Going back to Greece with Maria had been an interesting experience to say the least. We didn’t really talk on the plane ride over, apart from what was needed for the mission.

Heh. The mission. It felt so odd to talk like this. Like I was a proper hero, or a secret agent. Not only that, but I was actually working alongside Maria Papadopoulou. If someone, anyone, had told my younger self that this would happen, I would have called them mad.

But here we were, with no arguments or explosions. Not yet, anyway.

We passed the massive, intricate church. It cast a shadow over us as we went behind it, and into the web of alleyways that Jensen’s office was in.

“You know,” said Maria, speaking in Greek, “I was led to believe there’d be some sort of banter. Some back and forth. That you’re good at it. That you’re very ετοιμόλογος.”

“Who told you that?”

“Ahmed.”

“Of course he did. Compared to him, I am the master of words.” I chuckled. I then turned to her. A series of thoughts I didn’t like started popping into my head. Memories of both lives. Memories I couldn’t forget, no matter how much I wanted to.

“I’d rather not be here.” She turned to me. “Trust me, I’d rather be anywhere else. It’s probably the same for you. But it’s the right thing and isn’t that what heroes are supposed to do?”

“Of course.” She hadn’t forgiven me. She couldn’t. And I understood that. But at times like this, when I was reminded of it, I couldn’t help but feel a flash of guilt, sadness and so many other emotions.

Another act of evil in a life full of them.

And then we made it. In front of the almost hidden building. The alleyway was so narrow that we barely managed to fit in while next to each other. And I opened the door. I clenched my fists.

The fact was, I’d lied to everyone.

Jensen had packed up all of his things. What we were here to get wasn’t his. It was mine. Or rather, something I’d left here. In my previous life.

The letters spelling Jensen’s name were no longer on the brown door. But their imprint was, so that you could slightly spell it out. It made sense. This had been the man’s office for nearly fifty years. Even as the city and the world had changed and grown, this had stayed here.

My eyes flicked back to Maria. I flexed my fingers.

“You-you probably should look away. I’m going to use my power.”

“I’m not a scared little girl anymore. Just do what you have to. If you’re going to act like this, why did you ask me to come with you? Why not any of your little posse?”

“It could be dangerous. As for why you specifically? You’ll see.”

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“Oh, because that’s not vague as shit.”

I didn’t answer. Instead, I just took a deep breath. Took out my glove, and held onto the lock. A small red line surrounded it. Then with a bang, it was destroyed. From the corner of my eye, I saw Maria flinch. But I didn’t say anything.

We went inside and the room, as I expected, was completely empty. Nothing was there but the slightly yellow walls and the small window in the back that let in all the sunlight.

“And there’s nothing here. Congratulations Alex, you did it again!”

“I know. I was there when he was packing his things.”

I walked forward, to just in front of the window and squatted down. There were some barely noticeable ridges there. A small rectangle, just big enough for my hand to fit on top of it. Even I’d miss them if I weren’t looking for them. And so, this was it. The moment of truth.

“Every person in there,” I said, trying my best to keep emotion out of my voice, “likes me. Or they at least think there’s some shred of goodness in me. And I decided, last year, that I would stop wallowing in self pity and prove that I was at least half as good as they thought. Shouldn’t be difficult, right?”

“I don’t care about your sad little backstory.”

“I know. That’s why I brought you along. I’d already-I mean Jacob had already been on death’s door when I met him. Barely able to get out of the hospital. Still, his past as a villain had been something we bonded over.”

I destroyed the rectangle. A silver flip phone was there.

“What did you do as Jacob? Might as well tell me.”

“A lot of stuff. But when I was a small child, something-something similar to what I-what I did to you.”

“Scarred another poor little girl?”

“Killed her.” This time I couldn’t keep my voice even. It managed to tremble and break even though I just spoke two words.

Her eyes widened. But she didn’t say anything else. Although I bet she had a lot of opinions. A lot of…specific opinions.

“Go on.” I could feel her teeth grinding with each other. The anger in her voice. “But you better be sure I want to know more about the girl.”

I held out the phone.

“We bonded, Jensen and I. Eventually, he found out about everything. About Paragon and our battle against him. He had been a villain. I liked to think of myself as a hero–but I’d just been an assassin that knew too much.

“We’d been the odd ducks out among the so-called heroes and government officials. So we made a pact. And this phone? It’s the only way to find him.”

Of course, I’d never gotten to use it. I’d died not a full year after we made our deal. And then he’d found me, seventeen years later. He had to have known who I was. A more personal reason to find him.

Answers. I needed to know. Know why I was here. And what did he know exactly?

And then the left wall exploded. I clenched the phone in my hand. Debris and dust flew around us. A blue-eyed woman with long blonde hair walked out of it. She had her arms crossed behind her back. She wore a black coat, with three golden bars over her heart.

And the logo of a cartoonish hawk, with its wings open and a capital V in front of it, inscribed within a double circle that had six stars on its perimeter on each shoulder.

“The Houses of Doom,” I said under my breath, instinctively moving closer to Maria. Three metal spheres were now orbiting her. She was ready for a fight. Good. Because I had a feeling we were about to get into it.

The woman smiled.

“Are all but a rotting corpse.” She spoke English. She didn’t move, instead eyeing us up and down. A condescending look was on her face. “I will rebirth them. I expected heroes to stand against me. What I see is less than sidekicks.”

“You want to test that theory, you bitch?”

I wanted to curse at Maria. Challenging her would be a bad idea.

“I’m twenty one years old and I’ve killed more people than you’ve likely ever spoken with. I’m giving you a chance to make this easy. To just die quietly. Take it.”

I removed my gloves. The spheres around Maria morphed into small spears. I could almost smile. We’d stood down armies of villains and Paragon himself. No way in hell we’d give up now.