Uncle and niece returned on foot, travelling in sullen silence, each buried in their ruminations. Gwen tried to reignite the conversation, but her uncle responded with scant and sodden interest, extinguishing any small talk.

Sighing inwardly, Gwen excused herself, found a secluded area, let out her Familiars and then changed out of her dress. She first switched to her Flying Boots, finding the leather more suitable for trekking, then attired herself with a plain t-shirt and the skort, lamenting her missed opportunity to see a living, breathing mythical Dragon from yore. She had anticipated the encounter, wondered at the physicality of a being possessing every chimeric animal part, and fantasied about how inferior to Almudj the creature would be.

As she laced up her boots, she observed Jun in the distance, casually leaning against a tree, resting his eyes.

Was he thinking, perhaps, of _Ayxin_ , the Dragon-woman?

A tenderness in Gwen's chest made her diaphragm cramp uncomfortably. Jealousy was a useless emotion, she knew - AND this was her uncle Jun, a man toward whom she should be infinitely grateful. Try as she might, subconscious longing and rationality rarely made bipartisan partners. If anything, her peevish pettiness surprised her. For a woman weened on the parable of the green-eyed monster that doth mock the flesh it feasts upon, she was eating it up.

Was it an Electra-complex thing? Gwen attempted some self-imposed Freudian psychoanalysis. She had paid her psychologist enough to learn a thing or two. Or maybe, she was merely a terrible sharer, a hoarder of affections, a proverbial, selfish bitch?

They had made it about halfway when the two ran smack into an 'ambush' by a pack of Merfolk.

These were the classic bipedal kind, fish-faced and brightly-scaled, wielding crude spears with sharp obsidian tips that worked wonders against naked flesh and animal hide; omnivorous, vicious, and possessing a dangerous low-cunning.

Her uncle stood back and watched his niece expend her peculiar frustration, testing her powers against regular foes who didn't possess near-immunity to Spellcraft magic.

Having spent all of her vitality stores, Gwen opened up with Lightning.

A single Bolt pierced three Mermen in a row: the first disintegrated, blown clear apart; the second had electricity gushing out of its eye sockets and the third fried. Behind the trio, a conifer caught fire.

"No! My vitality food!" Surprised by the potency of her spell, Gwen switched to her Familiars.

Caliban and Ariel stalked through the forest, plucking up the escaping Merfok one by one. Compared to a week ago, barely a hint of colour touched her cheeks as her arachnid aberration hunted down the fleeing opponents.

The ease of her hunt, both physically and psychologically, startled Gwen. After the prison and their poaching adventure, her mental state had crossed a threshold for using Caliban's most grotesque and unnatural powers.

She pursued the Merfolk for about half a kilometre, harnessing about a dozen individuals worth of life force. After returning with a portion of her hunger sated and a spring in her step, she rejoined dear uncle Jun, and the two went on their merry way.

By evening, they arrived at the outpost.

Immediately, the two were accosted by a PLA patrol.

"Sir!" It was a man and a woman leading a group of about ten NoMs.

Jun had approached, hands in the open, his ID visible.

"Captain Song!" The woman's eyes burned with worshipful intensity. "Welcome back, Sir! The Commander told us to look out for the two of you and to inform him immediately upon your return!"

Jun thanked the troop and commended them for their hard work.

The two Mages bristled with conviction while the NoMs gave Jun apathetic looks. The NoM conscripts were, as per doctrine, all-male; as men possessed higher combat potential, and having female NoMs about was a recipe for public outrage.

The soldiers' eyes looked over Gwen, who paid them no mind. She was far more interested in her next meal. The crass vitality of the goblinoid Merfolk was hardly sufficient after the draconic feast.

Another hour of magically-assisted trekking took the duo into the vicinity of the Anhui Military Outpost.

Having received word of their arrival, the Commander put on yet another banquet. A second officer's dinner ensued. Again, the female Officers broke out the distilled spirits, though Gwen had wisened up to their attempts at loosening her lips.

After eating everything on the table that wasn't utensils or plates, the dinner ended in high spirits.

They stayed the night at the Commander's behest, opting to leave by early morning.

Gwen informed Jun that she wanted to account for their loot, but her uncle advised patience until they could obtain privacy. Cores, particularly from Draconic creatures, may cause a riot. One Core was fine; two were a surprise, and three pushed the narrative. A dozen Cores at once, all of the same type? A recipe for disaster.

The next day, after a pleasant breakfast with the Commander, the two were again on their way.

They had been absent from Shanghai a week by now, about half the anticipated time they would be away.

"It's like I've got a new car," Jun joked as he started up his Jeep, fully fuelled and polished inside and out by enthusiastic grunts.

As the two drove out from the base and hit the main road, the real world came flooding back, not just in the sense that they were on bitumen, finally seeing signs of human habitation, but the surreal unreality of Huangshan was finally behind them.

"I am not looking forward to checking my Messages." Jun adjusted his Message Device and changed the setting from LOS to roaming.

Oh yeah, Gwen reminded herself.

The trip was done, the voyage was over; she was back on land and all the things she had left in frozen now wanted thawing.

The matter of her training for the next few months.

The mind-blowing absurdity of her father's marriage.

The machinations of Magister Wen.

The displeasure of her grandfather.

The designs of her unseen enemies, such as a certain Lord Ravenport, Spectre, Outsiders, Rogue Mages, or whatever they called themselves.

But there were more pleasant forecasts as well.

Dates with Mina and the girls around downtown.

A jam session with Tao just as soon as she could learn how to make music with Illusion.

Spellcraft studies with Petra.

Luncheons with babulya.

Maybe an adventure or two with Richard and his crew.

Checking up on Lulan and Kusu.

Mayuree, who was probably worried sick after a week without a peep from her 'fated' Gwen.

Calling her friends overseas.

Aping her uncle, she likewise activated a Glyph on her Message Device, a discrete bangle, switching the Divination to roaming.

_Ding!_

_Ding!_

_Ding!_

_Ding!_

Gwen cherished the din.

It was the sound of civilisation. Birdsong was nice, and the pines were pretty chill, but she was a big city girl, and nothing comforted quite like the sound of a mass communiqué from friends and family. As any Instagram addict would know, there's nothing quite like a full inbox and a list of notifications that fell off the screen.

She tapped through the messages.

_"Gwen, it's Petra. How are the woods? I hope you're keeping safe. Master asked for you, and I told her you're still with Uncle Jun. All the best with those Cores. Spirits are rare for a reason. Don't worry; you can always save up on CCs to get one. The main thing is to stay safe. It's strange coming home to an empty apartment."_

Gwen played the next Message.

_"Yo! Cuz, its the big T with the big P, PEACHES! Hey yo listen, er, last time you guys made a real-good impression at the show, and I was hoping that you and Pats could like, come to another show you know? This time for real there'll be hunnies there, not just homies. By the way, Mina misses you too; she be so HIGH if you could come down to the next show!"_

Gwen bit her lips amusedly, then pressed the Glyph for next.

_"GWEN! Don't LISTEN TO PEACHES. He's got nothing! It's another one of those stupid rap battles! I am not even going-"_

_"—HEY! Give that back to me! PEACHES, GIVE IT BACK! You're asking for it, you little ass—!"_

Chuckling until her abdomen hurt, she pressed next.

_"Gwen. Got a Message from London for you. Elvia called. I don't know when you're back, so that's what I informed her. She said she'll wait for you to get back. Petra."_

Next, a familiar voice drifted out from the Messages' recorded audio.

It was Hai.

"Gwen! I have excellent news. After speaking to your new soon-to-be mother, she decided you should be her bridesmaid! WONDERFUL. Right? You're a maid, I hope, and you happen to be at a perfect age! It's a rare position! You have no idea how many beautiful girls were jostling for the hono—"

Gwen turned off the Device. Her cheerful mood was drawn and quartered.

"Uncle." She turned to Jun, who had been listening to his very own Messages as they sped along the winding pass back to Hangzhou. "I just received a terrible piece of news from Father."

Jun's expression suggested he had also received 'the good news'.

"You can listen for yourself." Her uncle pressed another glyph, and an audible Message from Guo began to play.

_"Ah-Jun, where are you now? Could you return to Hangzhou? Leave the moment you receive this Message. If your niece protests, tell her the Dragon-spawns are not going anywhere. I have just met with Sumei Liu. Your Mother and I are currently at his estate, trying to salvage what's left of our mien. The wedding needs to proceed as soon as possible. Your brother has requested you to be his best man. This whole thing is moving faster than expected. Qīn's pregnancy will be showing soon. Your Mother is upset. Let me stipulate, return as soon as possible-"_

Then there was a brief silence followed by a grudging postscript. "—the both of you, be safe."

"I guess we're headed back to Hangzhou?"

"Don't think we have a choice."

Gwen sighed.

Jun sighed.

They sighed together.

Their synchronicity was such that they both chuckled.

"Okay, let's make the best of it," Jun urged his niece. "You could dress up again."

"No, no, no!" Gwen advised her inexperienced uncle. "Father just asked me to be a bridesmaid, meaning I cannot dress up. I need to dress DOWN. It's taboo for a bridesmaid to have better makeup, hair, or a better-looking dress than the bride. I'll be wearing flats and making my hair as flat as possible. Then I'd have to hold her dress and follow her around all day; there's going to be a lumen-pic Illusionist following us around, recording the whole thing. There's going to be the ceremony, the reception, the dance, the line-up and farewell, speeches—my GOD."

Stolen novel; please report.

