The orange glow that illuminated Hisayo’s dark chamber began to dim. The roaring blaze that had dominated the reception area of the room had all been extinguished, a few trace embers remaining on the still hot stone floor. Bento, the mountain tiger, crept forward on its massive paws to timidly approach his master. He gave an inquisitive grunt in the direction of the female, who was crouching over the singed, but still alive Yuko, “Is it safe? Is the fire gone?” “Yes Bento, its safe now. I am sorry to startle you.” Hisayo said, speaking affectionately to the large beast. Another low rumble

“Can I eat her. She is already cooked”. She exhaled running her hands over her hair in frustration.

“No, you cannot eat her. Apparently, she has the possibility to be useful in helping us acquire the data on APEX. I hate to admit it, but if she has a plan that is worthwhile it could bring us closer to stopping the project in its tracks. I have to consider this and at least hear her out.” She stated.

“She is an outsider, she does not belong here,” The tiger sounded again. Hisayo glanced thoughtfully at the beast before lightly clapping her hands together, summoning Zed to her side. He kneeled deeply at the feet of his mistress.

“Zed, bring this girl to Shelty and have her healed,” Hisayo commanded as she tenderly pets Bento’s snout.

“Right away my lady.” He responded, walking over and reaching down to hoist Yuko’s still steaming figure into his arms.

“Oh, and Zed,” She called after him, stopping the man before he left. “Tell everyone to gather in the meeting room this afternoon. Our new houseguest shall present an intriguing idea to us.” With that, the man bowed and exited the room.

Bento stared at his master somberly, his animalistic message was clear, “What if she is lying?” Hisayo’s lips curled into a wicked smile.

“Then I shall personally tear her limb from limb.” She said, her aura flared in excitement as she thought of obliterating the girl permanently. Bento gave a whine before retreating back to his resting spot near the bed. Hisayo calmed herself and gave her pet a warm smile. “And yes, I will let you eat what remains”. Bento’s heart leaped in joy as his tail whipped around in excitement. His master truly was the best.

Shelty laid on the soft, fluffy bed in her room, exhaled a long pent-up breath as she kicked off her shoes. Despite her last assignment being relatively short, the current complications with Yuko made it down right exhausting. With Satoru still dealing with the other leading ladies of the compound, and Zed on standby with Hisayo, she finally had managed to acquire a few precious moments to herself. She mulled over what to do in her head. Take a nap? Steal a pint of ice cream from the kitchen? Maybe go outside in the garden? Her possibilities were endless. “Maybe I should watch some TV?” She mused to herself reaching for the remote at her bedside. Her finger about to press the power button, when she heard sharp rapping on her door. She didn’t need to ask who it was, the intense, stuffy presence of the aura gave away Zed’s stoic presence standing on the other side of the threshold as the doors slid open. In his arms she recognized Yuko, albeit looking very crispy.

“So, that is why I felt the surge of power coming from Lady Hisayo’s room.” She inferred. Zed cleared his throat.

“Lady Hisayo requests that you heal the girl,” he said.

Shelty cursed her luck. Just when she believed she would be rid of the girl, circumstance finds a way to thrust them back together. Unable to refuse a direct command from their leader, Shelty nodded and took the girl from Zed’s arms, placing her on the bed.

“We are all gathering in the meeting room later as well. The reason you are healing this girl is that she believes she can help us in our efforts to disrupt the research on APEX.” He added. Shelty shook her head in confusion.

“That’s obviously bullshit. People will say anything when they are begging for their life. Do you really think that some girl can really help us? Succeed where all our efforts have failed so far?” Shelty pressed the man, frustration with being stuck as babysitter yet again apparent in her tone. Zed shrugged as he left the two alone.

“That is for the ‘airhead’ herself to tell us this afternoon.” He quipped letting the doors slide shut as he exited. She turned her attention back to Yuko, whose faint breathing was getting weaker by the moment. Letting out an annoyed huff she went to sit on the bed next to the girl, cradling the girls head on one of her arms. Shelty bit into her wrist letting loose a steady stream of blood and held it to the girls’ mouth. She gently tilted the unconscious girl’s head to let the warm liquid flow down her throat, massaging it gently to coax it to swallow. Upon ingesting the blood, Yuko instantly began to recover. The moisture returned to her skin and the color to her face.

The severely burned skin that pockmarked her body, was replaced with fresh new layers of fair skin. Her dull eyes lit up once again as she suddenly sprang awake with a long gasp. The shock of her lungs receiving fresh oxygen forced her into a coughing fit. Shelty wrinkled her nose in disgust as the blood dripping from the girls’ mouth sprayed everywhere with each hacking cough she took. Yuko ran her hands along her body, feeling around to check if everything was in order. She leapt from the bed and ran up to a mirror looking at her face, seeing her body restored it its former state.

