“So, I guess this wasn’t the big fancy dinner you were expecting.” Giethi chuckled while picking at the toppings on her slice of pizza. Wylinoris was starving, even after eating through half a box. “Okay, you ready to talk now?” Giethi mumbled. Wylinoris quickly swallowed her drink. “Yeah, now I am. Where the fuck are we?”

“My house.”

She stared at Giethi with slight annoyance.

“South-hath…” Giethi sighed.

“What the hell happened to my stuff?”

“What stuff?”

“The stuff in my apartment.”

“Don’t even worry about that, you’re broke as shit and the police probably already seized that shit up.”

…

They both kind of drifted off, just staring at each other blankly until Giethi was shaken up by a knock on the door. She hesitated to get up and stalled as much as she could before opening the door. Behind was a scuff-looking man, with long hair done up in a messy, short ponytail. He wore a trench coat and lots of thin, metallic gadgets stuck out of their pockets. “Oh great,” Giethi grumbled. “Horasil.” She ground her teeth. “You haven’t been around lately, you need to get your eyes checked.” Horasil poked her in the face and brushed her aside. “So, Uhm, Wylinoris, right? No last name, uh, Giethi just registered you under her last name.”

“Klyte.”

Horasil paused. “Huh?”

“Wylinoris Klyte.”

“Ah, uh, Klyte. Yes.” He examined her breathing. Still sporadic. They feared this, seeing that Wylinoris was recovering and possibly still at some risk. Still, he was surprised that she woke up so quickly. He wasn’t expecting her to fully stay conscious before June. Wylinoris was unsettled, you could just see it in her face. “So, uh, how’s your throat treating you?”

“Dry-”

“Look, I’m going to get straight to the point. There are these tiny implants in your brain-”

“Horasil! For god’s sake, the girl just woke up!” Wylinoris shook in her chair. “W- What?!”

“No, uh no, I didn’t word that right, did I?”

“Damn well you didn’t! She’s fucking trembling!” Giethi cried. “I don’t talk much, okay?!”

Horasil deeply exhaled for a bit. “Damn. Uh. Right.” He collected himself. “So, since you were old enough to remember your past in South-Hath, they put some implants in your brain to make you forget. Deep brain stimulation or something.” He muttered and rambled on until it was incomprehensible. Giethi nudged him. “So, uh, don’t worry. I’ve been dabbling- uh, no, the implants aren’t going to suddenly kill you, uhm.” Horasil nervously chuckled. His frantic stuttering and random pauses embarrassed Giethi and himself. Wylinoris poked herself in the head. “It’s too late to reverse the effect of the implants, your brain has, well, matured since then.”

“I want ‘em out.” Wylinoris grumbled. Horasil balked. “Uh…” Giethi looked at Horasil and glanced back at Wylinoris. “Why’d you bother telling me if you didn’t have a solution?” She tossed her grease-covered paper plate into the trash. “You got them into your brain when you were like… six. Idiot.”

“They’re practically integrated into your brain at this point.”

Giethi pulled Horasil to the side. “So, are we going to tell her about the…” Giethi whispered and awkwardly glanced back at Wylinoris. “It’s probably better to- well, just not tell her about that. She’s, uh, already a little pissed.” Giethi looked back and maintained eye contact longer with Wylinoris. “Uh, me and Horasil are… just going to talk.”

“Whatever you say, whore.”

“You bitch.” Giethi muttered.

Giethi cursed under her breath as they both hastily went upstairs.

She locked the door behind her. “What are we going to do with her? She’s an arrogant, stuck-up asshole.” Horasil lost eye contact with her. “I, uh-”

“Spit it out. It’s annoying as hell when you stutter.” Giethi crossed her arms and pouted. “I mean, there isn’t much I can do about it. The implants still, uhm-” He paused. “Still do their thing. I can’t do anything.”

“Then it’s stupidly dangerous for her to even get into combat with the soldiers up in North-Hath. They can just zap her with a press of the button.”

Horasil fidgeted with his clothes. “I read in my studies in Germany that life mana-”

“Shut up! Don’t even-” She grumbled. “Don’t bring that mythical ass shit up in my house! There’s no more life mana left! Zilch!”

Horasil was taken aback and was visibly startled. He looked Giethi up and down. “There are four fucking puffs just recorded in existence! I can have a better chance of bending astral mana than even finding a grain of that shit!”

“I- So you’re just going to give up hope like that?”

“Why fucking not? Next up, you’re going to say we need unicorn tears to get the rods out. Just-” She sighed and relaxed her voice. “Just… Let’s not tell her about that. It’s the best decision. Maybe- Maybe she’ll blackout again and forget this.”

