Wotar’s brain was stuck replaying the Wind ladies’ words, desperately searching for a way out of this dead end they had boxed her into. She knew she had to say something, but someone had clicked the projector back to showing the lifelike dimensigram of Aeris Lee and she felt as though his beautiful dark eyes were judging her. Who was this man, anyways? Could she say for certain he was completely innocent in all this?

The Ruling shook her head slightly, chasing away the thought. That was a slippery slope and she knew it. She had no idea what Aeris Tan’s relationship with this man was actually like, so she was in no position to assume this or that. She also had never seen a Tailwind in the flesh before - only heard horror stories of what had been done to them throughout the ages - rape, forced prostitution and live burnings were just a few off the top of her head.

And what about Wint? The Air native was as unpredictable as a storm in summer and twice as resourceful. Declaring her a wanted criminal once again, before Wotar had found a way to take the Fire prince away from her safely, could prove problematic. Especially given that the hacker was currently roaming around relatively free precisely because the Ruling had allowed it, so they could both tend to that other pressing matter…

“Your Majesty?” , lady Stoirme’s voice cut through her inner musings. “Will you share with us your evidence that no firestarters were involved in the Syfis attack?”

Wotar returned to reality with a dry smile tugging at her lips. The little diplomatic stunt she was about to pull may do little to solve her problem with the Storm ladies’ proposal vis a vis Lee and Wint, but it might just buy her some time.

“We’ll do something better, actually,” she said as she moved to key in her creds onto the meeting room media call system. “We’ll let the firestarters speak for themselves.”

The call went through with a soft jingle and the dimensigram projector restarted, replacing the East-Wind man’s image with another one. Thankfully, she picked up quickly, Wotar sighed in relief. She sat back in her chair and took some pleasure in the discomfort and confusion plastered over the faces of the other women in the room, as they studied the face of the one which was projected at the center of the table.

“We greet you in the name of the Goddess, Tyrannis Pyre, Empress of Magmalia, Herald of the Eternal Flame, Super-Ara firestarter and Hero of the Great war, may it be our last.” Wotar said, nodding respectfully to the projection. “Thank you for agreeing to this call on such short notice and in such a late hour in your parts of Alaiah.”

The woman on the other side of the line smiled and gave a barely noticeable nod in turn. Tyrannis’ face was the stuff of nightmares and even the light upturn of her lips did very little to soften the sharp features and hollowed out cheeks which made her look like a bird of prey. She turned her head towards the other women in the room and her eyes - both the dead one with the scar and the still alive one sparkled scarlet red as she moved to light the pipe that was sticking out the corner of her mouth.

“We accept your greeting and greet you in turn, ii numinem Domina, Aquina Wotar, Ruling over sea, Supreme Commander of the Wardens of the Free Alliance, Super-ara level tide-weaver and Servant-Leader to the women of AWA.” The Empress intoned solemnly, through the large puff of smoke which escaped her thin lips. “Please do not concern yourselves with the lateness of the hour, a Ruler sleeps only when her duty is done.”

“We again thank you for Your grace, Empress”, Wotar replied, nodding again. “If Your Excellence permits, we shall cut to the chase.“ She paused, waiting for the barely noticeable nod from the other end, before continuing. “We have here with us the esteemed Ladies of the Twin continent of Wind - lady U-Roe Kum of Balam-Tab, lady Aeris Wang of the Kaz-tatari tribe and the Ladies Stoirme Hairicin and Thur ‘El of the Highlands to discuss, among other things, the atrocious attack on our sacred capitol of Syfis which occurred not too long ago. We beseech Your Excellence recount to them what You have shared with Us on our earlier call.”

