A dull pain flared up in Ella’s head as he opened his eyes. He looked down at himself, and his vision came into focus.

He was sitting in a chair. An extension cord was wrapped around his stomach, binding his arms behind his back. Something else tied his wrists together. He wasn’t in a beautiful Victorian dress, nor was this a room filled with antique furniture.

No, this was a garbage filled room that reeked of blood.

Everything came back to him. It didn’t take long for him to figure out what had happened.

Outside, it sounded like people were yelling at each other. “How long… have I been out?” Ella asked.

“Like… a minute?” K was standing next to him. “I don’t think she hit you that hard.” K spoke in her usual carefree fashion, he was sure there was something off about it. It almost sounded like fear.

“I don’t suppose you can let me go, huh?” Ella asked.

“No can do.”

He let out a sigh, and then tried to struggle in the chair. Almost immediately, he felt a strange presence wrap itself around his body, stopping his movement.

“Seriously?” Ella choked out, unable to even turn his head toward her.

K was quiet for a moment before answering. “Sorry.”

He felt her magic ease up slightly, and he tried to calm himself down. As long as she was going to do that, there was no point in panicking. It would only make things worse.

“Arlene, I know you’re here,” Ella called out. “I can feel you standing right behind me.”

“I’m afraid that I can’t allow you to leave now,” Arlene replied, walking from behind him into his field of vision. She was pale, and her eyes were glossy. She looked even worse than she had only minutes ago.

“Please,” he tried to hide his frustration and desperation. “Whoever’s after me… they turned my friend into some kind of monster.”

Arlene’s hollow eyes stared back at him.

“I… need to help him,” Ella went on, carefully checking how much he could move his bound hands. “There’s something going on outside, and I can feel that he’s involved. I need to help him… before it’s too late.”

“If you understand what it’s like to want to save someone,” Arlene’s usual emotionless tone wavered. “Then you should understand why I can’t let you go.”

He thought back to what she had said to him earlier. “I don’t know why you think I can change K back,” he picked his words carefully. “But I can’t. I have no idea how to do something like that.”

“Liar,” the word fell out from between Arlene’s quivering lips. “You’re a liar.”

How many times had he been called a liar now? Between the cat, Hannah, and now Arlene, he couldn’t even keep track of it anymore.

“If you really don’t know how to change K back,” Arlene went on. “Then there’s nothing you can do for your friend either.”

She had him there.

“Alright, fine,” Ella sighed. “If I make K a human again… will you let me leave?”

Arlene looked straight into his eyes. Her pupils darted around wildly, like they were having a hard time concentrating on him. Finally, she blinked hard, and swallowed. “I promise,” she sounded calm and collected again. “If you help K, I’ll let you go.”

Yeah right. Even if he really could turn K back, there was no reason for her to keep her promise. If his power was as dangerous as she said it was, nothing would convince her to let him leave.

If he couldn’t convince her, he would have to figure out a different way to escape. He didn’t know what was happening outside, but one thing was clear. There were more and more magic signatures popping up on his radar. He didn’t recognize the vast majority of them, but there was one that was all too familiar. Hannah.

The image of the bloody classroom came back to him. Of course, he hadn’t really been there, but the memory was as vivid as if it were his own. If she was involved, there was no telling whose side she was on, and how many she might kill. She could kill Urara.

“Do it,” Arlene’s voice brought him back to the putrid smell of the room. “I don’t care what it takes. Just bring her back.”

He needed to bluff, but how would be able to trick her? She had a gun, and she obviously wasn’t afraid to use it. If he could just get close enough, he might be able to get it away from her.

“Alright,” Ella nodded. “But I’ll need my hands free.”

“Your hands?”

“You shouldn’t know,” Ella said, trying to sound confident. “Just like when those monsters grabbed your wrist, I’ll need… to do the same thing to you.”

“And that will fix her?” Arlene didn’t budge, studying him up and down. Every time their eyes met, it was like his heart skipped a beat.

This wasn’t going to work.

Even if she agreed to untie his hands, it didn’t matter. The second he tried anything, she would make K stop him.

Then it hit him. All he needed to do was tell the truth. It seemed so obvious. Why hadn’t he thought of it before?

“Alright, you got me,” Ella let out a deep sigh. “I can’t do it. Even if I could in the past, I have no idea how to now.”

Arlene straightened herself back up. “I see.” She turned to walk away.

“For the record though,” Ella called after her. “I don’t think there’s anything to fix.”

