Thankfully, Clarke Quay had existed since the 1900s.

Though it was not the shopping Mecca the place would become in the late 2010s, the promenade was already taking shape as a trendy district for the well-to-do to spend their hard-earned HDMs. A riverside district, the streetscape resembled the French Rivera, only adorned with Edwardian Era architecture mixed with traditional Chinese facades, housing a flotilla of pleasure Junks working as floating restaurants and nightclubs.

Thanks to Singapore's unrivalled economic prowess, Clarke Quay's many dockside warehouses had been converted into massive shopping malls full of boutique stores, offering some of the best mundane and magical handcrafted goods this side of the southern hemisphere. That was why Gwen was especially looking forward to what they would find in its many nooks and crannies.

This time, when the trio alighted from the taxi, Gwen exhaled out with relief. The place was as she had recalled from her past life, though it had far fewer patrons, which wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

The girl's communal war-chest was forty-two HDM crystals, though Gwen had more on hand if they needed the money and would happily 'shout' her friends whatever they fancied, providing it wasn't too exuberant.

When Elvia's blessed conscience raised the question of whether or not it was appropriate to be shopping in a place that was safe and prosperous while their home burned, Gwen gave her a little life lesson imparted from a seasoned adult.

There was a time to mourn, a time to act, a time for procrastination, and a time to relax. There was more to life than worrying about events beyond one's control. Sydney was now a reality, and as students without resources and virtually no influence, all they could do was help when they can. In the interim, their time was undoubtedly NOT better spent brooding in a terminal.

"Evee, the great poet Horace taught us that one should "carpe diem" — that is: seize the day and put minimal trust in tomorrow."

"Okay," Elvia accepted her advice at face value.

Gwen's persuasion was aided by the many kinds of exotic Magic Items now lying at their disposal. In Sydney, they never have an opportunity like this again. If not now, as such, then when?

"So what you're saying," Yue regarded her strangely. "… is that we should shop till we drop because life is short?"

Clarke Quay did not disappoint.
Surrounded by the outlets of the local garment industry, Gwen took the opportunity to replenish her wardrobe. For mere LDMs, Gwen could easily find skirts and shorts, shirts and blouses, camisoles and belts, bangles and hats that would not look out of place in a trendy cafe.

When Yue reached out yet again for a lime-green puffer jacket to go with a white, low-cut tank-top, Gwen slapped Yue's hand like a stern Governess.

"No, Yue, you'll look like avocado bread, not even the toasted kind!"
Elvia likewise wanted to know if a pink skirt paired with a cream-pink blouse when offset with a sakura-pink camisole.
It was hideous, of course.
But on Elvia, she could accept it.

"Yeah, that's lovely. Go ahead. I'll pay?"

Afterwards, the girls visited the Magic Item shops, at which point they sobered up.

"Holy Jesus..." Yue's eyes bulged. "How— how much?"

**Braces of Armour (Tier 3)**
This finely crafted item once belonged to the illustrious Maj. Farid Malik.
Increases resilience of wearer to physical attacks.
Tier 5 Skin of Stone Aurok, Orange Zone, South Africa.
Created by Master F.J. Vanderfare, **4En. 4E.**
 **~ $98,000 SG / ~ 10 H.D.M Crystals**

**Goggles of the True Night**
These beautifully crafted goggles gift the wearer with the sight of the True Ancestor, able to see in complete darkness and high-light the blood of the living, including most Demi-humans. A must for adventuring in the Dark Zones.
Tier 6 Vampire’s Eyes, Black Zone, Bulgaria.
Created by Magus P. Gorchev, **7En. 5Trn. 4F.**
 **~ $220,000 SG / ~ 220 H.D.M Crystals**

**Staff of the Illusionist**
A boost to your Illusion Spells that greatly increases potency and decreases mana usage. This staff can store up to twelve slots of Illusion spells of tier 6 and below. A truly unique item!
Tier 8 Ancient Cedar Core, Black Zone, Indonesia.
Created by Master G.G Fulcher, **8Ill. 5En. 3W.
** **~ $1,200,000 SG / ~ 1220 H.D.M Crystals**
Barter Options available on request.

"Ahahaha..." Gwen choked while greeting the shop assistant.

The store that crushed their dreams was a high-end Item Shop selling gear from Europe. An assistant offered them cold glasses of sparkling pineapple juice as soon as they walked through the double-doors, opened by a handsome young man in a waistcoat. Where usually the girls would have been ignored or snubbed, Gwen's regal bearing, together with her Enchanted Rings, got them first-class service.

Yue was still trying to count the zeros on her fingers when Elvia expressly wished to leave lest she breathed on an expensive item.

When the girls finally tired of the impossibly priced shops, they came into the localised section of the Magic Item market where low-level crafters plied their wares. Unfortunately, there was nothing of particular note unless the girls wanted to restock on potions or purchase one-use scrolls, which they currently possessed no disposable funds to procure.
As the late afternoon approached, the girls found a nice junk converted into a riverside cafe where Gwen ordered a frap, soy, no cream, while the others had milkshakes.

"So mature," Elvia marvelled at her, cutely sipping at her shake and enjoying the cool breeze coming from the river's scintillating surface. Exhausted by the shopping, she grew so relaxed that she fell asleep for a few minutes against Gwen's shoulder, making her very happy.

"Where you guys from?" the waitress asked when Gwen called for the bill.

"Melbourne," Gwen replied without batting an eye, not wishing to be bothered for details.

"Oh, I heard lovely things about that place. A shame what happened to Sydney though, I hope they pull through."

"Yeah, it's pretty bad."

"I guess we won't be eating Auroch for a while, or the wine. A shame. Both are popular around here."

"I can imagine." Gwen paid as the girls finished their drinks and were soon on their way.

Dinner time quickly approached as the boiling sun finally struck the horizon, causing the temperature to drop from stifling to just bearable. A water taxi took the girls from the Quay towards the riverside, where the famous restaurant Jumbo floated on a wooden platform tethered to the dock. Renowned for its Chilli and Pepper Crabs, the restaurant boasted live, mana-rich tier 3 Mud Crabs caught straight from Sri Lankan Orange Zones, brought to Singapore through Glyph-cooled barges.

When Gwen arrived with the girls in tow, Whetu, Paul, Taj and Jonas were already seated, having come early to obtain bay view seating. Whetu was drinking Cola, but the men were already half a dozen beers down the hatch.

"Yo!" Gwen hailed the Alesia Trio, Whetu included.

"No Morye as of yet," Paul noted, but that wasn't to Gwen's surprise. If her father said he would be back tomorrow morning for the freighter, then that was when he was due. Though Gwen would have liked him to be here, to enjoy the celebratory dinner, she wasn't about to force him to attend.

A waiter saw to their seating, and Gwen browsed the menu. The Crabs clocked in at 56 LDMs per kilogram, which was reasonable given their difficulty of capture. Likewise, it took a Mage-Chef of considerable talent and skill to prepare a creature capable of tearing through sheets of galvanised steel.

The girls had only a dozen HDMs left from shopping, but Gwen was happy to use her private funds. The 'shout' was a fine Australian tradition; one Gwen was pleased to disburse upon the men who risked their lives for loyalty and favour, retrieving her friends from certain doom.

Gwen ordered for the group, additionally purchasing a bottle of Yarra Valley Riesling, whose beautiful stonefruit and floral palette would uplift the savoury taste of the juicy, fat Sri Lankan crab when joined in harmony with spices from the egg-beaten tomato-chilli. When the servings came, the group stared down two crabs the size of a small child. She should have paid attention when the waiter was explaining serving dimensions.

She wept for the loss of HDM crystals, but it was worth it. As the group lavishly ate into the soft-tender flesh, their mouths oily with pepper and chilli, they could feel their mana replenishing impressively. Tier 3 Wildland products were rare in Sydney, usually supplied exclusively to Tier 1 cities.

When the inevitable food coma took over, they sat and made small talk, discussing what life entailed once they returned to Sydney. The men themselves would return to the military or take up Tower duties, becoming indisposed for the foreseeable future.

"I wheel miss you girls, but I can't say I won't be glad to see Orklund," Whetu remarked, cleaning his hands in the lemony solution provided for patrons. "I've learned a lot and seen a lot, though. Thank you. Really."

"I am sorry the Inter-high competition never worked out, Whetu," said Gwen apologetically.

"Seeing the world, the Dryads, experiencing the fall of a city - more than made up for it. So did fighting those Mermen and that Void sheila."

Gwen raised a toast. "To your safe return to Auckland, to Whetu O Turanga!"

"For New Zulland!" Whetu announced.

"Cheers!"

The gathering raised their glasses and clinked, filling the air with crystalline notes.

"Are all of youse going to do your Military Service?" Whetu asked the girls. He was already enrolled in Auckland and was merely awaiting the onset of July.

"I am, for sure," Yue affirmed the Kiwi's question. She turned with a look full of expectation towards the Alesia trio. "You guys don't mind if I tag along, do you?"

"Be our pleasure." Paul grinned affably.

"What could go wrong with two Alesia(s) on the team?" Taj noted wryly. "Double the power, double the fun."

"Ah, haha…" Jonas laughed, likely finding Taj's projected vision of mayhem less than enterprising.

"Well, that'll do. For Yue's new party!" Gwen raised a toast.

The group obliged, some more happily than others. As much as Jonas and Taj jested, it was a given that Alesia would want Yue close while she underwent Mandatory Military service. Where better to train her Apprentice than under her trusted team?

"What about you, Gwen?" Yue inquired. "What are your plans?"

"Well, my big reveal at the Inter-high is toast," Gwen sighed, not wanting to think about her Master so soon after their recent disengagement. "I'll have to discuss it with Gunther, but I'd say Military service attached to the Tower. With the accolades I aim to pick up in the next two years, I can apply for university somewhere, maybe join Richard? Back in the day, I aimed for Sydney Arcane U, but with the city like this, maybe somewhere in Shanghai or even here, at the NTU?"

