Tick tick tick boom.

The world slowed, not just metaphorically from the blissful, perfect state of being hugged by my bestest friend in the world. Time stopped, supernaturally entranced. Black clouds of smoke hung in the air above me as sparks that were priorly flying from the ruined restaurant now glittered in front of my face, frozen in time.

The universe didn’t actually slow down - it was the opposite. The organic part of my brain was unable to keep up with the thaumaturgical, fractal machinery of the stars that had accelerated its momentum in my head, fueled by the radiance of Celes Rada.

The heart of the kitsune wasn’t mere serenity - it was amplification, a projection of focused Qi that magnified and galvanized the problem-solving part of my mind. Amplified tenfold by the focused power of the geisha, the parapsychological, fractal bits of my brain operated by the Pharmacist had arrived at another breakthrough, another resolution, the answer to the problem that had been bugging me for days.

The Stormweavers.

The Pharmacist had been thinking over the problems of the Stormweavers for a while now, trying to understand HOW the sky-knights could destroy so much of the Gold city in so little time. How the Gold city for all of its high-cultivators and servitor phantoms seemed so defenseless and so easily overrun by them.

The answer was there, ever since I laid my eyes on that Qi-less apple sitting in the grass beneath my feet atop the overgrown ruin of my skyscraper.

Qi.

It was so simple, right in front of me all this time!

Time resumed its flow.

I held Celes for a while longer, refusing to let go of her. What? It’s not like my tsundere fiancee was offering me serenity-filled hugs. Damn kindness miser. I squinted at Arianna who stood beside us, angrily tapping her foot.

She even hissed something under her breath that sounded like “Get a room, you two.”

I thought of the lovely room I had almost spent the night in and looked back at the smoking ruin of my favorite restaurant in the universe. I was going to miss the Whale’s Song. Hopefully the builders would fix it up soon. I wondered if Sylver had insurance. Was insurance even a thing in the Gold city?

“I missed you too, foxxy,” I whispered to Celes. “Surprise - I got engaged! What were you up to at the compound? Any good news?”

“Administrator Han returned,” she answered.

“That’s bad news,” I huffed.

“He was heading to my temple when he saw the three explosions in the sky,” Celes continued. “He flew up and caught Clint Potatius just as the insane Guilder vaporized the Whale’s Song and upturned half of the marketplace. Han threatened him into submission. Clint will face the full wrath of the Temple of Inquiry and will be hunted down by the Inquisition if he uses another core on the city,” she whispered back.

“That’s good,” I exhaled. “I was worried he wouldn't stop bombing me. At least the compound authorities are good for something.”

“Enforcer Han doesn’t know who stole the cores, but the cult will figure it out eventually.” Celes sighed. “I’ve put him to sleep for several days to help him heal faster. I’ve bought you as much time as I could. The Temple of Inquiry will send a hunter after you… tonight.”

“Argh. I’ll need to find an extra safe place for tonight then,” I muttered.

I needed more help. Needed one of the most powerful men in the city on my side. I needed to reach concord with Lord Manning.

I let go of Celes with a sigh and turned back to the Magistrate who was still standing in the rubble, glaring at us.

If the Magistrate’s high-level nose could smell the future, maybe it could smell the intent in my words too. Maybe I could take advantage of his power to talk to him… personally.

“Lord Manning, can you understand me?” I asked in English. “Nod twice if you do.”

The Magistrate sniffed the air and nodded twice. Excellent! The noble nose feared no language barriers. He could indeed smell the meaning behind the words!

Fascinating.

I noted that Arianna was smelling my words too. She looked at me curiously.

“Arianna, can I have one of your hairs?” I asked her.

“Umm… my hair… why?” She inquired.

“It’s for a little experiment,” I added conspiratorially. “Trust me. It’ll be fun.”

Arianna shrugged, grabbed one of her ginger hairs and ripped it out, handing it to me.

I stepped as close as I could to the servitor wall, holding the hair in front of the Magistrate’s eyes.

“I’ve been contemplating the problem of the Stormweavers for a while now,” I told him in English. “Exactly thirteen years ago, Lady Lillian’s men found Ash Sparks in the ashes of her former home. The Stormweavers are able to vaporize buildings and they can spontaneously combust Gold city citizens with ease.”

The Magistrate sniffed the air and stared at me curiously.

“Using a relatively simple principle of a dust explosion, I used mundane flour from the Gold city to kill a Rat King in the catacombs. I had expected to simply distract the beast and then run. Mere flour shouldn't have killed the Rat King, but it did. Do you know why? Qi radiating from Boundless Chorus permeates the food we eat. Qi is in every grass blade, in every cupcake and in every citizen of the Gold city. Qi is inside of us, waiting to be unleashed. Observe.”

While I was speaking, I wound the spiral pattern around the red hair in my hands.

“If I did it, then why couldn't someone else figure out the same damn thing and apply it on a coordinated, massive scale to cause death and destruction? To spontaneously combust people, turning their own Qi against them. Boom.”

The hair in my hand flashed like a firecracker, igniting and rapidly turning to ashes.

Lord Manning’s face darkened. “Who taught you the Deathstorm spiral hexagram?”

I glanced at Arianna.

“I see,” he growled. His look in Arianna’s direction definitely promised her pain. I guessed that he didn’t know that she was teaching urchins secret methods of how to set stuff on fire with very precise Qi patterns.

“Why does it matter how they do it?” Lord Manning finally asked after a brief pause, recomposing himself. “The Stormweavers can’t be stopped. Many before you have tried and perished.”

