With a pair of tweezers, Aria reached into her drawer and extracted a paper. She crossed to her bed and lay the picture down. Aria repeated the process several times, feeling only a little silly.

It all started one year ago, one year after Pan had disappeared from Scaldigir.

Aria received a box. She had no idea where it came from, but its aura didn’t look suspicious. So, she’d opened it. Inside, she found another box. Aria had rolled her eyes. She opened that box and nearly tossed it down. She’d found yet another box. Three boxes nested inside each other, but that time a paper fell to the floor, along with a fourth box.

Aria caught the box but not the paper. She could read it, and if she could read it, that meant the paper had no aura. Aria didn’t want to obscure the words with her own colors. Whoever had written the note must have taken great pains not to touch the paper. The paper landed on its face. Aria put two fingers on a corner and flipped it.

DON’T TOUCH THE DRAWINGS. USE THESE.

Aria had found a pair of tweezers taped to the paper. Her heart quickened. She eased open the last box, and her heart fluttered, seeming out of time.

Pan had sent Aria drawings that Aria could see.

Aria saw most art through a haze of aura – the colors of an artist’s personality, as well as the colors of those that handled the work. All that living color blotted out the lines and shades of the work itself. Most often Aria saw shades of red frustration and green satisfaction. She saw white awe, yellow happiness, and blue sorrow. All the colors swirled together – a kind of abstract art but not what others saw.

Aria had an easier time viewing sculptures and digital art. She could see the silhouettes and most of the features behind the auras of three-dimensional works. In the case of digital art, Aria could get lucky and find an untouched device or create one herself.

When Pan left, Aria finally looked at Pan’s digital archive. Aria left her computer untouched for two months. Through her own faded aura, Aria just managed to see some of her friend’s work. It paled in comparison to what Aria found in that box.

She couldn’t believe Pan had managed it, but these new drawings danced across the page in stark detail. They showed strong emotional colors, pulled into lines. Aria hadn’t seen so much detail since before she became arcane. All this trouble – Pan’s trouble – just for Aria.

It gave Aria reason to try what she was now about to do.

She put her hands on her hips and looked at the drawings. I would like to take them...but how?

Aria had a month of leave. During that time, she would have no jobs, and she wouldn’t be on Scaldigir to be weaseled into one. Gavain didn’t know. He’d want her to use the leave on him. Usually, she would.

I know you’re not an evil reaper, Pan. I will find you. But, maybe, I have to leave these here. Aria studied the drawings. She twiddled the tweezers between her fingers, thought better of the action, and tossed them down, where the bed’s light aura tickled them.

As her main colors, Pan used anger, fear, and sadness – shades of red, yellow, and blue. More subtle emotions provided different shades of frustration, distrust, and grief – orange-red, grey-green, and grey-blue. The whole system presented a carefully curated aura, arranged into scenes.

There was an epic drawing of the fight between Brynn and Pan. The message seemed straightforward as it sprawled across the page. Pan could use some grief counseling and anger management.

Some of the works possessed surreal elements. In one, Pan navigated a maze of stones, hung in the air. Ghosts floated, stood, or peeked out from different points. Aria viewed it as a kind of illustration for Pan’s life journey. In another, Sotir looked worried, surrounded by trees of events. Another image showed Aria amid of blaze of flowers, bleeding auras into one another. There were many more, but these were Aria’s favorites.

Aria put a hand to her heart. These are priceless, and I would hate myself if I brought them and lost them. Already, Aria went to great lengths to keep her own admiration from obscuring the lines.

With a sigh, Aria tweezed the drawings back into their file, and then, she tweezed the file into the drawer. They’ll just have to stay.

Aria double checked her bag and jumped as her alarm beeped. Aria needed to get going and meet Sotir. She pressed her alarm’s button, glanced back at the drawer, and left her room.

Aria still lived in the Arcane’s Complex because she came home so rarely. Sotir lived there because he had quite the penchant for pinching his coins. At least, they could meet with ease.

Aria entered the courtyard. She searched for Sotir’s colors.

He stood at the garden’s center, staff in hand. He seemed to need it less and less. He held on to it anyway. His aura waved in gentle blue and green. The compassionate green he’d always possessed. His somber blue got added a little over two years ago. Once in a while, a little of his old friendly yellow showed up, but not today. A glow of white signified that Sotir used his power.

“So, you want to talk about the recent news?” Sotir half-asked, half-announced.

Of course, he knew what Aria wanted. In the past two years, he’d honed his craft, extended his range, and overall made better predictions. Aria was impressed but saddened by the change in his personality. She thought he worked too much.

Then again, she thought she worked too much, and so did most arcanes.

Aria sighed. “Pan’s mischief has always been a bit entertaining, but now it’s…”

“Escalating?” Sotir asked.

“Yes.”

Pan’s drawings served as messages, just for Aria, but Pan also sent messages to Scaldigir. Not in the form of art but in the form of mischief – dark mischief.

For the past year, Pan harried the Scaldin’s enemies. Most of her mischief affected the Soffigen. The Soffigen lost countless ships: new ones, those about to be re-outfitted, and those about to be broken down and recycled for parts. Pan hadn’t killed or injured any Soffigen, until the most recent incident. A lot of Soffigen got injured. Some died.

Sotir bowed his head. “At some point, she would have graduated from destruction of ships and shipyards to actual killings. We may be on bad terms with them, but we have a responsibility to collect our delinquent arcane or face possible war.” Blue really seemed to dominate him lately. “Pan should know this. She should know better.”

