Chapter 3 – Bringing the Pain.

- I -

Because he left the briefing early, and thereby used up a truckload of goodwill points with Principal Mason, Caelum had time to kill before the start of lunch and afternoon classes.

With the Symbiote inside, his body was feeling amped up, but having the worm within his body also killed most of his appetite. Taking advantage of this, Caelum had slept in late, then skipped breakfast, hoping he would be in the mood for lunch. However, now that lunchtime was on the doorstep, he still found himself without an appetite. Yet it didn’t feel right not to eat something, so that’s why he paid the cafeteria a visit and picked up a half sandwich roll.

Leaving the cafeteria via the fourth floor bridgeway connecting the giant donut shaped edifice to the west wing of the high school building, Caelum climbed up to the stairwell that afforded access to one of the rooftop courtyards, and was pleased to find the door to the courtyard was open. He stepped out to find a few students lounging on the benches at various tables. Since he was familiar with the layout of the place, Caelum walked north to the rooftop penthouse machinery building that separated this courtyard from the next one.

Although the collar was going to bite him a little, he summoned an Icarus-field through the bracelet he wore on his right wrist under his shirt sleeve – the link to the Kaiser’s Blessing snug in its Sarcophagus hiding nearby in Pocket Space – and used it to boost his jump onto the machinery room’s rooftop. Then he slipped out of his blue summer blazer, folded it, and then placed it on the ground. Sitting on the rooftop, he ate the sandwich roll while staring at the habitat surrounding the school, dusted his hands when finished, then lay back to stare up at the mimetic sky-field overhead that simulated a partially cloudy day.

Because it was a space colony, Pharos followed the calendar and seasons of the capital world of Aeneas, specifically its northern hemisphere. Because of this the habitat environmental controls were in summer mode, and that meant an average heat in the high twenty degrees centigrade. During the winter cycle around the middle of the year, the habitat saved power by reducing the average temperature to the high teens centigrade. In other words, a little colder while not being too cold.

A gentle breeze blew over the buildings, coming from air vents of the atmospheric towers that rose here and there throughout the habitat, and from the environmental systems in the cavern’s ceiling hidden behind the mimetic sky-field.

Caelum closed his eyes, finding himself spiraling gently into slumber…until the voice of a young woman in his mind interrupted his tranquility.

[*Wake up. You have company.]

“…huh…?”

He opened his eyes and blinked away the bleariness.

[*Here she comes. Oh, and she seems quite angry.]

Caelum propped himself up on his elbows in time to see a girl leap skyward in front of him.

“…what the Hell…?”

She leapt from the outside of the five storey building, sailed high over the fence that surrounded the entire rooftop of the west wing, then came down toward him with teeth bared and right fist drawn back to deliver a piledriving punch.

“Pervert Desanto!”

The girl’s cry would undoubtedly draw attention to her and to him, but for the moment Caelum was more worried about the damage her incoming punch would inflict on his body. Not bothering to swear in complaint at having his siesta disturbed, he rolled away as Zenobia Alcazar fell toward him, her fist narrowly missing him and striking the machinery penthouse’s rooftop, leaving a large crater in the permacrete. Using an Icarus-field, and feeling the collar sting unpleasantly as a consequence, Caelum elevated himself to his feet, and then scrambled to put distance between him and Zenobia.

The girl straightened on her feet, the air around her right fist shimmering from the effect of the Aegis-field summoned through the bracelet she wore on her wrist, the link to her Remnant, a type Gryphon that was contained in its own Sarcophagus and Pocket Space.

“You called me a coward,” she growled at him, sounding bestial in the process.

Caelum held his hands up. “Wait—Zenobia, you have it all wrong. I only did that because—”

“And I have cold feet!”

Now he waved his hands frantically. “Wait—hear me out.”

“How did you know I have cold feet?”

Caelum gave her a bemused frown. “Heh?”

“Save it for after I beat you up.”

“Wait—I didn’t say anything—Wait! Zenobia!”

Clenching both fists this time, and summoning an Aegis-field around them, Zenobia crouched before leaping toward him.

Caelum pushed his consciousness into an overclocked state or it would be impossible for his mind to keep up with Zenobia’s movements.

The girl was wearing her restraining collar, yet it was clear that she was summoning fields from her Remnant that the bracelet then manifested around her body. Only with an Icarus-field giving her ankles wings could she have leapt higher than the five storey high school building. Yet she wasn’t showing signs of discomfort, so he could only assume her restrictions enforced through the collar had been temporarily lifted.

Damn it! I bet it was Lavinia Mason who authorized it.

If true it meant he was at horrid disadvantage as his collar was sending hot sparks through his body when he summoned an Icarus-field of his own to help him leap backwards off the machinery building’s rooftop. But rather than leap into the courtyard below populated by lunching students, he used the field to extend his jump to some fifty feet such that he landed on the next rooftop building – a large hut that afforded access to the courtyard below.

The jump carried him over the heads of dozens of students who’d come up to eat their lunches, and avoid the cramped cafeteria. He glimpsed their surprised faces below him, staring up at two students leaping like fleas across the west wing’s rooftop, many of them with food in their mouths. Then his feet touched the roof of the hut, and Caelum tossed his body to the right to avoid Zenobia’s flying punch as she too landed on the hut a heartbeat later.

He jerked his body back as she spun and kicked at him. Then he jumped up, avoiding the sweeping kick she delivered that would have swept his legs out from under him. When he landed, he skipped back yet again, then darted about the roof of the hut like it was a four-corner boxing ring. On the defensive, he avoided Zenobia’s punches and kicks by centimeters, the Aegis-fields gloving her hands grazing his body time and again, and on each occasion that he dodged a very lethal strike, the collar around his neck stung his body and grew hotter.

“Zen—wait! This isn’t fair!”

“Of course it’s not fair,” she grunted between jabbing punches.

“But I swear I only did it to light a fire under their whiny asses.”

“Whiny? Are you calling me whiny as well?”

Caelum summed an Aegis-field that wrapped around his left forearm in a heartbeat, and used it to block a kick Zenobia delivered that would have crushed a Regular’s arm and broken that of an Aventis. The shimmering field flashed emerald as it collided with the Aegis-field around Zenobia’s leg, her skirt fluttering, revealing the treasure underneath.

Pressure built up in his skull as he witnessed Zenobia’s silky red panties.

“Midnight Vixen,” he cried out.

Zenobia spun again, a round house kick that he barely blocked with his left arm cocooned in another hastily summoned Aegis-field. He took the impact, and fell to one knee. “Zen—you’re fighting dirty!”

“Oh?” She darted back, gave herself some room then charged in again.

“Those panties are lethal.”

Zenobia skidded a stop then turned beat red as she planted her hands down upon her skirt. “You—you saw?”

“Of course I saw,” he replied then gave her a thumbs up. “Zen—those are dangerous! But they’re worth a ten for effort.”

Zenobia lashed out with her right foot.

The kick missed his nose by an inch because he ducked, once again catching a glimpse of Zenobia’s underwear as her skirt fluttered up.

Last year it was Midnight Debutant. This year it’s Midnight Vixen.

He grinned slowly, but it was only because his mind was hyper accelerated so everything around him moved at a quarter its normal speed, and that included his body and face.

[*Pervert.]

*Galatea, you’re back. Help!

[*Very well. I’ve succeeded in disabling your collar for forty-five seconds. The device will continue to believe it’s delivering punishment, but in fact it’s been turned off. Any longer and collar’s intelligence unit will grow suspicious as to why you’re still able to move around.]

His grin spread from ear-to-ear.

*Galatea, you’re my goddess.

[*Humph! Of course I am. You should treasure me more.]

*Sure. Let’s go on a date.

[*I can’t do that you bastard. I don’t have a body!]

That was true. Galatea was just a voice in his, one that came from the bracelet, and one that he suspected came from somewhere inside the Kaiser’s Blessing’s Sarcophagus. It may very well originate from the Remnant itself. He didn’t know, but ever since he woke up from the coma eight weeks ago, Galatea had been with him. However, he kept her existence a secret from everyone else.

Slipping under Zenobia’s kick, he swept her standing leg, then spun her around and caught her from behind as she fell.

Zenobia jerked as though she’d been struck by lightning. “Wh—where do you think you’re grabbing?”

While groping her chest, Caelum was taken aback by the size of her breasts. “Zen, you got bigger this year.”

“Bastard!”

“Tickle attack!”

Zenobia was ticklish, something he’d discovered in passing when he overheard a few of the other Familiar girls mentioning it to themselves after an episode in the girls’ showers. So he danced his fingers up and down her sides, and Zenobia trembled violently as she succumbed to laughter.

“Ha ha….let…ha ha…me…ha ha…go…!”

“Not a chance. Not when I have you like this now!”

Despite the fact he was busy tickling her, his hands remembered the impression of her firm breasts. Thus distracted, he didn’t notice Zenobia kicking backwards between his legs.

She slammed her foot into his jewels, and Caelum collapsed to his knees.

Damn—they didn’t go numb this time!

Normally the collar would turn things off down below, but this time it only made his legs watery, and besides, Galatea had disabled it before it could anaesthetize his lower extremities.

Whirling around, Zenobia was flushed red from laughing shamelessly. “Time to die!”

Wrapping an Icarus-field around his palms, Caelum used his hands to launch himself back up to his feet, while the nauseas sensation of having been kicked in the groin painfully tightened the pit of his stomach.

“Zen…no fair….”

Zenobia upped her tempo, and moved faster than during the opening round. He saw the kick the coming, but realized a millisecond later that the best he could do was block it. The impact sent him skidding across the machine room’s rooftop. Keeping close to him, Zenobia prevented Caelum from regaining his stance, and center punched his sternum with another kick that crushed the air out of his lungs. His vision turned grey for a moment, and his sense of balance deserted him for a heartbeat, giving Zenobia ample time to impart a third kick, and Caelum felt as though he’d been struck by a tornado.

