I couldn’t inspect the item I chose for my artifact. There were no menus with the child block in place. My search for the perfect item led to a source of comfort. Even though it didn’t say what it was, I already knew. Kalliphae’s First Wand. She’d gifted it to me the day I bought her an upgrade. Originally little more than a stick, it soaked up mana as she used it to learn magic. The instant I connected to the wand, I felt Kalli for the first time since arriving on Origin. Her mana had a familiar feeling to it that reminded me of every time her cleansing flames.

I sat cross-legged on the floor in my room trying to push as much mana into the wand as possible. Kalli’s mana embraced my offering and fused with it. While I couldn’t be sure, it sure felt like it was growing.

Merlin sought me out the next day to make sure I was keeping up with my exercises and checking the progress of the wand. Holding it up to the light, he sighed. “At this rate, you’ll have a functional artifact in about fifty years.”

“How long does it take you to make one?” I asked in a defiant voice.

He rubbed his chin, possibly in an attempt to twirl a beard that he’d long since shaved. “That all depends on the item. The more personal it is to you, the quicker it will accept your essence. Are you sure of this stick?”

“Yes!” I barked, causing Ulli to jump.

Merlin glanced at her and tutted, causing her to go rigid. Turning his attention back to me, he handed me back the wand. “If you’re sure, how about you try different things.”

“Like what?” I asked. “I’m already infusing it with as much mana as I can.”

“Is that all you know how to do?” He asked with a smirk. “Did you already forget how to change your element?”

“Does that make a difference?” I asked, staring at the wand in my hands.

“Of course it does,” he replied. “With a bit of trial and error, you’ll discover that every artifact has a distinct taste for mana. While you can force it to grow, you will find far better results by being in tune with the item you’re trying to infuse.”

As usual, Merlin left once the lesson was done. I stared at the wand for a long time.

How do I make your wand grow?

While I didn’t expect her to answer, the idea hit me almost immediately. Flame. I did not doubt that Kalli fed countless amounts of fire through the wand. Shifting my core to an element that closely matched Kalli’s ever-burning soul, I clutched the wand in both hands and began to feed it. The wand hummed in my hands and devoured my mana. It was immediately apparent that Merlin was right. The subtle change increased the rate at which the wand accepted my mana tenfold.

Ulli came over and sat across from me while I worked. She gasped when the flame surged for a moment when I pushed too hard. “Is that hot?”

“No,” I replied with a chuckle. “It just looks that way. Do you want to see a trick?”

“Sure,” she replied, looking eager.

Remembering the first time Kalli “washed” me, I spread my hands out in front of the girl and released a wave of fire over her. Things immediately became awkward when I realized what I was doing. I’d never done it with anyone but Kalli and the thought of touching another girl even with magic made me feel guilty.

Ulli let out a high-pitched scream as the fire ran through her hair. I stuck to her arms and legs and other not-private parts. Once she realized she wasn’t in any danger, she started giggling profusely. “Oh my gods, stop, stop. It tickles. Oh no, not my feet too!”

She propped herself up on her arms when I retracted the flames, breathing heavily. “Wow, that was intense.”

“I cleaned you,” I replied with a smile.

“But I wasn’t dirty,” she whined.

I laughed, remembering Kalli’s explanation the first time she did it. “This fire can clean everything, even sweat, and grime.”

Ulli ran her fingers through her hair. “It does feel clean. Why wasn’t the fire hot?”

“It is,” I explained. “I only make it burn what I want. It’s magic fire.”

“Do me next,” Marcelle said, plopping down next to Ulli. It was the first time I ever saw her excited about something.

“Are you sure?” I asked, feeling uneasy showing off Kalli’s spell.

She closed her eyes and held her hands out, expecting me to do it. I heaved a defeated sigh and did the same thing to her. Ulli squealed in delight as Marcelle’s hair lit up when my flame passed through it.

When I retracted my flame, Marcelle rubbed her wrist and said, “You avoided my body just like you did with Ulli. Is there a reason for that? Can you feel things through the flame?”

“Yes,” I admitted quietly. “The flame becomes an extension of me. That’s why it doesn’t hurt you. I control what it consumes. I can make it clean the sweat off of your arm while leaving the hair alone.”

“That’s interesting,” she said. “Do you use that spell in battle?”

“Kalli used it all the time,” I chuckled, feeling sad saying it in the past tense. “She was a master of fire. A true Pyromancer.”

“She sounds like an incredible person,” Marcelle said.

I nodded, wiping away a tear from my eye. The girls pretended not to notice. “If you like, I can awaken you further than you already are.”

“What do you mean?” Marcelle asked.

“I can connect your core to your mana channels,” I explained. “It will enable you to do things like I just did.”

“Do it!” Ulli shouted, surprising both of us. She cleared her throat. “I mean, I’d like to try it.”

Marcelle sighed. “By all means, age before beauty.”

Ulli stuck out her tongue at Marcelle and took my hand in hers. “What do I have to do?”

“Nothing,” I explained. “Just relax and I’ll do everything.”

