Several years ago.

Morgan stepped through the office. She found the paper listing today’s patients on the desk, feeling bored and unhappy as usual.

It was only her first week on the job.

“Got to be a good Fieldspring and heal people,” she muttered darkly to herself. The last conversation she’d had with her mom stuck in her mind. It had not been pleasant. “Respect tradition. Be conventional. What a load of c***. Mom and Dad just don’t want me to be a ‘bad influence’ on Helen. Seriously, I read one magazine and they freak out, but when three girls at school beat me up, not a peep from them? Bulls***. At least I made them mad. Mental health is health, after all.”

She scanned the numbered list. “Huh. Most people are booked today.” She silently breathed a sigh of relief. That meant less work for her.

“Ms. Fieldspring!” a voice called. She looked up.

Mr. Ironwood, her boss, went over, wringing his hands. He was tall and imposing with black hair, silver ox horns, and a rumbling voice. “I’m sorry, but we need you to take a new patient. Number 12.”

“Sure. No problem, Boss.” Mr. Ironwood was a nice guy, she admitted. She wouldn’t have hired herself if she’d seen her own resume. “Yeah, that’s…Hey?”

Line number 12 was almost completely blank. In the “first name” field, there was a single letter, “V”. There was nothing in “last name”.

“Who the blazes is this?” Morgan demanded. “Mr. V? Ms. V? Do they not know their own name?”

“No, no, no.” Her boss looked nervous. “She’s rather famous, so she requested an anonymous private session. I’ll send her to your room. You’ll know when you see her.”

Oh great, a celebrity, Morgan thought. I bet it’s that stuck-up cat lady on social media. Just my luck. I’ll diagnose her with narcissism and prescribe some pills and plenty of shut-the-f***-up.

Aloud, she said, “Got it. You can count on me, sir.”

She sat in her room and waited. She put her phone on the table.

The door opened. “Excuse me.” A fox woman walked into the room. The door shut.

“Ah, come in. Make yourself comfortable. You must be the mysterious—” Morgan froze as she stared at the woman.

The black fox ears and multiple black tails were a dead giveaway, but at that moment it was the sky blue eyes that made her recognizable.

By the stars and skies! “Vivian Azurelane?” she choked out. I have magazines with her on the cover! The legendary hero of the Five Kingdoms War? Three-time savior of the royal family? Here? In my office?

“Just Vi is fine.” Vi settled on the couch.

Morgan could barely keep her eyes off Vi. She was more beautiful in person than the young woman even imagined. “I—gosh—uh…how can I help?”

Vi lounged in her seat and gazed at Morgan. “I need someone to talk to.”

“Sure. That’s—that’s why I’m here.” She tried to regain her professionalism and took out a notepad and a pen. “What do you want to talk about?”

The fox woman leaned against the chair. Her eyes seemed to grow distant. Her fox ears and tails drooped. “My partner is dead.”

“Uh—what?” Morgan nearly fell out of her chair in shock. “Aurelius? That’s impossible!”

Vi did not reply. She looked at Morgan wordlessly.

“I’m…I’m sorry to hear that,” Morgan finally managed to say, realizing her reaction was rather insensitive. “I didn’t realize. You clearly haven’t Faded? I thought all Anima Fade when their partners…you know.” Her mind began to go in a panic. Aaaaah! What am I doing? She’s gonna kill me! Some therapist I am!

Vi didn’t react. “I’m immortal.”

“Oh. Ha ha! Good one. Almost had me there…” Morgan chuckled weakly, wondering if Vi had taken one too many Elarrian spells to the head, or maybe a concussion from the slain prince of the Fae.

Vi just looked at her. No answer.

“…Uh? You’re…you're not kidding. But…how can anyone be immortal?” Morgan almost couldn’t believe the words coming from her mouth.

Vi swished one of her many long, large tails. She regarded Morgan calmly. “Have you heard of the legend of the Four Jewels?”

Morgan paused to think. “Well, yeah. My parents told me. The old fairytale?”

“What does it say?”

What does that have to do with anything? Morgan decided to oblige and hopefully cover her previous rudeness. “It’s about the four jewels that sit on the king’s crown. Each one represents a family which once protected the kingdom. The tale says as long as the jewels stay on the crown, the kingdom will always be protected. I never really understood it, myself.”

“What color are the jewels? What do they look like?”

“Huh? What?” Now Morgan was doubly confused. “I mean, it depends on the story, right? Um…I remember a picture book in school.”

“I mean on the real king’s crown,” Vi explained patiently.

