On the red bed, Ghomas was sleeping soundly, limbs spread wide in the form of an 'X'.

  But no Lumine. Nowhere on the bed. The brown single-seat couches were empty, the yellow-carpeted floor had no one on them.

  She was nowhere in the room, but that made little sense to me. I was worried...

  "Vacinay..." I started to say.

  She knew what to do immediately.

  She became serious, saying, "Got it."

  Her face began shifting, the lower half stretching forward and contorting into a short snout. It became that of a green lion, just with spiky fur.

  Her nose flared open and shrank.

  As she did that, I rushed to the windows, batting the curtains to the side.

  I grabbed the square window bay to stabilize myself as I looked outside, hoping to see Lumine or something to hint that she had jumped through it.

  The curtain came flowing back down on me, formlessly draping on my back. I saw nothing.

  Vacinay, however, did, and started running into the hallway, transforming into her big cat form along the way.

  I ran after her, and wondered—how the hell did Lumine manage to pass us—

  Time Freeze.

  She was most likely going after the pimp to kill her. Why she had a change of heart, I didn’t know. But it wasn’t impossible for her to get a last-minute scare.

  I suppose I shouldn’t have been too worried. She could manipulate fire and time... But anything was possible. I’d almost lost her once. That was going to be the last time.

  My feet slammed against the floor, and before a second could pass, they were in the air again, ready to hit the ground and propel me even further.

  The heavy paws of Vacinay hitting the concrete steps couldn’t be mistaken. When I reached the stairs, I ignored the thing entirely and jumped to the very bottom.

  I landed in a crouch, looked up, and saw red—and smelled iron.

  Corpses of guards. Judging by their positions—some with backs pressed against the wall, painting it with their blood, others facedown on the ground, some lying on their backs, limbs spread—they were killed without a fight.

  This didn’t add up... Someone had come to kidnap Lumine? So it wasn’t Time Freeze—it must’ve been invisibility!

  I dashed to the front door, jumping over corpses in my way and hitting pools of blood that made it a challenge not to skid and fall.

  In no time, I reached the door. It was swaying back and forth like it had been swung open in anger.

  And outside was Vacinay, back in human form, staring down at a blonde girl.

  Lumine.

  I came to a quick halt on the yellow, mushroom-like grass that surrounded the building and separated it from the street.

  Lumine didn’t react to my presence. She just stood there, motionless like a doll. A doll that had a knife at her side, a knife covered with blood so fresh you could smell it. A doll that would have seemed without life, if it weren't for the blood dripping down the knife. That innocent blood was the only thing moving around her, the only thing with a semblance of life.

  I said to Vacinay, "Trance or mind control?"

  As I asked, I slowly made my way behind Lumine, also activating my Mist Body skill so she wouldn’t be able to—

  She disappeared. One moment she was standing there, the next—gone. Deleted. The only thing left was the compressed mushroom-like grass in the shape of shoes.

  And of course, the small drops of blood that led to where she’d stood.

  "Not sure which it is, but it definitely has to do with that she-pimp," Vacinay said urgently as her throat started growing a lion's mane of iron spikes.

  The edges of my misty form (excluding my left arm and shoulder) blew slightly from the cold winds, trying their best to take my body and disperse it, so that it could be apart of the wind. Without form or shape. ... It wasn't without complete failure; it had succeeded in making my mind drift.

  Shit. Just shit.

  My heart hammered in my chest, but on the outside, I merely looked frustrated. All the fear and inadequacy—I didn’t show any of it.

  I was angry, sure. But my anxiety was far worse. Lumine was the only family I had in this world.

  Sure, the two others were like family to me. Close. All that. But Lumine was actual family.

  A little sister I found interesting, then annoying, then charming. Sometimes a loser—but not one I could ever hate.

  How could I? When we were younger, she looked up to me.

  I think we really started talking when she was about ten, when her parents had come over to visit. She was on the white sofa we’d recently bought(it was expensive for no reason, but my mother's friend, Mary, had it, so she wanted one too), and I was playing Call of Duty.