Thinking of Richard, Gwen wondered if the Magus in training would be willing to stay with her in Australia if it meant that they would be serving directly under the Tower, working together to get a commendation into a prestigious university. He could earn money needed for tuition, as could she, and they could work out something between them that would be mutually beneficial. Mayhap that was the best way forward for them both, toiling together, helping one another as a family and as partners in Spellcraft.

Then there was her 'new' family in China, towards which Gwen felt ambivalence. Here was an opportunity to relive a wholly neglected part of her old life. Yet, compared to her "House", she was a country bumpkin, while they were the residents of the largest tier I metropolis in China. Travelling to and from a tier I city was highly restricted; she could apply as a refugee, of course, but that would mean separating from Alesia and Gunther, which would be both foolish and hazardous in her present circumstance.

Ten days ago, her life was all mapped out— and now it was all in shambles. But "such was life", was it not? Gwen banished the feeling of annoyance from her mind. She would have to make do with the lemons she'd been given and get on with the lemonade business.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

"Gwen…" Elvia said suddenly, tugging at Gwen's sleeve.

"Yes, Evee?"

"If… I want to stay with you— and Yue. If my parents are adamant about going overseas, can you convince my parents to let me stay?"

"Of course!" Gwen exclaimed felicitously, grinning expansively. "We can share a room like always, though I am sure there's plenty of room in the Tower. If not, you can sleep with me."

Elvia blushed. The others laughed.

"Here's to the three of you staying together then!" Jonas raised a toast. "To make a team! You just need an Abjurer and one other!"
Yue's eyes twinkled.

Their very own party! They could take on missions, go on adventures, travel to exotic locations. With Gwen's pull in the Tower and their combined talents, that was an entirely plausible scenario!
"Oh! I can see it!" Yue exclaimed, her face red with excitement. "We can be - the Dynamic Trio - plus two!"
A round of roaring laughter passed over the table.
A waitress cleared the empty shells. Their final dish was a wobbly coconut flan dripping with golden caramel.
"Oh. My. God. I am in heaven!" Yue exclaimed as the creamy pudding encountered her tongue.
Gwen smiled and dug in, watching Elvia close her eyes and entered nirvana. Whetu wasn't big on the dessert, so Yue pilfered his bowl, and the girls shared it between them.
"Sure you don't want to stay with us, Whetu?" Yue coaxed the big man with a suggesting wink.
"When ai become a Magus, sure," Whetu replied confidently. "When you necks see me, my punamu will be en-penetrable."

Gwen felt a sudden clarity come to pass. An Abjurer? Wouldn't Richard fill the spot? He was a first-tier Abjurer, and he had an Undine capable of covering both support and tanking roles within a party. If they could recruit Richard to their cause, it would mean that they only needed one more member, perhaps a Transmuter or an Illusionist, and they were good to go.

It was perfect! Gwen was sure that Richard wouldn't refuse, at least not in his present circumstances. Even with the four of them, they could begin to take on Quests from the Tower once they started their Military Service.

"To the future!" Gwen made a final toast, and the group honoured the sentiment by draining their cups.

With that, the much-lauded dinner came to an end. When the party exited the restaurant and stepped into the riverside promenades, the city had changed entirely. A concourse of scintillating colours refracted from the skyscrapers onto the meandering river, placidly flowing through the city's centre. There, on the not-so-distant horizon, the shape of Singapore's Capital Tower loomed, rising from Downtown Core's superdense city blocks toward the sky like a skyward sword.

As the blue hour came upon them, a bloom of colours swept the skyline. Massive illusionary Glyph-arrays embedded onto the sides of skyscrapers burned the air with their dazzling hues. Transnational corporations haughtily displayed their companies' logos, glowing and dimming, changing between adverts of products and services and giant emblazons ten stories tall and dozens of meters across. Further on, streaks of red and blue light flashing across the night sky indicated aerial Mage patrols, while here and there, in and amongst the masses, Gwen could see the Military Mages in their dark uniforms patrolling the streets. Unlike Sydney, Singapore's CBD seemed festooned with men and women busy at work, dinner and play wherever they looked.

"Shall we head back?" Jonas asked Gwen.

Gwen's eyes floated over the dreamlike riverside. Their eyes filled with the refracted rainbow of commerce, enjoying the wonder that is Singapore before their inevitable return to the war-torn home that awaited them.

Geylang.
Singapore's premier red-light district.

"Target is moving, fifty meters to Guillemard." A nondescript diner wearing a tight singlet and blue jeans spoke into a coded Message Device as he busily mimed the eating of L32's famous prawn noodle Laksa. "Target has stopped. He is at Madam Lin's."

"Confirm target entry," the cold voice of control came over the Glyph.
"Confirmed. Switching optics."

As if displeased with the restaurant's Daylight globes, the young man put on a pair of American made Ray-Bans. He leaned back in appreciation of the famous noodle joint and its spicy serving of gut-churning wonton-prawn noodle and burped. A few Glyphs passed over the aviator's dark surface, and a Lesser Scry effect came into being.

"Confirmed. Target is engaged in negotiation with the Madam."

"Target is entering level 2."

"Target is with a female... Make that two females."

"Target is…" his voice trailed off. "Engaging."

"Keep watching," the voice implored. "Do not break scry. Target is exceedingly slippery."

"Affirmative," the voice replied despairingly. "Target is now engaged in coitus."

"Confirming Target 2."

By the glowing waters of the riverside, a young man with a heavily accented voice moved fluidly past the crowd, tailing a group of foreigners. There was a tall, lithe girl among them, as tall as the Singaporean men around her, as well as a gigantic Polynesian who towered heads and shoulders over the public. He wasn't afraid of being seen, everywhere the group ventured, men turned their faces to steal glances at the girl, while children gawked at the dark-skinned giant with the facial tattoos and pointed.

"Target is returning on route 7 to the designated hostel."

"Confirm observation status."

"Confirmed. Target is six-foot, female, dark brown hair, shoulder-length. Eyes, green. White dress, floral notes. Travelling with a contingent of Senior Mages. Advise, next course of action."

"Stay at medium operation distance. Move to maximum observation distance once the crowd thins," control's voice came over the Message Glyph with the precision of a mechanical apparatus.

"Affirmative. Request for more information."

"Granted."

"Is capture operation tonight?"

"Negative, contact will initiate elsewhere. Continue as ordered."

"Affirmative."

The hostel that the Customs Officer recommended was both clean and cheap, much to Gwen and her crew's surprise, despite its proximity to the city's industrial blocks. The men took two rooms, two to each, and the girls took the other. After more showers, the girls were ready to tuck in for the night. Their designated Freighter for Brisbane was to be boarded at 0900 sharp, meaning they would need to be at the customs two hours prior.

They put the beds together and laid next to each other, feeling the warmth of one another's bodies in the dark. Gwen reached out and held Elvia's hand, and Elvia touched and found Yue.

"That's not my hand."

"Eek."

Thus connected, the friends fell into silence.

"So, Gwennie," Elvia's voice drifted through the invisible dimensions of the darkroom.

"Yes, Evee?"

"Are you ever going to tell Debora's mother the truth?"

"…"

"I wouldn't," Yue's voice joined them. "If I were her mom, I would want to know my daughter died defending her friends."

"Yeah." A long sigh lingered in the air. "I wouldn't either."

The sound of soft breathing filled the room.

"Gwen?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for saving us."

"No need." Gwen smiled in the dark. "You guys would have done the same for me."

"You know it," Yue's voice interjected. "Good night."

"Thanks, Yue."

Yue's snores were instant.

"... Good night Evee."

"Good night... Hey, Gwen?" Elvia's hand crept a little closer.

"Evee… go to sleep."

"Okay."

The morning saw the group gathered outside the hostel, sans Morye.

Thanks to their well-placed hotel, they were within walking distance to the Jurong Docks. The group walked through the warehouse area until they were hailed by a black-uniformed officer who directed them to the Customs Terminal, an impressive building with a modern facade of concrete and glass.

The ship they were to embark on was the "Crown Express", a Triple E class Freighter. From their vantage point, they could see the cargo cranes presiding over the ship's massive hull like skeletal fingers.

As usual, the difference between the interior and the exterior of the building differed by at least ten degrees, the humidity about 100 per cent.

"Oh wow, I am alive again," Yue exclaimed loudly, fanning herself with one hand.

"Yeah." Gwen inhaled the cold air. "It's a steamer out there."

"Yo!"

The group turned to see Morye, still wearing the same clothes he had left with, lifting himself from a sunken sofa in the lounge. It was self-evident that he had at least spent a few hours sleeping in public.

"Good morning, Mr Song," Elvia greeted him sweetly.

"Hi there." Morye gave her a toothy grin. "Good morning, daughter-o-mine."

"You look to be in good spirits, Dad." Gwen forced herself to smile.

"So I am." Morye's eyes followed through the crowd, exchanging nods and greetings until they fell upon Yue's liberally frontage.

"Oh hello," he said to Yue, not looking her in the eyes.

"Mr Song." Yue stuck out her chest proudly, though her eyes were mirthfully watching Gwen's expression turn frosty.

Whetu stepped between them. He very much wanted to go home and not be delayed by a showdown in the middle of Singapore Customs.

"Right, let's go home!" Jonas clapped, calling for the group's attention. "No delays, single file, follow me!"

A different officer greeted them this time, a young woman whose gaze lingered on Morye as he made flirtatious eyes at her.

"Just this way, through the scanner-portal" The girl pointed them in the right direction. "Do you have any forbidden goods you like to declare? The list includes Transmutation or Evocation magical items of tier 2 and above, Conjuration based items of tier 3 and above, as well as anything you would like to volunteer for inspection. If you do not declare these items, Singapore's Maritime Code issues fines and sentences up to 100 HDMs and one year in prison."

The military men produced several items that had to be inspected for safety and clearance while Whetu and the girls went on ahead with Morye.

"This way, please," the spritely counter girl pointed to a sectioned off series of corridors that divided the space between the boarding station and Singapore city. "Please stand here, and here, the machine will scan you for volatile Elements."

