Ajoke’s fist smashed into the wall, driven by rage and magic both. Stone crumbled beneath her knuckles, fracturing into a hundred wedged chips and spraying free of the newly-formed hole like grapeshot from a cannon.

They pattered against the ground, joined seconds later by a fog of dust dropping down glacially through the air.

“There was nothing you could’ve done differently.” Chaths’ voice came. Cool, collected, yet uncharacteristically warm.

He was trying to be kind. To tame the storms of her frustration and fury, smothering tenuous waves with smooth oil.

Apparently, it was lost on him that her failing out of inadequacy was far worse than a mere single mistake.

“I could’ve kept my stupid mouth shut.” She snapped, bitterness lunging for him in lieu of a more deserving target. Like a starved animal, robbed of all preferences in food by sheer hunger.

She wasn’t talking about the task, and Chaths knew it. She knew he knew, because he didn’t say anything. Didn’t even try to placate her, to lie so that she might think she was anything other than solely responsible.

It took a special kind of moron to insult Lord Dumare, and a far greater one still to do so openly.

Almost as special as the kind of genius one would need to win a Sieve with competition and teammates like Ajoke’s.

“You still have a chance.” Chaths said, as if he’d read her mind and specifically chosen his words to irritate her.

“I shouldn’t need to settle for a chance.” She hissed, spinning on her heel and locking eyes with the boy.

The sight of his face, haggard and strained the way it always got when his tongue was being tied in knots, poured frigid, shameful water on the burning coals of her rage.

He was trying to help her, or at least to comfort her, and she was unthinkingly taking her anger and bitterness out on him- using him as a punching bag. Tongue moving quicker than her thoughts, as it always did.

“It’s a waste to complain about your lot when you can’t change it.” He answered, face stiffening slightly, annoyance bubbling to the surface and sending ripples across the calm pool that had been his expression.

Good, he deserved to be a little annoyed.

“You’re right.” Ajoke sighed, leaning back against the wall and closing her eyes.

It occurred to her that Chaths’ voice seemed no slower than usual, and after a quick check she realised her magic had cut off- only temporarily drawn to the forefront by her fury.

There was a parallel to be seen there. But she had no time for parallels.

“What do you suggest I do, then?”

Chaths seemed equal parts surprised and relieved at her question, and he graciously hid both emotions before answering.

“You need a win. You’re in last place, and if you stay there long the other teams will just push further and further ahead of you. If you don’t make up the difference now, you won’t be able to at all.”

“And how do I make up the difference?”

That seemed to irritate him.

“Throw everything you have into the next task. If you have any credits unused, burn them on whatever relics you think will help. Make sure your teammates are all as healthy as possible. Make yourself as formidable as you can.”

Ajoke nodded, straightening up.

“Yes… yes, that makes sense.”

She felt a sudden elation, though wasn’t sure where it came from. Perhaps it was simply having her problems laid out in such a pragmatic way. Logic and methodicalness stripping away the irrational apprehension.

Maybe it was just the way Chaths seemed so much more handsome than ever before.

Focus and confidence seemed to make his face glow, the sharp outline of his features ever more defined by the certainty behind their expression. It seemed as though he was challenging the world, without even doubting for a second that he could win.

She stepped forwards, reaching up and placing her hands on either side of his face. As she leaned onto her tip-toes, bringing her lips closer to his, he gripped her arms, holding her in place.

The look in his eyes was suddenly hard, uncompromising.

Ajoke shook his hands off her, stepping back and turning away even as she felt her face burn.

She opened her mouth to apologise, but the words were caught in her throat- strangled by embarrassment.

“I’m sorry.” Chaths said, the pity in his tone deepening her humiliation. “But you’re clearly not in the right state of-”

His voice began to fade, becoming a distant echo as her pounding heart grew louder. It took Ajoke a few moments to even realise she’d begun hurriedly walking away.

***

The corridor of the Sieve cast the sound of Gem’s footfalls back at her, as if measuring out each step for her. In a way it was oddly relaxing, the constant clapping of leather against marble served as a calming rhythm by which to organise her thoughts.