He landed on his feet and staggered around, almost falling off the edge of the rooftop.

Surprisingly, after knocking him against the ropes – so to speak – Zenobia held back.

“Who do you think you are to belittle us?” she asked. “While you were in a coma, did you think we were sitting on our asses doing nothing? Did you think I was doing nothing? You walked into that briefing room and you pissed on our hard work.”

With Zenobia giving him some breathing room, Caelum sucked in air, filling his lungs and breaking into a wracking cough in the process.

Zenobia wound herself up for the next round. “You have no right to criticize us. You don’t deserve to challenge us either. And we won’t allow you to win the Fiestas! We’re going to defeat you, and we’re going to win them. You’ll have to wait for your chance next year.”

She charged in with blinding speed, and Caelum’s Awareness-field sensed the brief Icarus-fields that flashed around her legs, boosting her mobility to preternatural levels. Retreating away from her, he dodged Zenobia’s spin kick, then evaded the jackhammer punches that followed. But he was having trouble keeping his mind overclocked, so Caelum decided to flee at least until the pain in his innards faded.

“Who’s the coward now?” she yelled at him. “Who’s the limp dick now?”

Each of his jumps from rooftop building to building was enhanced multiple times by the Icarus-fields extending from his feet like wings.

*Damn it—she’s really angry! I guess I went too far back in the briefing room.

[*Thirty seconds, Pervert.]

*Thanks, he retorted with his inner voice, then changed direction and leapt onto the rooftop perimeter fence, knowing that the higher up he went the less gravity he was going to encounter.

As large as they were, the asteroid Islands lacked the mass to generate any significant gravity. Having them spin about their long axis was also out of the question because of the design of the habitats and the need to keep the Islands moored together. Therefore, the engineers had installed effect-field emitters throughout every habitat, and these generated invisible fields that pulled down on objects thereby simulating gravity. Every building, every street, park, pool, and tunnel had emitters installed beneath them, generating a field that grounded the objects above them. That meant a lot of emitters since Pharos was a large space colony, far larger than the ring shaped orbital cities that occupied low orbit above many of the re-colonized worlds that belonged to the Aventis Territories.

What this meant was that the higher up from the ground of a habitat, or the roof of a building, the weaker the artificial gravity because of the increased distance to the nearest gravity emitter. That made the Icarus-field emanating from around Caelum’s legs more effective, and he could feel the slight drop in gravity as he ran along the top of the fence, rapidly coming up to the northern end of the building.

“Come back here coward,” Zenobia demanded as she too chased him by running on the fencing.

“If I said sorry would it make a difference?”

“You say you’re sorry but you don’t mean it!”

“Then why are you doing this?” he yelled back.

“Because the Principal and I agree that you’re getting to full of yourself.” She recovered her breathing and yelled, “It’s time for a wakeup call!”

“What?”

“Time for some pain, Desanto!”

Caelum continued to run over the fence, the corner of which was coming up fast.

[*Pervert, you have twenty seconds.]

*I’m not going to get away from her.

[*No, not in your present condition.]

He knew his physical condition hadn’t recovered to what it was before the coma, but now he realized just how much Zenobia had improved during that time and over the summer break. He briefly wondered if he’d made a mistake challenging Le Grange to a duel this afternoon. Truthfully, he was being too hasty, but having fallen off the proverbial saddle he was anxious to get back on it.

*In that case, can you give me another sixty seconds.

[*What are you planning?]

*I need to lose her in the crowds.

[*Are you intending to leave the school grounds? You’ll be suspended if you do.]

Caelum put more power into his run as he neared the corner of the rooftop fencing, and then jumped onto the fencing running along the north side of the west wing’s rooftop.

“Hey,” Zenobia yelled, “where are you going?”

Caelum yelled back, “To the one place where can’t hit me!”

Using the fences to circle the northern end of the building, in effect making a U-turn, he reached a point where he could jump east to the top of the bridgeway connecting the west wing to the giant donut shaped cafeteria.

[*I’ve reset your clock. Forty-three seconds remaining. Don’t blame me for what happens when your time runs out.]

Too focused on running, he didn’t thank Galatea, but promised too later.

Leaping the length of the wide bridgeway and arriving at the cafeteria, Caelum used an Icarus-field to launch himself upwards to the lowest balcony.

Gravity may have been weaker at this height, and his twenty-foot jump was extraordinarily high courtesy of the Icarus-fields, but there were limitations to wielding Remnant-fields through the bracelets. One of them was that they were significantly weaker. The other was that the fields had a short lifespan – a handful of seconds at best. With the Icarus-fields it was even worse, lasting only a second or two in their capacity to act as powerful trampolines that lengthened every running stride or improved every jump. Unfortunately, they worked best against physical objects such as the ground or walls because they needed something to push off. This is what made Zenobia’s jump over the top of the west wing so impressive, and he made a mental note to ask her about it later. But because of this, Caelum had to be careful with how he used them. Once in the air, an Icarus-field was ineffective because the air offered it little resistance.

There were startled outcries from the Aventis students seated on the balcony. Caelum glimpsed their shocked faces as he jumped down from the parapet, ran between tables to close the distance to the next terraced balcony, then leapt onto it like a human sized frog rebounding on a trampoline.

As unappealing as the description was, it was somewhat fitting as he repeated the process and then leapt to the highest of the three balconies, this time resorting to using a Hecaton-field to extend the length of his arms and thereby grab the balcony parapet above him. Combined with his strong leap, Caelum landed fairly upright on the top of the parapet, and glanced behind him to spy Zenobia jumping with ease toward him.

Through the Awareness-field he sensed a faint distortion in the space surrounding her and it shocked him.

An Impulse-field? But she hasn’t summoned her Remnant!

Eyes wide in disbelief, he now understood how Zenobia had jumped over the school building.

When did she gain the ability to summon an Impulse-field?

[*Pervert—look out!]

Distracted by Zenobia, the warning came too late.

He had barely a fraction of a second to see the large mass of muscle and bone wrapped in an Aegis-field slam into his unprotected body, knocking him off the balcony parapet and into the air.

Winded, dazed, and feeling as though he’d been run over by a speeding truck, Caelum fell away from the highest balcony of the cafeteria building.

He watched the sky and the buildings spin around him.

Twisting while falling, he managed to correct his descent by extending the Icarus-fields around his legs, having them act as a combination of airbrakes and small parachutes. Below him the mass of garden trees that occupied the area north of the cafeteria and stretched to the dormitory buildings that housed a thousand or more students was rapidly growing larger as he fell toward them.

*This is going to hurt.

[*Above you!]

He craned his neck around to see a large male student flying feet first toward him, and he realized with a start who had knocked him off the building.

Leon Le Grange.

With a war cry, Le Grange slammed a heavy foot into Caelum’s back, sending him falling at an accelerated rate into the trees. In a hurry, he summoned an Aegis-field around his arms and torso. With his arms held up as shields, Caelum ploughed through branches thick and thin, then crashed hard into the undergrowth, landing between the tree roots. The impact winded him, and addled his senses. His overclocked state slipped away and time resumed normally within his mind as he lay on the firm ground.

*Damn, that really hurt.

[*Pervert, you’d best get up. Oh—and the collar has realized that something is up and is about to go postal.]

Caelum raised his head off the grass. “I need more time.”

[*Then I’ll have to kill the collar.]

Something large and heavy landed between the trees behind him, and Caelum heard running footsteps.

Pushing himself up to his feet, he swayed and leaned heavily against a tree.

*Do it. I’ll blame it on a failure and overuse.

Le Grange thundered toward him, eyes blazing and ham sized fists clenched to deliver some punishment.

Caelum pushed away from the tree, and tried to stand in a defensive posture, but Le Grange punched him so hard it made his vision swim, and the blow sent him staggering between the trees.

“You bastard! What did you do to Zenobia?”

Caelum spotted a clearing ahead with benches, and dashed toward it though at best he meandered between the trees in its general direction. If not for the Symbiote spread out inside him – a Symbiote his body was already beginning to break down and consume – he believed he’d be unconscious by now, though he suspected he was concussed. His Awareness-field warned of Le Grange pursuing him, and Caelum summoned his reserves of strength and arrived at the clearing ahead of the large young man, falling past the tree line and landing on his hands and knees.

There were girls seated on the benches spread across the garden clearing.

He didn’t notice them until now, probably because he wasn’t seeing straight.

Upon his unorthodox entrance, they froze and stared at him like frightened maidens caught bathing nude in a grotto.

The appearance of Le Grange who grabbed Caelum and tossed him into the air toward the small fountain in the middle of the clearing, sent the girls to their feet. But it was the arrival of a handful of other young men behind Le Grange that had the girls fleeing the clearing, and Caelum realized that the Familiars arraying themselves behind the large young man were undoubtedly his posse.

Again, Caelum pushed himself up to his feet, though this time he used the edge of the fountain pool to help him stand up.

[*Pervert, I’ve suspended the collar but I can’t stop it. When this is over, I’ll have to release the collar and you’re going to get one hell of a shock from it. You may die in the process.]

*What?

[*Don’t worry. The Symbiote will undoubtedly revive you, and I’ll do what I can. But you’re going to be in pain for a few hours.]

*Shit—Galatea, you’re just full of good news.

[*Stop bitching and take it like a man.]

Le Grange strode up to him, ready to pound Caelum into the garden soil.

“You really have no shame! No self-control. You embarrass all of us!”

Caelum struggled to voice a reply. “…misunderstanding…I assure you….” He held up a hand in surrender. “I didn’t mean…to see…her panties….”

“What did you say? You saw Zenobia’s panties?”

