Indigo, navy blue, white, jade green, azure, teal, bay, black and white, peach, vermillion, terracotta, magenta.  Below was a square table surrounded by twelve chairs, but Fel¨ªcia¡¯s attention was elsewhere.

    ¡°Is that me?¡± Fel¨ªcia smirked. ¡°Good to know I age well.¡±

    Indeed, there was an adult version of Fel¨ªcia with her tail wrapped around someone¡¯s foot.  Dulce instantly noticed the other woman¡¯s furry tail.  White with black stripes, and bushy like a tiger.

    ¡°Oh really?  You think you can do better than me?¡± Adult Fel¨ªcia taunted the woman. ¡°Besides, why would I ever overthrow the Gates?¡±

    ¡°Because you desire chaos above all else.¡± The tigress pushed Adult Fel¨ªcia aside. ¡°And I know that you don¡¯t care who is trampled over in your pursuit.¡±

    Adult Fel¨ªcia leaned against the table.  For the first time, Dulce noticed that there were others watching. ¡°I think you¡¯ve spent too much time stuck in your partner¡¯s house, or how else can I explain how out of touch you are, General?¡±

    The General¡¯s tiger ears flared outwards. ¡°You dare?  She¡¯s an essential part of our defence, so shut your mouth.¡±

    Adult Fel¨ªcia cocked her head. ¡°Oh really?  I have an electrum throne, but at least I can always change it to whatever I want.  Diamond this century, granite the next.  All you have is plain wood, and how unfitting is that?  You¡¯re too big to fit through the trees, unlike my nimble limbs.¡± Adult Fel¨ªcia backflipped onto the table. ¡°Can you do this?¡±

    The woman growled as Adult Fel¨ªcia pulled something from behind her ear.  It was toothpick sized and black in colour.  With a flick of her wrist, the small pole grew larger until it reached the floor.  Adult Fel¨ªcia stuck her tongue out at the increasingly enraged tiger woman from her high ground.

    ¡°Silly General, underneath your armour and your bravado, you¡¯re just a big cat who doesn¡¯t know when she¡¯s bested by her better.¡± Adult Fel¨ªcia artfully dodged a punch from the General and sprang onto the beams.

    ¡°Wow, I¡¯m amazing.¡± Fel¨ªcia stared in awe.

    Adult Fel¨ªcia¡¯s tail curled inwards. ¡°Awww, such a big cat, so feisty and angry.  I feel a little generous today¡­you know what, you deserve a snack!¡± The woman smiled¡ªbefore gracefully falling backwards to the surprise of all three girls. ¡°But there¡¯s a catch¡ªYou have to capture me first!¡±

    The General tried to grab Adult Fel¨ªcia¡¯s tail¡ªwhich immediately transformed into the soft pink flesh of a peach.  The resulting peach rolled around the floor with the tiger woman chasing after it.  It rolled past a woman with large ox-like horns who seemed to be staring at the window before noticing the rolling peach and trying to grab it.  The peach kept rolling underneath the table until it stopped near a black iron chair.  The occupant bent down, her mouth completely full.  With surprisingly fast reflexes, the pig-eared woman tried to grab the peach but the fruit quickly slammed into the nearby wall and ricocheted past the horned woman¡¯s confused face and a quiet black-haired woman¡¯s watching eyes.  Dulce noticed that the black-haired woman¡¯s hair was slightly iridescent.  It hit the other window and bounced back onto the table¡ªonto a porcelain plate in front of the woman who tried to grab the rolling peach.  The woman¡¯s pig ears perked up and she tried to stab the peach with a fork, looking at the runaway fruit with hungry eyes.  The peach transformed in a burst of peach coloured dust as Adult Fel¨ªcia flipped the contents of the pig woman¡¯s plates into the air.  The pig woman lunged after Adult Fel¨ªcia, only to be met by a black pole in the belly.

    Adult Fel¨ªcia grinned wildly as the pole sent her across the room and shortened to the size of her body.  The tiger woman was in front of Adult Fel¨ªcia in an instant, dealing blow after blow, but Adult Fel¨ªcia expertly dodged every single punch¡ªuntil the General roared.  All three girls froze in place, with Dulce¡¯s bones feeling a bitter cold.  Adult Fel¨ªcia chuckled.

    ¡°Try and freeze me in place?  That¡¯s an old trick, I thought you retired it decades ago.¡± Dulce watched as Adult Fel¨ªcia moved her right pinky finger. ¡°Just because I¡¯m small and easily overpowered doesn¡¯t mean that I haven¡¯t found neat little ways to undermine you.  Second most powerful animal, and yet I can do this.¡± In a flash, Adult Fel¨ªcia sidestepped the General¡¯s punch and skirted back to the other side of the room. ¡°Clearly, no one can match me¡ª¡±

    ¡°T¨³, bind the Sage.¡±

    A yellow pulse filled the room as earthen columns formed around Adult Fel¨ªcia.  She tried to transform but a harsh wind rebuffed her. ¡°Why you¡ª¡±

    Dulce blinked for but a brief second¡ªand that was all it took for her to witness Adult Fel¨ªcia being thrown out of a window, screaming as she was slowly encased in stone.

    ¡°Okay¡ªwho was that?¡± asked Fel¨ªcia. ¡°And how do I get my revenge?¡±

    ¡°An unparalleled being, their might only matched by the supreme General, they of incredible domination of the Earthly Gates,¡± was the Sun Summoner¡¯s reply.

    The word ¡°General¡± rang familiar to Dulce¡¯s ears, but she had no time to ponder it.  The being who had sent Adult Fel¨ªcia plummeting turned around.  In her hands were two crystals, an earthy yellow and a blue-green that reminded Dulce of rustling leaves.  The azure scaled tail coiled around the dragon woman as she took her seat in a pearlescent throne.

    ¡°Anyone who wants to endanger our survival by planning an ill-advised coup may speak now or forever hold your peace,¡± the woman stated.

    No one spoke.  The only sound was the shuffling of a few seats and the low growl of the tiger woman

    ¡°Very well then.  Summoner of the Tenth Gate, would you pass me the documents we are to go over today?¡± The dragon woman is handed some documents. ¡°I see more has been added.¡±

    Dulce watched as the woman shuffled the documents.

    ¡°The Summoner wants me to¡­release the Sage?¡± She turned to a woman who looked like the Sun Summoner, except older. ¡°I¡¯m aware of your friendship and you have made very convincing arguments for her release, but I have already cast judgement on the matter.¡±

    Fel¨ªcia and the Sun Summoner exchanged glances.  Were they all friends once, Dulce wondered.  One day, maybe the Sun Summoner and Fel¨ªcia would be friends again.

    ¡°I shall read the next two in succession as their arguments are opposing.  First is the General of the Third Gate who wants the Sage of the Ninth Gate to ¡®be punished further for her crimes in the custody of the Third Gate¡¯.¡± The acrid tone of the woman¡¯s voice was noticeable. ¡°Second is the Alchemist of the Fourth Gate who proposes that the Sage of the Ninth Gate be allowed to repent and atone by serving those residing on Earth.¡± The dragon woman stared. ¡°This can be accommodated for.¡±

    A woman with white hair and rabbit ears fiddled with a small bottle, filling it up with tinctures of dried plants.  Dulce was more interested in her eyes.  A lively jade green and creased like someone used to laughter.  It almost reminded her of L¨£osh¨©¡¯s eyes.  What would he think of the rabbit woman?  Their faces were deeply similar too.  Come to think of it, her eyes were the same colour as the container in Khalid¡¯s mansion.

    ¡°The next document concerns the Auspicious of the First Gate and her statements against the Sage of the Ninth Gate in the belief that both the Artist of the Eighth Gate and the Summoner of the Tenth Gate are incorrect in their assessment.  The following statements are¡­¡±

    Artist of the Eighth Gate?  All seemed so familiar, yet Dulce could not grasp the substance to it.  Her eyes were drawn to chairs of glass, coal¡­and obsidian.  The long white cloak and the paint brush tucked aside¡ªthere could only be one person.

    Dulce looked at herself, or rather, an older version of herself.  She looked elegant in her cloak and composed¡ªsome part of Dulce ached.  Could she be like her one day?  Ever?

    ¡°This one must discern the meaning of this scene.  There must be an underlying message here,¡± proclaimed the Sun Summoner.

    A woman in a fur coat with rat ears and the woman with iridescent hair from earlier were standing on their chairs, much to the pig eared woman¡¯s boredom as she yawned.

    ¡°Clearly, you have spent too much time entwined with the Keeper.  That you would presume that the Monkey, of all of us, was innocent?  Ha!  You are so blinded by your friendship, you don¡¯t see what¡¯s in front of her.¡± The rat woman flipped her coat haughtily.  Dulce took an immediate mislike to her attitude and judging by the annoyed look on Fel¨ªcia¡¯s face, so did she.

    ¡°What gives you the authority on such matters?¡± The snake woman asked.

    ¡°I¡¯ve had more friends than you, Snake.  Have you had a friend that you haven¡¯t had to hypnotise or manipulate?¡±

    ¡°Oh please, we all know what you do to your so-called friends.¡± The snake woman leered.

    The Auspicious grimaced.  One of the shadows subtly shifted.

    The adult version of herself and the adult Sun Summoner nodded at each other, the Summoner quickly swiping what Dulce reasoned looked a lot like a knife¡ª

    ¡°Woah, so the chicken chuunibyou was cooler?  Or will be?  Are we seeing our future selves?¡± Fel¨ªcia grinned. ¡°I want whoever taught my future self all of that, and where can I get a compliant staff?¡±

    The room exploded into pandemonium.  Dulce caught sight of smoke rising, ink crawling along the walls, a discus flying off the walls, paint splotches in every corner, and the Rabbit quietly brewing an elixir.  Fel¨ªcia was cheering along the chaos and cackling, while the Sun Summoner watched over the proceedings with dismay.

    Eventually, much to Fel¨ªcia¡¯s audible disappointment, the meeting settled down with Adult Dulce and the adult Sun Summoner being restrained by great chains of ice.  The surly horned woman held the chains with a stoic expression.

    ¡°Since the Sovereign can¡¯t keep this meeting orderly,¡± the Tiger snarled, showing sharp teeth. ¡°Throw them in the Second Gate.¡±

    The scene shifted to Adult Dulce sitting alone with her white cloak draped over a long stone bench.  Outside the crystalline formations, Dulce saw the shapes of horned people marching.  There was a small hole in the pulsing ice wall.

    ¡°W¨¨i Y¨¢ng, do you see Sh¨¥n H¨®u?¡± came the voice of the adult Sun Summoner.

    ¡°I see her undertaking a great journey westward, along with three companions.¡± W¨¨i Y¨¢ng smiled. ¡°She looks gleeful.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve always been envious of your ability to project yourself across the boundary, but if we want to reach her, we have to escape.  The Watcher has a Door in Alemannia, and she knows where all of the Doors are.  Once we get there, you can draw a map for future reference.¡±

    ¡°We can all unlock it together.  Because you need it.¡± Was she talking to Dulce?  Dulce waved at her.  No response.

    ¡°You still have the taste of the Unbound¡¯s urn in your mouth.¡± The adult Sun Summoner laughed. ¡°Why did you ask for it?¡±

    ¡°She is right, something is coming.  I do not know if it will be this century or ten thousand centuries later, but when it does, we have to be prepared.¡± She looked directly at Dulce. ¡°The inkstone and the beacon: those are the keys to the map.  My friends, even more than my actual Key, are dearest to my heart and my creations.  I know you are here now, even though the one you loved isn¡¯t, and you won¡¯t be lost for long.  There will be others in the hereafter after loss.¡±

    The vision became a multicoloured ripple.

    She awoke to the sounds of her friends fighting.

    ¡°There¡¯s no way that we are, or ever will be friends!¡± Fel¨ªcia shouted. ¡°That dream was a lie!¡±

    ¡°The dream weaver does not employ falsehoods, such delusions are the province of the forces of darkness, of which this one is certain that the dream weaver is not consorting with filth.¡± The Sun Summoner¡¯s tail stood upright. ¡°Misrepresentations are known to happen.  It is doubtful that we will be friends in the future, especially if you continue in your impetuous ways¡ª¡±

    ¡°Say that again!¡± One quick lash of Fel¨ªcia¡¯s tail, a dash from the Sun Summoner, and both of them were brawling on the open field.  The fog was still ever present, but Dulce¡¯s spirits were a little higher.

    ¡°Please stop fighting!  We need to work on the map!¡± she yelled at the brown and gold mass rolling around.

    Nahla was watching dumbstruck as the Sun Summoner and Fel¨ªcia untangled themselves from their ball.  Fel¨ªcia wrenched away one of the Sun Summoner¡¯s boots from her hair and threw it back at her.  The Sun Summoner calmly handed back some of Fel¨ªcia¡¯s dark brown hair.

    Dulce unfolded the map.  The winding black lines and the hastily written scribbles no longer daunted her.

    ¡°Did you hear what W¨¨i Y¨¢ng said?¡± Dulce asked Fel¨ªcia.  Are you fine, she wanted to say, but kept quiet.  At a later time.

    ¡°Yep.¡± Fel¨ªcia put her hand on her chin. ¡°She was really subtle about the inkstone thing.  I probably can turn into a peach.  Maybe seventy other things.  Can¡¯t talk as an inkstone, so I¡¯ll see you later.¡± Dulce watched as peach coloured energy concentrated around Fel¨ªcia¡¯s body¡ªuntil all that was left was an inkstone suspiciously the same size as one of the shapes on the map.  Dulce placed the peach coloured inkstone in that spot.

    ¡°The beacon¡¯s creation is this one¡¯s duty.¡± The Sun Summoner sang in a grandiose manner.  Her white gold mask was glowing and her red comb was lifting higher as she sang.  Dulce wished she knew more French.  The shape of a vermillion beacon took form in the middle of the map, on a vermillion circle.

    ¡°Are you¡ª¡± How should she say this? ¡°I saw you and Fel¨ªcia¡­how old were you¡ª?¡± That did not seem right. ¡°If you need anything, I am here.¡± Much better.

    The girl in vermillion nodded. ¡°When the Light deems it the right time to think on the trials and tribulations of this one¡¯s past self.¡±

    Now or never.  Dulce suppressed a coy smile.  How was she supposed to project herself?  She imagined a ghostly image of herself holding¡­L¨£osh¨©¡¯s elixirs, grinning excitedly.  The thought of it made her lose all hope.  The fact that the rabbit¡ªthe Alchemist looked similar to him¡­jade green eyes¡­the colour of that container¡­could the rabbit and L¨£osh¨© be related?

    If she was right, and the rabbit was the mysterious ancestor of L¨£osh¨©¡¯s legends, then Khalid¡¯s father knew more about them than they did themselves.  She knew that if L¨£osh¨© was here, he would have asked her to push herself.

    ¡°You¡¯re more flexible than you think,¡± he would have said.

    She positioned herself in a meditative pose and concentrated¡­black and white tendrils formed around her¡ª

    She was no longer in her body.  Her body was perfectly still and the Sun Summoner was more intent on the map than anything.  Dulce manipulated the beacon, pointing its tip to the peach-coloured inkstone.  The beacon started drawing from the inkstone.  Vermillion and peach coloured lines whirled around the map, transforming into new colours.  Emerald green, pastel pink, terracotta, silver, golden orange, earthen brown, black and white, peach, vermillion¡­twenty four spots congealed on the map.  The most notable one was the monochrome spot, located in a small jagged peninsula attached to some islands north of Europe¡­W¨¨i Y¨¢ng had mentioned a location.

    Fel¨ªcia had transformed back into a girl now.  She would know what Alemannia was.

    ¡°Fel¨ªcia?  Where is Alemannia?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s an old name for Germany or German-speaking regions.  The local fruit vendor was from Argentina, but his ancestors were from Germany.  His peaches were always good.¡±

    Germany and the surrounding regions.  If she could project herself, she might be able to determine the exact location of the Door!  Dulce detached herself from her physical body.  Should she find someone?  If they were similar to her, they might be able to resonate and she could get help!  L¨£osh¨© would have been proud.  She cast her consciousness out to that region¡ªwhere she was met with hues of scarlet red.

    She found herself in a metal container, with voices of discord arguing in English.  There was a woman lying on the ground and a continually struggling redheaded girl tied up on the floor.  Dulce guessed that she was slightly younger than herself.

    ¡°Hello,¡± she called out. ¡°Can you hear me?¡±

    The girl took one look at Dulce and started screaming.

 Justice For Those Pink and Teal Claws in Second Place

    Was it only a week ago she was lamenting that everyone will leave?  Two weeks?

    She lost her glasses, and with it her vision.

    She lost the wind, and with it her guide.

    She lost her friends, and with it her balance.

    Coughing up dust, she could see nothing.  Her wings were pinned down, her leg was stuck underneath a slab, and she couldn¡¯t hear anyone.  Where was Hua-san?  Urantsog-san?  Sinaka-san?  Without sight or sound, she had to wait.

    She could breathe, but¡ª

    If she did rise, if she could stretch out her cream coloured wings¡ª

    What then?

    In the here and now, there were two paths¡ª

    Stay here or get up.

    What was the right choice?

    <hr>

    They said it was a miracle.  That Mihira shouldn¡¯t have awakened as quickly as she had, bursting out of the room with her wings newly healed.  All of them fussed over her, the white coats they all wore making them interchangeable over the next week.

    ¡°Her wings are perfectly healed¡­¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve never seen anything like this before.¡±

    ¡°Why does she have wings?¡±

    She wanted to tell them there was a reason why she was alive.  After the fall, she fell into total darkness¡ªuntil a beautiful soldier in terracotta armour rescued her from her predicament.  The soldier resuscitated her until she had awoken.  Mihira wondered if the soldier gave her a kiss in order to wake her up, like the fairytales that Kaori loved to tell.  She told Hua-san about it, but Hua-san stated that no one was in the room when she woke up except Urantsog-san.  Urantsog-san was startled, but she couldn¡¯t do CPR.

    ¡°Tenhou Mihira, no one was in the room.  Certainly not a dashing soldier wearing armour from the Qin dynasty.¡± Hua-san sighed. ¡°Someone would have noticed that.  There are doctors on call and on break.  Security in the hospital would have been notified if someone matching that description was walking around.¡± A look of concern filled her face. ¡°Are you doing well?  You were injured badly.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m fine, but thank you for asking Hua-san.¡±

    ¡°Please don¡¯t do that again, or anything reckless in the future.¡± Hua-san sighed. ¡°You are not invincible.  You were lucky that you managed to make a miraculous recovery.  The next time something like this happens, you might not be so fortunate.¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t do anything reckless again.¡±

    Although Hua-san was open to the idea of magic, she wasn¡¯t as open as Mihira wanted her to be.  She¡¯s like Kaede in that way, Mihira concluded, always believing in the inherent superiority of a graph or chart before relying on the words of a friend.  It made sense, but that didn¡¯t make it hurt any less.

    Sinaka-san believed her, or rather, her silence was telling.  She listened closely while Mihira told her tale, her frilly dress bouncing with each animated gesture.  Sinaka-san only reacted with a characteristic ¡°hmm~¡± and a flick of her forked tongue, but Mihira knew.  She was nice about it, and apparently she held her hand while Mihira was comatose.  She couldn¡¯t remember it, but it warmed her heart that Sinaka-san cared for her deeply.

    <hr>

    How much did Kun Mihira know?

    In private, she had chided her for her stupidity.  Rushing to try and ¡®aid¡¯ a falling dragon was a fool¡¯s desire.  The fact that the impact crushed her wings served to prove her point.  She wrote off Kun Mihira as a reliable ally, especially in the physical sense.  Her bones were too fragile to handle the strength of the Dragon.

    That did leave her with a few issues.  Neither of the women were suitable for a long term plan.  They may have had incredible physical capabilities, but one was too wild and the other¡­her feelings clouded her mind.  Yes, the other one would have done quite nicely.

    The plan was ready¡ªuntil on one of her nightly strolls she heard two dogs fighting.  Peering into the window into Kun Mihira¡¯s room, she found two almost identical women fighting each other.  The spectral outline around both of them told her that neither of them were corporeal.  She watched with a steady gaze, although she was secretly annoyed by the way they conducted themselves.  Smashing themselves into the ground like untrained brutes was unseemly yet effective.  The less damaged of the two overpowered the other and saved Kun Mihira¡¯s life, much to her wonder.  She must have leaned in too close, for the other one noticed her.  Quickly, she removed herself from the corridor.  One of her many talents was knowing when to pick her battles.

    There, she evaluated the pieces and realised that she had overlooked a crucial detail.  They all had partners, her with the celestial Bull, N¨¢a Urantsog with the twins, and Kun Mihira with the Dog.  These partnerships meant something once, even if their full strength was untapped.  Kun Mihira was a useful piece, she decided, despite her physical weakness.  Arinya needed a physically powerful ally, her diplomatic skills were useful.  The looks that N¨¢a Urantsog gave told her that she hadn¡¯t entered her trust yet.  The connection she had with the Dog would serve to bring an important ally.  The look on the Dragon¡¯s face when she met her opposite would be a sight to see.

    Besides, Kun Mihira was growing to like her.  Once they departed from the hospital, she liked to talk to her.  Arinya thought she was ascertaining her allegiance, but it soon became clear that the young girl wanted companionship and comfort after her ordeal.  All she had to say were a few platitudes about being past the hospital and saying that Kun Mihira had improved healthwise.  That was all for Kun Mihira to trust her.   The way that she had talked about her ¡°friends¡± resonated within Arinya¡¯s heart, but these were traitorous murmurs.  She listened to Mihira prattle on nonetheless.

    It was interesting to hear from someone who thought friendship was so certain.

    The rest of the journey was tedious.  N¨¢a Urantsog¡¯s discomfort was growing.  That was self-evident judging by the fact that she had always managed to make excuses to keep some level of physical distance between Arinya and herself.  N¨¢a Y¨³f¨¥i was too close to her.  Yesterday, when they had stopped for a short rest, N¨¢a Y¨³f¨¥i had invited her to a private dinner.  Underneath the olive trees, she had arrived¡ªto be greeted by the woman chugging down a box of instant ramen with her fish watching with gaping eyes.

    Without bothering to wipe her mouth, N¨¢a Y¨³f¨¥i waved over. ¡°Have some with me!¡±

    Years of regulating her outward emotions prohibited Arinya from instinctively gagging.

    They discussed meaningless topics.  Weather forecasting, Calamities, school back when they were younger, Calamities, being a prodigy, how the other two were doing, Calamities.  Of course N¨¢a Y¨³f¨¥i had no issues with taking the path she had chosen and loved.

    Once they had finished dining, both returned to find that N¨¢a Urantsog had imparted some of her unseemly influence on Kun Mihira.

    ¡°Look!  I can shoot a bow and arrow!¡± Mihira excitedly held up what could only be N¨¢a Urantsog¡¯s arrows. ¡°I¡¯m not on target yet, but I¡¯ll get there.¡±

    She took one look at the target nailed to the stone wall, then at the window with an arrowhead-sized hole, then at the grinning face of N¨¢a Urantsog.

    If she wanted to cultivate Kun Mihira as an acceptable ally, best to keep her away from N¨¢a Urantsog¡¯s ideas of entertainment.

    <hr>

    Mihira truly loved everyone.  She did, with all she had.

    One day, there was a transfer student who had moved from rural Hokkaido.  She was nervous and jittery, having a hard time adjusting to an urban landscape and jumping at every car that zoomed by.  Mihira took her under her wing, helped her adjust to her surroundings, and sewed her clothes that reminded her of home.  In time, they became friends, and Hina was no longer unsteady amidst the streets of Tokyo.

    She understood that being in a city with its bustling traffic could unbalance those not used to the fast pace or the clamour¡ªbut did Urantsog-san have to punch that bicyclist clean off his seat?

    ¡°What the hell was that for?¡± the bicyclist yelled while clutching his chest.

    ¡°You were in my way, watch where you are going!¡± Urantsog shouted back in response. ¡°Just because you¡¯re on a bicycle doesn¡¯t mean you can mow people down!¡±

    ¡°Woman, I don¡¯t even know what you are saying!¡±

    ¡°What kind of mangled language are you speaking!?  You bleat like my aav¡¯s goats!¡±

    Urantsog and the bicyclist continued their shouting match.  Based on the looks of confusion amongst the whispering crowd, Mihira concluded that no one present spoke Mongolian.  Hua-san looked lost, as she didn¡¯t speak Dutch or Mongolian, otherwise she would have stepped in.  Sinaka-san was examining the maps for the potential location of her Key.  They had arrived in the Netherlands a few hours ago, home of sweet smelling tulips and bustling cyclists.

    ¡°Hmm~¡± Sinaka-san trailed off. ¡°Your sign Libra is associated with the wind, yet you mentioned that the wind spoke of justice, correct?¡±

    She nodded.

    ¡°Courts would be the most suitable to sequester the scales away from prying eyes.  The question remains, which court of the Netherlands~¡±

    Mihira loved her singsong voice and the innate grace contained within her.  She was beautiful¡­but first, she had to make sure that Urantsog-san and the bicyclist in yellow didn¡¯t knock each other out.  With the way they were circling each other and folding their sleeves, Mihira feared it might come to blows.

    ¡°Excuse me sir!¡± she called out.

    The man turned to face her. ¡°You speak Dutch?¡±

    Mihira looked at the hat she was wearing.  Hua-san pointed out that she was the only one able to speak Dutch on account of her powers.  Since her bicoloured hair stuck out, Hua-san gave her a head cap to wear.  As for her wings, Hua-san gave her a blanket to cover them with.  If anyone asked, it was a very large hiking pack.