On the other hand, organisation did little to reduce the fury the thoughts in question built within her.

Unity Eden, you son of a whore.

She’d agreed to the artificial’s plan herself, Gem knew that. And even then the boy had been subtle in reminding her, or at least subtle enough that Crow wouldn’t have suspected anything.

That didn’t mean she was fine with the little shit doing it so openly. And simply basking in her frustration made Gem realise that it was the exact reason Eden had chosen to remind her when and how he did.

He’d pay for that, though not necessarily soon.

As Gem walked, she found her head beginning to clear. The bile and anger that had been acting as fouling in her mind began to break down, smoothing the workings of her thoughts.

She soon knew what to do, where to go. Though she was far from happy with it.

***

Karma was quickly learning that Bob Danielz was not simply of fiercer reputation than other Immortals.

She’d been trying to arrange a meeting with the man for the better part of two hours, hoping to needle information from him in regards to his presence in Bermuda, yet the man had somehow made it more difficult to contact him than even Ra.

How exactly a person could become less connected than a man whose interest and involvement in politics was absolute zero, Karma couldn’t quite say. Perhaps it was the product of an active interest in becoming disconnected, rather than simply a total indifference.

Perhaps he simply made a habit of being difficult to find.

Whatever the reason, her hours of effort had yielded mere minutes of progress.

Even with her spy network fully extended, it was as if the butcher had simply fallen into a crack and disappeared from the face of Mirandis. And the more she looked, the more certain Karma became that he’d done it solely to irritate her.

Why else would the bastard have been so easy to locate earlier?

The effort of finding him had left her in a unique position, in which she had nothing to actively do, while being needed to do her duty on a moment’s notice.

It was a circumstance which had her spending the last hour doing nothing but waiting in her quarters, while simultaneously preventing her from truly relaxing due to the looming call to action she expected to come each passing minute.

By the time the knock came upon her door, she’d become so restless, so silently eager for a reprieve from her mind-numbing monotony, that it was all she could do to avoid running as she crossed the room to answer it.

She found herself genuinely surprised to see Gem in place of a spy.

“Hi Karma.” The girl said, a nervous smile touching her lips.

Absently, Karma returned the greeting.

“Good afternoon. What brings you here?”

Gem’s immediate fidgeting, the way she took so many half steps back and forth, let Karma know that whatever it is, the girl didn’t think she’d like it.

“I was just passing by, and I thought I’d come and see you.” The girl answered.

Karma was tempted to call her out on the lie, but decided against it. She didn’t hesitate or stammer her words, nor did she hold far too much eye contact or show any signs of nerves as she spoke them.

A good lie, Karma reasoned, was nothing to be scolded for.

“I see. Well, come in then.” She stepped aside, gesturing the girl to enter. “I may have a visitor soon, but I can entertain you until then.”

“Entertain me. You make it sound like I’m some sort of child.”

As she closed the door, Karma turned back to see the girl already heading for the sofa.

“Well, I wasn’t going to say anything...”

That drew a grin from Gem, who did a short leap before landing lengthways across the cushions, feet dangling off one end.

“You seem to be in high spirits.” Karma noted.

She let her unasked question hang between them. As she’d expected, Gem chose to answer it- compelled, surely, by the desire to keep Karma from noticing that she’d come with a plan.

“Well, my team isn’t in last place anymore. And none of its members were seriously injured. I’d say that’s cause to be in high spirits, wouldn’t you?”

“Are you sure it has nothing to do with Xeno Warper showing more power than even you possess, and relieving the pressure for you to compete by taking your place as the strongest member of your team?”

That painted the girl’s face with a scowl.

“How do you do that?”

“Practice.” Karma answered. “You’ll need lots more if you want to dodge my questions, passable though your attempt just now was.”

Gem chewed her lip before replying.

“Yes. It takes a lot of tension from me, now that there’s someone even more powerful in our team. Though I’m quite sure Astra still thinks less of me for not taking part.”

“Fuck her.” Karma said, simply. The scandalised shock on Gem’s face was positively adorable, though only secondary to her real motivation in shocking the girl.

“Now, what have you come to ask me that’s got you so nervous?”