The door creaked slightly, just enough for Giethi and Deri to not hear.

“So.” Giethi looked up to Horasil. “Is it too late to, uh-” She glanced from side to side and sprayed some water into his face. “Aw- fuck. You could just tell me if she’s ready to use mana.”

“But then you don’t pay attention to anything.” He wiped the water off his face. “Hgnnn… She shows promise. But like you said; she’s an arrogant, stuck-up asshole.”

“Then again, Citirth could use mana.” She chuckled. “Alright.” Giethi unlocked the door.

“So how good was it?” Wylinoris giggled at Horasil. “Huh?”

She smirked.

“The gawk-gawk three-thousand.” She burst out laughing and fell out of her chair.

“The… The what?” His face lit up with realization. “Wait- wait! No-no-no-no, uh-” Wylinoris continued to laugh on the floor. “It’s not like that!”

“Look at you-” She helped herself up using the table. “Blushing and shit.”

She wiped the tears off of her face. “You’re kinda cute when you do that-”

“That’s enough!” Giethi came down the stairs.

“Well, well, well. Isn’t it the common whore-”

“Shut your ass up.”

“Al-fucking-right.”

Giethi grumbled and cocked her head to the side before shaking her head. “Horasil, get out of here.” He perked up. “Huh?”

“You heard me,” She rubbed her eyes. “Go home.” They pointed at Wylinoris quickly and barely noticeable and looked back at Horasil with wide eyes. “Ah- uhm… yeah.” Horasil glanced at Wylinoris before stepping out. Wylinoris bit her lip. “I assume that was about me?”

“What? No-”

“Don’t even try covering it up,” they said, bitter. “You stared at me like I was a freak.”

“What? We didn’t-”

Giethi reached out for her arm. Wylinoris brushed her aside, slapping her chest lightly. “I’m a science experiment to you, aren’t I?” Giethi balked. “Keeping me locked into a room connected to a stupid fucking machine- I mean, I’m hearing voices, damnit!” Wylinoris panted. Giethi slowly backed away from them and cowered. “If you even slightly cared, I would be in a hospital.” Giethi whimpered. “But no! I’m in a room with a stupid R.C. car with an oxygen tank strapped to my face!” Wylinoris pushed Giethi to the floor and pinned her there by her shoulders. Giethi’s fear-filled eyes stared into Wylinoris’s enraged eyes. “I-” Her hair covered her eyes. Wylinoris sobbed slowly, letting her tears fall on Giethi. Her sobbing quickened and became more violent, and fell on Giethi’s chest and neck.

“W- Why?” Wylinoris looked up to Giethi. “Why am– I like this?” She buried her face back into Giethi’s chest. Giethi froze up, and just let her cry.

She eventually just fell asleep again; Giethi not daring to move to startle her. She braced slightly, and gently slid Wylinoris off her chest. They sighed, still shook. “Ah, goddamnit. She got my shirt wet.” She looked down at her. “Uhm…” They sighed and picked her up, then threw her on the couch. Giethi stared at her for a bit, and then sat next to her face, the only sound in her house being the ticking of clocks. After what felt like hours, she turned to Wylinoris and,

kissed her on the head.

“Wake up buttercup!” Wylinoris was shaken off the couch by a squeaky, childish voice. “You look like crap!” She fell to the floor and the sun lit up her eyes. “Jesus- Fuck!” She opened her eyes to a child; not looking older than fifteen, but still short for their age. Their face was covered in freckles and tanned skin. Their hair was short, brown, and wavy, being blown aside just by the vents. “Reynse! You bastard!” Giethi pushed them aside. “I uh-” They chuckled and brushed the hair out of their face and helped Wylinoris up. She still clenched the blanket given to her and rubbed her forehead. “Sorry.”

“Woah! How do you bring home a girl that’s almost a foot taller than you?!” The kid looked up to Wylinoris. “Shut up.” Giethi said abruptly. “Uh- Wylin. This is Reynse, who I was talking about.”

“Hm.” She waved slightly. “Damn, you’ll tell any chick you can pick up who I am-”

“Reynse. Honest to Eommoneig himself, I will beat the everliving shit out of you until the sun goes down.”

Reynse shut up and looked away slowly. “Kinky.” He muttered under his breath. “What was that you little shit?!”

“Nothin’, nothing… I said nothing…”

“You’re even lucky that I’m letting you stay here for now.”

“Why? So you can smooch your prostitute all day long?” Reynse grinned.

Giethi promptly slapped Reynse across the face. “Get the fuck out of here.” He quickly sprinted up the stairs. “I ought to kill that boy.”

“Kid has jokes.”

