Chapter 6.

(Serenity)

#

The files I’d been allowed to read said there was one other dual wielder the Prides were watching with interest – the troubled girl of the Khayman Family.

Both she and Derek were on the shortlist of candidates for admission to the Sanctum’s Academy.

However, amongst the Valkyries Maidens, of which there were only a handful, I had seen my name included on the list…and then scratched off.

Once I received the Seal-Regalia, it was clear the Avenir Pride would not allow me to train at the vaunted Sanctum Academy.

However, at the very least I knew I was in good standing.

If there were any Sanctum observers in the crowd, they’d be getting a rare glimpse of my true power…but not all the power I possessed. Rather, it was the power I had at my disposal.

Using the inertial-fields generated by the Vector Wings, I was able to move quickly without turning into a red slushy.

Even then, I felt my body pulled and pushed in various directions as I maneuvered around Derek, all my bits wrapped within the Skin-Regalia. I could only hope all this flying about wasn’t going to give my breasts stretch marks. Little worse than those when wearing a string bikini.

With the blood inside my body sloshing around, my heart beating furiously, and my mind overclocked to the max – any faster and my neurons would fry – I flew low and fast around Derek.

I struck at him when the opportunity presented itself, while not limiting myself to the gauntlet-blades that glowed faintly emerald wrapped in lethal piercer-fields. With a part of awareness, I directed the semi-autonomous triumvirate of Vector Wings to attack and distract Derek.

They slammed into his barrier-fields with barrier-fields of their own.

When they flew past they slashed at him with paper-thin piercer-fields.

Essentially, it was three-on-one and it took its toll on him.

Gradually, as the seconds wore on, his speed decreased, and the accuracy of his blades deteriorated.

There was the possibility he was simply leading me on. He could be faking the exhaustion, but my woman’s intuition didn’t support that line of reasoning. It didn’t appear as though he’d had much time to master using all four arms, and adjust to the increased power of the Grand Chevalier. Since unlocking his Artifact, hee could move faster and he had more swords to wield, but he was still new at this.

As the saying goes, practice makes perfect, and Derek’s handling of his Grand Chevalier was far from perfect.

I couldn’t claim to have mastered Sigrún, but I could user her better than he could use his Artifact.

Thanks to the Seal-Regalia, my broken rib was reattached with the equivalent of spit and gum. It was barely holding together.

I needed to end this quickly, however Derek presented a bigger problem than Mikhail ever had.

*Heckle and Jeckle—go! Hold him down!

The two Vector-Wing clusters flew past me, accelerating at a pace that would have tested the inertial-fields warping space around me. They avoided the first of Derek’s strikes, and crashed their barrier-fields into him, knocking him back into a support pillar. Derek struck at them again with his extra arms, but the Vector Wing clusters that I’d named Heckle and Jeckle poured more power into the barriers, and resisted his attacks.

A second later, I slashed at him with both my gauntlet-blades nearly simultaneously.

The piercer-fields extending like invisible swords around my blades cut through the Grand Chevalier’s extra arms.

I chose not to stop, and crashed bodily into Derek’s chest armor.

The impact shattered my hexagonal barrier-fields and his.

However, my fluid barrier-fields held, spreading like jelly over my body as they dissipated the full force of the impact. Enough of the kinetic energy translated into my body to jar my brain sloshing within my skull. For a half second, which felt like four or five seconds, my vision swam and I saw double.

However, the blow had knocked the wind out of Derek while cratering and shattering the outer layer of the permacrete and rock pillar.

Heckle and Jeckle switched to their next objective. They pinned down Derek’s remaining arms – his real arms – by extending their barrier-fields and crushing his arms against the permacrete pillar.

I drew back, discarded the piercer-field enveloping my gauntlet-blades, and then pressed both blades against his armored neck.

This was beyond the endgame. This was the final move.

Derek stopped struggling as soon as my blades scissored against his neck.

The horned helmet around his head broke apart and regressed into the Grand Chevalier’s armor.

I gave him my coldest look. “You lose.”

He had the gall to grin at me. “You’re counting your chickens too early.”

[WARNING.]

Before the rest of the thought pulse could shoot through my mind, I pushed away from Derek by kicking off against the pillar.

Somersaulting through the air, I glimpsed something black flashed through the space I’d occupied less than a heartbeat earlier, and then landed on my tapered feet, before bouncing aloft on the maneuver-field wrapped around my legs that kept me a few inches off the ground.

Simultaneously, Heckle and Jeckle flew away from Derek and circled around to flank me, hovering almost silently in the air.

I grit my teeth as I realized I’d been caught off guard.

Somehow, Farolina had slipped unnoticed through my Awareness-field, and snuck up on me. The blow she delivered would have sent me spinning into the depths of the old docks.

Quickly, my emotions turned to disbelief.

“What the Hell are you doing?” I yelled at her.

“You were going to kill him!” she yelled back.

“No, but I was going to give him a nasty scar.”

Farolina looked aghast. “No one, and I mean no one touches his face.”

She turned around and clapped Derek’s cheeks with her palms.

“How dare you think of harming this precious visage.”

