Chapter 5

“Well, shit,” said a familiar voice. At least now I didn’t have to do any research on the Black Lady later. “The hell are you doing here? Who sent you? And why in the name of God are your clothes wet?” she said as she lowered her hood and mask, revealing long, lilac locks. “I thought I’d see you again in a few days, not a few hours…”

I didn’t dare move even as I spoke. “Fancy seeing you here, ma’am. I’m a cous-”

She rolled her bright green eyes. “Drop the act, Blaze.”

“How do you even know my name?”

Black Lady’s eyes widened a little in surprise. “Uh, from your company event thing earlier, of course. But don’t make this about me - I asked you the questions first, so if you want to get out here without any new holes through your body, you’re gonna answer ‘em.”

“...a friend of mine sent me here. It’s a thing I do every now and again, getting… data from sources that most people would rather keep hidden. Though I will say this one’s much easier than I’m used to…” I grumbled.

“Easier th- okay, fine.” She slowly put the barrel of her sniper down, looking deep in thought. “I know someone Disappeared here a few days back, so that’s probably what you were here for…” She took a peek behind me, eyeing the apartment I just came out of. “Wait, did you do this? You literally just got your Brand a few hours ago, and it sure as hell wasn’t a Frossen.”

“The frost and the what now?”

In one swift motion, Black Lady put her sniper on her back, grabbed my right hand and pulled my glove off. My brand was mostly black, but every now and again it would glow a weak orange. “It’s already put in work. That would explain why you’re sweating - brand new Ignis have a tendency to overheat in cold conditions,” she explained matter-of-factly.

“Look, lady, I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I lied, “I just grabbed something from my friend’s laptop to give to another friend. I don’t know what this Brand is, I’ve never seen it my entire life!”

She sighed. “If you’re trying to raise your voice to alert the neighbors, don’t waste your breath. The entire floor’s covered in a sound bubble that's constantly emitting waves at the exact frequency of any sound within it.”

“That’s… actually pretty cool. So we’re effectively in a soundproof room?”

She smiled a little. “More or less. Actual soundproof rooms would use material that absorbs the sound, but the concept is the same.” Just as quickly, Black Lady’s scowl returned. “Look, your Brand’s already begun developing. I’m… not really supposed to tell anyone this, at least not yet, but… oh, put your hands down, will you? If I wanted you dead I would’ve shot you before you entered the building.”

“Excuse me?”

“Did I stutter?”

She began to pace around the hallway, occasionally peering inside Laura’s still-frozen apartment. I could hear her muttering, but I couldn’t make out the words. Her lilac hair bounced around her shoulders with every step. My sweating had stopped a little, though my back was still exposed to the cold room and was still kinda wet, and my clothes were still soaked.

Finally, Black Lady stopped pacing right in front of me. If looks could kill, I’d be dead a hundred times over by now. “Your company’s greenhouse project is just the first of many.”

“Well shit, I could’ve told you that myself.” She raised an eyebrow and I decided to shut up.

“The rest of the greenhouses will come in pre-fabbed,” she continued, “but there’s still the problem of staffing them. My unit’s job is to find people with… specific conditions, one that can get said greenhouses up and running.”

I waited a few seconds before replying. “So you’re military?”

“Corporal Ysandra Duriel, at your service.”

“Okay, Corporal. That still doesn’t explain much.”

“Relax, I’m getting to it.” Ysandra began to pace around again. “I was tipped off that a Branded was going to this apartment for one reason or another. I was hoping for a Nabaath, but I found an Ignis instead. That would be you.”

“Okay, but Nabaath isn’t even a real word.”

To my surprise, she actually laughed. “Well, maybe not, but it’s the word we have for it now. Regardless, Blaze - God, how’d you end up with an Ignis brand with a name like that? - you’ve seen me twice now, and I’ve shared some sensitive information with you. And you know what that means…”

“That I follow your next request or you shoot.”

“Good, you catch on quick!" The barrel of her sniper hit me on the shoulder, though she didn't seem to notice. “Your friend, Laura? She’s not the first, and she’s far from the last. Things are changing, Blaze, and since you seem to know your stuff, I’d like to offer you a place in the New Pines military in about, oh, a week. You’ll know it when it happens.”

...Grant said he’d be arriving in New Pines in about a week. That couldn’t be a coincidence. So I weighed my options. I could try to cut and run, but this lady’s got a sniper she’s not afraid to use. I could say no straight up and die, and leave Bertram wondering about what really happened to Laura; not to mention my friends in Last Thoughts would worry about me and might try finding me. So… there really wasn’t much of a choice.

“Okay, Corporal Ysandra. I accept your offer.”

“Not that you had any other option…” she snarked.

“But. I need information.”

“Oh, please. What information could you possibly need? You know damn well what Brands are, because you didn’t panic too hard when you got yours earlier. You already know a bit about the Disappearance, at least enough to go straight for your friend’s laptop to get evidence of it.”

