A team huh?

I sighed when Lavender finally left. Why was it that adults left kids to fight seemingly impossible battles? The way I saw it, Lavender was more powerful than Rasputin, yet she told us to just deal with it. Any responsible adult would have directed us to the nearest authorities. The sad thing was that I had met the authorities on Gaia. While they talked a good game, they all shied away from conflict. Unless it directly involved them. Only Maya proved to have any backbone, and that had practically gotten her killed.

Kalli shook her head with a smile on her face. She had more reason to worry than I did, yet she chose to show a kind of courage that made me admire her. We know how to beat him. Zofia showed us. His shields are worthless against non-magical attacks. Well, perhaps just from that special gun but if we outfit our troops with them, we should be able to find a way to win.

Not just weapons. There was another way. A way I’d been hesitant to explore.

We have another weapon. Mardella may have accidentally shown us a new attack with her corrupted mana poison.

I could feel Kalli’s doubt as she worked out what I had in mind. But he’s an M. He will be immune to it the same way we are.

I pushed emotionally charged mana through the connection toward Kalli and felt her send a wave over he own to counter it. We were more powerful than Mardella ever was. That’s why her poison was ineffective against us.

We have the ability to make it more potent than Mardella ever could. She poisoned a blade with mana. I’ll inject mine directly into Rasputin’s twisted core.

Kalli’s eyes widened as she saw the flaw in my plan. But to do that, you would have to touch him. He already demonstrated that he can kill with only a second of contact. You’d need longer than that to infect him. Also, think about it, you can’t save yourself the way you did Maya. What would happen if you tried to trap your core in the ring?

It was an interesting question. I’d never thought of imprisoning myself. Could I do that if I was dying? The thought of being in there with no access to Kalli made me shudder. Then again, if she were the ring’s master and came to visit me, it wouldn’t be so bad. She read my thought and shoved me. Don’t you dare even think about it.

It was only when we settled into bed that night that the shock fully hit us. Maya was essentially dead and Rasputin still had Kalli’s parents. So far, nothing we did had any impact on the guy. We didn’t know where he was or where he was going to attack next. The only thing I knew with any certainty was that he wanted to add me to his collection. When I thought about it, why was he attacking me and not the Ms all grouped in Solitair? Was he afraid for some reason?

Kalli had a thought that startled me. He probably doesn’t know where they are. He followed you from Earth and was surprised when he heard about the other Ms.

The thought both relieved and terrified me. On one hand, he didn’t know a whole lot about Gaia. On the other, he now had a new planet to conquer. How did the Ms on Earth deal with him? Were there other Ms? That was a puzzle I was going to have to solve. Who would know? I was positive Lavender did but would she give me a straight answer if I asked? She was so secretive. Would other Ms help or would they be like Rasputin and try to take my soul to add to their own powers?

Kalli nodded emphatically at the last thought. It’s too risky to get anyone we don’t know involved. We have to fight with people we trust. Look what happened with Maya’s friends. They betrayed her and left her to die.

I hated feeling that we were on our own. We did have friends, of course. Joe and Run would fight if I asked them. Then I remembered the last time I’d asked them for help. Stephanie died trying to help solve my problems.

Never again!

Kalli was startled at the intensity of my thought but she closed her eyes and nodded. You’re right. I hate that you’re right, but we can’t involve anyone else.

I wish I didn’t have to involve you.

She grabbed my shirt and pulled me close. There is no way you’re leaving me behind. We are a team.

The thought of Kalli dying hurt too much to think about. Stephanie’s lifeless eyes still haunted me. I imagined Kalli laying in that coffin and shuddered in Kalli’s arms. We held each other for what felt like an eternity before eventually drifting off to sleep.

Congratulations. You have reached level 40

Congratulations. You have reached level 33

“I’m not going to lie. I needed that.” Kalli whispered in my ear as wave after wave of euphoria washed over it.

We clutched at each other in the dream as we rode out the experience of double leveling by grinding against each other. When the sensation finally tapered off, I kissed Kalli on the nose. “When are we going to do that for real?”

Kalli pecked me on the cheek and giggled. “When are you going to propose? I know we told father we are going to get married but you still have to properly ask the question. A girl’s gotta have some standards you know.”

She looked at me expectantly, waiting for a response. “The first thing I’m going to do after we get your parents back is make our engagement official. We will get them back Kalli, I promise.”

Kalli sniffed, wiping away tears that welled in her eyes. “I know we will. We are going to stop him and be done with this threat once and for all. Then we are going to get stronger so we never have to worry about threats like this again.”

“Agreed!” I exclaimed, clasping her hands in mine. “For now, let’s perfect this emotional attack. I think I made a breakthrough this morning. Try focusing on your emotions without the bond. Balancing it between the two of us is actually the opposite of what we need to counterbalance the cursed mana.”