"You know awfully a lot about weddings," Jun marvelled. "I've been to a few, but never… well. You know."

"Not even as a best man?"

"Not even once."

"Wow, that's hard to believe." Gwen raised a sceptical eyebrow.

"The guys I graduated with, not many of them left," Jun's tone took on a more serious edge. "As for the guys I work with, the Ghosts—let's say we're usually not the kind to marry, much less have a life outside work. One of the guys got married while under deep cover, and let me tell you, that was one hell of a situation."

"Oh?" Gwen rather liked her uncle's stories of the 'dark side'.

"Yeah. So, as a 'best man', what should I expect? From the sounds of it, it's going to be a Western-Eastern wedding. It's all the rage these days, and I suppose Hai spent most of his life overseas."

Gwen had no idea, but she could make a few educated guesses. She had been to numberless weddings in Australia. All her friends and colleagues were in their 30s, meaning most of them were married.

Chinese, Indian, Thai, Anglican, Christian, Hillsong; she had been to all sorts, taking on roles such as the MC, multiple times a bridesmaid, and once as the maid of honour. Weddings were fun, even if they were highly stressful. More often than not, her purse would be bulging with cards and numbers by the night's end. Once, she even took a girl home.

"Well, as you said, it's a Western Wedding with an Eastern reception. There's probably going to be a ceremony, walking the aisle and all that. I don't know if there will be a Priest, but probably not, as we're in China. There's probably a Celebrant who will do the rites and say a few interesting aphorisms. They'll exchange vows; then we walk out under a shower of rice and flowers."

Jun listened, fascinated by the strange details of the matrimonial world.

"Then there's the reception. Which I can guess is going to be a Chinese one. It means the family had to do the tea ceremony; kowtow the heavens, the earth and the parents. The Eastern ones are pretty good for bridesmaids because we don't have to do anything other than help the bride get up and get down in her dress, pass the tea, fill the pot and all that."

"As best man, you have to organise a buck's party, though I doubt Qīn will like that, knowing Dad. Not to mention this is a shotgun wedding whether we like it or not. You'll need to coordinate groomsmen, assuming there will be..."

Gwen paused.

A disgusting and resentful reality struck her cerebrum.

"Wait a second. Why AM I a bridesmaid? Doesn't Qīn have female friends? Relatives? Who is going to pair with you? _Who is going to pair with me?_ "

Gwen recoiled; if she were to pair with some stranger, she would prefer to be absent.

"How do you know all this?" Jun grinned at Gwen through his visors. "Feeling your age? Do you want to get married? Getting the jitters?"

The question caught her off guard.

"Me? Marriage?"

"Sure, it's every girl's dream, isn't it?" Jun laughed, nudging her defensive silence.

_Marriage._

She had entertained the prospect in her old life, but an opportunity had never presented itself. The concept of matrimony was both the norm and the status quo, but like her literary heroines, she had wanted to enter into sacrament for love with a friend who was also a lover. The problem was that though there was no shortage of willing men, she had never felt secure. Though potential partners were willing to give in to her demands, she wouldn't wish a union like that on anyone, much less her spouse.

Dr Monroe once told her that it was her fear of trust. And that she needed better role models.

_Role models?_ Gwen had snorted with laughter.

Certainly, her father's apathy and her mother's screeching bipolar psychosis did not paint a pretty picture of married life. Gwen recalled having fantasies when she had been an adolescent that her parents weren't her own, that she was adopted, or that she was a foundling; anything to suggest that her abnormal family life was no fault of her own. Her mundane-world childhood was already traumatic enough; what the Gwen of this world had to go through appalled even her jaded sensibilities.

"I don't know…" she fell into a contemplative silence.

"Look, sorry I asked."

"It's okay..."

Jun fell silent for a moment before popping up once again.

"Say, you ever watched a movie called Stalingrad?" Jun suggested offhandedly.

"The German WWII film?" Gwen remarked.

What a strange pivot, Gwen thought. Did her uncle realise he touched a nerve? It was like she had felt insulted. Sure, she wanted to get married one day. But it wasn't as though she could marry anyone because her ovaries were ticking down.

"Yeah, that's the one. The one with the tanks and the suicide platoon."

"Sure, it's a classic. Why do you ask?"

"Well, I have no idea what a _tank_ is, and I've never seen a _Sticky Bomb_ either. Can you elaborate?"

"What, a tank? You're the military man—" Something in her mind clicked.

A sensation of numbness manifested, first from her toes, then travelling up her calves and into her thighs. The tingling continued until it became a sliver of ice, travelling up her abdomen, chilling her spine and twisting her diaphragm until it cramped. It crawled up her neck until her scalp itself was paralysed with paranoia.

Her mouth opened and closed a few times.

The emptiness within her mind could rival the Bolivian salt flats.

"You tell me," she finished ten seconds too late.

"Gwen." Jun kept his eyes on the road, his expression unreadable behind his aviators. "Would you like to get something off your chest?"

It took her battered brain another half a minute to catch up.

_What did her uncle know?_

_How did her uncle find out?_

Her body relaxed.

Stirred to defensive wakefulness by her cerebral agitation, Almudj's Essence grew alive and animated, filling her mana channels with its blessing. Unlike the previous morning when she was upset by Ayxin, her body inhaled, then exhaled, profoundly, then in expeditious successions. A pin-prickle from behind her neck activated simultaneously. Though she had doubts about the true purpose of Ayxin's scale, she allowed it to induce in her body a cadenced meditation, expanding and contracting Almudj's Essence, massaging the passage of her emerald mana until the turbulent current calmed. After a few moments, she found herself relaxed and no longer held in the grip of crisis.

With her mind returning to lucidity, Gwen took note of the paths before her.

She could confess to her uncle and hope for the best, or she could play the fool and hope for the moment to pass. In this instance, she faced two divergent paths, two trails that bent in the undergrowth, preventing her from seeing past the woods that wend.

In times like this, Gwen wished her Divination had been rarer, like what Mayuree possessed.

To tell or not to tell; that was the question—

_How deeply did she trust Jun?_

Jun kept his eyes on the road as Gwen's leaking Dragon-fear subsided. He was beginning to regret breaking the news to his '"niece" so soon, but his thought had been suffocating with the disturbing knowledge ever since they had left the Yinglong's domain.

Maybe that was the purpose; Jun questioned Yinglong's gift of wisdom.

Secrets had a way of festering and fermenting. If he kept this from Gwen, it would inevitably affect his feelings for his niece. First, he would see her differently and then notice her abnormal behaviour; the strange maturity she had exhibited since they first met in the Sky Prison would become more prominent and self-evident.

Each time she would attempt to hide her identity, it would sour their bond. Then, one day, he would tire of her, perhaps even grow to loathe her.

Indeed, now that he thought about it, the Yinglong's actions felt increasingly more malicious.

The Yinglong may market itself as a Demi-God transcending mortal concerns, but in the end, it was still jealously guarding its rice bowl. The Dragon wanted to retain its territory but was wary of the Human neighbours next door. Fifty years ago, it could have wiped out Shanghai if it had been willing to risk its life. Now, with two Towers, especially the PLA Super-Structure, the Yinglong had no chance.

Though humans only lived a short lifespan, they were ingenious.

Though Dragons were wise and ageless, they were ruthless, millennia-old mafiosos who ran century-long cons.

If so, why did the Yinglong choose to remain in its hole, knowing that Humanity was only biding its time? One day, Jun was sure, Humans would spread across the Northern Steppes, defeating the undead and conquering the oceans. Even before the Spellcraft Revolution at the turn of the 20th century, Humanity had carved out its niche in the world. Now with the human cities inter-connected by trade, Spellcraft and the Tower System, the demise of the Demi-humans was only a matter of time.

Unless, of course, Humanity, or at least Shanghai, would receive a considerable setback.

That was where Gwen came in, and the Yinglong's vapid, vague Prophesy reared its ugly head. Jun wasn't a man to believe in fortune-telling. The CCP had long since alienated China's mystic Diviner-Clans, choosing instead to follow the global trend of Spellcraft-driven Divinations.

A Divined-warning, even from the Oracle of Delphi herself, was to be taken with a grain of salt. The Yinglong had called Gwen a Calamity, but what did that even mean? A Calamity, by Jun's standard, had to be an all-consuming disaster that enveloped all without discrimination. In the past, the Calamities predicted by the Oracle had been self-evident enough: Tsunamis caused by Merfolk, Incursions of Undead, and natural disasters. If Gwen were to be a 'Calamity', would she trigger an event of catastrophic proportions?

More importantly, what did Yinglong intend for him to do? What did it expect ANYONE to do?

Was his niece a Calamity?

He recalled seeing Gwen sleeping, curled on her single bed, pale against the moonlight. The girl had breathed softly at first, then nearing midnight, she bemoaned Something about "Evees", then snored thunderously before fitfully returning to silence.

How in Mao's name could _that_ be a Calamity?

Jun had replaced her blanket, despite knowing his niece couldn't catch a cold.

The simple gesture was another paternal fantasy ticked off his bucket list.

Therefore, it had to be a ploy.

Indeed, Jun grew troubled as he drew out a hypothesis.

He could have returned to the city to inform his superiors, or his father, that Gwen was indeed a 'Calamity'. With confirmation from Yinglong, the PLA could ensure the city's future prosperity by keeping the girl iced via indefinite Stasis deep within Tianlianqiao.

As for the Dragon's motivation—

Didn't Gwen boast that she had connections to an older, more powerful entity dwelling in a Black Zone at Australia's centre? It was entirely plausible to Jun that the Yinglong feared this Almudj.