    ¡°Yes I do!¡± Mihira gathered up her words. ¡°My aunt isn¡¯t used to the city.  She comes from the countryside and she¡¯s more used to a slower pace.  There aren¡¯t a lot of bicycles where she lives, and she gets startled easily.¡± Of course, she declined to mention the fact that Urantsog-san¡¯s punch sent the man flying off of his seat. ¡°I understand you are hurt, and I¡¯m sorry on behalf of my aunt.¡±

    The man clasped his chin. ¡°Makes sense, lots of tourists aren¡¯t used to being in a city.  My brother lives out in the south, and even he can¡¯t handle the small traffic here.  Tell your aunt to be careful, and that this,¡± He pointed at a sign with a bicycle. ¡°Means that this is a dedicated bike lane.¡±

    ¡°I will, thank you sir!¡± Mihira replied.

    Urantsog huffed. ¡°I could have taken him on.  Who does he think he is?¡±

    ¡°We can¡¯t start fights with people, Hua-san said we have to remain ¡®incognito.¡¯¡± Hua-san knew cool English words like that.

    ¡°If this was on the steppes, I would have had him submitting before me before he even moved a finger.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s not fight anyone,¡± Hua-san interjected. ¡°We are guests in their country, and we don¡¯t want to draw attention to ourselves.¡±

    ¡°Are you all tourists?¡±

    All three of them turned around.  A girl about Mihira¡¯s age with the cutest beige turtleneck sweater was looking at Mihira in awe.  Mihira immediately took a liking to her.  That pale green skirt, the black Mary Janes with the knee high white socks, it looked perfect on this girl!

    ¡°Yes we are!¡± she answered.

    ¡°Oh!  That explains a lot.¡± The girl nervously adjusted her sleeves. ¡°I saw you mediating with that cyclist and your aunt earlier.  Not many tourists bother to learn Dutch, but you speak it like it¡¯s your first language!¡±

    ¡°Thank you!¡± Awww, the compliments¡ªwait, if she lived here, maybe she could help find the courthouse they should be looking for! ¡°Do you know what kind of courthouses we would visit?  My sister,¡± she gestured at Sinaka-san, ¡°is learning law and since we¡¯re in the Netherlands, she wanted to look at some of the courts here and read about different types of law.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡± The girl thought about it. ¡°I¡¯ve never heard of anyone specifically looking at courthouses as a tourist, but we do have the Peace Palace at the Hague.¡±

    ¡°The Peace Palace?¡± That sounded like the right location.

    ¡°That¡¯s where the International Court of Justice is located.¡±

    Mihira looked over the map.  Unfortunately, even with her ability, she couldn¡¯t read a map.  Sinaka-san was much better at it, but she couldn¡¯t read Dutch and none of her maps included the Netherlands.  The girl seemed nice, and even though they were supposed to be travelling in secrecy, Mihira felt like she could trust her.

    ¡°You live here?  Can you help us find the Peace Palace?¡± Mihira asked.

    ¡°Sure?¡± The girl slowly nodded.

    ¡°What is your name?¡±

    The girl seemed¡ªterrified? ¡°Noortje.¡±

    She extended her hand. ¡°I¡¯m Tenhou Mihira, nice to meet you!¡±

    Sinaka-san stopped looking at the maps and pointedly stared at Noortje.  Hua-san raised an eyebrow and Urantsog-san looked confused.

    Hua-san had rented a car underneath a fake name.  Kaori would have loved Hua-san, Mihira concluded.  When she had an addiction to American movies, she was always talking about getting a fake ID to go to bars.  It never made sense to Mihira.  They were supposed to keep the car in perfect condition, but Urantsog-san punched out the backseat windows.  When Hua-san questioned why she did that, her reply was that she needed some air.

    Even though Urantsog-san was older than her, Mihira thought that punching out the window was a terrible idea.  Hua-san was rich, but she wasn¡¯t that rich.  She returned it because of the broken windows, but the woman at the counter told her that she had to pay for the damage to the car.  Hua-san only had a few soggy yuan, Mihira didn¡¯t bring any yen, Noortje-san didn¡¯t have any money on her, and Urantsog-san tried to pay for the car with goatskin gloves.  Sinaka-san had baht, but that wasn¡¯t accepted by the lady.

    Now Mihira was at the currency exchange booth.  A bearded man with spectacles and a turban had finished with the last person in line.

    ¡°Excuse me sir?¡± Mihira gently pushed Sinaka-san¡¯s baht at the man. ¡°Can I exchange my money for euros?¡±

    The man nodded. ¡°Of course, let me count out your money.¡± He slowly flicked through the stacks of bills at first, before his eyes widened and his spectacles threatened to fall off his nose. ¡°You¡¯re carrying this much money as a tourist¡­?!  How have you managed to travel before?¡±

    ¡°Just in case of anything sir!  We like to be prepared when we travel!¡± Mihira answered.

    The man¡¯s spectacles fell off his nose. ¡°You can speak Arabic too?¡±

    He was speaking Arabic? ¡°Umm yes!  I had a pen pal that wrote in Arabic, so I learned from her!¡±

    ¡°And that¡¯s how you learnt to speak Syrian Arabic?¡± Was that different from standard Arabic?

    ¡°We also video called each other!  How many Euros do I have?¡±

    ¡°5000 euros.¡± Was Sinaka-san rich?  That would explain her poise and grace though.  Sinaka-san played the violin and as Hina said, all violin players are innately graceful.  Violins weren¡¯t cheap.  Maybe Sinaka-san¡¯s family helped raise money for her to begin violin lessons?

    When they settled down in the yellow and blue train, Mihira and Noortje-san picked out two window seats for themselves, with Urantsog-san and Hua-san using the coach seats on the other side.  Sinaka-san wanted to use the booth seat, so she left the four of them to their own devices.

    ¡°Your name is beautiful!¡± Mihira told Noortje-san as soon as they sat down.

    ¡°Thank you.¡± Noortje-san shrunk into her oversized sweater, eyes darting at everyone talking around them.

    The different hair colours of Europeans fascinated Mihira.  Kaede had wanted to dye her hair last year, but Mihira had persuaded her not to.  Otherwise she would have looked like a delinquent and the teachers would have put her in detention or worse, given her a suspension.  Noortje-san¡¯s clear blue eyes and vibrant red hair would have been striking back in Japan, let alone here.  Mihira had never seen anyone with that hair colour before.

    ¡°Sorry, can I ask you a question?¡± Mihira asked.

    ¡°Mm sure.¡± Noortje-san¡¯s voice was so small.

    ¡°Did you dye your hair?  It¡¯s so pretty.¡±

    Noortje-san blushed. ¡°Oh no, this is my natural hair colour.¡±

    ¡°Wow you must be lucky then.¡± Mihira couldn¡¯t show off her own hair, could she? ¡°Noortje-san, I noticed that you had impeccable taste in fashion.  As a fellow fashion lover, can I ask for tips on how you decide to dress for the day ahead?¡±

    Noortje-san stopped looking outside. ¡°I¡¯m not into fashion, but Arle is and he helps me pick out what to wear and¡­¡±

    Mihira waited for her to finish her sentence, but Noortje-san never did.

    Mihira spoke first. ¡°Can I ask why you¡¯re wearing a sweater?  It¡¯s a beautiful summer day!¡±

    Noortje-san nodded slowly. ¡°I like it.¡±

    ¡°If it¡¯s not impolite to ask, can I ask for your surname?  In Japanese society, we usually address people by their surname for formality purposes, and I feel like I¡¯m being impolite by addressing you by your given name,¡± asked Mihira.

    Noortje-san looked out the window. ¡°You¡¯re not being impolite, and you can call me Noortje-san.  I¡¯m not...really comfortable sharing my last name.¡±

    Mihira nodded.  She heard that in Europe, sometimes it¡¯s impolite to refer to people by their surnames depending on the person.  Noortje-san seemed to be a private person, so she would leave the topic there.

    ¡°Holland is nice this time of the year,¡± stated Noortje-san.

    ¡°It is!  I¡¯ve never travelled outside of Japan.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re Japanese?¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡± That gave her an idea. ¡°You should visit Tokyo!¡±

    ¡°Thank you, but I can¡¯t leave.¡± She sighed. ¡°I¡¯m not a traveller.¡±

    ¡°Of course!  I don¡¯t travel either, but if I did, it would be with my three best friends!¡± Mihira¡¯s smile briefly slipped as longing overtook her. ¡°I wish they were here with me.¡±

    Noortje-san nodded. ¡°I know the feeling, but even if they aren¡¯t here, you can make memories for them.  I collect scrapbooks and make collages of the places I love.¡±

    ¡°Awww, that¡¯s so sweet!¡± Mihira gushed. ¡°Do you share them with anyone?  Hina loves to make shrines of her favourite idols, like adding photos!¡± Hina also added very private things to those shrines, but Mihira didn¡¯t want to scare Noortje-san.

    ¡°Sharing them?  Well yes but¡­¡± Noortje-san trailed off into silence again.  She sounded melancholic.  Maybe she had a bad day recently.

    ¡°Sometimes I share things with Hua-san, Sinaka-san, and Urantsog-san.¡± Mihira tilted her head. ¡°Are you interested in Calamities?¡±

    Noortje-san was startled. ¡°Calamities?  Not really.¡±

    ¡°Oh, Hua-san is an expert on them!  She might be even smarter than my friend Kaede!  Beautiful, graceful, and intelligent!  What more can you want from such a powerful woman?  Of course, Urantsog-san is even more powerful!  She can split an arrow in half by shooting another arrow through it and she can match anyone in physical prowess barehanded!¡±

    Noortje-san nodded along. ¡°It sounds like you have a crush on both of them.¡±

    Now it was Mihira¡¯s turn to blush. ¡°Yes, but I can¡¯t say it in front of them.  Besides, what if I want both of them to be my partners in the future?  Kaori always told me that having multiple partners is a tough balancing act, even for someone as skilled as herself.¡±

    Noortje-san raised an eyebrow. ¡°Aren¡¯t they both older than you?  They look like adults.¡±

    ¡°Yes, but true love always finds a way!¡±

    ¡°Most adults don¡¯t see teenagers in that way.  It¡¯s like having a crush on your teacher: they won¡¯t reciprocate.¡± Noortje-san sighed. ¡°What about girls our age?  Your classmates?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not attracted to them.¡± Kaede had tried this a few years ago, setting up Mihira with their classmates, but it had never clicked between them or her friends.  She wished it had though.  One day, she would invite her future partner or partners to her home.  It would be nice to not be alone.  The wind¡¯s a good conversational partner, but there was only so much they could talk about.

    Noortje-san nodded. ¡°I see.  There are lots of girls in Holland.  Perhaps you¡¯ll like one of them.¡±

    ¡°Of course, there¡¯s many girls here and therefore a lot of opportunities.¡± Mihira¡¯s eyes brightened. ¡°You can help me with that, or¡­¡± She looked at Noortje-san¡¯s bright red hair with purple bows, cut sweater, and increasingly red face.

    Noortje-san stared in shock. ¡°Uh¡­you are very eager, but I¡¯m not interested in a relationship at the moment.¡±

    Mihira cupped her mouth. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s fine!  I¡¯m busy with¡­other things.¡± Noortje-san looked at the rolling scenery forlornly.

    ¡°What do you think my chances are with Sinaka-san then?¡± Mihira wanted to keep her options open, but Sinaka-san was a great listener and made great conversation on the journey here.

    Noortje-san blanched. ¡°The woman who left?  She creeps me out.  Have you seen the way she talks?  I¡¯ve never heard a monotone voice before, and the lack of emotion on her face¡ª¡±

    ¡°Hello girls~...do you want smoothies?¡±

    Arinya leaned over the seats.  Noortje-san nearly jumped out of her seat while Mihira laughed.

    ¡°We¡¯re doing well Sinaka-san, everything is fine!  I don¡¯t need a smoothie!¡±

    Sinaka-san stared. ¡°That¡¯s good.  Take care of yourself, mmhmm?¡± She promptly wandered off into another module.

    The rest of the journey continued in lively banter, with Mihira and Noortje-san exchanging tales of woe in school and tales of triumph in conquering their homework.  To Mihira¡¯s joy, Noortje-san seemed to be more confident when speaking.  It reminded her of Sinaka-san¡¯s advice that everyone had inner strength.  On the final stretch, she found Noortje looking at her phone in silence.  Tears were welling in her eyes, so Mihira looked at the screen out of concern.  Her home screen was a photo of herself and five others.  From her vantage point, she could see a well-dressed brown-haired boy in a beret and chequered scarf, a black-haired girl in a short tank top with numerous piercings, a young girl with dirty blonde hair and similar hair bows to Noortje-san pouting away from the camera, a small blond boy looking through a telescope, and an auburn-haired boy with a limp polar bear stuffie hanging from his left hand.

    ¡°What are you doing?¡±

    Noortje-san¡¯s harsh tone snapped Mihira out of her fugue. ¡°I saw your wallpaper and¡ª¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t.¡± Noortje-san turned off her phone and shot a furious look at Mihira. ¡°It¡¯s private.¡±

    Mihira kept quiet, but her mind wandered.  Noortje-san wanted privacy, so Mihira wouldn¡¯t pry further.  Who were they though?  Her mind couldn¡¯t linger on Noortje-san¡¯s phone for long¡ªthere was a commotion.  Urantsog-san punched one of the passengers over a lack of space.

    The train stopped at Den Haag Centraal.  Underneath the white honeycombed ceiling, everyone was bustling to and from the train.  It took all four of them to link with Sinaka-san, who was enjoying a mango smoothie.

    ¡°So Noortje,¡± Sinaka-san started. ¡°Where are we now, hmm?¡±

    Mihira translated what she said to Noortje-san, who blinked and took a step back in fear. ¡°We¡¯re close to the Peace Palace, and it¡¯s only thirty seven minutes for us to walk there.¡±

    Mihira translated what Noortje-san said to the rest of the group.

    ¡°The sooner we leave this station, the better.¡± Urantsog whipped around as someone jostled her shoulder. ¡°Watch where you¡¯re going!¡±

    ¡°I agree, but we do need a break.  It has been more than three hours, and we haven¡¯t had a bathroom break.  I know that European public toilets have to be paid for.¡± Hua-san handed a euro to everyone. ¡°Use this for the bathrooms here.¡±

    Mihira nodded.

    A few minutes later, all five of them emerged from the bathroom.  Noortje-san grabbed one of the maps and was leading them from the glass exterior of the station.  Mihira wondered at the small cafes tucked away in little corners, the greenery surrounding the roads, the gorgeous street art snaking up the buildings, and the paper map Noortje-san was holding.  She wasn¡¯t using the map on her phone.  The phone was probably showing her home screen.  It made sense, they only met today and Noortje-san was a private person.

    A faint breeze brushed her cheek.

    It¡¯s been a long time.

    Mihira looked around. ¡°You¡¯re still here?¡±

    Of course I am.  Where the sky meets the earth, where the wings of the Seventh House find their calling, I will always be there.

    ¡°We¡¯re heading to the right place then?¡± Mihira asked.

    The Seventh House is first and foremost a paragon of absolute judgement.  Listen to yourself and the whisperings within your mind, and know your path.

    Mihira closed her eyes.  The soft whistles of a fresh breeze moved forth.

    ¡­who comes before the Court?

    Startled, Mihira stepped back¡ªand immediately collided with someone, knocking off her glasses in the process.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry!¡± Mihira squinted, tapping her hand on the pavement for her glasses.

    Someone slid them onto her nose.

    ¡°Thank you¡ª¡± Mihira blinked.

    A gorgeous woman was smiling at Mihira.  Long black hair hung loose around her shoulders, while her eyes were such a rich dark brown that Mihira found herself lost in them.  Her skin was incredibly clear with a warm taupe hue and the clothes she had picked for herself matched perfectly.  Black dress pants, a loose white t-shirt, and a black summer jacket with many pockets.  Seeing her in the jacket made her wonder why Noortje-san had a turtleneck sweater.  Was she not hot?  Mihira noticed that there were lots of small items on the ground and quickly started picking them back up.

    ¡°Here you go!¡± Mihira picked up a small dark green container with¡ªa label on it?

    The woman nodded and quickly snatched it from her hand.

    ¡°A little clumsy today, aren¡¯t we?¡± she said playfully.

    ¡°I¡¯m so sorry about that, I wasn¡¯t watching where I was going!¡± She laughed it off.  Kaori would have called her out on fumbling an opportunity like this. ¡°Um, what¡¯s your name?¡±

    The woman winked and put her finger to her lips. ¡°It¡¯s a secret.¡±

    ¡°Then mine will be a secret too.¡± Mihira copied the woman¡¯s gesture.  An enigmatic woman!  That¡¯s new for sure. ¡°Where is everyone?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re with a group?¡¯ The woman frowned. ¡°Do you know the general direction?¡±

    West. ¡°Westwards.¡± She pointed it out.

    ¡°Lead the way.¡±

    They kept walking.  Mihira got distracted by a high end clothing store showcasing lolita fashion in the front window before the woman cheerfully reminded her that they were supposed to be meeting her friends.  She briefly spotted a dark red blade in one of the enigmatic woman¡¯s pockets before it was quickly closed.  Engaging her in conversation proved challenging, as all she received were winks and nods.

    ¡°You must get good grades in your second language courses,¡± the woman said while checking out a pharmacy¡¯s available hours.

    ¡°I do!  I usually get one hundred percent on all of my exams!¡± She didn¡¯t, in fact she didn¡¯t take any second language courses in school except for the mandatory English class, and she forgot most of the words.

    ¡°You speak Arabic like it was your first language, especially your pronunciation.¡± The woman slyly smiled. ¡°I¡¯ll be right back.¡±

    A few minutes later, the woman dejectedly emerged from the pharmacy.  Mihira spotted the woman sliding the same container into her jacket pocket.

    ¡°Can I take a look at it?¡± The woman flinched. ¡°I might be able to read it.  My friends usually go to me for translation issues.¡±

    The woman stared at the cream, shrugged, and handed it to Mihira.  The words blurred together, but once she focused her eyes upon the text, the words became clear.

    ¡°¡®This is a d¨¡n derived topical ointment.  Apply once using two fingers over the affected area.  Ingesting the ointment is not recommended.  It is recommended to apply this to the epidermis only.  Do not apply to the eyes or any internal tissues.  To refill this prescription, leave a message on the line provided to you by one of our trusty assistants.¡¯¡± Mihira looked at the woman. ¡°This might be too impolite, but is this for a friend of yours?¡±

    The woman just stared at Mihira and took the ointment back. ¡°Thanks.¡±

    As soon as they rounded the corner, Mihira was discussing with the woman about the differences between gothic lolita and sweet lolita when she heard loud shouting and what seemed like a urinal being knocked over.

    ¡°Mihira!  Where have you been?¡± Urantsog-san shouted. ¡°We¡¯ve been looking for you!¡±

    Mihira was about to rush towards them, but someone wrenched at her arm.  The woman was holding onto her right forearm with an expression on her face that emanated anger.

    ¡°Huh?  Those are my friends, what are you doing?¡± Mihira protested, but the woman was having none of it, dragging her away from her friends.  Although she would like to be carried off somewhere, something told her that was not what was happening.

    ¡°Let her go.¡± Hua-san crossed her arms and glared at the woman. ¡°She¡¯s with me.¡±

    The tension between both of them was palpable and thin as a thread before the woman let go of Mihira.  Nodding at her, the woman bent down to eye level.

    ¡°I¡¯ll leave you with this: trust only yourself, and if you want to trust others, make sure they¡¯re worthy of it first.¡± Her eyes narrowed. ¡°Know what you¡¯re getting into first before you take the next step.¡±

    ¡°Of course I do.¡± Find her Key, find the Door for her Key, find the Seventh House, right?

    With the woman walking off and Hua-san asking her if she was alright, Mihira smiled and cheerfully stated that the woman was beautiful and mysterious and utterly possessed of an intense conviction for an unknown purpose.

    You fear you have erred in judgement.

    Mihira shook her head. ¡°I don¡¯t think I did.¡±

    Do not worry, for your judgement is second to none.  Of all of the Houses and Gates, the Seventh House was esteemed amongst its peers for its commitment to balance and harmony.  You are the best candidate of this cycle.

    She nodded. ¡°I know.¡±

    She did¡­she thought.

    <hr>

    Such an intense aura.  How she would have loved to harness it, use it to fuel her own aims.  Alas, the mysterious woman left before Arinya could ask her anything.  Her attunement to the world and the ever shifting background radiation had allowed for everyone¡¯s individual auras to coalesce.  The woman may have been shrouded in secrecy, but she knew her true nature.

    Darkness surrounded her like an inescapable abyss.  At once, she knew this was no ordinary woman, no matter how relaxed she seemed around Kun Mihira¡ªat first.  There was the matter of the woman¡¯s intentions regarding Kun Mihira.  If N¨¢a Y¨³f¨¥i hadn¡¯t bumbled her conversation with her, she could have gleaned more from the woman.  Her intense stare made it clear that she had a purpose in mind, not a simple loiterer.  The aura shifted as if to encompass Kun Mihira, so it was clear that the woman had no ill intentions towards the girl.  The lack of details surrounding her internally frustrated her.  An unknown piece without any discernible motivations was a dangerous one, not in the least had she aimed her withering gaze at Arinya.

    She did not.  In fact, the woman barely registered her presence.  An unfortunate occurrence, Arinya thought, but mistakes could be easily rectified.  Kun Mihira was a crucial piece, so she would have to look into the woman¡¯s connections with Kun Mihira.  She never mentioned a close relationship with anyone other than her ¡°friends¡±, and those present here.

    Speaking of those present¡­Noortje was unexpected.  Kun Mihira¡¯s natural charisma and diplomatic skills aside, she would not have chosen her as a tour guide.  She flinched at almost everything, which registered as strange.  She wasn¡¯t comfortable with N¨¢a Urantsog, who was somehow popular among the group despite the troublesome business.  Despite the language barrier, Arinya knew that Noortje was out of her depth, and yet she was still here.

    Red, white, and purple flowers dotted the gardens at the front of the Peace Palace.  Some of them were tulips.  Out of habit, Arinya touched her hair.  She had a few orchids back in her room.  Were they doing well now that their master was gone?  She had left in such a hurry, she¡¯d barely had time to pack.  Not that it mattered; she could only carry so many things.

    It didn¡¯t matter now.  That room was a temporary measure.  The allure of a Gate could not be understated; the brass amulet hidden in her sleeve having become her most treasured possession.  She spotted Kun Mihira and Noortje examining the flowers.  The little redhead must have noticed her presence, since she visibly yelped in fear.  When she and Kun Mihira were alone, she would get the girl to tell her everything they could about the newcomer.  Kun Mihira had proven to be very receptive to her charms.

    In the meanwhile, Arinya picked up a brochure detailing the layout of the Peace Palace and its history.  She sincerely congratulated the Seventh House on their choice; no one would suspect a magical set of scales amongst the real scales of justice and the many judges and lawyers that filed in and out of the court.

    ¡°Since it¡¯s past 1700 hrs,¡± N¨¢a Y¨³f¨¥i pointed out. ¡°The Palace should be closed, which works to our advantage since the only way we could access the Palace legally is through a guided tour.  Khangal Urantsog had told me that she knew how to pick locks¡­remind me why again?¡±

    ¡°Look, when you are seventeen and bored, you can only do one thing: free the bows and arrows from disuse and try to outcompete the rest of the children in the clan in archery.¡± N¨¢a Urantsog smiled. ¡°Good times.¡±

    It seemed strange that an elder such as N¨¢a Urantsog would hold civil disobedience in high esteem, but then she never expected much from the horse woman.

    ¡°Considering that the Peace Palace is massive, it¡¯s best to split into two groups.  Now since both Tenhou Mihira and I can easily fly to each other at a moment¡¯s notice, me and Khangal Urantsog will be in one group.  You and Tenhou Mihira should be in the second group.  We¡¯ll¡ª¡±

    ¡°We should bring Noortje-san!¡± added Kun Mihira.

    N¨¢a Y¨³f¨¥i blinked in surprise. ¡°Noortje is a child.  I wanted to ask her where her parents were.  Surely they must be worried for her.¡±

    Kun Mihira translated everything for Noortje. ¡°Noortje-san says that she doesn¡¯t have parents.¡±

    ¡°We can¡¯t bring her, unless¡­¡± N¨¢a Y¨³f¨¥i looked at Arinya.  Oh no. ¡°You¡¯re great with children, and I know that one of the best things for former child prodigies is to take on new skills.  Why not start now?  Besides, I trust you.  When one of us finds something, we¡¯ll converge at the entrance.¡±

    ¡­this had to be a classical farce.  When did Arinya give the impression that she was great with¡­not even children, teenagers?  Perhaps her actions in securing Kun Mihira as an ally were received improperly. ¡°Hmm~...mayhaps, but I must confess, Kun Noortje has only been known to us for a short time¡­perhaps we best leave her with you and N¨¢a Urantsog.¡± Although¡­now that she thought of it, what better opportunity did she have of learning of Noortje¡¯s mysterious past? ¡°After much thought¡­I rescind my offer.  I shall take Noortje under my guidance.¡±

    Noortje¡¯s face drained of all colour, before noticing Kun Mihira¡¯s presence.  Did she understand her in some fashion?  Arinya moved closer to the girl in the oversized turtleneck.

    ¡°Would you be willing to play a piece for me?¡± She mimed the fluid motions of playing a violin.

    Noortje stared blankly at Arinya before stepping back in fear. ¡°Laat me alsjeblieft met rust.¡±

    Hmmm, not quite the best question for testing linguistic proficiency.  She would have more opportunities inside the Peace Palace.  With N¨¢a Urantsog¡¯s surprisingly dexterous lockpicking, all five of them entered the building.  Upon opening the black doors, Kun Mihira quickly became enchanted by the statue next to the curving marble staircases, or so Arinya thought.  It was hard to gauge how far she could see with her glasses.  Most interesting was the lack of security.  She had assumed she would have to hypnotise someone into ignoring their nighttime activities.  How¡­fortuitous.  She looked at Noortje.  Terrified.  How useless.

