“Please, come in.” A woman’s voice came from the room as soon as Azmel knocked.

Azmel opened the door. The whole time Narvari and Azmel walked to the Elder’s office, he had not spoken a word to her. Narvari didn’t mind — she had a lot on her mind anyway.

“Don’t keep Trixan waiting,” Azmel said in his ever-nonchalant tone.

Resisting the strong urge to cuss him out, Narvari entered the room and closed the door behind her.

As she curiously looked around her new environment, her eyes widened.

“Well, damn.” She whistled.

This was the largest and most luxurious office she had ever seen. Was that entire wall a TV? Even the furniture, paintings, and chandelier were looking down on her. With a gaping mouth, she appreciated the beauty around her like someone who had just arrived from the Stone Age. Wasn’t this office too big for one person? Or maybe it was just perfect for someone with the title of Elder.

Where was the Elder anyway?

Someone cleared their throat. Narvari spun towards the sound of the voice. She had been so engrossed in the living art surrounding her that she had not noticed the young woman sitting behind the office desk. The woman was rapidly typing something on the computer and didn’t once look up at Narvari.

Was that the Elder’s assistant or something? Narvari thought as she watched the fair-skinned woman with scarlet hair. Elder or not, one thing was clear — this woman could dress.

“Hi,” said Narvari, getting closer to the woman’s desk. So far everyone she had met here could speak English so she just went along with it.

The woman finally looked up at Narvari. “Hello there, my dear,” said she. Though her smile was small, it seemed to make her forest-green eyes even greener.

Seeing how comfortable the woman looked behind the only desk in the room, Narvari had a feeling this was her office. Could this young redhead, clearly between the ages of twenty-three and twenty-five, be the Elder then? Narvari was not exactly sure of the job description of an Elder but one thing she knew was that elders were supposed to be old.

“They said I had to see the Elder,” said Narvari, tired of all the assumptions swirling in her head.

“I guess it’s a good thing you found her then.”

Narvari quickly looked around. “Oh, where is she?” She looked back at the young woman. Amusement danced in her green eyes as if Narvari had said something funny. Suddenly it dawned on her. “Wait, are you the Elder?”

“You don’t seem quite convinced.”

Narvari realized that her face must be revealing how she truly felt. She grinned in embarrassment. “Well, I was expecting an elder.”

The Elder chuckled. “That’s alright. I’m actually older than you think.” She pointed to the chair opposite her. “Do have a seat, my dear.”

Narvari pulled the chair and sat down. The way this woman called her my dear reminded her of all those times her grandmother often called her my child.

Anana. Narvari bit her lips as an image of her dead grandmother popped up in her head. No. Now wasn’t the time for this. She only came to see the Elder so she could go back and kill Stein. End of story.

“I’m Trixan Yvis,” the Elder interrupted her depressing thoughts. “I’m the Elder of Draghein School. You’re Narvari, right?”

“Narvari Shar.” Narvari nodded. Then as an afterthought, she added. “Elder.”

The woman chuckled. “Please, just call me Trixan. You’re welcome to Draghein School, my dear.”

“I mean I wasn’t here by choice.” Narvari shrugged. “I just want to go back home. But they said I had to see you first before that could happen. So now that I have seen you, can I go now?”

The smile on Trixan’s face did not falter. It was hard to read her emotions when she smiled like that but what Narvari sensed was the quiet confidence she exuded. This was a woman who was powerful and knew it.

“My dear, I am sorry about what happened to your home.”

Narvari paused, completely taken aback by the sincerity in Trixan’s voice.

The Elder continued, “If there’s anything I can do for you — ”

“I just want to go back home.”

“I can arrange that, my dear. But are you sure you want to leave without knowing anything? I do have answers if you need them.”

She was already here. She might as well get all the answers from the one person who could give them to her. She clenched her fists.

“How are things back home? Is everyone alright?”

Hesitating for a while, as though deciding whether to answer the question or not, Trixan finally said, “We lost twenty-two people. Hundreds were gravely injured but they should be fine by now. We have an excellent team of doctors.”