Tyrannis’ live eye glittered almost mockingly when she heard Wotar sweep her other burning problem under the proverbial rug of “among other things” and for a split second, the Ruling over sea worried about what the fire witch would say next. Thankfully, the firestarter decided to stick to their script:

“Of course, let’s get down to burning through this little misunderstanding, as Our time is precious, and We imagine perhaps yours might be too.” She turned again towards the Wind ladies. “Esteemed ladies of Typhone, We mourn the loss of your sister Aeris Tan, please accept our condolences for her passing, may the Goddess light her path to the heavens. We acknowledge our diplomatic relations have left much to be desired in recent rotations, however We are here to assure you that our commitment to the Post-War treaty still holds in full effect. In compliance with the same accords, Her Majesty had requested our support in analysing the fragments of an unidentified device which was recovered after the attack on Syfis. We are here this evening to walk you through our Imperial Engineer’s report of what we have received.”

The Empress’ image got squished to the side as the rest of the projector space was taken up by the piece of her screen she had chosen to share over the meeting. It was an engineering schema of a spherical device, surrounded by material analysis notes.

“The schematic is Our Engineer’s best guess as to the finished design of the machine, based on the curve of the fragments reviewed and data received. The construction materials are a metalline alloy, which is durable, but lightweight and most curiously - able to avoid detection by most metalline scanners.” The Empress paused for a moment, studying the faces of the other ladies. “The stitching found on the fragments indicates that the device was likely shipped over to AWA in pieces, to be assembled on or around the spot where it was supposed to be used. Further, the inside of the pieces showed signs of charring and a fine coating of flame-resistant paint was revealed after careful chemical analysis.”

The Wind ladies’ faces looked like stone masks, eerily illuminated by the light of the dimensigram projector, as they processed the Fire Empress’ words. Lady U-Roe stirred in her seat and was the first to shake out of her reverie:

“Your Excellence, if I may,” she barely awaited the customary nod, before rushing through, as if she feared the thought lingering in her mind too long, without voicing it.”It would appear Your Excellence is suggesting this device itself was holding fire?”

“Holding and producing, as well as, most likely - projecting it outwards to a set target or number of targets.” The Fire Empress mercilessly confirmed the windstorm’s fears. “We urge the esteemed ladies study Our Engineer’s report at length and leisure and not just trust Our words or judgement for it.” Tyrannis pursed her thin lips and moved to refill her pipe with sweet leaf, a pronounced thoughtful expression on her face, almost as if she were considering whether to say more or leave things there. Oh, she was a damned good actress that fire witch! “However We also urge you to ask yourselves the following - of all the nations on this great planet of ours, which women are the most skilled when it comes to forging unique alloys and in addition - might benefit from furthering the divide between AWA and the Old continent the most?”

Wotar kept her mouth shut throughout the short exchange and instead focused on studying the Wind ladies’ faces from across the meeting room table. The weight of the Empress’ words struck them like a punch in the gut and she imagined what was going through their heads. Of course they knew all too well which nation of women was capable of creating such atrocities as this Kriyan fire machine. The painful memories of the previous calamity - the hydrogen bomb - that the Earth snakes had unleashed upon the East Air twin coast was still vivid, three deca-rotations later.

For her part, Wotar definitely didn’t take the fire witch’s words at face value and had sifted through the Imperial report with a fine tooth comb, looking for signs of data manipulation and inconsistencies. She didn’t find any but was nevertheless curious about the Empress’ eagerness to help the Ruling out of a sticky situation. Was she just grateful that Wotar had somehow managed to have her son found? Or was it more an eagerness to throw the Earth ladies under the proverbial land transport to deflect scrutiny away from her people? The firestarters were the official rulers of the Old continent and have been for heca-rotations, but still, at least on paper, the gravity-wielders were citizens of Magmalia as well. Wotar resolved silently to dig into this matter more when she had the chance.

“We thank you for your assistance, Your Excellence.” The Ruling over sea said, finally breaking the tense silence in the room. “Of course We will share the materials You sent over with the esteemed ladies of the North, so they can draw their own conclusions as well.” She moved to mute their meeting room, as she turned to her counterparts on the other side of the table. “We can tell from your faces, my ladies, that you could benefit from some refreshment to gather your thoughts. Shall we adjourn for a time?”

