It was late morning, meaning most students within the academy were in their classes. Ferain, however, was walking through the halls of the school, a stack of papers in her arms as she moved around. Her first stop was the nurse’s office, where she was supposed to meet with Mr. Ita, the school nurse. As she slid the door open, she saw the plump, blonde-haired man wrapping bandages around a girl’s leg. Ita wore a pair of jeans, a collared shirt, and a white coat. The girl was wearing a gym uniform of some blue shorts and a white t-shirt. She had a dirty shade of platinum for her own hair that was tied back behind her head in an arching ponytail. Ita’s hair wasn’t entirely pure gold either. He had darker strands of black intertwined with it, and his scruffy beard reflected it.
“Hello, Hirigaya.” said the girl, noticing her arrival before Ita did.
“Hey.” Fera said in response. She didn’t really know the girl, but she’d seen her around the school from time to time. “What happened?”
“Fell… scraped my leg.” answered the student, giving an awkward, possibly embarrassed smile. “I’m a bit clumsy."
“Yes, well… I recommend working on that before you get seriously injured.” said the nurse, finishing with the bandages around her leg, after having put some ointment on the wound. He stood up and put his hands on his hips. “Good to go, Ms. Xhun. Remember, be more careful. If this keeps up, you’ll be more like a mummy than anything.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.” said the girl, rising to test her leg. After a couple of taps of her foot against the ground to test its stability, she began the steady limp towards the door. “Bye, Hirigaya.” she said, waving.
“Bye.” she replied, before turning to Ita, who eyed her curiously. “The headmaster wanted me to bring you these.”
“Ah, yes. Some of the files I asked for. Thank you, Hirigaya.”
“No problem.” she said, straightening the remainder of her pile and pulling them close to her chest again. “If you don’t mind me asking, what are they?”
“Just some paperwork I requested from the mainland. Really, it’s some updates on some medical supplies they're developing, and I wanted to do some research before taking the request to the board to start stocking some of them.”
“What kind of supplies?”
“Oh, some very helpful devices, like automated stitching machines, some healing pads that can apparently heal a wound in a matter of seconds, things like that. Most of them are only in their prototype phases, but some of them also sound quite promising. Anyway, if that’s all, you’re free to go. It seems like you have a few more stops yet and I'd hate to hold you up.” he said, falling into his leather seat and setting the files down on his desk, which was riddled with folders and other stacks of papers.
“Of course, sir. Have a good day.” she said, giving a faint bow of her head before leaving the room.
She next made for one of the teachers on the first floor, and one that was currently having a planning period. Ferain reached the classroom and knocked lightly on the door before sliding it open. She stuck her head in and saw a petite woman whose style of dress was always a bit too promiscuous to be considered the proper attire of a teacher. Her pants were slightly low cut at the waist, and would probably show a bit of the top of her underwear if her loose-fitting button-up shirt didn’t go down past it. She had the top-most buttons of said shirt undone, showing a small portion of her bra if she leaned over just enough and in the right position. She had a wild head of black hair, and her eyes were sharp, intimidating, and a breathtakingly beautiful shade of cerulean.
“Hirigaya?” asked Professor Sara Yakuma, who seemed stunned to see her in this room for the first time since the advancement test the previous year.
“Hello, Professor.” Fera said softly, closing the door behind her. “The headmaster asked me to deliver some papers to you. I believe it’s stuff about the team event coming up next month.”
“That would make sense. We need to start making preparations for that as soon as possible. Hand them over.” Fera relinquished the papers that were all stapled together and pulled the now minuscule pile back to her chest. “Yeah, that’s what I thought.” Sara murmured as she scanned the page.
“Something wrong, Professor?” asked Ferain.
“Safety precautions. We need to keep making more and more of them now that Itani is around. He’s been ordered to rat us out if we slip up even once. If we show a single sign of neglect for the students’ safety, he’s to report it to the board. It’s becoming a real pain in my ass. And Guji is pushing all of this on me because I guess I’m his personal workhorse or something.” She then glanced up at Ferain. “Tell him I complained about it and I’ll take you to the outer atmosphere and drop you, understand me?”
“Perfectly,” said Ferain.
“Good. Well, you’re free to get back to him, then. Appreciate you bringing me more work.”
“Don’t mention it.” Fera shook her head as she left the room, moving on towards her last destination.
