A complete and utter pandemonium. The noise comes from multiple sources: the loud roars of transport creatures, be they dragons or badger moles, the cries of children with their parents, and the bird-shaped speakers announcing the next departing train.
Amid this chaos is Inara with her double bun hairstyle dressed in her knee length shorts and simple white shirt tied neatly with a satin bow tie.
She stands staring at the sign held by large humanoid puppets dressed in red. It reads, "Transport Station."
I’m here again
Lost in her own thoughts, she dips a hand in her blazer pulling out a candy. Paying no heed to the vast array of footsteps moving around her.
Her nose flares, causing her to look around frantically.
Someone is watching me.
Her breathing gets heavier as sparks of electricity crackle between her fingers. She braces herself for what she expects will be an attack.
Turning around, she locks eyes with an elderly woman using cane with dark green hair approaching her.
"Hello, dear. Can you show me where the bathroom is?" the elderly woman asks.
Inara slowly assesses her. "Sure, this way," she replies, leading the woman towards the bathroom.
As they approach, the screens flicker from train schedules to a presenter. "Breaking news," the speakers blare, louder than ever. Everyone pauses to pay attention.
The male presenter begins, "Just in: the world government has succeeded in its attack on an enemy base, which has now been confirmed to belong to the 6th child of Ophelia, also known as the daughter of Calamity.”
The female presenter takes over, "Although there has been a confirmed confrontation with the Daughter of Calamity, there is no news yet of her capture. We await further information. Stay tuned."
A loud cheer erupts in the station before murmurs take over, and people resume their activities, while Inara’s gaze remains fixed on the screen.
A successful attack, maybe, but I doubt they captured her.
"Oh my, where did the years go? It feels like yesterday they announced the death of the Son of Sorrow," the elderly woman says.
"Yeah, the world government has been working hard to track down the children of Ophelia. Do you keep up with the news, ma'am?" Inara asks with a smile.
"Of course. I was in one of the cities where he attacked, you know. Lost my grandson to those criminals," the woman replies.
"I'm sorry to hear that. I hope you get the justice you deserve," Inara says.
"Not just me—everyone, honestly. I'm sure you have your experience with them as well," the woman says.
Inara smirks. "Something like that."
"Poor child—"
"We’re here," Inara cuts her off.
"Oh, thank you."
"You’re welcome," Inara says, turning to leave. But she hears from behind her:
"It was nice seeing you again, Inara.”
Inara pauses, quickly turning around to find the elderly woman missing. She dashes to the nearest person, her breath heavy and sweat on her face.
"Excuse me, did you see an elderly woman here just now?" she questions.
"I'm sorry, no," the man replies.
How did she find me?
Inara pushes off from him, looking around the crowded station. The thumping of her heartbeat getting louder in her ears.
No, it can’t be her.
"Hey!" the man calls out.
Standing in the crowded station, Inara yells, "Did anyone see an elderly woman with dark green hair?”
Some people respond with simple "no"s, others ignore her, and some look concerned at the young girl pacing around frantically.
Shit, I need to leave this place. She says a with trembling hand.
A woman gently pulls Inara by the shoulder. "Nana is okay," she says, rubbing her forearm gently. "No one is taking you anywhere."
Inara replies, "I know, Mommy."
A short time passes. Her mom checks her watch before asking, "It’s almost time. Do you have your ticket?"
Holding her ticket between two fingers, Inara replies, "Yes, it’s here."
"Good. When you get there, give this to Dr. Adeline," her mom says, handing her a small cooler. "Tell her this is my thanks for helping us.”
"What’s inside?" Inara asks, shaking it a bit.
"Some shredded meat and chin chin. I packed some separately for you as well," her mom replies. "And sorry your dad and I couldn’t see you off. I hope—"
"It’s no problem, Mommy. I understand," Inara cuts her off. "And again, Daddy called yesterday to say goodbye, so it’s really no problem," she says, looking ahead.
Inara’s mom casually adjusts Inara’s clothes while she talks. "Just remember to call after the test. Maybe when you come back for the holidays, your dad will be back from his offshore duties."
"You’re saying it like I’ve already passed," Inara says, looking up at her.
"I trust you," her mom says. "Don’t worry, you’ll do well."
"Torh. I hope so," Inara says.
The screeching sound of a crow emanates from the crow-shaped speaker, drawing everyone’s attention. "The portal for zones 13 to 18 will now be open. Please queue up at your respective gates. Thank you," the announcer says.
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I’ll never get used to those bird puppet things talking.
"That’s you. Hurry up," her mom urges, nudging her toward her terminal with her bags.
Inara joins the queue at gate 13 while her mom waits behind. Shortly after, Inara reaches the platform, where two men in uniform stand on either side of the round stone hedges. The swirling sound of the portal fills the background.
Inara looks back, waving goodbye to her mom, then steps through the portal. She briefly arrives near the entrance of a hospital, where Dr. Adeline a stout dark skinned woman with her white to be sits on one of the many waiting benches.
Dr. Adeline wastes no time hugging Inara. "Nana, how have you been? It’s been a while. How are your parents doing?" she rattles on without a care in the world.