He felt invested in the theory because it explained Ayxin's concession and the circumstance of their unscathed exit from Huangshan. There were more unearthed secrets the Yinglong had given him as well, which he had to return to Hubei to rediscover via House's archives before he could even begin to believe the Dragon's information on the origins of the Song family's Kirin heirlooms.

Now all that remained was to see how Gwen reacted.

_How much did the girl trust him?_

In Gwen's mind, she had already confessed to her beloved uncle.

She opened and closed her mouth like a fish trying to breathe on land.

She felt Prufrockian, marked by weariness, regret, embarrassment and longing, a mess of emotions.

Summoning a bout of courage from Almudj's blessing, she tried again.

"So... the German soldiers were being punished for desertion," she recalled expertly from the film. "They had to fight the tanks because it was both punishment and a means to prove themselves loyal soldiers of the Reich."

_FUCK,_ Gwen wanted to bang her head on Something. That's not what she meant to say at all! What the hell was she doing?

"I see." Jun's face was unreadable.

Gwen gave her cheeks a gentle squeeze.

She was burning up.

Jun did so much for her.

He had risked his life.

He was like a father to her, not an imaginary one either.

Surely, she could tell this man the single most critical secret of her second life, right?

“I… er…” She felt a strong desire to flee. _FUCK_ , if only Dr Monroe were here to mediate. "I... want... to SAY... that..."

"Gwen," Jun interceded any further attempt by Gwen at painfully assaying the truth. "Just say yes, or no."

"Okay."

"Are you the same Gwen Song I met at the Sky Prison?"

Gwen considered this question without a truthful answer.

"Yes."

"Are you Hai Song's daughter?"

"Yes."

"Are you a doppelgänger?"

"No."

"Are you an undead Spirit or a being who has died and come back to life?"

That was a more difficult question.

"No. I don't know. I don't think so. I never died as far as I know."

"Okay, that takes a weight off my chest, haha. Did you kill the old Gwen?"

"No!"

It was true, far as Gwen knew. As far as she knew, the old Gwen likely fell victim to a Void-awakening.

"Can you leave this body?"

"No."

"Do you have a spare body or an original body somewhere?"

"No! I don't know."

"Did you 'willingly' occupy your current body."

"… No. Yes. I mean, I've grown into it now."

"Do you wish to destroy Humanity? Do voices speak to you from the Void?"

"WHAT?! No!" Gwen protested. "I'm as human as anyone! I am… I don't know. I don't know anything, Uncle Jun."

"Do you know a Yog-Sothoth?"

"No! It was a joke! I made it up! Yog-Sothoth is fiction! An excellent fiction, but PURE FICTION nonetheless!"

Jun snorted before he exploded into jovial hilarity.

Gwen listened to her uncle's deep-throated mirth. The ridicule made her feel better; the pressure lifted from her bosoms. If Jun could laugh, then everything might be okay.

"Let me tell you what I told Ayxin." Jun's voice came across as full of seriousness. "I told her that it doesn't matter who you are. I told her I knew nothing about this 'Gwen' that is now gone because I wouldn't have known you existed anyway. The 'niece' I chose to help is you, and it is only you—the girl sitting beside me _now_. You are GWEN, the one and only 'Gwen'. Do you understand?"

Gwen understood.

She understood every word, and the comprehension made her feel so light that she could take to the air and drift away.

Yes, she could trust this man.

With her life story...

With her life...

"Thank you, Uncle Jun. If you're willing to listen, I want to tell you my story."

"I am listening," Jun replied.

"Alright." Gwen took a deep breath. "Here goes…"


By the time Gwen finished her tale, her lips were parched, and the duo was within Hangzhou's city limits. She had told all, from her rebirth in the Forrestville apartment to her mind-meld with the old Gwen, to her adventures in Highschool, her awakening with the Void, then Edgar, Almudj, her Master Henry Kilroy, Gunther and Alesia, Mark Chandler, as well as her embroilment in the feud between Elizabeth Sobel and her remaining siblings-in-craft.

There was only one innocuous detail that she had left out.

Her original age.

A woman lying about her age was acceptable in any meta-universe, surely? Not even an elder God spawned from nether space could blame her for that!

If Jun knew that a thirty-year-old broad with hardwired daddy issues had been thrillingly calling him 'Uncle' this whole while, the cringe alone would prevent them from speaking again.

By her recount, she was a 'graduate' who had 'just built her career'.

A fresh out of university 'adult' who had left home at sixteen and had lots of experiences while living a worldly life.

Her story had been acceptable to Jun, so Gwen left it.

What followed were more cans of worms.

"What's the other world like?"

"Was there Spellcraft?"

"What's an iPhone?"

"What do you mean there are only NoMs?"

"You're telling me humans have wiped out every other Demi-human race on the planet? You must live in Utopia!"

"How does one destroy Nagasaki without Japan having a Magi retaliating strategic spells of its own? You said their Emperor was alive, no?"

"A bunch of 0's and 1's connected the whole world?"

"There's a library of all human knowledge for anyone—ANYONE to read, at any time, called Wikipedia?"

"Can you explain again what Global Warming is?"

"The Theory of Relative to what?"

"President Trump? Never heard of anyone by that name."

"This NoM-Science business sounds sketchy, haha."

Gwen struggled to explain basic concepts from her old world, especially science. It was like describing the colour red to a deep-sea dweller at a depth where long-wavelength spectrums did not reach. She had always been an Arts student with scant interest in science other than math and therefore lacked the nuance of knowledge herself. Had she known that she would be born again into another world: math, physics, chemistry, and engineering would have made excellent choices.

After several confusing bouts of jargonistic, nonsensical nomenclature, the conversation turned to the fact that she was the third officious disciple of Henry Kilroy beside the Morning Star and the Scarlet Sorceress.

"No wonder the Pudong Tower made it very clear that they wouldn't condone any interference with your studies." Jun slapped his thighs. "At least now we know why Pudong is so polemic."

"Would you mind if I joined the Pudong Tower?"

"As long as we won't be pitted against each other," Jun warned her, foreshadowing a most undesirable prospect. "You should always have a choice, though. The Western Towers employ free agents, unlike us military grunts trained and fed by the PLA."

"You can't ever leave the PLA?"

Jun shrugged.

"They gave our families everything we have after the Great Revolution and again after the Purge during the Cultural Revolution. The _Juche_ Undead would rule the entirety of Northern China were it not for the defence put up by the PLA in the 50s and again in the 80s."

Gwen wanted to ask about the Undead, but Jun interrupted her with a sudden chortle.

"I wonder what they will call you," he snickered. "The Devourer? Gwen the Voracious Eater?"

"Why not Lightning Gwen or something like 'The Flash'?" Gwen fired back.

What kind of bloody moniker was the Devourer? Was she a terror at the buffet, the consummate consumer of roasts? The emptier of the oyster tray? If they're going with nonsensical names, why not something that sounded terrifyingly cool, such as _The Lurker in the Void_? The Tempest-tress?

"Well, the most memorable aspect of a Mage that makes the moniker. Think about it. Gunther's powers manifest as Radiance, so it goes to show that he's the Morning Star. Your sister-in-craft is well known for her scarlet fire, and she always wears red, so she's the 'Scarlet Sorceress'. On the other hand, I don't think anyone will remember your Lightning spells after one look at Caliban."

An approaching structure loomed in the near distance.

It was a sentry gate, after which they would be within Hangzhou's city limits.

As Liu's manor was on the outskirts, they didn't need to enter the city. Following the orbital ring-road highway around the estuaries that marked the city's crawling watery progression was sufficient in delivering them to their destination.

"Gwen, your secret is safe with me. I am on your side," Jun assured his niece.

"I know." Gwen channelled her inner Han Solo.

"Great. You can tell me more about your world at your leisure. I am very interested in this Science business. Though I fear we shall have to keep it to ourselves."

"Sure thing, Uncle, of course. Should... I tell Babulya?"

To her surprise, Jun shook his head.

"No, Mother has enough on her plate. The shock and disappointment aside, it would drastically complicate your relationship with Father."

"Alright," Gwen replied, her voice a little hollow from the loss.

"On to a more immediate matter then. What do you think about this wedding business."

Gwen sighed.

"To be honest, I think it will be a _shit show._ Excuse my French."

"Aha." Jun chuckled. "Go on."

"Uncle Jun… I don't know how well you know Dad - he is not a one-woman man. Qīn is the most feminine woman I have ever seen, and she's very much in love with him, but that hardly compares to Dad's history. He's a free spirit."

"Why do you think he's choosing to settle down?"

"God knows," Gwen shrugged. "Maybe he is in love with the woman; maybe he wants to have a normal family again—I mean, I am a pretty shitty daughter."

"No!"

"It's true. I am bitchy; I am ungrateful; I am judgmental. Dad couldn't wait until I was out of the house."

"Oh, Gwen, that's not true."

"Well, it's spilt milk now." Gwen puckered her dry lips, wetting both petals with her tongue. "As I said, Dad likes women like I like food. I can't imagine eating hotpot every day, no matter how spicy and awesome it might be, and Dad can't f—SLEEP… with the same woman. It's in his blood. Sorry, Uncle."

"That's alright, keep going."

"That's it. Dad's not a bad bloke. He took care of Percy and me materially and _minimally_ , and I am not unthankful about that. He's the sort of a guy who makes a far better _mate_ —that's a friend in our Aussie lingo—than he is a father or a husband."