She smiled and closed her eyes. Taking a deep breath to calm myself, I pushed my mana into her. It was the first time since we cleansed ourselves of corruption. However, I was confident that I had no afflictions as I couldn’t sense any foreign emotions in my mana. As expected, Ulli’s mana channels were completely closed off. I pried them open with my mana as I made my way to her core.

Ulli’s oblong core shed sparkles as it twirled that dissipated in the darkness. I reached out to touch it with my mana. The instant I made contact, the core pulsed, and mana flooded out, following the path I’d laid out through her passages. I found myself spinning as I flew backward across the room, expelled by her core.

I opened my eyes to find myself cradled in someone’s arms. “Are you okay?”

I groaned. “Kalli?”

She stroked my face. “No, sorry. It’s me, Marcy.”

“Oh,” I replied, quickly sitting up. “Sorry, I must have blacked out for a second.”

Marcelle smiled. “You crashed into the wall head first.”

“That explains it,” I replied, probing myself with my mana.

I felt the damage and soothed it with mana. Heaving a sigh of relief, I pushed myself to my feet and walked back to the newly awakened Ulli. “How do you feel?”

She was on her feet, ruffling her dress. “I feel weightless. I don’t know how else to describe it.”

Ulli rose on one foot, then one toe as she spun in place. Her other leg swung around propelling her faster and faster as she twirled. Then she skipped from one foot to the next before ending with a double flip and landing in a perfect bow.

We clapped while she smiled and blew kisses. Marcelle took my hand and led me over to a bench. “Now, it’s my turn.”

Marcelle’s mana channels were similar to Ulli’s. Her core, however, was a different story. When I first saw it, I thought it was damaged. Her glowing ruby core looked cracked. Perfectly symmetrical lines segmented her core into even-sized pieces. On closer inspection, I realized she had somehow compartmentalized her core. Bracing myself for another concussion, I gingerly connected my mana to her core. To my surprise, her mana flowed out in a measured capacity and began to fill her channels. I rode it like a wave until I reached her extremities and allowed myself to be gently expelled from her body.

Looking up, I saw Merlin looking down at me with a stern look on his face. He waited patiently for Marcelle to come out of it before saying, “Would you mind giving us a moment? I need to have a word with my son.”

“Yes, My Lord,” they both stammered before speed walking out of the room.

“That’s taboo,” he chastised me as I stood up, dusting myself off. “Do you know what you’re doing?”

“Helping them?” I suggested nervously.

He sighed motioning for me to sit. “You shouldn’t experiment with the Human body. Any time you make alterations, you run the risk of causing damage.”

“I wasn’t altering anything,” I replied. “All I did was connect their mana to-“

He cut me off. “It doesn’t matter what your intentions are. Let me tell you a story. There was a man, another Manipulator, who decided he wanted to create exotic humans. He experimented with different animals like fish, birds, and snakes. While the results have been romanticized over the years, Mermaids, Gorgons, and Harpies are abominations. Due to their human origin, they began to breed with Humans and infest most of Europe. In the end, it took the dark ages to eradicate them all.”

“Did you cause the dark ages?” I asked, slightly appalled.

“Not exactly,” he replied with a chuckle. “The dark ages are what became of the world when the abominations began preying on the Humans. The plague was a mercy compared to where the world was heading. While most records of that time were lost, the myths persist.”

“I don’t think what I did is the same,” I said, trying to convince Merlin. “I didn’t modify anything. Think of it like jump-starting a battery.”

He sighed. “Look, I understand what you did. I’ve done it myself in the past. Just do me a favor and don’t do that to anyone else in the tower. There’s a reason most people’s cores aren’t connected.”

“Why is that?” I asked, but he was already gone.

Meanwhile, in a strange dark place…

Kalli rubbed the sleep from her eyes. Her dream once again had been uneventful and fruitless. She pined for Melvin. The last thing she remembered was clinging desperately to Rasputin’s neck to give Melvin a fighting chance when something grabbed her. The next thing she knew, she was on a planet of perpetual night.

Rising to her feet, she slowly made her way to the privy. As she sat she ran her finger over the toilet paper on the rack next to her. It brought back memories of her first day on the strange planet she had come to know as Scrap. After doing her business, she aimed her hands at her extremities and uttered her favorite spell.

“Pvruzth”

Nothing happened.

“Pvruzth”

“Pvruzth”

“Pvruzth”

Nothing! She started to panic. It had been years since she’d used anything but her fire to clean herself. That was when the locals showed her how to use toilet paper. After finishing her morning routine, she stretched and made her way out of her room.

“Good morning, Kalli,” a young five-year-old girl greeted her as she emerged. “Are you hungry?”

“Good morning, Maribelle,” Kalli said with a laugh. “You only ask me that when you’re hungry. Where are your mommy and daddy this morning?”

“They had to work,” Maribelle explained. “Can we have ice cream?”

Kalli snorted. “Ice cream? It’s a little early for that. How about a compromise? Let’s have cereal with lots of stormberries.”

“Stormberries!” Maribelle chanted. “I love stormberries.”

“Me too,” Kalli admitted.

Kalli opened the pantry door, searching for the cereal. Maribelle sat at the table, waiting patiently. Kalli’s mind was already thinking ahead to the rest of her day. She needed to train. More importantly. She needed to find a way to communicate with Melvin. If he was still alive, that was.