For a few seconds, Gem seemed not to comprehend her words. She quickly realised what Karma had said, face flushing as she answered.

“It’s about Crow, my teammate.”

That took Karma by surprise, and before she could even begin to think of a response Gem’s face lit up.

“Ah, so you don’t know everything.” She grinned, triumphant. Sometimes Karma forgot that, young though she was, the girl was a Menza. One had to guard every expression with her damned family.

“Of course I don’t know everything.” Karma said. “Nobody knows everything.”

“You told me you did.”

“Did I? When?”

“The second time we spoke, you explicitly told me that you knew everything.”

“And you believed me?”

“I was twelve, and I’m not that stupid anymore.” She paused. “Now who’s trying to dodge?”

“Crow Tempora, the one with the Eye of Chronos? What about him?”

Though it was Gem who’d pulled the conversation back on topic, her face seemed to fall as she worked her mouth silently, clearly struggling to find the right words.

“He’s been getting quite close with… uh, Amelia. You know who-”

“The butcher.” Karma interrupted, having no time to wrap any of her words in more pretence. “Carry on.”

“Right, okay.” Gem said, seeming harassed by Karma’s urgency. “Well, uh, I’m worried- we all are, my team I mean- that she’s not exactly safe to be… close with.”

“How did he meet her in the first place?”

Gem appeared taken aback by the question, but answered nonetheless.

“I… oh, Eclipse. I think Unity Eden met her.”

The look on the girl’s face told Karma that she was realising something equal parts obvious, and damning. That it involved Eden didn’t surprise her in the least.

“Do you think he planned for her to become close to your friend?”

Gem gave it some thought before answering.

“No. No, I don’t think he did. More likely… Well, after what happened in the task before last, when he fought that Bim boy… Something changed about him.”

“Do you think he’s dangerous?” Karma asked, shocked by how quickly Gem shook her head.

“No, the opposite. It’s like he’s grown a conscience, or at least like he’s trying to grow one. I think he introduced Crow to Amelia because he didn’t really care to keep him from harm, and he’s trying to drive a wedge between them now because he’s settled his mind on looking out for him. Or else, he only began to realise how dangerous she was after her… performance.”

Karma found herself nodding absently, picking through Gem’s words. From what she’d heard of the first stage, Unity Eden had taken a spear to the hand in order to keep it from Tempora’s back.

That had bugged her. She’d wanted to dismiss it as him simply keeping his teammate, a useful ally, functional. But he hadn’t seemed the sort to do so at such costs.

If he’d started to look out for Tempora even then, it would explain why he’d gone to such lengths. The strongest friendships tended to burn in the loneliest people, after all.

“Alright, back up.” Karma said. “How close exactly is your teammate to the butcher?”

Gem’s confusion was clear on her face.

“Inconclusive then, how often do they see each other?”

“Every few days or so, at least. The first thing he did after her task was go to visit her, check if she was okay.”

“Does he prefer men?”

Gem frowned.

“Uh, what?”

“I’m asking if he’s gay.”

The widening of the girl’s eyes betrayed her.

“Oh. Um, no? I don’t think so, at least. Why are you even asking?”

Karma shrugged.

“If he were gay, it would put a bit of a cap on how much he’d be likely to care for someone he saw so little. When I led you all out into the middle of the stage to pick your name, I didn’t catch him staring at my ass once. It got me wondering whether his tastes were of a different sort altogether.”

The silver-haired girl’s mouth became crooked with a smile.

“Do you find it so hard to believe that a man might prefer mere mortal women to the legendary Karma Alabaster?”

“Yes.” She answered, keeping her face straight for all of a second before breaking out into a grin- which Gem joined her in.

It was a fragile joviality, however. Forming a thin shell around the serious matter she was silently considering even as she stood there and beamed.

A butcher becoming close to a member of Gem’s team, and that closeness becoming enough to distress her just when Karma’s investigation was turning back to Bob Danielz, seemed far too much a coincidence for her liking.

The Guillotines had been scared of a Demigod, and there were precious few of them on the entire island. Karma didn’t like where things seemed to be headed.