They had lost twenty-two people. Dread coiled in Narvari’s stomach. Twenty-two people. For a nation that had a population of a little over three thousand, twenty-two dead people was a lot. How many more people would have died if those demon hunters hadn’t shown up? Possibly everyone. The Kirriba may be fierce warriors but even they didn’t have the means to kill demons. That would have been the end of Sharmandi. These demon hunters saved their lives. Holding a grudge against them for taking her against her will seemed childish. They did say she was gravely injured but thanks to them, she was as good as new.

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“I’m glad you’re okay, my dear,” said Trixan, “but honestly, I wasn’t expecting you to be awake so soon.”

“Why not?”

“In simple terms, your body suffered great trauma and the doctors thought it would take you at least a month to make a full recovery. You recovered fast.”

“That’s a good thing, right?”

Trixan paused thoughtfully. “Indeed. But are you certain you don’t want to rest some more? You must make a full recovery.”

“I’m fine,” said Narvari. “I just need to know who you and the others are. Are you demon hunters?”

“We do hunt demons, yes. But we are called vanquishers, not demon hunters.”

“Vanquishers?” Narvari whispered. Why did this term sound familiar? It felt like she had heard someone say it before. Was it Pheera or Yanvirrak? No. It didn’t seem so. She rubbed her temples. Something didn’t feel right in her mind.

Am I missing something?

“Are you alright, my dear?”

“Huh?” Narvari gazed at Trixan. “Oh, yes. I’m okay. I was just thinking about what you just said. So you’re vanquishers.”

Trixan nodded. “We belong to an organization known as the Ancient Order of Vanquishers.”

“The Ancient Order of what?” Narvari gulped. “Shit, I was right. I got mixed up with a cult.”

“My dear, we are the opposite of a cult.” Trixan laughed. “Cults hate us, in fact. We do kill their favorite demons after all.”

Narvari widened her eyes. “I cannot begin to tell you how wrong everything you just said sounded.” And to think that Trixan had said all that with a straight face. Exactly what kind of life were these people exposed to? Narvari shuddered at the thought. She thought her life was crazy with all the illegal hunting in the Kirriba Plains. “So,” said Narvari after regaining her composure, “does Draghein School train demon hunters?”

“Vanquishers, my dear. Not demon hunters. And yes, we train vanquishers among several other things.” Trixan fumbled through stacks of books on her desk until she finally found what she was looking for. She slid the thick brown book over to Narvari.

The book had the title Ancient Order of Vanquishers. Was the elder already giving her a reading assignment? Bold of her. Shaking her head, Narvari opened the first page.

She began to read aloud. “The Ancient Order of Vanquishers was first formed in Agon by blah blah blah.” Narvari snapped the book shut and tossed it back on the table. “I’m bored.”

“Books are wholesome, my dear.”

“I love books just fine. I’m just not in the mood for that, you know?”

Trixan nodded. “You do have a point. My apologies.” She straightened the book on the table. “I guess I have to tell you then.” She smiled. “Now you know demons do exist. They come from the Lower Domain using various means to cross over into the Outer Sphere. Many demons like the wraith lord and his legion of wraith demons are malevolent beings. Our duty as vanquishers is to protect outies from the demons.”

Narvari gaped at the woman in shock. Gradually, the ice in her brain thawed. “I’m sorry what?”

“We protect the world from demons.”

“Oh, I got that part,” said Narvari. “What I don’t get is everything else. Lower Domain, Outer Sphere, outies. What the hell are those?”

“One thing at a time, my dear.”

Narvari blinked rapidly, her mouth even opening wider. Was this woman serious? She was the one who had bombarded her with a million things at once.

Before Narvari could tell Trixan how ridiculous everything she just said sounded, Trixan said, “Outies are what we call humans from the Outer Sphere. Humans like you.”

Now she was even more confused than ever. “When you say Outer Sphere do you mean earth?.”

“Yes, my dear.”

“So why don’t you just say earth?”

“Well, because there’s more than just one.”

“One what? Earth?”

Trixan nodded. “All the Earths make up the Outer Sphere.”