Elvia and Yue went first.

When Morye's turn came, the Customs officer flashed him a suggestive look, which he reciprocated with a flirtatious wink.

A few meters away, Gwen felt the fire rising in her chest but forced it down like a good girl who knew not to act up in public. Her father went next into the partitioned section; then it was finally her turn.

There was a tunnel inside. It was empty, white, sterile and impeccably clean like many places in Singapore. Her father was nowhere in sight and must have gone through quickly. Gwen made it about halfway when a Mandala lit up. She picked up her pace and walked forward, hoping that whatever they were scanning for wouldn't pick up anything strange, like a flux of Void mana or her Kirin amulet.

There was a brilliant flash of silver-white mana, the tell-tale colour of Conjuration, one that Gwen had seen many times before.

A Teleportation Circle? Gwen wondered to herself. What could they be scanning with space-time magic?

The mana faded the next instant, and Gwen found herself in a cubic room, about four meters across and utterly sterile. She was standing in the centre, atop a fading circle of spent teleportation mandalas. There were three men by the door at the far end, two in dark suits and one in the navy uniform of a Customs' Officer she recognised as the friendly Sergeant Liu— the very man who had offered them the cheap hotel.

"Shit!" Gwen cursed under her breath. "Ariel!"

The marten materialised from thin air, filling the room with the stink of ozone. Whatever was happening, Gwen would have the insurance of a Familiar by her side to harass her foes if things went south.

"Very impressive, Ms Song," Liu said, golf clapping politely. "But please do not make a scene and instead listen very carefully to what I have to say."

"Who are you?" Gwen narrowed her eyes and leaned back into a combat stance. If need be, she could unleash Caliban in his spider form, but that would also mean that she was desperate enough to endanger exposure. Immediately, her mind turned to that disturbing episode she had suffered in Blackheath. "Are you Slavers? Traders?"

Liu seemed taken aback by her outlandish accusation.

"Oh, no. We're legitimate Officers of the law, I assure you." Liu produced an ID card and waved it in front of her. It scintillated as it refracted the light, showing the Singapore Tower's unmistakable symbol— a rainbow-hued Merlion. "I assure you that you are in no trouble."

Gwen did not drop her guard and instead applied a layer of Bark Skin charged with Elemental Lightning, causing arcs of blue-white electricity to leap from her body.

"Now listen to me," Liu continued. He pointed to the two men beside him. "These two gentlemen are from the Shanghai Tower."

Gwen's heart fumbled. Mages from a tier 1 Tower!

One of the men removed his glasses, revealing a stoic, featureless Asian face that was pancake flat and almost reptilian in its impassivity. The man pressed something besides his ear, and a pink-green Ioun Stone began to float around his head.

"I am Wei." The stone took a few seconds to attune, translating his speech from Mandarin to perfect English. "We are from the MSS."

Gwen blinked, having no idea what "MSS" denoted.

Wei frowned; her confusion was not the reaction he was expecting. "The Ministry of State Security."

Gwen's eyes told him that she still had no idea.

"They would be men that The People of the Republic of China sent to do rough work," Liu explained helpfully. "The kind that keeps you and me honest."

"What do they want with me?"

"It's more so what they want with your father that matters, but orders have come through to take you in as well. I am sorry."

Gwen wasn't sure how to respond. As often as she'd travelled in her old life, she was never once detained, not even when she flew to the Middle East, visited Iran, and returned laden with souvenirs.

"I am not going."

"You will." Wei reached into his pocket and retrieved a small cube. "Willingly or not, your choice. It doesn't change the outcome."

"Where is my father?"

"He is on the way."

"Where are we going?"

"Shanghai. All I can say is that you are safe."

"Are you going to read me my rights?" Gwen felt stupid the moment the words left her mouth.

Wei palmed the golden cube, which must be some imprisonment based Magic Item. "You have sixty seconds to decide to comply."

Liu stepped forward, hands extended in front of him in a gesture of peace. "Now, Ms Song, I understand that you are personally acquainted with Lord Gunther of Sydney, so I am going to make this quick and easy for you. In a moment, your friends will emerge on the other side of that barrier, but they won't be seeing you. As a favour from the Singapore Tower, I will bear your message of peace. Recorded here—"

The man pointed to what must be a Lumen Recorder pinned to his chest.
.
"If your friends were to attempt a rescue or cause a scene, it would be not only futile; it would also land them in prison, so think carefully about your next words."

A year ago, Gwen would have felt awash with panic and despair. But all she felt now was a cold calm. Angry as she was, she understood that Liu was speaking to her as cordially and patiently as a man in his position was capable of doing. Liu wasn't rude; he wasn't condescending. He merely explained the situation to her as one might to a neophyte on their first entry into some strange new zone.

Dispelling Ariel and her Bark Skin, Gwen faced the Lumen-Recorder and tried to relaxed her body. After more than ten seconds, she wrangled a convincing smile.

"Speak," Liu nodded approvingly. "Please."

Gwen obliged.

"Evee, Yue, I am not in danger. My father has become involved in some trouble. I need to go with him to sort out whatever this problem may be. I will try to get back to Australia a soon as I can. I'll contact you as soon as I am able. Tell Gunther to contact the Singapore Tower for details."

"Excellent, Mrs Song. I find it difficult to believe that you are just a high school student. A lesser Mage would have reacted far more passionately."

Gwen said nothing. Instead, she turned to face the two Chinese men and put her wrists forward in a gesture of supplication.

"I am all yours."

Wei and the others looked at her wrists blankly.

Gwen felt her face redden as she pulled her hands back to her sides. "Is this not how authoritarian arrest work these days?"

"Not if you come willingly, Ms Song," Wei noted drily. "For your peace of mind, I can assure you that you are in no trouble."

"So my father is in big trouble?"

Morye had previously told her that he killed someone he shouldn't have— but then had spoken little else about it. Was this his past catching up to him? If so, why was she being taken along with him?

While she tried to recollect Morye's outburst, the two men-in-black stepped past Liu and stood beside her. Strangely, though their aura felt intimidating, they were both shorter than her. It made them far less terrifying now that she was standing next to them toe to toe and looking over their heads.

"Please relax," Wei said without any particular emotion, sending a jolt of mana into the golden cube Device. "This might be a little nauseating for someone who has never experienced LR Teleportation Circles."

They each placed a hand on her exposed shoulder.

"Wha-"

There was a flash as the Teleportation Circle reactivated.
Then they were gone.


“Where’s Gwen?” Jonas became puzzled when he passed the checkpoint himself and found Elvia and Yue milling about aimlessly.

“She was right behind us.” Yue paced back toward the gate, but the opaque exit barrier prevented both return entry and stickybeaking.

“What’s wrong?” Whetu came through a corridor to their right, sensing the anxious tension in the air when he saw the companions meandering aimlessly. “Did Gwen get held back? She’s got an entire wardrobe in that Ring of hers. Was there something she should have declared?”

“Maybe?” Yue shrugged, feeling a little agitated that her friend had seemingly evaporated; if they counted the time since Elvia first entered, ten minutes would have passed by now. "Has anyone seen Uncle Song? He's not here either.”

The group collectively denied seeing Morye.

It became self-evident that the situation had soured. If something had happened to the two Songs, who could they hold accountable? What if the Tower was responsible?

The door to the opposite entryway opened with a hiss.

“Gwen?”

The friendly grin of a Customs Officer greeted them. A few of the party recognised the man as the one Gwen had spoken to the morning prior.

The man raised both hands to show his innocent intentions.

“Hello everyone. I am Sergeant Liu. I have a message for you from Miss Song." Liu pointed slowly to a lumen device on his chest.

In response, the military men formed up against the two girls and Whetu, shielding them against unseen dangers.

An illusory vision flickered before them as the pin on the officer’s chest began to broadcast. It was Gwen's visage, suspended midair.

“Evee, Yue, I am not in danger. My father has become involved in some trouble. I need to escort him to sort out whatever this problem may be. I will try to get back to Australia as soon as I can. I’ll contact you as soon as I am able. Tell Gunther to contact the Singapore Tower for details.”

After her measured voice died off, the illusion began to loop.

“Would you like to hear it again?” the man proposed congenially after the second play-through.

“What the FUCK did you do to Gwen?!” Yue's infamously short-fuse exploded as a gout of flame irradiated from her body, forcing the others to step away.

Yue could hardly believe what she was hearing. They’d just gotten back together! And now Gwen was taken, again?! She wasn’t about to let that happen again.

“You better hand her over to us right now, Mister!" Yue hissed between her teeth. "Or this place is going to be called the Jurong Disaster Zone.”

Liu sighed. He looked towards the military men.

“Miss Song left willingly and peacefully. Are you sure that you want to disregard her efforts to send you all home safe and sound?” Liu spoke patiently, his expression unchanged from the gentle smile he wore at all times.

"Bullshit! Where is she? How far can she be? I want to see her! Let her talk to us!"

“Yue.” Jonas moved beside the Fire Mage. “Yue, calm down.”

“Yue…” Elvia tugged her friend’s shirt, holding onto Yue' arm even though it welted the skin on her hands.

Yue stared at her companions, especially Elvia, whose eyes were large and watery and full of imploring agony.

“Where has Gwen being taken to?” Paul demanded.

“I am not at liberty to say,” Liu replied. “The Singapore Tower was not able to intervene; else we would have tried our best to delay or defer the order. Lord Gunther is one of our benefactors, after all.”

Yue’s fire glowed hotter, stoked by her rising ire.

"Ouch!" Elvia retrieved her hands, blowing them to cool her blistered skin.

“Yue, dis is not the time; it is not what Guin would have wanted.” Whetu stepped between Liu and the soon to be rampaging Evoker. “Please, you must also consider your family at home. They are waiting.”

The air between the two parties broiled as the standoff scorched the humid air, transforming the Glyph-cooled atmosphere into the dry heat. Surprisingly, the Military Police hadn't made their presence known. However, it was clear that should Yue lay a finger on Liu, black-uniformed men would suddenly materialise from the corridors.

