Kaya spent the rest of the morning playing with the feeling. It was a warm gold light in her spirit, buoying her mood, and she felt it curled in her stomach like a smoldering hearth: always there, low but burning softly. Ready to flare up.

A normal [Ray], done calmly, might blast a dune apart.

A [Ray] done when she fanned that flame, let herself burn up in it and relish in it? That could scorch sand so hot it melted into glass on the spot.

Its power went way up the more into it she got, as though it was fed directly by the strength of her feelings. It was like nothing she’d heard of before. She could scarcely contain herself. Deep down she knew she’d only dipped a toe into what this thing could do, and the curiosity was eating her alive.

But there was time to explore more later. For now, she still had a Tournament to get to!

She was buzzing as she walked back. She felt like a little girl again, dying to share a new toy. As she strolled through the dirty, unpaved streets, she had the sudden urge to grab the nearest bedraggled Outskirter, shake them by the shoulders, point to those lovely golden hoops and and go, “Look! Look at this! Isn’t it awesome?!”

She had to tell Io!

As it turned out, her brother was already waiting for her when she came back. “Io, Io!” she called, dashing for him, grinning ear-to-ear. “You’ll never believe what I—“

She stopped short.

Something was different about her brother yet again. He didn’t look much different. Still had that catlike posture, that lazy, ever-present smirk on his face. It was in his aura, the subtle pressure of his soul, the impression it made on her. It was his Bloodline, but even moreso. There was an air about him now that made him seem untouchable, like a vast mountain whose peak was shrouded in fog.

Oh, come on!

That curl in her gut perked up, intrigued. It sensed a challenge—someone whose power it could not fathom. It knew it couldn’t beat this aura, which only made it want to try even more. Her thinking side still had to reign it back. Don’t be ridiculous! This is Io, dummy! There’s time enough for punching later.

Instead she shook her head at him, incredulous. “Really? You broke through again?! You just had one yesterday!”

A playful grin tugged at his lips. “Well, a treasure practically fell into my lap, so I merged with it. Got lucky, I guess!”

She scoffed as she marched up to him. “Luck. Yeah, right!” She punched him playfully in the shoulder. “This is getting too unfair!”

She crossed her arms, fake-glaring at him. “Okay, bud. What’s your secret?”

Io sighed.

“Actually, it’s just that I work super hard to get stronger. I’ve gotten obsessed with it! It stems from deep-rooted childhood trauma…”

Kaya stilled. “Wait, really?”

“Yeah.”His voice trembled. He looked a little choked up. “You see, I learned at a young age that strength was the only thing that mattered. It was ingrained in me, really after years suffering at the abuse of this horrible older sibling. Every day she would manhandle me—ow! Ow!”

She kicked him in the shins again and he yelped, backing away. “I yield! I yield!” he cried, wincing and clutching at his leg. “Saints! If you bring half that firepower to the Tournament, the rest of us’ll be fighting for second place!”

Kaya snorted. “Oh, don’t you even pretend like that actually hurt. It prolly hurt my foot more than it hurt you!”

“Untrue!” cried Io. He looked at her with soulful eyes. “It may not hurt me much physically. But attacked—betrayed, no less—by my own sister? I felt it… in here.” He clutched his heart, swooning and gasping like an actor in a cheesy play.

Grudgingly, Kaya grinned. “Okay. That one’s not even funny. That’s just dumb.”

Io grinned back. “Then why are you smiling?”

“Oh, shut up.”

Laughing, Io dodged another kick. “Alright, alright. In seriousness—are you accusing me of being lucky?”

His shrewd black eyes gave her a once-over. “I sense I’m not the only one who’s had a breakthrough. You’ve been training, haven’t you?”

“Um.” Kaya was sheepish. “Yeah. I went out to practice my forms this morning and— yeah. I think… I think this might be big.”

“It’s related to your contract, isn’t it.” He said it not as a question, but as a statement. He blinked owlishly at her, intrigued, and she jumped.

“Eek! How did you—you rascal! Since when did you get so sharp?!” Kaya flicked him in the cheek. “Y’know, sometimes I miss the Io that wouldn’t know a ditch from a scorpion’s nest.” She snickered. “Sometimes it’s like you’re a whole ‘nother person!”

Io paused. Then he waved her off with an eye-roll. “Times change, sis. I’m not a little kid anymore. Dunno if you’ve noticed, but a lot’s happened in the past few months—woah there! Hold on just one second.” He squinted at her. “Don’t you try to change the subject on me. Your breakthrough. I want the details. Now.”

“Uh…”

She’d been so eager to share before! Why were the words deserting her now? How the hells was she supposed to describe it? You see, brother dear, I kinda just sorta-ish black out, but not really, and then start uncontrollably tearing things apart and it’s maybe the best feeling there is in the world! But don’t worry, I’m not a lunatic. I promise!

Was she a lunatic?

She wasn’t so sure herself.

Io seemed to sense her issue. He winked at her. “Actually, you know what? You don’t need to tell me. Why don’t you show me at your First Round match?”

“Uhhhhh,” spluttered Kaya. A vision went through her head: her cackling with pleasure as some hapless noble kid was torched alive, reduced to smithereens, as his family watched on in horror. She blanched. “UHHH.”

What was disturbing was that that thirsty part of her was genuinely excited by the thought. Yes. Yes! Do it! She gulped. She’d let it out, but she really would need to get a handle on it. Surely there was some balance to be struck here. She couldn’t just descend into some mindless killing spree every time she fought!

…Could she?

She winced, shaking her head vigorously. No, no she definitely couldn’t!

“Good for you, sis.” Io’s voice snapped her out of her thoughts. He smiled at her. “I’m happy for you. You might even be training harder than me. What gives?”

She was relieved to hear a question she could actually answer.

“I know you said not to worry about it,” she sighed. “But… I dunno. Sometimes I just can’t help feeling like… like everyone else’s growing, but I’m sitting still. I feel like—like I’m…” She swallowed. “Why am I even here if I’m just gonna drag you down, y’know?”

Then she stilled. “But that’s stupid. That feeling is stupid. I won’t be dragging anyone down. I just need to work twice as hard as everyone else!” She grinned. “And if that doesn’t work at least I went down swinging, right?”

Io gave her a long, meaningful look. “Huh,” he said at last. A ghost of a grin surfaced on his lips. “Nicely done. I like it. Y’know… one might even say it’s like you’re a whole ‘nother person.”

He’d already dodged out of reach before she could try a fourth kick at him.

***

Before they set out, a thought struck Kaya. So much had happened in so short a span it felt like there were ten thousand confusions she hadn’t cleared up. At this point she’d kinda given up on trying to make sense of things, really. The Oasis was one big weird blob to her. Who knew what went on in here?

But there was one thing she couldn’t not ask about.

“Hey, about that pink tornado last night,” she said. “What was that all about?”

Io shifted uncomfortably. He had a weird look on his face.

“Oh, right… about that…”

He scratched his head sheepishly. “It’s a long story. Basically…”

***

“You did WHAT?!”