Just as she was reaching a class on the second floor, a little bell and melody played through the speakers, dismissing everyone to Lunch. She let the other students file out, including one with black hair and bone-colored eyes. He gave her an anxious look while passing, but he said nothing to her, as she thought would be the case. When the last student cleared out, she entered, not bothering to close the door this time. She didn’t want a single second wasted when it came to leaving this room.
“Ah, Ferain.” said Seven Itani, with his typical hissing tones. “You missed a valuable lesson today, I’m afraid. We’ll have to catch you up in the morning, during the physical exam.”
“I’m highly anticipating it.” Fera growled, holding out her final few papers. “Here, the reference sheets you requested.”
“Yes, the ones to the security measures being taken across the island. Thank you, Ferain.” He then set the files down on the desk he currently leaned against. Afterward, he eyed her with an odd hunger behind his crimson irises. It was unnerving, to say the least, but it no longer had the same effect on her as it once did. She stood her ground and kept his gaze without faltering. “So, how is it being his pet?”
“I asked for it, and I’m not his pet, Itani, not like I was with you.” she spat, glowering at him. She felt her anger rising as currents of electricity ran through her veins.
“No? Well, even so. It would still bother me to be working under a liar. I assume you know the truth now, yes? The man that’s been lying to you since before you were even born. A shame that you chose him over me. You could have had the world, Ferain.”
“At the cost of my humanity, yeah. What a wonderful price to pay. And how dare you call him a liar when all you ever did was–”
“I wouldn’t continue with that if I were you.” he interrupted. “I’m going to burst your little bubble quite rapidly, girl. You have been lied to your whole life. Your dead mother lied to you. Your psychotic false father lied to you. Even the man that created you lied straight to your face on multiple occasions. Everyone has lied to you, or, everyone besides me. Not one word I said to you was a lie, Ferain. In fact, every promise I made was kept. You wanted power, I gave it to you. You wanted Kiko, I offered him up on a silver platter. You wanted your friends’ safety, I even let that slide, despite you cowering out of your end of the deal. I would even go as far to say that you, my dear, are the only liar in this room. But, no matter.” he said, smiling in a way that made Ferain sick to her stomach. “Everything is still going well, isn’t it? You have your popularity, you have your friends, and now you even have a loving father figure in your life again. It must be nice to be you, Ferain. I’m actually envious.” He then tapped a finger on the top of the papers she’d given him. “Well, you fulfilled your task. You should scurry along now to join your friends while you can, and come tomorrow, we’ll get you sorted out on your missing work. Bye now.” he said, clearly dismissing her.
Ferain stood there motionless for a moment, gritting her teeth as sparks of sapphire electricity coursed around her sporadically. She felt a rising desire to say something.
“Oh, you’re still here?” he asked, eyeing her curiously. “I did dismiss you, Hirigaya, in case you didn’t hear me properly. I know that you’ve recently developed an issue with following my instructions.”
“You’re sick.” Ferain murmured, staring into his dark, fiery eyes.
“Am I?” he asked her. “What was it you just said to me when I asked about your current position with Guji? You said it was your choice, didn’t you? Tell me, Hirigaya, was everything we did not by your choice? I gave you the option to take my offer or to walk away. You chose to do as I said. You wanted to test yourself so I gave you access to a place where you could do so freely. You chose to go there. You came to me when everyone else left you in the gutter, and you asked if I could find that boy. It was your decision to go and kill him, not mine.”
“You manipulated me.”
“You keep saying that.” Itani said, shaking his head as he turned and began organizing the files on his desk, seemingly ignoring her presence. “I did promise you the things you wanted, and I did tell you what you wanted to hear, but that’s how an agreement works, isn’t it? One party has something to offer and sometimes they need to sweeten the deal a bit. Sometimes, they need to persuade another party to take the offer, like tempting a fish with a bait the fisherman knows they enjoy. Using bread to catch a shark just isn’t realistic. I had something to offer, and you, the shark, would not bite my hook without sufficient bait, isn’t that right? Yes, in a way I did manipulate you, but at the end of it all, what does that matter?”
He turned back and eyed her viciously, as if he was an entirely different person than before. He had such a volatile look behind his eyes that Ferain couldn't help but put a foot back towards the door, preparing herself to flee if need be. It was a look she’d never seen him wear before.
