Jessica slowed her horse to a trot. It was a short trip to the Shrine from her home, a Shrine of Helios of the many Shrines that make up the whole. This peculiar building was once a church, although it was hard to tell now with its wholly Japanese aesthetic.

White sand was in the yard instead of green grass. Where there once stood a pine tree, there were now cherry blossoms. It was a certified Japanese garden, complete with a well manicured bonsai.

As she passed the trees, buds getting ready to bloom on this late springtime June day, Jessica thought: I hope my siblings get to bloom, too.

But all that change to this church happened around fifty years ago, after Sky Crash sixty years ago and the peoples mass rethinking on religion. Indeed, the fact that a near apocalypse happened at all was enough for many to rethink and overhaul their beliefs, but more than that people wanted something they could rely on when another world had just crash landed on Earth.

The Shrines neatly fit that hole in people's hearts. It was something you could believe in because of science and practice, offering services that could and did actually help them and their children.

It wasn’t that other, older religions don't exist anymore. It's just that they no longer had the grip they once did.

Jessica was one of those believers in the Shrines. She went to summer camps as a kid and teen, training in swordsman ships and practicing her magic, something no other religion offered. She’d been to this Shrine more times than she could count.

She tied her horse to a post, next to three others already hung up and resting, a water troff nearby. She walked up the cement pathway, the sliding glass door already open on this beautiful, peaceful, near equinox day in the city of Redding.

She entered and looked around the open space. The usual suspects, Shrine Ladies and Gentlemen, dressed in green robes and long and flowing black skirts indicating their status as lower ranks. Jessica knew all of them, but as she walked through the building, she got only glances.

Everybody knew what she was doing, dressed as she was for a battle. And nobody said a thing, besides one.

“Hello, Jessica!” She also knew her situation, but kept a beaming smile. She was Priestess of this Shrine, you could tell by her blue, black dotted robe and white bottom half, her makeup perfectly done as always. “You look ready for battle…”

“Call me Jess from now on. And that’s the point, Emma. I’m here to collect the Helios Battle Mage I submitted for.”

The Priestess, Emma, walked away, gesturing for Jess to come with. They went into a room like a library that had rows of books covering the walls. Emma went behind a desk with black monitor sitting on top of a black desktop, the fans inside it whining as it started up.

She clicked the mouse a few times, saying, “So you did, Jess.” She lowered her yellow rimmed glasses, looking at her above them. “Is there anything I can say to make you back out of this? You can always—”

“No—there’s nothing else to be said, Emma. Don’t even try to talk me out of this. I know the danger involved and all that bullshit… I’ve got the bones, let’s get this over with already.”

Emma leaned back and crossed her arms. “Why are you doing this?”

Jess knew she wouldn’t get anywhere until Emma got an answer. She took a deep breath, trying to subside her agitation.

“Is it revenge?”

Everybody thinks it was revenge, they think they know… “No, you dolt! It’s so my sister and brother have a future! Leave me fucking alone…”

“It’ll be five grand,” Emma stuck out her hand.

Jess reached into her messenger bag and took out a money clip that looked like it was going to break. She unclipped the wad of cash, thinking, thank god my Dad had life insurance, and handed it to her.

Emma silently counted the cash with proficiency. The Shrines offered many services, this being one of them, although few people had that kind of money for an expedition to the redwood forests, to the ents, and if they did they were mist harvesters who went about it by very different means.

“We’ll continue to help your family while you're gone. They could even live a long life, it’s just that little is known about the redwood ents, and for that same reason you could just make it worse… but you know that.”

Jess balled her fists to white knuckles. “Nothing could be worse than it already is.”

“So be it. Let me introduce you to Morgan,” Emma sat up, going up some stairs, and up another flight, to what Jess knew was the clinic of the shrine. Why would she be here? Jess thought.

It was pitch black in here, thanks to blackout window curtains, and Emma turned on the lights. Two people were here, one was obviously a patient in the standard white robes of one, he stirred out of sleep.

The other had to be this Morgan, as her armor and clothes were strewn on the floor next to her bed.

She was snoring loudly, the covers kicked off, wearing only her underwear. Like this though, Jess could see how well defined her muscles were, the scars on her body. She was clearly an accomplished warrior. Exactly what I need.