“…Midnight Vixen….”

Le Grange loomed over Caelum, and the thunder god Odin would have been proud of the picture Le Grange presented. If his eyes could have unleashed lightning, then they would have. “To think a weakling like you defeated me. Time for some payback.”

“…save that for later…in the arena,” Caelum replied and summoned an Aegis-field to protect his head, then balled his fists.

Le Grange ignored Caelum’s fists and grabbed him by the shirt, yanking him almost into the air, while drawing back a fist that shimmered with an Aegis-field.

If struck by it, Caelum was certain he would be knocked unconscious.

I just spent eight weeks in a coma. I don’t plan on going back to that again.

Le Grange spat out the words. “I’m going to rearrange your face so that no girl will ever come near you again.”

Caelum snorted. “That’ll make me as ugly as you.”

Unable to overclock, the punch from Le Grange was too fast for him to follow.

For a moment or two he blacked out under the impact that shattered the Aegis-field around his head. When he was conscious again, Caelum noticed he was wet and realized the blow had launched him into the fountain pool.

Le Grange pulled him out of it, and held him up to deliver another punch, but this time Caelum kicked out with what strength remained in his legs.

The blow struck Le Grange between his legs, and the large boy almost crumpled. Yet he had sufficient resilience to throw Caelum out of the fountain pool and onto the grass.

Rolling to a stop, Caelum wondered if his jaw was broken because his face was ablaze and his tongue was numb.

Propping himself up to his knees, he then staggered back up to his feet, and his wavering Awareness-field warned him of an incoming object.

He dodged on instinct, and Le Grange’s swinging leg missed Caelum by inches.

Spinning away, he noticed to his surprise that his vision was clearing and wondered if it was Galatea or the Symbiote inside him that was pulling out all the stops to keep him on his feet. Regardless, they saved him from the punches and kicks that followed.

Le Grange had power, but he lacked Zenobia lightning speed. The difference allowed Caelum to keep up with the large boy despite his inability to overclock his consciousness.

For many seconds, he avoided and blocked the strikes Le Grange was delivering, until an opportunity presented itself and Caelum struck back.

As luck would have it, Caelum had ducked due to moment of dizziness and Le Grange’s fist and arm swung over his head, parting the air and leaving a vacuum in its wake. But it left Le Grange open for a split second, and Caelum seized upon the chance to return some of the pain he was receiving. With an Aegis-field gloving his right fist, he landed a kidney punch that had Le Grange’s eyes bulging in agony. After a left fisted punch under the large high schooler’s ribs, Le Grange doubled over slightly as he staggered back.

Chasing him down, Caelum kicked Le Grange with the toes of his left indoor shoe, burying it into the student’s midriff. The air blew out of Le Grange’s lungs in a rush. Winded, he retreated again, but Caelum followed up with a leaping punch that struck the side of the boy’s skull, and the impact addled Le Grange sufficiently to buckle his legs and drop him down to one knee.

Caelum stopped when he saw Le Grange’s unfocused eyes.

A second punch to the head with an Aegis armored fist might prove troublesome since he sensed through his Awareness-field that Le Grange did not have the Symbiote inside his body. Though Familiars were more resilient than Regulars, there was a limit to the punishment they could sustain before it became life threatening.

The distraction cost him because in the next moment Le Grange’s posse had grabbed onto him. Using Hecaton and Aegis-fields, they overwhelmed him through strength in numbers. Held upright by two of the seniors, a third punched Caelum repeatedly in the chest and stomach, while a fourth and fifth helped Le Grange back up to his feet.

“He’s mine,” the muscular boy rumbled as he pushed his lackeys away.

A girl’s voice disagreed. “No, he’s not.”

In his greying vision, Caelum saw a shadow fly out of right field and the boy punching him vanished a heartbeat later, knocked away with such force that he exited the clearing and crashed into the garden trees.

Le Grange all but howled the girl’s name.

“Zenobia!”

The two boys holding onto Caelum suddenly released him when Zenobia struck them from behind. As Caelum fell flat to the ground, he heard the boys land somewhere behind him on the grass, but he was too exhausted and beaten to push himself up off his chest and take a look. Instead, he relied on his Awareness-field – faint as it was – to perceive his surroundings, and thus he sensed Zenobia approach him. However, she didn’t pick him up or help him to his feet. Rather, she placed herself protectively between him and Le Grange whom Caelum could sense was trembling in furious disbelief at what he believed was a clear betrayal of loyalties.

“Zen—Zenobia? What are you doing? What the Hell are you doing?”

“You’re taking this too far, Le Grange. Way too far!” She sounded angry and hurt. “Are you trying to kill him?”

“That bastard. That piece of shit has no place here.”

“Even so he’s still one of us—”

“It’s hard enough for us as it is in this school. We don’t need him making it worse for us.”

“Is that really what this is about?” she asked him coldly though there was anger in her voice. “Or is it because you lost to him last year?”

“I can take losing to someone worthy. Not this piece of trash.”

“Then you should have saved all this for the arena.”

“Oh, I’ll deliver much worse this afternoon,” Le Grange promised.

“You’re a coward,” Zenobia said with disgust. “Beating him up before then just makes you a coward.”

“You’re calling me a coward? Then what the frek were you doing? Chasing him all over the school rooftop! What the frek do you call that? Everybody on the balconies could see the two of you duking it out on the roof of the west wing!”

“I—”

“If you wanted to pound a lesson into him, then you should have done it right!”

“Your way isn’t my way!” she yelled at him. “And you’re just showing your true colors.”

Slowly, and with a great deal of effort, Caelum pushed through the pain in his body and then raised himself onto his elbows. He looked up at Zenobia, but could only see as far as her legs, and the bottom of her skirt.

Just…one more…peek.

Between her legs spread shoulder width apart, he saw a beet red Le Grange wearing a complicated, pained expression. No doubt he wanted to push Zenobia aside to finish dealing with Caelum, but something held him back.

“Leave now, Le Grange. Before I truly get angry,” Zenobia warned him. “Leave before you make this worse.”

“I think it’s a little late for that,” he replied. “And I’m going to finish what you started. I’m going to pound respect into him. I’m going to hammer it into him. I’m going to have him piss himself whenever he sees me.”

“Like that’s ever going to happen.”

“It will when I’m finished with him. Now…get out of the way, Zenobia.”

“Make me.”

In his peripheral vision, Caelum noticed movement and realized the members of Le Grange’s posse were surrounding him and Zenobia.

Shit, this is bad! Really bad! Get up! Damn it! Get up!

Feeling emboldened, Le Grange tried to sound conciliatory as though he was occupying the high ground. “Zenobia, I’m not going to hurt you. But you’re not getting in my way.”

The girl laughed curtly. “I’ll tell you this now. I will never partner with you for the Winter Remnant Fiesta. I’ll partner with Desanto if he’ll have me.”

Le Grange looked dumbfounded and blinked slowly for a long while. “What was that?”

“I said, I’ll partner with Desanto for the Winter Remnant Fiesta.”

“What? Don’t you want to win?”

“Oh, I’ll win. I’ll win with Desanto.”

“What…?”

“I’m going to partner with him. I’m going to beat every other girl and I’m going to be chosen.”

“…you…you can’t be…you can’t be serious….”

“I’m deadly serious, Le Grange. I’m choosing Desanto over you.”

Caelum watched between Zenobia’s legs as Le Grange swayed on his feet. His mouth flapped open and shut but nothing intelligible came out of it, just twisted moans and groans. Eventually he regained enough of his composure to point a trembling finger at her.

“You—you can’t choose him.” Anger overwhelmed whatever else he was feeling. “I’ll make you regret this. I’ll make you regret this!”

There was no doubt in Caelum’s heart or mind that Zenobia was in danger.

Le Grange had flipped, his emotions had redlined. He wasn’t thinking straight anymore.

It was no secret that the large boy carried an immense blazing torch for Zenobia, and now he was consumed by that flame. The old adage, ‘if I can’t have you, then you no one will’ was clearly written on his face.

Zenobia was no fool, and it sounded like she understood the nature of the change that had come over the large student. “Le Grange?” Quickly she shifted her stance to a defensive one.

Supporting himself with his arms, Caelum rose to his knees. Beaten as he was, he wasn’t going to allow Le Grange to hurt Zenobia.

[*Pervert, I’m sorry. I need to release the collar.]

“…huh…?”

[*I can’t suspend its processing any longer.]

“…no, I need more time….”

[*Tell me later if you remember seeing a white light or experience any form of astral projection.]

“…what…?”

Galatea sighed wearily in his mind. [*Tell me if you have an out of body experience.]

“…oh no….”

A heartbeat later agony raced through his body as the restraining collar went ballistic on him, expending the life in its batteries in the span of seconds.

Caelum’s body jerked so violently he could feel the tendons about to snap under the strain of his muscles contracting and expanding as pain burned through every fiber of his being, and a loud scream ripped out of his lungs, tearing through the clearing. Then the collar shut down, and Caelum collapsed onto the grass.

“Caelum!”

By a miracle his heart kept beating, but his body was disconnected for his mind, as though all the strings that joined the two together had been cut. He couldn’t reply to Zenobia, and with his Awareness-field gone he couldn’t sense his surroundings anymore. Overwhelmed by the experience, his consciousness began to slip away. But as his vision faded into darkness, Caelum saw something that surprised him even as he fell unconscious.

It was the sight of a flat chested girl and her companions stepping into the clearing behind Le Grange and his cronies….

- II -

Caprice entered the cafeteria while talking to Rina Sayen on her palm-slate. The girl guided her to the fifth level and to a table by the window with a view of the Academy’s northern grounds that included a vista of the luscious gardens that lay between the teaching faculty buildings and the dormitories to the north.