"I can see that, yeah."

"What I am worried about, and this is what you should tell grandfather—is what happens when Dad sleeps with the maid? Or one of Qīn's colleagues, or a female something with two legs, a gash, and happens to be in the local vicinity."

Jun winced.

That respect Gwen had for Hai made his eyes water.

"Father believes Hai is a changed man."

"Because of Qīn?"

"The House of Liu is an old family with strong ties to the CCP. We're not Clanners, like those Sectarian Sword-Mages, the old Daoshis, or the Monks, just old families that have done well in the new China. The Lius are a decent Clan, as far as Power Progeny goes. A little nepotism in the ranks, but well within norms. The older generation is well deserving of their reputation."

"That makes it worse, right?" Gwen felt a sinking feeling in her chest.

"Unfortunately, yes. I suppose we should be glad that Hai is a divorcee to a nobody. Sorry, Gwen. On the other hand, Qīn is way past the usual age for marriage but is well-regarded as Chief Physician. She is a gifted healer, certainly better than Sister Nen, Tao's mother."

"Wait up," Gwen thought of an unpleasant projection. "Was Dad ever a mummy's boy?"

"Of course, he was always her favourite. He's extremely good at squeezing adoration and affection from her, you know."

"Was Babulya famous for her beauty, youth, motherliness, wonderful personality… classic Oedipal and all that?"

"What's Oedipal?"

"It's when you... love... your mother, very much."

"That goes without saying, Gwen. We ALL love mother, right?! At any rate, Klavidya was the most eligible bachelorette in the CCP's Medical Spellcraft Division! She was probably more famous than you or Petra when she studied in Fudan. They called her the czarina from the Harbin Frontier!"

"Did the two of you get a lot of affection from Babulya?"

"Yes and no, she was working as much as Father. The military raised us. But Mother used to shower us with affection every chance she had."

"Absent mother, huh?"

"Gwen, what are you getting at?"

"So DAD is marrying a HEALER who is soft-hearted, kind, beautiful, and dotes on him unconditionally."

"Oh, Mao…" Jun pinched his brows.

"Surely Dad won't cheat... on his mother?"

Jun's fist gripped the steering wheel.

"Is... this the 'psychology' you spoke of?"

"Yeah…"

"Don't... ever be a Mind Mage."

"Okay..." Gwen promised.

On the horizon, the quiet outskirts of Hangzhou came into view, a shimmering sheet of haze hanging over a mirage-like waterscape of dynastic terraces sitting over the city's tributaries and estuaries, wilting in the summer haze.

The same servant they had seen last time led uncle and niece into the courtyard.

Babulya was there, as well as Gwen's grandfather, including Gwen's aunty, Nen, which she had seen only twice. The younger generation was missing and likely would not be present until the wedding date.

Her father was present, naturally, along with the Liu brigade.

"Ash Bringer! Welcome back! Miss Song! I am glad to see you are safe!" Sumei, the Patriarch, opened his arms expansively and welcomed the two into his 'abode'.

Not wanting to take her chances, Gwen curtsied expertly.

Jun bowed, then bowed again toward his parents.

Gwen quickly moved to the other side of the aisle.

"You look as lovely as ever, Gwen," Qīn remarked.

Gwen wasn't sure if her comment was a genuine compliment or yet another jab at her mother, so she took it with as much grace as possible, putting up a smile as synthetic and illuminating as the Day Light lanterns brightening the courtyard.

"Gwen IS very pretty, isn't she?" Nen flattered her niece. "She's famous in Fudan, you know. Even I've heard about the _Deathworm-Beauty of Guoding Road_ , hahaha! Tao and Mina have nothing but praise for you, Gwen. My husband thinks the world of you as well."

"Thanks, Aunty." Gwen played the coy waif.

"Gwen." Her babulya made a come-hither with her hands. Gwen carefully approached, cute as a button and meek as a kitten.

"Grandfather~."

"Sister."

The sound of the familiar voice gave her a start. It was deeper than she'd recalled, more mature, but also worn and weary.

Behind Guo was her brother.

" _Percy!_ I've missed you!" she let loose a genuine yelp of jubilation before recalling how they'd parted last time, with unspoken bad blood. "How are you? The training is going well, I hope."

"I see you have done well for yourself," Guo interjected before her brother could reply. A dull glow in his eye suggested some Divination; the effect was subtle, and Gwen had only noticed because every time she felt 'scanned', the follicles on her arms and her legs broke out in goosebumps. "The trip has gone well?"

"It has, Grandfather," Gwen replied carefully. "Uncle Jun has taken great care of me."

"As he should." Guo inclined his head, his expression unreadable as usual.

When Gwen persisted in looking behind him, the old man annoyedly sidestepped.

"Percy."

"Sis." Her brother was as cute as usual.

"How have you been?" She asked.

"Good, good."

The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

Percy looked paler than Gwen recalled, though it was no surprise if he had spent his time indoors, training in his private gym.

While the youngsters talked, the oldies moved to occupy more comfortable seating in the East Wing.

The manor was tranquil and beautiful, especially as subtle manifestations of Dancing Lights played across frond-filled ponds that surrounded the pagoda pavilions, joined by frog song and the sibilant water trickling.

With the two left alone, Gwen attempted to thaw the ice.

"So, how's the training."

Percy looked sheepish.

"Coming along, I am filling up my second tier in Evocation. Grandfather hopes I can concurrently train with another school, but learning meta-Schools Spellcraft is very taxing."

"Oh yes." Gwen nodded sagely. She vaguely recalled her _Generalist_ days. Learning anything had been a chore until she had properly Awakened to Conjuration and Evocation, cognitively conjoining her Astral and physical bodies. "The headaches you get from mana burn can get pretty disgusting. Don't push yourself too hard, hey?"

When she looked up, Percy had a sarcastic smirk on his face.

"Do you 'really' have trouble with meta-School spells, Sis?"

"It's only natural," Gwen defended herself reflexively.

"Which School, exactly?"

"Well." Gwen placed a few indignant fingers against her collarbone. "I would certainly struggle to learn Enchantment, for example."

"But not Evocation, Illusion, Abjuration, Transmutation, or Divination?"

Her next words became tongue-tied.

Did Percy think she was humble bragging?

In hindsight, the boy was right. What she had said was exactly that.

Of course, Percy would know the true extent of her Schools.

Her grandfather had watched as she dissected Choi for his Illusion talent.

Percy snorted.

"So, how was the trip?"

"The trip? Oh yes, the trip! It was fascinating! Jun and I had many encounters with Wildland Magical Monsters. Ran into a Dragon-kin, the most intimidating Pangolin you have ever seen. Started shouting when we tried to kill it. Then there were bees. My God! So many bees! Bees the size of your hand."

Gwen launched into an endless tirade of relative half-truths detailing what had happened on the mountain. She couldn't possibly tell Percy about her harvest of Draconic-Essence, nor was she about to reveal the existence of Ayxin or Golos. Instead, Gwen focused on hunting the Dragon-carp and the Draconic deer.

"So, did you find a Core? or a Spirit?" Her brother asked.

Ah, Gwen snickered internally. You sneaky little rascal. 'That' was the million-HDM question.

Gwen puffed out her chest.

"You did?" Percy's breath quickened. His face grew flush with crimson.

Gwen almost felt sorry for teasing him.

"NOPE!" She laughed, slapping his shoulder. "I got nothing! We did find a Core, though, an earthen one. Going to hawk it for crystals to pay for rent, haha."

Her brother laughed awkwardly, from the looks of it, he rightfully doubted her story.

But there was one more thing on Gwen's mind.

If Percy wanted to test her, it was only right that she prodded him back.

The information that Lulan had told her.

"Percy, tell me about the young man from the Huashan Sect called Pei Li."

It wasn't a question.

Gwen wouldn't let her brother off without at least twisting his arm.

Percy's demeanour palpably shifted toward the defensive.

"He's a classmate." Percy was visibly sweating. The young man was too green! Gwen mused - though it was endearing that her brother immediately thought he was in deep shit. Their grandfather must have informed him that she'd made up with Lulan; if so, Percy should have expected that Lulan would have told her everything. From the looks of it, Grandfather was leaving Percy to deal with his cock-up.

"Are you close friends?"

"We're acquainted." Percy couldn't meet Gwen's eyes.

"Did you ever talk to Pei regarding my circumstances? About things like—"

Percy appeared hesitant.

"About... you know... like..."

She could hear Percy audibly breathing now.

The boy looked as though he was being racked!

The schadenfreude was intoxicating, but she had to stop.

"... how _pretty_ your sister is!"

Gwen wrapped an arm around Percy, pulling him closer until his face was against hers. She blinked her eyes coquettishly, clowning with her brother.

"Are your friends interested in the infamous Deathworm Handler of Fudan?! I am rather infamous, you know. They say that Petra and I have become the most well-known faces around University Road!"

"Let me go!" Percy struggled feebly, caught off guard by Gwen's aggressive body language.

Gwen kept Percy captive under one arm. Despite the growth spurt her brother had enjoyed, he was no match for her Almundj-Essence-empowered body. Even without the Draconic-vitae, she was far sturdier than her lithe arms suggested.

The kinship felt good, as did the skinship.

It was the sort of thing she had done with Percy in the old world.

When Percy finally escaped, pressing against her with all his might, Gwen had to let go.

"Hey! You're crushing my, you-know-what!"

"Am not!" Percy's face had become scarlet pork-liver. "That's your rib!"

