One year had passed since Daggerdale was sealed in stasis, and the training camp in the Underworld of Universe 7, Level 1 had become our new sanctuary. The terrain was strange. Volcanic glass stretched endlessly under skies made of soft green light. Time behaved oddly here, which made it ideal for long-term technomancy training.
"Again!" I shouted.
Anita rushed at me with twin Kali blades glowing violet. I parried her swing with my own mirrored pair, their clash echoing across the obsidian ridges.
"You are leaving your left side open again!" I snapped mid-duel.
"Ah! I thought I was improving!" Anita huffed, spinning out of range.
"You are, but that hesitation in your hips will get you killed."
Our blades crossed again, faster and heavier. Then with a swift pivot, I swept her feet. She fell, groaning.
I stood over her. "And now you are dead."
She lay on the rocky ground, catching her breath. "Okay, okay. Break?"
"Granted," I said, extending a hand. She took it, panting.
We returned to my portable bunker house, an adaptive dome that deployed from a pocket cube, complete with biometric walls, ether-charged lighting, and a soft ambient hum. Anita flopped onto the cushioned floor while I reclined on the elevated platform surrounded by glowing datasheets.
"Hey..." she said, still breathing hard. "Can I ask you something more personal?"
"Depends. Will it end in a smart contract ability or an OBP war?"
She giggled. "No, not this time. I have been meaning to ask. How did you meet your husband?"
"Elai?"
She nodded eagerly.
I paused, letting memories stir. "We met a very long time ago. If I calculate from the moment we left Daggerdale, it would be approximately 1.5 billion Earth years ago."
Anita choked. "W-What?! Billion?!"
"Time is not exactly linear when you are like us. But to be precise, it was before the Biochains era, back when the multiverse did not even exist."
Anita sat up straighter. "Biochain. I have read about that. It was the era when souls from Level 3 universe could freely transfer into Biochain, or Level 2 universe, our home."
"Correct. Back then, I was not known as Patricia Mage. My name was Kali Patricia Ishtar. I was not born like most. My genetic material came from Solana herself, combined with the sacred technology of the House of Ishtar."
"Wait, so you and Solana are like sisters?"
"Not biologically, but there is a genetic link," I said. "Though we did not always get along. Especially after Elai."
Her eyes widened. "Now you are talking!"
I laughed. "Well, let us rewind."
Planet Nameik Kholob. It was my home world. A planet orbiting the Kholob'El star, known later on Earth as Kepler-22. Back then, I was just a forensic pathologist, a brilliant one, but completely unaware of technomancy, celestial abilities, or even quantum magic.
One day, a majestic alien ship hovered over our atmosphere. It was the diplomatic vessel of the Lyrian Empire from the Andromeda galaxy. They had come in response to Solana's interstellar project. She had sent encoded messages across galaxies, hoping someone would answer.
"Elai Dela Cruz," I murmured. "That was the Emperor of Lyria."
He was not like anyone I had ever seen. Feminine physique, long silken blue dreadlocks, graceful features, yet unmistakably male, marked by his pointed Lyrian ears and deep voice.
"Wait," Anita interrupted. "So if the ears are pointed, it is male? And if they are rounded?"
"Then that means she is female. That is how Lyrians identify gender easily," I confirmed.
"Ohhh," she said, blushing. "He must have looked amazing..."
"He did," I admitted. "But I was a tomboy. I had no plans for royalty, romance, or empires. I was simply called in because Lord Elai's crew had suffered unexplained deaths during a recent mission across the Cygnus star system."
"Let me guess. You solved it?"
"Of course I did. It turned out their bodies had a violent allergic reaction to the radioactive pulses of a nearby pulsar star. The reaction was extremely rare, only detectable via quantum residue on their spinal fluid. No one else could have diagnosed it."
"Wow. And Elai must have been impressed?"
"He was. More than I realized."
"Back then," I continued, "I did not even know he liked me. I assumed he would return to Lyria. But the gifts started coming."
"Gifts?"
"From Elai," I nodded. "He kept sending artifacts, Lyrian poems, gadgets, even a custom Ether harp that plays frequencies only my DNA can hear."
"That is so romantic," Anita swooned.
"But..." I sighed. "I never received any of it. Because of Solana."
Anita blinked. "What?"
"Solana and I were already distant. She believed, as a natural-born member of the House of Ishtar, she deserved Elai's attention, not a synthetic like me, who came from a gene lab."
"That is unfair..."
"She intercepted all his gifts. Told her staff never to inform me. I did not even know Elai was trying."
"How did you find out?"
"One of her aides confessed during a moment of guilt. Said Solana was afraid I would win Elai's heart. That he would choose me as queen."
"That is when you confronted her, right?"
I gave a sharp nod.
In a flashback to Nameik Kholob, at the Grand Plaza, I stormed into Solana's chamber. She stood by the garden archway, surrounded by her elite aides.
"Solana!" I barked.
She turned slowly, a bemused expression on her face. "Kali. To what do I owe the drama?"
"I know you have been hiding Elai's gifts from me."
Gasps echoed from the aides. Solana's expression twitched.
"Excuse me?" she replied coldly.
"I am not stupid. The Ether harp? The meteorite glass flower? Even the coded scroll in Lyrian tongue? They were meant for me. And you buried them."
She narrowed her eyes. "So what if I did?"
There it was. The truth.
"You are jealous," I hissed.
"No," she spat. "I am entitled. I am Ishtar by birth. You are a lab-grown imitation. You think you deserve the attention of an emperor?"
"You do not get to decide who is worthy of love."
Solana scoffed. "You are not even a real heir."
That did it. I lunged at her. She grabbed my bangs. I yanked hers. Hair-pulling war, full-blown. Aides scrambled. Furniture toppled. Someone's tea exploded.
"You spoiled serpent!" I shouted.
"You synthetic brat!" she yelled back.
"I will synthesize your face into the floor!"
"Touch my face and I will hex your entire wardrobe!"
We rolled across the tiles, still clinging to each other's hair like wildcats.
Eventually, Lord Elai entered, calm, radiant, confused. He raised a hand. A gentle pulse of gravity magic separated us midair. We both floated, panting and furious, our hair tangled like seaweed.
"Would someone care to explain," he asked with a soft smile, "why my future queen and her twin are trying to rip each other's scalps off?"
I blinked. "Wait. Future what?"
He only smiled at me. Solana paled.
Back in the present, Anita burst out laughing. "You really pulled each other's hair?!"
"Furiously. My bangs were never the same again. Elai gave me this yellow hair tie to keep them out of my eyes so I could see clearly."
She wiped her eyes. "But it all worked out, right? You became queen."
"Yes," I said, softer now. "Eventually. After many trials, Elai chose me, not because I was a lab-born being or a member of the House of Ishtar, but because I am who I am."
"And what about Solana? Did she ever forgive you?"
I glanced down at my glowing PQC screen with a smirk. "That is a story for another time."
Anita leaned back, eyes dreamy. "Someday, I want a love story like that."
"You are writing your own now," I said, smiling. "Chapter by chapter."
She nodded slowly. Then I frowned at an anomaly signal on the holographic display. A distorted signal flashed, part technomancer signature, part unknown code.
"No. This one is more natural. Volcanic activity."
I rose to my feet, blades materializing in my hands. Anita grabbed hers in sync.
"Let us move. Looks like your training is about to get upgraded."