My disbelief jumped an order of magnitude. “Are you brain damaged? He made you cry in front of everyone and you’re protecting him. Have you no shame—no pride? No effing dignity as a woman?”

“I wasn’t crying because of him. I was crying because you broke my sternum, you stupid bitch!”

My mouth fell open. “Huh?”

“I was crying because you broke my sternum. And you almost ruptured my stomach!” she yelled angrily. “That’s enough to make anyone cry!”

I started shaking my head in denial. “No, I didn’t mean to.”

“Well, you did,” she snapped angrily. “Luckily all five of us powered up before coming here, otherwise we’d all be seriously injured.”

“Wait, you weren’t holding back. I thought you seriously wanted to hurt me.”

Her beautiful green eyes widened in incredulity. “Hurt you? How the heck could we hurt you? You’re a damn Valkyrie Maiden. None of us come close to your abilities yet.”

“Yes, but—”

“Shut up, Serenity.” Still holding onto Derek’s face, she faced him. “That evil witch didn’t hurt you, did she?”

Derek looked uneasy, but with her holding onto his cheeks he couldn’t turn away, though his eyes did look flighty.

Farolina sighed in deep relief. “I’m so glad. I’m so glad. If she’d hurt your face I’d never forgive her.”

Then she slammed her knee into his groin.

There was an audible crack as that part of the Grand Chevalier broke and fell away.

Derek tried doubling over, but she held him upright.

“That’s for calling me a succubus,” she told him.

Then she kneed him a second time, and despite the Skin-Regalia sheathing his body, Derek felt the pain and his eyes rolled back in his head.

Farolina released him, and he fell to the ground an unconscious heap.

Then she kicked him a few times in the chest.

“Can’t take me seriously?” she asked him. “You have a problem with my godly chest?”

After a few more kicks to his armor clad body, she stepped back and tossed her golden hair with one hand.

“Why do I waste my time with him?” she muttered in exasperation.

I warily asked her, “So…do you want to pick up where we left off.”

“No. I lost,” she replied. “I’ve had enough for one night. My feet are killing me and my chest is still mending.”

Glancing around me, and running my gaze over the crowd a hundred or so feet away, I then faced her again.

“So it’s over?”

She planted her hands on her shapely hips. “Indeed. Let’s call it a night.”

With a hand raised high, I turned to the crowd.

“Victory,” I declared loudly.

However, the confused crowd didn’t greet me the way I expected.

They shook their heads in disappointment, and began walking back to their parked vehicles.

Farolina leaned down and picked up the unconscious Derek Pitt. Tossing him onto her back, she followed the crowd. Along the way, she paused and asked me, “Are you coming or not?”

I exhaled loudly, and slumped my shoulders. “I’ll be there in a minute.”

“Oh?”

“I just need to catch my breath.”

“As you wish,” she said, then resumed walking with Derek on her back.

Kicking off the ground, I skipped over to the damaged support pillar, then circled around it.

Out of sight, I wretched onto the cold rock floor.

When I stopped, I leaned a hand against the pillar, and looked down at the blood that splattered the floor.

I had pushed too hard, and the broken rib wasn’t my only injury as two more felt fractured.

Taking slow, deep breaths, I waited for my body to regain its composure, wiped my lips clean, then returned Sigrún and the Skin-Regalia to her Sarcophagus.

When I was dressed once more in my Calista Academy uniform, I pulled a tissue out of a skirt pocket and wiped my lips dry, but no matter how much saliva I swallowed I couldn’t wash down the taste of blood in my throat and mouth.

The palm-slate I’d left in my skirt pocket began to sing a heavy metal song.

I pulled it out of the pocket and answered the call without looking at the caller ID.

“What is it, Hiro-Hiro?”

“How do you feel?”

“Sick,” I answered truthfully. “I pushed too hard.”

“Indeed. Your body isn’t ready yet to summon that much power.”

I leaned back against the cold permacrete of the pillar. “Can you do me a favor? Can you bring the car around? I don’t think I can make it back to you.”

“I’m already there,” he announced.

And indeed he was.

The black, low slung sedan drove up to me.

Takahiro climbed out of the vehicle, noticed the blood on the floor, then walked to the boot of the car. He retrieved a what appeared to be a small fire extinguisher except it wasn’t red but black. With extinguisher in hand, he walked toward me.

I pushed myself away from the pillar, and walked unsteadily toward the car, choosing to meet him halfway.

He looked down at me. “I believe we should have you examined.”

“No, I’ll be fine. I just need to rest.” I waved away his words of concern. “Hiro-Hiro, we both know the Seal-Regalia can do a better job of healing me than the Symbiote.”

“Nonetheless—”

“I said I’m fine. Just drive me back to the apartment.”

Walking to the car, I climbed into the back seat, and waited for him to return.

Through the window, I watched him spray the ground and the pillar where I’d thrown up undigested food and blood.

I closed my eyes, and lay my head back, and waited for the nausea to subside.

I really didn’t want to throw up in the back of the car.

#

(Maestro)

#

It was a mystery to me as to why the old docks weren’t any colder than they were.