My little fire-show didn’t manage to convince him. It was time for the big guns.

“Say hi to the Pharmacist,” I pointed my finger at him and cast myself forward. An indeterminate, aberrant figure woven from torn up, semi-transparent fractals stood in front of the Magistrate. He stepped back in surprise, sniffing the strange ghost.

“I was born in a time of great peace and prosperity when humanity had reached out to the distant cosmos with our machines and to infinity with our mathematics!” I spoke in Russian with my older, scruffier voice, staring straight into the alarmed eyes of Traetorius Manning. “I used my intellect to become a healer and a researcher. I studied languages and mathematics because there was no need for war. I woke up in a world filled with ignorance, pain and suffering to the brim. I refuse to bow down to the likes of you, when I know that I can save people with my knowledge!”

“Choose your future, Traetorius.” I broadcast my will, my intent to destroy the Magistrate’s office to Lord Manning.

Fuelled by Arianna’s shared Dantian and by the focused serenity of Celes, I visualised myself as something more than a scrawny human girl. I was a wrathful goddess. I was everything that the rich and the powerful feared. I was the storm of change, the spark of an all-consuming inferno of Revolution.

“Either you lose everything now or join us,” I continued in Chinese. “You know what I’m going to say if you refuse. I will ignite the crowd, tell these fine Builders that you’ve blasphemed against the Emissary of Lord Boundless and they will personally lynch you right here and now. You failed to snip me away. Now it’s my turn. Viva la Revolution.” I finished in French.

The crowd of Gold city citizenry behind me slowly grew. They had no idea what I was saying - they were busy gossiping about the destruction of the marketplace and my engagement.

I thought of Lenin standing in front of the crowds, calling the Russian people to overthrow the tzar. I thought of Joan of Arc. I thought of Alexander the Great. Human history was filled with people who did incredible things because they stood at the forefront of change, wielding the crowds like a fiddle.

“You’re worried about the cult’s wraith, Magistrate? It’s me you should be afraid of! Smell this future - just a few words from me to this crowd will destroy the Magisterium and set the Gold City aflame like a powderkeg.”

The Magistrate inhaled and his face turned pale as his mouth dropped open. I didn’t know what he smelled, but it must have been truly terrifying… because I knew of far too many ways to set the world on fire. The human kindling was already there, gathering behind me.

[Paint the streets red with blood. Vanquish your enemies. Turn men against men.] The dark shadows danced behind my eyes.

I saw that Lord Manning’s lip trembled. He saw the future in which I ended him and ignited the city. I winked the Pharmacist’s ghost away, put away the metaphorical stick. It was time for the carrot.

“You’ll pay for fixing my favorite restaurant, won’t you granddaddy?” I spoke in Aeiiznunmmnkk with my teenage, cheerful, sixteen-year-old voice as I pointed at the ruins of the Whale's Song. “Let’s have a grand wedding ceremony! A proper one with many guests! In fact, we’ll invite the entire city to it!”

“What?” He decried. “You can’t be serious!”

“Oh, I am very serious, granddad. I smell a joyous wedding party in our future and a life of merriment. What do you smell?”

“Death,” he spoke through clenched teeth. “First mine, then yours.”

“We’ll see about that.” I smirked. “Sniff this.”

“HEAR THAT EVERYONE?!” I turned and yelled at the top of my lungs, putting as much of my Qi as I could into my voice to magnify and broadcast it. “The Magistrate is inviting everyone in the Gold city to the esteemed wedding-celebration of Saint Sparks and Princess Manning in three days time at Central Park! Bring your kids and grandparents! Come one, come all! A holiday of no-work for the Gold city! All attendees will receive a free meal and an empowering gift of Qi from us and the Magistrate!”

“What are you doing?!” The Magistrate rasped. He didn’t appreciate me spending his money so frivolously.

“Changing the future,” I replied as the gathered crowd behind me cheered jubilantly. “Changing the future for everyone, forever.”

Emerald-colored Qi danced in the eyes of Traetorius as he sniffed again, seeing something that I could not.

“Are you with us, granddad?” I offered the aghast Magistrate my hand. “Answer me honestly! I want Arianna to hear your words! I want everyone gathered here to hear that you love us!”

“I… I am,” Traetorius Manning replied. I had only given him two paths into the future and he chose the one where we both lived a bit longer. “It seems that you’ve left me no choice... but to congratulate you and my Aria on your union.”

“Will you aid and protect me and Arianna?” I asked.

“Yes,” the Magistrate answered coldly.

“Will you swear here and now to never use that ghastly snipper of yours on either of us again?”

“...yes. I swear,” he answered, his shoulders dropping. “I won’t use it again on you two.”

“He’s telling the truth,” Arianna whispered.

“Aight, we cool now, you can let him pass,” I told Magnolia. He signaled his men and the builder servitors moved, resuming their rubble-clearing jobs.

The Magistrate walked towards us with Avidius lurking behind him like a dark shadow.

“Can I have my ring back?” He asked tiredly as he stood in front of me.

“Can I have my precious memories of moon Calypso back?” I mockingly repeated his tone.

“It… it doesn’t work like that,” he muttered.

“Well, then… too bad. I’m keeping the Manning ring,” I said conclusively. “It’s a small price to pay for my suffering. At least you can buy yourself a new shiny ring. I, on the other hand, will never know the diameter of Calypso now. I don’t know how I can go on!”

The Magistrate sighed.

“Let's go home... granddad.” I smiled innocently.