With his words, he felt the magic K was exerting over him weaken slightly.

Arlene looked back at him. “Excuse me?”

“It was after I saw what Hannah did,” Ella said. “When I woke up, I told K what you did for her. What her sister did for her. Do you know what she said?”

Arlene glanced over to K, and then back to him. She stayed expressionless, but it seemed strained.

“She told me that you weren’t her sister,” Ella said. “But what I think she really wanted to say was… she wasn’t your sister.”

Arlene fidgeted with one of her hands down by her waist. “I fail… to understand the difference.”

“She called you her master,” Ella let the words hang in the air before continuing. “She said she was just magic. Nothing more. I don’t think that was a conclusion she came to all by herself.”

“Ella…” K spoke up suddenly, her voice like a small bell chiming.

“K,” Ella turned his neck to look at her. She gave him a worried look, but he returned it with a smile. “I’m sorry that I didn’t realize what you were saying until now.”

“K…” Arlene demanded. “What’s he talking about?”

K didn’t answer. Silence quickly descended on the room, which only made the sounds of whatever was going on outside even louder.

Just as Ella opened his mouth, K finally spoke. “He’s right.”

“About what?” Arlene’s calm broke at last, and her voice came out loud and uneven. “What are you… saying?”

“You’ve never thought of me as your sister,” K took a step forward, but kept close to Ella. “Not even once.”

“We… grew up together,” Arlene said. “You’ve always been my sister…”

“No. I didn’t grow up with you,” K clenched her fists at her sides. “Kaela might have grown up with you, but I didn’t. All I have to go off of is the memories I’ve made since you summoned me.”

“But that’s… that’s just because you don’t have your memories yet,” Arlene said. “When we get you back to normal, you’ll remember…”

“That’s exactly what I’m talking about!” K yelled, catching Arlene off guard. “Those are Kaela’s memories. The other Kaela. They aren’t mine. If you ‘fix’ me, I… I won’t exist anymore. I’ll be dead. I’ll be replaced by her.”

“K…” Arlene started.

“From the moment you summoned me, it’s always been about how and when you could change me,” K stamped her foot. “You never thought that maybe I could be your sister, a new sister, instead of some shell that was waiting to be filled. You never even gave me a chance to be anyone other than who you thought I should be!”

“T-This is ridiculous,” Arlene’s eyes were glassy. “You’re the only you there is…”

“And the Kaela you knew is the only one of her there is too,” K said. “I have Ella to thank for showing me that.”

Arlene shot him a look filled with hatred. It was like every ounce of hatred she had ever suppressed was coming through her expression all at once.

“Uhh... what now?” Ella straightened up in the chair as much as he could. He hadn’t expected her to start thanking him for anything, and he definitely didn’t like the look Arlene was giving him.

“He took me in as his cousin,” K said, whipping her shoulder length hair with a flick of her head. “I mean, yeah, he wasn’t exactly too keen on the idea at first, but if his parents are familiars, then it means he unconsciously told them to think of me that way.”

“He didn’t want to have his illusion of normalcy destroyed,” Arlene interrupted her. “Don’t mistake that for love. He doesn’t care about you.”

“I do care about her,” Ella snapped. He wasn’t lying. This wasn’t any plan to manipulate K into letting him go. His words had come straight from his heart. “I mean, okay. At first, I thought K was the most annoying thing that could have ever happened to me, but…”

“Real sweet,” K shot him a glare. “Jerk.”

“Let me finish,” Ella groaned. “That was only at first. She drove me crazy.” He sensed that he wasn’t going about this the best way and changed gears. “Anyway, then I spent more time with her, and I really did start thinking of her like a cousin.” He shook his head. “No, not just a cousin. She protected me… She’s my friend.”

“That was under my orders,” Arlene said, her tone as cold as ice.

“Sure,” Ella said. “But when we found out what my friend had become… she didn’t kill him.”

“That means nothing.”

“You’re wrong. If your orders were the only thing that mattered, then she would have killed him,” Ella could feel himself smiling now. “But she didn’t, and that’s because she cares about me… and she cares about Urara.”

K looked over her shoulder at him, beaming. He felt his face flush. When this was all over with, he hoped she wouldn’t bring this conversation up ever again.

Deep down, he knew she would. She would rub it in his face every chance she got, but maybe that wasn’t so bad.

“Enough,” Arlene’s voice cut through the air like a knife. “I understand now.”

“You… do?” Ella asked.