Although they received power from Island One’s grid, and said power was used to illuminate large areas of the docks, wider expanses were relegated to pitch black darkness. In fact, only one floor out of the four received decent illumination. The rest of the old docks were dark but for the light the spilled in from the Harbor Tunnel running through the long axis of the asteroid Island.

So why weren’t they any colder? Could it be the heat radiated from the starships entering and leaving the Harbor Tunnel kept the old docks above freezing temperature?

I stamped my feet on the ground, grateful for the Thread inside me working overtime to keep my body warm. There were times I envied the Aventis, and this was one of them. An Aventis could handle extreme cold and heat better than a Regular, and better than a Familiar. With the Thread inside me for the next few days, I would be able to handle the cold of the docks fairly well.

That said, there was no good reason for me to be out here. I could have chosen to wait for Merkala’s return within the comfort of Pantra’s crew lounge, or in my own cramped quarters. Instead, I was out here in the cold, pacing casually within Pantra’s dark shadow.

Above me, the sleek starship was a mass of darkness. Parked deep into the lowest level of the old docks where the light from the Harbor Tunnel failed to reach, all her exterior lights were off, and she was radiating a false image that would hide her from the occasional sensor sweeps that surveyed the area.

This place had been chosen for a simple reason – it was rarely if ever visited. That wasn’t to say the old docks weren’t the locale for illicit activities. In our brief stay of only a few days, we’d observed a number of questionable business ventures take place in the depths of the old docks, thankfully quite far from our location. However, it had given me reason to believe that our choice of landing here was not in our best interests.

I looked up at the Pantra.

The ship was an old Pathfinder outfitted as a spook, a former spy of the space lanes within the Hurakan Nebula. Millennia ago the military of an Earth nation outfitted fishing trawlers to act as spies while sailing the seven seas. The principle employed for this ship was much the same. While mapping out the various rock clusters of the Hurakan Nebula, Pantra, formerly known as the Emporium, had spied on ships and installations and reported back to her employers who turned out to be the Pantheon Company. Unfortunately for her, she ran into some unsavory individuals, was chased down and crashed into an asteroid. Her crew abandoned ship, but they didn’t get very far.

The ship had drifted for a decade through the dirty cloud of the Hurakan Nebula until a scout affiliated with Crimson Crescent encountered her. She was salvaged and rebuilt aboard the Crimson Sunrise, upgraded with the latest technology and given a whole new paintjob. At ninety meters long she was twelve meters longer than her original design. The extra length afforded the crew more spacious quarters, as well as a larger shuttle deck to accommodate a sleek shuttlecraft with limited trans-light capability. Needless to say, her weaponry had been improved, along with her stealth capabilities.

While I was confident her registration would hold up under scrutiny, I wanted to keep her a secret for a while longer. To do so, we’d snuck into Pharos’ Harbor Tunnel by hiding under a particularly large superfreighter that happened to be entering the asteroid Island. Since the other vessel was a good ten times longer and several times wider, it was rather easy to hide in its mass shadow while operating in stealth mode.

Flying her into the lowest dock had been a tricky prospect, but our pilot persevered. It was also a good test of the ship’s capabilities. Then again, the docks had been designed to support vessels that were much larger than the Pantra.

The question was how much longer would we remain hidden.

I pursed my lips in thought.

Leaving empty handed would be a serious problem for us. But not being able to leave at all was an even bigger concern, especially when I considered who’d joined us on this dangerous mission.

The soft hum of hydraulics reached my ears, and I looked into the gloom.

Soft amber lighting illuminated the boarding platform as it descended from the ship’s neck. Before it touched ground, the sole occupant, a short slender and feminine shadow, jumped down to the rock floor of the old docks. As the shadow walked toward me, the boarding platform ascended back into the ship

The shadow stopped a few feet away from me, and I saw it smile up at me.

With my Artifact’s Awareness-field, I could tell exactly who it was simply by running the field up and down the shadow’s body.

I sensed the faint Awareness-field surrounding the shadow, but I doubted it could sense mine.

Taking a deep breath, I shoved my hands deeper into my coat pockets, then cleared my throat. “Lady Sophia, might I ask what you’re doing out here?”

“I came for a breath of fresh air,” the young girl replied affably, yet I knew it was anything but how she felt.

“There’s nothing wrong with the air inside the ship, or your quarters.”

“We’ve been here two days. When are you going to allow me into the habitats?”

“I don’t plan to allow you at all.”

“That’s just cruel.”

“Might I remind you that you stowed away aboard the ship, against your father’s wishes.”

She pointed at herself. “Who me?”

I watched her silver hair catch what little light there was this deep into the docks, almost a kilometer away from the Harbor Tunnel.

The truth was, I had considered using her in my plan.

She was something of a ‘shock factor’.

She patted her chest, which for a girl her age, was already well developed.

So very much like her elder sister, I thought to myself.

“Are you afraid I’ll do something foolish?” she asked.

“Of course. Common sense wasn’t in your genetic makeup.”

“I’ll tell father you were mean to me.”

“Your father has authorized me to spank you should you interfere in our objective.”

“Don’t you mean, interfere with the objective?” Her head rocked from side to side. “By the way, will you let me meet her?”