“It doesn’t matter if you were manipulated by me, or by anyone else. What matters is that you still chose. I’m sorry, Ferain, but really, that’s just how it is. It’s best if you just sit back and accept what you did, and what you failed to do. Tsk. What a shame too. You had so much potential. We could have really used you.”
“The Enforcers?” she asked.
“Sure.” he answered, grinning. “No worries though. As I said, things are still going well, and I didn’t solely mean for you. You’ll come crawling back someday soon, just you wait. The only difference from then and now is that when that time comes, you will sorely regret now, I promise you that.”
“If you’re threatening me, I–”
“I’m not threatening anybody. What need would there be for something as trivial as that? If I wanted to kill you, or worse, maim you, I could do so right now and nobody, not even you, would be able to stop me. This is just a warning, Ferain, a prediction, if you will. Just so you know, my offer is still on the table, though it is limited on time. Come back before it’s too late, or there will be blood on all of our hands. Now, you are dismissed, Hirigaya. If I have to tell you again, you’ll have detention with me for the rest of the month. Get out of my classroom.” Ferain glowered at him for a second before turning towards the exit. Just as she stepped a foot out into the hall, she heard him call her name, stopping her. “The Advancement Test is soon, yeah? I wish you the best of luck in it. Be careful to not get carried away. It would be a shame if somebody got hurt.”
She continued into the corridor and slid the door shut behind her. As she did, she noticed her hand was shaking terribly as blue static crackled around it. It was her anger again. She felt her blood rushing through her body, and she felt like a boiling pot that was about to spill over. She sucked in a calming breath before turning away from the door. While taking a step forward, still looking down, she didn’t notice that somebody else was walking back towards her. They collided, catching her off guard.
“Sorry.” she said, looking up at the person she ran into. “I wasn’t pay…” Ferain stopped as she saw Marrow staring down at her.
“Hirigaya,” he said in greeting.
“I saw you leave.” she stated, regaining her balance and giving him an odd look. It wasn’t one of hatred or distaste, just a confused, almost embarrassed glance. Things have never been great with Marrow, but after this year started, things were especially strange. Actually, in just the last couple of months, she didn’t know what kind of relationship they had.
“I forgot my bag.” he said, looking away from her while stuffing his hands in his pockets.
“Well… I’m sorry for bumping into you.” she then said, straightening and preparing to go around him. As she did, he reached out and grabbed her arm, which almost caused her to push all of her power into him. It wasn’t the touch that made her uncomfortable, it was the fact that it was him that was touching her. She didn’t trust him, which was understandable given most of their history. When she saw the look on his face, however, she held back her powers. Her own expression of concern and wariness softened into a more cautious curiosity. “What do you want?” she asked him.
“We aren’t friends, Hirigaya, probably never will be, but… I want us to at least be even.”
“What does that even mean?” she questioned.
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
“It means that I don’t want any more bad blood between us. We’re even, got it? We’re square. The past is in the past, okay?”
“And you’re just deciding that for yourself, are you?” asked Ferain, pulling her arm free from his grip. “Who said that I’m ready to call us even? You tormented me last year. You let Raven ambush me on Halloween. The only thing I did to you was beat you in a few sparring lessons. If you think that makes us even then you have another think coming.” Fera spat, before letting her growl become more soft and somber. She tried her best to let her anger drain away from her face and tense muscles. “We’re more than even.” she added, holding out her hand. “I told you, I never wanted bad blood to begin with. In fact, I never got the chance to apologize for everything this year. In all of our matches for Itani, I’ll admit I got too carried away. There were times where I lost my grip on who I was, and I lashed out unnecessarily. I’m sorry.”
Marrow stared at her for a moment, dumbfounded, but eventually, he took her hand and shook it. “All good, Prodigy. I deserved it in a way. I needed to be put in my place.”
“No, you didn’t. Not like that. Nobody deserves that. I heard you’re going out with Mio now too. Can you pass an apology along to her? I… I never find the courage to do it during class. I almost… I don’t even want to think about what I nearly did to her. If not for you stepping in when you did, I might have seriously hurt her. I wasn’t in control of myself. It was one of those times where I slipped.”
“You sound like you were going crazy, Hirigaya,” said Marrow, grinning strangely at her.