Damn, she saw right through me. She’s good.

I decided to try again anyway, this time without lying. “I know of Brands, and I’ve seen some stuff online. They get taken down within hours, at most, but generally all traces of anything Brand-related is gone after a few minutes. That is not enough time to save much of anything about them… anywhere. All I have is a video of a guy controlling water, which people thought was just cleverly edited, and a picture of someone’s arm with this same Brand-” I pointed to my right hand- “which people thought was just a cool tattoo. And don’t even get me started on the people popping out of reality - no one believes that.”

I had never told anyone else about these, not even Ice or my other friends online. I mean, if Bertram thought I was crazy, I was sure they’d think so as well. I had to admit, it felt good finally being able to share it with someone who would actually take me seriously, even if she had a weird temper and a scary sniper.

Ysandra stopped pacing right in front of me again. Her eyes were closed, and her eyebrows were furrowed in concentration. She was also biting a gloved thumb absent-mindedly. “Fine. Follo-” Her eyes snapped open, and suddenly I couldn’t hear anything anymore - not even my own breathing nor my heartbeat. In one swift motion, Ysandra popped her mask and hood back on, and prepped her sniper, pointing it at the middle of the hallway. She motioned for me to go back inside Laura’s apartment; as we did so, we kept our eyes in front, scanning for danger.

My Brand immediately started pulsing when she closed the door, sending out waves of warmth all over my body to protect me from the cold. Before I could start sweating like crazy, I raised the room’s temperature to 5 degrees. I could hear myself again as Ysandra dropped her sound bubble; she shot me a look, but didn’t say anything.

“What’s happening, Ys?” I whispered.

“Holy fuck, do not call me that.” Her voice modulator was back on, but even through that I could hear her cringe. “Someone followed me here. Someone who knows about Brands, and my current Brand specifically. I don’t know if they’re after me, or you, or this apartment, but at this point that hardly matters, does it?”

She grabbed a pistol from her holster - a nice and hefty Tesla, probably chambered for 9mm with 11 bullets per clip - and handed it to me. Thanks, I mouthed. I made sure the safety was off before clutching it properly, my trigger finger raised parallel to the gun to avoid any accidents. I haven’t used a gun in a long, long time, but thankfully the muscle memory never went away.

“Find us an exit. I need to make some sort of trap or diversion for our friend.”

“Woman, we’re twenty-three floors up.”

“And if you don’t start now, we’ll be six feet under. Now shut up and find some way to get out of here.” She opened the door to the supply closet, picked out a couple of bottles and poured the contents of one into another. I recoiled when one of the bottles began to emit smoke, and headed back to the apartment to search for a way out.

My first thought was the kitchen, but the window was way too small. Steam wafted out of the bathroom - shit, I left the shower running. But it had no windows either, just a small grille that was probably connected to the vents. I turned off the water before checking out Laura’s bedroom again.

With the frost now gone, it looked a little worse for wear. Almost everything had now absorbed, or was covered in, water. The steam from the bathroom must have made the melting process in the bedroom go by faster. Another difference was that there was now sunlight peeking out from the other end of the room.

As I got closer, the reason became obvious. The curtains were waterlogged and were slowly giving out under their own weight. I grabbed one end and pulled, revealing a glass door that led to a balcony. Sunlight filtered through the door, creating small rainbows in the afternoon sun. I made sure that the doors worked before going back to tell Ysandra.

“Psst. Hey. Ys!” I whispered as loud as I could. “I found a doNDJWHADHAWN”

I kicked my attacker, hoping to put them off-balance, but instead I hit air and lost mine. I almost lost my grip on Ysandra’s pistol as I fell. With a loud THUD, my back hit the ground for the second time that day. I groaned, but the sound was still muffled by the black gloves covering my mouth.

“Jesus Christ, calm down. That was my bad, my training kicked in instinctively there.” A familiar visor was staring down at me, and I could swear Ysandra was laughing from behind it. I used my left hand to take hers off of my mouth.

“Very funny.”

“Sorry, sorry. Been a while since… yeah.”

“Since you kicked some helpless civilian’s ass?”

“You have a pistol and a Brand, Blaze. That’s hardly helpless. Now get up. And don’t call me Ys.” She helped me up, then closed the bedroom door before inspecting the balcony. “Looks good. Now we just need to get out of here.”

She tossed me two metal hooks - the kind you’d use for rappelling - some rope, and a belt. “Put the belt on, attach both ends of the rope to a hook, then attach one of those hooks to the belt.” A sudden, loud crash came in from the living room. “And make it snappy. We’re not exactly being stealthy here.”

I did as instructed. The hardwood floor of Laura’s apartment creaked loudly, as if some massive weight was being put into it, step by step. “Oh, good, I’m right on the money. It’s an Eisen, and from the sound of it his bonemetal growth is severely out of control.”