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    N¨¢a Y¨³f¨¥i and N¨¢a Urantsog had left the three of them to their own devices.  Despite the ability to study Noortje¡¯s movements closely, she hated being a glorified babysitter.  N¨¢a Y¨³f¨¥i¡¯s slight wouldn¡¯t be forgotten.  She was meant for the shadows under the circumstances of her birth, yet she had vowed long ago to never let it dictate the path of her life.  The Snake might be the little Dragon, but Arinya knew that she had her own talents.  It was she that exuded elegance and poise above all else, so she had the right to be secure in her own domain without those that would¡ª

    ¡°I think this room is calling towards me.¡±

    She turned around. ¡°Oh?  Shall we~¡±

    For now, she must become yet another unassuming young woman, perfectly compliant with all that came her way.  She followed Kun Mihira into a room on the right, decorated with silk tapestries in the Japanese style, more specifically the Tsuzure Nishiki style.  Rare and eye-catching, as Arinya found herself drawn to the countless birds and flowers depicted masterfully on the tapestries.  Noortje found herself more entranced with the Turkish carpet, while Kun Mihira was interested in the Chinese vases that were almost her size.

    ¡°Where is it¡­¡± Kun Mihira kept searching underneath the vases. ¡°I think it¡¯s¡­wait I know what I¡¯m looking for now!¡±

    The wind was blowing inside the closed room.  A sign of Kun Mihira¡¯s power¡­or something else?  She had explained that the wind occasionally discussed matters with her, similar to how the vibrations Arinya felt on a daily basis portended several key events in her life.

    ¡°I found it!¡±

    Kun Mihira was excitedly holding a¡­copper orb.  Closer observation revealed that it had been inside one of the vases.  One of the Chinese made vases.  Arinya examined the entire room, from the Brazilian wainscoting to the chairs to the richly decorated tapestries.  According to the brochure, this was the Japanese Room, so named for the nine panels of silk tapestries donated by the Japanese government.  The Key to the Seventh House associated with justice was located in a courthouse, with the person holding the Libra amulet being from Japan.  Was this all planned in advance?

    These thoughts and more weighed on Arinya¡¯s mind.  Kun Mihira seemed to have taken a carefree attitude to all of this, playfully throwing the copper orb into the air.  Noortje was more contemplative of her surroundings, peeking out into the vast courtyard in the centre of the building.  All three of them were walking down the hallway, moonlight streaming through the stained windows.  The windows depicted people doing various tasks, some of the seasons and¡ªwait.  Arinya stopped walking and moved closer to one of the windows.  Was that¡­a bull?

    Kun Mihira must have noticed it too. ¡°We should backtrack.¡±

    The three of them started retracing their steps, doing a full loop around the hallways surrounding the courtyard before finding a window that vaguely depicted Libra.  While Kun Mihira was eagerly talking about it with Noortje, Arinya was watching the silent hallways.  Hmmm¡­how interesting.  Still no one to greet them.  Fascinating.  She glanced at Noortje.  Still the same mindless terror.  For a girl willing to travel alone, Noortje was out of her depth.

    She heard the flip of Kun Mihira¡¯s copper amulet, and watched as she applied some blush to the person in the window.  The person reciprocated by letting the window glow a faint pastel pink and blue light as a fresh breeze wafted from an unknown room.  When they approached, a hole in the world appeared, emitting a certain freshness that smelled of raspberries.  The boundary was not harshly defined, but seemed to meld with its environs.

    ¡°We should find N¨¢a Y¨³f¨¥i and N¨¢a Urantsog before proceeding.¡± Their physical capabilities were second to none for their group.  Kun Mihira was fragile, Arinya was more suited to ambush, and she had no idea about Noortje.  Come to think of it, she knew nothing about her.  Why was Kun Mihira so willing to trust her?  She scanned the corridor.  Her instincts were right.

    They were being watched.

    ¡°I haven¡¯t seen Hua-san or Urantsog-san.¡± Kun Mihira looked around. ¡°Should we wait or¡ª¡±

    Noortje pulled Kun Mihira aside and whispered something into her ear.  Arinya leaned in closer.  She couldn''t understand what was being said, but she did manage to unnerve the Dutch girl.

    ¡°Noortje-san said that we should move, and they can catch up later.¡± Mihira squinted. ¡°We did find this hole, and the wind tells me that it should stay open.  As long as they find it, we should be fine.¡±

    With both hands, Kun Mihira led Noortje and Arinya through the gusting hole.  She turned one last time to the silent moonlit night before disappearing into¡ª

    <hr>

    ¡ªa court.

    At once, Mihira felt a sense of righteousness¡ªalmost like she was meant to be here.  Sinaka-san silently observed the surroundings and Noortje-san gaped at the entirety of the room.

    Marble columns dotted the room, fragmenting into smaller chunks near the top.  They were on a stone platform, and according to her eyes as she peered downwards, there was nothing beneath them and nothing holding it in place.  Beneath were clouds shrouded by a darkened sky with no hints of light.  There was an atmosphere of solemnity, with only an intricate pattern with the glyph of Libra in the centre and a high bench sitting atop all else.  At the highest seat, there was a balance.  Mihira could not see clearly, but she knew it was perfectly balanced¡ªand it called to her.

    Shedding the cloth that was covering her wings, Mihira ascended upwards.  The columns were nonexistent at the top, and Sinaka-san and Noortje-san were mere specks.  She wondered if they could see her this high up.  Overhead, the pattern became a little clearer: ten concentric circles with little icons.  Mihira was drawn inexplicably to the third circle with the cross at the bottom.  The bench seemed to be higher and higher, until finally she reached the top.

    The scales were copper in colour, little pastel flecks glinting across the uniform texture.  The glyph of Libra was engraved in the centre, with two hanging balances on either side.

    ¡­who approaches the bench?

    ¡°I do!¡± Mihira coughed. ¡°I seek to claim you to help restore the world.¡±

    Proceed carefully.

    She looked around the white bench.  Nothing out of place.  Mihira carefully picked up the Scales¡ªonly to hear a click from its podium.

    ¡°Ahhhhhh!  What is that!?¡±

    That was Noortje-san¡¯s voice!  Mihira dove down to see a life-sized gavel emerging from one of the columns and barrelling down on Sinaka-san and Noortje-san screaming at the top of her lungs.  She was about to stop it when she thought about the bench where the Scales were resting on.  Flying back up and placing the Scales back to their original position, she watched as the gavel rescinded inside its original column.  She still needed to free the Scales from its position.  When she lifted it, the part of the bench it was on slightly lifted.  After moving it slightly, she concluded that it was a weight-based mechanism.

    Feeling the weight of the copper orb, she took it and weighed it in her hand.  Carefully cupping the bottom of the Scales, she felt the weight of both objects in her hands.  They should be equivalents to each other in terms of weight, at least by her judgement.  If she were to swap out the two objects quickly enough, the gavel shouldn¡¯t fall by her estimations.

    ¡°One, two, three, four, five!¡±

    Mihira quickly swapped out the orb and the Scales.  Noortje-san wasn¡¯t screaming, so that indicated that both Sinaka-san and Noortje-san were safe.  Nothing moved either in the dim lightless sky.  The Scales haven¡¯t talked or said anything, so Mihira assumed that all was well.  She floated above the platform before diving down.  This was easy!  If all of the other trials were like this, then all of the Houses should be restored in no time.

    Once she landed, silence descended along with her.  Where were Sinaka-san and Noortje-san?  She took flight and circled around.  No sign of them.  Maybe they left through the rift?  Mihira started strolling to the rift¡ª

    ¡ªonly to find that the rift had closed.  The wind had said it should stay open indefinitely, so it should have stayed open as long as they were all here.  Strangely, the world became a little darker¡­did one of the shadows move?  Maybe that was where they were both hiding.  Mihira sprinted over to the patch of darkness to investigate, but to no avail.

    ¡°Let go of me!  Why you¡ª¡±

    ¡°Shush~.  My my, you struggle so much.  What did you hope to accomplish?¡±

    Mihira turned around¡ªand found Noortje-san entangled in Sinaka-san¡¯s tail tightly coiled around her.  A dagger was at Noortje-san¡¯s throat while its twin was sheathed on Sinaka-san¡¯s body.  At once, Mihira hefted the Scales, which started to slightly sway.

    ¡°What¡¯s happening?  Explain this to me, both of you,¡± she asked.

    ¡°She turned into a snake out of nowhere, coiled around me, and put a dagger to my throat!¡± Noortje-san tried to grab something, but was stopped by the other dagger.

    ¡°Lies, lies, and even more lies.  Is your name truly Noortje?  Or is that what they told you to use?¡± Sinaka-san acknowledged Mihira¡¯s presence. ¡°To explain myself, Kun Mihira, while this looks like an unfortunate situation, I am in the right here.  You see, I found the lack of security around the Peace Palace disturbing, even more so when I realised that someone or multiple someones had a specific interest in observing our every move¡­almost the exact scenario a friend of mine found herself in a while ago.  My doubts were confirmed when she¡ª¡± Sinaka-san held the struggling Noortje-san closer. ¡°Managed to close the rift behind us.  You didn¡¯t want N¨¢a Y¨³f¨¥i and N¨¢a Urantsog here for expediency reasons, you wanted us to stay separated so you can enact whatever plan your superiors concocted.¡± The dagger moved ever closer to Noortje-san¡¯s throat. ¡°I know we can understand each other here in this space protected by the Seventh House.  Don¡¯t play dumb, I know you know what those names mean.¡±

    ¡°You closed the rift behind us when none of us were looking!¡± Noortje-san kept struggling. ¡°Come on, let me¡ª¡±

    Mihira held the Scales tighter as they started to sway.  Could she make judgments here?  Sinaka-san was trustworthy, but why all of this subterfuge?  Noortje-san wasn¡¯t a threat and she doubted that Noortje-san would try to do something brazen, especially in front of Sinaka-san.  If she wasn¡¯t careful, she would end up with the wrong person accused¡­the Scales would assist her.

    She raised the Scales. ¡°Let me judge the truth of the matter.¡±

    Denied.

    ¡°Why?¡± That was odd.

    The candidate has yet to prove themselves worthy of the Seventh House.

    Mihira was stunned. ¡°What do I need to do?¡±

    The Scales remained silent.

    Meanwhile, both the serpentine woman and Noortje-san were struggling against each other.

    ¡°You¡ª!¡± Noortje-san began to cry. ¡°Let me go!¡±

    An emotionless Sinaka-san stared. ¡°Hmmm~...that would be a terrible decision for many reasons.¡± She turned to Mihira. ¡°We¡¯ve known each other the longest.  You know me, I know you.  Let¡¯s end this farce, and I¡¯ll promise you any reward that you desire.¡±

    ¡°Who do you think looks more reasonable here?  Me, or the woman who tied me up in her tail?¡± Noortje-san was still writhing. ¡°She¡¯s trying to bribe you!  What kind of innocent person does that!?¡±

    She couldn¡¯t decide.  How could she?  She wasn¡¯t present for any of this.  The rift was closed by someone or something, that was self-evident.  By who though?  Which one of them did it?  She needed all of the facts first, but¡ª

    Noortje-san managed to free one of her arms and punched Sinaka-san in the face, temporarily releasing her tight grip around the girl¡¯s body.  Before Mihira or Sinaka-san could react, Noortje-san pulled out a silver amulet from the oversized turtleneck sweater¡¯s sleeves.

    ¡°Let me overflow with all that I have accumulated over the aeons.  Let my tears fall and nurture those that I have cared for in times past.¡±

    A silver light brightened the room as Sinaka-san and Mihira shielded their eyes.  A laser-like beam emitted from where Noortje-san was before dissipating into little moonlit motes.  Mihira was the first to uncover her eyes, the initial shock wearing off quickly and replaced by¡­tears?

    Noortje-san had lost the vibrant red colour of her hair, replaced with a silver colour that reflected the surrounding motes.  Her hair was no longer done up in hair bows, but were separated into two braids each adorned with an indigo bow with pearls at the centre.  Her dress and cloak were silvery too, with indigo ruffled layers beneath the scalloped edges of her dress.  Sheer white lace stockings ran up to mid-thigh with indigo pumps on her feet.  An indigo bow with silver half moon details decorated her back, while her silver choker was decorated with pearls.

    The most notable accessory didn¡¯t fit with her colour scheme.  Attached around her choker was a black collar with a pulsating hot pink sphere in the centre.

    ¡°...Noortje-san?¡± Mihira asked, wiping away her tears.

    Noortje-san blinked through her own tears. ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡±

    Sinaka-san was ready to attack, but Mihira put her hand out.  She wanted to hear out Noortje-san.  There always has to be a reason. ¡°It¡¯s alright, I understand that¡ª¡±

    ¡°Stop.¡± Noortje-san pointed her arm at Sinaka-san as it transformed into a clawlike cannon with a silvery glow. ¡°Put down the Scales.¡±

    Mihira did as she was asked to.  She put her hands in the air for good measure.

    ¡°Come with me, please.¡± Noortje-san started tearing up again. ¡°I don¡¯t want to fight you.  Please just make this easier for the both of us.¡±

    ¡°What are you talking about?¡±

    ¡°They said¡­they said that if I followed you and captured you, then they¡¯ll be safe.¡± Noortje-san toyed with the collar on her neck. ¡°I hope that they¡¯re unharmed¡­¡±

    Mihira stopped walking towards Noortje-san. ¡°Who are they?¡±

    ¡°My siblings.¡± Noortje-san sounded dejected. ¡°When I came home a month ago¡ªI was greeted by three strangers.  There was a computer in front of the living room¡ªthey forced me to watch.  I was given a choice: they would kill them, or I would work for them.¡± She scratched the black collar. ¡°And they told me to take you.¡±

    The children in the wallpaper¡­those must have been her siblings.  Younger, if Mihira had to guess. ¡°Have you tried calling the police?¡±

    Noortje-san tapped the collar. ¡°They made sure I stayed compliant.¡±

    Mihira quickly flew over. ¡°If I can disassemble it, you can¡ª¡±

    ¡°No!  Don¡¯t touch it!  If the operator knows you¡¯re trying to tamper¡ª¡± The orb started brightly glowing¡ªbefore sending Noortje-san into shock as purple electricity radiated over her body.  Mihira wanted to grab her, but considering how violently Noortje-san was spasming, she doubted it would help much.  Her heart still broke though.

    Once Noortje-san had recovered, she stood up, her body aching from the electricity coursing through it. ¡°I think we should leave now¡ª¡±

    A whoosh later, Noortje-san was struck in the head by Sinaka-san with the hilt of her daggers.  To Mihira¡¯s surprise, she wasn¡¯t affected by that¡ªuntil Mihira noticed that some of her skin looked closer to the texture of a crab¡¯s shell than regular soft human skin.

    Noortje-san¡¯s response was to fire a cannon blast into Sinaka-san.  The blast sent her skidding across the floating platform and almost off the edge if Mihira hadn¡¯t summoned some wind to push her back.  Sinaka-san¡¯s initial shock was soon replaced with groans of pain.

    ¡°Are you alright?¡± Mihira floated to Sinaka-san.

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m fine¡ªmove now!¡±

    She pushed Mihira away as another silver shot rang out into the void.  Noortje-san had transformed both of her arms into silver claw-shaped cannons.  Both of them were recharging, so Mihira ascended quickly.  Once she was high above the clouds, she turned invisible.

    Her heart broke for Noortje-san and her predicament, but she couldn¡¯t have her shooting at her friends.  Speaking of which¡ªshe couldn¡¯t contact Hua-san and Urantsog-san to tell them what had happened.  Was the wind here?  She called out for its presence, but no answer.  Only a faint stirring.  Could the Scales create an exit out of the liminal space?  It wouldn¡¯t hurt to try.

    She dove down, careful to not make any sounds upon her plunge.  She sighted the Scales soon after, the copper glittering in the sunless sky.  With expert precision, she grasped the Scales, lifting them up before Noortje-san could take a shot.  Sinaka-san was hiding amidst the columns, watching the girl in silver closely.  Mihira flew higher where the silver blasts were more inaccurate and less likely to hit their target.  Weaving between the crescent-shaped blasts, Mihira held the Scales to eye level.

    ¡°What other trials are there?  Why am I not worthy?¡±

    I can perceive you.  Your values, beliefs, sense of justice, personality, and nature¡ªand I find you wanting.

    Strange. ¡°The wind told me differently.¡±

    The wind is wrong.  She is not infallible, for that aspect belonged to the Lady of the Clouded Courts and no one else.

    ¡°I can be infallible!¡± Mihira dodged another blast. ¡°I¡¯ll prove it to you in any way I can!¡±

    Give up your eyesight.

    The statement shocked Mihira.  If she gave up her eyesight, how would she make dresses for her friends?  See the gleaming azure scales of Hua-san, the beautiful clothing of Sinaka-san, and the athleticism of Urantsog-san and her wild mane?  What about the colours of the sky at sunrise, the way Tokyo came to life at sunset, the gorgeous ladies that walked underneath her apartment?

    Your sight is a flaw.  A flaw that can be corrected, but still a flaw nonetheless.  Strip away those that seek to distract you and lead you astray from your absolute judgments.

    ¡°No.¡± Mihira plunged downwards as a rain of crescent shaped shots rang out. ¡°I¡­can¡¯t.  Not right now.¡± Could she dodge anything if her vision was taken from her?  Before her glasses broke while trying to save Hua-san, she had never realised how much she had relied on her vision for everything.  Walking, cooking, sewing, playing, observing¡­how could she give up all of that?

    Below, Sinaka-san raked the bladed part of her daggers across Noortje-san¡¯s arm cannons, much to the other girl¡¯s pain.  Mihira wanted to assist, but the Scales pulled her back up.

    You want to wield the mantle of the Seventh House and your predecessor¡¯s legacy?  Then hold your tongue and stay your hand.

    ¡°But Noortje-san and Sinaka-san are¡ª!¡±

    Know when to intervene and when to not.  We are not the First House, we proceed once we have assessed the situation and act with dignity when we do.

    Mihira knew what was happening.  Her friends were in danger, because of her!  Ignoring the Scales, she wrested control over her body and whirled downwards.  Both Sinaka-san and Noortje-san were locked in a stalemate, Sinaka-san coiled around Noortje-san¡¯s body while both arm cannons were pressed against Sinaka-san¡¯s temples.  Neither of them were budging, and the arm cannons were in the middle of recharging.

    ¡°Stop right there!¡± Mihira raised the Scales and became visible, although she heard some quiet grumbling. ¡°Let¡¯s settle this with words, not fists!¡±

    ¡°I think we¡¯ve passed that point when she¡ª¡± Sinaka-san jabbed at Noortje-san¡¯s cheek. ¡°Decided to imprison us in here so that she could collect payment from whoever she sold herself to¡ª¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not being paid!  Do you think I want this!?¡± Noortje-san pointed at the collar on her neck. ¡°None of my siblings wanted to be stolen from their home in the night either!¡±

    ¡°It is a convenient sob story.¡±

    ¡°You think I¡¯m lying?!¡± She tried to punch Sinaka-san in the face, only for her punch to be blown off course by a sudden gust of wind.

    ¡°Enough of this!¡± Mihira fully descended. ¡°I know that this isn¡¯t an ideal situation, and I understand both of your grievances with each other.  If we keep fighting, that doesn¡¯t change the fact that all three of us are stuck here.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­I think that if you close the only exit with the sole purpose of capturing one of us, you would likely have a way out,¡± Sinaka-san muttered.

    Noortje-san crossed her arms and stewed in silence.

    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s more than likely that Noortje-san closed the portal.  You have to consider that her family is being held hostage, and if you don¡¯t believe me, I saw their faces on her phone wallpaper.¡± She doubted that Noortje-san or whoever forced her into this went through the trouble of creating an entire wallpaper to elicit sympathy, nor did she think that Noortje-san was faking her mournful look on the train.

    Sinaka-san only hummed in response, but she wasn¡¯t throwing insults at Noortje-san or trying to strangle her.  Mihira wondered what the Scales thought of her actions.

    ¡°...are you alright Noortje-san?¡± Should she be angry?  Probably, but what good was anger now? ¡°If you¡¯re hurting, you can reach out to me or¡­¡± She hesitated to say Sinaka-san, and she never felt that Sinaka-san was the forgiving or nurturing type. ¡°Or anyone else that you can feel comfortable with.  With that said, we do need a way out.¡± The Scales shifted in her hand. ¡°I understand you want me, but we can¡¯t leave Sinaka-san here and we need an exit.  Please show us the way out.¡±

    Noortje-san shook her head. ¡°I can¡¯t let both of you free.  They told me it was either capture or incapacitation.¡± Her arm cannons started glowing silver. ¡°I like you Mihira, I really do, but it¡¯s you or my siblings, and I can¡¯t let them down.  I¡¯m sorry.  I hope you can forgive me.¡±

    Despair.

    Mihira¡¯s stomach lurched as the weight of the world crashed down on her.  All of her hope drained from her, and she could only feel a great maw within herself.  The will to carry on drained from her and Mihira buckled to the ground in order to process everything.  It was all¡­pointless.  Why was she here?  Far away from home, her friends¡ªWhy was she continuing?

    Because you believe that there is good in the world.

    The wind?

    Mmmm.  You know what to do.

    She¡­wasn¡¯t sure anymore.  Sinaka-san didn¡¯t appear bothered that all of their efforts were for naught.  As she watched Noortje-san, all she could think of was¡ª

    Is there any point to being sad?  Yeah, you can be sad, but why wallow in that for so long?  There¡¯s a billion other things to do like kissing, gossip, looking at the latest trends¡­

    Kaori¡¯s words rang true within her.  She was right, she couldn¡¯t let her spirits down.  The world relied on her, her friends relied on her, Sinaka-san was relying on her!  Although Sinaka-san looked unaffected by everything as she always did.

    Before Noortje-san could grasp her, Mihira flew upwards and started creating an updraft.  High winds blew across the platform, inviting along little pieces of debris.  A whirlwind formed with its howling sounds calming Mihira down.  Sinaka-san watched blankly as the red orchids in her hair swayed.  Noortje-san stood tall despite the whirlwind.  Almost too calmly¡ª

    A blast hit her stomach.  Crashing down to the platform, a wave of fury rushed over her.  Making her relive that again!?  She never wanted to relive her wings being broken and being at the mercy of a ventilator again!  What if she made her feel the same way?  Mihira pulled at Noortje-san¡¯s breath, dragging all of the air out of her¡ªwait, what was she doing?  The sight of Noortje-san gasping for breath with her eyes almost bulging out shocked Mihira back into reality.  Since when was she capable of inflicting this much harm on anyone?  Sinking to her knees, Mihira stared blankly at the girl in silver¡¯s approaching figure.  Judging by the pinched expression on her face, Noortje-san was not happy.  The Scales were still silent.

    As Noortje-san charged at Mihira, the shadows shifted¡ª

    ¡ªbefore Noortje-san could lay a hand on Mihira, her claw cannon hit a black scorpion tail.

    Both girls looked at the tail in surprise before a whip coiled around Noortje-san¡¯s neck and sent her sprawling from Mihira.  She was about to say something before the stranger picked her up and started climbing up the marble columns.  Once they reached the top, the stranger kept looking for an exit.  After three minutes of summoning various shadows, the masked stranger stared at the void in silence, her hands fiddling with the small black knife sheaths across her chest.  She looked familiar to Mihira.  Had she seen her before?

    We are not starting this again.

    The Scales were speaking! ¡°Did I pass?¡±

    Why would you think that?

    Mihira blushed in shame. ¡°I¡¯m sorry for nearly asphyxiating Noortje-san.¡±

    Have you seen reason yet?  You can not interfere and compromise your neutrality.

    She is in the right.

    The wind again!  There must be a way that Mihira could gain control of the Scales without losing her vision.  Could the stranger help?  She seemed fixated on her own goals, but maybe¡ª

    Quiet now~  Hmm?  You wish for violence?  Hmm~  I can give a nice peaceful rest to you~  Come to me~ Take that collar off yourself for freedom and peace of mind~ Show me the way home~

    Sinaka-san?  It wasn¡¯t meant for Mihira, at least it was¡ªthere was one person here with a collar.  Noortje-san¡­her eyes threatened to tear up. ¡°Sorry stranger, but I have to stop my friends from fighting!¡±

    With that, she dove down, her wings tucked in behind her.  Sinaka-san was playing her violin so perfectly, her eyes closed as she leaned into her performance.  As with everything about her, Mihira was enchanted by her peaceful presence and the elegant way her bow reverberated.  How she wished to be in her arms again¡ª

    You are a terrible candidate, but I can¡¯t stand by and let you be tricked by the Sixth Gate¡¯s wiles.

    Hush now, the candidate for the Sixth Gate¡¯s mantle is stunning.

    Mihira knew that the wind sometimes commented on the attractiveness of her crushes, but she didn¡¯t know the wind found Sinaka-san beautiful too.

    Your vision is clouded by these attachments.  Let go of them.  A judge needs to be impartial above all other concerns.

    She can perform the duties of the Seventh House and have relationships.

    We were meant for a higher purpose.

    ¡­since when were ¡°we¡± involved here?

    Mihira wondered how the Scales and the wind knew each other.  They talked like they knew each other for a long time¡­as if they were once intimate.  Nonetheless, the Scales were right: she wasn¡¯t here to ogle Sinaka-san.  She spotted Noortje-san reaching for her collar.  No matter what, she did not deserve to be shocked again.  Letting a breeze go, she let Noortje-san¡¯s arm flail in the wind.  Confident that the girl in silver was safe, Mihira turned towards her friend.  Once this was ended, the Scales should finally accept her.  She hoped it was enough, enough to balance between what the Scales wanted and her own selfish desires.

    Sinaka-san wasn¡¯t disturbed by the interruption.  All she returned to Mihira was a vapid smile.