“Yes,” she cleared her throat, composing herself again. “You’ve filled my sister’s head with nonsense, and you have no intention to help me.” She reached into her pocket. “You are no longer necessary.”

No. This wasn’t right. Arlene should have been apologizing by now. Saying that she would let K make her own choices. Letting them go.

Why was she pointing a gun at him?

He closed his eyes as a shot rang out, but the pain didn’t come. He opened his eyes again to see the bullet stopped in the air in front of him.

“What… do you think you’re doing?” Arlene’s eyes drifted over to K, who was standing with her hand extended in front of her.

“Just following the orders you gave me,” K said. “To protect Ella… from any and all threats.”

With another movement of K’s hands, Arlene went flying backward, slamming into the wall behind her. It cracked on impact. Immediately afterward, K moved her hand down, and Arlene followed. She hit the ground with enough force that she bounced.

Arlene lied there face down, completely motionless. The bullet fell to the ground with a clatter.

“Did you…” Ella’s mouth was dry. “Did you kill…”

“She’s not that weak,” K said, turning to him on her heal. “She’s just knocked out.” She put her finger on her lips. “Although, I’m not sure how long that’ll last… we should probably get out of here.”

“I would if I could,” Ella said plainly.

“Oh right,” K laughed. With the flick of her wrists, his restraints came right off.

He got up and walked past Arlene with caution. “Is that kind of thing allowed?” Ella asked. “I mean, it’s not like I mind, obviously. I just didn’t think a familiar could attack the one that summoned them.”

“Yeah…” K’s eyes drifted to Arlene, but then quickly came back up to meet him. “I just felt like I could…. So I did.”

Ella tried to think back to the things Cyrus had taught North about magic. “What if she… deactivates the mana she’s giving you or something?”

K puffed out her cheeks. “We’ll worry about that went it happens.”

“Alright…” Ella sighed. They couldn’t spend any more time here anyway. As they hurried toward the door, Ella spoke again. “Thanks, by the way. You saved me again, huh?”

“Yeah,” K giggled. “But you saved me too.” She reached up and put her hand on his head, ruffling his hair. “So I think we’re even.”

With that, they left the apartment, back out to the outdoor hallway. Down below, he could see smoke. Whatever was happening, things were in chaos.

“K,” Ella said, his eyes scanning the scene. “Is there any way we can get down from here faster than using the elevator?”

“You betcha,” K jumped up on the hand railing. “This way.” She stepped off.

He felt K’s magic envelop him, lifting him off the ground and throwing him over the edge. “Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit,” he screamed as the concrete below became increasingly close. Right before they hit it, they stopped, like they had hit an invisible cushion. Their feet touched down soon after.

“I mean, I guess that’s what I want you to do,” Ella dropped to his knees in shock. “But that was terrifying.”

“Was wittle Ewwa scared?” K asked in a baby voice.

“Yes. Yes he was,” he shakily got back onto his feet. “Now let’s go. Urara isn’t far from here.”

“Okay,” K nodded, and the two of them took off. As they zigzagged through the crowded streets filled with panicked people, K spoke up again. “I don’t think you’re what Arlene said you are, by the way.”

“Huh?” Ella yelled back at her.

“I mean, I guess I don’t really know if you’re from behind the gate or whatever,” K moved up just behind him. “I just don’t think it matters. I think… you can be whoever you want to be.”

“Where’s this coming from?” Ella could feel his cheeks burning again.

“Oh shut it,” K gave him a chop on the back of his head. “Don’t play dumb.”

Ella didn’t answer, and they continued through the crowd. The closer they got, the more people they saw running in the opposite direction they were.

He didn’t have much time to dwell on it, but he hoped that K was right. Even if he had been born as something beyond the gate, that wasn’t what he was now. He was a human. A boy. A boy that happened to like women’s clothing.

He wasn’t going to let anyone tell him that he was anything different. If that made him a ‘liar’, he didn’t care anymore.

Urara’s signal was closer than ever now. They rounded a corner, and stopped dead in their tracks. Just down the street, on top of the building, two fire balls collided, sending embers flying through the sky.

“We have to get up there,” Ella said. “Keep an eye out for debris.”

K nodded, and they moved started again toward the building, albeit at a much more careful pace. As they neared the entrance, something up above caught his eye. Something was falling right toward them.

No, it wasn’t something. It was someone.

Two women landed next to him, stopping just before they hit the ground. He didn’t even have time to process what was happening before another person landed.

This one had a scythe.