Four chairs surrounded the round table but only two were occupied, and Maya and Rina were sitting at the table sipping cold drinks from plastic bottles.

“Did you get the strap fixed?” Maya asked in a flat voice.

“Actually, it was taken care of before I got there,” Caprice replied.

“What does that mean?”

“Nothing. It’s all good.” A moment later she reconsidered being secretive and said, “The Pervert bought me a new school bag. He left it waiting for me back in the classroom.”

Maya’s eyebrows rose for a moment as she sipped her soda through a straw. “Oh….”

Caprice looked at the empty table. “So, what about lunch?”

Rina stood up. “So, what do you two want?”

Maya arched an eyebrow at the girl. “School lunches doesn’t count. We agreed it has to be a three-course meal at a restaurant.”

“I know, I know,” Rina said while waving her hands in surrender.

“Fine. Then see if that spicy curry is still on offer,” Maya added.

Rina looked expectantly at Caprice, but the latter shook her head. “I’ll go with you and get my own lunch.”

“And I’ll mind the table,” Maya declared, waving them off with the parting words, “Bring me another lemon soda.”

The nine-floor cafeteria had three kitchens, one on the first, fourth, and seventh levels. While the first to six levels were open to either first or second year students, the top three floors of the cafeteria were the domain of the high-school seniors. In addition, those floors had open air terrace style balconies that ran the full circumference of the cafeteria building. Rank and seniority certainly had its privileges at Galatea Academy, and Caprice didn’t think it was any different at the other Aventis schools. It wasn’t just the distinction between Familiars and Aventis that was impressed upon her mindset, but the differences between the seniors and the rest of the high schoolers.

Each cafeteria level was circular with a hole in the middle. Resembling the DNA double-helix, two spiral staircases wound their up through the hole. Caprice followed Rina down one of the helix stairs to the fourth level where the nearest kitchen was located, then lined up with a hundred other students. Once they reached the food counter, they filled up three trays with food, and Rina picked up another lemon soda for Maya, while getting her and Caprice bucket sized cups of fresh orange juice. Using the Academy app installed on their palm-slates to pay for their meals, they carried their spoils back up to the fifth level.

However, all was not sunshine and roses when they returned to the table Maya had stayed behind to mind for them.

Haruka Amiella, Siobhan St Clair, and the girl with the sweet prickly tongue and dangerous mind, Alastair Kell Avenir, stood before Maya who was guarding the table.

As Caprice stepped closer, she overheard the argument.

“All I’m saying,” Haruka said, “is that we saw this table first.”

“Regardless,” Maya replied, “there was no one here when I arrived.”

“That doesn’t change the fact that we were here first.”

“Finders keepers. Losers weepers,” Maya retorted without inflection.

“I asked the girls at the other tables to mind it for us.”

“People rarely do things for free. Aventis even less so. You should know that by now.”

Haruka stared down at Maya in exasperation and the slightly shorter girl narrowed her eyes, yet neither girl was backing down.

After a moment, the overly busty brunette said, “In that case, why don’t we settle this with a match of rock-paper-scissors.”

“Denied,” Maya declared.

Siobhan sighed and faced Haruka. “Let’s just go. We may find another table.”

However, Haruka remained stubbornly steadfast. “No. We saw this table first. We’re keeping it. We are not leaving.”

Maya shook her head and sounded faintly resentful. “You Aventis are all the same. You think that because you’re Aventis you’re special. You think everyone just has to get out of your way.”

Haruka shook her head very weakly. “No, no. I don’t think that at all.”

“But you want my friends and I to give up our table.”

“Well, only because we saw it first.”

“It’s bad enough that we get segregated in class, but we’re not allowed to take part in sports carnivals, and we can’t participate in P.E. class, but now we can’t even sit at a table in the cafeteria. Now you won’t even let us eat in peace.”

“That’s—that’s not what I meant.”

Alastair chuckled evilly. “Look, Haruka, the little puppy feels victimized.”

“That’s right,” Maya said and touched the collar she wore. “We Familiars with Remnants are dogs of the Aventis.” The short girl stepped up to Alastair. “But do you know what keeps your kind in power?”

Alastair smiled fearlessly. “The Symbiote, of course.”

“You really are stupid and delusional,” Maya stated in a disappointed tone. “I guess being a Pureblood did nothing for your intelligence.”

“Then you tell me the answer.”

Maya pointed at herself with a thumb. “Familiars are what keep the Aventis in power. Familiars like me and our Remnant. Without us, your kind wouldn’t be where you are today. And you wouldn’t be in power because you don’t have the numbers to be in power. You’re a minority, and your kind only rule because everyone is afraid of what we Familiars will do to them. We can do what you can’t. We’re the ones with true power.”

Alastair’s smile grew wider. “Then why is it that you wear a leash and I don’t?”

“That’s a really good question. After winning the war for you, why did my ancestors hand power to your kind that doesn’t deserve it?” Maya’s eyes narrowed on Alastair. “Why did they give away their right to rule?”

The brunette shrugged blithely. “Like it matters. What matters is that we rule and you do our bidding. So that means if we say beg, you beg. Comprende, little puppy?”

“Little puppy?” Maya started to smile and it wasn’t pleasant. “I’m not a puppy, I’m a wolf.” She leaned into Alastair’s face. “And do you know what I see when I look at you?”

“Someone superior to you in every way.”

“No, I see food.”

With that, Maya smiled and showed off her fangs, and the Aventis girls stiffened, including Alastair who continued to smile yet she wasn’t smiling any more.

Caprice’s chest tightened unpleasantly at sight of Maya’s fangs, and she remembered when she looked in a mirror and saw her own fangs for the first time. They scared her then, and they still scared her now, even though they were a part of her body.

The fangs were a product of a Familiar’s Awakening. Not only did they become stronger and able to consume the Symbiote, but they gained a pair of fangs that they could extend and retract, and just like a mythical Vampire, a Familiar could use those fangs to bit the flesh of an Aventis and drink their blood, thus taking in the Symbiote into their bloodstream where it would grow and make them stronger than an Aventis for several days.

Caprice had only used her fangs a few times to demonstrate she had control over them when the Lanfear Pride’s physicians ran tests on her body. However, she had never ingested blood by biting an Aventis, only by drinking the blood held in refrigerated state.

It wasn’t just the fangs that frightened her, but the incredible rush she received when she drank Aventis blood. Drinking Regular blood made her ill and nauseous, but Aventis blood made her body sing like a well-tuned harp. It scared her and it shamed her, and reminded her of how much she had changed in the span of fifteen months.

Maya licked her lips and smiled hungrily at Alastair who remained outwardly calm while terror slowly spread through her body. Caprice knew this because her Awareness-field was monitoring the hormonal and temperature changes within the Aventis girl’s body, informing Caprice that despite appearances, Alastair was indeed quite scared of Maya.

Caprice wondered how the teachers would view this confrontation, and figured they would side with the Aventis girls.

Feeling it would only lead to trouble, she walked up to the girls and spoke directly to Maya who was standing nose to nose with Alastair.

“Maya, let’s go.”

The girl refused to look away as she replied, “Why should we?”

“Because I found another table.” It was a lie, but she didn’t want Maya being reprimanded for scaring the Aventis by baring her fangs. Some Aventis considered the baring of a Familiar’s fangs as akin to drawing a knife. Caprice knew from having read the Academy student handbook, that Familiars were not allowed to reveal their fangs to any of the students. By the handbook’s words, Maya had committed an infraction that if reported could land her in detention and docked a handful of demerit points.

Haruka noticed Caprice’s arrival and looked uncertain, though she asked, “Is there really another table? Ah, then would you show us?”

“No,” Caprice replied curtly. “You wanted this table you can have it.” Because her hands were occupied with the tray and drinks, she nudged Maya with a shoulder. “Let’s go. As my dad would say, there’s no profit here.”

For a moment, Caprice was certain she saw despair and frustration flash across Maya’s face before the girl assumed an impassive expression. Even if she couldn’t see it, she could feel it through her Awareness-field – the bitterness and resentment that welled up within her newfound friend.

“Let’s go,” she said softly. “Our lunch will get cold.”

Caprice started turning away, but Haruka called out to her.

“Um, Steiner—”

“I don’t want to hear it from you,” Caprice responded in a cold voice that she believed would have made her father proud. “You have what you wanted. Now, enjoy your lunches—”

Her voice caught in her throat as she watched two students, a guy and a girl, running along the top of the west wing’s rooftop fencing. As the guy jumped onto the roof of the bridgeway connecting the cafeteria to the west wing, Caprice recognized him and her emotions began to spin. As they jumped and ran closer to the cafeteria, she also identified the girl with the blue streaks in her hair as the third year Familiar, Zenobia Alcazar, and Caprice suspected that Caelum had done something to set the girl off.

However, she was puzzled as to how they were able to use their Remnant effect-fields without being punished by the restraining collars they wore, since the agility and speed they were displaying was well beyond those of a Regular, Familiar, or Aventis.

Caprice wasn’t the only student in the cafeteria that noticed the pair running along the roof of the bridgeway, and gasps and comments expressing surprise began to grow and overlap. However, she ignored them as she watched Desanto leap onto the balcony of the sixth level, and the girl leapt skyward behind him. But then a dozen seconds later, Desanto rocketed away from the cafeteria, falling fast toward the gardens to the north of the donut shaped building. Behind and above him, a large boy followed Desanto’s descent having apparently jumped in pursuit.

“Oh no,” muttered Maya. “That’s the big gorilla from this morning.”

Remembering the burly student, Caprice had the gnawing suspicion that the gorilla had struck Desanto, and that’s why the Pervert fell away from the cafeteria and down into the trees.