    ¡°Oh?  So you have returned.¡± Sinaka-san glanced at where Noortje-san was slowly getting up. ¡°I was beginning to wonder where she had stolen you to.  I¡¯m glad you¡¯re here.  Perhaps we can finish this sorry matter and rejoin with the others?¡±

    ¡°We should, but in a peaceful manner.¡± Mihira hoped she wouldn¡¯t come off too harsh, so she channelled her inner Hua-san voice. ¡°There¡¯s a time and a place to exact vengeance, but not right now.  I understand your anger, but we need Noortje-san¡¯s cooperation if we want to get out of here.  The Scales have been stubborn and the pretty woman who took me doesn¡¯t know the way back.¡±

    She swore she heard Sinaka-san¡¯s tone turn frosty. ¡°Is that so?  After all of this time we¡¯ve spent, you want to make peace with a foolish girl who chose to side with a party of unknown intentions.  There¡­were some complications, but in the end, I was no longer safe in my own home.  All thanks to those that sought fire as a means to an end.  See reason~, Kun Mihira.  Look, she¡¯s aiming as we speak.¡±

    Mihira turned to where Noortje-san was¡ªand sure enough, Noortje-san¡¯s arm cannon was glowing silver.  Frustration hit Mihira.  She knew that Noortje-san was doing it for her family, but she was getting tired of this.  She was about to move to stop Noortje-san¡ªbefore the stranger knocked her into the ground.

    Darkness filled the room and Mihira gripped the middle of the Scales.  Punctuated by silver beams, both Noortje-san and the woman in black burst out of the cloud.  Noortje-san was about to aim, but the woman blocked it with her tail.  Said tail tried to pierce through Noortje-san¡¯s skin repeatedly to no avail.  The girl¡¯s dress was dirty, yet she stayed strong¡ªuntil tears of blood streamed from her eyes.

    ¡°Hmmm~¡± Sinaka-san coldly stared at the woman. ¡°She seems effective.¡±

    The tidal wave of bitterness still wielded power over Mihira. ¡°I¡¯ll let you do what you need to do.¡± Why did she feel this tired all of a sudden?

    Sinaka-san reset her violin in its proper place.  As she began playing, Mihira tried to cheer herself up.  Everything gnawed at her though, and even Sinaka-san¡¯s harmony couldn¡¯t lift her up.  She almost killed Noortje-san there, she couldn¡¯t stop Sinaka-san from attacking Noortje-san, and she still hadn¡¯t measured up to the Scales.  Noortje-san was still conscious, even though she was badly battered and her eyes were barely open.  The woman in black stared at her, the dark red lenses reflecting Mihira¡¯s exhaustion back at her.

    Sing me a song of tears and woe~ Tell me sweetling, where is home~ The home denied to me~  The home you denied me~

    ¡­Sinaka-san?  Usually she wasn¡¯t like this¡­

    Bear the weight of your mistakes.  All of you.

    All of¡ª?

    The song changed.  Mihira felt everything.  The betrayal, the hope, the longing¡­everything mixed into a sorrowful fugue.  What she wanted¡­suffering for all who have wronged her.  Somewhere, a deep shameful corner, she empathised with that feeling.  Noortje-san stopped moving, while the woman took a step back, her stinger tail ready to strike¡ª

    CRACK.

    A black whip snapped at Sinaka-san¡¯s chest, sending her tumbling to the ground.  The woman watched as Sinaka-san struggled to get up, and struck again.  Again, and again, and again.  Sinaka-san tried to counter with her violin playing, but the strikes were too quick.  She lashed out by cutting into the woman¡¯s clothes, but she never drew blood.  Her own blood was drawn¡­and reshaped into needles¡­and pinned her to one of the marble columns.

    Mihira was powerless.  Here she was, standing with a powerful Key, and all she could do was stand and watch.  She tried her own way, she tried the way of justice, now what?  Her vision¡­yes, she would¡ª

    There¡¯s a third way.

    That wasn¡¯t the wind.  Mihira looked to her right¡ªand saw a spectral figure in a dress much simpler than hers.  The woman looked like her, but older.  Her blindfold was pushed up, showing clouded eyes staring vacantly.

    ¡°Who are you?¡± Can you help me fix this broken mess, Mihira wanted to say.

    The air around them shifted. An echo of someone from a long time ago.  I doubt you would know who I am.

    No, she was familiar to Mihira, but she couldn¡¯t quite place her.

    I heard your pleas for assistance, and I can provide it.

    ¡­why now?

    The wind?  Normally, Mihira would have been warmed by its presence but she was too weary.

    The figure was unperturbed. She required assistance, so I have chosen to give it to her.

    Your assistance is not wanted.  She should forge her own path, without any influence from those that came before her.

    The wind was being hostile to the figure, which was rare.  Mihira wanted to probe the wind for further questions, but the sounds of clashing down below stole her attention.  Noortje-san had awakened¡ªand decided to shoot the stranger in the back.  Sinaka-san had wrenched herself free of the sanguine needles and was attacking the stranger with daggers, making the stranger stagger from the rapid onslaught.  Mihira despaired at the amount of slashes on Sinaka-san¡¯s arms and scales.  The stranger herself was no slouch in combat, blocking Noortje-san¡¯s blasts with her tail and parrying off Sinaka-san¡¯s frenzied stabs with her whip.  Her tail was drooping though and she was¡­looking above at the figure?  That couldn¡¯t be right.

    If you want the conflict to end, I can make it happen.

    ¡°What do I need to do?¡± If there¡¯s a way¡­

    The figure stared at her. You haven¡¯t mastered the Scales, but I once did.  The Scales measure the individual¡¯s worth against an instilled standard.   Your body under my control.

    Mihira¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°And if I give it to you¡­you¡¯ll stop the fighting and let us out of here?¡±

    You have retrieved the Scales of the Four Winds.  That was all you needed to do.  This is a fair transaction, as is everything I do.  I should mention that there is no conventional way of reopening the entrance, so I will employ unorthodox methods.

    The wind chilled. You can¡¯t¡ª

    Only if she accepts.

    I will not let her be bound to you like you bound him and I to this state of being! This time the wind was howling. He might have accepted it, but I¡ª

    Silence.  Let her think on her own.

    ¡°I¡¯ll give my body to you.  Anything to stop the fighting.¡± Even if she gave up her vision and recreated the exit, that wouldn¡¯t guarantee that her friends would stop fighting each other.  Besides¡­at this point, she felt that she could trust the figure¡¯s judgement more than herself.

    The figure remained impassive.  Thank you.  It¡¯s been a while since I have been able to experience the Lower World.

    All of a sudden, Mihira felt weightless.  She tried to move her hand, but it refused to listen to her.  In fact, nothing responded to her control.

    This is but a temporary arrangement.  You wish to know the power of the Seventh House and the Scales?  Watch carefully.

    <hr>

    There was something to be said about the irony of travelling with the embodiment of peace and harmonious relationships, and being in a bloodied fight for dominance over said embodiment.

    The only detail that she was gracious for was that at least it wasn¡¯t her blood on her face this time.  Arinya would have preferred to not have blood on any part of her body, but clearly the scorpion woman preferred more pragmatic solutions to issues.

    It was unfortunate that she had chosen to oppose Arinya.  She would have been a useful ally, especially against the treacherous crab.

    Speaking of which, she should have seen it coming.  How long had Noortje been subtly influencing them?  Arinya knew that she wouldn¡¯t have lashed out like before on her own, so there must have been external influence.

    ¡°And you call me a manipulator.¡± Arinya¡¯s daggers met with Noortje¡¯s claws. ¡°Is this the kind of example you want to set for your siblings?¡±

    ¡°Shut up, you know nothing about me or my family!¡± Noortje charged up her claw cannon before shards of darkness slammed the both of them into nearby floating columns, sending marble fragments crumbling into the void.

    The woman in black let her whip pool on the ground before cracking it against Noortje¡¯s chest.  Her face, as always, was unreadable with that black mask and blood red lenses.  If there¡¯s one thing that Arinya hated, it was a wild card.  The woman had a vested interest in Kun Mihira and a venomous fury against Noortje.  Anything else was locked tightly behind that sleek mask of hers.  She winced at the subtle slashes on her scaled arms.  Arinya had a solution for that, but the fact that the woman was able to wound her irked her.

    Luckily, after so much time locked in combat, it was safe to say that she was not the ¡°goal¡± of this woman¡¯s ire.  Freeing herself from the column, she flicked her tail before raising her violin.  The pain in her arms was subtle but very much present, and she cursed the woman in her mind.  Noortje managed to detach herself from the marble column as well, still recharging her damned cannons.  When would the girl ever learn?

    She was about to play a song¡ªwhen the air shifted.  Kun Mihira was hovering over them¡ªbut something was different.  Her body heat decreased significantly, and Arinya felt a more substantial presence in the room.  The power dynamics of this room changed¡ªand she doubted the scales tipped in her favour.

    The other two were engrossed in their fighting, too ignorant to see that what they were doing was insignificant now.  Arinya peered at Kun Mihira.  The way she held the Scales, almost like an extension of her arm, sent waves of discomfort through Arinya¡¯s heart.  She slithered away, watching from behind a marble column.

    Kun Mihira took off her glasses and encased them in an air pocket.  Plucking a feather from one of her wings, and with another feather falling from the other, she placed it on one of the copper scales.  The Scales started to glow a pale pink.

    Something about Kun Mihira¡¯s appearance deeply arrested Arinya.  There was a sublime beauty to her, but not the kind Arinya would see in beauty pageants or among the members of high society.  She looked beautiful in the way you would call the sky beautiful.

    The fact that her eyes seemed to pierce through the marble column unnerved Arinya.

    The Scales swayed gently, until Kun Mihira¡ªor whoever was in her body¡ªgripped it tightly.  The world stilled¡ªbefore a concussive wave sent her flying.  She grabbed the nearest fragment.  The woman in black and Noortje were embedded into the marble columns.

    In any situation where she didn¡¯t have the upper hand, she would always find a minor flaw within whoever did.  Sometimes it was money, sometimes it was pride. Looking into those vacant eyes, Arinya doubted she would find anything.

    She tried to find a safe haven, but something pulled her away and onto the floating platform.  Once she regained her sense of stability, she looked at the others.  Noortje had her perpetually bug-eyed expression on, while the woman in black struggled with the invisible bindings.

    The being in control of Kun Mihira¡¯s body let the Scales hang at her side. ¡°In a place of peace, you have chosen violence over diplomacy.  How¡­intriguing.¡± Her voice was soft yet distant. ¡°You are all so beautiful.  I wish I didn¡¯t have to judge you, but that was never in my hands.¡± She held the Scales up. ¡°I call for Noortje van der Meer¡¯s soul to be weighed."

    Noortje stared at her mouth as it suddenly glowed silver¡ªand slumped to the ground as a silver cloud escaped her mouth.  The cloud floated to the scale not holding the feather and the Scales started tilting back and forth.  Since the being was busy watching the Scales, Arinya was confident that now was the time to make a move.  The being had substantial power, but she was in a blind girl¡¯s body.  Arinya knew Kun Mihira had no extrasensory perception, and she no longer felt the air pushing against her.  Sparing only a glance at the other two, she slithered away.  Playing the violin would require vibrations, something that the being would hear.  Her arms still hurt, but a quick slash should be enough to unbalance her.  Not too deep, enough to wake Kun Mihira.

    The Scales were still tilting.  With all eyes on the Scales, it was time.  Quieting herself, she moved in complete silence.  She climbed up a marble column and leaped.  The copper scales were starting to slow down¡ªyet Arinya still felt like someone was watching her.  She looked at Kun Mihira¡¯s body¡ªand a cold unease spread through her body when she saw her eyes tracking her in mid air.

    The Scales stopped with the scale containing Noortje¡¯s breath lower than the one containing the feather.  In a breath, Arinya was stopped.  Her body was seemingly encased by an invisible solid.  She tried moving to no avail.

    ¡°You must have thought that this body was defenceless because she is blind.¡±

    Arinya¡¯s eyes turned towards the being in Kun Mihira¡¯s body.

    ¡°Even if I had been in a sighted body, I would have perceived you.  I know¡­every flutter, every gasp, every step.  The air changes every movement, and I see that.¡± She stared into Arinya, who wilted from the intensity. ¡°I must congratulate you on moving in silence.  Even the twins would not have heard you¡­¡±

    Arinya felt the air reshaping itself¡ªslowly inserting itself past her eye socket, into her ears, the small gap between her lips¡ª

    ¡°In another era¡­¡± Kun Mihira¡¯s body smiled. ¡°Another time.  Not now.¡±

    The silver cloud lifted from its scale and flew into Noortje¡¯s mouth, who promptly gasped for breath.  The Scales started moving¡­and a sense of dread filled Arinya.

    ¡°Your beauty would have adorned the hallways of my courts.¡± Something about the newfound crispness in that voice unnerved her. ¡°Now, Arinya Sinaka, I call for your soul to be weighed.¡±

    The air around Arinya was no longer solid¡ªbut nothing supported her either.  As she freefalled, she noticed the teal glow of her mouth.  Trying to hold it in was impossible, no matter how hard she clamped down on her mouth.

    The last thing she saw was a teal cloud leaving her lips.

    She had no body.  No physical sensations.  No sight, no touch, no smell¡­

    There was a feather on the other side.  That she knew.  She retained no name, and yet that was a familiar sensation.  Being known as ¡°her¡± in this instance felt right, despite the knowledge that she was, had been more than that¡­

    ¡°You are the candidate for the Sixth Gate?¡±

    Yes, she was in this instance.

    ¡°You intentionally instigated conflict within the confines of this dimension against the candidates of the Fourth and Eighth Houses?¡±

    Yes¡ªwhy was she answering these questions truthfully?  In this life, she knew how to hide her feelings.  Being laid bare revolted her.  After so many years¡ª

    ¡°You wanted to use the candidates of the Seventh House and the Fifth and Seventh Gates for your own means prior to you entering this dimension?¡±

    Yes.  That she would not deny.  If he¡ªfor she noticed a masculine quality to the voice¡ªwanted the truth of it, so be it.  Security was always important to her, even more so now at the mercy of forces she could not begin to comprehend.

    ¡°The touch of the Fourth House lies within your mind.  The power to instil strong emotions or amplify them is under the Fourth House¡¯s domain.  Implantation was not detected.  The factors behind your actions were already present.¡±

    Of course that was his conclusion.  That the girl had amplified her emotions was already clear, yet the idea that she may have felt artificial emotions¡ª

    ¡°If you wish to argue that what you felt was artificial and therefore you were not responsible for your actions, that is false.  You would have undertaken those actions even if you hadn¡¯t been under the Fourth House¡¯s influence.¡±

    Who was he to judge her actions?  He didn¡¯t know her, her life, her past.  Just yet another snide asshole passing judgement without consideration like all of the others.

    ¡°You have shown no remorse for your actions, except when they backfired on you.¡±

    ¡­why was that true?

    ¡°Taking your lack of remorse into consideration, along with your actions which have significantly weakened the integrity of this dimension and your intentions prior to entrance, you are found guilty of the crimes of destruction of property and crimes against the body of the Seventh House.¡±

    She was beginning to feel¡­pain.  A deep throbbing pain¡­perhaps she will wake later¡­

    The pain was still there in her head.  She must have hit her head hard¡­curse the Scales and the being who held them.  She must have swallowed the teal cloud at some point, since there was now a black cloud on the Scales¡­wait was it lighter than its opposing scale!?

    ¡°An expected outcome.¡± The ghost of a smile danced on Kun Mihira¡¯s face. ¡°I knew that you would be innocent.¡±

    Arinya wanted to point out that the woman in black viciously tore out copious amounts of blood from her and Noortje, tried to abduct Kun Mihira, and wasn¡¯t doing anything to prevent the fighting from occurring.  They were unlikely to listen to her though.

    As the black cloud reentered the woman¡¯s mask, the being fluttered slightly.

    ¡°You¡¯ve all received your verdicts¡­now hear your sentences.  This domain has been badly damaged by your antics and vendettas.  This I can not abide.  Tenhou Mihira had tried to talk all of you down, but none of you listened.  For this, you are all sentenced to stay.¡±

    An air bubble formed around the woman in black, much to all of their confusion.

    ¡°It is unfortunate that this domain can not sustain itself.  I must destroy it, but there must be a balance.  What I destroy here¡­would have to be retributed to the Lower World.¡±

    The Scales began to move again.  Slowly the landscape changed¡ª

    They were in the main courtroom of the Peace Palace¡ªonly about as badly damaged as the space they were in.  Several of the seats had been torn apart by gunfire, while Arinya spied hailstones embedded in the walls.  The balconies and the wall closest to the large door were crawling with rifles and guns pointed at two figures standing defiant.  N¨¢a Y¨³f¨¥i and N¨¢a Urantsog looked battered.  The fish was nowhere to be seen.  Smoke was coming off both of them and there were some noticeable tears in their outfits.  Most of the walls, the large French painting, and the roof were singed with either rocket fire or lightning.

    Her opinions on these people aside, they knew how to cover their bases.

    The copper Scales were tilting back and forth, producing a harmonious chime.  The sound reverberated throughout the room, causing all to turn their attention to the winged being floating above them all.

    ¡°Know this: you will live.  I am not heartless, but punishment is needed.¡± The being wearing Kun Mihira¡¯s body blinked. ¡°I¡¯ll close this domain¡ªnow.¡±

    The Scales finally balanced¡ªas cracks began to appear in both the platform and the walls of the Peace Palace.  The air itself was in upheaval, and Arinya watched as the ceiling was shaken.  She touched¡­carpet?  She was in the courtroom, with everyone, a now falling Kun Mihira with a surrounding air bubble¡ªthe roof coming apart.

    Her eyes could only widen as the Peace Palace collapsed on her and everyone else.

    <hr>

    She saw light.

    She was expecting darkness forever¡­never to see any of her friends again.  Her body ached, but she knew she wasn¡¯t injured.  She wanted to follow the light, but¡­did she?  Every choice she¡¯s made, every decision¡ªit all led to ruin.  She couldn''t control the Scales, let alone stop her friends from fighting each other.  Why did the wind have so much faith in her¡­?

    ¡°Khu? ca c?b m??x c?h?n h??m?¡±

    Mihira blinked. ¡°Huh?¡±

    There was some grumbling in an incomprehensible language before two soft hands reached out and pulled her out of the rubble.

    ¡°S??? w??nt¨¡ k?hxng khu?.¡±

    Something was nudged at her.  Mihira reached for it, and realised that it was her glasses.  Putting them on, she looked up to see Sinaka-san¡ªand the rest of the world came into sharp focus.

    The Peace Palace was completely destroyed.  Water leaked everywhere, there were broken glass shards wherever she looked, bits of marble, parts of the wall¡­the tulips outside weren¡¯t spared the wreckage either.  Petals scattered the front of where the Peace Palace used to be.

    What devastated her was what laid beyond the grounds.  The beautiful buildings were pulverised to the ground.  Some of them looked like a swift blade sheared them in half.  She saw people in pain, bleeding, trapped under apartments or office buildings, or completely prone.  She tried not to let her mind linger on the completely prone people.

    Sinaka-san tapped her on the shoulder and motioned her to keep moving.  As they hobbled along the roads, they came across more scenes of suffering.  More people pinned underneath fallen buildings, car alarms going off, abandoned bicycles¡­she clutched at the Scales still in her hand.  Could she do something to help?  A part of her wanted her to stop and think, and a deeper part wanted her to do nothing.  She had done too much already.

    Sinaka-san felt a little wrong, so Mihira checked her side¡ªand found a long jagged wound along Sinaka-san¡¯s right side.  Mihira was going to point out that they needed to see a doctor, but Sinaka-san waved her off.

    They kept walking, until Mihira heard a whisper.

    ¡°Pst.  Over here.  You with the woman bleeding out.¡±

    Mihira turned towards the source. ¡°Hello?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± A woman with a short light brown pixie cut and wearing sunglasses stepped into the light. ¡°There¡¯s a way out of the city.  I can show you.¡±

    Should she trust this woman?  Although initially hesitant, she did have no way out.

    ¡°Follow me.¡±

    Mihira followed the woman into a winding alley.  The woman grabbed a small box, a fish tank with a familiar carp, and started taking out bandages.  After she had applied them to Sinaka-san¡¯s wound, she got up and started walking away.

    ¡°Come this way.¡±

    Mihira kept following with Sinaka-san trailing behind. ¡°Where are we going?¡±

    The woman lowered her glasses, showing dark red eyes that reminded Mihira of the blade she saw in that gorgeous woman¡¯s pocket.

    ¡°It¡¯s a secret.¡± She winked.

    ¡°...are you the woman from earlier?¡±

    The woman took out a small throwing knife with a metallic grey colour, identical in shape to the pretty woman¡¯s throwing knives.

    ¡°Wait so you are also¡ª¡± She was beautiful and dangerous¡­

    ¡°We have to move, now!¡±

    <hr>

    ¡°...wake up.¡±  Shock, shock, shock.  Nothing. ¡°Bucket of cold water.  Now.¡±

    As soon as the pitiful girl woke up, she began coughing up water.

    ¡°Status report.  What happened out there?!¡±

    The girl took a while to focus. ¡°...where are my siblings?¡±

    ¡°Tell me now.¡±

    The girl stared. ¡°I did what you asked.  I helped them split up, closed the rift behind them, and¡­fought them.¡± She grew angrier. ¡°I can¡¯t believe I had to fight them.  You told me that¡ª¡±

    ¡°Get a grip.  You didn¡¯t even do your job properly.¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t expect a scorpion woman or whoever took control over Mihira¡ª¡±

    Shock. ¡°Let¡¯s start over: what happened in there, why was the Peace Palace destroyed, and why were some of the people we sent drained of their blood or crushed under falling rubble?¡±

    The girl spilled everything.

    ¡°...so she was possessed.  Did she have dark red eyes?¡±

    The girl shook her head. ¡°Where are they?  I want to see them.¡±

    Shock.  Why did she keep whining? ¡°Stop asking.¡±

    The girl started whimpering instead.

    ¡°Besides, we found better targets.¡±

    The girl¡¯s eyes widened in fear and shock. ¡°You aren¡¯t¡ª¡±

    The call ended.  She was annoying.  At least the strategy worked.  Ha, imagine when she found out that the plan that she shot down actually worked¡ª

    ¡°What should we do?  We have them cornered.¡± Oh right, the other line.

    ¡°Status.¡±

    ¡°Both of them are heavily wounded, neither of them are transformed, one of them has injuries on her left side, the other is active and unlikely to last long.¡±

    The Dragon and the Horse¡­one was somewhat valuable, the other was near worthless.  If only¡ªshe hadn¡¯t been relocated, but soon¡ª

    ¡°Anything to add?¡±

    ¡°Shoot them both.  I don¡¯t care where.¡±

 Down With The Castle, Let The Red Year Begin

    Ash coated her tongue.  She wanted to scream, but her voice came out in hoarse, guttural coughs.  The whir, that fucking incessant noise, only served to anger her.  She was done with it all, she was alone in her thoughts.  With a wave of her hands she set the guns ablaze, uncaring of the smoke and the cries.  Her tears were evaporating by the second, and all she could do was futilely pound her fist into a wall.  All she could do now was run¡­

    Fia startled herself awake.  Another nightmare?

    ¡°Shit¡­¡± The floor was cold.  Where was she?

    She tried to move her arms, but they were firmly tied to her side.  Actually, most of her body was restrained.  Fia tried to move around, but she only managed to flip herself on her back.  Conjuring her flames wasn¡¯t working.  Whatever the restraints were, they were definitely fireproof or fire suppressing.  The walls were metal, but if she could reach it¡ª

    Her horns collided with a squishy object.  She scrunched her face in confusion before using her horns to nudge the object around¡ª

    ¡°What the fuck?!¡± Why did her hand hurt?

    A woman¡¯s head was next to her.  Thankfully, she had a body attached.  Was Fia expecting just a head?  Maybe?  Definitely not with dog ears and burnt carrot hair.  The woman¡¯s face wasn¡¯t blue, and Fia couldn¡¯t roll over a second time.  It didn¡¯t seem like the woman was breathing though.  She concluded that the woman was dead, probably recently because she didn¡¯t smell or stiffen up.  This was some organ trafficker¡¯s truck, she concluded.  They had terrible refrigeration if that was the case.

    Fiamma, you¡¯re awake.

    ¡°Who said that?¡± Fia jumped, or rather, flipped onto her chest again.

    A small camera rotated itself to face her.  Blinking electric blue, it extended itself forward.

    I would suggest not moving for the duration of the ride.

    ¡°Who are you?¡± The voice was familiar¡­

    Terrified cries rang out.  She paid no attention to them.  Her hand was broken, but she wasn¡¯t done yet.  Running backwards, she stopped in front of a bookstore.  Glancing at the graphic novel section, she turned away and started sprinting at¡­someone?  Rose petals turned to cinders at her passing.  She was almost there¡ªuntil that large object¡ª

    ¡°You dropped a sign on me!¡±

    The camera lens blinked.

    The point of your statement is?

    ¡°So you kidnapped me after you knocked me unconscious?¡± It was definitely a large sign, one similar to the ones she used to see in malls built in the 2010s.

    You destroyed thousands of euros worth of products, you terrorised every person there with

    your powers, and you nearly summoned the police to our location.  I had to delay emergency

    services¡¯ arrival in order to resolve the situation.

    ¡°You did what!?¡± Her body heated up. ¡°Asshole!  There¡¯s a reason why they¡¯re supposed to get there quickly.¡±

    Secrecy is paramount at this stage.  One operation had been compromised soon after objective

    completion.  Emergency services arrived at the precise moment where the maximum number

    of people could foresee a quick recovery.  No lives were lost.

    ¡°No thanks to you.¡± Her mouth wasn¡¯t duct taped.

    She glanced around.  No other cameras.  It didn¡¯t hurt to try¡ªshe started blowing fire from her mouth at the wall.  Enough heat should be able to melt it.  She kept blowing harder and harder.  The wall was starting to bend and contort¡ªyet she was getting dizzier by the second.  The flames climbed higher, but Fia¡¯s eyes began drooping.