“Perhaps I was. I definitely wasn’t entirely sane. Anyway, I’m trying to fix all of what I did, so, if you wouldn’t mind…”
“I’ll pass it along, and thank you. It’s weird to be on the receiving end of an apology for a change. I’ve always been the one causing harm or doing things wrong. Well, message received. I’ll let Mio know too. I’m sure she’ll be happy to hear it. Later, Hirigaya.” he said, walking towards Itani’s class.
“Marrow.” she called out. “I don’t think it’s impossible for us to be friends.”
He smiled at her before entering the room, and Ferain continued towards her next destination. Normally, she would be heading towards the cafeteria around this time, but today was different. She already told Anita that she had other plans. Her partner asked to join her, as Fera knew she would, but the person Ferain was meeting wasn’t exactly good around people. Fera was really the only exception, for some reason. After climbing the steps towards the school roof, she opened a metal door to reveal a wonderful bit of scenery. Some people might not like it up there, but for Ferain, it was like a nice break from everything below it. There were quite a few planters positioned on the roof, most of which came about recently as the gardening club took it upon themselves to add some color to the area. There were flowers of all different sizes and shapes, as well as a few seeds that have yet to produce anything.
Some benches were scattered around, and stuffed on a side off limits to students were a collection of large AC units. There was also a metal railing set up around the perimeter, which Fera mostly assumed was to prevent people from accidentally falling over the side of the building. It certainly wasn’t there to prevent intentional jumps, as it was far too easy to climb over the waist-high set of horizontal bars. The door squeaked as it closed behind Ferain, leaving her surprisingly alone. It wasn’t the most popular place during lunch, but there usually were a handful of people enjoying the weather. Of course, the skies were a dull gray at the moment, and there was a forecast of light rain showers all throughout the day, so maybe the vacated nature of the roof was to be expected.
She continued forward, approaching the railing, allowing the faintly blowing wind to ruffle her hair and skirt while taking in the slight scent of the ocean that was carried with it. It only took a second for her to feel a minute surge of electrical power from behind, causing her to smile as she glanced over her shoulder.
“Hi, Senna.” she said kindly. Senna had a light crackle of black and purple lightning radiating around her, her amethyst eyes glowing faintly.
She was wearing an oversized button-up shirt, though that might have been a small understatement. It was so large on the girl that it almost went past her skirt, and the sleeves completely hid her arms within them. She had both held up to hide the lower half of her face, but even with her mouth hidden, Fera knew she was grinning too. She also had on the black skirt of the school uniform, and beneath it she wore a pair of slightly sheer white tights.
“Hi.” Senna said in a whisper.
She then looked around cautiously, probably to see if there were any other people around. Afterwards, she vanished and reappeared by Fera’s side in an instant. Now that she was closer, Fera noticed that the girl’s face was blushing brightly, and that she seemed shyer than usual.
“What’s up?” asked Ferain.
“Yuni took my jacket. She said it would make me braver. She did give me this shirt though so that’s something. ‘Baby steps’ she said.”
“Who’s Yuni?”
“My partner. She’s always trying to find ways to get me out of my shell. I don’t like it. My jacket is special, I like having it.”
“How so?”
“The lining helps to keep me more… contained.” Senna muttered. “It helps with a lot of things, really, but it’s okay. Yuni is only trying to help, and I love her for it.”
“Contained? So, without it, you what, release more power?”
“Sort of. It keeps my power in and helps keep other signals out, though not completely. Right now, I’m a lot more sensitive to electrical signals. You’re even pretty bad today, Ferain, and you’re usually pretty good to be around.”
“Sorry, then. If it’s too much a problem, we can do this another day.”
“No, it’s fine. I asked you to skip your lunch, after all. It would be mean of me to leave you after arranging this.”
“It’s really no big deal. I’ll just go back to–”
“No!” Senna shouted, or her version of shouting anyway. Really, while it was loud to her, it was still about on par with most people’s normal volume. “I promised so I’m going to do it.” she added from behind her raised sleeves.
After which, she held up a hand so that one of her sleeves fell down to her elbow. Around her forearm, she had on a black bracer that was made out of some sort of plastic or polymer with some black padding on the inside for comfort. It had an open top where the straps were, and on the underside was a solid plate with a circular bulge and a small opening near the wrist. Senna then reached over and began undoing the straps before handing it over to Ferain.
“Here, I said I’d let you try it out.”