“So, have you figured out what I wanted to ask you?” Gem said, almost hopefully. Karma realised she was crossing her fingers that she’d be saved the trouble of verbally asking.

She gave the girl no such reprieve.

“I’d like you to have a chat with Crow, he doesn’t know that Amelia’s a butcher, you see, and… well, if he finds out from someone he doesn’t personally know but still trusts as an authority figure…”

Karma understood, and it made sense. It was also yet another entry on an ever more cramped list of things she needed to do.

“I’ll see if I can.” She said, truthful about the uncertainty, though obfuscating the improbability.

“Thank you.” Gem answered.

Neither of them spoke for a few moments, and Karma took the chance to approach the girl. Kneeling down beside the sofa, she affixed her a look that left no room for light-hearted deflections.

“How are you?”

The girl’s answer came more quickly than Karma had expected.

“I’m doing better.” She said, though Karma noted a tightness to her knuckles as she spoke.

“Do you think you’ll be competing in the next task?”

Karma already knew Gem most likely wouldn’t, even with its composition allowing for four combat roles. The question was for the sake of letting her talk about it.

“I’m still not sure.”

Her shame was palpable.

“I’ve said it before, but don’t feel like you’re obligated to take part. Combat leaves more than just physical damage, and you can’t be expected to recover from your fight just because your injuries have healed up.”

“I know.” The girl answered. “You’ve said that.”

“And you still needed to hear it.” Karma shot back, not letting her gaze waver.

Gem seemed to struggle as she opened her mouth to speak, words dancing on her tongue, clinging to the insides of her mouth and straining to avoid leaving.

“I want to compete again.” She said at last, a pink tint creeping across her face. “To show what I can really do, remove my loss, but…”

Karma didn’t answer, nor make any gesture for the girl to continue. She would speak on her own time, and no faster.

“Would it be really small and petty of me to be more worried about looking weak than getting hurt?”

The questions surprised Karma, and forced her to pause and think before answering.

“No. We all react to battle in different ways, you had an uncommonly brutal first experience for a public match.”

“How many people are more concerned with being embarrassed than being hospitalised?”

Gem felt weak for how she’d reacted, and she was looking for reasons to justify hating her reaction as a result. It was a fairly natural reaction, if a difficult one to deal with.

“It doesn’t matter how many.” Karma answered, truthfully. “The way you respond to something as awful as what happened to you says nothing about your priorities as a person, nor should you feel self conscious about it.”

That seemed to quiet the girl down.

“I don’t think I can take part.” She said, uncertainly.

“Then don’t.” Karma answered. “But you need to make a decision, and make it your own.”

She stared into her friend’s face, saw the shaky unsurety behind her icy blue eyes, and realised that there would be no better chance than that very moment.

“If you want to be a warrior, be a warrior. Strength is a choice, so is weakness. There’s no shame in choosing one over the other, but very few are able to change their colours after already deciding on them.”

Gem dropped her gaze, and Karma found herself relieved at not needing to meet the girl’s eyes.

Calling her a coward while wearing a smile, lulling her into looking to you for advice, then using it to manipulate her. What kind of monster would you need to be to look her in the eye after doing all that, Karma?

“Thank you.” The girl said. Quietly, softly.

“No need to thank me.” Karma answered. “I wouldn’t be much of a tutor if I couldn’t help with this much, eh?”

Don’t thank me, for the Ancestor’s sake.

“I think I should go.” Gem murmured, and Karma nodded silently- placing a hand on her shoulder to guide her towards the door.

“Let me know if you need anything else.” She said, clutching the handle. “I’ll make time for you.”

Gem turned, flashing a smile as she stepped away and began down the corridor. As Karma closed the door behind her, she found herself trembling.

Pathetic. She could consign hundreds to death with the flick of a pen, but not tug at the emotions of a single girl?

Closing her eyes tight, squeezing tears back into their ducts before they could swell free, she concentrated on her breathing, letting the measured workings of her lungs serve to regulate her thoughts.

Strength was a choice, indeed. And Karma had already made hers long ago. There was no time for second-guessing her decision.

Steadied, numbed, she made her way back from the door.