“No.” I lied. Her value as a shock factor was indeed quite high. She might be what I needed to break that other girl.

She clicked her tongue loudly.

I leaned toward her. “If you don’t behave, I will take your necklace from you.”

I could faintly see her blue eyes widen in the darkness. Then her expression grew dark, as the saying goes.

“Just try it.”

“I have your father’s permission.”

“Like I said, just try it. This is mine. This was given to me by my mother. She chose it for me, and I will not part with it.”

“Then behave and do I as I instruct, or I may just use my Artifact to bind you. Is that clear?”

She took a half step back. “You wouldn’t dare….”

“If you endanger our reason for being here, I will most certainly bind you. And then I’ll make sure to have you locked away in your quarters for the duration of our stay.” I closed the distance between us and looked down at her. “Although my Artifact works best on Aventis, it can also influence Familiars. And you, my dear, are not strong enough to defy me. You haven’t synchronized sufficiently with your Fragment to use it as a shield against me. Do I make myself clear?”

She lowered her chin and peered up at me.

It was hard to read her expression in the darkness, but through my Awareness-field I could sense the sudden shift her emotions.

If she had an aura, it would have turned stone grey while flickering with an angry red light.

Sofia spoke in a low, even tone that surprised me, as I could perceive her anger yet not hear it.

“It’s always about her…isn’t it? Everything he does is always about her. Since the day I could think for myself, I’ve always felt that I was nothing more than a mistake. Even the fact that I awakened as a Familiar and not an Aventis was a disappointment to him.” She touched her chest again. “If not for my mother, I would never have received this gift. He would have denied me my right to be a true Familiar.”

“Your father has allowed you to choose your own path.”

“Yes, and tied me down at every turn.” She lowered her hand to her side where it clenched into a small fist. “I will not be held down…not by a father that does not love me.”

Even in the darkness, I felt the intensity of her gaze.

You are very much like your mother, Little Sofia. Be sure not to end up like her.

In truth, I wondered what her fate would be.

Perhaps her stowing away was not such a bad idea.

At the very least, it might shake that man to the core.

A soft whoosh greeted us, and I turned around to see something narrow and small silhouetted in darkness moving quickly toward us. A small light flashed at us for a few seconds. There was no code behind the sequence, being more or less the same as rapping knuckles against a door. As it grew closer, I heard a faint thrum emanate from the approaching machine, and seconds later the lev-bike floated to a fast stop a few feet away, yet well under Pantra’s shadow.

The lev-bike’s instrument panel cast a soft amber glow upon the rider who was dressed like a teenage girl displaying a fair amount of skin. Dressed as she was, I believed she would be cited with several traffic violations for riding a lev-bike without the proper gear. For one thing, she was riding without a helmet, revealing her long raven hair. However, I was certain the Enforcers would be dumbfounded to know this teenage girl was a young woman in her mid-twenties who happened to look like teenage boy’s wet dream.

Merkala sat on the lev-bike and studied the pair of us.

I couldn’t feel her Awareness-field against mine, however I was certain she was employing it upon Sofia and I.

Agitation flickered through my heart.

Damn her skills! To think she can slip her field past my field with so much ease.

I swallowed and willed myself to remain calm.

Showing weakness before this monster was ill advised.

To my left, I sensed yet another change in Sofia, as the girl eyed Merkala with adoration. Perhaps that wasn’t quite right. Sofia did not adore Merkala, but aspired to be like Merkala. At the very least, I knew that Sofia wanted the power that Merkala wielded.

Merkala regarded me with a flat look, then faced Sofia. “You should go back inside.”

Sofia sounded faintly petulant. “But I came out here to wait for you.”

“That was unnecessary,” the woman that looked like a high schooler replied.

Sofia crossed her arms sullenly. “You could have taken me with you….”

“That would have been unwise.”

I cleared my throat discreetly before asking, “How was it?”

Merkala was quiet for a long moment, before facing me. “Nothing’s changed, just the faces,” she reported drolly.

I refrained from chuckling in amusement. “So you enjoyed yourself.”

“I did see something interesting.” Merkala sat back in the lev-bike’s seat, while the craft floated a foot off the rock floor. “The Avenirs’ Valkyrie Maiden Sigrún.”

Assisted by my Artifact, I searched my memory for a name and face. “The Abandoned Child?”

“Yes, that one. She’s grown considerably.”

“As a woman, or as a bonded Familiar?”

“Both.” Merkala paused in thought. “She would be an asset.”

I pressed my lips together, then put them through a few different shapes as I mulled the possibility. “It’s doubtful she would join us.”

“But she has a reason to join us. She simply doesn’t know it yet.”

I narrowed my eyes at her. “Is she strong?”

“Very. She wields the same type of Valkyrie Maiden as Celica Desanto.” The young woman tipped her head slightly. “However, for the time being she isn’t as strong as Desanto, but given time she will be a serious threat.”

I nodded quietly. “She was described as a prodigy at one time.”

“It would be better to have her on our side.”

Sofia edged forward. “Why? She’s not as strong as you. And you’re stronger than Celica Desanto. Why do we need someone like this Abandoned Child person?”

