It wasn't every day I got to wake up in my own bed. Let alone lay there without moving, staring blankly at the green wall of my bedroom.
It had been two days since that human had been brought into my home. —And I still felt unsettled by him. There was something wrong inside that boy.
Something uncomfortable to look at—uncomfortable even to sense. My thoughts kept drifting back to it.
In truth, I hadn't lied to Daniel. There was something inside him. But it wasn't only one thing. There were several… presences.
Layered. Pressing. Quiet.
And I hadn't told Daniel that. His mood had soured the moment he realized I wasn't going to explain myself any further.
I turned over in bed with a frustrated groan, trying to ignore the gnawing curiosity clawing at the back of my skull.
A siren passed outside.—The sixth one this morning.
The city never slept, so counting them was pointless—but I still did it anyway. A useless little habit. I liked knowing things.
Knock. Knock.
Two quick taps.
Then silence.
Whoever stood on the other side knew exactly how much noise they needed to make to get my attention.
—And they were right.
I dragged myself out from under the thin blanket and crossed the apartment. I didn't bother asking who it was.
I only ever had two visitors this early.
The flat was small—two bedrooms, compact and cozy. I could hear everything, which made midnight visitors extremely inconvenient and early-morning ones unavoidable.
My hand closed around the silver key, twisting it before grabbing the handle and pulled the door open.
"My pride and joy," I said sweetly. My face, however, told them to make it quick.
I must have decided to wake up in a bad mood.
Standing in front of me was a tall, dark-skinned elf—black hair styled perfectly, glamour layered so thick no one would ever guess she wasn't human. A paper bag from the corner shop hung from her wrist.
Beside her stood a shorter girl with violently neon-orange twin pigtails—replacing her usual neat blonde hair. Drowned in pastel colors, as always.
"Well, aren't you in a splendid mood," Lilyanna said cheerfully.
Mockingly.
She walked straight past me without waiting for an invitation.
In the same moment, Kim launched herself at me.
An unrestrained hug. —Then kisses.
Several of them.
"Get off me, fox," I hissed.
Yet, I made no real attempt to push her away.
"No," she said happily—and hugged me longer before finally releasing me.
Then she, too, walked into my apartment as if it belonged to her. And it kinda did.
"First person sent to work in Álfheimr since the war," Kim announced brightly.
"You're sooo going to fail."
"Oh, wow," I muttered, closing the door. "I feel so supported. Thanks."
"You're welcome," she replied cheerfully, dropping onto my couch.
The brown one.
The one I bought with her money.
"You won't fail," Lily called from the kitchen.
"I got you a guide."
She was already unpacking groceries. The only time my fridge ever contained actual food was when Lilyanna visited.
"A guide for what?" I asked, pulling out a bar stool and sitting at the counter while she started cooking.
Kim paid us no attention. The news had her interest—something about Phantom catching the Wasp Queen and her goons for the third time this week.
Nothing new.
"A guide to Edruland society," Lily said while slicing green peppers.
"Wouldn't want you embarrassing me."
"I'm going to be a teacher," I replied flatly.
"Not attend noble tea parties."
"And it's next year, Captain. Right now I have other things to worry about."
She paused.
Tilted her head.
"Like what?"
Then, without missing a beat, she resumed cutting.
"I already know your schedule from start to finish. I made it."
I watched the knife move.
Didn't answer.
It wasn't that I didn't want to tell them.
I just didn't know when.
"There's this boy," I said quietly.
The cutting stopped.
Two pairs of eyes snapped to me. Kim nearly dislocated her neck turning around.
Lily lifted an eyebrow, silently urging me to continue.
"Not like that," I said quickly.
"He has… something. An ability. Or magic."
I exhaled slowly.
"Either he's awakened—or he actually has magic. Which shouldn't be possible. Humans don't suddenly manifest magic."
Kim vaulted over the couch. She could have walked around it. It would have taken two steps. Instead, my furniture suffered.
"A human with magic?" Lily asked, genuinely curious.
"Yeah. Daniel brought him to me two nights ago. Wouldn't tell me his name—because SaintYellow warned him. Apparently I'm evil."
I folded my arms.
Expecting them to defend me. Predictably, they didn't defend me.
"Yeah," Kim said thoughtfully.
"I mean… you kind of are."
Lily nodded.
"Objectively."
"I am not evil," I protested weakly, gesturing dramatically towards kim. "She is" I amused.
"Kim is Kim—low expectations," Lily continued calmly.
"But you?"