She tried to keep her voice even, so as not to betray the reason she wanted them out of the room. Thankfully, the women jumped at the chance, almost literally and as she unmuted their end of the meeting they paid their respects to the Empress and the Ruling and started filing out the door one by one.

Once the door closed, Tyrannis’ projection turned her full attention to Wotar. She studied the firestarter’s skeletal face for a moment, trying to get a glimpse into her thoughts, yet got nothing, but a faint glimmer in her live yellow-brown eye.

“Well, lady Aquina, I trust this little exchange went about as well as you had hoped?” The firestarter said through another puff of smoke. If the loss of honorifics was some indication as to her mental state, most probably she was turning impatient, as was typical for the fire tribe natives. “Please do not think me ungrateful, but I am a bit pressed for time in retrieving my son. You mentioned previously he had been found?”

He’s been found, alright, Wotar sighed internally. Found and currently with a woman who was soon to become a fugitive again.

“Yes, Your Excellence, he has been found and is currently with someone discrete and … trustworthy.” If the Fire Empress had caught the slight pause in Wotar’s voice, she didn’t show it. “As soon as I get a hold of her, we can discuss the logistics of getting him back home safely to Tyrannia.”

Tyrannis nodded and stared at the water lady for a bit.

“I appreciate your discretion in handling this matter” , the Empress drawled out through yet another puff of thick smoke. “Especially considering the mess you currently have on your hands. I hope you don’t mind me saying this, but you do so resemble your mother.”

Wotar narrowed her eyes. Tyrannis was not one for off-handed compliments. “Unapollogetically blunt” is what the Ruling’s mother had called her old friend.

“I hope for your sake you find your Ruling over storms soon”, the Empress continued, unfazed by the water lady’s raised eyebrow. “Just like Liq, you’re way too idealistic to be in a position of power. I can see even through a call how much this sort of thing weighs you down.”

Ah, there it was. Hard to tell if it was actually an insult or coming from some form of misplaced concern - narcissists are usually more prone to the former, than the latter. Still, Tyrannis’ face had softened in a way she’d never seen before, so perhaps she was at least somewhat sincere.

“With all due respect, Your Excellence, you needn’t concern yourself with my mental state.” On the other hand, Wotar was still Ruling for now and she shouldn’t let such insolent condescension fly. “Concern yourself instead with your son’s mental state - I am told he’s been through quite an ordeal physically and emotionally and would surely need lots of support.”

The way she leaned on the word support made a deep crease appear on the Empress’ forehead. The water lady had struck a nerve, implying on the one hand that something potentially irreversible might have happened to the prince’s honor and on the other - that with his father dead, the boy may not get much support or kindness from his aloof mother.

“I have offended you” it was a statement of fact, not an apology. “I shall refrain from such comments in the future, so as to prevent more misunderstandings. Nevertheless, I am grateful for your help, so should you need any more assistance on your end, I am at your service. May the Goddess light your path to success, Aquina Wotar.”

“We’ll keep in touch on these matters, Your Excellence”, Wotar nodded. “May the Goddess shine her guiding light on us all.”

***************************

“Linda? Linda? Linda!” The eerie voice sounded closer and closer until it was practically chiming from inside her head.

Wait, chiming?

The young woman opened her “eyes” and looked around.Oh, no… Oh, no, no, please not again!

Endless blinding whiteness covered everything as far as her non-corporeal eyes could see. She felt panic rise… somewhere… and although realistically she was but a soul, hanging in pure light, she once again felt naked and afraid. Were the strange creatures that Wint called the High Counsel lurking around, hiding behind the impenetrable whiteness? Maybe, but something else caught her attention first.