“Put us in contact with Gunther, now,” Yue said at last. “I want to speak to him.”

Liu nodded in agreement.

“That much, I can do.”

Yue allowed the mana to drain from her body. Her inexpertly discharged mana flooded the air like helium from a deflating balloon, causing the ambient temperature to rise.

“Sorry, Evee…”

Yue placed a hand on Elvia and apologised for her emotional blunder. The wounds on the healer's hands were already mending, but they must have stung like hell for a minute.

The party delayed their boarding while Liu used his Message device to route their call through the Tower directly. After about two minutes of operators exchanging Glyphs, Gunther’s voice addressed them through the vox-Glyph.

“Liu, what’s wrong? Have my team recovered the girls and Whetu?"

“Gunther!” Yue interjected before Jonas could answer. “Someone took Gwen!”

"By which you mean a third party has abducted Gwen?"

"We don't know! We were at the customs, going through final boarding, then Gwen was gone!"

Gunther's Glyph grew silent.

"Magus Liu, are you there?"

"Yes, Lord Gunther."

“Liu, what does the Singapore Tower have to say?”

“It was an urgent matter that passed through the highest channels in the Tower, Sir,” Liu replied flatly and matter-of-factly. “We have been assured that Ms Song would remain unharmed. That and once matters are resolved, she would be allowed to leave.”

“Details?”

“I have sent a Message to your Tower, Sir. It should arrive soon.”

More silence as the gathering waited for Gunther to reply.

“Alright. Jonas, how long until Yue's party is back in Sydney?”

“Ten days on the Freighter to Brisbane, then a few hours from the station,” Jonas replied respectfully.

“Yue?”

“Yes, Gunther?” Yue croaked, her voice coarse for all her anxious feelings of helplessness. She would have felt far better if a few Fire Balls had been exchanged.

“I’ll take care of it. Alesia misses you, so come home safely. Don’t delay anymore. Leave Gwen to me.”

“Alright, is Gwen going to be-“

“I’ll let you know once you’re back.”

“But…”

“She’s going to be fine. I think I have an inkling where she's gone if Morye was likewise taken.”

“Okay,” Yue replied sulkily.

The device disconnected.

“Satisfied?” Liu asked them. “You better get going. You’re going to miss the ship.”

“No, I am not satisfied,” Yue replied cattily, grinding her teeth audibly. It was still hard to believe that Gwen just got shanghaied only a few feet away from returning home. “Let’s go.”

Elvia and Whetu followed Yue as she stomped away.

“Allow me to apologise for the outburst, Sergeant… Magus Liu,” Jonas intoned sincerely. It was just as well that Alesia wasn't here, else this place would henceforth be known as the Jurong Disaster Epicentre.

“It’s fine, Major. Another De Botton in the making, huh? You have your work cut out for you.”

“You know it.” Jonas made a face that looked ten years older than his actual age. His moustache was greying rapidly again now that Yue was back.

“God’s speed, Major. Do visit Singapore in more peaceful times.”

Jonas saluted.

The military men exchanged final farewells and left for the freighter. Ten days wasn’t long, but knowing Yue, it could be a very, very long trip.

Jonas sighed. Was it wise to enable another battle maniac?

The girl vomited a torrent of chilli-crab, half-digested, acrid with stomach acid onto Wei’s shoes.

The MSS Red Guard had wanted to keep a tight schedule on his quarry and so hadn’t noticed her ashen face turning green the moment they passed through at the Inter-State Teleportation Circle.

The girl had been hale after the short-range teleportation, behaving as though she was used to the lurching feeling of vertigo that accompanied short jumps. By that measure, Wei had imagined that she should be fine to withstand the Long-Range Teleportation Circle, one that took them almost 3800 kilometres across the Ethereal Plane via an extended jaunt through space-time.

Every central trade hub possessed one such ISTC array, embedded at the Tower's base, well shielded and guarded, protected by layer upon layers of Glyphs from every conceivable School of Magic.

The cost of transporting three Mages that distance was astronomical, but the powers that be had decreed it done, and so it was.

Upon their arrival, the girl had immediately slumped in Wei's arms and let loose a torrent of Singapore’s choicest crab sauce all over his shoes and pant leg, painting the cobalt-silver Glyph of the Teleportation Circle red and brown.

His partner, Yung, was stifling a snigger.

“I told you we should have sedated her.” He chuckled.

His face was so annoying that Wei wanted to kick the vomit toward Yung’s face, allowing his forever-single partner an opportunity to dine with a comely lass.

“You okay?” He asked Gwen in Mandarin.

The girl replied English, but the language wasn't Wei's forte.

He pulled the Translation Ioun Stone from beside his ear and passed it over her head.

“Fo-kas,” he told her in English. “Tie to at-u-en”

The girl appeared to mastered as much of her mind as she could under the circumstances and felt the stone affix to an orb around her head, falling into place until it rested just behind her earlobe. It gave the impression that she was wearing a small opal earring.

“Better?” Wei asked.

“I am dying,” the sorceress moaned miserably.

"There's a first time for everyone," Wei assured her.

He understood that surviving a long-range Teleport was like sitting on a carnival ride - one of those topsy-turvy ones, the kind that turned upside down and sideways, delivering momentum, vertigo, and lurching, inertia all at once. The nauseating effect she felt was the same thrilling displacement, multiplied a hundredfold, magnified by the concourse of time and space.

The girl must have felt as though she'd been taken apart and then recombobulated onto a heavily warded platform glowing with quicksilver Conjuration mana.

“…” Wei motioned to one of the guards, who motioned to one of the lesser guards, who spoke into his Message Glyph for a cleaner.

A Message spell blossomed next to Yung's ear.

“Report.”

“I am on-site with Target 2, awaiting further instructions.”

“Extract Target to Facility Forty-Three, await handover procedures.”

“Affirmative, Control, proceeding to site now.”

“Where we headed?” Jung asked his partner.

“Forty-Three.”

"Huh."

Jung raised a bushy brow.

Wei shrugged, then turned to study the Mage caught in his arms, whose face was as pale as a ghost's. The girl was uncommonly pretty, very much so, almost like one of those idols that frequented the Vid-casts. She was Eurasian descent, her ancestry indistinct and impossible to discern, and young - far too young to be someone of note. It meant that whoever had requested her was probably after someone in her family, not an unusual task delegated to the MSS, but impressive nonetheless, given that the political and material capital they had just expended.

“Do you know anything, Wei?”

“Shut up,” Wei said coldly, shooting his partner a stern look. “Loose lips sink ships.”

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Jung rolled his eyes.

They picked up Gwen by both arms and began to drag her toward the second localised Teleportation Circle.

"Don't worry," Wei supplied as much sympathy as he was allowed under the circumstances. "You'll be safe. Just remember to tell them everything."

"Them?" The girl croaked.

"You'll see," Wei sighed. For whatever reason the Secretary wanted the girl; he hoped it was in her best interest. "We'll part soon. Good luck."

Gwen raised her groggy head and tried to look around at their surroundings. The room was bright with glowing Daylight globes that lit the immense Conjuration array required to activate Teleportation across such tremendous distance. The interior architecture was geometric, simplistic, ultra-modern, giving the chamber the air of a brutalist dystopia.

The room they took her to was smaller, with Wei leaving behind puddles of dripping crab as he walked. Gwen felt impressed even in her illness. Whatever these men were, they were consummate professionals with singly focused minds. She was briefly glad she didn’t try out her luck in attempting an escape.

Another flash of gut pounding Conjuration later, Gwen felt barely capable of standing on both feet. She felt drunk and drugged by nausea. That the men's final act involved taking her through the facility without so much as an opportunity for cleaning up spoke loudly of their priorities.

They eventually reached the end of a long corridor, where she was bodily handed over to a pair of uniformed guards, now clad in dark olive khaki with red striped lapels.

“Take her to the infirmary,” Wei suggested. “Orders are to take care of this one. She's important.”

The guards saluted smartly and took Gwen by the arms. Much to her relief, Gwen soon found herself on a gurney, being wheeled through alternating sections of dimness and brightness. She listened to the clatter of the wheels echoing through the corridor, feeling like death. Wherever they were, she noted with some alarm; the walls were solid concrete.

Jesus. She thought to herself. Whatever her father had done must have made powerful men upset. Who the hell did he kill? The son of a Politburo Secretariat? Or perhaps the son of a General? Even in her diminished state, she could tell that the soldiers accompanying her were career military men. Their uniforms, the way they spoke and saluted one another, suggested that they did not moonlight a second profession.

The gurney stopped.

The room was much too bright, so bright it hurt her eyes.

She was just about to will her arm to move across her face when an alien coldness touched her thighs.

Gwen shot up from her prone position, heedless of the queasiness assailing her body. Her head grew suddenly light, feeling as though flung by a Catapult spell.

She was face to face with a woman in a white doctor’s coat. Underneath, she also wore the omnipresent olive khaki uniform. Her world came into focus. The doctor was holding a wet towel in one hand, the other hovering over a patch of her dinner. There was a red flag with five gold stars on her left lapel.

China.

Had they come to China in that short a while? In a single charge of teleportation? How was that possible? The amount of energy it took to move mass was inverse-squared by distance. Just how many HDMs did they use to transfer three adults through to China?

More importantly, why was she back in her father's "Motherland"?

“I… I er…” Gwen tried to speak, but her stomach quickly deposited a gift of revolting liquids in her mouth.

“Restoration~” The female doctor gave her a comforting smile, happily injecting the equivalent of WD-40 for the human body. Gwen felt her disorientation fall away as the spell coursed through her body and calmed her frayed nerves.

“Where am I?” she finally asked, feeling the Ioun translation stone working its charm of Comprehend Language. The man called Wei had given her the stone without much thought. Were such magic items that pedestrian in Tier 1 cities? Gwen wondered. The simple device was at least four HDM Crystals in Sydney.