Kim froze mid-nod and glared at Lily.
Rude.
"Whatever," I muttered.
"But I felt magic. In him."
Lily moved on to the stove.
"Probably a half-blood," Kim suggested, slumping against the counter.
"Could be a hybrid."
"A hybrid would know," I said immediately.
Lily hesitated.
"Well… we could have Professor Green examine him."
The idea was tempting.
But something about it made my skin crawl.
Professor Green had always been… convenient. And deeply, disturbingly curious.
And if anyone learned that a human carried magic—
"No," I said sharply.
"Absolutely not."
They both looked at me.
"I told Daniel Yellow I'd try to keep him safe. Away from the Temple."
My tone had turned serious before I realized it.
The room felt strangely quiet.
Just the three of us. Doing small, ordinary things. A luxury we rarely had.
"Fine," Lily said after a moment.
"No telling anyone else. But don't get too attached."
"You still have responsibilities."
I scoffed.
"You mean your responsibilities."
They ignored me.
Rude. I thought to myself.
The conversation died there.
Lily finished cooking.
We ate.
And then we did nothing. Today was just too boring then normal.
Kim scrolled through her phone.
Lily and I half-watched the news. That At some point last year, Kim hijacked the broadcast and rerouted a signal from Mu's servers without a R.U
I really needed to learn how she did that.
There wasn't much going on. Just the same headlines. Tensions between Edruland and Esparna. A new saint appearing after 200 years since the war. Mu possibly needing to choose an ally.
Political noise.
Lily and my sister followed every detail.
Kim and I pretended not to care. At least when other people were around. But I could see it in her eyes—she was listening anyway and so was I.
Then all three of our watches chimed at once. Small O13 units—easily mistaken for ordinary smart watches.
We stood up at the same time. Muscle memory. Kims eyes skim scanned the alert text hologram that appeared from her watch. Being the one to relay the information back to us, while Lily and I only got beeping notification on our wrists.
Lily and I were already moving.
"Romania," Kim summarized.
"Multiple disappearances."
I caught a glimpse of the briefing. That was… a generous simplification. It was far more than a few missing people.
But knowing Kim, she had filtered out everything except what actually mattered.
Honestly? I would have done the same.
My mind went back to that boy one last time before I checked the location we needed to arrive at.
"Can we go on a tour after? I want to go check out some shops," she said, her long twin pigtails still tied up.
She wore a sheer blue top that barely reached her midriff and low-rise, wide black jeans. Who was she planning on fighting?
The fashion police? I thought to myself. But Kim once fought in cosplay, so I was sure she'd manage.
I ignored her and focused on myself instead, casting a spell by drawing a pentagon on the floor, with numerous smaller symbols surrounding it.
My spells weren't as direct as Flora's or other magic users', but when I got them right, I cast some truly unbreakable ones.
A portal opened in the middle of my floor, blue light spilling out as Bucharest came into view. Without a word, Kim jumped in first, having done this a million times before.
"Did she ever hear captain first?" I asked Lily, who was wearing a black stealth and combat suit—by yours truly… Kim.
My eyes landed on her cargo pants.
"Are those mine?" I squinted, then realized. "They are! They are!"
She gave me a mock twirls, like I had asked her to.
The audacity. When did she go snooping around my closet?
"Captain's privileges," she whined at me, jumping in after Kim before I could say anything more.
"I better get them back in one piece," I huffed to myself as I jumped in after them.
My outfit shifted mid-landing.
The only spell I could cast without fail.
I hadn't put much effort into it—just a tactical bodysuit hidden beneath a white shirt and a long skirt, topped with a navy-blue trench coat that flapped around my legs.
All three of us stood in an alley.
…An alleyway.
I messed up the spell.
But—hey. At least we were in Bucharest itself.
That counted.
I still got side-eyed.
"What?" I defended myself. "We're here."
Lilyanna rolled her eyes, though a faint, traitorous smile tugged at the corner of her mouth.
Kim only huffed.
I lifted my hand again and traced circles through the air, sketching numbers around an invisible pentagon.
Blue light flared.
Another portal opened.
It was hard being both the medic and the magician of the group. Neither Kim nor Lily could use magic. Which meant all of it fell on me.
As we stepped through, I heard a small meow behind a trash bin. Probably a stray. I didn't pay it any real attention.
The portal sealed behind us, the light folding neatly back into nothing.
I just hoped the flash hadn't drawn anyone's attention.
Not that normal humans could see it through the glamour—
…but with how many awakened people were wandering around these days, you never really knew.