“I’m…alive,” she uttered softly. Tears began to well up in her eyes as a wave of relief washed over her. “I’m alive…I’m alive...” She spotted Shelty in the mirror and tackled the girl in a tight embrace, crumbling into a teary, sobbing mess. “You saved me! You saved me! Thank you so much!” She blubbered covering Sheltys’ clothes in tears and mucus.

“Gross! Get off me!” yelled Shelty prying the girl off her.

Yuko apologized and gathered herself, wiping her nose and eyes. “I’m sorry. I truly am grateful that you saved my life. So once again, thank you.” Yuko prostrated herself before the girl, lowering her head in a show of sincerity. The grand gesture caught Shelty off guard, maybe she could show a bit of sympathy. She had just literally come from hell after all.

“I didn’t do it for you,” She started, “It’s just because I was ordered. So count yourself lucky, as you are the first person I know to have faced Lady Hisayo’s flames and survived.” She remarked, a hint of admiration in her voice. Yuko began to tremble in fear as the heat of Hisayo’s inferno burned through her memory.

“What…What is she?” She said, voice shaking with fear.

“She is human of course,” Shelty replied evidently.

“Humans can’t just make fire like that!” Yuko retorted. “It’s impossible! You are all impossible! How is that possible? How is any of this possible?” The brief outburst gave way to silence, with nothing but the sound of the traumatized girls’ laborious breaths filling the room. Shelty took a seat on her favorite chair in the corner of her room.

“You really don’t know then,” She reflectively whispered to herself. The girl had come from a normal life in a modern city, filled with all the pleasantries and security one could want. Most people had no need to learn the mystic arts. To hone and harness their own innate inner power. Shelty would have liked to sweep the topic under the rug, but seeing as Yuko had been exposed to several powerful auras and abilities for the better part of 12 hours, she felt maybe she could at least explain what was afflicting her. She gave Yuko an unflinching gaze, her stern look indicating the gravity of the information she was about to disclose.

“Yuko, you have seen and been exposed to things you would already consider extraordinary. But I will say this, if I reveal to you the nature of our abilities, I fear that your life will cease all chance of returning to normal. Do you still want to know?” Yuko considered Shelty’s warning. The crass blonde had never used her name before. Also taking into account everything she had been through lately if there was still something else that could shake up her world even further it couldn’t be taken lightly. She was once again faced with a difficult choice whose prospects tickled at her unusual inquisitive nature.

‘I’m sure Haru would be screaming at me to quit while I’m ahead…or behind in my case,’ she thought to herself. Her heart pained at the thought of her friend, whom she missed dearly. However, Yuko had already decided what she wanted, even before Shelty’s warning. “Yes. I do,” she answered, her resolve steeled. “I want to know as much as I can.”

Shelty nodded in confirmation, accepting the girls will. “Very well,” She began. “Let’s talk about spirits.”

Yuko’s mind reeled. For the last few hours, Shelty had regaled her of a wealth of information, that frankly just seemed too impossible to believe. She compiled the information she remembered to make sure she had absorbed everything.

“So you’re saying,” she started. “That every person alive has some sort of chi or spirit power or whatever but most people have a low amount.” Shelty nodded. “And that most people like you all have ridiculous amounts which allow these, feats.” Another nod. “And that there are these deities living amongst us that most normal people can’t perceive, but those with strong innate ability are able to subjugate them and gain their powers?”

“Yes,” Shelty answered.

“And that Hisayo, Satoru, and every other member of the family controls a Deity of some sort? And that’s why she could make that fire?”

“That is correct, also you should note that she belongs to a special class, called an elemental. It simply means she wields the powers of a deity with elemental affiliation. Elementals are usually the most powerful as their powers usually can have disastrous effects. It’s why Lady Hisayo rarely goes out into cities and doesn’t fully use her abilities when she is out. Think of it like a muscle that can grow and become stronger the longer one uses it and cultivates it.” She added.

Yuko shook her head in disbelief. The viral videos of people shooting spurts of water from their hands, or levitating; it all made sense. She thought it was sleight of hand or just a simple chemical reaction. How wrong she had been. Her eyes had been closed off to an entire world she had no idea existed, and she felt she was only scratching the surface. “Can I... see one?” She asked quietly.

“Not from me. I cannot bond with a deity.” Shelty stated solemnly.

“How come?” Yuko followed up.

“I am…different is all,” Shelty replied. The girl didn’t seem to want to elaborate, and Yuko decided not to press the matter any further. “You have been exposed to a lot of strong auras since being here, I am actually impressed you have not been driven mad or worse.” Shelty commended after a while.

“What do you mean?”