“Really, Senna, you don’t have to. These couldn't have been cheap, right? You can’t just give me one of them.”
“I’m letting you borrow it. Put it on.” she said, her eyes narrowing slightly in presumed agitation.
“Fine, if you insist.” Fera sighed, accepting the brace and putting it on around her right forearm. “So, how does it work?” she then asked, turning her arm over to examine the strange device.
“It’s a special metal. It’s super conductive, very strong, and very flexible. It’s kind of like metal thread or cord. Just put some power into it and you can control it. It’s a bit tricky to get the hang of, but you’re super talented so I know you’ll get it pretty quick.”
“Hmm.” Ferain hummed, letting some of her power flow into the spool of metal wire that was hidden within the black plating. Inside the miniature hole, there was a blue light illuminating the darkness, and shortly after, the black metal began to unwind through it. As she ran her powers through it, it remained straight, almost like a wrist-mounted blade, though much less sharp. However, it only took a second before her concentration faltered and the wire went from a sturdy blade to a limp piece of rope. It fell and hit the ground as Ferain let out an aggravated sigh. “It is a bit tricky.” she said. She focused on reeling in the wire but again, it only moved an inch before her power snapped.
“Focus on the reel if you want to wind it up.” advised Senna, holding both hands in front of her face again. Ferain gave her a curious look. “If you want to wind or unwind, you have to focus on the reel itself. If you want to control the wire, you have to focus on the wire. It’s all about power management and control.”
“What if I want to unwind it while manipulating the thread?”
“Then you have to focus on both, and they take different amounts of power to move them. It’s like I said, it takes time to master. If you can learn how to use that in tandem with your blinking, you’ll be able to do all kinds of things. Plus, it’s pretty handy if you don't want to get up to grab something.”
Ferain gave the item another confused glance before looking back at Senna. “Are you sure, Senna? What if you need it?”
“I’ll be fine with one, and besides, I already have Daddy making you some. I told him that I met another lightning user that was super strong and he pretty much jumped at the opportunity. They’ll be here in a week or so, so I wanted you to get used to it before they got here. You can probably use it in the Advancement Test too, right? You’ll get more use out of it than I will.”
Fera then scratched the back of her head with her left hand. “So, what do you do with them anyway? If you can just blink around, I don’t see a need to use them to climb or swing with, and with our powers, we don’t really need to use them as weapons.”
“That’s where you’re wrong, Ferain.” said Senna. “We’re not all like you or that red-eyed boy. Some of us aren’t all that strong. I can move really fast, but I can’t really hit anybody with that kind of power.”
“Have you ever tried?” asked Ferain. “I mean, I get that some people have specialties and stuff, but I was able to do everything Yarin could, and I can do the same things as you. With enough practice, I can probably even do what Tianna was able to do. Even she admitted that with enough time, it was possible. Maybe I should start training you how to put your power into your hands and stuff.”
Senna quickly shook her head. “Impossible. I can’t hit people. I’ve tried. Of course I have. Every time I throw a punch, I always hold back before hitting anything. I can’t even hit a box without flinching. Really, I’m not much of a fighter, so I use these. Watch.”
Senna turned towards one of the nearby benches and her eyes became extremely focused, like a sniper taking aim at an enemy. She held out her left hand and then, with a swift swing, the wire unleashed like a whip, though instead of rope or wire, it resembled a bright, sparking, purple laser. The cord slipped right through a corner of the bench, like it was a hot knife against melted butter. Fera’s eyes widened as she looked cautiously towards the now once again timid-natured Senna, who seemed back to her usual self. It was almost eerie with how calm, innocent, and naive she presently looked. It made Ferain give a quick prayer to never have Senna as an enemy.
“Uhh, Senna,” started Ferain.
“Yes?”
“I think that’s a bit worse than punching something.” Fera pointed out.
“Oh, of course it is. I don’t ever use that much power against other people. That would be extremely reckless and dangerous. These aren’t toys, Ferain, don’t forget that. If you do use them in a fight, you need to be flawless with them or you might really hurt somebody.”
For a moment, Ferain was tempted to give the bracer back and wipe her hands clean of it. Another part of her, however, was thrilled to have another thing to try to learn. She smiled and gave a whip of her hand as well, but her thread didn’t come out with anywhere near enough force or power to do any more harm than smacking the bench. It didn't even leave a scratch against the surface.