Merkala’s eyes reflected the amber light from the lev-bike’s console, making them appear demonic. Her voice took on a steely edge. “I was stronger than Celica Desanto. That is no longer the case.”

Yes, that was indeed the situation. Since Celica had gained the Warlord Black Camellia, she was ranked the strongest of Crimson Crescent’s members, a position once held by Merkala.

So it really bothered her, I thought to myself. Her pride as a Familiar has been wounded.

Sofia was startled, and struggled to respond. “Ah—I didn’t mean to offend you.”

Merkala leaned forward over the lev-bike as she gripped the control bars. “I need to put this away.”

Sofia spoke quickly, sounding chastised. “I’ll open up the ship for you.”

“There is no need,” Merkala intoned disinterestedly.

I took a quick breath and interrupted her before she could ride away toward the underside of the Pantra’s neck structure. “Our Lorelai says she’s added your lev-bike to the colony’s vehicle registration system. Your identity has also been established within the colony records. She doesn’t believe there will be a problem with either of them, so long as the authorities don’t look too deep. You’ll need to review your profile before you head out.”

Merkala nodded shallowly. “Good. Then I’ll head into Island Three tomorrow and being surveying the area. I will need to take the ”

My hands still in my coat pockets, I took a couple of steps toward her. “Merkala, there’s no need to rush. We have time, and I have yet to begin my preparations. Until our faux identities are in the system, we won’t be able to move around freely.”

She sat motionless on the lev-bike, and I started to count the seconds that went by until she broke the intervening silence.

“You’d better not delay. Zephyrus is scheduled to arrive next week. You won’t want to keep them waiting.”

I felt I was being threatened and did not appreciate it.

However, she did have a point.

Zephyrus was a much bigger ship than Pantra, and would not be able to sneak into Island One the way we did. Instead, it would have to loiter around in the Hurakan Nebula, drifting in darkness between the asteroid Islands, perhaps landing on the exterior of Island One. The longer it remained in the area, the greater the risk of being discovered. As soon as that happened, it would put at risk all the Crimson Crescent cells operating within Pharos. More to the point, as the getaway starship, Zephyrus was essential to the plan.

Shaking my head down at her, I sighed softly for effect. “All good things come to those who wait. This is not a simple snatch and grab. First I must deal with the pawns, then I must cater for the knights, the bishops, and rooks. And last, but not least, there is the king to consider, for she rarely leaves his side.” I tipped my head at her. “Are you getting the picture?”

“If you fail, don’t bother coming back. I believe those were his words.”

“Rather loyalty inspiring, aren’t they,” I muttered drily.

“When the time comes, I will deal with the pawns.”

I shook my head at her. “No. You will deal with the knight. He is the first we need to bind.”

“Didn’t you say the pawns were first?”

“Once, I have the knight, the pawns will follow.”

“Make up your mind, Maestro.”

I took a step closer to her. “Don’t presume to tell me how to do my job, Kin Slayer.”

Merkala raised an eyebrow at me. “Ouch,” she blurted out flatly.

“You get me the knight—the male knight—and I’ll take it from there.”

“Very well. When and where do you want him?”

“Let’s discuss that inside.”

“And the female knight?”

“Her sister?” I leaned back while narrowing my eyes. “If at all possible, I’d rather have nothing to do with that witch.”

#

(Serenity)

#

Takahiro drove me to the new apartment complex in Island Three, rather than my home in Island One’s Habitat One.

I heard him step into the living room of the penthouse suite, then I saw his reflection in the trans-steel glass windows before me.

He stopped at the top of the curved steps leading down into the living room’s sunken floor.

I didn’t acknowledge him. I kept looking out the panoramic windows that encircled half the living room wall. Beyond them, Island Three’s Habitat Two stretched out in all directions. To the far right I saw the lights of the entertainment district. Ahead of me and to the left, shone the lights of the residential blocks, massive Aztec style pyramids with connecting bridgeways and elevated mag-lev tracks running between them.

The habitat was observing the nighttime cycle, so artificial stars and moons drifted by overhead.

I reclined back on the triple seater sofa, bracing my lower back against the armrest.

“Mistress?”

I sighed and murmured, “What is it, Takehiro?”

I glanced at his reflection. He was keeping his usual stoic persona in place.

“The last of your belongings will arrive in the morning. I’ll see to their distribution within the apartment.”

I nodded shallowly. “Wonderful. Just wonderful.”

“Are you unhappy with the new accommodations?”

I glared at his reflection. “You could have told me mother was kicking me out today.”

“This was not her decision. This was the Avenir Pride’s doing.” He paused before asking, “Have you checked your bedroom? A great deal of your belongings were brought over today.”

“Yes, including my exotic lingerie collection. Did you manhandle them?”

“Of course not,” he replied in a low tone. “This place is fully serviced. The maids will be here in the morning. I can have a chef organized to come in in the evening.”

“Don’t bother. I’ll live on take-out.”

“That really isn’t wise,” he admonished wearily. “You should learn how to cook. It will stand you in good stead in the future.”

“I don’t plan to be a housewife,” I growled at him.

“And I’m not trying to domesticate you.”