A handful of boys leapt from the cafeteria balcony, undoubtedly Familiars since no one else would be crazy enough to leap off a balcony seven or eight floors above ground. Whether they followed to support the giant gorilla or to stop him, they first fell into view and then out of sight when they landed somewhere in the garden of trees.

“Where’s the girl?” Maya asked. “I don’t see Alcazar following them.”

Caprice noticed that her hands were trembling, and realized it was because she was in the throes of indecision. But coming to a decision a moment later, her body quickly steadied.

“I’m going after them,” she declared.

In a hurry, she dumped her tray with its content of food and drinks onto the disputed table, then started walking fast to the center of the cafeteria floor space where the helix staircases rose and fell. To her surprise, Maya and Rina followed her, the latter having abandoned the two trays she’d been carrying.

“What are you doing?” she asked them.

“Going with you,” Maya replied while taking the lead. “Pervert Desanto is our classmate. And classmates look out for each other.” She added something that sounded suspiciously like, “Familiars take care of their own,” but Caprice wasn’t sure if she’d heard the girl right.

“What about you?” Caprice asked Rina.

“I go where Maya goes,” the girl stated resolutely. “Besides, we’re friends and friends stick together.”

The girl’s declaration had Caprice miss a step but she caught herself in time and then focused on running down the twisting staircase without tripping or colliding with anyone. Their progress was helped because one helix staircase was dedicated for going up, while the other was dedicated for students wanting to go down. Arriving at ground floor or first level, Caprice ran behind Maya as the girl cut a beeline for the cafeteria’s northern exit, and squeezed through the doors that wouldn’t open fast enough for Caprice’s liking. Then they ran to the northern garden where they guessed Desanto and the other students had landed.

In the sky above them, someone fell at a gentle angle toward the trees far ahead of them, as though caught in the wind while parachuting down. Caprice realized it was Zenobia having leapt from on high from one of the cafeteria balconies. The girl’s skirt fluttered up and revealed her toned derriere to the world. No doubt the Aventis boys on the cafeteria were busy snapping away at her with their palm-slates. Caprice guessed that the photos would be in circulation within the next few minutes.

Zenobia landed in the garden ahead of them well before Caprice, Maya, and Rina arrived at the treeline. They avoided the path and ran through the trees, emerging out into a clearing some twenty seconds later. Coming to a standstill, the three girls watched the scene playing out before them.

Desanto was unconscious on the ground, and Zenobia was standing protectively before him, facing off against the large male senior who’d made a scene earlier when he confronted Desanto during the briefing. Even at a distance, Caprice could tell he was trembling and it wasn’t because he was happy. The emotions he was radiating through his Awareness-field carried all the way to the edge of the clearing.

The other Familiar students were arrayed in a loose circle around Zenobia and Desanto. Keeping to the edge of the clearing, the arrival of Caprice, Maya, and Rina had them looking wary, though one of the guys yelled threateningly at the trio to leave the area as this situation didn’t concern them.

“Make me,” Maya answered his threat, then winced sharply as her restraining collar burned her for summoning up something through her Remnant’s bracelet that resembled translucent spears, around a half dozen of them and all pointed at the male Familiar.

The guy looked startled and abruptly cautious of Maya, who went on to state, “That’s our classmate. We want him back. So get lost.”

The other male students looked uncertain of what to do next, glancing every so often between themselves, Zenobia, the large Familiar – whom Caprice recalled was called Le Grange – and now the trio of girls standing at the south side of the clearing.

One of the guys on Le Grange’s side grew anxious and nervously asked, “Ah, Leon? This is getting out of hand. Maybe we should call it quits—?”

“Shut it!” Le Grange continued to tremble, and with his back to Caprice, she had no idea what face he was making at Zenobia but no doubt it wasn’t friendly, because the girl was standing in an open posture that could switch to either defensive or offensive in a heartbeat.

Zenobia’s attention suddenly shifted to a point behind Le Grange, just as Caprice felt someone enter the area of her Awareness-field. Concentration on that sensation, she received a flurry of information into her consciousness that was akin to looking behind her – and much more – so in a heartbeat she knew who had followed the trio to the garden.

The buxom girl marched headlong into the clearing, though Caprice didn’t doubt for a moment that she wasn’t aware of the tense standoff between the Familiars. Nonetheless, Haruka Amiella Avenir walked between Maya and Caprice, earned herself a squeak of worry from Rina, and strode past Le Grange and Zenobia, arriving at Desanto’s unconscious body a few moments later.

With a heavy sigh, she picked him up and then used her strength as an Aventis to toss him onto her back. She sounded exhausted but not from rushing to his rescue. “Really, Caelum. Why do make me worry so much?”

The girl stepped around Zenobia on her way out of the garden clearing, but found herself facing Le Grange who’d stepped in her way.

“Excuse, but could you please move?” Amiella politely asked while looking up at the large male Familiar.

“What the Hell do you think you’re doing?” Le Grange rumbled.

“Taking my friend to the infirmary,” she replied. “Now if you don’t mind, he is quite heavy even for someone like me. So please stand aside.”

Caprice felt as though her grip on reality had slipped briefly through her fingers.

Did Haruka Amiella just call the Pervert her friend?

Le Grange inhaled deeply, his massive body swelling up. “I don’t think so.”

Take a cue from their boss, the other male students angled themselves toward Haruka with Desanto on her back.

A moment later, Rina summoned something that resembled a shimmering bow and took aim at the nearest Familiar boy, while Maya gasped in pain as she doubled the number of spears around her, targeting the second set at another male Familiar. The strain on the girl’s faces was evident as they fought down the pain inflicted by the restraining collars.

After rushing here to help Desanto, Caprice realized she was taking somewhat of a backseat compared to the others. Wondering frantically at how best to support them, she remembered her trump card, but was certain Morgan would berate her senseless if she used since it was only meant to be called upon in case of emergency. However, she really had nothing else to fall upon…or maybe not.

Holding her palms up to her face, she whispered loud enough behind them for the collar’s control unit to hear her.

“I, Brynhildr, return the Ring to the Rhine Maidens.”

A moment later she sensed the collar switch to standby mode.

However, she refrained from summoning her Remnant, affirming to herself that she would only do so if all Hell broke loose. Even then, she had decided she would only summon one of her Remnant’s weapons such as an axe or a sword.

Out near the middle of the clearing, Haruka Amiella Avenir regarded Le Grange towering over her with a disappointed air. “Why don’t you pick on someone your own size, you bully.”

“You’re joking, right?”

“No, I’m not,” she replied. “In fact, I recommend going to the zoo and challenging a gorilla, or an elephant, or one of those mammoths recently cloned after they went extinct.”

“…what did you say…?”

Haruka sighed, and her enormous bosom heaved so dramatically that even Le Grange was distracted by it. Placing Desanto’s unconscious body on the grassy ground, she then awkwardly dropped into a boxing stance with her fists at the ready.

“Very well. Come at me,” she declared up at Le Grange who appeared perplexed and thereby unable to respond.

Caprice wondered if the gates of Hell were about to blow wide open. A heartbeat later, she suspected that they had when a familiar young woman dressed in a white business suit and black high heels landed in the middle of the clearing with such force that it unleashed concentric shockwaves that flattened the grass and swayed the nearby trees. The male students were knocked to the ground. Zenobia and Le Grange fell to their knees, while Haruka Amiella and the unconscious Desanto tumbling like windswept leaves across the grassy ground.

Reflexively, Caprice summoned and Aegis-field wide enough to shield herself, Maya, and Rina from the shockwaves. When she realized the size of the field it shocked her almost as much as the young woman’s unexpected landing. Once the shockwaves had dissipated, Caprice released the Aegis-field and it dispelled in the blink of an eye.

Maya peeked at her through the corner of her eyes. “What was that?” she asked hesitantly.

Caprice shrugged nervously, and then faked being punished by the collar by wincing loudly in agony.

Rina Sayen looked at her in concern. “Are you okay?”

“Not really,” Caprice gasped, putting on the performance of her life, though she noticed Maya glance at her twice before the girl looked toward the clearing where the young blonde woman – the blonde beauty who’d accompanied Principal Mason to the briefing – was standing tall, sweeping her gaze over the students who vacillated between ‘stay or run’. After a few seconds of quiet dark scrutiny, she used her Remnant to amplify her voice to all corners of the clearing.

“Leon Le Grange afil Avenir. You and your…associates…will report to my office immediately.” She eyed the unmoving Le Grange with an austere light in her eyes. “Do not make me tell you again.”

Gritting his teeth, Le Grange bowed his head and then ambled angrily out of the clearing by way of the path that ran through it, and was soon followed by his cohorts, a couple of which gave Maya menacing looks that she ignored.

Next to be addressed was Zenobia.

“Zenobia Alcazar afil Raynar. The Principal will want a word with you. Make sure you have a good explanation as to why you abused her trust in you.”

Zenobia swallowed hard, then ducked her head as though in shame, and left the clearing. However, she did not follow the path and instead made her way through the trees.

“As for the rest of you, you will explain yourselves now.”

Caprice felt her mouth go dry under the hard gaze of the young blonde Familiar, and Rina Sayen squeaked softly. But it was Maya who stepped forward to face the young woman.

“Miss Weinberg, we saw that our classmate was in trouble and so we came to help him.”

“I see. And that’s why you turned your Remnants on your fellow Familiars?”

“Yes.”

Weinberg continued to regard the three girls under a hard gaze, a spotlight of sorts that was both brilliant and blinding.

“Very well,” she eventually said. “Take Mr. Desanto down to the infirmary.”

“Down?” Caprice whispered.

“Yes, down, Miss Steiner,” Weinberg answered, having heard Caprice through the use of her Awareness-field.

Swallowing nervously, Caprice was left reluctant to ask what ‘down’ actually meant, but Maya said, “We don’t have access to the training facilities.”