"Ah—Boys, they grow up so fast. Did you get to know any girls from school? Xiangming Metropolitan is Co-Ed, right?”

Percy nodded, fixing his ruffled hair.

"So, you got a girlfriend yet?"

Percy shook his head.

"WHAT?! FOR SHAME!" Gwen scolded her brother. "Loser! Look at Dad! How can you continue your father's legacy if all you do is sit around on your ass, not having a girlfriend?!"

"Grandpa forbade me," Percy muttered.

"PUFFT!" Gwen spat out rancorous laughter. "Why?"

"He said that er… we need to preserve our… purity because of Salt."

"What? Are you for real? You're celibate?" Her mind was a riot.

Percy growled, looking as though he wanted to find a hole and crawl into it.

"Hahaha, you need to preserve your… hahaha." Gwen slapped her thighs. "What kind of Fengshui logic is that?! If your father had done that from the start, we wouldn't exist! Can you imagine Father having enough temperance for that sort of thing?"

"OKAY~ Jeez." Percy shot her an annoyed look.

Gwen wiped a tear from her eye.

Percy sighed.

"Bloody hell, Percy, SO MOROSE. What are you, Vincent Price?"

"Who's that."

"Ah, never mind." Gwen giggled.

"Okay."

"So, what do you think about Dad's wedding?" She asked.

"I don't _think_ ," Percy muttered, his voice sullen and affected. "It's not like my opinion matters."

That means he hates it. Gwen recognised the rebellious tone. Well, it only stood to reason. Their father was indeed having another child, and Percy was right to feel paranoid. Replacing the heir was unlikely though, Grandfather had gone to great lengths to set up his new grandson, and a bird in the hand is always better than two in the bush. She was confident their patriarch wouldn't give up Percy in exchange for the great unknown inside Qīn's belly.

"Well, what do you think about your soon-to-be baby sister or brother?"

"My WHAT?!" Percy shot from where he'd sat as though a pin cushion had materialised on the wooden bench.

OH SHIT! Gwen mentally slapped herself. He didn't know?! Did no one tell Percy? The boy must have known?! Right? That's the bloody reason for the shotgun wedding!

"Well, it was a secret? Or should I say, an open secret? Can you pretend to have not heard?"

There was no salvaging the shit show that had been unleashed.

_Loose lips sink ships!_ Gwen berated herself.

Percy sat down. She took her brother's hand, and Gwen felt his skin boil, then rapidly cool until it was icy.

"Percy—seriously, are you okay?" she intoned worriedly, putting a hand on his forehead. Her brother's skin became clammy with sweat.

"I-I-"

Percy looked as though he was intoxicated.

His eyes suddenly grew wide; then he doubled over.

"Percy! What's happening?" Gwen tried slapping his back.

“I… be okay…”

Then Gwen felt it.

That familiar aura of Jun subsuming Essence.

The Kirin Amulet—something was happening within the Kirin Amulet.

Not only that, her own Almudj's Essence was agitated.

"Percy, it's the amulet! What are you doing with it?"

"NOTHING! I'll be fine!" Her brother spat defensively. "Leave me alone!"

"You're not fine! You bloody idiot! Let me see!"

"NO!" Percy battered her hand away, jarring her fingers.

The audacious act filled Gwen with a sudden bout of righteous fury.

She felt such resentment and annoyance that any feeling of sentimentality became drowned out by a sudden wave of all-consuming vindictiveness.

How dare Percy refuse her generosity!?

"Don't be shitty with me, you little oaf!" The words escaped her mouth before she could even think of them. " _Let me see the bloody thing before you kill yourself._ "

Even though the words had engendered from her mind, she hadn't the slight intention of expelling them. That her diatribe had escaped her lips, unbidden, shocked them into stunned silence.

Percy glared at her with a fierceness that made her flinch.

"Shit, Percy, sorry, look, I didn't mean that."

Percy clasped his amulet protectively.

"I AM FINE!" He stood up, his neck throbbing with purple veins. "GET AWAY FROM ME!"

"Alright, alright… Jesus…”

Gwen backed out of the pagoda pavilion. She wasn't sure how to deal with Percy's outrage. Not even in the old world had her brother ever screamed at her.

"DAD! UNCLE JUN?!" she called out. If Percy refused her help, maybe someone else could help her. "MR LIU? ANYONE?"

"SHUT UP!" Percy hissed at her. "SHUT UP! GOD DAMN IT!"

A few of the servants came running.

Jun and Guo materialised from the East Wing.

"What's happened?" Jun turned to Gwen. Her uncle's face was a mask of concern.

"Percy's not feeling well…" Gwen tried to explain.

" _She wants my PENDANT!_ " Percy almost howled out his accusation. His face was a mask of blind anguish. "She tried to TAKE IT!"

"Grandson!"

When Guo stepped into the pagoda, Gwen felt the moisture drain from the air. As the old man held up his precious heir, he gave Gwen a cold and dangerous glare full of suspicion.

"WHAT! NO!" Gwen protested wildly. "It's a misunderstanding!"

She begged her uncle with her eyes.

Jun looked to be far more worried about his father, who appeared on the verge of popping a gasket.

"I'd never!" she stated again. "Brother was in pain! I was trying to help! I gave him the amulet. Why would I want it back?!"

"Gwen, we believe you," Jun interjected. "Let's all just calm down."

"Grandfather…" Percy held onto Guo's shoulder. "I don't feel well."

"Bring your Grandmother!" Guo snapped at Gwen. "Go now! She's attending Qīn! The East Wing!"

Gwen ran.

Her heart felt like it had been dashed on the floor and stomped.

Her brain was a jumble of mixed emotions; indignity, impotent fury, and wilting betrayal all mixed into a volatile cocktail.

Of course, she wanted the fucking thing, but she would never TAKE IT from her brother, GOD DAMN IT! She swore internally, gnashing her teeth. As she ran past the terrified NoM servants, her chest felt so constricted that the pressure against her ribcage felt rigged to blow.

_SPLASH—!_

Below her, the Koi in the pond began to boil, writhing as though they were trying to escape the water itself. A few of them became driven into such a frenzy that the fish started attacking each other.

_SHIT!_ Gwen caught herself before the commotion spread too far.

She was LEAKING Dragon Fear _now_ of all fucking times.

Calm your tits, girl! She scolded herself as she activated Ayxin's scale by directing her seething Essence toward it.

_Harmony!_ She had to remain calm and collected.

She had to be placid like a summer Billabong.

An indistinct passage of minutes passed.

Her heart had returned to its usual cadence when she opened her eyes.

Her unruly Essence was under control.

That and two dozen priceless Koi were dead, floating belly-up after tearing themselves to bits.

FUCK!

FUCK A DUCK!

IT DOESN'T FUCKING END!

Her zen shattered as the tranquil green water below broke into silvery fragments refracting the Dancing Lights hovering over the pond, hinting at the violent demise of yet more Koi.

_She had to get out of here!_ She had to get somewhere where her 'leaks' wouldn't murder the pet fish Qīn had likely raised for a decade.

Gwen fled the sight of the carp Holocaust, only to run into her uncle coming the other way, two pavillions away, catching her on the narrow bridge where there was no avoiding the anxious-looking man.

"Gwen." Her uncle was surprised to see her. "You try to find Mother, yes?"

Gwen froze.

Did she go and get babulya?

Of course, that had been the plan.

"Yeah…"

"You were gone for almost ten minutes. Mother found us by herself."

"Oh…"

"Where did you go?"

"I _leaked_."

"Mao! Did you get it under control?"

"Yeah, I mean, no, I—"

She couldn't continue because, in the next moment, her uncle and niece were no longer alone. Her grandfather was accompanied by her brother, who looked pale but otherwise restored. Her babulya flanked them.

"Gwen, I had requested that you find your grandmother." Guo's expression spoke of one whose patience and kindness were running on fumes. "What did you do instead? Where did you go?"

"I was looking," Gwen told the half-truth.

"I find that _very difficult_ to believe." Her grandfather saw her lies.

"Gwen," her babulya tried to intervene. "Guo, let it go."

"Klavdiya! Stay out of this!" Guo growled at his wife, furious that she would take the ingrate's side.

Watching her babulya's crestfallen expression, something snapped inside of Gwen.

"Well, I _did_ , old man! What's so hard to believe?" Gwen riposted suddenly, her eyes vivid with barely contained passion. "Whether you believe it or not, I did. That's the truth, take it or leave it!"

The resultant silence was as though a magical debuff had descended upon the crowd. Not even the frogs dared to croak. Gwen pressed her terrified and vague fingers against her lips, wondering if slapping herself loudly and humiliatingly across the face would salvage the moment. Her grandfather's demeanour suggested the situation had escalated way beyond that.

"Jun, with me. Gwen, do as you please."

"Father…" Her uncle was helpless.

"Guo…" Klavidya's face was in pain.

Gwen lowered her head.

Her grandfather's glower was enough to make their blood run cold.

"Jun, you have disappointed me. Is this _disrespect_ what you hoped to accomplish by risking yourself? Is this what you've been teaching her?"

Her uncle lowered his head as well. In Gwen's eyes, the transpiring act became a physical pain stabbing at her chest.

"I am sorry, Father." Jun apologised.

At that moment, Gwen would have gladly tested the hypothesis of whether their grandfather could tank an affinity 6 Lightning Sphere to the face and if her babulya could put fuck-wit McGuo back together again.

But her uncle and babulya were watching, so Gwen held her tongue.

"I am sorry, Grandfather." Gwen bowed deeply. It was all she could do right now.