“Oh! Sorry. Right. Um…There’s a violet amethyst. A red ruby. A green emerald. A blue sapphire. Why? If you don’t mind me asking?”

Vi’s tail flicked in the air for a few moments of silence. “Long ago, a spell was cast on four families chosen to protect the kingdom. The four houses were given infinite longevity and a special power unique to them.”

“Infinite longevity?”

“It simply means if someone isn’t killed outright, they can live forever. The Four Houses were Violetlight, Rubyway, Emeraldnight, and Azurelane.”

“I’m not sure I understand,” Morgan stammered. She felt out of her depth. “The family names make sense though.”

“The Four Jewels were those Four Houses. That legend is real. Before the System, we had the Jewels. But everyone else is dead now. The System was made to replace the families.”

Vi fixed her eyes on Morgan, who was wide-eyed at this newfound knowledge. “I am the last and only direct descendant of the Four Houses. The last Azurelane.”

“Oh. Wow.” That was all Morgan could say.

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Vi stretched. “I suppose everything I say here is confidential?”

“Of course, Vi,” Morgan stammered, staring. She cleared her throat. “Ahem. Let’s get back on track. You wanted to talk about your partner?”

“It’s fine. I just wanted someone to know the truth. Tell me about yourself.” Vi was watching the bunny girl closely.

“Me? If you’re sure.”

Morgan fidgeted awkwardly. I feel like I’m the one being interviewed here. “Okay, I’m Morgan Fieldspring. I live with my mom, dad, and my baby sister, Helen. I’m in my senior year at Anima Academy, and I really want to be an adventurer when I graduate, but—”

She broke off. Vi said nothing for a while. Morgan tried to distract herself and think of something to put about the patient on her notepad. Lost her partner? Immortal? Kind of hot? I can’t put any of that.

“You seem unhappy.” Vi smiled at her in a friendly way.

Morgan felt her heart hammering in her chest. “No! What are you talking about?” She tried to cover up and smile. “I’m sure whatever my problems are, they’re nothing compared to what you’ve been through.”

“What happened?” Vi asked quietly. “I want to help. I feel less bad when I’m helping someone.”

Vi looked into her cocoa eyes. The expression on the fox woman’s face was gentle and sincere.

Morgan couldn’t remember the last time someone had looked at her like that. She felt the words tumbling out of her mouth before she could stop herself.

“I want to be an adventurer, but my parents want me to be a full-time healer because it’s a stupid family tradition.

“At school people always make fun of me and fight me, and I don’t really have friends because I get in trouble a lot, and even if I graduate I’m scared I’ll never find a partner.”

She was blabbering now, she knew it. Her feelings were spilling out like a flood.

“I don’t mind helping people but I feel so trapped and lonely doing this all the time. My mom and dad keep telling me to stop doing witchcraft, stop training, stop making amulets and designing clothes and sneaking over to the coven, but they don’t really understand me.

“I want to be free and wild and be me, but I’m—I’m different from everyone else.”

Vi stood up and approached the bunny girl. Morgan looked up and gulped as Vi’s tall figure leaned over her. She felt her heart rate elevate dramatically. Elements. I really made a fool of myself. Of course I have to screw up in front of a beautiful Anima like her.

Vi looked down. “I see. That’s hard. I’m sorry if I misunderstand this, but do you like women? Is that part of why you feel no one is like you?”

Morgan hung her head in shame. I guess I was too obvious. She had been waiting for that hammer to drop. She’d tried to avoid talking about it. “Yes. Ever since my parents found out…things have sucked. The teachers don’t get me either. I understand if you don’t. It’s super rare after all, and most people think I’m pretending or I have a mental problem—”

Morgan suddenly felt several long black tails wrap around her as Vi pulled her into a hug.

“Huh—?”

It was a warm, comforting embrace. Vi’s arms and tails were around her as she looked into Morgan’s eyes. I’m here for you, they seemed to say.

Morgan’s brown eyes filled with tears. She clung to Vi and put her head against Vi’s chest like a child. She wasn’t sure how long she lay there.

Vi released her. The fox woman took the notepad and wrote on it, then handed her the sheet. “I work at a cafe. Here’s my phone number. Call whenever you need me.”

A number? She gave me her number? Morgan stared at the paper in dazed confusion.

“It was good meeting with you, Morgan. Let’s talk again.”

With that, Vi strode out of the room.

----------------------------------------

When Morgan returned to campus in the afternoon, she barely concentrated on her surroundings, a wide smile on her face. She packed her backpack and headed into the bathroom to wash up. Only then did she become dimly aware of three other students hovering near the stalls. A mocking female voice called to her.