“You do now,” the young woman informed them.

Caprice glanced sidelong at Maya who briefly widened her eyes in response to the news. The girl recovered quickly and bowed politely. “Yes, Miss Weinberg.” Gesturing to Caprice and Rina, she beckoned them. “Come on. We’ll use our Hecaton-fields to carry him.”

“That’s going to sting,” Rina complained.

“If we share the load it won’t be as bad,” Maya told the girl.

“Um, excuse me,” a girl being ignored called out calmly and raised a hand.

Weinberg half turned toward the buxom brunette who’d just finished patting down her skirts, after getting back up onto her feet. “Haruka Amiella Avenir, this matter does not concern you. You may leave.”

Haruka lowered her hand. “Actually, Miss Weinberg, it does concern me. He’s my classmate and as his Class Rep, I need to see that he gets the proper medical attention.”

“And that he will,” Weinberg replied smoothly. “However, class representatives have yet to be assigned.”

“Oh, but I plan to nominate myself.”

“I see. However, you are not a Class Rep, and thereby do not have the responsibilities of one. As I said before, you may leave.”

Haruka crossed her arms under her large bosom and played her last card. “He’s my childhood friend.”

Caprice, Maya, and Rina came to a sudden stop.

Oh, that’s right, Caprice thought to herself. She did mention he was her friend when she butted in.

Weinberg regarded the girl with a flat expression, and Amiella returned it, undeterred by the older woman.

“You are not a Familiar, Miss Amiella. The training facilities are restricted to Academy senior staff, training personnel, and Familiars. As such you do not have permission to accompany Mr. Desanto. Am I making myself clear?”

“Are you discriminating against me?”

“If you have a problem with the regulations, you may lodge your complaint with the Academy’s Board of Directors.”

The girl inhaled deeply, her bosom swelling mightily on her chest. “Very well. I’ll do just that.”

Weinberg sounded faintly irritated. “Until then refrain from breaking regulations, Miss Amiella.” She directed her attention on the trio of girls approaching Desanto lying on the ground, with Haruka Amiella standing a couple of feet away from him. “After you have delivered him to the infirmary, do not loiter. You will return to your classroom without delay. Is that clear?”

“Yes, ma’am,” they replied.

Faintly distrustful, Weinberg looked at them carefully, before nodding subtly to herself. She then crouched slightly, and the air around the clearing hardened for a heartbeat before the blonde woman launched herself skyward. She leapt clear out of the garden, vanishing below the tops of the trees a few moments later.

Maya quipped softly, “She’s like a giant flea.”

“Or a grasshopper,” Rina added.

“Or a frog,” Caprice tossed in.

They stood looking in the direction Weinberg had disappeared, troubled by their individual thoughts, and fearing the prospect of facing Weinberg or those seniors again in similar circumstances.

“So who is she?” Caprice asked. “I don’t recall seeing her during orientation week.”

Maya continued looking after Weinberg. “Her name is Nicola Weinberg afil Lorian. She’s Mason’s pet Doberman.”

“She’s what?”

Rina explained, “A Doberman is a dog.”

“Oh.” Caprice looked at Maya sidelong. “You really don’t hold back, do you?”

“Woof woof,” Maya mockingly barked.

“Woof woof, back,” Caprice responded.

“Meow….”

Caprice, Maya, and even Amiella faced Rina, and the bespectacled girl looked at them anxiously. “What? I like cats. Cat’s wear collars too.”

“You don’t take a cat for a walk,” Maya pointed out. “And they wear flea collars.”

Rina frowned faintly and sounded teary. “Why do you have to be so mean to me?”

Maya’s mouth fell open, but then she closed it slowly with a contrite look on her face.

A feeling of regret also washed through Caprice, as she realized it was her fault they’d charged into a dangerous situation without thinking the situation through.

“I’m sorry,” Caprice told her companions. “This was my idea, and it could have turned out worse.”

“We made the choice for ourselves,” Maya countered. “No need to apologize. Besides, I don’t like bullies, and that Le Grange is a bully.”

Rina was nodding absently in agreement as she looked down at Desanto. “So should we carry him face up or face down?”

Maya considered the question for a second or two. “If we had a gurney, it would be face up.” She inhaled deeply before suggesting, “We should carry him face down.”

“Oh, okay….” Rina sounded uncertain but lacked the will to disagree.

“But if we drop him accidentally,” Caprice pointed out, “we might break his nose.”

“Yes, and that would harm his good looks,” Rina added.

“True. That would be a waste. Fine. Let’s roll him over,” Maya instructed.

Caprice’s Awareness-field sensed the Hecaton-field Maya summoned to roll Desanto onto his back. The three girls regarded the sleeping teenager.

“He took a beating,” Caprice noticed.

Maya’s lips turned upside down. “He has a Symbiote still active inside him. He should be right as rain by this evening.” The girl crouched beside him and pocked Desanto’s cheeks, but the boy failed to react. “He’s really out cold. The collar really nuked him.”

“Nuked?” Caprice questioned.

Maya then pocked his shirt and midriff. “Wow, he’s really hard. Like all muscle hard.”

“Ahem.” A girl tired of being ignored coughed loudly into a fist.

The trio looked at Haruka who was standing nearby with an annoyed expression.

“If you dare to undress him, I shall report you to the school authorities,” the girl warned them.

Maya stood up and looked her over a shoulder. “What are you still doing here?”

“I am not going to leave him in your hands. You three need supervision.” She huffed. “There is no telling what you may do to him.”

“We’re not going to strip him, if that’s what you’re implying,” Maya retorted in her most lifeless voice yet.

Haruka puffed up her chest and patted it. “As Class Rep—”

“You’re not Class Rep, and I’m not voting for you,” Maya interjected.

“Me neither,” Rina seconded.

“You’re not in our class, dummy,” Maya pointed out.

“Well, if I was in your class, then I wouldn’t vote for her either,” Rina amended.

Haruka’s annoyance grew. “You’re like the three stooges.”

Caprice didn’t know what she meant, but Maya apparently did and so she arched an eyebrow at the buxom girl. “Did you say something, Double-G.”

Haruka flinched and jerked back. “Wh—what did you call me?”

“I called you, Double-G.”

Her face growing beet red, Haruka unfolded her arms and clenched her hands. “Did—did Caelum tell you that?”

“With a Remnant, it’s easy to tell,” Maya replied in her customary dull tone. “I know your three sizes. And your weight.”

Haruka was trembling but Caprice sensed the girl was more embarrassed than angry. “…it’s not like I wanted to grow this big….”

“Huh?” Maya uttered and Caprice frowned at the girl.

“It’s not like I wanted to grow this big!”

The three Familiars – and substantially less endowed girls – shied back in the face of Haruka’s outburst.

The busty brunette took a number of deep breaths that helped emphasize her bosom.

“They…they just grew.” Haruka bowed her head as though hiding her face. “They just upped and grew on their own.”

“Really?” Caprice wondered softly.

“Don’t they all do that?” Maya sounded as though she was dealing with a dangerous yet slow child.

“Not like this!” the girl blurted out, surprising the trio yet again.

Haruka suddenly shuddered violently, then pulled out her palm-slate. After swiping and tapping the screen a few times with her thumb, she held the palm-slate up for them to see.

“This is me.”

They stepped closer and peered at the screen to see an image of a girl with long auburn hair, wearing an unfamiliar school uniform while standing beside a bored Caelum Desanto, also in uniform. She was holding his arm and smiling happily while the photo was taken.

Haruka said, “This is me over a year ago, before Caelum and I transferred to Galatea. We had just found out that I was accepted into the Avenir Pride, and he had learnt he was a Familiar. This was taken after our school’s closing ceremony for the year. Caelum is a year older than me, but we’ve known each other since we were children. Up until a couple of years ago, our families lived next door to each other for ten years.”

“So you really are childhood friends,” Caprice said.

“Yes, indeed.”

Maya sounded confused. “You sound proud of being friends with a pervert.”

“He wasn’t all that bad until recently,” Haruka explained. “After he became a Familiar and gained his Remnant, it was like he decided to shed his old skin. Then again, he’d always been popular with the girls, but now his perversity just drives them away.”

“Were you a couple?”

“No!” Haruka flushed bright red. “No. I mean—I never—I didn’t—oh whatever! We were not a couple. In fact, he didn’t think much of me back then.”

Caprice held up a hand. “Wait a minute. Just stop right there.” Pointing at the palm-slate, she asked, “So this girl in the photo is really you?”

“Yes, that’s me,” Haruka answered without hesitation.

The trio studied the girl in the image, then focused on Haruka.

Caprice swallowed before asking, “This flat chested girl is you?”

This time, Haruka sighed. “Yes, that flat chested girl is me.”

“Holy molly,” Maya whispered. “You got big.”

Her words sparked the fuse that blew the bomb. Haruka blushed yet again, and trembled anew. “Yes, I got big! And it happened so damn fast! I went from a Double-A to a Double-G in a month. My parents were shocked and took me to see a doctor who said it was fine. She explained this kind of development sometimes happened to new Aventis girls my age who were underdeveloped. It’s like the Symbiote is trying to compensate by over-compensating.”

An intense feeling of resentment filled Caprice and she muttered, “Oh, how tragic for you.”

Haruka started to retort, then glanced at Caprice’s chest and subsequently she quickly closed her mouth. A few seconds later she pocketed her palm-slate, then crossed her arms under her bust. “Enough about me. Aren’t you supposed to be taking Caelum down to the infirmary?”

“Oh, you’re right,” Maya nodded sharply. Turning to the unconscious boy on the ground, she said, “Let’s pick him up.”

“Ah, about that...,” Rina softly muttered nervously. “I have some trouble with my fields when they are near other Hecaton-fields.”

“What?” Maya frowned.