She sighed and rubbed her head. “You’re… Still startled, are you?” Giethi looked up at her with calm, reassuring eyes. Wylinoris didn’t reply.

“Ah, uh…” She thought to herself and looked around. “Uhm… H- Horasil wants to see you.” She got flustered. “Just a medical thing-”

“I’m fine.”

“Eh?”

“You heard what I said. I’m totally fine.” Wylinoris loomed over Giethi. “I don’t need any help, pipsqueak.” She poked Giethi in the chest. “I’m fine. Honest.”

“You’re pale as shit. You look you’ve seen, no- like you are the ghost.”

“So what? That’s… just how I am…”

“Also, you just woke up after a coma. You need a checkup.”

Giethi muttered. “Still lucky you slept through that. You were only accepted as a citizen a couple of weeks ago.”

“Reynse!” Reynse popped his head down the stairs, tear marks still on his cheeks. “Get in the car. We’re going to Horasil’s.”

“That stuttering bitch? I’m not becoming his Frankenstein.”

“He’s-” Giethi paused. “Not going to kill you.”

Reynse ran out the front door behind Giethi, holding his paperboy-ish hat in front of him. “Just do this for me.” Giethi rubbed her eyes. Wylinoris was too busy getting distracted by Reynse. “Oh! Uh, yeah.” She pushed her aside.

“Jesus, where is that bastard? Reynse!”

“Here.” The kid poked his head through the sunroof on the fully blacked-out sedan.

Giethi stared at him confused. “I- I’m not gonna ask any more questions.”

The rumble of the engine startled Reynse and made him fall into the car and the door handles popped out.

“Wha- How’d you get in without using the door handles?!”

“I have my… ways.”

Reynse threw out a couple of pins from the sunroof. Outside was… strange. It looked normal, but something about it was off. Wylinoris blamed this on the wind and the driveway being slanted. The front yard was generally well kept, with a white bricked driveway. Palm trees filled every yard in the neighborhood; also well kept. However, if you were to look through the little passageway of grass that connected the front and back yards, you could see a lively, bustling city with dark skyscrapers hiding clouds. “You coming?” Wylinoris stared at the hood ornament on the car. “Hel~lo?” She shook her head. “Nothing.” Giethi shut the driver's door behind her.

Wylinoris patted the winged “B” on the hood and ran her fingers through the large rectangular grill.

She jiggled the door handle and the door popped open for her. The interior was plush with white leather, hand-stitched trim, and golden highlights, along with glossy wood across the dashboard and flush piano black sheets covering up the transmission area.

She was given plenty of legroom, allowing her to stretch her legs fully. Reynse was already fully reclined in his rear seat and looked like he would fall asleep immediately. Giethi swung the car to a full 180 rapidly, causing Wylinoris to float out of their seat temporarily.

“You’re gonna get used to it,” Reynse spoke up from the back. “she just drives like this.”

The tires squealed and Giethi was speeding down the pavement. Wylinoris and Reynse were glued to their seats due to the quick acceleration. “I thought you said you could drive!” Wylinoris yelled out.

“When did I say that?”

“Oh good lord,” Wylinoris muttered and looked out the window. “At least the seats are comfy.”

Giethi tapped through the large infotainment screen and scrolled through the menus. “Hey, uh, text Horasil. I’m gonna be there in-” Giethi looked at the clock on top of the dashboard. “Ten? Twenty minutes? Get your shit ready.”

She pulled onto the interstate and took her hands off the wheel. “God..” Reynse popped a lollipop in his mouth and put his legs between Wylinoris’s headrest.

“Where are we going?” He said mundanely, preoccupied with the game in his hands. “I thought you overheard. We’re going to Horasil’s place.”

“Bleck.”

“Why?! The f- I mean, What’s wrong with Horasil’s place?”

“His house smells like cheap incense and Fabreeze. If I wanted to light a lighter in there, that entire place would blow up.”

Giethi pouted. “Wylin over here would go into a coma again if she breathed the air there.” He chuckled. Giethi, annoyed, took a quick sip of the plastic bottle in her cup holder. Reynse started fiddling with the controls on the door. “So, what’s with the kid?” Wylinoris whispered into Giethi’s ear. “It’s uh, Citirth’s little bro. I’m the closest he has to family, so, yeah.” Reynse groaned when staring out the window, looking at the familiar patches of spruce leading up to the minimalistic architecture of a wooden home in the middle of a field. “Look, Reynse.” Giethi took her eyes off the quiet road and looked back at him. “It’s just in and out. I don’t like him that much either, but it’s for Wylin.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever.” He droned on.

The car scraped onto the rough gravel and stones, still rattling even with its soft suspension and tires.