“Think of it as walking through a blizzard naked. The human body is not meant to be exposed to such extreme conditions without a buffer, and the same goes for the aura. When someone untrained is exposed to someone who has mastered their own internal energy, it can be deadly. But since you have survived, your body might have acclimated, and you may be able to have limited contact with one if there is a host willing to reveal theirs to you. But even that may be only temporary.” Yuko was taking this much better than Shelty thought. Usually, when one learned of the existence of god-like entities living and contributing to their everyday lives, they usually broke down in one way or another. She took a look at the clock on her bedside, it was nearly time for the meeting. “Alright then,” she said returning to her usual demeanor. “Story time is over, you had best stay here and prepare.” She said.

Yuko perked up. “Wait, why? Prepare for what?” Shelty went to her closet to grab a change of clothes for the girl. She settled on one of her old blouses and a pair of her slacks and set them on the bed next to her.

“Our mistress. We are on a hunt for APEX. You are alive now because you told her you could be of use to us. She has called for the whole family together to hear just how you would be able to do that. Now get dressed, I will come to fetch you when they are ready.”

Yuko elicited a series of profane swears. She had completely forgotten! Hisayo must have sniffed out her bluff, and wants to put her under pressure to expose her. Yuko was trapped. She had no plan, no way to escape, and was essentially going to be walked to her execution yet again. She needed to think and fast as the sun began to rise higher in the sky, drawing her encounter ever closer.

----Later, 3:00 pm----

Shelty waited with Yuko in the compounds meeting room. What used to be used as a briefing room for assignments, was now mostly unused due to the new more convenient assignment system that had been implemented. Clients whose assignments were in the standards of being accepted could pay an additional fee for a specific member of the main family they wanted to execute the mission. Those details were sent directly to a device that member owned. The room was now mostly used for the orientation of new staff and for other special occasions.

Like Now.

Shelty stood against the wall in the back of the room as Yuko paced nervously in the front, softly muttering her a pitch she had come up with over and over to herself. She hoped that the girl came up with something convincing, as the doors slid open and the family began to arrive. The first to walk in was the ever-gallant Maya, the ever-perfect image of dignity, she strolled into the room taking a spot in the back next to Shelty.

“Enjoying your babysitting duties?” The woman said, quietly poking fun at her younger associate. Shelty rolled her eyes. “She seems rather spry for someone who was supposed to be burned alive. It seems our Lady Hisayo has gotten softer over these years.” Maya commented. “So it seems,” Shelty replied perking up as she saw an uninterested Satoru walk in the room followed by his mother. Yuko ceased her muttering as the woman walked up to her, a delighted smile on her face. “So you’re our famed houseguest eh?” She said. “My son has told me all about you.”

Yuko was mesmerized by the woman’s beauty. She was relatively tall about 170 centimeters with flowing dark hair that went down past her back. She wore a long black sari that hugged her figure but kept her legs and arms exposed for freedom of movement, and on her feet, she wore a pair of black boots. Like the rest of the family, her eyes were a distinctive amber hue yet her skin was a tad paler than the others. Her face was mature yet still had a youthful vigor about it and she sported a beauty mark under her left eye. Her nails were painted a deep purple as she offered her hand to Yuko to shake.

“My name is Hanabi Hattori, but feel free to call me Hana. You met my cute little sister Sayo earlier,” She said. Yuko looked mortified.

“I’m sorry but did you say, little sister?” Yuko asked disbelievingly.

Hanabi nodded enthusiastically. “Yup! Isn’t she the cutest?” Hanabi leaned closer to Yuko as if she was going to tell the girl a secret. “She seems scary at first, but she’s really a softie. I mean she named her tiger Bento of all things.” Hanabi chuckled.

“So, is her being a softie the reason she burned me alive?” Yuko asked. Hanabi didn’t even miss a beat.

“Well, you’re alive, right? And you say you want to help us, so I guess we are both lucky!” Hanabi replied.

“That is what we are here to determine Hana,” Hisayo’s stoic voice sounded as she entered the room with Zed and another girl Yuko had not seen before. She looked like she was around Yuko’s age and had the typical ‘Hattori Beauty’, and dark hair that Yuko could now assume ran in the family. Yet she looked…. different. She lacked the ethnic features that even Yuko shared with the Hattori family. Her eyes were round and colored a deep emerald, instead of the trademark amber the rest of the family had, possibly signifying mixed heritage. As Hisayo passed Yuko she flashed a sinister smirk at the girl.

“I hope you are well-rested girl.” She haughtily poked at Yuko. “Please, do your best to show us how much of an asset you can be. I’d hate to have to have called everyone here for nothing. We truly hate to have our time wasted after all.” She finished, taking her seat. At last everyone was gathered and Yuko became the object of scrutiny for the most dangerous family in the world. The most important interview of her life had begun.