“I have trouble keeping control of my Hecaton-fields.”

“I should be fine,” Caprice said and stepped up to Desanto. “My Guardian makes me practice this all the time.”

“How?” Maya asked somewhat offhandedly.

Caprice glanced away with a sour look. “I have to make my bed with them. Use them to carry my dirty laundry in a clothes basket. Wash the dishes. Wash myself. Walk the dogs. Weed the garden—”

“Is—is that all?” Rina asked in a tremulous voice.

“No, she also makes me play cat’s cradle with them.”

Maya swallowed loudly and stared at Caprice with wide eyes. “You play cat’s cradle with Hecaton-fields?”

Feeling as though she’d tripped a trip-wire, Caprice nodded very cautiously.

Maya’s eyes narrowed and she frowned hard. “By the way, that Aegis-field you threw up to protect us was pretty big.”

“I—I did that on reflex. Morgan has a habit of sneaking up on me. She says it’s to keep me on my toes.”

Maya and Rina looked at Caprice with complicated expression, but Amiella looked puzzled.

“Do you train under waterfalls as well?” Maya asked drily.

Caprice couldn’t help the shock from showing on her face. “How did you know?”

“What are you? Some kind of ninja?” Maya blurted out.

“No. I’m not,” Caprice held her hands up as she shook her head. “Although, Morgan enjoys watching all the period dramas from ancient Earth about samurais and ninjas. Maybe that’s where she got the waterfall idea….”

The three girls – including Haruka – regarded Caprice like an oddity, until the buxom brunette once again reminded them of Desanto on the ground.

After debating how best to hold him, Caprice and Maya decided to form a flat surface under him with their Hecaton-fields, and then succeeded in levitating Desanto into the air. They carried him between them, while Rina led the way using the map application on her palm-slate to guide the group to the underground infirmary. Haruka trailed closely on their heels, a watchful eye on Desanto who was now snoring very softly with each breath.

After the four girls exited the clearing by walking on the paved path, the busty girl sighed heavily, and broke the short silence that had fallen upon the group. Clearing her throat audibly, Haruka asked, “Was there another table?”

“No, there wasn’t.” Caprice replied without thinking, regretting it a heartbeat later when Maya shot her a lancing glance.

Haruka sighed again. “Then why did you—?”

“Because you Aventis get preferential treatment in this Academy. If your friend with the snake tongue reports Maya to the teachers for having bared her fangs, then Maya can get suspended, and I didn’t want that. The teachers will naturally side with the Aventis, and Maya will get the short straw.”

Haruka was quiet for a short while, then uttered, “I see….”

The first lunchtime bell sounded throughout the school grounds. It alerted students that they had ten minutes before the commencement of classes at which time a second bell would ring out loudly.

“This sucks,” Caprice said at a pang of hunger in her stomach.

“We missed out on lunch,” Maya remarked, then threw Haruka a look over her shoulder. “But I’m seeing lunch right here with us.”

“What?” Haruka almost shrieked.

Caprice glanced back at her to see her pale face at sight of Maya licking her lips.

“You wouldn’t dare,” the buxom brunette whispered.

Maya turned away as though tired of playing around. “You’re right. Your Avenir blood wouldn’t taste any good, anyway.”

Caprice felt uneasy at the thought of drinking a classmate’s blood. But before she could toss the thought away, her palm-slate rang loudly in her skirt pocket, signing a song from a popular cartoon about magical girls.

Maya, Rina, and Haruka swiveled their heads toward Caprice who blushed hotly while she fumbled to pull her palm-slate out of the pocket. By some stroke of good fortune, or a product of Morgan’s relentless training, Caprice did not lose control of her Hecaton-field supporting Desanto as she answered the call, not bothering to check the caller ID in the process.

“He—hello?”

“Caprice—report!”

As Morgan’s voice blasted out of the slim device, Caprice yelped and dropped the palm-slate.

- III -

Sitting at the table on the restaurant’s balcony, Morgan Le Caster read and re-read the message on her palm-slate, dimly aware of the blood draining from her face.

Across the table, nibbling disinterestedly on a salad lunch, the petite redhead Arisa Imreh Lanfear began to watch Morgan with interest. “Bad news?”

Morgan blinked out of her stupor, and recovered her composure to some degree, but she continued to hold the palm-slate in her hand rather than placing it back down on the table. “No, it’s fine.”

Imreh munched on a lettuce leaf. “Really, because you look rather pale.”

Morgan studied the beautiful young woman with flowing hair the color of a brilliant sunset seated opposite her.

Like Morgan, Arisa Imreh Lanfear was an alumnus of Galatea Academy, having attended the school during the same years. However, after graduation their paths diverged. Morgan attended the tertiary college operated by the Sanctum, while Arisa went to Clarent University in Island Two before working at Public Security. But while Morgan had done rather well for herself at the Sanctum until a more lucrative offer came along from the Steiner Family, Arisa quit Public Security and began working at the office of the Lanfear Primatriarch, Yolanda Imreh Lanfear, her aunt. She had heard rumors that Arisa had engaged in a relationship with her superior at Public Security, but it could have been nothing more than jealous or envious gossip from her co-workers. In truth, Arisa had always been the product of ugly rumors during her years at Galatea Academy, as girl after girl accused her of stealing their boyfriends.

“Tell me something,” Morgan asked while discreetly placing the palm-slate on her lap. “Why did you quit Pub-Sec?”

Arisa continued munching on the lettuce leaf. “I had a conflict of interest.”

“Meaning what?”

“I’m a Lanfear, but he was a Raynar.”

“Huh?” Morgan almost dropped her palm-slate. “You mean?”

“Have you ever read Romeo and Juliet? Romeo was a Montague, while Juliet was a Capulet.” Arisa shrugged and finished eating the lettuce leaf. “Pretty much the same thing with him and me.” Picking up the glass of iced tea, she sipped it through a straw. “Besides, his girlfriend complained that she wasn’t seeing much of him.”

“Wait…don’t tell me you—”

“Okay, then I won’t.” Arisa smiled. “I won’t tell you.”

Morgan eyed her former school acquaintance with disbelieving eyes. “So it was true? All of those rumors back at Galatea about you stealing boyfriends? That was all true?”

Arisa placed her tall glass of iced tea on the table. “A few of them. Well, most of them.”

“You’re kidding?”

“Of course I am. What do you take me for?”

Morgan refrained from banging her hands on the table. “That’s the problem. I have no idea.”

“Look, high school is high school. College is college. And work is work.” Arisa ran a fingertip along the edge of her glass. “So, are you going to tell me what that message was all about?”

“Before I do that, I want your honest answer. And no playing around.”

Arisa sat back in her chair. “You’re wondering about Desanto and Steiner, correct?”

“Yes. Those two happen to be in the same class. And they happened to run into each other this morning.”

“So?”

Morgan swallowed. “Desanto’s records are restricted to high level access only. Even my Sanctum authorization, that is still in effect because of my role as Caprice’s Guardian, doesn’t allow me to read them.”

“Oh. So that’s why you’re knickers are in a twist. I thought it was because you hadn’t had a good man in while.” She frowned slightly and lowered her voice. “Wait, are you still a virgin?”

Despite her best attempt not too, Morgan blushed bright red and hissed, “That’s—that’s none of your business!”

Arisa looked disappointed, but then shrugged. “Well, there’s still time for you.”

This time, Morgan was able to hold herself back through a monumental force of will. “Imreh, can you please be serious.”

“Call me Arisa.”

“Arisa—I want to know more about him.”

“He likes blondes.”

“Huh?” Morgan jerked back. “What?”

“You’re in luck. He likes blondes. He sees a beautiful blonde and he turns to butter,” Arisa replied with a straight face. “So Steiner is safe from him.”

“Actually, about that”—Morgan swallowed—“Caprice is a natural blonde. She dyes her hair for personal reasons.”

Arisa’s eyes widened slowly but very perceivably. “Oh no….” She straightened in her chair. “Why didn’t you tell me this before?”

Morgan felt a pang of fear. “What? What is it?”

“We have to keep her away from him? She’s in danger.”

“What seriously?”

Arisa froze for a moment. “Wait—tell me her cup size!”

“What? Why?” Morgan blushed. “I’m not telling you that.”

“Just tell me! It’s important!”

“She’s a Double-A!”

Morgan could sense through her Awareness-field that her loud voice had attracted a multitude of attention from the patrons – both male and female – seated at the neighboring tables. Choosing to ignore them, she stared questioningly at Arias who sat with her mouth open for a long while before she relaxed in her seat and resumed sipping her iced tea. “That was a close call.”

This time it was too much for her to handle, and Morgan slapped the table. “What the Hell is that all about?”

“If she ever grows three or four letters into the alphabet, then it’s open season on Caprice Steiner.”

“Huh?”

“By the way, I don’t recall you ever being that well rounded before,” Arisa remarked. “It’s no wonder he’s asked you out on a date.”

“He hasn’t asked me. It’s just his delusion.”

“But he’s expecting you to call him.”

“Geh—!” Morgan choked.

“It’s okay,” Arisa said. “I give you permission to go on a date with him. Just be gentle with him.”

Morgan scowled at the redhead. “I can see why you’re his Guardian. You’re as bad as he is.”

“Caelum is still a puppy. He has much to learn.” Arisa eyed Morgan carefully. “As I was saying, be gentle with him.

“Arrgh—I’m not dating a younger man. Especially a teenage boy! I’d be arrested!”

Arisa made a ho-hum expression and averted her gaze. “I won’t tell if you won’t.”

Morgan inhaled deeply as she grasped the frayed remains of her composure. “Look, just tell me about him. What’s in those files?”

“Why are you so interested?”

“Because I’m worried about Caprice.”