    You¡¯re in an enclosed space.  Before, you could draw upon the power of the First House to fuel

    your fire.  Now, your fire is subject to the laws of thermodynamics¡ªincluding the need for

    oxygen.  This is a sealed container, no air in or out.

    Fia stopped. ¡°And why am I here?¡±

    What kind of organs would this woman want to harvest?  She hadn¡¯t signed up to be an organ donor back home, and she was certain it was illegal to do so in a foreign country.

    There were multiple futures where you arrived in the United Kingdom from across an ocean.

    Only one happened.  Your presence here increased the chances of certain futures happening,

    some of them amenable to our shared goals.

    ¡°What kind of shared goals?¡±  Her goal right now was to escape.  It was clear that they did not align in that respect.

    To prevent the world from falling further into Calamity.

    Well¡­that was certainly not what she expected. ¡°Go on.¡±

    The current objective is to unite a Key currently in our possession with the Door.   The location

    of the Door is unknown and locked behind the mind of the individual next to you.

    Fia looked at the obviously dead woman. ¡°You know she¡¯s dead, right?¡±

    She isn¡¯t.   She may appear dead, but she most certainly is not.  I will free you if you would

    render aid and wake her from her slumber.

    ¡°She¡¯s dead, there¡¯s nothing to do.¡±

    She looked to free herself from her bonds.  Standing up wouldn¡¯t work, as she just collapsed onto the floor.  Rolling over and finding nearby sharp objects wasn¡¯t working, considering that there were none.  As a last resort, she tried to create friction between her bonds and the woman¡¯s armour, but it produced no sparks.

    She was in the middle of just breaking apart her bonds when a young woman coalesced in front of her.  Taken aback, she stared at the woman.  The white cloak covered most of her body and her equally white hair looked more of an unmanageable mess than Fia¡¯s.  What was most noticeable was the sheep ears where human ears were supposed to be.

    The woman noticed Fia immediately. ¡°Hello, can you hear me?¡±

    For some reason, her reaction was to scream her head off.  She no longer believed in ghosts, but this unnerved her.

    ¡°Who the fuck are you?!  And how are you here?!¡±

    The woman was taken aback. ¡°I wanted to find someone to help me find a Door in Alemannia.  I appear to have resonated with you, so I thought you may have some answers.¡±

    Ale what? ¡°I have no clue where that is.¡±

    ¡°I believe that Alemannia is Germany.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know anything about that.¡±

    ¡°It is supposed to be the Door of the Dog.¡±

    The Dog?  Fia looked at the dog-eared woman next to her. ¡°I think she¡¯s dead.¡±

    The woman¡¯s eyes darted back and forth. ¡°Have you tried cardiopulmonary resuscitation?¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t do CPR because I¡¯m tied up.¡± Fia wiggled. ¡°Actually, can you set me free?¡±

    The woman crouched down and tried to undo Fia¡¯s bindings, only for her hands to pass through the ropes, tape, and whatever material was also used.  After a solid ten minutes, they were stuck.

    ¡°You¡¯ve got to be kidding me¡ªfine I¡¯ll do it myself!¡± Fia started to try and use her horns to loosen herself.

    ¡°It seems like I can not interact with the physical world.¡± She stood up straight. ¡°I forgot to introduce myself.  My name is Dulce Catalina Cabrera Vidal.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re Latina?¡± A lot of her Latino classmates had two surnames.

    Dulce tilted her head. ¡°Yes, I am from Costa Rica.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m from America, you can call me Fia¡ªwhoever did this to me will have their hair on fire very soon.¡± Her broken hand was free.

    The woman¡ªgirl¡ªwas looking at her with deep concern. ¡°Your hand looks broken.  Perhaps you should rest?¡±

    ¡°Nope!  Once I get out of these stupid restraints, I can do better things with my life.¡± Like going home¡ªno, not an option.

    Fia struggled to be free of her restraints.  She should have been able to get out by now.  The fact that Dulce was staring down at her led her to grit her teeth.  Her efforts continually thwarted, her head began to pound.

    ¡°Of course I get kidnapped the moment I cross the Atlantic!  Just my luck!  And then I have to talk to a damn disembodied robotic voice about Doors and Keys and¡ªfuck!¡± The metal container was starting to heat up and her hands were on fire.

    On the plus side, her other arm was partially freed at this point.  She tried to use her hands to undo the bindings on her legs, but to no avail.  Frustration built up within her as she ripped into the bindings.  All she got for her labour was small pieces and nausea.  The oxygen was running low¡­she glanced at the dead woman beside her.  That voice wanted her to wake her up, right?  Fia hoped that the woman wanted to be cremated when she died.

    She put her hands on the dog-eared woman¡¯s chest and started the flow of anger and fury into her chest.  Fire surged from her hands, engulfing the body beneath her in a blaze.

    Strangely¡­she wasn¡¯t struggling to breathe now nor did her hand hurt¡ªand she could hear another slowly gasping for air next to her.  Somewhere, Fia could hear air seeping in from an unknown source.  She stopped and lifted her hands off of the woman, who immediately started coughing.

    ¡°...what¡¯s¡­going on?¡±

    She possessed the power to resurrect the dead, Fia wanted to say.

    ¡°We¡¯re being kidnapped by organ traffickers,¡± was what she actually said.

    The woman¡¯s ears stood alert before flattening. ¡°Ganymede is still here.¡±

    Zeus¡¯s boy lover?  Fia remembered her Greek mythology classes well.  The voice was robotic, enough that she couldn¡¯t discern the speaker¡¯s gender.  Probably in order to hide their identity from the authorities.  Speaking of which¡­

    ¡°Hey Ganymede?  Where are we?¡± Fia ran up to the camera. ¡°Hello?  Is anyone there?¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s busy with more important matters.¡± The doors to what Fia presumed was the front of the truck opened, revealing a girl in an impractical green gown, white protruding horns, and a reddish brown cow tail. ¡°As much as I want to crush her underfoot, she unfortunately provides me a valuable service.¡±

    Fia blinked. ¡°You seem familiar¡ª¡±

    A girl about her age stuck her head out of the door. ¡°Hitsuji no on''nanoko wa mezamemashita.¡±

    That gun.  She knew it well.  The moment the black water hit the ceiling, she knew they had followed her here.  They seemed implacable.  Fire swelled within her.  She threw her axe, uncaring of those around her.  She moved to punch the horned girl with her bronze hammer¡ª

    Fia looked at her hand.  She remembered that the other girl was as hard as stone.  It certainly explained the fractured wrist.  Fia wasn¡¯t dumb.  If something didn¡¯t work, there was no point in trying again and again with the same results.

    She summoned her axe and aimed at the bull girl.

    The girl¡¯s eyes widened before quickly countering with a crystalline shard from her hands.  Dulce¡¯s eyes widened as she tried to intervene to no avail.

    ¡°How ungrateful!  I had to personally carry you here, despite the indignities you inflicted on my body and hair, and this is how you repay me!?¡± The girl retrieved her hammer and smashed it downwards at Fia¡¯s feet.

    Fia easily dodged it, that and every other swing.  She willed her flames into existence, each tendril curling around the sharp iron edges before launching herself at the girl in green¡ª

    ¡ªonly for her axe to clink against a terracotta-coloured disc.

    ¡°Let¡¯s not,¡± the woman stated, retracting the disc.

    Fia examined the woman briefly before racing around her and sending a burst of fire at the increasingly mad girl before being interrupted by the sound of the sprinklers activating.  Suddenly all of them except Dulce were doused in water.

    ¡°You bitch!  Do you realise how long it took to maintain the perfect volume and sheen for my hair?!  And my dress?!  Now it¡¯s all wet and moist!  How could you?!¡± The horned girl bemoaned.

    ¡°I could care less about you and your stupid hair and dress,¡± Fia responded.

    The girl threw her a look. ¡°Shut up.¡±

    Both of you, stop acting like children and behave yourselves.  Based on the brain scan of Willa

    Divata Baccay, the Door to the Eleventh Gate is located in or near Chillon Castle.  The castle is

    located close to Lake Geneva in Switzerland.

    A blue holographic image was projected into the area.  Fia warped some of the mountains with her hand.  The horned girl was pouting.

    The castle itself is located on a limestone island.  I have limited access to certain areas of the Internet since the collapse of my network, but I have slowly repaired it.  Someone is hosting a party at the castle.  For what reason, I can not discern.  What is evident is that the host had decided to contract a mercenary outfit for unknown reasons.  Preliminary analysis indicates that all of them are highly armed, incorruptible, and their system is untouchable, including from me.

    The woman, or Willa, flattened her ears again. ¡°Don¡¯t look into my mind.¡±

    To infiltrate the party, find the exact location of the Door, and if necessary, eliminate any

    obstacles.  There are more objectives to be uncovered.

    ¡°And how do I know this isn¡¯t a ploy to trap me!?¡± Fia¡¯s hair began to simmer. ¡°I saw what that girl had.  I¡¯ve seen that gun before.  You¡¯re one of those people, the ones who wanted me imprisoned!¡±

    Both the horned girl and the gun holding girl stared at her.  Dulce took a step back.

    I can assure you that we are not aligned with those that wanted you.

    ¡°Prove it.¡± Fia wasn¡¯t sure what was going on, but she always had faith in her ability to get out of any situation on top.  Something that served her well at school.

    Another holographic image formed, this one of a woman in an enclosed room with a camera covering the entirety of the space.  There were shelves full of plants.  She watched as the woman walked around the room and tended to the plants¡ªand the scene changed.  A blue line connected the camera to a larger network, slowly being overtaken by the electric blue until it became a stranglehold over the interconnected lines.

    Suddenly, the blue changed.  It snapped the interconnected lines in half as the woman made her escape from the room.  Fia stared as countless files were deleted, personnel files were retrieved, and bits and pieces of data were collected before something wrested control from the electric blue pixels.

    I rescued one at the cost of a crucial part of my network.  In the short term, it was a crushing

    loss.  In the long term, I had increased the statistical likelihood of certain outcomes occurring.  I

    would have not done that if I was working with them.  This course of action ran contrary to their

    previous actions.  Your mission, should you choose to accept, is to help carry out the

    restoration of the world.

    ¡°Why are you using dated movie references?¡±

    An analysis of your profile showed that you responded positively to American popular culture

    of the early 21st century.

    ¡°You don¡¯t know anything about me.¡±

    Fiamma Wojciechowski, but everyone calls or called you Fia.

    Fia winced.  She never liked her name.  Apparently her mother wanted to follow in the footsteps of her favourite childhood authors when she named her daughter.  Unfortunately, she read a lot of young adult novels as a child.

    You live in the state of Illinois close to the suburbs of Chicago, but you weren¡¯t born in America.

    The birth certificate shows that you are the daughter of an officer and a psychiatrist, born in the Darby Military Community.  You frequently moved around the country a year after your birth.  After your parents¡¯ divorce, you moved to Aurora, where you promptly developed an outstanding athletic and academic record¡ªand a long string of detentions and suspensions.  Most of them involved physical violence against other students.  Outside of your colourful activities, you lived a typical life until¡ª

    ¡°Stop, I get it.  You can comb through my digital records.¡± Why was the horned girl staring at her?  Almost like she wanted something from Fia.

    ¡°I¡¯ll help.¡± It wasn¡¯t like she was doing anything important¡ªor anything at all.  Besides, a small ember was kindling inside of her¡­something about the need to save the world.

    The drive was uneventful, mostly.  Dulce was still awake, calmly admiring the metal container.  It was hard for Fia to sleep, especially whenever they hit a speed bump.  She learned later that the truck was a typical self-driving truck made in 2053.  The reassurances from Ganymede that the truck had the latest anti-Calamity features and state of the art cybersecurity did not help.  Willa was silent most of the time¡ª

    Except that one time she jolted awake in the middle of the night and started growling at nothing.  Fia wiped her eyes and tapped at Willa¡¯s shoulder.

    ¡°I¡¯m trying to sleep, what are you doing?  Go to bed.¡±

    Dulce had disappeared.  The woman turned around, blinked, and looked at Fia.

    ¡°Sorry for waking you up.¡± Willa looked around. ¡°I thought I smelled something dangerous¡ªnever mind.¡±

    Dulce emerged from outside, passing through the walls of the metal container.  The first thing Fia noticed was her shaking hands and wide-eyed expression.  She was gripping a massive paintbrush like it was a weapon¡ªand Fia knew from experience when someone knew how to fight.  Just what had she gotten herself into?

    ¡°You fine there?¡± she croaked out. Her voice was always hoarse when she awoke abruptly.

    ¡°Yes I am.¡± She was shocked. ¡°I saw someone I did not expect to see today.¡±

    ¡°Happens to everyone.¡± She¡¯s had enough awkward encounters to last a lifetime. ¡°Night.¡±

    ¡°Good night Fiamma.¡±

    ¡°I told you to call me Fia.¡±

    She could not sleep.  Visions of burning flesh, charred wood, and the screams of others kept jolting her awake.  At one point, she rolled onto the small girl with the gun, who didn¡¯t seem to mind Fia sleeping on top of her for the whole night.

    Until the night they finally stopped travelling.  Fia had her first restful sleep in¡­a month?  Had she really run away for that long?  She used to do it when she was mad at her classmates, teachers, or mom, but never this long.  She woke up to find a scarlet pillow underneath her.

    ¡°I was not sure what I could have done to help, but I thought that a pillow may be helpful for you.¡± Dulce¡¯s concern was evident. ¡°Do you need a blanket?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m good.¡± Fia found her new pillow comforting, almost as if she could sleep in it for a long time.

    The girl slid in beside her. ¡°I know someone who can create peaceful dreams for you.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± Wait, creating dreams? ¡°Do you know others like us?¡±

    Dulce pursed her lips. ¡°I will say that I hope we cross paths in person, and that one of my friends is a lot like you.  I think if you both met, you would become great friends.¡±

    Friends¡ª

    ¡°Get in here.¡±

    Fia turned around to see the bullheaded girl standing next to an enclosed room with her hands on her hips.  Did she have to look at Fia like she was dirt?

    ¡°We¡¯re going to a formal party, and I don¡¯t want you dressed like that.¡± The girl pointedly eyed Fia¡¯s iron pauldrons, her leather gauntlets caked with blood, and her sandal wear coated in ashes. ¡°Besides, I need your measurements.  We have to detransform and your clear lack of personal hygiene is evident.  If I were to look presentable, you have to look presentable.¡± She held up a tape measure.

    It wasn¡¯t like Fia had anything to do.  She might as well listen to this girl.  Besides, she had her axe if anything strange happened.

    The dressing room was just big enough for all three of them to squeeze in, full of hangers and spare rolls with what she could only guess was fabric.  The horned girl folded her arms.

    ¡°What?¡± Fia asked.

    ¡°Detransform.¡± The girl raised an eyebrow. ¡°Unless you¡¯re indecent¡­¡±

    ¡°The flames have consumed all who oppose me.  Let me rest for another day.¡± She felt the warmth leave her body as she detransformed. ¡°Happy?¡±

    The horned girl looked at Fia¡¯s burnt and tattered clothes with disdain. ¡°Do you not know how to control your own power?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve been wearing the same thing since last month, cut me some slack.¡±

    It was weird getting measured by someone other than the school nurse or her mom.  The constant tsks weren¡¯t helping.  The most positive comment Fia had was that the girl didn¡¯t take long.  Once she got her height and chest measurements, she set about creating¡­a yellow dress.

    ¡°I¡¯m not wearing that,¡± was all Fia said.

    ¡°You have to wear something formal.  Those rags you have on are unacceptable.¡±

    ¡°I have better clothes!¡± Those were at home, and she didn¡¯t want to go home...not after everything. ¡°Anything that isn¡¯t a dress?¡±

    ¡°Wonderful, you aren¡¯t one of those people that hate formal attire.¡± Was the girl scoffing at her? ¡°Everyone has to attend one formal gathering in their life, and you have to be dressed appropriately for that.¡±

    Senior prom was the only celebration Fia was ever attending. ¡°Get me a suit.¡±

    With a quiet ¡°hmph¡±, the horned girl fashioned a white shirt with an equally white jacket, a red and yellow plaid bowtie, black dress pants, and black dress shoes.  Fia had to concede to her, it would be something that would be the envy of senior prom.

    ¡°You look nice,¡± Dulce complimented. ¡°I prefer dresses, but I want to say, that looks nice.¡±

    ¡°Errr thanks.¡± She had no experience with bowties, and it looked like her efforts were going nowhere. ¡°You there, help me with the bowtie.¡±

    ¡°My name is R¨®is¨ªn and you will address me as such.¡± R¨®is¨ªn stared at Fia¡¯s bowtie. ¡°I¡¯ll help, but only because I don¡¯t want to be embarrassed by your uncouth manner.¡±

    While R¨®is¨ªn carefully adjusted Fia¡¯s bowtie, Dulce started drawing herself a dress.  It was a beautiful silver dress, one she swirled around herself before it disappeared.

    ¡°Do you dress up often?¡± Fia asked Dulce.

    R¨®is¨ªn stopped adjusting the bowtie. ¡°Are you talking to me?¡±

    ¡°What are you talking about?  She¡¯s in the room with us!¡±

    ¡°There is only you and me.  You don¡¯t have to be so rude about it.¡±

    She can¡¯t be seeing or hearing things again¡­ ¡°Dulce, she can see you, right?¡±

    Dulce waved.  R¨®is¨ªn stared blankly into space.  Fia sighed loudly.

    ¡°Never mind.¡± She could already feel R¨®is¨ªn¡¯s judgemental glare.

    After R¨®is¨ªn was finished tying her bowtie, she stepped back. ¡°You look surprisingly decent.¡±

    ¡°Thanks.¡± That¡¯s going to be the closest thing to a compliment she¡¯ll receive.

    ¡°What is America like?¡±

    Fia looked at her quizzically. ¡°It depends on where you go.  There¡¯s deserts, sunny places, rainy places, swamps, dry places¡ª¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ll have to show me.¡±

    ¡°...Why?¡± What made R¨®is¨ªn think she wanted to be around her any longer than necessary?

    ¡°...Nothing.¡± Something about her voice sounded more vulnerable than before.

    Once they were finished, Fia smoothed out her jacket and the crinkles in her pants.  Willa was waiting for them in an equally bespoke black suit while the other girl was audibly sighing in a strapless teal dress.

    ¡°Kawaii doresu o kita hi ni wa, fuwafuwa no shippo ga zenbu nakunatte shimatta¡­¡± She looked at Fia. ¡°Sutekina kakk¨­desu ne.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t speak Japanese.¡±

    ¡°Her name is Hina Nishikawa.¡± R¨®is¨ªn sniffed. ¡°None of us can speak Japanese, so she talks to Ganymede.¡± A slight disdain crept into her voice.

    ¡°You have an accent and your name isn¡¯t a typical English name.¡± R¨®is¨ªn had a strong accent when she spoke, and come to think of it, Willa had a slight accent too. ¡°Where are you from?¡±

    ¡°Dublin.¡± R¨®is¨ªn did a small twirl, watching her rose pink dress expand.  Despite her attitude, Fia had to concede that she looked gorgeous.

    ¡°You need a lapel.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡± Fia wasn¡¯t a fancy person.  Whatever was comfortable and she could move around in was what she was wearing for the day.

    ¡°The lapels are what distinguishes the guests from the rabble.¡± She tapped a small periwinkle flower lapel. ¡°I was able to create these myself.  You need the lapel scanned in order to access the rest of the party.¡± R¨®is¨ªn stepped in closer, fixing the periwinkle lapel on Fia¡¯s left side. ¡°There, much better.¡±

    ¡°Is that all?¡±

    At that moment, the truck stopped.

    This vehicle will project an image of a white limousine in order to not rouse suspicion.  Do mind

    your step Fia.

    She was always surefooted.  How could she not be?  Fia wasn¡¯t the star of the track & field team for nothing.  One confident step out of the back¡ªand she completely miscalculated the distance between the edge of the truck and the pavement.  Almost tripping over herself, she was only caught by someone¡¯s arm.

    ¡°You should be careful of where you¡¯re walking,¡± Willa mentioned.

    ¡°I¡¯ve got this.¡± Fia dusted herself off.

    The woman simply nodded and walked off.  Fia skipped a little ahead.  Dulce, Hina, and R¨®is¨ªn were admiring the lakeside view and the crystal clear water.  All Fia felt was a sense of unease staring at the water.  It might be because she was fire.  She felt like someone was watching her though.  She kept walking.  She¡¯d rather not dwell on anything.If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.

    The castle was grandiose.  Fia crossed the bridge ahead of the other four, though R¨®is¨ªn had quickly matched her pace.

    ¡°If you are the first one to be greeted, you might commit a social faux pas!¡± Somehow Fia got the impression that this was an important priority to R¨®is¨ªn. ¡°Let me do the talking.¡±

    That was the right decision.  After everyone had caught up, a man immediately stood up and pulled out a small scanner.  After talking to R¨®is¨ªn, he scanned all four of their lapels and glanced at a wrist mounted screen.  The man nodded.

    ¡°All of you are cleared, you¡¯re free to enter.¡±

    Fia walked beside Willa. ¡°Do you know whose party we are going to?  Did Ganymede say anything?¡±

    ¡°No and Ganymede says the bare minimum.¡± She was starting to think that Hina might be the only one who liked Ganymede, except Dulce.

    Dulce was admiring the bustling courtyard. ¡°This is like those old fairytales from my childhood books.¡±

    ¡°You like old stuff?¡± Some people glared at her, muttering about not talking to herself in a public space.  She didn¡¯t care.

    Dulce nodded. ¡°I have wanted to travel the world, especially with my teacher.  Fate has not been kind to me¡­¡± She smiled. ¡°But I think that he would be happy that I am meeting people who are like me.  He always wanted me to experience the world.¡±

    Her mom just wanted Fia to stop getting into fights, even though all of them were justified. ¡°Uh huh.  Alright, what¡¯s the legal drinking age here?¡± It has to be less than twenty one.

    She bothered one of the servers, but only received a blank stare.

    ¡°Ma¡¯am, there is no alcohol to be served to minors at this party.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°On the host¡¯s orders.¡±

    ¡°Your host is shit.¡±

    R¨®is¨ªn was gaining a crowd of admirers, showing off her beauty in front of everyone.  Willa and Hina had disappeared somewhere.  That left Fia alone with Dulce.  She didn¡¯t want to be bored by small talk so she stalked off to another room.

    It was that moment when R¨®is¨ªn decided to show up.

    ¡°Where were you?¡± She hmphed. ¡°We shouldn¡¯t separate.¡±

    ¡°Then where¡¯s Hina and Willa?¡±

    ¡°They needed to run some errands and besides,¡± R¨®is¨ªn gestured at the guests conversing around. ¡°Let¡¯s enjoy the party.¡±

    ¡°Easy for you to say.  You know how to talk to these people.  I don¡¯t.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s either that or the nonsense you are doing, mulling over trivial matters¡ª¡±

    ¡°It wasn¡¯t a trivial matter, you fucking bitch.¡±

    R¨®is¨ªn winced.

    ¡°Oh you don¡¯t like me swearing?  You don¡¯t like me saying fuck?¡±

    ¡°Stop.  Now.¡± The girl¡¯s posture straightened in anger, and something in Fia clicked.  She walked off without saying a word.  Finding a secluded corner away from everyone, Fia punched the wall.

    ¡°Fuck!¡± she cried, slumping to the floor and cradling her hand.  That was painful.

    Dulce materialised in front of her. ¡°Are you feeling well?¡±

    ¡°What do you think?¡±

    ¡°Not well.¡±

    No shit Dulce.  Fia sighed. ¡°I should get a drink.¡±

    Even if it wasn¡¯t alcoholic, she probably needed one.  All of her usual coping mechanisms involved going somewhere else, and she doubted that Ganymede wanted her to leave.  Swiping a drink off a server¡¯s tray, Fia guzzled it down.  Bitter enough that she wanted to gag, but she forced it down.

    ¡°Do you want to talk about what is bothering you?¡± Dulce approached Fia.

    ¡°Haven¡¯t you heard of drowning your sorrows?¡± Fia gulped down more of that awful drink.

    ¡°I was told that alcohol dulls your senses and leaves you vulnerable.¡± Her eyes narrowed. ¡°And you¡¯re too young to drink.  You are fifteen.¡±

    ¡°Who are you, my mother?¡± That drew some stares her way.

    ¡°I am not, but I know that you are hiding something that has been gnawing at you for a while.¡±

    ¡°You met me a few days ago, you think you know everything about me!?¡±

    ¡°No, of course not.¡± Dulce tensed and her eyes wandered. ¡°But I know when someone is troubled.  I have some personal experience in this matter.¡±

    Fia scoffed. ¡°Shut up!¡±

    Who was Dulce, her mother?  Well, she wasn¡¯t.  Her mother was¡­

    She hadn¡¯t seen her mother since she had blown up most of the city.  She didn¡¯t even know if she was still alive.

    Fuck her and her damn cowardice.  She should have stayed, explained everything, stood up for her  role in it all.  Track and field star, honour roll student, they would have trusted her.   Yes, a giant monster burst into her school and slaughtered a bunch of her classmates.  Yes, she fought and killed that same monster in a blind rage.  No, she was not telling a figment of her imagination about it.

    She took another gulp of that bitter drink.

    At the time, she was fucking furious and wanted it to pay.  Driving it across the street, past the bridges, and into a tight corner.

    She heard about it on the news, her mom talked about it, and even her teacher talked about it before leaving her alone in the detention room.  There was a major gas leak.  They cordoned off ten whole blocks to deal with it.  She didn¡¯t think about it too hard, and forgot which streets were blocked off.  She was concentrated on the fight¡­how the fuck was she supposed to know she dragged the battle to the fucking broken pipe itself?

    She drank more.

    ¡°Now if you excuse me¡­I¡¯m getting another drink.¡± Wow, terrible drinks helped numb everything.

    She stormed off, intent on getting what she wanted¡ªwhen she collided with someone and their drink.

    ¡°Watch it!¡± she shouted.

