“Again,” Valentina ordered.

It had been like this for two days now. Getting up and getting yelled at by her older sister was now Embla’s daily routine. It was difficult to control. The sheer destructive power fighting against the precise creative power of her Arts was something she needed to find a middle ground with. That being said, Embla could not easily control the precise creative power of her Arts. Two days was not enough to have the fine-tuned skill necessary in order to create things. However, the raw, untamed destructive power of Origin was something she was beginning to have better control of.

“Did I say you could slack?” Valentina barked.

Embla grimaced. Valentina was in her drill sergeant mode. Her left eye glowed with a golden light. Red and black strings of energy gathered and pooled in the palm of her hand. She allowed the power to flow through her, rather than force it through. It was far easier to control though she had accidents.

A small black and red orb of potent destructive power levitated above the palm of her hand.

“Hmm, hmm. As expected of my little sister, it only took you two days to form a small ball,” Valentina said, nodding proudly.

“This is harder to control than it looks,” Embla said dryly.

“Really? I didn’t have many problems learning to control it,” she replied. She created a similar orb that was far larger in size. Valentina aimed at a training dummy and fired. The orb traveled rapidly and enveloped the dummy before rapidly contracting.

Embla gawked. The dummy was no longer there. It was as if it had never existed in the first place.

“Shoot that other dummy over there,” Valentina said, pointing in the direction of a dummy in front of Embla.

“R-Right. Let’s hope it doesn’t fizzle out like it did the other day,” Embla replied. She aimed and threw the ball at the dummy.

The ball soared across the air and impacted the dummy. But unlike Valentina’s which rapidly enveloped the dummy, the orb pierced right through it and impacted the ground behind, leaving a small circular indentation.

“Mmm, not as destructive as I hoped it would but it’s a step up from yesterday,” Valentina said.

“I’m trying okay!” she replied in frustration.

“I’m not saying you did bad. I’m just saying you improved from yesterday. Remember that failure is a sign of progress. Failures are proof that you are trying to move towards a better result,” Valentina said. She waved her finger like she had some sort of moral high ground over her younger sister.

“Easy for you to say. You’re a prodigy with no equal,” Embla said.

“That’s not to say I didn’t fail from time to time. There are times when I failed… mainly against Koji and my decisions regarding you,” Valentina said.

“Sis, you didn’t fail with me. Look at me. I’m a big strong girl now and responsible too!” Embla said, patting Valentina on the shoulder.

“Responsible? I doubt that,” her sister replied with a smirk on her face.

“Hey! What’s that supposed to mean!?” Embla said, pounding her sister’s arm with her fists.

“Nothing,” Valentina said, walking off to avoid Embla’s attacks.

“Hey! Get back here! What did you mean by that!?” Embla ran after her.

“We’re leaving in two days,” Yuki said, sipping her tea.

Embla paid her team leader very little heed. The only thing she knew was happening was that they were leaving. Yuki and her entourage had been working closely with Red to hash out details about the nature of their partnership. She sighed.

“Did you guys get past all the red tape?” Embla asked.

“We’re fine now. Though, I talked to Mom over the Comm Screen. Aunt Lilia might be headed to Muspelheim too. Might. It’s not guaranteed but I know that I have total reign over this trip,” Yuki said.

“Question. Do we have to be there when you negotiate or can Red be the one to stay while we explore the beaches?” Cal asked.

Embla’s eyes swiveled over to the blonde elf. That look on his face. She didn’t like it. It made her feel uncomfortable. Cal eyeing other wo- Embla shook her head. She didn’t care if Cal was like that.

“I heard that Muspelheim, despite being a racist country has some really nice… um, specimens,” he added.

“Geez, you couldn’t be more transparent, Cal. Geez, if Em decides to wear a swimsuit, you’ll be de-” Pandora ducked underneath a pillow.

Cal’s face was beet red. “Hey! I…” Cal trailed off.

Embla hid her face under her hood. Pandora. Was now really the time to be teasing? She sighed and removed her hood.

“So? Is there anything we should know?” Embla said, trying to kill the blush on her face.

Yuki coughed and nodded. “Well, since you’re escorts, you will have to go with me to the Crystal Palace but you don’t have to go with me into the Kaiser’s Office. Kaguya, Red, and I will be the ones inside since, the moment we touch down in Muspel, Red is going to act as both your team leader and my personal guard like he did back in Alfheim.”

“Right, when we’re there, since I’m in charge, whenever I’m with Yuki and Kaguya, Pandora is in charge. Plusly, I don’t want you guys wandering off. Muspelheim is known for their radical xenophobia against non-Dragons and foreigners. I don’t want any trouble so you guys stay with the escort,” Red said.

“Why is Pandora in charge?” Cal asked.

“Yeah, why am I in charge?” she asked.

“Because between you three, Pandora is surprisingly the most responsible and I trust her not to burn down anything,” Red said.

“She’s a mage!” Embla protested.

“Priestess,” Pandora corrected.

“Same thing,” she replied.

“In any case, Pandora will be in charge. And Pandora, that means you can’t go to the beach while we’re there. Go there when we’re done with the negotiations if we finish that early,” Red said.

“Aw. Now that’s a mood killer,” Pandora said. “I packed so many swimsuits! I even bought some for Embla!”

“M-Me!?” Embla sputtered.

“Have you seen your figure!? I’ve seen it when you train without your… well that,” Pandora said, gesturing to Embla’s clothes.

“Hey! These clothes are comfortable!” Embla bit back.

“But seriously, you have a killer figure and I bought a few swimsuits that can turn the heads of all the Drag-” Pandora fell back on the couch, courtesy of a well-aimed pillow from Embla.