“Hey, freak!”

She felt her heart quicken and her hands balled up into fists. She looked in the mirror to see a trio of Anima grouped together.

The speaker was a cat girl in the center, Natarah, a tall Siamese with dark ears and almond blue eyes. Morgan felt not only intimidated but extremely embarrassed, as her classmate was very pretty. Flanking Natarah on the left was a grinning and muscular tiger-eared girl, Giann, and on the right was Ummie, a black-haired wolf girl with predatory yellow eyes.

“Oh. You guys again.” Morgan tried to keep her voice steady, but inside she was trembling. “Hey, let’s just not go through this anymore, okay? We’re all gonna graduate and you guys are going to get amazing jobs fighting monsters and criminals and get awesome partners. You can laugh at my face whenever you want. Deal?”

Natarah arched an eyebrow. “You really think we’re going to let you get away that easily? A freak like you can’t score that high in combat training and make us all look like fools!”

Are you serious? Aren’t your scores a little higher than mine? What’s my training got anything to do with you? Morgan turned quickly, trying to dash towards the exit, but Giann and Ummie pounced. The tiger girl glowed with orange aura and the wolf girl green aura, and they grabbed one of each of Morgan’s arms.

“Hey! Cut it out! Please!” Morgan struggled, but the tiger girl punched her repeatedly in the stomach while the wolf girl elbowed her.

“Ack! Urk!”

Natarah strutted over and slapped Morgan in the face. “Don’t go around thinking you’re anything, got it? You’re a loud-mouthed troublemaker who’s just going to make all of us graduates ashamed of ourselves!”

“I’m sorry!” Morgan cried. “Okay, I say bad stuff sometimes, that’s my fault! Please. Let me go!”

“Drag her in!” Natarah ordered her two friends, and they yanked her roughly towards one of the stalls.

Skies, are they really going to dunk my head in the toilet again? It’s just like last year. Maybe I haven’t changed at all. Mom would be ashamed.

She heard footsteps outside. Probably yet another passerby hurrying to go home, ignorant of what was going on in the room. Morgan knew this late in the day, there were hardly any staff and students in school. The last time she’d tried to call for help anyways, Ummie had squeezed her neck with Gianna pinning her down, and Natarah had let her go just short of strangling her.

The door to the stall banged open. The tiger girl smacked her roughly against a wall and Natarah kicked her in the back. Morgan’s head banged against the lid of the toilet. Her head swam and her chest ached.

“Got to teach you a lesson in respect,” the cat girl said in a disapproving tone. “Giann, hold her down. Ummie, I want you to shove her in the water and make her apologize again after she comes up. We’ll do it, oh, maybe five times at least.”

The lock to the stall door slid shut with a dreadful click. “Wait!” Morgan exclaimed. “I could help you! I could get you into a really high position—I know Azurelane!”

The three stopped for a moment, confusion on their faces. Morgan hastily reached into her pocket and dug out her phone, tapping the number.

“Uh-huh. Right. Like I’d believe that.” Natarah smirked and knocked the phone out of Morgan’s hand with a swipe of her tail. It skittered onto the tiled floor, out of reach, buzzing. The wolf girl barked out a sharp laugh, and the tiger girl chortled.

Morgan stared at the phone, suddenly feeling helpless. All the day’s happiness seemed like a silly, distant dream.

Natarah’s eyes glinted. “We’ll do it another ten times, because you thought you could be such a smart-a**.”

The stall door exploded in a violent flash of blue light.

“Aaaah! What the—”

A fox woman stood in the doorway. Her eyes were glowing and a sapphire aura flooded the room. Her long brown hair swayed slightly in the wind as the remains of the door clattered on the ground. Twelve black tails trailed behind her.

Natarah and her two friends gaped in shock.

Vivian Azurelane looked at the three in silence for a moment. “I’m disappointed. Aurelius and I did not risk our lives on the battlefield so Anima could be petty and hurt each other.”

Her tone was light, but it had a sharp edge to it.

Natarah and the two others were too frightened to say anything. Morgan looked at Vi in silence.

“Let her go.”

Natarah, Giann, and Ummie complied, pulling Morgan away from the toilet. Vi wrapped her tails around Morgan and drew her closer to herself.

She addressed the three again. “If you can’t care for others, you don’t deserve to be an adventurer. Much less a Hero.”

Vi turned away from them, pulling Morgan along with her. “If you three try this again, I will personally request the school principal to remove you and give the King a note of your performance. Morgan, I’ll be attending your graduation.”

She left the room without another word.