“A secure facility. That’s all you need to know for now.” The doctor beamed confidently at her. “Glad you're feeling alright. Want to get changed out of that filth? Ventilation is not good here. There’s a screen over there you can use.”

Gwen nodded and pushed herself off the gurney, balancing herself when the platform moved.

She performed a quick mental checkup of her current status.

On her hand were still her rings - a Ring of Evasion, a Storage Ring, and a Band of Contingency. Whoever abducted her here deemed her docile enough to leave Gwen her magic items. Did they take a peek at her ring, though? Not that her wardrobe would help. She wasn’t sure. At any rate, it didn’t feel like her items had tampered. If so, she could deduce that these 'people' were likely serious when they stated that they meant her no harm. After all, who could forgo the temptation of a ‘free' large-size Storage Ring? Especially one that still had thirty-odd HDM crystals and a Portable Habitat?

While she changed, Gwen obediently hid her shame behind the tri-fold screen.

“There’s going to be a more thorough inspection later, and I’ll be taking your bio-metrics and generating an identity card for you,” the female doctor said, passing over the box of body wipes.

Gwen wiped away the foul-spelling chilli sauce, then found the first outfit she had stashed on her pile of clean laundry - a pair of cut-ff white khaki shorts paired with a cropped blouse. Gwen gave her hair a quick spritz with a fresh wipe as well, allowing the overflowing bundle to cascade over her neck and shoulders. She then carefully stowed her precious Mary Janes after a meticulous wipe and materialised a pair of sneakers she had purchased in Singapore.

“Over here.” the doctor indicated to a set of scales. “I am Lieutenant Miao, but you can call me Vivian.”

“Thanks, Vivian.” Gwen followed the doctor’s directions demurely, standing upon a set of scales. Vivian looked a little older than thirty or so, with crows feet just beginning to appear near the corner of her dark eyes.

“Just under 55kg,” Vivian drew with her fingers onto a data slate. “Somewhat on the low-side for your height. Sit here.”

Vivian took measurements of Gwen’s arms and shoulders, measuring Gwen's sitting height and then the length of her legs with a tape ruler. The doctor then scratched away on her pad.

“What kind of slate is that?” Gwen asked. It reminded her of an E-Ink electronic device.

“Oh, this?” Vivian turned to show her the ‘pad’. It looked to be a carbon slate enchanted with some morphic transmutation spell. When touched, it was possible to inscribe words and numbers upon it. “Ah, you’re from Australia, no? Frontier cities are not allowed to import storage-type Magi-tech.”

“Yeah, we’re a pretty backwater.” Gwen tried to deflect the feeling of awkward inferiority. Was there such a difference? Did that mean the tier 1 cities had computation engines and modern conveniences? Did they have internet?

“Hey, I’d kill for one of your Black-Angus Aurochs steaks though, they cost a day's wage. You guys must eat it all the time over there. From what I've seen in the vid-casts, they're all over the place.”

“Yeah, we eat those a lot,” Gwen lied, feeling strange that she had never even heard of such a thing. Maybe she had eaten Auroch before? Gwen couldn’t tell. Usually, food appeared, and she ate.

“I am jealous!” Dr Miao stifled a smile. “Okay, some important questions now that your basic biometrics are finished.”

“Shoot.”

“Have you ever had sexual relations?”

"...No."

"how about with Magical Creatures?"

“…” Gwen blinked innocently at the good doctor.

“I need a yes or no,” Dr Miao intoned seriously.

“No.”

“Very good.”

“Have you ever had sexual relationships with a Demi-human?”

“…”

“No. Is this a thing here? In tier 1 cities?"

"You'll be surprised..."

"Okay."

“A virgin?"

“Yes.”

“Right.” Vivian studied Gwen from head to toe, not appearing to believe her. “Continuing.”

“Have you never been admitted to an institution? Such as for abuse of substances, mental illness, or temporary derangement.”

“Temporary derangement?"

“Such as Enchantments, or Illusions.”

“Have I … ever been glamoured?”

“Indeed.”

Gwen fell silent. Did short-duration attacks count? Did Edgar count? The bastard had gotten pretty deep into her psyche, touched her Astral Soul, even. Gunther had told her that Morye killed him. Speaking of her father, how is he doing? Where could he be now?

“No.”

Vivian nodded.

“Okay.”

“That’s it. I’ll have your file generated.” Vivian said. "Forgive the questions, we get all sorts here."

"Here?"

"Well," the doctor coughed. "You'll see."

“What happens now?”

“Now you go to a temporary place of residence.”

A Message spell bloomed beside the medical officer's face; she gingerly touched a finger to her ear.

“Yep, we’re done. You can take subject 1406 now.”

Gwen stepped into her shoes.

Vivian looked up from her seat, her legs crossed and enveloped in her dark olive pencil skirt. The doctor furrowed her brows while running her eyes over their prisoner's figure. “Miss Song, are you certain you never have..."

“No.” Gwen cut the woman off before she could suggest something scandalous. “I am only sixteen, after all.”

“Soon to be Seventeen,” Vivian said. “I hope you're telling the truth. For what's coming, telling the truth will be very important."

“Wha?” Gwen’s eyes grew large as walnuts, her hazel orbs dilating.

The double doors opened.
Two olive uniformed men presented themselves and saluted the doctor.

“Escorting Prisoner 1406 to the containment area.”

“Containment area?!” Gwen snapped alarmingly. What was she, a magical specimen? An exotic species to be put on display? What was this place, and what were they doing? “1406?!”

Did she get transported into another world? Was this Oceania? Are they now headed to Room 101?! Were there going to be rats?

“Please come with us,” one of the men professionally intoned when Gwen refused to budge from the spot.

“Vivian, tell me...”

“Let's hope we don't meet again," the doctor proclaimed. "My ward isn't usually reserved for biometric inspections."

“No— what? Wait!”

The men took her by the arms and pushed her from the room. These men were not like Wei. They had little patience and even less delicacy. They were grunts, foot soldiers, and they were here to shut up and do their duty. When Gwen calmed herself enough to observe them, she noticed something that shocked her to her core.

They were NoMs!
The soldiers were Non-Magical, normal human beings!

Could she escape? Surely she could overpower NoMs.
Gwen felt a tingle of lightning coalesce in her body, responding to her thoughts. One of the guards clenched her arm so tightly it hurt.

“I wouldn’t.” He continued to move without pause. His companion said nothing, his face entirely robotic.

They took her into another corridor, and another, then another again.

Then they pushed through a set of double doors.

A long warehouse, featureless and derelict of colour, greeted Gwen. The containment chamber's interior consisted of a row of cells with thick perspex at the entrance, possessed of no visible entry point. A total of five cells made up the entirety of the rectangular space, giving the air a cold and malicious wintriness.

One of the guards activated a hidden Glyph, and Gwen was pushed into the cell, passing between the perspex with the sensation of slipping between its molecules. Another Glyph later, the transparent wall once again became impassably solid. Inside the cell was a stainless steel bathroom throne fixed onto a drinking fountain. Adjacent to it was a foam bed clad in a white sheet. The floor was pieced together by segmented grey tiles; the rest of the room was seamless, moulded concrete.

Gwen caught herself against the wall and turned to glare at the guards, who ignored her and retreated without a word.

The transparent pane radiated cold hostility.
The walls looked especially made to resist all assault.

Then the floor began to thrum.

Gwen felt her mana drain away as unnatural fatigue overcame her body. She felt as though she'd trained for hours, that she had emptied her reserves over and over.

In a blind panic, she tried to access her Astral body but found herself incapable of turning inward into the inner realm. Even her Sigils felt diminished, barely registering against her force of will. Her enchanted rings, likewise, appeared dormant and inaccessible. She tried to summon Ariel or Caliban, but the Conjuration Sigil was silent; her Familiars remained torpid in their pocket dimensions.

Gwen felt an unbidden wave of mental exhaustion washed over her. She fell into the bunk, feeling the solid steel beneath the thin foam rap unsympathetically against her buttocks.

Her magic was gone.

She felt as though she'd lost a limb.

Even in her most desperate hour, the raging torrents of elementally charged mana had been with her, coursing through her veins. Now she was without even that.

She closed her eyes and tried to focus her breathing, which had noticeably quickened.

“Calm,” she said to herself. “Evee.”

“Evee... Evee... Evee." She pictured her best friend's smiling, guileless face, blossoming the moment she saw Gwen descend with Sufina.

Her heart rate slowed.

She felt somnolent and exhausted.

Oh, how she desired to be hot and insomniac within the cargo hold of a Triple-E Freighter ship!

Maybe her present circumstance was just a dream. Maybe when she woke up, she would be against two bulkheads, and Yue would be trying to wake her up by suffocating her with her hugs. Gwen willed herself to remain conscious, but it only made her sleepier.

Please let this be a bad dream, she said to the merciless light. Let me wake up to Evee.

Her alarm rang, a screeching catcall that may as well be the indistinct crying of babies in the night. It increased in volume until it filled her ears like tinnitus.

Her eyes shot open.

The Awakening Ceremony.

The Awakening Stone glimmered faintly.

“Hmm, you have certainly some affinity…” the instructor noted, but his expression was distant. “I don't see a sigil, though... “ His words felt like a death sentence.

Beside them, Yue celebrated her newly discovered Affinity for Fire.

At school, snotty girls and smirking boys appraised her cynically, audibly whispering that she wasted the air just by standing there. "She should just transfer to a vocational institution," they mocked her maliciously. There was a place where she belonged, and it wasn't here in the Magical Curriculum.

“Shut ya pie-holes, go fuck yourselves!” Yue’s firecracker voice blew those snide whispers away while Elvia gently held her hand. Gwen’s pale face broke into a wane smile.

“Thanks, Yue. Thanks, Evee.”

Mother's disappointment.
Father's apathy.
Percy's preponderance.
The futile training.

The Field Trip.

"You coming?" Mr Crusoe's face melted away, the illusory glamour fading until it revealed the cowled Dust Mage, Edgar. Debora was dominated, holding Gwen by twisting her arm into an impossible angle.