  I didn’t even enjoy the game, but my friends did, so I played it. And I thought, randomly, Why don’t I ask her if she wants to play?

  She had no device of her own, so it was her first time playing an FPS. Despite only agreeing because her mother basically forced her to socialize, she ended up enjoying it.

  We took turns every time our operator died, and for some reason, I finally found it fun.

  Playing it with someone else—that’s what made me happy. The jokes, the laughter at the stupid ways we died. The bets on who could last longer and the screams of wonder when we had a moment of awesomeness.

  Since then, every time she had a break, she’d either visit to play something—her pick or mine—or I’d go over.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  At the time, I was her only friend. And I learned she used to lie to her classmates (who I thought were her friends), claiming I was her older brother.

  I didn’t dislike it, even though I pretended not to care. Inside, it made me feel confident. Responsible. I’m not sure how to put it into words, but I felt trusted, I suppose.

  Maybe it’s an ego thing. Yeah, it definitely was. Aunt Eloca (her mother) and Uncle James had a lot of faith in me. They never said it, but it was clear they saw her as my responsibility when they weren’t around.

  Hessien, do you know where Lumine is? She hasn’t returned home.

  Don’t worry about it, Aunty. I’ll look for her.

  Thank you, Hessien...

  I didn’t see it as a burden, but when it became obvious that I was basically looking after her, she didn’t like it. I suppose she hated it.

  Why would she need a caretaker at her age? Was she not responsible enough to handle herself and the consequences of her actions?

  She was aware of what she did. She thought about the risks. She didn’t need someone watching over her like a mother bird.

  I acknowledged that—saw how annoying and weird that must have been. But... she was somewhat of an idiot, so what was I supposed to do?

  I rarely drank alcohol when I wasn't in a trusted setting or company, afraid of being vulnerable. Yet she never cared. Whenever we were at parties, she’d attempt to drink like she had a shred of alcohol tolerance.

  Always so rash... so damn irritatingly foolish at times. But I didn’t see it as a burden. Others would have. My parents wondered if it was.

  I liked being responsible for her. Why?

  I wasn't sure, but I think it was because Lumine was blood. And blood is thicker than water.

  I tilted my head up to the moon and exhaled a breath of hot air.

  Vacinay suddenly shouted, “Shit! Do you have your communication ring?”

  I blinked at her and rubbed my fingers together, feeling for the metallic thing. There was nothing—just skin touching skin.

  “She took them, didn’t she,” I muttered. “Guess mind control is the answer.”

  Vacinay started pacing in a circle, deep in thought. “Okay, but why are we alive? She killed the guards, but she didn’t even bother with Ghomas. A sleeping Ghomas.”

  “Don’t know. Maybe whoever’s controlling her didn’t want to attack a reality defender—no matter how vulnerable?”

  They most likely had access to her memories, so they knew how powerful we were.

  I thought about what I said, and the logic seemed flawless. “Ghomas has that immortal passive. I’ve got Tanya in me. And you… I don’t know. I’m guessing your level is way too high for you to be insta-killed, and you have self-repair.”

  She stopped pacing and looked at me in agreement. “You’re right. That makes sense…”

  Then she suddenly jumped back and began transforming. Her arm stretched long, turning pink along with the rest of her body. Black feathers started covering her skin, from hands to chest.

  As her head tilted up in pain, her clothes melted into her body. She gritted her teeth, and the guttural sound became higher-pitched due to her mouth sharpening.

  It turned browner and hard until it became her beak.

  In no time, she was a massive hawk. Standing still, her wings—lined with blue goo—stretched wide.

  Eventually, her entire body was coated in that goo.

  She flapped her wings and soared into the sky, flying higher and higher.

  I gave her a nod, even though she was already scanning the area for Lumine, and then I rushed back inside to get Ghomas.