I heard singing and realized it was my palm-slate. Fishing it out of my skirt pocket, I looked at the display and groaned. “I have to take this.”

He bowed politely. “I’ll be in the apartment below.”

I watched his reflection depart. Then I heard the door to the penthouse suite open and close.

I lay back on the couch, tapped the screen to answer the call, and stared up at the glass ceiling made of concentric circular panels.

“Hello,” I muttered.

“Where the Hell are you?” Farolina snapped. “We’ve been waiting for you for more than thirty minutes.”

“I’m in Island Three, Habitat Two.”

“What the Hell are you doing over there?”

“I’ve been kicked out of home,” I replied drily.

“What? Why?”

“Apparently I’ve been allocated the penthouse suite for the duration of my stay at Galatea Academy.”

“Does it have an indoor pool?”

“Yes. Heated too.”

“And where did you say you are?”

“Island Three, Habitat Two, District Four, Block Seven. Did you get all that?”

“We’ll be there in an hour.”

She hung up.

I stared at my palm-slate. “Bitch. I can’t believe she invited herself over.”

I chose to shower first, then rifled through the clothes someone had neatly categorized into my bedroom wardrobe and drawers. Suspecting what Farolina was after, I searched for swimwear and found a one piece suit I’d modelled late last year.

“Am I going to fit in this thing?” I wondered as I stretched the material a little.

Slipping into the swimsuit, I then dressed in a short navy blue skirt, and white t-shirt.

As expected, the penthouse suite’s Assisting Intelligence reported the arrival of guests down in the lobby.

I gave the system permission to allow my ‘guests’ to ride up to the penthouse suite.

Walking down the wide corridor, I greeted them at the door.

Farolina, Karissa, Sonia, and Mikhail walked in, all bearing gifts that was food and drinks from a convenience store.

They barged in and I closed the door behind.

“Yes. Of course. Just make yourselves at home,” I snarked at them as they spread out throughout the penthouse suite, and began exploring it.

Mikhail gaped at the spacious living area. “This place is huge….”

Farolina nodded in appreciation. “Where’s the bathroom?”

I shrugged. “There’s three. The biggest one is down that corridor. That bathtub is the size of a pool. And the shower has three heads.”

Sonia plonked herself onto the banana shaped sofa in the living room’s sunken floor. She pointed at the enormous holovid projection system. “Does that connect to the Nexus?”

“I don’t know. I haven’t even turned it on.”

She found the controls and began working through the options. “Ah—the online gaming framework is installed. Version twelve point six. Excellent.”

She pulled out her handheld console and linked it up with the holovid suite.

“Now I can pick up where I left off.”

My mouth fell open though I shouldn’t have been surprised. “Yes, of course. Whatever floats your boat.” I turned to Karissa who was staring out at the habitat. “What about you?”

Karissa glanced at me over her left shoulder. “Can we step outside?”

“Ah…there’s a patio,” I answered, then walked over to the panoramic wall. Calling out to the Assisting Intelligence, I asked, “Home, how do we get to the patio?”

I was startled when a soft chime preceded the sudden opening of a section of the transparent wall. Immediately a strong gust of wind blew in.

“Close it, close it!” I snapped loudly.

The transparent wall sealed shut a few seconds later.

“Let’s not do that again,” I told Karissa who shrugged as though she was innocent.

Farolina walked up to me on her stiletto heels. “Where’s the pool?”

I turned around slowly and surveyed the penthouse suite. “Ah…that way…I think….”

“Excellent. I’ll go get changed.”

“Wait,” I snapped at her. “Where’s Derek?”

Farolina looked annoyed that I should ask. “Missing him already?”

“I’m just asking where is he?”

“We left him naked and unconscious on the grass in Monument Park in Island One.”

My mouth fell open, and I had to remember to breathe. “What? Tell me your joking.”

Karissa held up her palm-slate and showed me an image she’d recorded on it.

I realized Farolina was not joking. Facing her, I said, “He’s going to get arrested for public indecency.”

“Too bad,” she remarked then turned and walked away with a small bag in one hand.

Karissa followed after her. “You brought mine, didn’t you?”

“Of course. I have the one you picked right here,” the blonde goddess replied as she sashayed down one hallway, with Karissa in tow.

I rubbed my forehead in dismay, feeling a headache creeping up on me.

Mikhail walked up to me with a bowl of corn chips in one hand, and a clear soda bottle in the other. “Hungry?”

I took them from him. “I really shouldn’t eat before I swim, but I doubt I’ll be swimming after all.”

A large glass dining table occupied an area of the upper living room floor. I sat down on a chair beside the table and munched on a corn chip.

Mikhail brought some food from the kitchen where the bags had been deposited.

However, he suggested we sit in the sunken living area.

Grabbing my food, I walked down the handful of steps, and dropped myself onto an empty sofa seat, while Mikhail sat a short distance away.

We made sure to give Sonia sufficient space as she battled away at holovid monsters occupying a garish dungeon.

“I thought she finished this game,” I said.

Mikhail shook his blonde haired head. “Her Guild lost their match. They didn’t get the final prize.”

“Oh, what a pity.”