Narvari almost fell out of her chair. “This must be some kind of an elaborate joke. Right?” First, she spoke of demons and demon hunters, and now she was talking about different worlds and multiple Earths. Was this place a school or a mental institution?

“It’s not as complicated as it sounds,” said Trixan.

“Clearly not.” Narvari scoffed. “So is there an Inner Sphere?”

“Absolutely,” she said. “We call people from the Inner Sphere innies.”

Narvari gaped. She had merely asked this question as a joke. She didn’t think Trixan would actually answer, and in such seriousness too. “So, what, you’re an innie?” The word sounded strange on her tongue.

“That’s right, my dear.”

Narvari shook her head, frowning. Outies. Innies. Who came up with such a lazy term? Were they supposed to be racist terms or were they merely used as a distinction based on geography? People in the Inner Sphere and people in the Outer Sphere. People. Her eyes widened. She couldn’t believe this thought even crossed her mind, but she had to ask. “Are you vanquishers aliens?”

That couldn’t be possible, right? Trixan might be paler than any white person Narvari had seen but there was nothing otherworldly about her. There was nothing extraordinary about Yanvirrak and Azmel either, though she couldn’t quite say the same about Pheera — that girl was divine. Other than their strange ability to summon magic guns, they didn’t look any different from regular people. But how else could she explain their superhuman abilities? Pheera’s superspeed… They had to be aliens.

“Aliens?” Trixan chuckled. “No, my dear. We’re human. We may not be from earth but we are of the earth.”

Narvari grimaced. My brain hurts.

“I can see you’re confused.” When Narvari said nothing, Trixan continued. “There is no need to think too much about this, my dear. Both innies and outies are biologically human, but obviously, as you may have already experienced, we are also very different. In simple terms, innies have the biological means to vanquish demons, outies generally don’t. So we do it for them by protecting the spheres.”

“The Outer and Inner Spheres,” Narvari whispered.

“Yes, my dear. Someday you will truly understand everything.”

“Um, I don’t think so,” said Narvari. “I don’t belong here. I have to go back home. You know, in the Outer Sphere.” Suddenly her eyes widened. “Wait, am I still on earth?”

“Yes.”

Narvari exhaled heavily. “Great. I should get going then.”

Trixan seemed confused by something. “My dear, what’s the last thing you remember?”

“What?”

“The last thing you remember back home.”

Narvari paused thoughtfully. “Why are you asking me that?”

“Because it seems you’re experiencing temporary amnesia.”

Narvari rubbed her temples. She had been feeling this way too. It seemed something was missing from her memories. Something she couldn’t remember had happened that night the vanquishers showed up. The last thing she remembered was Pheera putting her to sleep. Think, Narvari, think. Wait, she had woken up that night and Pheera had been surprised to see that she was awake. It was like the girl did not believe that whatever she had done to Narvari did not work.

Okay. Bits of her memories were coming to her. Remember.

Little Shar. Narvari blinked rapidly as the sinister voice echoed in her head. No one ever called her that. But someone had.

“Azmel told me you awakened.”

“Huh.” Narvari was snapped out of her reverie.

“Azmel Ray. You’ve met him, haven’t you? He’s one of my special recruits.”

Narvari nodded.

“He told me you suddenly awakened and vanquished the demon.”

“I awakened?” What was this woman talking about? And did she say she vanquished a demon? None of her bullets had worked on the demon. Something was odd.

The sinewy feel of a cold metal grated against Narvari’s skin. She looked at her fists. The memory of the metal against her skin sharpened. Wait. She remembered what that touch felt like. They were guns though unlike any other gun she had used in her life. They had suddenly appeared out of nowhere right in her hands that very night.

Now she remembered clearly. The demon. The wraith lord. The fight with Azmel. It flooded her mind like a heavy downpour. Then the memory of her shooting the demon appeared. She had killed the demon with her guns.

That was absurd. How could she possibly have produced magic guns to take down the demon? She was no vanquisher. What the hell was going on? Narvari raised her hands in front of her to take a closer look. She could remember the warm feel of the black and red energy around her hands.

“Do you remember now?”