“He won’t hurt her. Trust me. If anything”—Arisa winced slightly—“if anything he’d leap headfirst into a fight to protect a girl. That’s the sort of person he is.”

“That’s not what I mean. I’m worried about her at the Academy. I’m worried that I won’t be able to protect her.” Morgan squeezed her eyes shut. “I’m afraid that I won’t be able to keep my promise….”

When she opened her eyes, Morgan saw the playfulness in Arisa’s face had faded away. “What happened to Karina wasn’t your fault.”

Morgan swallowed again and took a deep breath. “Either way, I promised her, but I don’t know if I’ll be able to keep that promise.”

“You’ve been training Steiner for over a year. And she has Karina’s Valkyrie. So tell me, how good is that girl?”

“Very good. She’s better than I was at her age. Maybe…maybe even better than Karina.”

“As good as Celica?”

Morgan flinched and turned away. “I don’t know.”

“She may have to be. That girl has enemies both inside and outside her family.” Facing Arisa, Morgan saw the redhead’s emerald eyes were glinting sharply, and Arisa appeared and sounded deadly serious. “If you want to know the truth, our two wards are in the same class because my aunt made a call.”

Morgan’s mouth grew dry. “What?”

“My aunt received a call from the Steiners, who made a personal request of her. Afterwards, she made a call to Lavinia Mason”—Arisa grimaced as though her saliva had turned bitter—“and the rest is history.” She washed down some of her bitter feelings with sip of iced tea. “I should tell you, Cassandra Khayman’s daughter is sharing the same class with her. I’ve heard people call Cassandra’s child a prodigy, and it’s probably what she desired when she made the choice to give birth to the girl, regardless of how it would affect her marriage and her family.”

Cassandra Khayman Sora was Maya Khayman afil Sora’s mother, and the Primatriarch of the Sora Pride here in Pharos. But because her daughter was born a Familiar, when all her other siblings were born as Pureblood Aventis, there was no shortage of rumors surrounding the origins of the young girl, some of which hinted at Cassandra engaging in an illicit relationship with a Familiar – a young man who was part of her personal security.

Morgan felt herself wilt as she realized how remiss she had been in her duties as Caprice’s Guardian. “I—I didn’t check the class roster.”

Pushing her glass of iced tea aside, Arisa leaned forward and folded her arms on the edge of the table. “You didn’t. But others did. Between Desanto and Khayman, I’m sure she’ll be safe. At the very least, I have a feeling those three are destined to be together.”

“Huh? You make it sound dirty.”

“I’m not talking about a threesome”—Arisa shrugged—“though who knows what will happen later.”

“Arisa, that’s not funny at all.”

“Am I laughing?” the redhead asked Morgan who shook her head weakly. “Morgan, do you know the stories that surround the Kaiser’s Blessing?”

“A few. History wasn’t my strongest subject.”

“They weren’t all taught in history class. A lot of the information we have on the Kaiser’s Blessing is kept out of the history books. And before you ask why, ask yourself this.” Arisa paused for effect. “When the Familiars won the war for the Aventis more than two hundred years ago, why did they suddenly hand their power over to us?”

“I thought it was because they decided they were done with war. I read that the Four Great Generals came to a consensus about who would lead humanity best.”

“Do you really think so? Regulars, Aventis, and Familiars. At the core we are all the same species. We’re all human, and we all share humanity’s faults. Greed. Ambition. Racism. An urge to kill. We’re all barbaric. But the Familiars are different in that they possess a power we don’t have. They could have turned their Remnants against us and claimed the top spot on the pyramid.”

“Then why didn’t they?”

“I don’t know. But what I do know, and what the archives tell us, is that the three surviving Generals did not hand power over willingly. In fact, they had no choice.”

“You mean because all the Remnants shut down without any reason to?”

“Exactly. Because on the day that the war came to an end, and the Fourth General is rumored to have died in the Empress’s tower after defeating her champion, all the Remnants stopped working. All of them reverted to a standby mode and locked down. It didn’t matter where those Familiars were, or how far away from the capital they were stationed, their Remnants simply stopped working. And ever since then, whenever a Remnant is un-bonded with a Familiar, it reverts to its locked state and the next Familiar to use it has to learn how to unlock its power from the beginning.”

Morgan ruminated over Arisa’s words for a short moment. “You mean that something happened when Kallum Kampfer died—the Fourth General—something that changed the behavior of the Remnants, including those yet to be fished out of the Hurakan Nebula.”

Arisa nodded faintly. “Kampfer’s Remnant was a Kaiser’s Blessing. A Ruler Class Remnant. And Caelum Desanto is the Meister of a Kaiser’s Blessing as well. Do you see where I’m going with this?”

“Not really, but you do know there are four Kaiser’s Blessings out there. Four of the same Ruler Class Remnants.”

“I do indeed. So the question the historians ask is which one is the Remnant that General Kallum Kampfer used? Which one of the four is it?”

“I don’t know. But why does it matter?”

“Because I believe—and many of the Lanfears believe—that the answer to the question of why the Remnants all shut down lies within the Kaiser’s Blessing that General Kampfer wielded. Some of the ancient Remnants retain the memories of their Meisters. No one knows what happened up there in the Empress’s throne room on the day Kampfer died. There is speculation and nothing more. So the answer lies hidden within Kampfer’s Kaiser’s Blessing.”

“But if that’s the case, and the Kaiser’s Blessing is so important, why give it to Desanto?”

“Because my Pride, the Lanfears, had no choice. Caelum’s compatibility with the Remnant was through the roof. It shocked the Hell out of my aunt, and her inner circle. They were so surprised they wanted to have him trained in a dedicated facility. They practically wanted to dissect him on a laboratory table. They want to know if that Remnant is the same Remnant that Kampfer used, and Desanto is their best means of getting the answer to the centuries old question of what happened up there in the throne room.”

Morgan felt a very real fear circle through her body. “Why…why didn’t they seclude him or take him apart?”

Arisa looked away, her gaze distant. “Two reasons. The first relates to a prediction—a prophecy—made by Seers and Seeresses a few years after the war.”

“A prophecy?” Normally Morgan would have scoffed at the notion, but the serious intensity in Arisa’s distant eyes quelled the urge in a heartbeat.

Arisa nodded faintly. “Throughout the war, their predications had been very accurate so there were few that doubted them. In fact, they had a higher success rate than the quantum battle computers designed to strategize the war. So when they made their prophecy, the Primatriarchs of the time listened.”

“So what was the prophecy?”

“That one day the Four Generals would be reborn.”

Morgan joined the dotted lines together. “You believe that one of them is Desanto?”

Arisa looked at her and shrugged subtly. “It’s not what I believe, but what my aunt believes. She’s the Primatriarch. Not me.”

Morgan thought back to her recent years in the Sanctum’s employ, and of the rumors she’d heard of divisions that dealt with genetic cataloging. Was it because the Sanctum was keeping an eye out for the rebirth of the Four Generals.

After shelving the thought for later, Morgan asked, “And what is the second reason?”

“The second reason is that my aunt wanted Desanto to have a normal…well, a relatively normal high school life. She wanted him to grow into a proper young man. She didn’t want him isolated from the world. By giving him the experiences he needs to know himself and to know others, my Aunt Yolanda wants Caelum to understand the importance of life, and to appreciate the responsibility that comes with great power—especially when that power comes from the Kaiser’s Blessing.” Arisa glanced at her iced tea, then signaled a nearby waiter. “May I have another please.”

Morgan waited for the waiter to walk away before saying, “I get the feeling you haven’t made your point yet.”

Arisa’s green eyes blinked slowly and her gaze penetrated deep into Morgan’s consciousness. When the young redhead smile, Morgan shivered.

“Kallum Kampfer wasn’t alone in his fight,” Arisa said. “He had good people around him, and the love of someone that ultimately broke him. But he also had the love of three young women, and their Remnants were a Valkyrie, a Paladin, and a Siren. And on the day that humanity lost the war, it was those young women who recovered his body from the Empress’s throne room….”

As Arisa’s voice trailed away, it sounded to Morgan as though she said ‘and one other’ but the complicated feeling that tingled down her spine stole her voice.

Arisa accepted her new glass of iced tea from the young male waiter, smiling seductively at him and causing the man to almost drop the tall glass. After the waiter departed with embarrassment written clearly on his face, Arisa used the long straw to swirl the ice cubes floating in her tea, then abruptly stopped and stared at Morgan with renewed interest.

“By the way, Morgan,” the redhead began, “if I remember correctly, isn’t your Remnant a Siren?”

From the back of her consciousness, Morgan felt the presence of her slumbering Remnant stir once again, though not as strongly as when she and Desanto had stood face to face.

Back then…at that time…what was it that I felt?

Noticing that Arisa was watching her intently, a cold shiver ran through her body. Clearing her throat after two failed attempts, Morgan stood up with her palm-slate in hand. “Excuse me, but I—I need to make a call.”

“Take your time,” Arisa said to her. The redhead sipped her tea as her gaze followed the young male waiter doing the rounds.

Walking off the open-air balcony and back into the restaurant’s cool interior, Morgan glanced back at Arisa on impulse, and was surprised to see the beautiful redhead looking decidedly agitated as she talked to someone through her palm-slate. Morgan frowned to herself and almost returned to the table, but then she remembered she too had a call to make. Turning away, she walked out of the establishment and stepped onto the wide promenade of the luxurious mall in the affluent district of Island One’s Habitat Two. The restaurant was but one of many located within the mall’s upper levels.

She made the call to Steiner’s palm-slate and waited for Caprice to answer it.

When the girl did, Morgan couldn’t hold herself back and all her emotions that had been stirred up by Arisa Imreh Lanfear now blew out of her at once.

“Caprice—Report!”

On the other end of the line she heard a frightened yelp and the sound of a palm-slate falling to the ground.

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