Kalli nodded and we sat back to back, each shutting the other out to focus on our cores. The turmoil of everything going on around me faded into darkness as I both refined my mana and infused it with a sense of purpose I hoped would override Marcella’s wrath. While her anger was potent, it paled in comparison to the destiny I had to live up to. Everywhere the light touched, the dark particles scattered before my mind’s eye. Imagining my mana was a broom and I was sweeping a dirty floor, I pushed the cursed mana into a ball and forced it from my core. From there it traveled through my channels like a tumor made out of mana. I corralled it like a sheepdog, keeping it intact as I moved it closer and closer to an area where it could be disposed of. Fortunately, the human body came fully equipped with a waste disposal chute, or I’d have been forced to try to expel it through the pores in my skin, or heaven forbid, my mouth.

Ew, Melvin! What’s that smell? Kalli grunted weakly as I woke both of us up by having the mother of all accidents.

I naturally did the only thing I could think of to deal with the mess.

DELETE

Kalli blushed as I deleted my underwear along with the toxic mana that had stained them. I gave her a weak smile that betrayed my exhaustion.

At least I did it.

She gasped, covering her eyes with her hand. Did you cure yourself?

I shook my head, chucking at the fact that she was peeking through her fingers.

No, I purged it. The trick was to push it out with stronger emotion and more conviction. I think I can do it for you…

She shook her head. I could tell she wanted to do it herself. I knew that’s what I would want if I were in her shoes.

It took us forever to fall back asleep, especially since I was bottomless. Eventually, we managed to nod off and I entered the dream world to another surprise.

Congratulations. You have reached level 41

Congratulations. You have reached level 42

Congratulations. You have reached level 43

“Wow, I guess curing yourself of emotional trauma gives a lot of experience points,” I said, patting myself on the back.

Kalli dragged me to the floor, getting back into a meditative pose. “Hurry up. Morning is almost here and I want to be rid of this curse. Tell me more about how you did it.”

I nodded, sitting with my back to hers. “I think it was determination. We have to win this fight. There’s no other option. Everyone is counting on us to do it since the adults of Solitair all seem to only care about themselves. I don’t think this is going to be the last person to invade our world, so the two of us are going to have to become strong enough to rid our world of all evil. How can I do that if some petty corruption manages to get the best of me?”

Kalli giggled. “Isn’t that rather simple-minded? Are you sure it worked?”

I grinned triumphantly. “Sure, I’m sure. If you don’t believe me, try corrupting me with your mana. I’ll kick it out again.”

“Um, ew, no thank you. The last time smelled back enough.” She groaned, remembering I was currently half naked in the real world. “I also don’t want you getting that stuff all over me.”

I laughed, pointing out, “You know, if you succeed, you’re going to stink too.”

Kalli shuddered at the thought. Then she closed her eyes and I felt her focus on her core. I guided her as she tried one type of emotion and then another. “Yes, that could work. Wait, you need a lot more emotion than that. Remember, it has to be stronger than Mardella’s. That’s it. Now try pushing the corruption out. Focus on the black particles and explode them out of your core. No, condense your mana until it explodes like a bomb. Let the explosion force the corruption from your soul.”

Kalli elbowed me in the ribs, letting out a deep breath she’d been holding. “Stop distracting me! It’s hard to focus with you rambling on like that. I’m not a mana master like you yet.”

“Then let me help you,” I argued.

“No!” She screamed, shaking with frustration. “This is something I have to do for myself. Something tells me I won’t always be able to rely on you for everything. You’ve shared this incredible power with me and I need to be able to control it. Lavender said the key to victory is that we work as a team. What good is teamwork if you wind up doing most of the work? I nearly died inside when you saved me with that armor and Mardella ended up stabbing you.”

I zipped my lips and tried my best not to distract Kalli while she concentrated. I could feel her head throbbing from her intense concentration. A pressure was building within her but I wasn’t sure it was the good kind.

The emotion she chose to go with in her core was fundamentally different than what I’d used. Rather than conviction or determination, she went with righteous indignation at all of the roadblocks she’d experienced in her life and a fierce desire for independence. It was the same emotion I’d sensed in her when I first met her, back when she planned to earn a thousand gold and take control of her destiny.

Just when I was about to offer my help again, it happened. Her core flashed like a supernova and Mardella’s mana burst out in every direction. She panted heavily and slumped against me. She was too exhausted to speak out loud but I heard her thoughts through mate-chat. Okay, you can help me now. Let’s get this crud out of my body.

I’m on it!

Having already done it to myself, it was a simple matter of following Kalli’s digestive tract with the magical waste. She shuddered against me as I forced it from her body.

DELETE

No wait, don’t you dare! Kalli stammered just a second too late. Ugh, I could have just cleaned it up with fire. Hey! Stop peeking.

I laughed, covering my face but peeking through my fingers as she had.

Hey! You peeked first.

I yowled in pain when Kalli poked me in the eye but it was worth it. We were cured. Now, all we had to do was deal with Rasputin…and any other baddies out there that wanted to take what was ours.