  I shook him violently—literally. I held him by the legs and swung him left and right in the air like a bat.

  He woke up screaming, “What the hell man?!”

  With that accomplished, I gently dropped him onto the bed and filled him in.

  Though clearly pissed at me, he snapped into mission mode. His neck stretched forward like a spear before splitting off and becoming a total of ten Fast Clones.

  They were all much leaner than him, tall, extremely fit… and of course, naked. I was seriously getting tired of seeing this dude’s average-sized weiner dangling at his inner thigh.

  They scattered, moving way faster than Vacinay ever could in her Big Cat Form.

  “Please start making the clones without genitals,” I said, then got serious. “Let’s get outside.”

  I opened the window and conjured the Cloud Mist. Dense, thick, white fog gathered outside, swirling gently.

  Ghomas muttered, “Huh… Dickless clones. I like that. Could make them have a hundred dicks too.”

  What the fuck, man? That... nearly made me chuckle. Was it funny? Not really, but it was absurd.

  I stepped onto the window bay and then onto the Cloud, feeling the dampness beneath my feet. Ghomas followed, but staggered—and would’ve fallen if I hadn’t grabbed his arm. That, in turn, threw off my balance...

  I had to mentally move the Cloud Mist fast so we’d fall forward onto it.

  When my face hit it, I made the mistake of inhaling. I furiously swung my head up and blew the water dense fog out of my nose.

  If this were less dense, I could sink and drown.

  Ghomas lifted his head and coughed up some thick, misty air he’d accidentally swallowed. “Let’s do this… and make the cloud bigger.”

  The cloud shot into the sky, and I added more Cloud Mist to expand its size.

  Vacinay flew faster than any bird I’d ever seen—more like a jet than a hawk—twisting and diving through the sky. Then suddenly… her wings tucked close to her body, and she became like a bullet, locked on a target.

  POV: Lumine

  I was not in control of my body. If I were, I wouldn’t have been standing in the middle of a wide black road, vehicle lights shining down on me.

  I stood there as people on the sidewalks, or near buildings, all stopped and stared.

  Many screamed, “Move!”

  "Girl, you're going to get yourself killed!"

  "Are you fucking blind?!"

  A tiger-like roar came from what was approaching me—this world’s version of a vehicle horn.

  And instead of slowing, the massive black-and-white iron ball of a vehicle sped up.

  The onlookers closed their eyes as it barreled toward me. But then… it screeched to an almost instant stop, right in front of my face.

  Maybe I imagined it, but from inside the vehicle, I heard a cruel sound that chilled those unlucky enough to hear it. So cold that it could freeze stars.

  A laughter... Yes. Laughter only a witch could muster.

  Click. The middle of the giant ball's front cracked, then began sliding to the sides in opposite directions.

  It revealed a glass wall that was meant to protect the two men inside from people like me.

  Two men on high seats looked down at me, drunk on the authority the thick black-and-white fabric armor gave them.

  “Move it!” shouted the one with braided black hair. “Don’t move, and we’ll arrest your ass!”

  "Move it bitch, or we'll turn you into paste!"

  Behind them was a metal wall, separating them from their prisoner.

  My teeth clenched, grinding against each other, and my body moved on its own. It felt weightless—like I was watching it all happen on a screen.

  My hand slowly stretched toward the sky. I stood with an emotionless expression, but my intentions were manifested in the bright ball of flame that began swelling above me, growing bigger and mightier.

  My Fire Ball.

  Perhaps the giant metal ball fed their ego. Yes, the same vehicle my fire ball dwarfed in size, and at the moment, what had become their coffin.

  They began shaking their heads in fear. All of a sudden, that wet and soggy pride of theirs was gone. Burned into nothing.

  My flame was so bright, it erased the darkness of the street. But it didn’t bring the warmth of daylight—only the hunger of a burning house.

  And so, the onlookers ran from the heat, and the men in the vehicle mentally retreated from reality—fleeing from the ball of death hovering in my hands.