Her hair fell over her face and shoulders, blocking her forward vision.

All she could see were the feet of those who shuffled past, each by each.

Guo.

Jun.

Percy.

Then finally, babulya.

An elegant pair of embroidered sandals stopped just below her eyes.

"Gwen, you don't have to like your grandfather, but you do have to _respect_ him. Can you at least do that for me, Dear?"

“Yes, Babulya. I am sorry.”

"It's alright, dear. Now is a sensitive time. You Grandfather doesn't want to lose face in front of the Liu family."

"Yes, Babulya."

"We'll talk once this is all over, alright?"

"Yes, Babulya."

The troop moved on. Gwen was left alone.

Gwen felt sick. She felt exhausted. She would rather fight two Golos.

"OH, MAO!" The shriek from the koi ponds made her cringe.

"GREAT LEADER'S GHOST!"

"SOMEONE KILLED THE KOI!"

"MISTRESS' FAVOURITE KOI?!"

"WHO WOULD DO THIS?"

That was the final straw.

She had run out of the necessary willpower to deal with even more shit after a world of shit had just descended upon her shit-filled moment.

"Flight!"

Gwen incanted her Lesser Flight spell; she lifted herself into the air, then pointed her face toward the lights in the distance.

She needed a fucking drink, a quiet place to sit, and time to think.


Gwen had never bought alcohol in Shanghai. Bad as things had gotten, she had been too busy with new friends to desire chemically induced leisure.

Luckily, the first shopping street she found had a local mini-mart selling booze.

She filled her basket with a six-pack of Tsingtao, a bottle of what looked like soju, and a sparkling flask of peach-flavoured mystery. Usually, Tequila was her poison of choice, but beggars couldn't be choosers.

The store clerk, an NoM, stared at her with such intensity that he may as well tear out his eyes and toss his orbs onto her legs.

That was when Gwen realised she was still wearing her black skort, easily mistaken for a salacious minidress. When she had left the military base, she had thoughtfully tossed on something that allowed her to survive the humidity of Hangzhou.

Concurrently, she was open-bloused and _did not give a shit._ Her hair was also wild from the late-night Flight, plastered to her face, having picked up every mote of condensation rising from the West Lake.

"Can I see some ID?" The clerk swallowed.

Gwen glared at the poor NoM. Mayhap it was the Dragon Fear, or maybe she looked pissed off enough to skin a man alive; the clerk apologised profusely for daring to question her age.

Ashamed for terrifying the hapless NoM, she left him the change, whatever it was.

Not wanting to try her luck with opposite-sex encounters, she flew over the rural farmlands, where presumably No-Fly restrictions were not in play until she found a rather attractive location on the uninhabited shore of the West Lake, dotted with lotus flowers, glimmering with muted moonlight.

She descended on what she had thought was a floating deck but turned out to be an enormous water-lily leaf almost four meters across. The platform first wobbled but quickly stabilised as Gwen lowered her centre of gravity.

When she further tested the buoyancy of the flora, she noted with wonder that it was quite unsinkable. The furry surface felt like carpet, not to mention hydrophobic.

Confident in the plant's ability to keep her above the tepid, weed-filled water, Gwen sat crossed-legged in the lotus position and tried to come to grips with what was happening.

Breath in—

—Breath out.

It all began when her uncle found out about her origins.

That particular crisis turned out fine, the drama was unwarranted, and she could trust the man unconditionally. The revelation was more cathartic than it was traumatic.

Then her father called.

After that, they arrived in Hangzhou, and there was a big family reunion.

She spoke to Percy and tried to rile him over his snitching.

It was harmless fun, and the boy seemed to take it in stride.

Then she revealed that their father had a new child on the way.

Percy freaked out.

Something happened with the amulet.

She felt it activate—that distinct _tingle_ , just like her uncle manifested when the Ash Mage _fed_ on the Essence captured in the Kirin Stone.

Her brother then had an asthma attack.

She tried to help.

Percy had battered her hand away.

Then what?

Then she snapped at him.

_That little shit!_

The thought was most definitely her own. Even now, she felt upset over the rebuke.

She had demanded to see the amulet.

Ah, fuck. Gwen cringed.

_Freudian slip?_

Or was it?

They were doing so well, making a connection, getting along, and then the amulet dispelled the Illusion, bringing the two kicking and screaming into the real world.

Percy saw her as a competitor.

And the Kirin Amulet remained a point of contention.

Feeling that she needed something to ease the kick-boxing kangaroo in her chest, she popped a bottle of Tsingtao. With Almudj's unconditional aid, she had no idea if she could still become intoxicated.

"This one's for you, Uncle Jun!"

Gwen threw her head back, allowing the ice-cold fluid entry into the temple of her body. She persisted through another bottle despite the likelihood that her buzz was a placebo effect.

"Puuwa—!"

She continued her rumination.

After an unintended trespass, Percy freaked out.

Did she leak her Dragon Fear, then? Gwen wasn't sure. If she had, the koi would have gone nuts right below them. The fish always congregated where there were people, expecting to be fed.

She then called for help, anxious that Percy was gripping the amulet and crying blue murder, which brought their grandfather and Jun.

Then what happened?

The little shit _snitched_ on her!

_That fucking weasel!_ I ought to fry his lily ass.

A spark of electricity zinged across her vision. It must have escaped from somewhere on her person.

_WOA WOA WOA!_ Gwen caught herself yet again.

Her Almudj-Essence was immensely agitated, and with it, her thunderous lightning mana.

Why was she uncharacteristically upset, so out of control and impulsive?

Her 'grin it and bear it' demeanour was arguably world-class.

She had been less upset when some guy grabbed her ass on the train!

She hadn't even felt this intensity of emotion when her father pulled a whole alt-life story out of his ass, then doomed her to being stuck in Shanghai, taking her away from Yue and Elvia.

She closed her eyes and tried to mediate.

Almundj's Essence revolved around her body, again and again, diffusing the alcohol. Gwen topped up with the soju.

Wait up, her mind clicked.

What the hell had Instructor Chen said?

It was during that conversation they had about the Dragon Cores.

_"You two should learn to temper yourselves, as Quasi-Elementalist Mages, the more Lightning Affinity you possess, the keener your physiological and mental metabolisms will become. Your temperament will worsen..._ "

An irrational sense of pride and possessiveness came with high Affinity.

Her Affinity?

Six.

_SEX sexy tiers_ of lightning, as Whetu would say in his Kiwi Kant.

Gwen chuckled to herself.

The narcissism was real, but she had to give herself credit for grinding down a tier 10 Thunder-wyvern, then fucking it in the ass with Caliban. A girl had to know her worth; there was a difference between humility and ignorance of one's excellence. Why she ought to inform those twats at the House of Liu that—

Gwen stepped on her mental brakes before her fantasy roared down reality highway and ran someone over.

"An irrational sense of pride," she repeated to herself, tasting the words on her tongue. "And excessive possessiveness."

_How awful_ , Gwen thought. Was she to become like Ayxin or Golos? Transformed into an insufferable, stuck-up, better-than-thou Machiavelli-Draconian? In her old world, the sociopaths with psychopathic disregard usually got ahead. That was one of the reasons she dreamt of working for herself. She had always been prideful. Else she would not have left home at sixteen. The problem now was that the face she had prepared to meet faces that she meets was cracking like poorly applied makeup.

In all honesty, Gwen found her Affinity-induced PMS hard to swallow. That somehow she was not in control simply because she had grown more powerful was abhorrent to her.

It made no sense that she couldn't dig herself out of this hole. How would she fight her 'Calamity' if she couldn't uproot something as simple as a little chemical alteration of the brain? Where there's a will, there's a way, wasn't there?

Feeling the space around her, she desperately desired someone like Yue, Elvia, Richard, and Petra.

Perhaps emboldened by the alcohol, she punched in the Glyphs and did exactly that.

Richard should be with Lulan and Kusu, Gwen recalled. They had gone Questing roughly the same time she had gone off with Jun.

"Hello? Gwen? You're back?!"

"I am back!" she replied cheerfully. "How's everyone?"

"We're all in Nantong at the moment, though, Gwen... I heard from Mina that your father is getting remarried?!"

"YES! And guess who's a bridesmaid?! It's a ME! GWEN!"

"Bloody oath, Uncle Hai... he's such a fuckwit. It's like he can't help himself. I mean, who'd want YOU as a bridesmaid?"

"Hey! Are you saying I'll make a terrible bridesmaid?"

"It doesn't take a Diviner to know that!" Richard laughed.

The joy was infectious, and Gwen felt better already.

"Ah, bloody hell. Strewth... Gwen, NOT that I care about Aunt Helena or anything, but if you want someone to talk to, I am here with Lulu, Kusu and the crew. Do you mind if I put us on audible? Lulu is keen to talk to you."

"Sure! Hi guys!"

"Hi, Gwen!"

"Miss Song, I am glad you've returned safely."

"So, how was the trip?" Richard asked, perhaps wishing to divert her from becoming further depressed by the woeful wedding. "Regale us with your adventures!"

The voice of her cousin and friends worked its magic like a much-needed dose of Celexa. Gwen felt the taut tension in her body unwind as though the rack she'd been stuck on had released the screw.

"The trip was good, VERY good! We ran into all sorts of interesting Draconic animals - then ate all of them, ha! Uncle Jun was amazing! I LOVE HIM TO BITS!"

Gwen's voice took on a hysterical edge. With great enthusiasm and flourish, she told them the same version she had narrated to her brother. As for Richard, her cousin and Petra would receive a private revision once reunited.