He sat back to eat the convenience store bento on his lap. “Second prize was a trip to the beauty parlor. Half the Guild declined because they’re guys.”

I munched on a corn chip, staring absently at the holovid projection, while thinking that if Sonia fought as well with her Fragment as she battled dungeon monsters, I wouldn’t survive long against her.

Mikhail wolfed down his bento. “So, how long are you going to be at Galatea?”

“Indefinitely.”

“And you won’t tell us what it’s about?”

“My lips are sealed. I signed a contract.”

“So what can you tell us?” he asked before dropping food into his mouth.

“Nothing. It’s all hush hush.”

“Do you have an objective?”

I munched away on another chip. “Yes. There is an objective, but it’s not clear on how I’m supposed to achieve it.” I inhaled deeply and then sighed. “I’ll just have to play it by ear.”

Farolina’s voice reached us from the top of the steps leading down to the sunken living area. “We’re ready. Come on.”

Mikhail and I looked up at her, and he almost dropped his bento.

“Goddess…,” he whispered in awe.

I stared at her, feeling annoyed with what I was seeing.

Farolina had changed into a two-piece bikini, and a sarong skirt wrapped around her waist. “Well?” she demanded.

“I think I’ll stay here,” I replied feeling defeated.

Karissa appeared behind her, wearing a crimson one-piece suit I was certain had padding stitched around the chest area to make her look bigger. However, it was easy to confuse her for a middle schooler.

She peeked down at Mikhail, then gulped a lungful of air. “Hey, are you coming or not?”

Mikhail stared at her unblinking for a long while. “Sure. Be right there.”

I noticed she was looking visibly flushed. I also noticed the air rush out of her lungs.

Looking depleted, she waved at us, then disappeared in the direction of the indoor pool.

I guess they found the pool, I thought to myself.

“What about you?” Farolina questioned, while standing with her hands on her hips. “I can tell you’re wearing a one piece under your clothes.”

“That was before I saw you in that two-piece,” I retorted. “So I’ve changed my mind.”

I was startled when Sonia stopped playing the holovid game, stood up, and stripped out of her clothes into a one-piece similar to what I was wearing.

“I’m ready,” she declared in a muted voice, then walked up the steps leading out of the sunken living area.

Feeling like the odd woman out, I caved in and followed them to the pool.

#

I watched Karissa swim laps across the fifteen-meter pool, with Mikhail swimming beside her.

Sonia was swimming underwater from end to end, as though testing her lung capacity.

I sat on the edge of the pool, with my legs in the water.

Farolina stood beside me eyeing the pool for a long while. When Karissa and Mikhail arrived at the end farthest from us, Farolina excitedly tapped my shoulder.

“Watch this,” she giggled.

“Watch what?”

Farolina stepped back, then took a running leap into the pool.

Water splashed high, dousing me.

I glared at the girl when she eventually burst through the surface, with her arms high and forming the letter Y.

“Ta da!” she declared victoriously.

“What are you doing?” I growled at her as I wiped away the water from my eyes.

Karissa and Mikhail had stopped swimming and were staring at her in confusion. Sonia was peering up at her while floating near the bottom of the pool with her arms behind her back. I was startled to see how close she was to Farolina’s legs.

Farolina jumped up and down, her arms high in the air. “Look at me. What do you see?”

“Someone I want to drown.”

“No, you idiot. Look at my bikini.”

“What about it? It looks normal and it didn’t turn transparent.”

“No. No, look at it. What do you see?”

“Listen, I have no idea what you mean. Just tell us.”

“It’s still on me,” she pointed out.

“What’s wrong with that?”

Farolina howled in frustration. “Nothing. That’s precisely the point. I’m still wearing it.” She tugged at her straps. “My bikini didn’t come off. You see—I’m not topless. I water bombed and yet I’m still wearing my top. This is exactly what they advertised.”

“Your saying that bikini won’t expose your boobs at the waterpark.”

“Yes. I can finally go to a waterpark and not be afraid of going down the rides!”

“I see,” I quipped, and clapped disinterestedly.

She planted her hands on her hips. “This is very big deal for me. I may finally choose to endorse this brand. The perfect brand for a goddess like me.”

“Well, I modelled for them last year. If you want, I can get my mother to contact their marketing department. I’m sure they’d love to have you model for them in their exclusive catalog.”

Her eyes brightened. “Really? You can do that?”

I shrugged. “Sure. The bikini for the fuller bust. You’d be perfect.”

“Not fuller bust. Fullest bust,” she corrected. “And I am perfect.”

I pointed at her crotch. “You lost your bottoms.”

“WHAT?”

Farolina screamed while Karissa clapped her hands over Mikhail’s eyes.

The buxom goddess dove under water and searched around for her bikini bottoms.

However, I noticed Sonia underwater and slowly drifting away with something in her hands behind her back.

I frowned inwardly. How did she manage that?

When she surfaced, Farolina covered her privates with both hands. “Help me,” she pleaded.

Sonia emerged at the far corner of the pool and began sneaking away.

I pointed at her. “She has them.”