“Don’t hurt her, I’ll come with you,” came Yue’s voice, heavy with dread and loathing.

Gwen felt Debra’s immovable Bronze Flesh dig deep into her tender skin; the pain was sharp enough to cause her to whimper.

“See? It’s not hard to behave, girls." Edgar chuckled cruelly. “Especially with a little persuasion.”

And then they were in the cave with Almudj's egg. Gwen watched in horror as Yue’s eyes glazed over, smiling dreamily.

“That would be lovely— to be like Alesia…”

Gwen shrieked insanely, crying out as Edgar entered Yue and began to consume her friend's animus. She felt something building up within her, boiling over, spilling out. There was a burst of darkness, not unlike the discharge of a tenebrous pustule discharging its cargo of malicious, plague-ridden puss.

Edgar stared in disbelief at his displaced arm and leg, then teleported away, just as well that he had a meat shield handy to take the brunt of Gwen's attack.

After all, who'd thought the Gwen would be a Void user?

"No!" Gwen heard herself cry out.

A funeral.

Gwen hunched over from the weight of her guilt.

Yue's casket was kept closed for the ceremony.

Henry stood beside her, sombrely dressed in his dark tweed jacket and a grey woollen vest.

“You can be honest with me, child. I will accommodate you, for your sake, for Alesia’s sake, to the best of our abilities. What do you say?”

“I want POWER,” Gwen began. “I want the power to save my friends. If I had been more powerful…” Her eyes were dead, two hazel stones staring into the middle distance, puffed from tears ducts that had long run dry.

"You will have it," Henry intoned. "But with power comes accountability."

The old sorcerer talked of obligation, of the remorse that came with dominion. Gwen nodded. She'd agree to anything as long as Henry was willing to teach her. She was willing to give her body and soul.

Fruitful Training.
Elvia's understanding.
Gunther's kindness.
Mark Chandler's quest.

Blackheath.

Gwen woke from the aftermath of Caliban's carnage, scared and alone, whimpering and mewling like a snivelling child. She'd thought herself ready for anything, but not for this.

Gunther appeared like Apollo's visage, and Gwen sunk into his strong arms, feeling safe at last. There was nothing for Gunther to teach her, though. Nothing was left alive within the slaver's compound.

Her familiar had dined to its heart's content.

"Debby!"

Debora's face moved from Gwen's, a silver thread of saliva parting between them. Debora's hands wrapped around Gwen's waist and pulled her closer. Gwen's heart was still bleeding from the rejection of the immovable Gunther Shultz. Debora's interest came as a panacea that she needed. Without thinking, Gwen returned the kiss and allowed the fire to stoke, flaming high in the long night of the cold Outback.

Debora's warm body.
Uncle's invitation.
Percy's esteem.
Elvia's companionship.

Of her companions, only Debora gave Gwen what she wanted.
Debora said she loved her.
Gwen said nothing.
But it would do.
They kissed again.

When she opened her eyes, they were in Rosebay. A faceless companion, Yue's replacement who Gwen never liked, was skewered like a meaty kabob on a Merman's spear. Elvia rushed forward haphazardly to heal the poor sod, sobbing and crying as the mortal wound liberated her innards.

Gwen desperately incanted a Void Bolt, but her constitution was far too feeble; she was already skin and bones.

Elvia’s body fell beside her like a battered, broken doll, a toy in blood.

Alesia pulls her away. There was no time to grieve.
Her Master must return to the Grot; else, all was lost.
Debora took Gwen by the arms and tore the girl from Elvia.

"No!" Gwen moaned, trashing in Debora's arm. "Don't eat me! For fuck's sake, don't! Spare me, kill me even, but not that!"

"This is the only way we can be strong." Faceless explained to her. "You're too weak."

Gwen trashed and kicked as Faceless began her terrible work. In desperation, she channelled everything she had into her Evocation Sigil, feeling it fill with the life-draining darkness.

"You can't have it! It's mine! MINE!" she screamed insanely. She channelled everything she had, feeling the last motes of her consciousness fade away, preferring suicide over being consumed by a skin-changer.

Faceless stopped when she reached Morye's kirin necklace.

There was a moment of hesitation.

A black hole tore the sky asunder, smothering Sydney with its enervating rays, consuming everything.

Gwen shot up with a violent start.

What the FUCK was that? She thought to herself, feeling her skin slickered with shimmering cold sweat, sticky against the stifling futon.

The room was dark. Was it night time? Had they turned the lights off? What kind of a dream was that? No, that wasn't so much a dream but a waking nightmare. Was it a night terror induced by her anxiety? Gwen tried to orientate her mind. The vexing vision had felt so real.

“Gwen?” a voice came across the hall, muffled and distant, from the room adjacent to her own. A familiar voice. A voice that, at this moment, was hateful to her.

“Dad?” Gwen felt her voice tremble tumultuously; anger, gladness, fear and loathing forming a cocktail of volatile emotions. “Dad, what… what the fuck is happening? Why I am here?”

“Don’t speak… go to sleep. Everything will be okay tomorrow.”

“I don’t… I…”

“Shhhhh, the walls have ears. Tomorrow.”

Gwen tried to shut up, but her good girl persona had run out of fuel.

"What tomorrow?" Gwen vehemently spat in the dark. "What does that even mean? Tomorrow, tomorrow, and tomorrow! To our dusty deaths! Is that what you mean? You bastard!"

"This isn't the time to wax poetry," Morye hissed next door. "Get some sleep. You're going to need it."

But how could Gwen sleep now?

"Dad?"

"Yeah?"

"Fuck you so much."

"Sure."

Gwen sobbed. It was done. Now she could sleep.

Evee. Gwen chanted like a mantra inside her head. One Evee. Two Evees. Three Evees.

Slowly, inevitably, the lull of sleep came.

Thankfully, this time, without the nightmares.


Then there was light.

Without warning, darkness turned into day, blasting every inch of the holding cell, eradicating every inch of shadow.

The dazzling glare flooded the inside of Gwen’s eyes with a stark whiteness that sent her into a blind panic. She rolled off the bed and onto her knees, meeting the cold floor with her knees. As before, the grey tiles thrummed with anti-magic resonance, forcing her to rest for a moment on her elbows. With some effort, she forced herself up against the wall to face the perspex pane, feeling her eyes adjust painfully to the sterile glare of the omnidirectional illumination.

A resonating clang echoed across the corridor, followed by the creak and groan of hinges. The sounds of boots striking concrete foreshadowed two olive uniformed soldiers parading past Gwen’s cell, their eyes staring straight forward.

Another pair followed, rigidly moving with mechanical efficiency, their shoulders decorated with a single band joined below by a set of phoenix wings crossed over with two staves. They proceeded until they were right before Gwen's cell, then turned their backs toward her.

Gwen held herself steady with one hand against the wall. The glare was giving her a headache. For how long had she slept? A few hours? She felt hardly rested.

Trying to ignore the throbbing in her brain, she studied the guard's uniforms, trying to figure out any similarities between this world and her old one, despite knowing nothing about China other than a cheap tour she had gone on in 2006 that kept taking her to shopping destinations.

The soldiers wore doubled breasted tunics, with four pockets equal-distantly placed across the chest and waist. Up top, a crimson band encompassed a broad-brimmed cap; at the centre, a crest displayed five golden stars looming over the Forbidden City.

Chinese soldiers of the People’s Liberation Army, Gwen guessed.

But that still didn’t explain her abduction.

“Back!”

A voice barked from the corridor, starling Gwen and driving her backwards. She stepped away from the perspex pane as the expressionless face of a middle-aged Chinese man came into view, flat and dispossessed of remarkable features.

This one was an officer; his lapels sported a single vertical stripe with two gold stars. She tried to simper at the stoic man, but he turned away from her, just as the two soldiers had done.

Gwen felt the smile fall from her face.
How does one communicate with captors who refused to look you in the eye?

The two grunts and the officer saluted smartly at the corridor, just out of Gwen's line of sight.

Ah, Gwen thought to herself, that must be the bigwig.

She was right.

Even from inside the room, she could feel the Mage's aura, thick and heavy, weighted with supernatural pressure. It was akin to the feeling Gunther gave off when his but much more congealed and condensed.

Finally, her capture came into view.

Gwen carefully inspected the senior Mage. He looked old enough to be in his sixties, with two slabs of impressively drooping jowls that gave him the impression of a bulldog akin to an English Prime Minister. When he stopped mid-step and turned his head to face Gwen, she met his dark obsidian eyes, cold and intense like the core of long-dead stars.

Perhaps she should say something? What was the etiquette for an abductee of the MSS when greeting a Commandant?

"Sir? May I asked a question?" Gwen tried her luck, adding a higher octave to her voice to sound more juvenile. Surely, the imprisonment of children, even ones standing at six feet, wasn't a standard practice of the Secret Police handbook.

The old Commandant's lips moved to form a thin line. The frown was barely perceptible, but it sent shivers down her spine.

Who was this old codger? Why was he displeased with her? They didn't even know one another.

Her gaze attended the emblem affixed to the man’s neck and shoulders.

Two stripes - four stars.

A four-star general? A Colonel? Gwen had no idea how PRC insignias worked, but it was evident that the codger was from the Military's upper echelons.

He began to move.

She had to get his attention.

“Sir! My name is Gwen Song. I entered this facility with Morye Song, my father. May I ask—”

The old general left her line of sight.

He left! Gwen was agog with disbelief. Why stop to gawk if he wasn't keen to talk?!

Beside her cell, the perspex pane of her father's cell was made immaterial.

“Atteeeen-tion!” the officer called out with that barking voice of his.

Gwen could hear the sound of her father scrambling to stand.

The new crisis next door dispelled the immediacy of her predicament. She ignored the guards posted in front of her cell and plastered her head against the perspex pane, trying to see and hear what was happening next door.

Was this a ‘General’ whose 'family' her father had killed? What was going to happen to Morye, and how could she help, if at all?