She wasn’t the only poor soul hanging helplessly in this strange place. As Linda hovered closer to study the other silhouette, she noticed it was another young woman. The two of them looked almost identical, but one would have to look long and hard to notice. They say that first impressions are usually based more on the feeling you get off of the person, rather than their actual appearance. It was definitely true in their case - despite wearing the same face, one exhuded confidence and firmness which could be rivaled only by someone like Wint. The other one was Linda.

“Aeris Fung?” The Earth girl chimed in her disembodied voice.

“Ah, smackin’ finally!” The Alaian woman exclaimed. “I was starting to worry I’d never get through to ya!”

“Well, we got through alright” Linda replied, slightly taken aback by the other one’s sudden outburst. “The real question is - can we go back?”

Fung’s eyebrows flew upwards.

“How d’ya mean can we go back?”

“Well, this place… I mean, this is what I saw when I died on Earth, so…” the girl shrugged.

Fung’s jaw dropped.

“Ye absolute wench!” The Alaian wailed in her tinny soul-voice. “What have you done to my body?”

Seeing the other woman rush towards her, fury written all over the face that looked so much like her own, Linda wondered if souls could feel pain. She almost found that one out, as Fung raised a ghostly fist and hurled it at her jaw, but then they both suddenly froze. The feeling was the same one you’d get when you’re having a terrible nightmare of something chasing you down and you can barely move a muscle.

“Now girls, play nice” The voice boomed through the endless white surrounding them. It sounded commanding and yet strangely melodic.

The two women were still practically paralyzed, yet tried with all their might to turn their heads and look around for the being who had spoken. There was something, or rather - someone - approaching them, although the blinding light all around concealed them well.

“Don’t try to look for me, I can see you and that should be enough for now” , the voice said, seeming to have read their minds.

“Who are you? What are you?” Linda cried out when she managed to find her voice at last.

“Of course, I could tell you.” The booming voice came again, sounding even closer than before. “Although I wonder how that would change things?”

“What things?” Fung chimed in, quite literally. “What do you want from us?”

The sound that erupted behind their backs crashed over them like an electric wave - hot and cold at the same time. Was that strange creature in the light… laughing at them?

“What I want? Ah, mortals are so refreshing, I should talk to you more often! What I want rarely matters when your kind comes around here.”

“Cut the busysit… bullysat… dammit!” Linda’s non-corporeal tongue fumbled a bit more with the curse word before letting it go. “I didn’t want anything from you - I just died and you people asked me over and over again about some balance… What was that all about?”

“Oh, you didn’t want anything, did you?” The creature laughed again. “Miss The-men-are-to-blame-for-my-lack-of-self-respect? Did you not wish to experience a world where those same men are put on their knees? How’s Alaiah treating you - not what you expected?”

Linda couldn’t respond. She knew the being of light was right, but still it felt like a proper gut punch to hear the words said out loud. Fung on the other hand seemed to find this little tidbit quite entertaining and snorted, attempting to stifle a laugh of her own.

“Does any of this amuse you, lady Aeris Fung?” The creature “turned” to the Alaian woman. “Even though you’re still struggling with your Elder’s wishes? How’s that Gift of Wind and Storm coming along - not quite there yet, are we?”

“If yer gonna offend us, at least show yerself, male!” The Wind native wasn’t nearly as easily intimidated as the Earth girl, that much was for sure. Linda was just hoping those guts of her companion’s wouldn’t get them even more dead, if that were possible.

“Male? Ah, I guess you would think that… Though I don’t constrain myself to such trivial binaries, perhaps it would be easier for your minds to comprehend me as a man. Will it calm your spirits enough to hold a productive conversation if I were to show an image of myself you could speak to?”

Before either of them could respond a piece of the endless light around them seemed to swirl and darken just enough to form a humanoid shape. The creature stepped forward, but remained a good few meters away to let them take a good look at… him.

The man who appeared had long strawberry blonde hair, reaching just below his waist. He was dressed in an all-white robe that seemed to shimmer with every slight movement. His skin looked like it was emitting light on its own, or perhaps it was just hard for the light to contain itself to this particular form. His eyes were the most difficult to look at - they were pure shining gold, like stars trapped in glass spheres. Other than that, he looked quite familiar…

“Fye?” Linda exclaimed.