"Wonderful!" Richard's voice bellowed across wherever the 'crew' was gathered. "I look forward to seeing your new Affinity and Caliban's new form."

"Oh, his new form is terrible," Gwen boasted guiltily, reminding herself to consult with Caliban after the call. What would a Void-stag resemble? A living nightmare, she would wager.

"Caliban has yet another monstrous form?" Kusu's voice was equal parts anxiety and nervousness.

"Kusu, don't interrupt —so, Gwen—how was the peak of Huangshan? I've only ever seen Huashan. Is it as awe-inspiring as they say?" It was Lulan who spoke up.

"Lulu~, Huangshan was beautiful - deadly but also pretty as a painting."

"That sounds wonderful. I'd love to climb Lotus Peak one day."

_Assuming you don't run into a Dragon!_ Gwen mused. "So, Lulu, how's working with Richard?"

"Richard is amazing," Lulu's response was worshipful. "I feel like such a frog in a well."

"The siblings are BOTH doing great," her cousin butted in jovially. "Kusu helped as well. He's our level-headed strategist."

"I didn't do anything worthwhile," Kusu interjected humbly. "Those two are insane."

"Hahaha." Richard chuckled.

"So, what did you guys do?"

As Lulan was far too drunk on happiness and excitement to tell a lucid story, Richard obliged in Lulan's stead. According to her cousin, they ventured to Nantong with his old crew to participate in the construction of Tonlv Canal, a major infrastructural project connecting Nantong to the Yellow Sea, enabling maritime trade between Seoul, Nagasaki, Qingdao, and upper Shanghai, forming a quadrangle trade-route.

Richard's party had initially cleared wildlife ahead of the construction Mages and NoM labourers. However, after Lulan started to 1-hit KO every other river-gob they came across, the presiding official recruited the party for Purge requests across the Dayang peninsular.

With almost triple the pay and double the CCs, the party immediately made a name for themselves, with Richard acting as Abjurer and support. Naturally, Lulan served as the primary offensive damage dealer. On the fourth day, the party uncovered many Merfolk warrens. Before the Party official had even issued a proclamation, Richard's party had cleared the entire Dungeon bringing back a half-dozen Cores and the head of the Merfolk Chief, a fifty-stone humanoid catfish.

"... We stood back while Lulu did her thing. I kept her Shielded, and Kusu had our backs. The other guys spent the whole time digging for cores and mining water crystals."

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"Sounds like you guys had a great time."

"Indeed it was. Smooth as butter. We're on a break right now, on government expense, ha!" Richard boasted. "It's a state-sanctioned hotel, but the buffet is wonderful. Wish you were here. The water's beautiful and Merfolk-free!"

"How's Lulan dealing with the boys?" Gwen asked a critical question. As she recalled, Kusu had been very nervous.

"Hahahaha!" Richard broke into rancorous laughter.

"Richard!" Kusu complained bitterly, evidently triggered by Gwen's query and Richard's mirthful mockery.

"Lulan brought a risque swimsuit to enjoy her R&R, but Kusu has forbidden her from wearing it!"

"It shows her—"

"Kusu!" Lulan's voice cried out shrilly. "I can wear whatever I want!"

"Gods, Kusu, it's just a boob tube! Mate, calm your tits, not that the ones on display are yours to withhold, hahaha!"

The Message Device became inundated with snickering laughter.

Gwen shared in the merriment even as her chest became punctured by disappointment and resentment, a feeling worse than checking Facebook during the end of the fiscal quarter and seeing people on holidays in Santorini or Hokkaido. She felt hollowed out, as though all sensation of joy became consumed by gut-wrenching, maddening envy.

Why couldn't she be in Nantong with Richard and Lulu, kicking ass and eating on the government's dime, living life however she wanted?

Of course, Gwen knew the answer to her rhetorical question; it was the source of her grievous upset.

She was such an ungrateful bitch, moping about her teacup drama when Uncle Jun risked his life to gift her with tier 6 Lightning.

With the shame of her churlish egocentrism crushing her mood, the bounty of happiness her friends provided no longer felt nourishing; instead, their carefree laughter grated her ears.

"Okay, I got to go. Thanks for the laughs, Richard. I'll Message you again later, or see you guys in a week!"

"Laters, Gwen!"

"Bye!"

"Stay safe, Miss Song."

With the call ended, Gwen called forth Caliban and Ariel.

Her serpent and marten weighted down the discus-foliage of the water lily.

She needed something else to cheer her up, and a little loot could do that.

"Alright, Cali, let's see what you got." She commanded her serpent to do its thing.

"Shaa!"

She squeezed Caliban between her arms, pressing the obsidian serpent against her ribcage.

Caliban heaved.

Out popped the first Core, then another, and another and another.

_Plop! Plop! Plonk!_

Thirteen Draconic-deer Cores of exceptional clarity were steadily milked from Caliban, adding one Merfolk core of indistinct quality.

Gwen likewise released the three carp-Cores from her Ring, as well as the pangolin's Earthen Core.

The larger orbs joined the pile of smaller cores in the middle of the lily pad.

By her inexperienced appraisal, the deer-Cores likely fetched 4 - 5000 HDMs, while the carp-Cores were slightly higher at 6000. Jun had said that the sapient pangolin's Core could be worth 25,000 to the right buyer, especially as Earthen Mages were numerous and Abjurers especially were highly sought after. She wasn't sure why there was such a price disparity. Perhaps it was because the Core's owner was capable of speech? It was an answer that only an experienced crafter like her Opa could give.

The fact that the small pyramid was likely worth up to 100,000 HDMs improved Gwen's mood immensely. It was like looking at a six-digit figure in one's bank account, basking in the monitor's glow. Her breath became audible pants as she ran a finger over the stockpile, feeling a secret thrill run through her coiled body.

The moment of truth had descended.

Gwen activated her Detect magic, then picked up the first Core and ran a mote of lightning into its interior. It lit up dimly, humming with Elemental lightning.

But it was without spirit.

Disappointed, she placed it into a separate pile.

The second, the third, and the fourth followed.

Some cumquat-sized, others a small orange—the Alpha's Core was the size of a grapefruit.

It was an impressive thing of superb clarity, as potent as the Eland core which Mayuree had gifted to Ariel, likely worth a solid 8000 HDMs as well.

A mote of mana left her fingertips and made its round inside the Core, projecting such a light that it was as though a Daylight spell had momentarily irradiated the lily-filled lake.

Gwen cursed her indiscretion and surveyed their surroundings.

The light faded.

She was still, as far as she could tell, thankfully alone. This late at night, NoMs respected curfew, while Mage patrols would be visible from kilometres away thanks to their Day Light lanterns.

Greedily, she cupped the alpha Core and examined it.

Nothing.

Just a Core.

_SHIT._ Gwen prevented herself from stomping the lily pad and sending her collection tumbling.

_No spirit._

_After all that._

_After Uncle Jun risked his life for her!_

Should she have killed Golos? Made Caliban consume the bastard from inside out, heedless of the Yinglongs' retribution? She was confident there was a Core inside that Wyvern she could use.

"EE-EE!"

Ariel nudged the stag's Core in her hand, begging her with its big button eyes.

Gwen had known Ariel's desperate desire and wantonness in only one other instance. It was at the Auction when Mayuree had tossed her the Eland core.

This time, Ariel's whining was even more intense, possessing such urgency that her empathic link tickled her bladder and gave her an urgent desire to visit the ladies.

Should she give the Core to her Familiar, though?

She could trade it away for CCs or sell it for HDMs.

Who knew what projects in the future needed one or the other, or both?

But then again, she corrected herself. _Wasn't Ariel a significant investment?_ Hadn't its Eland ability helped her immensely, almost single-handedly upped her damage and strategy potential?

Sensing her thoughts, Ariel cried a thankful "EE—EE!"

Receiving her mental permission, it bit into the Cores, crushing it within its jaws.

There go at least 8,000 HDMs, maybe even 10,000 HDMs. Gwen allowed the dust to fall from her fingers, enough to pay for her entire tuition were she not a Scholarship student.

She had Babulya to thank for that.

"EE-ee!"

Ariel swallowed the rest and then indicated to the carp Core.

"Sure, go ahead."

At this point, Ariel was a sunk cost; the wiser option was to commit her resources fully.

And so Ariel then treated itself to a second.

"Cali, you want in on this action?"

"Shaa!" Caliban wagged its tail, stating no.

"Alright, I guess not."

Gwen examined the last Merfolk core.

She mused that it would be ironic if this one were pregnant with a Spirit.

A mote of mana later, she was left making a face, chewing one side of her lips contemplatively. Nope, she sighed despondently; _no luck._

Having ravaged two creature cores, Ariel licked its chops and surveyed the rest of the loot pile.

"Oh no, you don't," Gwen warned her gluttonous Familiar. "The rest has to be split with Uncle Jun. You got those other two because you worked for them! They're coming out of my share."

"Ee-ee! EE!"

"Alright, get back in there."

She unsummoned her Familiar. Ariel was already getting sleepy. Whatever was in those Draconic Cores, they were very quickly inducing her Familiar to undergo another metamorphosis. Gwen wondered how long Ariel would take this time and if she would need it in the week or so to come.

With Ariel gone and her loot failing to cough up a Spirit, she packed away the pile of assorted cores and tapped into another beer, feeling the still-cold liquor dispel the summer haze that hung over the West Lake.