“Come back,” Farolina yelled, and began swimming fast toward me. Climbing out in a hurry, she grabbed the sarong skirt she’d discarded, tied it around her waist, then pursued Sonia who had succeeded in getting outside the penthouse and was now running on the patio.

I watched Farolina chase the girl, her sarong skirt fluttering in the strong wind. The transparent walls kept out the noise of the habitat and Farolina’s evidently loud yelling.

Sonia deftly leapt over patio tables, chairs, benches, and garden plants.

Amazingly, Farolina quickly caught up to the girl and tackled her to the ground.

They both rose to their feet and wrestled for ownership of the bikini bottoms.

However, the situation took an unexpected turn.

An Enforcer drone out on patrol rose into view and shone its bright lights on the two girls wrestling over the bikini.

Both of them stopped like small animals caught in a hunter’s lights, until Sonia quickly untied Farolina’s sarong skirt. Caught by the wind, it blew away into the air.

Sonia escaped, but it took Farolina a moment for reality to sink in.

She quite obviously screamed, then turned and ran away from the drone.

Still sitting on the edge of the pool, I watched the girl flee into the penthouse suite, spear across the living room, and dash down a hallway before seeking refuge in one of the bedrooms.

I heard the door slam a heartbeat later.

As for Sonia…she was nowhere in sight…until I noticed her standing beside me.

I was shocked and screamed in fright. Once my heart landed back in my chest, I stood up and glared at her.

Nothing—there was no sign of her in my Awareness-field! How did she manage that? It shouldn’t be possible! Not with the Seal-Regalia inside my body!

Swallowing a couple of times to recover my voice, I snapped at her, “How the Hell did you do that?”

Sonia shrugged and showed me her bracelet. “I’m a Sylph, remember?”

“Yes, but—”

She smiled and sang, “It’s a kind of magic. Magic. Magic.”

I swallowed and narrowed my eyes at her.

A chime rang from the pool’s ceiling, and the Assisting Intelligence spoke up.

“Building Security is at the door. They would like to speak with the registered resident.”

I closed my eyes, counted to five, then opened them. Before Sonia could react, I stole the bikini bottoms from her hand.

“I’m not taking the blame for this,” I warned her.

Grateful that I hadn’t entered the pool, I put on my T-shirt and short skirt, then padded with wet feet into the penthouse suite, and greeted the security guards at the door.

“Can I help you?” I asked innocently.

Unfortunately for me, they didn’t buy my act, though they took the opportunity to run their gazes up and down my body a few times.

Once they were done ogling me, I was advised to co-operate with the authorities or my tenancy would be revoked.

A few minutes later, an Enforcer arrived at the penthouse suite, questioned me and Farolina for a couple of minutes before serving her with a citation for lewd behavior in an open air environment.

Farolina – who had changed into more modest clothing by then – paid her fine on the spot, apologized for her conduct and bowed politely to the security guards and Enforcer, then retreated to the living room while I ushered the men out of the penthouse suite.

On my way back to the living room, I heard a crash, the sound of glass breaking, and the muffled yells of two girls grappling on the plush carpeted floor.

I grabbed my head, wondering when this night would end.

#

(Haruka)

#

I looked into Caprice’s eyes reflected in the mirror.

“Are you sure this is what you wanted?”

“Yes,” she replied firmly yet customarily faintly.

Siobhan peered at the girl from various angles. “You’re going to turn some heads.”

Alistair sighed heavily. “Yes, she is….”

Swallowing a couple of times, I folded my arms, while watching Caprice turn to and fro as she regarded herself in the mirror. “If you want to make Caelum jealous, you’re off to a good start.”

“I’m not thinking of Caelum,” she whispered with just a faint trace of bitterness.

I sighed long and hard. “Caprice, be honest—”

“I’m not thinking of him,” she stated, and faced me. “I’m not.”

Alistair sighed again. “I spoke to a few girls from his class. They said Crais is quiet, courteous, never gets angry, tolerates a lot of taunting, and has quite a few admirers. In a way, he’s a lot like Haruka’s boyfriend. Very considerate and reliable.”

Siobhan laughed. “Sounds quite the opposite of Galatea’s Public Enemy Number One.”

I swallowed tightly, thinking how stupid Caelum was and got angry with him.

Alistair added, “Every guy has his dark side. We’ll just have to wait and see what Crais’ dark side happens to be.”

Caprice frowned every so faintly. “And if he doesn’t have one?”

Siobhan chuckled. “You mean if he’s too good to be true and it’s all true?”

Caprice replied with a subtle nod.

“Then choose whomever makes you happy,” I offered. “Choose the one that makes you the happiest. That’s all there is to it.”

I turned around, and walked to where I’d left my belongings on the couch seat.

Grabbing my carry-bag and Academy blazer, I turned to my friends and Caprice. “I have to go. Sorry. I can’t stay.”

I left the shop after waving goodbye, thinking that I’d given Caprice the advice I’d given myself when I couldn’t decide which way my heart pointed.

I didn’t want to feel guilty over my words, so I chose to curse Caelum a few times on the way to the mag-lev station.

Then I cursed him a few more times while riding the mag-lev home to Habitat Three.

Some of you may know the song Sonia was singing.