Inara comments, with a grin on her face,
Too much energy for someone without powers, honestly.
"My mom said to give you this," she says, handing the small cooler to Dr. Adeline. "Thank you, sweets, for helping us.”
"Aww, she shouldn’t have. Come," Dr. Adeline says, signaling to some workers. "Let’s go inside. They’ll handle your bags while I run your physical exam," she adds, leading Inara into the hospital and leaving her bags with the men outside.
Shortly afterward, they arrive at the lab. "Take a seat," Dr. Adeline says, pointing to a chair. "Arm out," she instructs as she picks up a syringe.
Inara rolls up the sleeve of her left arm while she sits and closes her eyes, bracing for the needle.
Dr. Adeline, noticing this, comments as she administers the injection, "Still afraid of blood?" she asks as blood fills the syringe's container.
"Mmmm. Not anymore. I just don’t like to see it," Inara says with pauses between her words.
"Sure. Keep being delusional," Dr. Adeline says, shaking her head with a smile.
"Okay, done," she says, dropping the syringe into a container. "Now I just need a ketsu sample as well."
"I know," Inara says.
As Dr. Adeline takes the sample, her eyes wander over the tattoo on Inara’s forearm. A sad expression forms on her face as she looks at the tattoo—a snake wrapping itself around a weeping willow tree.
"Done," Dr. Adeline says.
Inara lets out a sigh of relief.
Finally, the painful part is over.
"At this point, I think you’re afraid of needles," Dr. Adeline says, wiping sweat from her forehead.
"I don’t like things poking into me," Inara replies.
“No earrings then” she asks, adjusting her glasses.
“Not anytime soon” inara replies. Rubbing her pierced ear.
"What about your tattoo?" Dr. Adeline asks. "We can try again to remove it," she offers while putting the blood and ketsu samples into a machine.
"We’ve tried already. It didn’t come off. There’s no point in wasting time on something I can learn to live with," Inara says, getting up from the chair.
"Okay. If you ever change your mind, just give me a call and we’ll arrange something."
"Thank you," Inara replies.
Just then, someone starts knocking on the door.
"Hello, I’m here to pick up Inara for her squad evaluation," a woman says.
"Oh, please come in," Dr. Adeline replies, making her way towards the door. "Captain Elizabeth, right? A pleasure to meet you," she says as they exchange greetings.
Inara stares at the dazzling tall woman.
So that’s a captain. Do all captains dress casually, or is it just her?
"Inara, come say hi," Dr. Adeline interrupts her thoughts.
Inara walks over and introduces herself to the captain.
"Hi, I’m Inara," she says.
"I’m Elizabeth, captain of squad 97. And as you might have guessed, I’ll be in charge of your evaluation test later today," she says.
"Oh, squad 97. I haven’t heard anyone go there before. I can’t believe that squad is still functioning," Dr. Adeline says. "Oh wait, I’m sorry if that sounded rude," she immediately apologizes.
"I mean, you’re right," Elizabeth says, continuing, "The squad didn’t have a captain for a long time until I was appointed. So you could say we’re making a comeback," she says with an awkward laugh.
"Oh, I see. Then I hope our little Nana can help with that while making a name for herself," Dr. Adeline says, placing her hands on Inara’s shoulders.
Inara responds with an awkward smile.
Well I didn't have much of a choice
"And also, if you don’t mind me asking, is the evaluation test difficult by any chance?" Dr. Adeline asks.
Elizabeth thinks for a moment before responding. "Honestly, the evaluation is the easy part. The hard part is getting a squad to accept your application. This largely depends on the nature of your abilities and the level of your skill. As long as your application has been accepted, even if you fail the evaluation, you usually won’t be kicked out."
"So the evaluation is just a way to confirm the skills and abilities you listed on your application," Inara says.
"Bingo," Elizabeth says, snapping her fingers.
"And if you ask me, it’s a waste of time. I already like what I see," she says, staring deeply into Inara’s eyes.
Inara looks everywhere but her eyes, avoiding the intense gaze.
Why is she looking at me like that?
Suddenly, a bolt of lightning shoots towards Elizabeth. She dispels it by biting into it, then blows out the smoke from her mouth.
Bowing her head, Inara says, "I’m so sorry. I don’t know what happened, but it wasn’t intentional."
"Take it easy," Elizabeth says. "I just tried pouring a bit of my ketsu into you. Yours rejected it. Anyone below a certain level would have fallen down with a cramp."
"Oh, still, I’m sorry," Inara says, looking to Dr. Adeline for intervention.
Finally taking her gaze off Inara, Elizabeth continues, "See, that’s all I need to do honestly. But sadly, I have to follow protocol," she says with a shrug.
"Then that’s good to hear. But is she the only one taking the test?" Dr. Adeline asks.
"Nope. She and a boy, though he’s in a different realm right now. I’ll drop her off at the base before going to get him," Elizabeth responds.
"That’s good to hear. Knowing she won’t be alone, at least," Dr. Adeline says.
A different realm? Didn’t he grow up here in Plict?