Occasionally, a breeze came through, borne upon a cross-wind, lifting her hair and chilling her legs. Those moments were both rare and tranquil, allowing her to forget—if only for a moment—her grandfather's displeased face and Percy's fearful eyes.

"Oh yeah, Caliban, what else you got?"

"Shaa?"

"Any new forms?"

"Shaaaaa!"

"Well, let's see 'em."

"Woa!"

Drained of its stores, Caliban returned to its old tricks, taking a pound of flesh from Gwen's body. It was fortuitous that she had earlier had a meal of Merfolk grubs. Otherwise, she would have been bereft of a significant chunk of vitality.

Standing upon the lily pad, framed by the silver of the moonlight, Caliban began to bloat, twisting into its new form. First came the stag horns, an anticipated addition, then limbs, long and tangled, stabbing outwards until they formed arm-thick double-jointed needles. A serpentine neck distended from Caliban's bone-frilled skull, framed by its massive shoulders. Below, its torso tapered into a narrow waist of darkest obsidian, supported by bulging hindquarters. Upon closer inspection, Gwen noted she could spot scales just beneath the smooth exterior of its semi-opaque obsidian dermis.

"Good boy, Calib—OH JEZ LOUISE!"

Just when she thought Caliban's horror-filled growth spurt had ceased, it launched itself upward, sprouting two long and elegant hind legs half-a-length longer than its front limbs, likewise armed with needle-point hooves.

"Christ, Cali," Gwen breathed in the tepid air of the West Lake. _That is not a PG-13 morphic form._

"Shaa-Shaa!"

Like all his forms, Caliban was faceless. His skull was Draconic shaped, with a hint of the stag but without distinguishing features.

"Where's your tentacles? Cali?"

Gwen glanced at Caliban, hoping that thick, prehensile tentacles wouldn't sprout between the stag's legs. If so, Caliban's new power was going to be X-rated. If so, she would soon miss the days when people called her the "Devourer".

"Shaa!"

Caliban stood on its hind legs.

"Bloody hell, you can be bipedal in that form?"

Caliban's pointed hooves stabbed into the water lily's membranes. Fully erect, her monster Familiar stood well over four meters, including its sixteen-pointer. Eerily, the night sounds were filled with slithering, accompanied by a mass of lamprey-lipped tentacles dipping low to scent her, touching her hair and cheeks.

_Its friggin stag horns turned into tentacles!_ Sixteen points—sixteen tentacles?

What would happen if she commanded it to attack?

"Shaaaa! Shaaaa!"

Caliban turned, sending all of its appendages to assault the air, snapping as though each was bestowed with a life of its own. The effect was awe-inspiring and terrible, akin to the stop-motion Medusa Gwen recalled seeing in Clash of the Titans.

Her Master once said _the nuance of a Familiar's forms was associated with a Mage's deep psyche._ As such, Gwen wondered if she was digging through old literature to fuel Caliban's nightmarish appearances. If one was asked to think of a Magical Stag, wouldn't the Forest Spirit from Princess Mononoke come to mind? Why did her creation look like Lovecraft and Geiger had a love child? A thousand-young-cum-xenomorph Black Goat?

Retracting its tentacles and returning its horns into coral-like branches of obsidian bone, Caliban dropped to all fours and stalked toward her. The lily pad swayed as Caliban's bulk shifted its centre of gravity, forcing Gwen to balance herself.

"Caliban, enough."

She recalled her Familiar, instructing it to refrain from shifting into the horror stag unless given express consent.

_Ding!_

Her contemplative privacy was interrupted by an incoming Message.

"Dad?"

"Gwen, where are you now?"

"I am still in Hangzhou if that's what you mean," Gwen answered chirpily, her mind dizzy from the trace of alcohol still in her blood.

"Where in Hangzhou exactly?"

"I am at the West Lake," she confessed. "Enjoying the moonlight."

"There's no moon out tonight; it's clouded over."

"Enjoying the darkness then."

Hai sighed. "Mother wants to see you. Are you coming back?"

"Yes, I am coming back."

"Well, if you do, remember to take the servant's entrance, the one by the carport. The side entrance door is locked."

"It's alright. I flew out. I'll fly back in."

"Bloody hell, Gwen," Hai spat in English, switching to the Australian dialect he had acquired in his years in Oceania. "Just because there are no bleeding patrols doesn't mean Hangzhou is a Fly-Zone! It's a major food bowl district! What made you think you _could_ use Flight in a place like this? Why do you think the estates all have walls?!"

"Hangzhou is a No-Fly Zone?"

"Yes!"

"But I flew to the convenience store, and I flew to West Lake."

"Oh _God damn it,_ " Hai cursed. "You flew out of Secretary Liu's house! You and the family are registered as VIPs! Of course, no one is going to intercept you! Your step-grandfather will likely cop an earful tomorrow. What else did you do? No boys, I hope?"

"No, just a few drinks."

"You're FLYING DRUNK?"

"No!"

"Were you drinking?"

"I guess."

"How many?"

"About six beers and a bottle of soju?"

"Fuck."

"It was a small bottle. I'll be home soon."

"Walk! For God's sake!"

"Alright! Jeez, Dad, I am not a child."

"You're A MINOR WHO IS DRINKING AND FLYING IN A NO FLY ZONE!" Hai hissed with impotent anger. "You don't even have a Flight licence!"

Gwen's agitated Almudj-Essence sobered her up. Her father had a point.

"I'll run home then. See you soon."

Hai muttered a few grudging pleasantries, then hung up.

Huffing unhappily, Gwen packed her garbage; she might be selfish, possessive and prideful, but she wasn't a tosser.

Her late-night excursion had gone as Gwen had expected. She had given herself time to think and now had a general idea of what was happening. As the holder of six tiers of Affinity, Gwen would have to do her utmost to keep her _Electric Blues_ in check. For now, she would apologise to Percy for her unintended and poorly worded expression, help her father with his wedding, and play nice with her grandfather.

For one week, she would do anything to keep her babulya and uncle de-stressed and content.

"Okay!"

Gwen slapped her cheeks with both hands.

"Come on! You can do it!"

It was time to go home and face the music.

Hai sighed, tossing his Messenger Device onto the pile of clothes on the floor.

"Hai, I am worried about Gwen." Qīn's breath was pleasant and ticklish against Hai's ear. "Going out to drink at a time like this, she's going to ruin herself. Such a pretty and talented girl as well. What a shame."

"She'll be fine, dear." Hai brushed a lock of his fiancee's hair from her cheeks. "Gwen's a good girl. It's just a phase. You were young once, heck; you're young still! Just look at those cheeks—softer than ripe peaches!"

Qīn laughed, her voice trilling like a nightingale's through the winding corridors of the pagoda.

Hai had thought his wife would be livid over the dead koi. Instead, Qīn had told him that it was no big deal. What was important, his wife had stipulated, was that both Gwen and Percy were safe.

_What a wonderful woman!_ Hai couldn't believe his ears. Had this been Helena, the decibel of her voice would have shattered the transmuted glass in the courtyard. His soul would have escaped his skull!

"You don't think it's a mistake asking her to be a bridesmaid, do you?" Qīn asked uncertainly. It was only natural. Any woman would want their wedding to proceed swimmingly.

"No, of course not, dear. Gwen might be in a bad mood now, but she always comes through in the end."

"Alright, I trust you, Hai."

"The feeling is mutual." Hai tasted his fiancee's flushed lips, held captive by her tenderness.

"So, what do you think of my earlier proposal?"

"Ah—" Hai felt his passions wane.

"I think this is a wonderful opportunity for Gwen to meet some of the young men in the local bureaucracy," Qīn continued. "I think she'll be far less troublesome if she can settle down with someone to look after her and teach her the ways."

"Umm..." Hai pulled away. "I don't know about that."

"Is Gwen not interested in boys? Well-mannered, good-looking boys from prominent families?"

"Em…" As a father, Hai wasn't sure how to respond. He couldn't exactly critique Gwen. In the past, he had brought hundreds of women home. From when Gwen was young, the girl had developed an especially hostile attitude toward men, particularly flatterers.

He was also reminded of her running home yammering about a train molester. _Had that been a big deal?_ She'd just gone to her room after. Well, it wasn't as though Gwen had lost a piece of her flesh. Sometimes, an ass grab was just an ass grab. After all, Hai had grabbed plenty of buttocks in his time; understanding the context was important. From what the Railcorp Officers had said, the man was likely going to gaol, an apt punishment for a man incapable of reading the situation.

"Hai, I need you to be on my side. Can you do that for me?"

Qīn nibbled his earlobes, making his whole body quiver.

"I don't think Gwen would enjoy meeting young men like that," he mumbled. "I don't even know what kind of men Gwen is attracted to, though. As I've said, we're not the closest, ha."

"She needs someone to ground her, Hai, just as I need you."

Qīn ran a hand against his abdomen and injected positive energy.

"Hai?" His future wife worked her magic.

"You have my consent." Hai pulled his fiancee's milky body closer. "But tell the youngsters not to be so pushy. Gwen doesn't like that. Agreed?"

"Of course, dear." Qīn was already straddling the man of her dreams like a jockey at an El Caballo-Blanco horse show, cantering into a comfortable cadence.

"I was going to speak to Gwen." It took Hai several attempts to complete his sentence. "My father's still angry as well."

"Don't worry. _Daddy_ will deal with Magus Guo." Qīn sealed his lips with her own, her eyes melting into him like liquid.

"Yeah...Gwen's a big girl," Hai's breathless voice added as an after thought. "She'll be fine."