“We’ll keep practicing, but I recommend using a different target other than school property. We could get into trouble.” said Senna, apparently forgetting that it was she who first targeted the bench.
Ferain shook her head and decided to not argue. Instead, she spent the entirety of her lunch break on studying under Senna, and copying her examples whenever she was willing to give one. Later that night, she was worn out at the dinner table. Her head was resting against the wooden surface as her right arm lay in front of her face. She focused on the bracer still clasped there, wondering how best to master this new tool of hers.
“It’s pretty neat.” said Anita, setting a bowl of instant noodles in front of her before taking her own seat.
“It is, but it’s still a bit difficult. I’m surprised I’m having trouble with it. I thought I had pretty good control lately. I mean, I can even make shapes and stuff, and move them around. This is essentially the same thing that Professor Yakuma was teaching last year.”
“Well, I don’t have your powers, but I’m assuming that things aren’t the same. You said that Yakuma was having you put power into light bulbs and plasma balls and stuff, right?”
“Yeah. So?”
“So, with those, you weren’t manipulating things, you were just giving them some power. You were pretty much just acting like an outlet or whatever. Now, you’re trying to move things around by using precise amounts of lightning. It even sounds sort of complicated. Honestly, it makes me glad I have the powers I do. They were difficult to get down at first, but all I have to do is move some air around. It’s pretty simple by comparison.”
Fera sighed before sitting up straight, readying herself to eat her dinner. Just as Ferain was about to take a mouthful of noodles, Anita began to speak again.
“So, the Advancement Test is in a few days. I know you’ve been setting up the matches, but you never mentioned if you were participating.”
Fera slurped up some noodles before nodding her head. “I am.”
“Going for Level-1 this time?” asked Anita.
“Nope.” Fera answered while going for more noodles. After another mouthful, she swallowed and smiled. “I’m an examiner this time. Guji said that I can be one if I wanted, though it didn’t really appeal to me for a while.”
“What changed your mind?”
“I saw a name that interested me. She’s a first-year so I wasn’t sure if Guji would let me do it, but he eventually gave in. Obviously, he wants her to earn her spot so he didn't want somebody too strong to test her, but he said as long as I hold back just enough to still give her a tough fight, it should be fine.”
“Who is it?” asked Anita.
“Her name’s Kitari.”
“Kitari?” asked Anita. “I met a girl named Kitari not too long ago. She was pretty cute. What about her got your attention though? You don’t know her, do you?”
Ferain gave a serious look as she glanced down at her ramen. “No, but I know her name. I need to talk to her.”
“So fighting her in the test is what you decided was the best place to talk?” Anita asked, somewhat laughing. “You’re a funny girl, Fera. You’re supposed to fight, not talk.”
"I know, but you’d be surprised what a fight can lead to. Victor didn’t like me until our fight was over, and then he was like a brother to me.”
“So you’re hoping for something similar?”
“Yeah, I am. I want to get to know her a bit, and hopefully, I can get to know somebody else in the process. I don’t like how things ended last year, I never have. I feel like I failed at something… or failed somebody.” Fera’s tone turned dark and grim, as she stared with narrowed, furious eyes at her reflection in the broth.
“Fera?” questioned Anita, leaning slightly forward in her seat.
Fera then looked up and forced a smile. “It’s nothing. Just something stupid, probably. Either way, I was surprised you didn’t sign up. I expected you to go for lvl-1 this year, for sure. Maple and Victor didn’t sign up either.”
“Well, they’re too busy with… well… each other, I guess,” said Anita. “As for me, I personally don’t care. Lvl-2 is high enough, after all, and in the end, it is just a number. I think our grades will do us better outside of school than our level, so that’s what I’m focusing on.” Anita stopped, gave her a look as if she wanted to ask something, but then shook her head. “I’ll have my answers soon enough, Hirigaya. No point in pestering you, I suppose.”
“Glad you agree.” Fera said, grinning.
After their dinner was done and their baths were finished, Fera found herself on the rooftop of the dorm, well after midnight. She stood there in a pair of black shorts and a matching tank-top, her eyes narrowed and focused on the horizon of stars and the full moon that illuminated the sky. She looked down at the brace around her wrist before giving one final look at the district around her. A second after, she stepped forward and vanished over the edge of the roof in a flash of blue and white.