Gwen called on her mana reserves to no avail. Even her kirin amulet ignored any attempt at summoning its powers. Only passive effects feeding on a Mage's residual energies, like her Ioun Stone, appeared to operate. If only she could somehow retrieve an HDM, the mana contained within be enough for her to summon Caliban or Ariel to aid her father and break out of the prison.

"Shit!" Gwen grunted quietly, drawing a severe glare from one of the guards.

It didn't help. The thrum of anti-magic floorboards was tyrannically draining every mote Gwen could summon. In her present condition, she couldn't even feel her Sigils, much less will enough mana to command her Astral body to tap into her Elemental Gates.

“Hello, old man,” Her father's voice came through, a little muffled by the perspex barrier. "How ya been?"

“Do you know how long I’ve looked for you?” the General stated severely; his speech had a heavy accent that not even the translation stone could displace. Hearing the hardness in his voice, Gwen felt the hair standing on her arms.

"TWO DECADES! For twenty years, I searched high and low, you ungrateful white-eyed wolf!”

“Well, I am here now, ain’t I?” her father replied. "You got me."

There was a shaky quality to his voice that Gwen had never heard before. Her father was scared! The infallible Morye was afraid? Gwen wanted more than anything to witness this improbable spectacle. Who could this 'old man' be?!

"Are you ready to meet the wrath of your maker?" The coarse voice of the commandant dripped with malice.

What! Gwen's mind buzzed. Was her father going to be executed in cold blood? She placed both hands on the screen, deforming her face against the pane.

"No!" she cried out, smashing her fists against the glass. "Dad!"
Whatever her father might have been, Gwen still felt the bonds of kindred blood between them. The last thing she wanted to see was Morye murdered!

“Repent, you ingrate!” The voice that came through the corridor was ripe with emotion.

CRACK!

A vehement snap tore the air asunder. There was a sound of cured hide striking flesh, followed immediately by her father’s painful grunt.

“You ungrateful, unfilial bastard! Do you know how worried your mother was?”

CRACK!

“Do you know how many nights she cried herself to sleep?”

CRACK!

“Do you know many favours we pulled searching for you all over China?”

CRACK!

“Do you know that Jun relinquished his promotion to save you from court marshall?”

CRACK!

“Get up! You're have not had enough yet!”

“I… I can’t... I can’t see out of my left eye,” Her father grunted and spat, likely discarding a bloody glob of loose teeth. “Can we take a break? Do this after I get a few heals in?”

There was a flash of familiar mana.

Water.

Negative energy.

Salt.

“Arrrrgh!” Morye howled, followed by the sound of a body writhing on the floor.

“You insolent wolf! How dare you! Your poor mother! Once you pay your respects to her, you'll be seeing the ancestors!” the gruff voice of the General reverberated from wall to wall, barely able to contain the rage caught in between each syllable.

Safe in her cell, Gwen tried to process the string of pronouns coming her way.

The old man had called Morye the ‘ungrateful son' and mentioned 'your brother’ and 'grandmother'.

Wouldn’t that mean that the brutal commandant was Morye’s father? He was her Grandfather! Her paternal Opa!

The knowledge caused her to almost collapse against the pane of her cell. Did this mean they were saved? There was no way her father could be killed by his father, although it would seem that he'd be shedding a layer of skin before his ordeal was over.

Gwen breathed out. The terror of the moment was forgotten, and she felt buoyed by unforeseen hope and elation.

After a while, she looked up.
The old Commandant looked down on her half-kneeled figure.

When had he moved?! The old codger was like a ghost!

More importantly, was he willing to talk?

Gwen stepped away from the pane and tidied herself against the refracted visage of her reflection.

She was not dressed to meet the elderly, that was for sure.

She was wearing white khaki shorts cut off a few inches above her knee, her long legs bare except for sneakers. Her blouse was cropped above the elbows, tapered against her waist with a flared, rounded collar in the French style. Her hair, as before, was loosely styled around her face, which thankfully had the barest of makeup.

The cold codger looked to be the type to expect their grandaughters in prim and proper black on white.

But it was too late now. It wasn't as though Gwen could have known Opa Two was going to be here. She had been in Singapore less than twenty-four hours ago, walking around in the stifling heat, where her attire was entirely appropriate. Gwen wished she had something to cover her legs, which left a little too much to the imagination, and perhaps a camisole or something to give her upper body a more prudent, rather than frivolous, air. It was in situations like this that a pair of horn-rimmed glasses would have done wonders.

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“De-phase," Opa Two commanded.

The perspex dematerialised, allowing the middle-aged officer, a guard, and her grandfather to pass.

Gwen noted that unlike those in the Sydney Tower or anywhere in Sydney, the men took little note of her uncommon comeliness. Was it a condition of their training? Or the professionalism of soldiership? Or perhaps she was simply too freakishly large and unaesthetic in their eyes. She knew from her old world that Asians very much preferred the ‘small’ and ‘cute’ rather than ‘Brobdingnagian’.

“Greetings, Grandfather.” Gwen wasn’t sure how to respond, so she performed a western curtsey.

The general nodded.

Good, Gwen thought to herself.

"You are older than I imagined.” The general's voice was low and resonant.

Gwen moulded her face into an affable simper.

“Lower the draining frequency,” the Commandant ordered his second, who ordered a guard, who manipulated a series of Glyphs invisible from Gwen's point of view.

The thrum of the floorboards dimmed.

“Child, manifest your talent,” her grandfather said, his voice commanding and firm. He stood with his legs stiffly apart, his hands placed behind his back like he was inspecting a piece of military hardware.

Her magic?! Gwen felt a few motes of mana coalescing, enough for an impressionable spell.

“Perform your Magic,” the old man repeated.

“…”

More excuses would probably just cause "Gran" to get suspicious. Perhaps, it was best to show rather than tell. Salt was a Quasi-element, and so was her Lightning.

Gwen pointed to an empty spot on the dampening tiles, facing away from the General and the soldiers. She didn’t want to expose all her cards, but she had to impress.

“Lighting Bolt!”

A bolt of Elemental Lightning arched from her fingertips toward a distant tile, at which point the incandescent energy fizzled, leaving a scorched splatter mark.

Gwen turned to her grandfather, wondering what he thought of her rare quasi-talent.

“Yang… and Air? Not Yin and Water, how curious." Her grandfather's face took on a thoughtful expression. "A rare talent indeed."

Gwen breathed out as the man's expression softened.

"What are your Schools of Magic?"

"Evocation." Gwen paused for dramatic effect. "And Conjuration."

It wasn't as though she could have shown her grandfather anything else. What she suggested was precisely written on her student card and Multi-Pass, which she was sure the MSS would have inspected. To show anything else would imply that her card was false and that she was hiding something, resulting in inexplicable falsehoods.

Her grandfather nodded approvingly.

"A rare talent indeed, child. Are you gifted with other blessings?"

"I am afraid not, Grandfather."

"Just as well then. Your talent pleases me greatly, you should know. Your grandmother has an Affinity for the Yang. Mayhap you inherited it from her? I believe she would be happy to meet you."

"I would hope so, Grandfather."

"You have your Grandmother's features," her grandfather continued in an affectionate tone. "You look just like her."

"Ha, I am sure Grandmother's beauty is peerless," Gwen remarked. Her grandfather was easier going than she thought, at least after what happened to Morye.

"Tell me, daughter of my ungrateful son, what is it that you do. In Sydney, I mean." Her grandfather's tone remained amicable.

"I am a student," Gwen replied demurely. "Although the fall of the city has impacted my school year, so I guess I need to find a place to graduate."

"That's unfortunate to hear, child." Her grandfather motioned for the two men beside him to exit the cell. "Would you mind if I helped? There are some schools here, in Shanghai, which would love to have their very own Quasi-Elementalist."

"Oh..." Gwen considered it for a moment, strangely glad that she could find another Opa. "I am afraid I need to return to Sydney first; I have friends that are worried sick."

"It is good to have friends." Opa Two walked through the shielding and invited her to follow. "Are these friends your teammates? Companions?"

"We're very closs—" Her speech cut short as she ran face-first into the barrier.

"Opa— Grandfather?" She felt her stomach lurch, echoing the painful bump on her head. Gwen needn't guess what was happening; the implication was obvious enough.

Her grandfather shook his head.

"How easy it must be for you to lie."

Gwen stared at her grandfather, whose once kind demeanour became sharp and cynical. She could feel the mana gather within him as his ire rose. Gwen felt as though she had plunged into a pool of icy water. Goosebumps formed all over her skin, sending her into a terrific shiver. She wanted to move away from him, but her body refused to budge. Was this what it was like to face a high-level Mage of a tier 1 city? It was as though her very blood froze. Her teeth chattered as she tried to formulate another lie but could find nothing intelligible to say.

Her grandfather turned to the middle-aged officer beside him.

“Tell the MSS to do their job properly next time. As for this one, get them to find out what she knows and who she is. I want a thorough vetting, leave nothing unturned.”

Gwen felt a sudden panic overcome her calculated calmness. Leave nothing unturned? Was she headed for Room 101? Was she going to be tortured with rats? Was holding back her talents a mistake? What was Chinese O'Brien expecting? Give her to the MSS? What does that mean? Is she NOT going back to Sydney? Shouldn’t he be saying, "Let her go home? She’s uninvolved and innocent?" Why was he so paranoid?

Her grandfather turned to face Gwen with an impassive expression.

"Is there anything you wish to confess?"

"Grandfather..." Gwen didn't know what to say. What was there to confess? She didn't even know what the old codger wanted.

"What do you want?" She tried to calm herself as best as she could.

"The truth."

"I don't know what that means."

"The full range of your abilities, to start." Her grandfather was relentless. "Then your associates, your Master, your employer."

"I..." He thinks she's a spy?!

"I am not a spy!" Gwen blurted out, then immediately bit her tongue. "I mean... why would you think your Granddaughter is a spy?"

"Your 'acting' is pretty poor if you're trying to imitate a sixteen-year-old child," her grandfather snorted disdainfully. "Didn't your handler run you through the proper protocols?"