    The boy stared at his now stained white shirt. ¡°I think you¡¯re the one who should watch where you are going.¡±

    Oh great, he had that preppy New Englander accent that every private school rich kid had. ¡°Take your words and shove it up your ass.¡±

    He just sighed. ¡°I¡¯ve had a long three weeks, so I¡¯ll forgive you.  Some of the guests aren¡¯t as forgiving, so be careful.¡± He twisted a bracelet full of white stones on his arm. ¡°Have you been enjoying it so far?¡±

    ¡°...why do you care?¡± As her father would say, a typical rich kid.

    ¡°I¡¯m interested in the guests¡¯ opinion.¡±

    She walked off in the other direction¡ªand noticed Dulce staring intensely at the boy.

    ¡°What are you doing?¡± She waved her hand in front of Dulce¡¯s face. ¡°Hello there?¡±

    Dulce flinched. ¡°I know that boy.¡±

    ¡°You seem to know a lot of people.¡± She looked for an exit. ¡°Fresh air would be nice.¡±

    Fia left the bar, the boy, and an anxious Dulce behind¡ªonly to find herself face to face with a startled Hina.

    ¡°What are you doing here?¡± She backed away from Hina. ¡°Where were you this whole time?¡±

    Hina was about to speak, but pulled out her phone and started talking into the phone.

    Not meant for your ears.

    ¡°What do you mean not meant for my ears?  It¡¯s not like whatever we are doing is top secret or confidential?¡± Fia knew what those meant.  The pile of censored letters from her father in her drawer proved it.

    While it isn¡¯t top secret or confidential in the sense that you know it as, I would advise the

    utmost caution.  I would also advise not talking to yourself in public or spilling drinks on the

    host.  Both actions draw unwanted attention to yourself.

    ¡°First of all, can you not see Dulce?¡± Fia pointed her thumb at Dulce.  Seriously, why was she the only one seeing her? ¡°And second, that was the host?¡±

    Hina looked at her phone.

    Based on data collected on site, that boy is the host according to the itinerary.  His young age

    makes his position highly improbable and none of his bank accounts have made payments to

    the mercenary outfit patrolling the castle.

    ¡°Still haven¡¯t noticed anyone around the perimeter.¡± Not that she was anywhere near the perimeter or where the perimeter was.

    All predictions show that you should not be left alone.  Follow Hina Nishikawa.

    Ganymede repeated everything said in Japanese to Hina.  At least that¡¯s what Fia assumed.  Whatever it was, Hina pocketed her phone and motioned for Fia to follow her.  Having to elbow her way across the room, they found Willa watching a computer terminal.  There was a black USB with electric blue accents stuck in one of the ports.

    ¡°Where¡¯s R¨®is¨ªn?¡± Fia asked.

    ¡°Out.¡± Willa¡¯s eyebrows furrowed.  She was fiddling with a small blue disc, sticking it into another slot. ¡°We should be good.¡±

    Willa took out two tiny lenses.  To Fia¡¯s surprise, it transformed into a telescope.  Willa raised it up to her eye¡ªand stared straight at Dulce.

    ¡°No one mentioned another person joining us.¡± Willa looked away from the telescope. ¡°Or¡­not.¡±

    Finally, someone else could see her!  Fia was not losing her mind!  Hina looked confused, mumbling to herself.  Willa lifted the eyepiece again.

    ¡°R¨®is¨ªn is about to dance.  I can keep watch.¡± She looked at Fia and Hina with concern. ¡°Be careful.  This castle is filled with strangers.  R¨®is¨ªn will appreciate your company.¡±

    That was obvious.  Fia didn¡¯t know anyone here.  Nevertheless, she left Willa to her own devices.  All three girls found their way to the dining hall without incident.  The dancers in the centre had already paired off.  Billowing dresses swept the room.  It took a while to find R¨®is¨ªn¡¯s light pink dress¡ªand the boy she paired with.  He found a new shirt.  They deserve each other, Fia thought.  Was she being spiteful?  She could care less at this point.

    Hina was watching a video on her phone.  Dulce was watching avidly.

    ¡°Fiamma!  She found a way to listen to your friend and¡­him.¡±

    Fia was going to say to stop using her full name,  but she leaned over.  Sure enough, Hina somehow found a way to listen in on them¡ªor hacked into another phone to listen.

    ¡°Stop stepping on my toes!  Who taught you how to dance?¡±

    ¡°I was taught by the finest dance instructors and studied carefully under their tutelage.  You should not be casting aspersions on me when you¡¯re dressed like a mere servant.¡±

    Fia couldn¡¯t tell the difference.  Everyone here was wearing formal wear.

    ¡°Luckily for the both of us, this dance only lasts for three minutes.  Let¡¯s make the most of our time together.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s proper to remain with your partner for this dance, but slander me again and I will abandon you in public.¡± R¨®is¨ªn¡¯s eyes flicked towards his bracelet. ¡°I know skilled jewellers who can cut and polish any precious stone, including moonstones.¡±

    ¡°Someone special to me gave me this bracelet.  I don¡¯t want it altered.¡±

    ¡°If you want people to take you seriously, I¡¯d suggest putting it away.¡±

    Fia turned away from the conversation. ¡°So Dulce, how do you know him?¡±

    ¡°His name is Khalid and I met him about two weeks ago.  He was¡­ummm¡­he¡ª¡±

    Fia heard a shout and a belligerent raised voice.  Waving off a protesting Dulce, she followed the source of the voice to a small closet.  A tall man had his arm blocking the doorway while a young girl, probably one of the servers, was cowering behind a shelf.

    ¡°Hey!¡± Fia shouted. ¡°What do you think you¡¯re doing?¡±

    The man turned to look at her and sneered. ¡°None of your business.  Go back to the party.¡±

    She looked at the other girl. ¡°Uh huh.  Like I¡¯m gonna do that.  I think she has a job.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re taking care of something.¡±

    ¡°And what¡¯s that something?  Because it doesn¡¯t look like she wants to be part of that something.¡±

    He stared at her small frame. ¡°Do you want to butt your head in this?¡±

    Fia¡¯s eyes met the girl¡¯s, and she frowned at the fear in her eyes. ¡°Actually, yes I do want to butt in.  How about we step outside?¡±

    ¡°How about no?¡±

    She glared at him. ¡°Does it look like I¡¯m going to take no as an answer?¡±

    Dulce had appeared behind the corner.  Fia didn¡¯t need backup.  The hallway was wide enough to move around.  The man was imposing, but Fia wasn¡¯t intimidated.  On the contrary¡ªshe relished the tense atmosphere.

    Before the man raised his fist, Fia preemptively closed the distance, kicked him in the groin, and landed a solid hit on his knee.  Seeing this, the other girl took the opportunity to bolt off.  The man quickly recovered, and at once Fia realised that he wasn¡¯t wearing the typical suits worn by the rest of the guests.  His hungry eyes still lingered on the fleeing girl, so Fia unbalanced him by grappling with his leg.  It was a risky move.  Her arms were yanked to the left and she found herself restrained by the man.

    One punch from him was enough to leave her gasping for breath.  The second punch was just enough to knock Fia back into her senses.  She locked eyes with him and pushed against his face with her knees.  It was enough momentum that his grip was loosened around her arms.  Getting up quickly, she delivered four rapid fire kicks to his stomach.

    He recovered easily.  Too easily.  Fia knew that her strengths lay in her agility and fists, but she knew she could give a mean kick.  The man¡¯s close-cropped blond hair stood out to her.  His stance¡­it was almost as if he was trained for a fight.  She smelled heavy hints of alcohol on his breath¡ªand looked at the now empty holster.

    The automatic pistol that was supposed to be in that holster was aimed at her head.

    ¡°You there...you wanted that girl didn¡¯t you?  All for yourself?¡± Oh great, she¡¯s been fighting a man who can fight coherently while drunk?  Fuck. ¡°Since you¡¯re so intent on replacing that girl, how about we¡ª¡±

    A scarlet red liquid spilled out.  The man quickly lost his balance, while Fia found a nearby spare chair.  Near the entrance, Dulce looked askance at the now prone man.

    ¡°He¡¯s military,¡± Fia gasped. ¡°Probably American.  Has to be Army, maybe Special Forces.¡± She couldn¡¯t detect an accent, and she knew that despite their reputation, many of them liked to drink.  Her father complained a lot about that.

    Despite all of that, he still had the ability to stand upright¡ªand was talking into a walkie talkie.  Fia and Dulce exchanged glances before Fia leaped over to the ballroom.

    Hina was waving her arms to the music before Fia snatched her phone from her.  Despite Hina¡¯s unintelligible protests, she dialled the Unknown phone number.

    Why are you calling me?

    ¡°The mercenaries you were talking about?  We found them and we¡¯re definitely compromised.¡±

    I found them too.  All of them have received orders to converge on this ballroom.  Exfiltrate the

    Taurus.  The Dog has already been informed of the situation.

    Ganymede translated into Japanese for Hina¡¯s sake.  Soon, both girls were fighting against the growing crowd that completely surrounded the dancers.  By the time they got to the middle, Fia saw at least ten men surround the entire ballroom.  Some of the guests merely sipped their glasses, while a noticeable few were visibly on edge.  R¨®is¨ªn was in the middle of curtsying to Khalid and him to her.

    ¡°Hey!¡± Fia shouted. ¡°We need to get out of here!¡±

    ¡°Excuse me but¡ª¡±

    Fia¡¯s eyes narrowed as she spotted the telltale red dot of a sniper¡¯s scope appear on R¨®is¨ªn¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Get down!¡±

    Luckily R¨®is¨ªn was quick enough to dodge the bullet, which shot through the white tablecloth.  Fia located the origin, a small window perched just slightly above everyone.  Most of the guests have scattered, except for Khalid.  Hina had readied her gun, twitching at the slightest movement.

    ¡°I suggest that we transform now.  Evidently, we¡¯ve lost the element of surprise.¡±

    Fia nodded.  Finally, she can get out of this stodgy suit.  Taking out her iron amulet, she recited words that leapt easily to her mouth. ¡°Those who oppose seek to battle, and I¡¯ll serve them with flame and wrath.  Let conflict arise anew and fuel my fury.¡±

    The amulet burst into fire and the burning sensation engulfed Fia.  Her body burned away, replaced by one more suited for combat, sinewy and horned.  Embers grew into iron pauldrons linked by a singular chain and scarlet red armour formed around her torso and chest.  Her gauntlets and boots burnt itself onto her body.  With a cry, Fia unleashed an inferno against all that opposed her.

    R¨®is¨ªn had transformed into the girl that Fia met at the shopping mall.  Khalid was backing away slowly before R¨®is¨ªn grabbed a steak knife and held it against his throat.

    ¡°If you shoot us, I¡¯ll slit his throat!¡± she yelled.

    Dulce was staring at her with disappointment.  Meanwhile, Fia was counting how many people were standing.  Only two of them were shouldering their pistols.  The rest had their guns aimed at them.  She turned to Khalid.

    ¡°Do they listen to you?¡±

    He shook his head.  Great, she picked a useless hostage.  Before she could say anything, all of the mercenaries standing fired at them¡ªand the world slowed down.

    She sighed.  The bullets were travelling at a much slower speed, almost frozen in the air.  Fia stood on one of the tables and jumped.  It was child¡¯s play picking the bullets out of the air and dropping them into her spare hand.  Jogging over to the hallway she was originally in, Fia found the man who punched her twice in the gut in the middle of a conversation.  Glancing at the bullets in her spare hand, she thought of a solution.

    Fia picked them all up and started tossing them back at the sources.  Running around the perimeter, she checked for any oddities.  None, so she let herself relax.

    Almost all of the bullets found their targets.  Some of them ripped through bodies and embedded themselves in the wall.  Hina gasped, while Dulce frowned at Fia.

    ¡°That was not necessary,¡± she pointed out.

    ¡°They shot at us first,¡± Fia responded.

    Almost everything was on fire or had crystals coming out of the ground.  Fia sprinted out of the room, far ahead of the other three.  Running up the walls, she encountered four mercenaries who immediately trained their guns on her.  She yanked an automatic rifle out of one¡¯s hands and punched another clear off the roof.  The other two she punched rapidly in the chest, simply grabbed a rope, and immediately bound them.  She should care less about what Dulce said¡­but something in her head told her to heed her words.

    Everyone else eventually caught up to Fia while she was dragging the two into another room.

    ¡°Where did you go?¡± R¨®is¨ªn asked.

    ¡°I went ahead.  What did you think I was doing?¡±

    R¨®is¨ªn looked completely done with Fia. ¡°We need to find the Dog.¡±

    ¡°I can do it.  Besides, I¡¯ll probably do it faster than all of you.¡±

    She raced through almost all of the rooms.  One of them had two mercenaries.  She clocked them before they could raise the alarm.  More rooms, more mercenaries, more punches thrown.  At last, she finally found Willa confronted with twenty or so mercenaries.  They must be coming from somewhere, Fia thought.  One of them immediately noticed her presence and aimed a gun at her chest.  Fia looked at the door and kicked it open.  The room was devoid of furniture, so she was safe.  It was hard to run in this cramped room, but it wasn¡¯t like speed was her only trick.  Fire licked her gauntlets until an iron double-headed axe formed, a ram¡¯s head carved into the centre with wrathful ruby eyes.  She charged into the fray, slashing through flesh and cloth alike.  Willa provided assistance through chucking discs at two mercenaries trying to hold her legs down.  While Fia was nearly pinned into a corner, she breathed fire against her attackers¡¯ faces.  Many of them were wearing gas masks now, and the ones she singed were getting back onto their feet.

    ¡°We should get back to the others,¡± Willa stated.

    Normally Fia would be all for charting her own path, but they were badly outnumbered¡­unless¡­

    Well, she had an axe.

    Willa¡¯s ears perked as Fia started cutting through the mercenaries.  A slash on a forearm, a swipe at an exposed calf, she swung her axe wildly¡ªmaybe a bit too wildly.  Soon it flew out of her hands and struck one mercenary straight in the chest.  She rushed to pull the axe out of his chest, but strong hands grabbed her from behind.  Fia dodged all six bullets fired at her and punched him at a fast pace for good measure, but that didn¡¯t stop another from tackling her out the window.

    Once she had gotten over her initial shock, she locked eyes with the mercenary also falling with her.  The wind rushed past her red curls as Fia headbutted him, then blasted fire into the mercenary aiming his gun at her.  That still didn¡¯t solve the issue of plummeting into a lake, so she started emitting fire from her hands, catching herself just before she hit the water.  While steam billowed around her, she tried to find a foothold on the castle wall.

    Burn it.  Burn it all down.

    ¡°Shut up, not everything needs to be burned,¡± she whispered.

    The wall stands between you and your enemies.

    ¡°It¡¯s easier to climb than it is to burn stone.¡±

    Fire will give a faster result than slow climbing.

    She planted her feet on the wall, but slipped, only saved by the jets of fire coming from her palms. ¡°Listen, I¡¯m the one trying to get back into the castle.  This isn¡¯t some old fashioned medieval siege where we dodge the pot of boiling oil or whatever.  This is the twenty-first century.¡±

    Decisive action is required against all enemies.  The quicker the haste, the quicker we can move onto more pressing enemies.

    ¡°Oh I¡¯m pretty sure that these people are a pressing concern!¡± Every time the fire talked to her, she wanted to punch it in the face or engage in a screaming match with it.

    Control your temper.

    ¡°Get out of my face!¡±

    Her face was burning¡ªbefore she knew it, the fiery pillars propelled her upwards.  She tried to change her trajectory, but that was futile.  Instead she ended up crashing through one of the turrets, sending tiles, smoke, ash, and dust everywhere.  Coughing out the dust, she blinked and found herself in a private chapel with faded paintings.

    ¡°Alright, time to find everyone else¡ªagain,¡± Fia muttered as she took off.

    She found Willa quickly enough.  Grabbing her axe, Fia lit it on fire and waved it menacingly.  The mercenaries, battered and hands tied by glowing hoops, stood down.  Fia kept waving the axe until Willa and her were safely out of the room.

    ¡°Where now?¡± asked Willa.

    Fia wanted to ask about the bite marks, but now was not the time. ¡°Follow me.¡±

    They had only taken one step forward before being confronted by gun barrels.  Fia threw her axe into the crowd while Willa launched multiple discs at the mercenaries.  The axe flew into her hand and Fia charged into the crowd.  Suddenly, green crystals erupted from the ground and the smell of rose petals floated into the air.

    ¡°They¡¯re above us!¡± Willa shouted.

    Sure enough, R¨®is¨ªn crashed through the floor and smashed her hammer onto the floor.  Fia was thrown against the wall.  Once she had pushed herself off of the wall, she leaped into the fray.  Anyone in her way, she cut down immediately with her axe or her fire.

    She enjoyed the heat of combat.  Immensely, gleefully, fervorously.

    Fia got into scraps outside of her school over some asshole exerting their will over another.  Most of the time, she found that many of her classmates were too weak to stand up for themselves.  Sure, she¡¯d be forced to apologise to the jerks who kept humiliating her classmates, but truth be told?  They deserved it, and she enjoyed the tussles a little too much.  Doing something was better than sitting around waiting for your fate.  Those that choose to turn a blind eye?  They could eat dirt.

    The mercenaries were increasing in number.  Fia counted three entrances where they were coming from.  Even for her, there were too many.  R¨®is¨ªn was still dragging Khalid by the collar and Hina was shooting at a rapid fire pace at them, though Fia still found the black liquid blobs disconcerting.  Dulce provided interference, using her brush to cause slippages or netting them.  Fia wanted to know why her drawings were solely red, but another time.  Right now, they are being cornered.  Running between the mercenaries and the walls, she created a flaming barrier.

    ¡°We should find where they are coming from.¡± She might be guided by some strange aggressive instinct, but that wasn¡¯t enough.

    ¡°I propose that we lay down our weapons and attempt dialogue with them.  There is no possible way to beat them as we are now,¡± Dulce recommended.

    ¡°I doubt it.¡± Even though their faces were covered, Fia knew their intent. ¡°Peace is impossible.¡±

    ¡°There is no harm in trying.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll be easy targets.¡± She readied her axe. ¡°If no one has any objections, I¡¯m going to¡ª¡±

    ¡°This isn¡¯t where the Door is.¡± Willa¡¯s nose twitched. ¡°There¡¯s dust, blood, ash, a killing intent¡­¡± There was no difference between the way Willa looked at the mercenaries and Fia, unnerving the girl. ¡°But there¡¯s a familiar scent in the distance¡ªabout due east of the castle.¡±

    The Fort de Chilon.  A former military installation decommissioned in the 1990s, previously a

    privately owned museum, now under private management.  The current owner is unknown, but

    I tracked the payments to a Moroccan shell company¡ª

    Khalid squirmed under R¨®is¨ªn¡¯s unrelenting grip while Dulce glared at him.

    Fia swung her axe an inch from his neck. ¡°Talk.  Now.  I know you¡¯re apparently the host, but you¡¯re practically my age.  There¡¯s no way you could have contracted a mercenary group, let alone had the funds to pay them.¡±

    ¡°I have money!  I don¡¯t know what is going on¡ª¡±

    ¡°He is Moroccan,¡± Dulce chimed in. ¡°His father owns a massive mansion and operates a business.  I do not know what that business is, but he or his father tried to drug me and my friends when we were there.¡±

    Fia shoved the massive axe close to Khalid¡¯s face and lit a fire in her left hand. ¡°Tell me everything or your face will turn to ash.¡±

    ¡°Okay, okay!¡± Khalid let out a deep breath. ¡°Can you pull the axe away from me first?¡±

    Dulce tapped Fia¡¯s shoulder.  Grumbling, she put it away.

    ¡°After a minor incident, I was sent here.  I don''t want to be here, but my father has a way of enforcing his decisions.  Through my explorations, I documented my travels the best way I could: my camera.  It¡¯s in a safe place, because my minder forced me to leave it.  Anyways, I did survey one of my father¡¯s properties, which is the one her phone is talking about.¡±

    ¡°Where is your camera?  Tell me!¡± Fia demanded.

    ¡°If you want answers, screaming at my face isn¡¯t going to help!  I left my camera with the man who should have let all of you in!¡± Khalid threw his hands up. ¡°I¡¯ll be your guide, if she can let go of me.¡±

    Willa glanced at R¨®is¨ªn.  She let him go, but not without creating an emerald necklace around his neck and making it contract around his neck before loosening.  Hina still had her gun trained on Khalid.  Fia hefted her axe behind her.  She didn¡¯t trust him, but they needed access.

    The fiery barrier calmed down enough for Khalid to jump up and wave his hands around.

    ¡°Don¡¯t shoot!  It¡¯s me!¡±

    Somehow, that worked.  Fia shot him a glare.

    ¡°So when you were saying that you couldn¡¯t get them to listen to you¡ª¡±

    ¡°That was a lie.¡± Khalid shrugged. ¡°What else was I supposed to do?¡±

    If this was any other time, Fia would punch him out of a window.  For now, she sped out of the room and out into the courtyard.  The smell of burning wood filled her nostrils, but she ignored it.  Finishing at the entrance, Fia found the man from earlier still at his post.

    ¡°Stay here,¡± she told him. ¡°You have a camera belonging to a Moroccan boy my age?¡±

    ¡°And why would I listen to you?¡±

    Fia¡¯s flame blazed bright, turning a deep scarlet red and casting an infernal glow. ¡°This is why.¡±

    She returned triumphantly with the camera around her neck.  Willa¡¯s left ear was slowly regrowing and Hina was in awe of her gun.  Khalid skipped a little when he saw his camera.

    ¡°She¡¯s alive?  That¡¯s amazing!¡± He lifted the strap over Fia¡¯s head and horns. ¡°Can you remove the choker?¡±

    R¨®is¨ªn glared at him.  That answered his question well.

    Fia didn¡¯t care about waiting for the cars to make a complete stop.  Instead she sprinted to the hillside, leaving a trail of flickering flames behind her.

    ¡°Fiamma, can you wait for us?  We do not have your speed, though I find myself pulled along nonetheless,¡± Dulce called out.

    ¡°Then keep up!  I¡¯m not slowing down for you!¡±

    Fia still had to wait for everyone to catch up since she couldn¡¯t find the entrance.  Tapping her foot impatiently, she watched as a reddish brown and white dog started sniffing the hill.  She started to bark and jumped up to pull on a lever with her paws.  Once pulled, a door slowly opened until a long hallway was revealed to both of them.

    Fia started to take a step before the dog stuck her paw in front of her.  She looked up¡ªand saw the slender cannon pointing out from another hole.

    ¡°You think we weren¡¯t noticed?¡± she asked the dog.

    The dog shrugged and cautiously approached the entrance.  Fia wanted to go ahead, but the dog kept nipping at her heels.  Everyone else eventually caught up with them, Khalid taking multiple pictures.

    ¡°Didn¡¯t you already take pictures?¡± R¨®is¨ªn flicked an insect with her tail. ¡°And are there any luxurious rooms inside?¡±

    ¡°This is the first time I¡¯m with others.¡± Khalid kept zooming in on Fia¡¯s curved horns.  She was beginning to feel the urge to smack him in the face.

    What he did manage to take pictures of was the security codes needed to access each room.  Fia wondered what her father would have thought of this place.  He had a passion for military history, one of the rare subjects where she saw a softer side of him.  The missiles, the old twentieth century artifacts like the cannon, the radar stations¡­he would¡¯ve definitely appreciated the defensive position deep in the hillside.

    The dog detoured for a bit, only to reappear sniffing another door blocked by a metallic bolt and a complex clockwork mechanism.

    ¡°Well, that¡¯s new,¡± Khalid said.

    ¡°I thought you took pictures of the entire fort?¡± Fia retorted.

    ¡°Obviously not this area.¡±

    The dog pressed her ears against the door and stuck a mini telescope close to her eyes.  Turning away, she pawed at the ground and started making shapes.  Assuming the dog is Willa, Fia imagined herself as a fully grown ram.

    ¡°Ten¡­ten people¡­all with guns¡­communicators¡­door is a challenge¡­too complex¡­Door very close¡­want to sniff¡­boy with the camera?¡±

    Fia turned to Khalid. ¡°Alright, show your palms, she wants to sniff you.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not letting a dog sniff me.¡± Khalid put his hands.

    Willa¡¯s eyes widened, following a slightly different trail.  She again made shapes in the dust.

    ¡°Different smell¡­fruit¡­metal¡­saltwater?  How about we focus on the door, the people outside the door, and your own Door before we deal with whatever scents you¡¯re picking up?¡±

    Dulce¡¯s eyes widened at the mention of fruits, metal and saltwater.  Fia ignored that.

    One hammer swing and fiery blast later, the charred and blackened door swung open.

    ¡°The hammer wasn¡¯t necessary,¡± Fia whispered.

    R¨®is¨ªn put down her hammer. ¡°It didn¡¯t look like you were doing anything to the door, so of course I had to do something or we would be stuck in this moldy room for who knows how long.¡±

    Hina seemed intent on pushing Khalid towards Willa¡ªand Fia heard the distinct click of a gun.

    ¡°Oh for fuck¡¯s sake¡ª¡±

    Unfortunately, they were not regular bullets.  Hina was returning fire¡ªliterally.  Fiery red pellets shot across the walls, burning miniature holes.  Fia had to dodge all of them normally.  The last time she had encountered them, she learned the hard way that they moved at her enhanced speed.  All she could do was melt them midair, leaving behind either ash, steam, blackened dirt, or charred metal.

    Another door was in the periphery.  Fia stood back to back with Hina, who had her phone out while she was throwing down suppressing fire.

    ¡°Hey, person on the phone?  Got anything else?¡±

    The door is biometrically locked.  You need someone who has security clearance.

    There was only one person who wasn¡¯t actively trying to kill her that fit that description.  She zipped towards Khalid and deposited him in front of the door.

    ¡°Fingers, eyes, whatever, unlock that door,¡± Fia told him.

