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—

  Her horns collided with a squishy object. She scrunched her face in confusion before using her horns to nudge the object around—

  “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—until that large object—

  “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—she 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—yet 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—including 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—fine 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—whoever did this to me will have their hair on fire very soon.” Her broken hand was free.

  The woman—girl—was 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—no, 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—fuck!” 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—and 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 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—

  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—

  —only 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—and 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—and 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—

  “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—or 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—

  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—never 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—and 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—

  “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 Róisín and you will address me as such.” Róisín stared at Fia’s bowtie. “I’ll help, but only because I don’t want to be embarrassed by your uncouth manner.”

  While Róisín 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.

  Róisín 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. Róisín stared blankly into space. Fia sighed loudly.

  “Never mind.” She could already feel Róisín’s judgemental glare.

  After Róisín 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—”

  “You’ll have to show me.”

  “...Why?” What made Róisín 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 kakkōdesu ne.”

  “I don’t speak Japanese.”

  “Her name is Hina Nishikawa.” Róisín 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.” Róisín had a strong accent when she spoke, and come to think of it, Willa had a slight accent too. “Where are you from?”

  “Dublin.” Róisín 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.” Róisín 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—and 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 Róisín 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.

  Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

  The castle was grandiose. Fia crossed the bridge ahead of the other four, though Róisín 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 Róisín. “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 Róisín, 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.”

  Róisín 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 Róisín 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,” Róisín 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—”

  “It wasn’t a trivial matter, you fucking bitch.”

  Róisín 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—when 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—and 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—only 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 Róisín?” 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—and 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.

  “Róisín is about to dance. I can keep watch.” She looked at Fia and Hina with concern. “Be careful. This castle is filled with strangers. Róisín 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 Róisín’s light pink dress—and 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—or 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.” Róisín’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—”

  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—she 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—and 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 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—and 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. Róisín 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—”

  Fia’s eyes narrowed as she spotted the telltale red dot of a sniper’s scope appear on Róisín’s shoulder. “Get down!”

  Luckily Róisín 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.

  Róisín had transformed into the girl that Fia met at the shopping mall. Khalid was backing away slowly before Róisín 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—and 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?” Róisín asked.

  “I went ahead. What did you think I was doing?”

  Róisín 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—maybe 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—before 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—again,” 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, Róisín 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. Róisín 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—”

  “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—about 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—

  Khalid squirmed under Róisín’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—”

  “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 Róisín. 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—”

  “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?”

  Róisín 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—and 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?” Róisín 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.

  Róisín 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—and Fia heard the distinct click of a gun.

  “Oh for fuck’s sake—”

  Unfortunately, they were not regular bullets. Hina was returning fire—literally. 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 Róisín 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. Róisín’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—except another locked door impervious to Fia’s flames or Róisín’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 Róisín 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—only to stop in front of an argument between Róisín 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, Róisín 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—only 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—and 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—before 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—were 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—and found she had disappeared.

  “Are you kidding—” 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—Fia was going for it. She jumped on the edge of it, putting her full force into her run, and leaping off of the tip—just enough for her to slice part of Khalid’s arm. Wincing in pain, he tried to flee—only for Hina to confront him with a whirring gun.

  “Kōfuku.” Hina declared.

  Khalid lifted his own gun in response.

  Both prepared to fire—only 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—except for the part where the crowing was in sync with the metal doors becoming harder and more condensed. The monkey decided to leap on Róisín, who balefully tried to keep it out of her hair.

  “You—Get out, you dirty little—” 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—before 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 —” 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—she 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—while someone snuck up on her.

  “Hey—Dulce!?” The familiar sheep ears clued her in. “I almost burnt you to a crisp!”

  —?Me alegro de haberte encontrado! —said 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. —Portanto, 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.

  Róisín 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. —Como quiser.

  Fia and Róisín 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—”

  “Get in!” Róisín pushed Fia in.

  “You—”

  As the boat took off, Fia watched as the fort disappeared in the distance. The water underneath her slightly bubbled. She looked downwards—and flinched at her flaming reflection and startlingly red eyes amid a field of destruction. Sitting back down, Fia asked herself.

  What was she?