“Eisen? Iron? Bonemetal?!”

“Yeah, Eisen Primii have a tendency to put on some extra weight. Now are you just gonna stand there slack jawed or do you wanna get out of here?”

“OH, GOD, THAT HURTS!,” said a loud, rough voice from the living room. Judging by the distance, he was a little near the dining table. “YOU’RE DEAD, FUCKER. NO STUPID ZVUK IS A MATCH FOR ME!”

“I poured corrosive fluid all over the main area of the apartment, because I know you’re gonna ask. It stings against the skin, but against iron… things get really nasty.” She sounded almost sorry for what she did. “Don’t give me that look, Blaze. Just because I’m willing to kill doesn’t mean I want to, and I definitely don’t enjoy it. Besides, I should have diluted the stuff if I did my math right. Now come on.”

I put her pistol in my bag, then went out to the balcony. The din of the afternoon rush was audible from up here, twenty-three floors away. Ysandra checked my rope to make sure it was secure before clipping the unused hook to the rappel line. “It’s a long way down, and it’s hardly a rappel. More like a shimmy, really. I hope you still have enough energy for twenty three floors of that.” She clipped on another hook, this time attached to a rope that was wrapped around the balcony itself.

Strangely enough, I still did. And it wasn’t just energy, it was… adrenaline. Not an unfamiliar feeling, perhaps, but definitely not one I’ve experienced for the past decade or so outside of Last Thoughts. I even managed a grin. “Yeah, I’m good to go.”

“Good. I’d lend you a helmet if I could, but what can ya do. Oh, and no matter what, do NOT wait for me. As soon as you get down there, you need to run. I don’t care where you go, and frankly, it’s better I don’t know, just in case.”

“Whoa, wait. What about that info you promised to share with me?”

“Ugh, fine. Which one of these is your phone?”

“‘Fleeting_001.’”

“Connection’s established, but we don’t have time to wait. You just gotta hope it’s secure enough.”

Another loud crash, closer this time - too close. I dared to look behind me, and as I feared, our attacker had now broken down the door to Laura’s bedroom. “I SEE YOU, YOU EDGY LITTLE BITCH.” He was breathing heavily, and his steps were slow and careful, as if he was stepping on pinpricks or LEGOs. He had wild brown eyes, even wilder black hair, and his clothes were all half-torn due to his massive limbs. A dull metallic spike grew out of his back, curving over his head like a scorpion's tail. “THE ACID WAS A NICE TRICK, BUT YOU’RE STILL DEAD.”

I could hear air rush out around me, and suddenly everything was silent except for Ysandra. “He cannot know I had someone with me here. I’ll stall for as long as I can. I’ve anchored my sound bubble to you. Should help you focus.”

“Wait, hang on.”

“No more waiting, Alphon.” Ysandra didn’t look back, all her focus on our attacker. I made sure to stick to the side of the balcony, out of view from within the bedroom, and climbed the railings. I grabbed the rope, and let my feet leave solid ground.

My arms immediately complained - they haven’t been used to carry my weight for far too long. I gritted my teeth and slowly loosened my grip, letting my left hand - the only one left gloved - slide down the rope. My clothes adjusted to the friction, the nanomachines ensuring that they didn’t tear or burn off. Thankfully, there was no wind, so I was safe from being battered against the wall or the other apartments’ balconies. A muffled gunshot rang out from above me, but I didn't have time to process what it was. I focused on slowly descending the building, floor by floor, somehow without my muscles giving out. The sound of the city got louder and louder as I got closer to the ground, but the wind began to pick up as well. I had to stop about five floors away from safety when a particularly strong gust of wind whipped up and caused the rope to sway heavily.

Luckily, I was between the 5th and 6th floor balconies. I hung on for dear life and waited, my heart beating against my chest. After about a minute the wind finally died down, but my arms now felt like blocks of lead.

“Come on, you little shit. Just a few feet more!” I shouted, more out of frustration than anything else. It invigorated me just enough to reach the 3rd floor… and then a stronger gust of wind slammed my body against the balcony.

The pain was too much, and in my shock I lost my grip. I could feel something like electricity stabbing me all over my back, and my breathing hurt, causing me to wheeze for air. I may have broken a rib or five.

“FUCK!”

My arms wouldn’t move anymore either. My upper body was hanging too limply for my lower body to move; all I could do was hang onto the rope with my legs as tightly as possible. I was just spinning in midair now, my mind starting to blank out as it tried to cope with my broken body. In my delirium, I thought I saw smoke curling up above my chest.

“I’m sorry, Betram,” I said weakly. “I’m sorry Ice, Eton, Exeter, everyone. I hope you’ll remember me.” I closed my eyes as I accepted my fate, and I let the tears fall one last time. “Finally… Aria…”

The wind whipped up again, and this time might just be the last.