Surprise briefly colored President Anderson’s face. I mean, Kesstel just introduced me to the councilman as ‘shy.’ The direct way I stared at the man must have thrown him off. His mature features smoothed out. “Yes?”

I walked up past the S Ranked Hunters that were acting as the president’s bodyguards and stopped in front of the table. “My name is Jyn,” I stated, trying to get my mind in order. I’d thought I still had a couple weeks to come up with an eloquent way to argue my point. Maybe I should have thought first before I went to pitch my idea on the fly. “I actually have an appointment with you in a couple weeks. But I was hoping I could talk to you about it right now. It’s important to everyone in Eden and a couple weeks could make a difference.”

The president frowned. “Oh?” He flicked a glance at Kesstel, looked back at me.

Councilman Wilks laced his fingers together and focused on me, his handsomely aged face kind but stern at the same time.

I took a breath. “I want to let you know the dangers of energy crystals.” I kept my face serious and strong, so that they didn’t laugh off my words like others had every other time I’d talked about it.

The men at the table looked surprised, their brows rising high on their foreheads.

“I know that energy crystals are used to power nearly everything,” I went on to say. “But no one seems to know that they can turn Hunters into monsters.”

The Hunter in light armor just behind me snorted before he cleared his throat. I could feel him shifting around. That one sound broke the tense atmosphere in the room and I knew in an instant that they weren’t going to take my words seriously.

“It’s true,” I stressed, using my hands to emphasize my point. “I’ve seen it with my own eyes and had to deal with the aftermath.”

The men looked at me politely, but even Bethany’s father thought that I was telling a joke.

“If a person cultivates the energy inside an energy crystal, that energy turns them into a monster,” I kept going. “I can even prove it to you. Since there’s no turning back, if you let me teach someone on death’s row how to cultivate the energy, I can show you how an energy crystal can turn a person into a monster.”

Councilman Wilks tapped his fingers slowly on the table. “That, Miss Devhro, is actually illegal. We can’t just give you a person to experiment on.”

I shook my head. “That’s not what I mean.” Okay, it kind of was. “The point is, it’s not an experiment if I know that it’s true, is it? However, once a person turns into a monster, they can’t turn back. So I can’t very well ask a good, innocent person to do it.” I paused in frustration. I could tell I wasn’t getting through to them. “Kesstel can attest for me.” I motioned to him.

The S Hunters drew in a breath and everyone looked in his direction.

He was watching the scene with a blank expression. But when his eyes landed on me, there was a slight tinge of pity in them. “What she says is true. Just as I told you seven years ago.”

I turned back to see President Anderson scowl. “We did many experiments on the energy crystals back then,” he said slowly, his voice low and even. “Everything you suggested, Mr. Noblē. All that was proven was that we did a lot of work for nothing.”

My eyes widened. They weren’t even going to take his word seriously? Maybe I should take another angle. “It’s not just that, but the energy crystals —”

President Anderson cut me off. “As pleasant as it is to talk to you, there is an actual reason for me and my Councilman to come here today.” His words were generous, but carried a definite closing tone.

I couldn’t give up just yet. “But they’re pois —”

“Miss Devhro,” Councilmen Wilks jumped in this time. His friendly face had changed to a cautious alarm. Did he think that I wasn’t good enough to hang out with his daughter anymore? “It was nice meeting you.”

I looked back and forth between them. They were being polite to me, probably because they were in Kesstel’s house and his heavy aura was starting to leak out in the room, but they obviously didn’t want to listen to anymore of what I had to say.

My hands gripped at my side. “I’m serious! I’m just trying to keep people safe!”

The president laced his fingers together and regarded me solemnly. “I appreciate your efforts, as misplaced as they are.” Before I could come back, he spoke again. “Young lady, you are young. I have experienced more than you ever will. From the beginning till now, I have seen it all. I can assure you that your worries are groundless.”

My eyes widened as a blast of anger burst in me. My aura bubbled up in me, threatening to explode. I gritted my teeth and kept it locked down. What right did he have to disregard me so easily? Yes, he was more than twice my age. He was there when the Gates first appeared, watched humanity nearly fall, then claw its way back up to what we have today. And he was a large part of that. But even before the Gates appeared, Paul Anderson was a big shot, a millionaire from old money who was an expert at making more.

He’s never experienced life on the bottom rung, slaving day after day, knowing that even if I put in every ounce of my energy into providing for my family, I was always going to be short. And short lived. He’s never felt the despair of being toyed with by monsters, degraded from an intelligent being to nothing but a moment of cruel entertainment.

“Yes,” I said slowly. “You are older than me. And no matter where I am in my life, you always will be. But just because you have experienced more of life than I have, it doesn’t mean I haven’t had experiences of my own. It’s entirely possible I have knowledge that you don’t.” I lifted my chin and glared at him. “Maybe because of my youth, I can be a little more open minded and not so blinded by what I might know. I’m able to see things from a different angle and see what’s really there. And not some rose colored dream.”