“I agree, but she’s isolated and lonely. She thinks that she’s helping us by reducing the capability of our enemies.” Aria tried to catch Sotir’s eyes, to get him to turn and face her.

He didn’t. “I know. You get the drawings from her. You can read her. I still can’t. She’s too far away, and I’ve tried. I’m not sure she’s the same person we used to know.”

“I think we should make an effort to find her.” Aria glanced around the courtyard, searching for other auras.

The only auras, aside from theirs, were the flowers’ non-sentient white.

“I have a little time…”

Sotir shook his head. “I can’t.”

“Sotir, please put aside…”

Again, Sotir shook his head. “No, you misunderstand. I would help you, but I can’t because I have a job.” Sotir rested his staff in the crook of his arm and spread his hands. “Believe me. I would help. Aside from you, no one wants to find Pan more than me.” Sotir took his staff back in hand. “You’d think I’d have gotten over her by now. Maybe, I should.”

Aria watched Sotir’s aura. He showed blue and red and a little grey.

Aria shrugged. “I don’t know. You’re almost thirty. In two years, the mentors will start to get on your case, unless you opt out. No one would be crazy about you marrying her anyway.”

Arcanes weren’t allowed to marry each other due to some ancient mandate – a mandate that Sotir insisted had only to do with keeping certain alien traits in a recessive state.

Sotir’s aura flushed pink.

Aria cocked her head and blew out a frustrated breath. “Sotir, why do you still have your heart set on her? You can’t read her. You even think she’s changed – for the worse.”

Sotir looked side to side, leaning upon his staff. Finally, his gaze met Aria’s. “Do you remember when we set those traps for Pan?”

Aria nodded.

“You wrote something different on every paper. I wrote only one thing.” Sotir held up a single finger. “And the message I sent was missing from the box she examined. Pan kept it.”

“What did you write?” Aria asked.

“I told her I would marry her.”

Aria’s eyes widened. “Oh, Sotir.” She shook her head.

Sotir’s aura tinged orange. “I can’t help thinking about how she kept it. And, I can’t help thinking about all the maps I put together of our potential futures. It would have been something good.” Sotir bowed his head.

Aria rubbed her temple. “Alright. I understand. But, you should do your job and stay away from this. I can do this on my own.”

“Take Gavain?” Sotir suggested.

Aria shook her head. “No, no. He doesn’t even know I have leave. Avoid telling him. I don’t think he’d want me to do this.”

“He’s lost patience with the whole thing?”

Aria sighed. “A bit. Everyone’s given up on her.”

“But not you. Not us.” Sotir’s colors steadied. “You’re a good friend Aria. I admire your commitment, but you can’t do it alone.”

Aria knew she couldn’t, and she probably shouldn’t. The Scaldin as a whole wouldn’t like it. Gavain wouldn’t like it. Aria frowned. “Can you give me some advice?”

“Yes, of course.” Sotir smiled. “How can I help?”

Aria felt her face go warm. For a moment, she put her concerns about Pan on the back burner, and asked, “If I go after Pan, will I jeopardize my future with Gavain?”

Sotir’s aura flashed a nice, serene yellow. “I remember when you first asked me about him. I said the chances were good. You have nothing to fear Aria. Think of it this way: there are three potential outcomes. One – you catch Pan and return with her. You become a hero. Two – you fail to catch Pan and return with the secret intact. Nothing changes. Three – you fail to catch Pan, and everyone knows it. You will either be put on probation or worked with extreme supervision. I think probation is the more likely option. They’ll want you out of Pan’s influence. If that’s the case, things might work out well for your Gavain.”

Aria felt warm. She aimed for option one. She wanted to get Pan home. Option two could be fine. It would be the same as always. Option three she wanted to avoid at all costs, even if it landed her with Gavain years ahead of the promised date. Aria didn’t want to rush. Well, maybe she did. Maybe any of the outcomes could be okay.

Aria touched her forehead. “Okay. This discussion is giving me a headache. Let’s get back to my plan.” Aria took a deep breath. “I need a pilot – for obvious reasons. There’s this new arcane…”

Sotir laughed.

“What?” Aria asked.

“She’s a good choice. I think that’s the way to go.”

Aria felt her confidence rise. It felt good to have a seer validate her plans. Irini was only thirteen, but she had the best tracking abilities anyone had ever seen. The girl could conjure a golden thread to lead her to any object, person, or place. She didn’t even need a concrete idea of that object, just a vague impression.

“She’s a fun person to be around.” Sotir’s aura looked like its old self – yellow and green. It bespoke of a certain fondness for the girl. “She can handle it.”

Aria knew that was probably true, but Irini was so young. She’d had no training. How could Aria take her into space?

“Alright. I’m going to talk to her.” Aria started to walk away, slowly. She gave Sotir plenty of time to change his mind. She turned back. “Do you think you could watch over my things? I have those beautiful drawings, and I want to make sure nothing happens to them. But, don’t touch them.” Aria held up her hands to emphasize the order.

“No one will go in your room, but I’ll look after your things, especially those precious drawings. Though, if you recover the person who made them, you might be more relaxed about the potential fading of the works you’ve been given.” Sotir’s aura turned a bit blue again, edging out some yellow and green.

“I will. I’ll recover her.” Aria would find Pan, and she would steer Pan away from the violence. She would help Pan heal. She would help Pan find her place among the Scaldin again.