“No, but it was a useful image on your mind I could borrow”, the creature wearing Fye’s face replied, its eyes sparkling, as it spoke.

“Fine, whatever, you’re wearing the wench’s boyfriend’s face, big woof”, Fung interjected, still frustrated. “Tell us who you are and how we can get out of here quickly?”

“Very well, whatever pleases m’ladies”, the fake-Fye gave them a mock-bow. “In my people’s language, I am called ….”

He opened his mouth and the two women were sure there must’ve been a sound, because they felt it in their non-corporeal bones. It was a low, vibrating hum, a wave, a spark… Their minds struggled to comprehend it for a bit, but the best description they could come up with made little practical sense. “The sound light makes as it travels through space” was more like the title of a poem than the name of a godlike creature of light.

“Or Arion, for short”, the being continued, unfazed by the others’ confusion.

“Alright, lord Arion”, Fung grasped onto the short version of his name like a drowning woman at straws. “Are me and this useless wench ‘ere dead?”

“Dead? Oh, no, that wouldn’t be helpful at all, now would it?” Despite the creature taking on a more humanoid form, it was still hard to tell if it was mocking them or not. “Although you very well might be…”

“Meaning you’re not sure or you’re playing us for fools?” Fung snapped again.

“Oh, I believe you do play yourselves rather well on your own, actually” , there was that bizarre laugh again, starting to get on Linda’s nerves now too. The creature hastened to continue, seeming to have read their annoyance. “What I mean to say is, you’re not dead… yet. However, unless you find Balance between your two souls, neither of them would be able to remain on Alaiah.”

“There’s this balance talk again!” Linda exclaimed, having had enough. “What balance? I don’t even know this woman, I just woke up in her body and got dragged through her world for a while like a sick joke.”

“Wherever there are opposing forces, trying to pull reality apart in different directions, there is a need for Balance.” Arion simply shrugged, as if it were the most well-known fact in the universe. “And you two were brought together like this precisely because you are as opposite as they come. The girl who couldn’t bear to live in a world which wants to trample on her free spirit.” He turned to the Alaian. “And the young woman who was raised without a care in the world, yet still struggles to spread her wings. Why do you think that is?”

Silence fell around them and the light felt suffocating again. Linda and Fung stared at each other intently, perhaps for the first time trying to truly see the other one. They looked almost identical, at least on the surface. Wasn’t it always like that, Linda wondered? Often things and people can look quite similar, but in reality be worlds apart. Or were they?

“So, wait…” Fung started again. “What do you mean when you say we need to find Balance or neither of our souls can remain on Alaiah?”

“I mean it in the most literal sense - two souls cannot occupy the same body. But one can. ” The creature shrugged and fell silent again, its eyes sparkling in anticipation.

“Are you saying…” Linda began, tossing another gaze at her doppelganger. “Are you saying we should merge our souls into one?”

“Balance”, the creature corrected, something sounding awfully like impatience coloring its booming tone. “You should Balance your souls into one. Consider yourselves two parts of a whole - if you can’t make the whole, the parts will disintegrate.”

“Is that even possible? You’re setting us up to fail!” Linda screamed, terrified.

What was that creature saying? How could two souls, from separate worlds no less, become one? This must be some trick, some huge cosmic joke, it had to be! For the first time, it seemed as though Fung’s own courage wavered. The two young women stared at each other again. Balance the two into one…

“Failure is a choice more often than you think.” The light being spoke again. “You have one full rotation of the Air moon around Alaiah to make yours.”

Linda wanted to scream for this Arion creature to wait, they had so much more they needed to ask them! Alas, she felt the dreadfuly familiar feeling of falling down a spiral - further and further away from the blinding light. This time at least, she wasn’t alone…