“God-” Reynse stammered out. “You’d think the people at Bentley would make the ride- Urk- smoother!” He bounced around in his seat.

“Here,” Giethi panted. “We’re here.” She stepped out and immediately covered her eyes. “Wylin, whatever you do, do not tell me how dirty my car is.”

“Haha, right.” She chuckled nervously and looked at the massive cloud of dust following the road, covering the back end of the car in a thick layer of brown grime.

“This better be good,” Giethi muttered. “And quick. I’m running my car through the car wash like- four times after this.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Horasil scummed through his books and stepped outside, bringing steaming flasks and vials out with him. He set it on the patio table and began setting up the stands and bunsen burners. “Uh, Gieth’. I have these two- uh, pendulums, charms, whatever you call it, in my study. Go fetch them.

“First of all, don’t call me Gieth’. Second of all, I’m not your dog.” Horasil glanced at her. “Just go get them,” Giethi muttered under their breath and obliged. Reynse lounged on the thick, luscious bush and continued tapping away on the video game in his hands. “Alright.” Horasil looked up at Wylinoris. “Your parents were…” He licked his lips and fiddled with his thumbs. “Uh, well, just slightly above the average Southhathener in terms of Mana ability, so like Giethi and Reynse.”

“Ah ah ah.” Reynse looked up from the screen. “I’m better than you and Giethi.”

“But you don’t wanna do jack shit. You don’t wanna train or even use mana.”

“I’m given extra stuff. Fellebrig things. Anyways, when do I get my staff? I’d maybe start using the stuff if I was given it.”

“Enough! This is about Wylinoris. Not your delusions of grandeur. You don’t think I’ve seen you whoop grown-ass men?! Giving you a stick would fuck up the entire human population.” Horasill huffed. Reynse sighed and leaned back into the brush.

Giethi stormed out of the doorway, tossing the charms into Horasil’s hands. “Here.”

“I don’t even know why we bother with these last two;” he muttered under his breath. “Everyone who’s come to test never passes these.” He inserted a small crooked pin into the bottom of each pendulum and twisted. The top halves of the charm folded open like a flower blossoming, revealing glittering specks protected by glass. Giethi had her eyes locked on the second charm, the one filled with five specks, each a neon purple, pink, and white.

The first one had just a lone granule, a glimmering yellowish-green. “First, hold your hands out.” She held her hands out into the air. Horasil popped open the cork of a vial of orange powder with his mouth and poured it all over Wylinoris’s hands. “Clap.”

“It’s all going to get into my face-”

“Clap your hands.”

She pouted, relaxed her stance, and clapped; albeit annoyed. The powder fizzed up and bubbled into ash and smoke in her hands. “Uh-” Giethi glanced at Horasil’s confused expression.

“Oh wow,” She stared into her smoking hands. “Cool.” They shook the dust off their hands.

“Bad batch…?” Giethi whispered into his ear.

“It’s the same batch you used.”

“Oh shit-”

“Uh- next test.” He hastily covered up the second charm with her hand. “Try to… move this dust. Like moving your arm. “Listen, I’m not going to participate in these clown auditions.” They lifted their hands and crossed their arms.

“Just do it.”

She glared at Giethi. “Fine,” She wagged her finger at the charm. “Abracadabra.”

The granules budged. Just slightly.

“See? Nothing happened-”

The specks of powder suddenly condensed to a single point and flung themselves onto the corner of the glass, aligned with her finger.

Horasil marked down some notes. “Alright, here’s the funny one.” Horasil chuckled. Giethi wiped a smirk off their face. Reynse looked up from the contents of his game and pointed the tiny camera at her. “What? What’s so funny?!” He stifled a laugh. “So, you now know how to move mana, now-” They covered their mouth. “Move this.” They shook the first charm with the lone green speck. Wylinoris rolled their eyes and extended their arm.

The air went silent.

“Nothing is happening-” They were suddenly struck to the ground by an invisible force. “Ha! That’s- four seconds?”

“Oh shut up, you bitch!” They extended their arm to Horasil. They too were struck. “You- You can’t do that! Huh?!” Giethi yelled out. Horasil, still struggling, pulled out a small flask and poured the amber contents all over his hands. They were overcome with relief and got up. “Let go!” Wylinoris snarled at him. Giethi tackled her and the force went away. They panted and Giethi collapsed on her chest. Horasil, still shook, went to close the charms and felt the one that smacked Wylinoris to the ground. The glass was hot and covered in condensation, and he rubbed away the fog.

He stopped in his tracks.

The speck; which had been well known to be practically unmovable, even impossible to generate…

Had smacked itself onto the glass walls,

and was following Wylinoris.