Red clapped his hands together. “You guys won’t be going to the beach since we’ll be spending most of our time at the Crystal Palace. If we finish early, we’ll head down to Muspel’s beaches and have ourselves a good day off. I think we deserve that after all the crap that’s happened to us over the past couple of days.”

Embla unconsciously flinched at Red’s words. She still had some memories and dreams of that day. The feeling of helplessness slowly set in and her breath hitched. Her eyes unfocused. However, Embla breathed and calmed herself down. She was stronger now, she hoped.

“This is going to be a basic escort quest so we’ll be taking it easy mostly,” Red said, crossing his arms. He leaned back in the chair and closed his eyes.

“Yeah, this should be an easy peasy piece of cake mission. Are you going to tell them about any cultural etiquette they should follow while in Muspel?” Yuki asked.

“Right, so while we’re in Muspelheim, I don’t want you guys to antagonize the Dragons there. The Dragons in Muspelheim are different from the dragons you find here in Midgard. The Dragons there are… what word did we use the other day?” Red asked.

“Xenophobic?” Cal asked.

“Racist?” Embla added.

“Genocidal?” Pandora said.

“Err, the first one. The people in Muspelheim are generally distrustful of those who aren’t from Muspelheim so you guys don’t do anything. We got lucky when they allowed us to go negotiate with them. The Prince of Muspelheim was gracious enough to allow the Empire of Alfheim to open talks with them. Midgard was also invited but they’ll go at a later time. A week after us, according to the schedule, right?” Yuki looked to Red.

“Well… I don’t have the program,” Red said.

“Right. Kaguya and I have the programs. I’ll tell you guys after I go reread the program again. But yes, we’re going to be very careful. Step like you’re stepping on eggshells. I don’t want you guys to get thrown in jail,” Yuki said.

“Red,” Embla said. “Are you from… Muspelheim?”

Red stopped talking and looked down at his pants. He looked up and sighed when he saw Embla’s inquisitive stare.

“Yes.”

“I knew it,” Cal said.

“Well, I wasn’t born there. My family was. My grandparents escaped from Muspelheim when the war started. My… Em, I know how you feel about family that isn’t there,” Red said.

“Huh?” Embla raised an eyebrow.

“My sister is in Muspelheim. She went back there when I was a kid. I haven’t seen her since but she writes letters regularly. I haven’t read a letter from her though. It’s been three years and I don’t think she knows that I live in Midgard now,” Red said.

“Oh. That’s why you felt so connected to Val,” Embla replied.

“Yeah, Red’s sister was supposed to be my guard but she left. Now I got Red and I’m all the better for it,” Yuki added. She leaned over and kissed his cheek.

“Alright, is that all, Yuki?” Red asked.

“Huh? Oh, yeah, that’s it for now.” She got off the couch and stretched. “I have to head back to the Sage’s manor. We leave in two days and I have to sign off on a lot of stuff and help manage the supplies. I’ll try to come here for dinner,” Yuki finished.

Embla smiled. “Don’t push yourself too much,” she said.

Yuki nodded.

A lone figure dashed across the silent night skyline of a bustling city. The city was beautiful. A semi-tropical paradise located around the base of a dormant volcano. In the distance, a palace that gleamed like red crystals in the light. Her red eyes darted from side to side.

Behind her, several cloaked figures followed after her. Their cloaks were black and their faces were covered. The insignia of a serpentine dragon was etched into the emblem of their cloaks.

She stopped her run after reaching the edge of the building. Below her, a hoard of citizens walked, oblivious to the conflict happening above them.

“Stop right there, rebel,” one of the cloaked guards said. He stepped forward and drew a curved sword. The others pointed their manacaster rifles at her.

The figure turned around. Underneath her hood, a toothy smirk graced her tan features.

“Looks like this really is the end of the road for me, isn’t it?” she said. Her flaming red bangs fluttered in the warm tropic breeze.

“Surrender yourself and the Kaiser might be merciful towards you. Who knows? You might even have a place in his harem,” the supposed leader of the squad chasing her said.

“A place? Now that does sound appealing. Allow me to present my counter-offer,” the figure said. She moved her cloak and revealed her sword. The lacquer-wood scabbard was illuminated by the dull light of the Moon.

“Do you really think you can take on Muspelheim’s elite?” the dragon said.

“I don’t know. Why don’t we find out… now?” she clicked the hilt of her sword.

In a flash, she resheathed her blade and wiped her cheek.

“What was that supposed to be-” his sentence never finished. The sound of blood spraying and throats being slashed filled his ears. He turned around faster than a twister and saw the corpses of his fellow warriors all sprawled on the ground.

“Looks like I can take on Muspelheim’s Elite,” she said, placing her hands on her hips.

“Y-You…”

“Me?”

“Raaaghhh!” he dashed forward with his curved sword raised above his head.

“Heh.” the figure bent their legs and gripped their sword. She placed her thumb on the top of the crossguard and tightened her hold on the grip.

As the guard rapidly closed the distance between the corpses of his comrades and her, she rapidly drew her sword. In a flash, the man before her was incapacitated. But at the rate his blood pooled around his torso, he would be dead before the hour ended.

“Hmm,” she sighed and stared at the light of the Moon, which now illuminated the red crystals of the Crystal Palace.

“Rose.”

A voice came into her ears.

“Yes?” Rose responded.

“Come back to HQ. There’s been a change of plans,” the voice said.

“Hmm? Fine. I guess it was too good to be true that I’d be able to enjoy this walk tonight,” Rose said, stepping onto the ledge.

“It’s important,” the voice urged.

“Alright, alright. Don’t get your britches in a twist,” Rose said.

A pair of leathery, draconic wings spread from her back. With one powerful beat, Rose shot like a rocket into the sky and disappeared under the cover of night, guided by an uncaring Moon.