    Khalid pressed his palm on a biometric scanner while another smaller one scanned his eyeball.  The door promptly swung open.  Tired of waiting on everyone, Fia bolted towards R¨®is¨ªn and punched her in the shoulder, sending her flying toward the door.

    ¡°...my dress!¡± she cried.  It was lightly smoldering, which she tried to extinguish with her hands.

    Dulce transformed into a sheep while Hina and Willa followed suit.  All of them raced down the winding hallway.   R¨®is¨ªn¡¯s horns nearly got stuck on a pipe before Fia freed her by melting the pipe.  The guards were still catching up to them and they eventually found themselves at a dead end¡ªexcept another locked door impervious to Fia¡¯s flames or R¨®is¨ªn¡¯s might.

    Don¡¯t waste your strength.  The door is unlocked.  Go!  I¡¯ll shut them behind you!

    They wasted no time.  A succession of doors awaited them.  As they were pursued into the hallway, Ganymede shut the doors behind them.  Hina was almost yanked back by one of the guards before Fia punched them at super speed and the door shut behind them.

    At the final door, everyone except Fia and R¨®is¨ªn stopped to catch their breath.  Willa was too intent on following something, so Fia picked her up and set her down elsewhere.

    ¡°Willa¡­I think you¡¯re Willa¡­anything that has your attention that is relevant to your Door?¡± Fia asked.

    Willa picked up on another trail, excitedly tracing it to the other end of the room.  There, a solid block of terracotta stood erect, smooth, and near faultless.  Fia blinked and noticed that the air was shimmering with terracotta and pastel pink motes.  An indistinct marking appeared on Willa¡¯s stomach.  Picking her up, it looked like a Chinese character.

    ¡°So¡­the Key huh.¡± Fia looked at the door. ¡°Do you see anything?¡±

    Willa barked once, twice, before finally escaping Fia¡¯s clutches.  Fia chased after her¡ªonly to stop in front of an argument between R¨®is¨ªn and Khalid.

    ¡°Can you unlock the door or not?  It¡¯s a yes or no question.¡±

    ¡°I haven¡¯t been to every single part of this fort!¡± Khalid dug his hands into his pockets. ¡°That door is terracotta, can¡¯t the Dog open it?¡±

    For some reason, R¨®is¨ªn narrowed her eyes. ¡°How would you know about the Dog being connected to terracotta?  I thought you were a simple scion clueless about your family¡­¡± She created an emerald shard in her hand. ¡°Maybe not so much.¡±

    With one swift motion, she swept her shard downwards¡ªonly to be stopped by entangled blue-green vines.  The fresh scent of new growth wafted from Khalid¡¯s gun.

    ¡°Look, I want to see the world in all of its beauty, to capture it in a photo, to experience it with those I love¡ªand from what I learned, you are all in the way of that.¡± He reloaded his gun¡­and unleashed a black wave.

    Fia blasted him with everything, only to be pushed back by the tide of black water.  Hina started shooting from behind, weakening him slightly.  Unfortunately for her, Khalid immediately ducked beneath Fia¡¯s cone of fire and grabbed her¡ªbefore letting her go.  His mistake, Fia thought as she dashed in front of him swinging her fiery axe.  Her axe met with black water, but she nearly prevailed, driving herself at full force¡ªwere it not for a sudden alarm sound.  Some of the doors from earlier were opening from Khalid pressing his palm, their creaking weight lifting up slowly from the floor.  Fia immediately cut the biometric scanner off of the wall before dodging a strike from Khalid¡¯s gun.

    She turned to find Dulce¡ªand found she had disappeared.

    ¡°Are you kidding¡ª¡± Fia melted yet another bullet with her palm.

    Her hair now aflame, she sprinted at Khalid, only to be pushed back by a white metallic wall.  Emerald pillars erupted from the ground, and judging from the angle¡ªFia was going for it.  She jumped on the edge of it, putting her full force into her run, and leaping off of the tip¡ªjust enough for her to slice part of Khalid¡¯s arm.  Wincing in pain, he tried to flee¡ªonly for Hina to confront him with a whirring gun.

    ¡°K¨­fuku.¡± Hina declared.

    Khalid lifted his own gun in response.

    Both prepared to fire¡ªonly to be hit out of nowhere by playing cards!?  Fia looked around for the source, only to hear what sounded like a monkey laughing.  Said monkey slinked out of the shadows with a deck of cards in its tail.  A rooster appeared out of the shadows, preening itself in the meanwhile.  Once it caught sight of Khalid, it chased him around while crowing.  Fia would have ignored it¡ªexcept for the part where the crowing was in sync with the metal doors becoming harder and more condensed.  The monkey decided to leap on R¨®is¨ªn, who balefully tried to keep it out of her hair.

    ¡°You¡ªGet out, you dirty little¡ª¡± She pushed the monkey away.

    The monkey screeched at her before throwing its entire deck at Khalid.  Confronted with the cards, Khalid shot through the ones directly next to him with fire before aiming at the foot of the monkey.  The moment the bullet made contact with the monkey, it dissipated into water.

    Khalid¡¯s eyes widened in surprise. ¡°Nahla¡­¡±

    Saltwater resonated in Fia¡¯s ears as the world warped to reveal a small girl with sea green hair in a pale green dress.  She looked forlornly at the boy and him at her¡ªbefore one of the cards transformed into a girl with a monkey tail who magnificently kicked Khalid into the ground.  Fia approved this.

    Khalid started to get up only for a sky blue hoop to clasp onto his wrist.  Willa, now as a human, pulled him closer while mounting her own telescope at the Door.

    ¡°Let¡¯s see¡­there¡¯s a small crack in the Door.  If I can open it ¡ª¡± She moved swiftly to the Door and turned at an invisible knob.

    The Door opened, shedding shimmering pink and terracotta light in the room.  Its presence raised Fia¡¯s awareness as the room and everyone around her came into sharp focus.  The embers of her flaming hair, the sounds of rapidly approaching footsteps, the taste of metal and blood in her mouth¡ªshe could sense everything.  Based on everyone¡¯s transfixed expressions, they were probably feeling the same thing as well.  Willa¡¯s ears and tail stood erect as she took a step¡­another¡­until she disappeared.

    Fia blinked. ¡°Uh, is she coming back?¡±

    Hina shrugged¡ªwhile someone snuck up on her.

    ¡°Hey¡ªDulce!?¡± The familiar sheep ears clued her in. ¡°I almost burnt you to a crisp!¡±

    ¡ª?Me alegro de haberte encontrado! ¡ªsaid Dulce.

    ¡°Dulce, I don''t speak Spanish.¡±

    ¡°Oh!  I am glad to see you again!¡± Dulce nodded.

    The girl with the monkey tail was staring at the door. ¡ªPortanto, parece que seremos recebidos calorosamente.  Vamos deixamos!

    ¡°I don¡¯t know what you are saying, but why should we leave?  We have the strength to beat them and I can run circles around them.¡± Fia lifted her axe.

    R¨®is¨ªn pointed at Hina. ¡°She can¡¯t fight like us, and our objective here is complete.¡± She glared at Hina¡¯s blinking phone. ¡°But you.¡± She pointed at the girl with the monkey tail. ¡°Apologise for messing up my hair right now.¡±

    The monkey girl looked at the gradually opening sequence of doors. ¡ªComo quiser.

    Fia and R¨®is¨ªn turned to each other, sighed, and followed the rest of the eclectic group out of the fort where they were greeted by a tall Arab man with a waiting boat and a floating cloud.

    ¡°Seriously?  I can do this myself¡ª¡±

    ¡°Get in!¡± R¨®is¨ªn pushed Fia in.

    ¡°You¡ª¡±

    As the boat took off, Fia watched as the fort disappeared in the distance.  The water underneath her slightly bubbled.  She looked downwards¡ªand flinched at her flaming reflection and startlingly red eyes amid a field of destruction.  Sitting back down, Fia asked herself.

    What was she?

 Follow The Evidence and Uncover The Black Mystery

    She once heard it said that of all of the places in this forsaken world, the cities of Europe were the safest from Calamities. Ignoring the sinking of Venice, the meteors that laid waste to Dublin sixteen years ago, the Great London Storm, and that large crater in the south of France, the wisdom mostly held true. European nations ranked high on the Calamity Preparedness Index, the Netherlands especially with their knowledge of maritime Calamities and history of land reclamation from the sea.

    The lack of a roof on the building they were in said otherwise.

    Mihira was holding onto her¡ªthis body¡¯s¡ªleft hand as they slinked through the abandoned building. Arinya was holding onto Mihira and occasionally whispered a few words in Thai. Her injury was healing well. Good enough for the journey ahead. The carp watched her. Did it know this body was a puppet? She couldn¡¯t dwell on it, not when they needed to leave.

    The winds howled as they stepped outside. In the distance, a few lone skyscrapers were sheared in half. Where the top halves were, she had no clue. Wreckages of what she assumed were once homes awaited them at an intersection. Someone¡¯s arm was sticking out of a wall, unmoving. She continued. When they passed by a woman sobbing with a makeshift splint on her leg near the river, Mihira drew closer to Arinya and grimaced at the scales she was holding in her spare hand.

    Did Mihira want to cast them away after all that had happened? She wouldn¡¯t blame her. The blade at her side itched to drink, but she quelled it. In her current condition, she could only control one at a time¡ªand after what Mihira had gone through, her control was not what she needed.

    Pain erupted at her side.

    ¡°...are you alright N¡ª¡± Mihira started before clamping down.

    She must have winced ¡°That¡¯s someone else¡¯s name. If it¡¯s this face,¡± She drew a circle around this body¡¯s face. ¡°Call me Sophia.¡±

    Mihira nodded. They were close now¡­to the meeting place. This body, ¡®Sophia¡¯, wasn¡¯t a law-abiding citizen. She had met her trying to rob a man in a dark alleyway. One nick to her arm was all it took to bring Sophia under her control. Her fingerprint unlocked her phone, and a useful contact.

    A sleek black car was waiting for them, with its driver lounging on the side.

    ¡°Sophia, Sophia!¡± He clapped his hands together. ¡°It¡¯s been a long time.¡±

    She knew his occupation. ¡°Three people out of the city, no interruptions.¡±

    ¡°The typical evasive manoeuvres?¡± He put a hand on this body¡¯s shoulder.

    She knew there was an intimate connection between her current body and this man, but she brushed him off. ¡°How much?¡±

    ¡°Three thousand euros, and you know me. No negotiating.¡±

    Fucking porters and their jacked up prices. ¡°That¡¯s awfully expensive.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s either that or you can wait for the evacuation teams.¡± He pulled out a phone. ¡°Who are about six hours away. There¡¯s also reports that the dikes have broken so¡­¡±

    She looked at Arinya and Mihira. Mihira looked confused and Arinya¡¯s stoic expression told her that she didn¡¯t understand what the man was saying. She pointed at her palm and tried to mime holding paper money. That caught the woman¡¯s attention, quickly getting a fat stack of euros from her jacket. The porter took it from her, counted it, and squirted counterfeit checking ink on one bill.

    ¡°Looks good.¡± He opened the door. ¡°Get in.¡±

    All three filed in.

    Her left side was burning¡ª

    A hand touched her arm. Mihira looked at her with concern. She simply nodded and closed her eyes, letting the darkness overtake her¡ª

    ¡ªShe awoke in bed.

    ¡°So you¡¯re awake.¡± A man opened the door, sporting blue medical gloves. ¡°Good to see that.¡±

    She looked at her body¡ªthe real one. The one bruised in almost every area. She could thank the Lady for her not being injured, but she wasn¡¯t in a grateful mood today. She tried to move her left arm, but it ached.

    ¡°Hm, I¡¯m surprised that you weren¡¯t badly injured based on your description of what happened. I¡¯ll run a second checkup on you just in case, but I doubt your recovery time will be long. Let¡¯s say a day or two?¡±

    She grunted. The doctor nodded and closed the door behind him.

    He didn¡¯t ask too many questions. That was why she had checked herself in. Dr. Hamdi was well known for his discretion, especially since along with his daytime practice he also serviced¡­less than optimal patients. The last time she had seen him for a broken leg, she asked him why.

    He simply smiled and said: ¡°The same reason why you travel.¡±

    That was good enough. All of her books were here and he was kind enough to leave the remote within arm¡¯s reach. She quickly grabbed it and turned on the television. Unfortunately, the newscaster was speaking in Dutch, and the damn settings were in Dutch. She eventually got the television to display Arabic captions.

    ¡°...reports of a mysterious Calamity striking the western coast of Holland. Many residents have gone missing since news broke out. The Ministries of Justice and Security, and the Interior and Kingdom Relations have reportedly been cut in half by the Calamity. No accurate death toll has been released to the public, but likely to be in the hundreds.¡± The newscaster stopped for a brief moment. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but we are currently receiving more reports. The Zuiderzee Works have been significantly weakened by the unknown Calamity. All residents of South Holland and Zeeland¡ª¡±

    The porter was telling the truth. Most of them liked to lie about how dangerous Calamities really were. It was easier to wring more money from panicking people than those still in control of themselves. This time though, it wasn¡¯t a Calamity.

    She reached for a worn volume, brushing off the cover and tracing her fingers along the black calligraphy perfectly preserved through the ages.

    Burj al Mizan. Libra.

    She flipped through the pages, stopping at a lengthy description of the Scales of the Four Winds. Refreshing her mind, she relearned it all. The Scales were a benefic force¡ªor malefic, depending on what the Lady of the Clouded Courts judged you to be. Its power over the wind was without peer, the book said, able to pound the mightiest of mountains into submission or calming those coursing with aggression.

    The book extolled the virtues of the Lady, how she was discerning and graceful.

    Nothing about her love, nor her fleeting passions, nor her¡ª

    She blinked. Checking on her still blood red dagger, she slept soundly.

    The next day, she was ready. She sent some commands to ¡®Sophia¡¯: to keep Mihira and Arinya out of harm¡¯s way and using lethal force only when necessary. Dr. Hamdi opened the door, checked her vital signs, and assessed for further injuries. After determining that she was completely healthy, he gave her two suitcases. She opened the first one. Inside were detailed blueprints, a fake ID badge for one Layla Nazari and scrubs, a working schematic of security cameras, a list of who was on rotation, and an Arabic to French dictionary.

    ¡°...¡±

    ¡°Yes, you do need to speak French.¡± He sighed. ¡°And young lady, you will not be rolling your eyes at me.¡±

    ¡°...¡± She frowned.

    ¡°Now, coming off of the heels of breaking into United Nations property, why do you want to infiltrate one of the most well known hospitals in Geneva?¡±

    She stared at Dr. Hamdi¡ªand reached for a newspaper article. The headline boldly stated in German: ¡°Missing Scientists Found After Three Weeks Long Search¡±. The article promptly detailed how they were suddenly discovered in front of H?pitaux Universitaires de Gen¨¨ve. Fifteen scientists were immediately admitted, especially since one of them was discovered to be comatose. Although, the article said all of them. The official website on the project listed sixteen contributors.

    When she read it, she felt vines slinking through her stomach. Her current theory was that the disappearance was no accident. Whoever orchestrated it had both deep pockets and connections. A puzzling enigma, one she could only solve if she interviewed the source¡ª

    ¡°There¡¯s an issue.¡± Dr. Hamdi took back the security camera schematics. ¡°These are now outdated.¡± He slid a manila folder to her. ¡°These are the new versions.¡±

    She took them, read through each and every file, and dropped them into the folder.

    ¡°...full body recognition software?¡±

    The doctor adjusted his glasses. ¡°After that dreadful attempted robbery, the hospital installed new cameras. Ones instantly connected to the databases of the local police, the cantonal police, and Interpol. Your control over them is phenomenal, but unless you can accurately mimic their exact body language, you can¡¯t send one in. And then there¡¯s the matter of your eyes.¡±

    She knew what he was talking about. As long as she had someone under her thrall, her eyes turned dark red. The person she was controlling would share her eyes too. A deeply unnatural colour.

    ¡°Contacts then.¡±

    He handed her a box.

    ¡°You have the artefact?¡±

    He brought over the second briefcase. She took some medical gloves from him, completed the lock combination, unlatched it, and opened it to peek at the contents.

    ¡°That¡¯s a fucking gun.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Her price is a fucking gun? And she wants me to smuggle it into the country?¡±

    ¡°She is an avid gun collector, and she promised you information in exchange for, as you say it, that fucking gun.¡±

    She closed the briefcase. ¡°And she was fine with me looking at this? It¡¯s not a trap?¡±

    ¡°The woman is surprisingly forgiving considering her line of work. The meeting place is at 2100 hours near the Jet d''Eau de Gen¨¨ve in two weeks¡¯ time. Don¡¯t be late.¡±

    The next two days were filled with her reading through the Arabic to French dictionary, studying the hospital blueprints and camera positions, and working out. Occasionally, she read through the seventh volume. She only had three volumes. The broker promised her four.

    Before she left, she peeked through the door. The good doctor was sleeping. On his desk was a photo of himself grinning with his arms wrapped around another man.

    She knew the other man all too well.

    His eyes stared back at her whenever she looked in a mirror.

    She quietly slipped out the door.

    She was on the road now. The older roads, the ones the governments decided to let overgrow in lieu of lack of funds and too many Calamities. They built new roads that avoided more Calamity-prone areas, but those were too high traffic. She slept during the day and travelled at night. She could justify it for secrecy reasons, but she always hated being awake during the day. The Sun hurt her eyes.

    Tonight, she stowed away in an old farmhouse. Half of it had buckled under the weight of a massive black meteor. An old Calamity she figured. Whatever it was, its occupants were long gone and she needed shelter. It started raining in the middle of the day, little drops rolling off of the exposed timbers.

    A flash of lightning, the cold chill of the wind, little snowflakes, rolling clouds¡ª

    She curled up tighter. These impressions were too intimate to be mere memories.

    Setting off, she found herself in a field devoid of all vegetation. The culprit lay sleeping in the field. Another black meteor. She kept finding them in places of death and desolation. When she was under a more stable roof, she consulted the eighth volume.

    Nothing helpful. No traces of ¡®Calamity¡¯.

    She kept travelling. Carrying a backpack filled with four volumes, one briefcase with a gun, and her steel amulet hidden on her person, she was making quick progress compared to her load. A dirt road opened up and she walked along the side. It was peaceful¡ª

    Until she saw that lorry.

    It was rare enough to see one on a dirt road. It was even rarer to see one on the same dirt road you were travelling, and in the same direction. She regarded it as a curiosity¡ªuntil her nonexistent tail threatened to pop out of her spine and she keenly sensed someone being acutely aware of her existence. Two people in fact.

    Swirling colours in fantastical bubbles, terracotta mixed with a strong scent¡ª

    She nearly dropped her two briefcases in surprise.

    Once she had found a secluded location, she unsheathed her dagger. Glowing blood red under the sunlight, she channelled her consciousness into ¡®Sophia¡¯...

    ¡­she opened her eyes to the night and a makeshift campfire crackling. Embers floated through the air as Arinya stared at a papery map. She got up and walked to look at the map. The map was written in Thai, but she could recognise the outline of China. Her Chinese was passable, but she¡¯d rather watch without acting.

    She had slipped into the Peace Palace as a shadow, closely following them but never interacting. She observed Arinya¡¯s careful examination of the Chinese vases in the Japanese Room. It was likely that the placement of the vases were no mistake considering Mihira¡¯s heritage. The vases¡¯ origin was suspect. Why the Chinese artifacts specifically? Unless it was a hint towards the Door. If the Door was in China¡ªit had to be the Lady¡¯s choice. The Key in a palace dedicated to justice and peace, the Door in a temple? What locations would be attuned to the Seventh House? Rites of law and order¡ªa natural landmark. Many emperors had ceremonies on the mountain to affirm their rule, and the most well-known mountain was¡ª

    ¡°Mount Tai.¡±

    She blinked in surprise as Arinya turned to face her.

    ¡°Are you surprised? I¡¯m not a pretty face, I know when someone is staring over my shoulder.¡± She looked at her arms. ¡°Do you have anything to say~ Or do you want to share any helpful knowledge~¡±

    ¡°...¡±

    Arinya stared at ¡®Sophia¡¯s¡¯ body. ¡°Am I talking to you, or an empty headed puppet?¡±

    ¡°...¡±

    She returned to her map. ¡®Sophia¡¯ scanned the clearing. Where was Mihira? The rustling bushes answered her question. She peeked overhead¡ªand found a sobbing Mihira with her head buried into her legs. She moved next to her immediately.

    ¡°H-hello?¡± Mihira looked up, tears brimming in her eyes. ¡°Sorry you have to see me like this¡­I feel awful.¡± She continued to sob.

    She stayed by Mihira¡¯s side. Behind them, the fire flickered and Mihira looked away.

    ¡°---I should¡¯ve known better.¡± Mihira buried her head in her knees. ¡°I thought if I surrendered to her judgement, she would know better on what to do and how to use the Scales¡ª¡± She looked at the bronze Scales forlornly. They were quite far from her. ¡°What happened to everyone¡­Hua-san¡­Urantsog-san¡­Noortje-san¡­because of me...look at Sinaka-san¡­¡± She looked behind her, the lenses on her glasses fogging up. ¡°She¡¯s so graceful¡­but sometimes when I look at her¡­¡±

    ¡°You see her sins.¡±

    Mihira turned to look at her. ¡°Her¡­sins?¡±

    ¡°¡®The Scales balances the soul with the feather of harmony. If the soul is deficient, the Scales tip in the feather¡¯s favour and those judged unworthy bear their sins.¡¯¡± She ran her fingers through this body¡¯s short hair. ¡°I know this, and I know that the Lady is an alien being. Her judgements are fair and reasonable to her only.¡± She¡­knew the Lady better than she knew herself. ¡°It was your sight for an exit.¡±

    Mihira nodded. ¡°But¡­I could have¡­¡± She sputtered out between sobs.

    ¡°The Seventh House is associated with balance. Breaching the domain would have required power beyond our means. That offer was better than expected in this dying world.¡±

    ¡°So I messed up.¡± Mihira hung her head in shame.

    She wanted to say more, but she knew that if she did so, Mihira would cry. With a last command, she commanded the body to sleep with Mihira and¡­find a way to help her.

    Sleeping through the day and trekking through the night, she found herself in Geneva under the cover of night. She hadn¡¯t heard much of the city, other than it being the site of the Geneva Conventions. Everyone had the same vacantly happy expression and lightless eyes. Like they were going through the motions.

    She wondered what she, a ghost among the living, looked to them.

    After she found a secluded room, she changed into white scrubs, adjusted her scannable name tag, concealed her knives, and headed out. She stowed away the briefcases and the backpack within a secure location. For now, ¡®Layla¡¯ was late to work. No one would question a frantically sprinting woman late for her first shift.

    She made her way to the entrance when some passersby started looking at their phones and chattering in French. She only caught snippets of the conversations, but she recognised one word.

    Calamity.

    A fleet of ambulances sped out from the hospital while a few nurses rushed out of the main entrance. In the confusion and the panic from the bystanders, she weaved her way through the crowd. Scanning her nametag and making her way around the nearly deserted hospital, she found a dispatch on the computer. All police officers and emergency medical staff were redirected to the site of the incoming Calamity. A small shift was here to monitor the patients. If anyone asked, she would simply state she was assigned to the observational shift.

    There were quite a few cameras. She avoided them out of habit. Many of the patient rooms were empty in the building she entered. They might be in another building.

    Entering another building, she searched the rooms methodically. In a darkened hallway, she bumped into someone.

    ¡°I wasn¡¯t expecting anyone at this time.¡± Whoever she bumped into had a feminine voice.

    ¡°Me neither.¡±

    Judging by the lack of a reaction, her French was passable. She couldn¡¯t search with someone at her side, so they walked in silence for the length of the hallway. One of the windows had a street light shining through, illuminating the other woman¡¯s uniform.

    A police officer. Her eyes narrowed.

    ¡°I don¡¯t remember you being on rotation for the observation shift. I always check the schedule in my spare time.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s an observation shift, I can¡¯t abandon the patients.¡± She stared hard at the other woman. ¡°But then, aren¡¯t all police officers supposed to be responding to the Calamity?¡±

    She was prepared for the first punch thrown. Grabbing onto the outstretched arm, she flipped the other woman on her back. Jumping above the leg swipe, she was caught off guard when the other woman suddenly grappled her. She kicked the fake police officer in the groin area, only to receive a baton blow to the head. Dazed, she couldn¡¯t resist when the ¡°officer¡± pushed her out of a square window. She blinked, looking at the city lights before her attacker dragged her back in. One swipe, and she hid a glass shard in her sleeve. When the woman rushed at her, she drew her shard and drove it hard into her left shoulder. While the woman was distracted, she grabbed an AED and whacked her in the chest. She was on the verge of opening the AED case when she was tackled to the ground by the brunette woman. Both of them struggled to gain dominance over the other¡ªuntil she grabbed hold of her amulet.

    A long time ago, she had it modified to suit her better. Now, she was glad she did so.

    Drawing the long steel chain, she waited for an opportune moment. That came when she was pinned chest first to the ground. As she sensed the woman¡¯s breath near her neck, she looped back her chain around the woman¡¯s neck and pulled hard. Getting up and tightening the steel chain around her neck, she held the amulet attached to the chain in her left hand while keeping her grip.

    ¡°Those that whisper in the dark, those with locks on their hearts, I know your secrets. I claim my inheritance of night and blood and vow to use it against those that bring oblivion.¡±

    Darkness consumed both of them. She felt her tail spring out of her spine while she was cloaked by the night. Her hair was braided and her white uniform was transformed into a black skin tight bodysuit. She felt the familiar weight of her throwing knives and her whip at her side. Vitality rushed through her veins as the other woman began her death throes. Once it was done, she stood tall over the other woman¡¯s body crumpled against the floor. Her head was lying on her tail before the woman in black let down her head gently on the floor.

    She nudged the woman¡¯s head. Drained of blood as usual. A shadowy tendril unzipped the woman¡¯s jacket and scavenged her pockets. A fake ID, fifty euros¡ªa photo of the woman with a man slightly resembling her. She lingered on the photo.