They stared at her a long moment, before Emma went up and kicked the bedpost.

“Huh! Oh! Hello,” Morgan stood up suddenly, wobbled, and bent down to gather her clothes from the ground. “You must be… Jennifer?” She spoke with a mild accent that Jess thought was enduring, and couldn’t quite pin down.

“Call me Jess. Nice to meet you, Morgan.”

Morgan tried to quickly put on her clothes, saying, “Sorry, I thought I’d take a nap! I always throw my clothes off in my sleep though, it’s a bad habit.”

“I’ve heard of worse habits. Where are you from?”

“Born in Italy, before I moved to the Western Territory as a teen. Took up combat healing, I studied at an Academy.”

Italy is a warzone, many refugees came over 10 years ago when it all started, and still many more trickle in. They usually settle in the Eastern Territory. The fact that she made the dangerous trip to the West means something, Jess thought.

More pressing than that, she studied at an Academy.

“She’s a Salamander,” Emma said.

An elite from the Academy of the Salamander! Of the three Academy’s in the West, that was the most grueling one. They really set her up with the best of the best, nobody beat Salamander Mercenaries, and nobody makes it through that program alive that wasn’t weight for weight the best.

Now fully dressed in a white shirt and green pants, Morgan put on her armor. It’s scalemail—called so because of the metal plates in the shape of scales interlaced together to be flexible. It was the good stuff. She put her shield on her back, and picked up her mace, putting it in her holster.

“Alright, I seem ready.”

“Were you sold into it, Morgan?” Jess said, knowing it wasn’t a thing to be asked casually. Curiosity had won over, however.

“I was, yes… but that’s a story for another time. We have a good month of travel to talk.” She smiled a faint smile at Jess.

“Yes, for another time… Sorry,” Jess said, feeling somewhat embarrassed.

“Where is your armor?” Morgan asked.

“I still need to buy some, along with a few other things.”

“No complaints?” Emma asked.

“Nope,” Jess said.

“None,” Morgan replied.

“Good. Your partners, then. How can I help you two?”

“Nothing else is needed, Emma,” Jess says, “thank you for everything…”

Emma put a hand on Jess’s shoulder, looking her in the eyes. “You, especially, I wish you luck. Take care of yourself, Jessica.”

She nodded, and Emma let go, going down the stairs. Jess remembered all the good times she’d had with the Priestess.

“We'll have to hurry this up,” Morgan says, “we don’t have much time until our flight. Ready to go?”

“Ready,” Jess said.

= = =

They were at a clothing store, looking at bras.

For an inexplicable reason, ever since Sky Crash, more females are born than males. In a bad way, there's a skew in the graph that is birthrates. Different places in the world deal with this in different ways.

Some places, especially in the East, have taken up polygamy as acceptable and normal. Some governments have aid plans to encourage having children, others outlawed same sex partnerships in a futile attempt to raise birthrates.

Here in the Western Territory, there was a liberation of sexuality, with no restraints or aids in places, and this seemed to be working well enough. Just allowing people to do what they want, which was historically true for the west coast.

“What do you need, again?” Morgan asked.

“Something that conceals my… chest.” Jess said.

“A sports bra, then? You should get one of those anyways. It’s much more comfortable when traveling on a horse, or in combat. But you’re getting it to hide the fact that you’re a woman, yeah?”

“Yeah… I am.”

“Let me help. What size are you?”

Why am I blushing? Jess thought to herself, looking away. “I’m C…”

“Let’s try these on, these are my favorite brands!” Morgan took a few bras from the racks and started walking away. “Come on, I’ll help you.”

Jess followed, saying, “Please, I can do it myself!” Why am I so embarrassed?

“No need to be shy, this is important. I can’t have you having a sore back everyday, yeah?” She saw Jess’s lava bright red face. “Well… I guess you can probably tell yourself.”

Jess sighed, taking the bras and heading into the changing room, locking the door behind her. She threw off her duster, shirt, and bra, feeling frustrated. Inspecting the bra, she realized this one had no clasp at all, and put it on over her head.