"I am sixteen!" Gwen retorted.

"Of course, and I am to believe that my teenage granddaughter is so superior as to be unfazed by the Ministry of State Security! To calmly inform her friends that she is to be abducted by strange men in dark suits! To walk into the infamous Sky Prison without so much as twitching a brow! What are you anyhow? A skin changer?"

"I am just... me!" Gwen wailed. How could she get this old codger to believe her?

"Then there's the evidence hanging from your fingers," her grandfather growled. "Mastercrafted Ring of Medium Storage, Contingency Ring of Teleportation, Ring of Evasion!"

"Tell me, my Granddaughter. How does a teenager, much less the daughter of my worthless son, gain access to close to Fifteen thousand HDMs worth of magical items? Does your father run the Sydney Arcanum? Is he the Master of the Tower there? Had my son finally decided to be useful?!"

"I..." Gwen choked. What could she say that wouldn't implicate her?

"So tell me, Gwen Song, Grandaughter of mine— who are you?"

"I am not your enemy! I am not lying, and damn you for thinking so!" Gwen fought the pressure emanating from her grandfather, pushing back against his force of will. "Look at me! I don't even want to be here! You took me against my will! YOU THINK I WANT TO BE HERE? I wanted to be in Australia, amongst the ruins, rebuilding my life! With my friend and my REAL family! There is nothing, NOTHING! That I want from you!"

Gwen's face was a livid shade of liver now, red with rage. Her grandfather's face was a dark shade of scarlet.

"Dad!" Gwen wailed out, her voice beginning to crack. "Dad! TELL HIM! Tell him I speak the truth! Tell him to send me back!"

No reply came from the adjacent cell. Was Morye unconscious or was he too afraid? Gwen prayed that it was the former, else her wrath would know no bounds.

Her grandfather turned to the middle-aged officer beside him.

"Captain, initiate the Cognisance field."

"Yes, Sir!"

The tiles beneath Gwen's feet began to shimmer a shade of grey, vibrating until they took on a mirror-like polish.

"What are you doing?" Gwen pounded the perspex pane. "What is this?"

"Your last chance to give up the truth," Her grandfather intoned flatly. "I hope you value your life."

"Damn you!" Gwen hissed at him. Her Void Element! What would happen if the Chinese military found out? Presently, she owned God knows how many other people's talents. She hadn't visited a Chamber since Henry last tested her aptitude after the Mark incident. What would even show up?

The shimmering stopped.

Gwen swallowed nervously and looked down.

There it was, her Astral Body, reflected beneath her in all its glory.

A glass sculpture of glass resplendently refracted in a mixture of darkness and light, Void and Lightning in a precarious harmony. There was something else within her glass figure as well, motes of emerald energy that surged between the light and dark branching out in Lichtenberg forks that appeared and disappeared.

"Yin and Yang?" Her grandfather's brows furrowed. "Fu, run a Greater Dispel Magic through the cell."

A halo of white-blue energy shimmered and passed through Gwen from head to toe.

The guard, the Captain and her grandfather stared at Gwen as she stood with both hands against the pane.

"Now, do you believe me?" Gwen choked out between gritted teeth, shame, resentment and fury filling her head with white noise. "I am innocent. I am real."

"Sir..." The Captain looked at his senior officer dubiously. "Shall I... continue?"

Her grandfather grew contemplative.

"Give her some mana," he ordered. "I want to see what she is made of."

The tiles ceased their thrumming.

Gwen felt her body suffuse with mana, merging from the aether into her Astral Form. The dark motes became darker than black, the lightning began to arc and jump, forming complicated patterns within the exquisite glass sculpture.

A Sigil flared brightly, the sign of Evocation.

Another followed, even more brightly than the first - the silvery-mithril of Conjuration.

Her Grandfather sucked in a cold breath of air.
A Magus at Sixteen! The girl wasn't lying to him.
What talent! What a boon for the family!

Then a third, glowing malevolently in the mauve diffusion of Transmutation.

Gwen's audience fell silent.

FUCK. Gwen closed her eyes and resigned herself to whatever may come. It was over. They knew now. Her secret was out. All that was left was waiting to get dissected. That and stomp her father's brains out. Yue and Evee, all she wanted before they took her for parts was a chance to speak to them again.

"Sir..." The Captain was beside himself, his eyes as large as hen's eggs.

A fourth Sigil began to form.

"PURGE!" Her grandfather raised a hand and touched a hidden glyph in the air that Gwen couldn't see.

All magic drained from the room; Gwen was once again standing atop the grey-tiles, thrumming gently against the arch of her aching feet.

"Are you satisfied?" Gwen questioned her grandfather with a husky voice drained of vitality.

"All of you." Her grandfather turned to the others. "Out."

The men shuffled out obediently.

"Captain."

"Committee Chair?"

"Level 6 protocols. Full censure."

"Affirmative, Sir."

Gwen watched as her Grandfather's minions left.

So her grandfather was a Committee Chair, not that it meant anything to her.

"I am coming in."

To her surprise, he entered the cell, bypassing the perspex pane entirely. She silently watched him as he walked past her, exposing his back toward her, then sat patiently on the bunk bed.

"My Granddaughter...."

He looked up to face her, his bulldog's face now genuinely filled with gentler emotions. Gwen wondered if she had passed some test and if her interrogation was at an end.

"Are you hurt?"

"No," Gwen said quickly. Maybe she could salvage this yet. Maybe there was a play here. She so desired to see Elvia and Yue. She was sick of this place, of this claustrophobic cell. She wanted to leave as soon as possible.

"I want to say I am sorry, Gwen, but I am not," Her grandfather stated as a matter of factly. "I believe you. I do, but your dishonesty troubles me."

"Ask me anything." Gwen tried to modulate her voice, but one couldn't help but be frigid after a reception like that.

"Are you alone in Australia?"

"No."

"Who else?"

"My mother. My brother. My Opa."

At the word 'brother', her grandfather's eyes lit up like those of a blood hound's, becoming two orbs of dark ice.

“Go on.”

The cordial atmosphere was suddenly gone.

The pressure from the old codger made Gwen’s knees knock. Her premonition screamed at her to avert whatever was coming her way. Cold sweat oozed from her pores.

“I… er… I need to sit down.” Gwen found herself slumping against the adjacent wall.

“Tell me about your brother.”

There was something about his voice, cold and hard, that compelled the truth from her.

“His name is Percy. Percy Song,” Gwen heard herself reply. She commanded her lips to stop moving, but it was as though she was having an out of body experience, floating above the figure of her physical shell, feeling as though she'd become a marionette.

“He had attended Sydney Selective for Boys. He is talented in the craft. He is thirteen, turning fourteen.”

“What is his element?”

Gwen felt the words gush from her lips, unbidden and uncontrolled.

“Salt.”

Her grandfather visibly stiffened, his face taking on an emotion that was difficult to read.

The pressure disappeared. Gwen could hear herself gasping for breath. She willed herself back into her body, pushing away the strange force that had sent her into a bout of obedient confession. She didn't know how it was for other Mages, but it was easy for her to resist compulsion once an Enchantment's initial impact grew exhausted.

Her grandfather's intense eyes regarded her unpleasantly.

“You have had counter-espionage training?” His face once again grew suspicious, his jowls stiffening with displeasure.

“No!” Gwen braced herself against the wall. “Just... No! Oh, for God's sake! I am not even a Highschool graduate! I don’t even have my graduation certificate! I am still in my final year! Stop imagining me as something I am not!”

“Explain then how a high school student can resist the compulsion of Suggestion incanted by one trained in the interrogative arts.”

“I...”

Gwen felt the panic she had averted earlier strike back with accumulated intensity. This new grandfather of hers was far too neurotic and erratic. What did the old codger do for a living? Why the secrecy and the constant accusation that she was a spy?

“Opa… Grandfather, Committee Chair, please, you have to believe me. I am Morye’s daughter! Just ask my father!”

“His name is not Morye!” her grandfather snapped at her, his voice rising several octaves. “It’s Hai! You don’t even know your father’s real name!?”

An aura of nauseating mana erupted from the Mage. Shards of salt crystalised from the floors and the walls. A few slivers even hung from her hair.

“I am innocent,” Gwen growled, her voice growing firmer with every syllable. "But you don't care, do you? Well, fuck it then! Broil me! Grill me! Burn me alive! SEND ME TO THE RATS! Beat me to a pulp! TEAR OFF MY FACE! It won't change a thing!"

Her grandfather shook his head sadly.

"You won't be harmed," he said quietly, then lifted himself from the bed and walked clean through the screen. "But you won't be leaving here either. Guards!"

The Captain and four dispassionate guards reappeared. First, they proceeded next door, where two of the Guards retrieved her battered father. Morye looked beaten within an inch of his life. His face was a bruised and bleeding mess.

As he passed her cell, he turned to look at her with eyes full of sympathy and sorrow.

“Dad…” She placed a hand against the perspex, wondering if he had any advice to offer.

"You'll be alright," Morye spoke with a mouth full of blood and broken teeth, sending a spray of crimson spittle against the pane of her cell. "You'll be out soon, trust me."

“Dad!” Gwen called out, but it was too late.

Her grandfather was gone as well. The guards retreated, still ignoring Gwen as she frantically pounded on the pane, calling out Morye’s name - no, Hai’s name, over and over again.

The double doors boomed as they shut, leaving her alone amongst the row of containment cells.

Gwen stared around her cell, dazed by the suddenness of it all.

What had just happened?

Then a terrifying epiphany struck.

HELENA!

What if her paternal grandfather wanted to take Percy away from her mother? What could Helena do to resist? Her clan was helpless against any power from the Tier 1 cities, much less one that seemed as invested as her paternal grandfather. Her mother had pinned all her hopes and dreams on Gwen's brother, and now she was going to lose her only son because Gwen blabbed like an idiot?

Gwen felt a cramp in her stomach, but it wasn't just from the hunger.

She fucked up.

And then she fucked up again.