    Muna, Muna! Look what I found! It¡¯s a shell!Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

    She dropped it. A crash resonated through the hallway. She focused her eyes, letting it naturally adjust to the darkness. Roughly ten metres away, one of the rooms was shining brightly. She narrowed her eyes and advanced forward, toggling her mask to cover her dark red eyes.

    Lurking behind a corner, she observed the room.

    A man in dark blue was standing over a comatose man. The EKG monitor was beeping all the while. In his right hand was a syringe about to inject into the patient¡¯s IV. A nurse was slumped on the floor, one bullet hole in her forehead and eyes wide open. Readjusting her eyes, she spied the man¡¯s chart. Elias Brunner. One of the scientists she was wanting to meet.

    There was an audible clunk before a dagger broke the window and killed the lights. She immediately kicked the man in the head, her eyes readjusting to the natural darkness. He swung at her, but it didn¡¯t land. Grabbing a nearby metal tray, she bashed it on his head and smacked him across his right arm with her whip. The syringe was caught by her¡ªas a bullet whizzed by her ear. She dodged it easily and struck the man in the face with the whip. His neck was exposed¡ªperfect. She jabbed the syringe into his exposed skin and injected the liquid straight into his throat. Draining him, she let the blood from his throat solidify into a makeshift rapier and parried at a fast pace. Despite his blood loss, he kept up with her, deflecting almost all of her blows with his own weapon until he suddenly faltered. There, she struck with her tail, poisoning him with one sting. After he was dealt with, she moved to the nurse and closed her eyes.

    It was that moment the washroom door opened and one of the unbroken lights turned on. She was briefly blinded by the brightness before shielding her eyes. A woman with short cropped hair was in visible shock, her feet wet in the leftover blood. Enveloping the room in darkness, she cupped the woman¡¯s mouth.

    ¡°Don¡¯t scream, don¡¯t panic.¡± She tightened her grip over the woman¡¯s stomach. ¡°I¡¯m not here to hurt you, I need answers. Do you understand?¡±

    The woman nodded slowly.

    ¡°When I let go, you will not call for help or attempt to run off.¡± She showed the woman the man¡¯s dead body. ¡°Do you understand?¡±

    The woman nodded, shakingly.

    She let go. The woman gasped.

    ¡°I¨CI can¡¯t see anything. Can you turn on the lights?¡± Her French was shaky and not the best.

    She let one light shine through. Any more, and her eyes would hurt. ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡±

    ¡°Laura Bianchi.¡±

    ¡°You worked on a project for the University of Zurich. What was it and what was your position?¡±

    ¡°It wasn¡¯t on behalf of the University of Zurich, but a collaboration between several universities. Most of the research grants were from the University of Zurich though. As a microbiologist specialising in the soil microbiome, I was asked to lend my expertise to the project, especially after the head of the project read my recent paper on the adaptations of nitrogen fixing bacteria to Calamity caused weather patterns. The purpose of the project was to engineer more Calamity-resistant strains of common cereal crops and create a suitable environment. If you studied the effects of the first ten years of Calamities on the global food supply, you would know why.¡±

    It was before her time, but she remembered the tales of farmers starving in their homes as their fields were devastated by Calamity, the crops that survived being left to rot because the ships supposed to transport them were sunk by an errant storm.

    ¡°We each had our own roles. I was meant to assist in seeding the soil with bacteria involved in maintaining soil nutrients. Elias¡ª¡± She gulped and struggled to hold back tears. ¡°Elias was an epigeneticist. He wanted to help others, especially his twin sister. She listens to gossip all day¡ª¡±

    ¡°Did you notice anything unusual about the project?¡±

    ¡°No, except when Signorina Wald approached me. She¡¯s a nice kid, but she gets worried over everything. She was worried about a disturbance outside of the building. I told her that I would take care of it. I was expecting it to be a stray moth or a cat, but Signor M¨¹ller, the project head, was talking to a mysterious person in the rain. He was tall, well-built, and I couldn¡¯t recognise his face. I eavesdropped, and Signor M¨¹ller kept referring to him as ¡®our dear benefactor¡¯.¡± She pursed her mouth. ¡°I knew every financier personally, and I didn''t recognise him. They were discussing a special ¡®shipment¡¯ and the man asked Signor M¨¹ller to inform him if anything happened on a Wednesday.¡±

    Slithering vines, a great tree growing amidst a well maintained forest¡ª

    ¡°I never thought about the shipment, I was too busy with my work. Signorina Wald was restless that entire week. Later, we were kidnapped.¡± Laura drank water from a nearby cup. ¡°We escaped and Elias is still in a coma. Did you kill the nurse?¡±

    ¡°No.¡± Wald¡­ ¡°There was no mention of anyone named Wald at this hospital.¡±

    Laura stopped drinking. ¡°They told me not to tell anyone. They erased all traces of her presence, deleted her digital footprint, and made her a ghost.¡±

    ¡°Who?¡±

    Laura pointed at the EKG monitor. It appeared normal¡ªuntil the monitor flickered and electric blue static took over. She noticed two faint blue waves.

    An interconnected digital collective focused on the future¡ª

    ¡°They check in and make sure that Elias is alive. I don¡¯t know why. Ava thinks that they were watching over us in our prison. How did that man slip through¡­¡±

    ¡°Anything else? Especially about Signorina Wald?¡±

    ¡°Other than two identical teenagers freeing us, no.¡± Laura squinted. ¡°You don¡¯t look much older than Signorina Wald.¡±

    ¡°She had a carbon amulet the day they took you all and the teenagers were identical twins with control over sound and silence.¡±

    ¡°How¡ª?¡±

    ¡°I have my ways.¡± That was all she needed to know.

    Before vanishing, she dispatched five stalkers looking for the scientists. She wasn¡¯t alone in her interest. Looking at the cream, she wondered.

    She found her way back to the warehouse and grabbed¡­almost everything.

    The briefcase was gone.

    ¡°Fuck.¡±

    Canvassing the warehouse, the area around the warehouse, and nearby alleys, she concluded it was missing¡ªand she needed a replacement fast. Fuck.

    Asking to purchase a gun without an ID card or any identification would have been an immediate red flag to Swiss authorities. She knew that there was a thriving underground 3D printing market: many charged to use their 3D printers to print anything. From banned foods to gun components, all she needed to do was to set up an appointment.

    Discreetly paying a courier for information, she was to meet in a pharmacy tomorrow at 2300 hrs. It was almost dawn, the Sun¡¯s rays stinging her eyes. Hiding in the abandoned warehouse, she let her mind seize control of ¡®Sophia¡¯---

    ¡ªwhere she was greeted by a sleeping Mihira on her lap. A stray sunbeam crossed across Mihira¡¯s chest. They appeared to be resting in an abandoned shack. No sight of Arinya.

    Slowly, Mihira¡¯s eyes began to flutter open. Brown. No transformation¡­

    How badly was she rattled by the Scales? The Scales were a tool according to her books. When she was judged¡­she heard a distinctly masculine voice. There was no animate spirit in any of the Keys and the Scales were described as ¡°without breath or wind¡±.

    White feathers, a sharp beak, a raspberry scented kiss¡ª

    ¡°You¡¯re awake?¡±

    Mihira was sitting up, wiping her eyes with her fingers. She wondered how much Mihira could see at this point. If she held up four fingers, would Mihira be able to recognise them?

    She answered: ¡°Yes, where¡¯s Arinya?¡±

    ¡°She wanted a bath.¡± Mihira opened her amulet and frowned.

    The Scales were sitting on a small mound. She dared not to touch it. Based on her impressions and the manner in which the voice conducted himself, she would end up imprisoned in her own mind.

    Mihira was more important. ¡°Are you alright?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re lying to yourself.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    In any other situation, she wouldn¡¯t be aggressive. ¡°You need to overcome it.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m unworthy, the Scales said so.¡± Mihira cast a forlorn glance. ¡°It should find a better candidate to hold it.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s impossible.¡±

    You will never escape it, not until your blood is spent and your breath is reduced to nothing.

    A slight chuckle escaped her¡­she still remembered after all these years¡ª

    ¡°Sophia?¡±

    Snapped out of her daze, she turned to Mihira. ¡°There will be other candidates¡ªbut a century is nothing to them. You would need to be dead for another candidate to arise, and who fucking knows when that will be.¡±

    Mihira stopped holding her amulet. ¡°So it¡¯s only me?¡±

    ¡®Sophia¡¯ nodded. ¡°Yes.¡±

    This girl is the sole vessel¡­to the Seventh House. She mentally traced the words. Associated with balance¡­and cooperation.

    ¡°Give me your hands.¡± She extended her left hand.

    Mihira took it.

    ¡°Transform.¡±

    Grasping her copper amulet, Mihira recited: ¡°Take my hands and grant me the power of justice in this unbalanced world.¡±

    The amulet burst into pastel colours and she held tightly onto Mihira¡¯s hands.

    Habibti, if you meet the vessel of the Seventh House, you must know these words¡ª

    ¡°I call upon the claws of the scorpion sundered from its body! Let the power of the Seventh House be shared with the scorpion it split from! By gods and men, I¡¯ll surrender it once justice is served!¡±

    The words reverberated in the air as black tendrils seized the amulet. She screamed once the winds started battering her body, but she remained while the darkness overtook her.

    Once it receded, she looked at her hand surrounded by translucent pink and black rings. Mihira¡¯s right hand was clasped within hers.

    Mihira gingerly picked up the Scales. ¡°I don¡¯t feel anything.¡±

    You dare pick me up after what you have wrought!?

    ¡°Go fuck yourself.¡± Whoever the animating spirit is, he was a sanctimonious motherfucker. ¡°You know that she¡¯s the only one who can use this amulet.¡±

    Being of the Eighth House, you should know about the cycle.

    ¡°I don¡¯t have time to deal with you. Give Tenhou Mihira control. We don¡¯t have time to wait for everyone to die to get your perfect candidate.¡±

    One must be willing to shoulder the duty of upholding the Seventh House¡¯s tenets.

    The books did not prepare her for how tiring it was to talk with those of the Seventh House. ¡°Fine then.¡±

    She raised Mihira and her hands and attempted to seize control over the Scales.

    Her dark will clashed with the spirit¡¯s defenses. With no blood, she was at a disadvantage, but Mihira¡¯s inner power made up for the power differential. The spirit stood stoically against her lashes of force, but she found impressions of a true body once. Sharp stings battled against blustering gales. The ground beneath them shook as the atmosphere grew darker.

    ¡°What are you doing?¡± asked Mihira.

    She ignored her. She needed complete concentration. Dominating an incorporeal being was harder than a flesh and blood being. The spirit had tremendous reserves, but she knew the barriers people kept. The light of the Sun was blotted out and terrible gusts of winds pounded against the earth. The dirt beneath them collapsed under the weight of the air, but she was unrelenting. Within seconds, she penetrated his walls.

    Orange and black, pale pink and light blue, a swirling array of feathers¡ª

    ¡°Stop.¡±

    Mihira faced ¡®Sophia¡¯. ¡°I think that I can get through to him.¡±

    She released her hold over the spirit¡¯s mind. ¡°I¡¯ll give you one chance.¡±

    Mihira nodded and knelt so that she was eye level to the Scales. ¡°I know we had our disagreements, and I know that you don¡¯t think I¡¯m good enough to be the Seventh House¡¯s representative. I can prove it to you.¡±

    The Scales remained still.

    I¡¯ll allow you to resonate with the Scales. If you prove to be unworthy, I will relinquish our connection. Justice has been served.

    The rings around their hands dissolved. Mihira held the Scales in her right hand. She extended her left hand to Mihira, who took it.

    Mihira took a deep breath and concentrated. At once, she felt at ease with herself. The bond between them shifted, releasing energetic waves that vaporised as quickly as they were related. A halo was forming over Mihira¡¯s head, accompanied by two white glowing wings and sharpening into four points.

    ¡°Oh!¡± Mihira shouted. ¡°I know what to do now! Arinya!¡±

    ¡®Sophia¡¯ turned to face Arinya, her body coiled around a hill.

    ¡°Splendid~¡± She hissed out. ¡°How nice of you to keep Kun Mihira company.¡±

    The Sun was rising now. ¡®Sophia¡¯ stood up. ¡°I completed what I needed to do.¡±

    ¡°Indeed.¡± Her eyes fluttered. ¡°You seem to be a pure being.¡±

    ¡®Sophia¡¯ grunted. She cared not for pretty words, especially not as the sun rose, but something made her stay.

    ¡°Your interest in us is intriguing, especially since the last time we met¡ª¡± Arinya glanced at her dark red eyes. ¡°Ah~, we have the same eyes.¡±

    ¡°What do you want?¡±

    ¡°Oh, nothing much.¡± The vertical slits in Arinya¡¯s eyes deepened. ¡°I just want to know how you seem to know so much about Kun Mihira¡ªin fact, I don¡¯t even know your name.¡±

    You will never find out, she thought. ¡°I¡¯ll see you later.¡±

    Arinya remained poised. ¡°If you so wished, Sophia¡ªwait this isn¡¯t Sophia is it? I¡¯m talking to the puppet master. Makes me wonder¡­are there others?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s a reason the Scales found you guilty.¡± She needed to be free of this chatter.

    Darkness overcame her¡ª

    ¡ªas she awakened underneath a starry sky.

    Any aspiring astronomer found strange comfort in a Calamity: most countries have a policy of focusing energy to emergency efforts and less on street lights. Thirty years ago, seeing the night sky in a busy urban corridor was unthinkable. Now, she walked under a tapestry of lights.

    The pharmacy was on her left. According to the electronic sign, they were closed, but the door swung inwards all the same.

    ¡°Layla Nazari?¡± A voice called out.

    She sheathed her tail and put her hand on the window. The full moon shone brightly through the blinds.

    A petite woman stood on the other side of the counter. ¡°No lights? Odd condition.¡±

    ¡°You have the parts?¡±

    The woman nodded. ¡°I¡¯m almost done. You¡¯re welcome to look around.¡±

    She glanced around. The typical pills, drugs, and balms¡ªthere.

    A thick black book.

    She knew this. The eighth. Scorpio.

    ¡°Yamo!¡± She held it in her hands. ¡°Can I?¡±

    A chuckle. ¡°It¡¯s going to be yours one day. You should get to know it.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re interested in that?¡±

    She must have lingered on it.

    ¡°It¡¯s my maternal grandfather¡¯s. He had only one daughter, so he passed it on to her, and now I have it.¡± She looked at the woman. ¡°I¡¯m surprised you can see it. It¡¯s the middle of the night and I can barely see you.¡±

    She looked down at the cover.

    Yu¨¨. That was how the Chinese character would be read.

    Mortar and pestle, liquid flowing into a bottle, the moonlight¡ª

    The dark green cream felt heavier in her pocket. Without thinking she put it on the counter.

    ¡°Turn on the light here.¡±

    The woman did as asked¡ªand gasped at the dark green container.

    ¡°How did you find this?¡± She grabbed the container instantly and studied it. ¡°No one should be able to have these!¡±

    ¡°What are they?¡±

    ¡°Uh...most of the time I would say it¡¯s a family secret, but if you had this, you know more than the average person.¡± The woman placed reading glasses on her nose. ¡°It¡¯s a special container. My maternal family has a tradition of practicing medicine, even if it has¡­an otherworldly origin. This is used for special medicines.¡±

    ¡°It can instantly heal any injury, why?¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t divulge the exact method, but it has a faster onset of action than any analgesic in existence.¡± She looked around. ¡°How did you get this¡­I¡¯m not sitting with a murderer, am I?¡±

    She thought about the mansion in Morocco and the damned security guards. ¡°No comment.¡±

    The woman sighed. ¡°They have different effects depending on how they are prepared¡ªAh, I think they¡¯re all printed.¡± She left through a door in the back.

    Turning around, she emptied her backpack. Her own black book, but in curling Arabic calligraphy. She compared the two books after retrieving the woman¡¯s book with a shadowy tendril. Hers was narrower, but thicker. Opening both of them made them resonate with her.

    Twelve books, twelve Houses¡ª

    The door opened. She rapidly shoved her book in the backpack while the woman set a briefcase identical to hers on the glass counter.

    ¡°As you requested.¡±

    She moved a thousand euros to the woman, who took it. She turned around and strolled to the door.

    ¡°Thank you for your business, and have a good night¡ªYour backpack¡¯s open.¡±

    She tried to close it from behind her, but the light was on her back before she could blink. On instinct, her tail sprung out of her back.

    ¡°You¡¯re¡ªyou¡¯re part of a Guardian family too?¡± The woman adjusted her glasses. ¡°Would I know which one¡ª¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t ask.¡± She bit her tongue.

    ¡°...that explains a lot.¡± The woman tapped her fingers on the counter. ¡°Your accent screams the Middle East¡­wait you¡¯re one of the L¡ª¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re dead.¡± She looked at the other woman with her dark red eyes. ¡°And they should stay dead. Don¡¯t ask after me. I was never here.¡±

    With that, she left.

    Even in midsummer, the wind was chilly. She shivered slightly as the stars taunted her with their cold shine. Near a fountain, she looked at the sky. The claws of Scorpius hung low. Her eyes traced the bright outline of the body. Somewhere, she heard the distant call of sirens and lights flashing.

    She opened her steel amulet. There were small etchings in a concentric arrangement at the centre. She toyed around with the rings. Rarely, they glowed dark red. If Mihira was here, she might have been able to decipher them. She had determined that the writing on the dark green container and inside her amulet, but she hadn¡¯t been able to match any words.

    Two men, one of them drunk, were lounging behind her on the opposite side of the fountain.

    ¡°Come on Peter! She was nothing, there¡¯s other fish in the sea!¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re inland.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a metaphor!¡± The other man threw an empty bottle over the fountain. ¡°Fine, what do you want to talk about?¡±

    ¡°Work, that last job.¡±

    ¡°Oh that.¡± Another bottle chucked into the fountain. ¡°That was a weird one.¡±

    ¡°It was a dome¡­in the middle of nowhere.¡± A dome?

    ¡°The supervisors wanted a rush job with the way they were hurrying us. I heard one of them talking about needing to avoid any nosy journalist.¡±

    This conversation was getting interesting.

    ¡°Do you remember the article about the missing scientists? They mentioned they were close to Geneva¡­and the dome was close to Geneva¡ª¡±

    ¡°They told us to keep our mouths shut and the payments sealed the deal! We¡¯re not even supposed to mention it to the Swallow!¡±

    The Swallow was the name of the broker she was supposed to meet.

    ¡°I still have that slab.¡± Pierre pulled out a small fragment. ¡°See how it drinks the light?¡± He touched it, causing subtle ripples.

    Null, the void, standing at the edge of oblivion and ecstasy¡ªshe knew all of it, the secrets it held, the mystery, what was forbidden for her to know! She must! If only for¡ª

    ¡°Excuse me Madame? Are you alright?¡±

    She blinked. The two men were staring at her and her hand was on the now black slab.

    ¡°Yes.¡± Of course she was¡­but what happened to her?

    The two men looked at each other and shrugged. ¡°Are you lost?¡±

    She snuck off into the night.

    The city was dead at midnight. Probably because of the Calamities.

    Once in Dubai at one of its underground bars, she was listening to a conversation about the Calamities. About when they would end, when life would go back to normal, when they can finally expect consistent shipments without worrying about a freak Calamity wrecking the ships or grounding the planes.

    She coughed. They would never end, unlike what her amulet said. They¡¯ve been here for more than thirty years. No one knew the answer, and her fantastic powers were just that. Fantastic, not world changing.

    One day, habibti, you will have powers that will transform the world.

    Powers to transform the world¡­but not enough to save them.

    She grabbed her dagger. It was low on Sophia¡¯s blood. All she had to do was fascinate the mind¡ª

    ¡ªAnd she was there. At the top of the mountain. She could already feel her control over Sophia waning. Mihira¡¯s halo glowed as she approached a stone platform.

    ¡°You¡¯re here again!¡± Mihira cried out.

    She nodded.

    ¡°I think I need you.¡± Mihira stood on a small circle inscribed with the Chinese character for yang. ¡°The Scales said I needed someone equal to me, but also my opposite.¡±

    Coming from the Scales, that was more of a stealth insult. She took her place in the yin circle. The platform was arranged in an octagon with trigrams on each side¡ªall of which started glowing. Blue-green, red, yellow, white, and black lines traced activated more stone platforms.

    ¡°They look so pretty!¡± Good to see she wasn¡¯t losing her sight.

    Twelve reliefs rose out of the ground. She recognised the one with pink spinel eyes. The Pig¡¯s fat belly laid low as it¡ªhe gorged on what she initially assumed was grass. A closer look revealed that it was demonic beings sporting elongated tusks and horse-like ears in the Pig¡¯s mouth. Mihira was entranced by the Dog accosted by similar looking beings. One of them seemed to have a spear. The other ten signs encircled them while blue and pink strings fell around them. She received six sky blue strings. Each seemed¡­short. She looked at each relief. The Ox¡¯s nose had an indent, the Rabbit¡¯s elixir had a small indent at the top, the Snake¡¯s string instrument had one, the Goat¡¯s paintbrush, the Rooster¡¯s scroll, and the Pig¡¯s nose. The other six had a small hook sticking out at certain spots.

    ¡°Attach the pink strings to the hooks, I¡¯ll put the blue strings in the indents.¡±

    Mihira nodded and started connecting the pink strings. She decided to start putting the blue strings inside the holes.

    A glacial bridge across the length of the heavens, standing still while the world¡ª

    Jade eyes, twitching ears, always ready to flee, the moon waxing¡ª

    The melody of a thousand vibrations, vertical slit eyes whispering sweet nothings¡ª

    Bubbles of colour bursting at the seams, the world in reverse¡ª

    A bright piercing cry pierces the sky, metal blades cutting deep¡ª

    Pearls hung in the air, the sweet taste¡ª

    With each blue string attached, she looked at the pink strings¡ªthe exact same length. Mihira and her attached the blue and pink strings together until they were standing in a makeshift six spoke wheel¡ªwhich started to form a small portal. Wind erupted forth, blowing Mihira¡¯s two coloured hair back. She felt calm and content¡­even the emerging personality of Sophia.

    ¡°It¡¯s¡­beautiful¡­¡± Mihira looked into the portal. She held up her hand to Sophia, but the woman stood there. ¡°Can you come with me?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m losing control as we speak.¡± She winked at her. ¡°I¡¯ll see you again, angel.¡±

    Before she relinquished control back to Sophia, she heard Mihira calling for her.

    ¡°Najwa.¡±

    Mihira smiled. ¡°Thank you for everything.¡±

    And as she entered¡ª

    ¡ªShe returned. It was still night. She returned to the meeting place and waited. A small van pulled up, dark enough to hide any distinct colour. Someone put a bag over her head and stuffed her into the trunk. Two in the back with her, one driving.

    About twelve minutes later, she was carried out, strapped to a chair, and had the bag over her head taken away.

    A metallic gun barrel greeted her.

    ¡°Hello Layla, or is that your real name?¡± The woman on the other side undid the safety. ¡°You¡¯ve made quite an entrance.¡±

    She stared at the woman.

    ¡°I thought you were known for your stealth and secrecy.¡± The Swallow kept her finger close to the trigger. ¡°I was surprised to hear that seven people have been murdered under highly suspicious and unusual circumstances¡ªI doubt any hitman knows how to drain anyone of their blood with one scratch.¡±

    Did she know about the gun?

    ¡°And I expected that I would have the original gun, not a 3D printed copy.¡± Click. ¡°I let you look at the gun to understand the task I gave to you.¡±

    It happened in an instant. The trigger was pulled, blasting the mirror behind her into smithereens. Her black scorpion tail lashed instinctually.

    ¡°Well shit.¡± She holstered her gun. ¡°I had an odd feeling that you weren¡¯t a normal person. You didn¡¯t even flinch? Ever been shot at close range before?¡±

    A few years ago, she thought, with a whirlwind spy and a sharp drop off a Riyadh skyscraper.

    ¡°No answer?¡± The Swallow chuckled. ¡°Ah, your discreteness is a virtue in this business. No matter, my informants told me everything. Since I doubt I can truly intimidate you, I¡¯ve given you what you desire.¡±

    Four books were laid out before her.

    Taurus. Leo. Aquarius. Pisces.

    She reached out for the books, only to be stopped by a gloved hand. Immediately, the stinger moved closer to the Swallow¡¯s face.

    ¡°Put that away, I want you to know something. I¡¯ve always believed myself to be the one tapped into everything, knowing each and every operation taking place in Europe. I can¡¯t surpass the Norns, but I liked to think I was their equal. Until this.¡± She placed down a newspaper article, the same one the woman tied to the chair read this past week. ¡°When I learned that someone kidnapped sixteen scientists and put one of them in a coma, I was livid. How could I have missed that? So I started investigating them, and that¡¯s when the evidence started producing unexpected results. Like how they used a material unknown to science to build their black site. Some of my men were discreetly hired as part of their wrecking crew.¡± She looked through the woman in black. ¡°One of them was asking about the books you wanted.¡±

    She narrowed her eyes.

    ¡°I usually would have sold it, but I have my qualms.¡± The Swallow smiled. ¡°Like not putting a relative in a coma.¡±

    Now that she mentioned it, there was a slight resemblance between her and the comatose man. Laura mentioned he had a sister¡ª

    ¡°You¡¯ll have more on one condition: Track down their base. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll agree.¡±

    She nodded. She could sting the Swallow and take the books, but she¡¯s in an open space and judging by everyone¡¯s hands, none were unarmed. Better to cooperate.

    ¡°Good. One of my informants photographed two of them. I¡¯ll let you look.¡±

    She slid over a manila folder. The woman¡¯s bonds were undone, allowing her to open the folder. A few photos of a man and a woman talking, one of them smoking. Nothing unusual¡­there.

    A tablet with a logo.

    A Latin U with a wavy line through it.

    A symbol she knew all too well.