It didn’t fit, she knew that. The band size was all wrong and she tried another one to the same effect. The last one was too tight, she thought, but she wasn’t sure.

She looked in the mirror, facing it to her side to see if it was really hiding anything. This is perfect! It compressed her breasts to the point that she could pass as a man when wearing a loose fitting shirt.

Next, mens clothes.

= = =

Jess looked in the mirror. After asking for help with size conversions with Morgan, she found the perfect size for her in men’s clothes.

Even on close inspection, she looks most like a feminine man, but from a horse? She would definitely pass as a man, what with her dark denim jeans and gray mens shirt, black baseball cap and Alden boots. Finally, she had on an olive green windbreaker.

Jess took one last look at herself, her light green hair, newly cut, her dark gray eyes, always the same. But she felt new, like a new person wearing these clothes.

She tore off the tags, she would be wearing this all out the store along with a large and full shopping bag.

She unlocked the door and stepped out, Morgan was waiting in front of it and looked at her head to toe. “It’s pretty convincing,” she said, nodding her head.

“Okay, that covers the clothing…”

= = =

Jess’s experience with armor was being given it to her at the Shrines when she trained, for that reason she was glad Morgan was with her. They were at the armory, looking at displays.

“What did you want?” Morgan asked, “Got an idea of what type would suit you best? What’s your combat style?”

“I have a mutation for being agile, so I was thinking flexible but lightweight. Also, something made out of monster hide, especially because those were my worst grades.”

“Made from monster hide, huh? Expect that to be expensive. But you know what they say about monster hide being the best defense against one is wrong.”

“Well, what is the best defense against one?”

“Simple. Don’t get hit in the first place. I guess the Shrines don’t really drill that in your head like at the Academy…”

“In your expert opinion, what should I get?”

She put her left hand flush to her face, looking around, wandering the aisles. “You should get a cloak, for certain…” Morgan said, taking a dark blue cloak off the rack. “And you're not far off, you should get leather, but it should have some metal, too. Right now, you need a lightweight steel alloy for your chest.”

Morgan walked up to the counter. There was a redheaded man behind it, with thick arms, doubtlessly the blacksmith. “Hey, what’ve you got behind the counter?”

He crossed his arms, saying, “who’re you?”

Morgan reached into her holstered and showed him what looked like an electronic device. “I can show you my license, too.”

His eyes went wide, looking her up and down. “Sorry, I’ve been getting that asked a lot… What’re you looking for?”

“Good leather and a one piece chestplate of light alloy, sleeveless.” She pointed to Jess, saying, “something to fit her frame.”

He looked Jess up and down and nodded his head once. “You won’t believe this, but I’ve got exactly what you need… Come with me in the back.”

The blacksmith opened a door behind him and held it open as they rounded the counter, the back of the place looking like a warehouse. They went behind some racks and rows of armor to three mannequins dressed clearly in higher quality stuff.

Jess saw immediately which one was for her.

“I made this for my late daughter… may she rest in peace. It’s in my personal collection, custom made unlike most of the stuff here. If my eyes don’t deceive me, you two would be the same size. Go ahead, try it on.”

Jess started with the tassets. Putting it on, it was like a skirt where brown, red striped monster hide met in the middle of interlaced metal on her sides. It was light yet flexible, just like she wanted.

She dawned on the chestplate, it had a bluish tint and was made of three interconnected plates. Unbelievably to her it was the perfect height for her small torso. The shoulderplates, too, made out of the same Basilisk skin, then the long gloves.

“It’s perfect…” she whispered to herself. “How much is it?”

“I’ll sell it to you cheap, it’ll be nice to get it off my hands. It was $400 for all the materials, so how about $500 and we call it good?”

“Deal!” Jess reached into her pocket and pulled out crisp hundred dollar bills, handing it to the blacksmith and taking back off the armor. She wouldn’t need it on the flight to Chico.

“I’m just glad I found someone to wear the damn thing… Thought I was gonna carry it with me for the rest of my life.”

“We’re gonna miss the Airship if we shop any longer, Jess. You know this is the first time I went shopping with a client?”

“Get used to it, Morgan. This will be a firsts of firsts for both of us,” Jess said, with a faint smile on her face.