Instantly their expression changed from polite disinterest to disapproval. President Anderson’s aura flickered out. Before it reached me, Kesstel’s aura flicked out like a whip and slapped it away. Everyone froze as the atmosphere instantly turned tense.

Kesstel’s finger tapped on my shoulder from behind.

I glanced back at him, turning my full displeasure in his direction even though he wasn’t the one at fault. Why couldn’t they believe me? Were their lives really so comfortable that they couldn’t accept that the energy crystals were dangerous?

He nodded his head to the side in an ‘I told you so’ way, but he didn’t seem happy about it. “I’ll find you later, okay?”

“Yeah,” I muttered to Kesstel and turned to the door. I paused half a step past him. Quickly, I pulled a pen and piece of scrap paper out of my Items Bag and wrote down my phone number. I handed him the paper then walked out of the door with my head high.

*****

The city was peaceful, but still in a state of confusion. After all, everyone in Eden had mobilized for a Gate Surge, only for ‘nothing’ to happen. Well, nothing outside of an S Hunter nearly leveling the city by himself. More Hunters than normal roamed the streets, discussing what it all meant and what might have happened to one of their S gods.

I walked through the ritzy streets of A District with my hands in my pockets and a scowl on my face. No one stopped to talk to me, and if I was lucky, no one realized that I was the girl from Gate Square everyone was talking about. The one who soothed a raging S god with just a look. Like I was some gorgeous, awe-inspiring angel. So embarrassing. It was nothing like that.

My phone rang from the bag of my hip satchel, a generic bubbly ditty.

I took it out and flipped the cell open. “Hello?”

“Jyn, are you okay?” a young woman asked urgently.

It took me a second to place her voice. Just to make sure, I pulled the phone away and glanced at the caller ID. I was still new enough with the gadget that I kept forgetting that it even had that feature. “Ah, hi, Emma. Yeah, I’m okay.”

“Are you sure?” she rushed on. “I saw the whole thing. I’ve never seen a Hunter lose control like that and just snap. When he went to you, I thought he was going to kill you.” Her voice hitched. “I was so scared.”

I sighed and looked up at a fluffy cloud drifting across the blue sky. “You don’t have to worry, I’m fine. Just antsy.”

“Antsy?” Emma mimicked.

My gaze shifted from the blue sky to the black arch towering over the city. “Yeah.” My encounter with President Anderson still boiled my blood, even though I’d already left Kesstel’s house in the dust. I shouldn’t have gotten so worked up like that, but dammit, I was tired of being pushed aside and laughed at for trying to save everyone’s lives.

“Oh, what are you doing? Where did Mr. Noblē take you?”

“We took a short stop at his home. Right now I’m going to head into the Gate for a bit to unwind,” I added, spouting the first thing that came to mind. I hated the Gate, but it did serve as a good stress reliever. My feet turned and carried me closer to the Gate at a faster speed.

There was a pause on the other side of the phone. Then Emma piped up, “I’ll go with you!”

“Huh?”

“I’ve always wanted to go into the Gate with you, just us. You know, girl time. So can I come too?” Her words were energetic at first, then slowly became hesitant. In the end, she sounded like a pitiful kitten meowing for a treat.

It was a tone that ‘Big Sister’ me had a hard time rejecting. “... Okay.”

“Great! I’ll meet you there.” She cut off the call quickly, as if she was worried that I would change my mind.

My lips pulled up on the right in a half smile as I put the phone back into my Items Bag so it wouldn’t break in the Gate. I took a pitstop in a public bathroom to change back into my armor. It was still covered in black blood, but since my armor was black too, it wasn’t that much of a problem as long as I ignored the smell.

Emma was waiting for me at the Gate, just like she said. Her cute face lit up when she saw me. Her pinkish-red armor was a stark contrast to the black arch behind her, making her stick out like a sore thumb. Her long brown hair bounced in her ponytail as she hurried over to me. “You’re finally here.” She grinned. Just the sight of her released some of the tension humming in my body.

I nodded in greeting and accepted her hug without complaining. I’ve really been getting used to touching people lately, haven’t I? Well, a handful of people. I looked at the Gate and the few Hunters milling around it. “Are they actually letting people in it?”

Technically, a Gate surge was announced just a couple hours ago. When that happens, the Gate was usually closed for a day while the Gate solidified. I’d totally forgotten all about it when I decided to go in the Gate.

Emma nodded. “They announced that the Gate was safe to enter about thirty minutes ago. I’ve seen a couple dozen Hunters go in. From the sounds of it, mostly people who haven’t gotten their quota for the day.” She looked back at me. “Shall we?”

There should be a law against sounding giddy about going into the Gate, but I followed her in anyway. Gate Vale looked the same as it always does, a magical valley that hid its horrors under luscious greenery and dazzling views.

There was a small group of Hunters standing on the edge of the clearing surrounding the Gate.

One Hunter looked to his male teammate. “I didn’t find any. Did you?”

The Mage shook his head. “No, I didn’t find a single monster in Glenn Holt.”

Another Mage standing next to them piped up. “There weren’t any in Josu Rainforest either. Not even the Velociorheas. It’s like they all vanished.”