Elizabeth gets closer to Inara, inspecting her more closely, scratching her head.
Again, this woman doesn’t understand personal space. Inara thinks to herself, moving backwards awkwardly.
"Is something wrong?" Dr. Adeline asks.
"Not really. I’m just surprised that a child of Ophelia is wasting her time with a boring test," Elizabeth says.
Dr. Adeline’s eyes widen, and she pulls Inara closer while Elizabeth continues. "Like, what’s there to test? She’s already a unit," Elizabeth says.
Inara shakes her head, signaling Elizabeth to stop talking. "Please stop talking," she says silently enough for Elizabeth to notice.
"Oh, she doesn’t know," Elizabeth says.
"About the children of Ophelia? Yes, I know about that. But how do you know about Nana being one?" Dr. Adeline asks.
"She was the one who saved me that night at the camp," Inara chimes in.
"Is she the reason you chose this squad?" Dr. Adeline asks Inara.
Inara answers hesitantly, "Yes.”
"That’s dangerous, Nana. What if they accepted you just to torture you? Or if the squad is filled with Royals?" she says, pausing to look at Elizabeth.
"You, the boy—is he a Royal? And why did you accept her knowing her past?" she asks angrily.
"Hey, hey, calm down. I can promise you I don’t have any bad intentions towards her," Elizabeth says.
Dr. Adeline turns to Inara. "And you don’t have to worry about the boy. He’s not a Royal. If anything, he’s a lot like you," Elizabeth says.
"Are you sure? It’s her," Dr. Adeline whispers to Inara.
"Unfortunately, yes," Inara replies, walking towards Elizabeth. "Although, I’d like to know why you’re helping me this much," she says.
"Well, for starters, you and I share a similar ability. So you could say that piqued my interest. Your past also makes you an interesting person to work with," Elizabeth says.
Inara chuckles. "My past might be interesting, but I don’t think someone like you would have an ability as common as lightning," Inara says, twirling a bolt of lightning around her finger.
Plus, if we did have the same ability, I would be able to tell.
"So, pass the test, join the squad, and see for yourself what caught my interest," Elizabeth says with a smirk.
"Okay then," Inara replies.
"So, will you be ready to leave in 5 minutes?" Elizabeth asks.
"Yes," Inara replies.
"Good. See you in 5 minutes, then," Elizabeth says, walking away.
Left alone, Dr. Adeline asks, "Do you think we can trust her?"
"I think she was truthful throughout the conversation, except when she said we had similar abilities," Inara says.
"What makes you say that? Didn’t you resonate with her?" Dr. Adeline asks.
"I didn’t," Inara says.
"Maybe the gap in strength is too big for you to feel anything," Dr. Adeline suggests.
"No. As long as you and someone have the same ability, resonance will occur. Both sides will feel stronger. Where there’s a gap in strength, the weaker person feels their strength increase more," Inara explains.
"But you didn’t feel anything," Dr. Adeline says.
"Nothing," Inara replies.
"Should we call in the agents and cancel the whole thing?" Dr. Adeline asks.
Inara thinks for a moment. "I don’t know why she lied about that. But this is my only opportunity to become an agent. I’ll just go with it and ask her later on," she says.
Dr. Adeline sighs. "Well, it’s a help-me-help-you kind of situation. She needs members for her squad; you need a squad to become an agent. Just be safe," Dr. Adeline says.
"Sure. I’m surprisingly a difficult person to kill," Inara says jokingly.
"Please don’t joke with me like that," Dr. Adeline says, sounding stressed, while Inara chuckles.
Five minutes later, Inara meets Elizabeth outside with her bags. With a twirl of her finger, Elizabeth casually opens a portal.
With a surprised face, Inara comments,
Okay, she is definitely a captain.
Before they can leave, Dr. Adeline calls out to them. "Wait! You forgot her file!" she yells.
Turning back to face her, Elizabeth asks curiously, "Oh, what’s this for?"
"This is her medical history since I started working with her," Dr. Adeline says.
"Oh, thank you. This should save that old man from the stress of running tests. Plict needs more people like you, Dr. Adeline," Elizabeth says.
"You're welcome, and thank you for the kind words. But there are far more important people to Plict than me," Dr. Adeline says with a fake smile.
"Is it because you don’t have ketsu?" Elizabeth asks sharply.
"Yes," Dr. Adeline replies sadly. "I guess it’s easy for captains to spot, isn’t it?"
Putting a hand on Dr. Adeline’s shoulder while making eye contact, Elizabeth says, "You’re wrong. How old are you?"
"Huh?" Dr. Adeline says, looking confused and answering, "25 cycles."
With a smile, Elizabeth says, "Take it from a great-grandma like me, you’re doing amazing work as a young doctor without ketsu. This file and Inara are proof of that. Your work is impressive. Take a little pride in yourself and your work.”
"Thank you. Hearing that makes me happy," Dr. Adeline says.
"You're welcome. Now, if you'll excuse us, I still have one more person to pick up for the test," Elizabeth says, waving her hand to open a portal. Inara turns back one last time, waving goodbye before stepping into the portal.