"Are we ready for this?" Luna asked the man in her head.

"As ready as we can be," he affirmed.

Ji-hun showed up that morning, dressed in his Sunday best Luna assumed, and manhandled her into more appropriate clothing than the things she had on hand. At least in his opinion. Pink was never that rough dressing her and neither was Ant. Her shirt got stuck with her arms and everything.

"He doesn't know anything about how to treat a kid," she groused. "Especially a girl. If I was different, I would have been angry and embarrassed."

"As it is you're just angry," Donner said sarcastically.

She wouldn't deny it. "If I could kick him, I would."

Red robes and a plain black dress beneath. He even brushed her hair and pulled it back into a tail with a big bow.

"You think he's having fun playing dad?" she asked Donner. "Since he didn't need to do all that."

"No," he said. "I doubt it. As I've said before, he cares about appearances. This behavior is in keeping with his personality." Changing her trajectory would be for the better. "Whatever the case, this is important. Put his earlier behavior behind you and get your place at Arcane. After this, I can think of no reason you'll need to be in contact with him. As long as your grades are passable, they won't have cause to send for him either. Until you need his signature to transfer, you'll have nothing to do with him."

"Do we have to take his car?" she asked. "Can't I-"

"Don't give him any reason to be more interested. Do as the man says."

She hadn't been in a car seat in months.

"How do magic people travel? I never saw a car in any of your memories."

"Carts, broomsticks. Teleportation. That, however, is difficult for most people and he doesn't want to risk traveling with you in tow."

"And magic carpets," she remembered that brat.

"Yes."

As far as Ji-hun knew, though, she had no experience with any of that and Donner assumed that was why he chose the more conventional transportation method. Though, once they were on the road, it was soon apparent this was more than a simple vehicle.

"Wow," even Luna was silently impressed. She was determined not to speak a word the whole way there, but that didn't mean she couldn't talk to Donner. "We're going between cars like it's nothing! They don't even see us."

"This car is spelled and charmed. It doesn't happen often because most magical families don't use modern conveniences. The car is also an expensive brand, but you have no frame of reference for that."

It was nicer than Ungle's car, even she could tell that much, though she wouldn't say a word about it.

"Ji-hun has money. Where he got it I'm not sure, certainly not his mother. Your grandmother was poor for as long as she lived. A hard worker, but not a smart one."

"It's kind of weird how you know way more about my family than I do."

"I'm older than you and know far more people. I will say it's a strange coincidence that Ji-hun happens to be your father, but the magical community is small compared to the rest of the world. Most people know one another somehow. Though," he paused as he thought back. "From what I recall, he's not from a wizarding family. Or, if he is, his mother repressed that information."

"Why would she do that?"

"I told you she wasn't very smart. He may be like you. A magic-wielding man hooked up with a non-magic woman. Or, she may have been disowned for her pregnancy and lost her abilities."

"You can lose your magic?"

"It's not simple. Some cultures practice it. If she came from a strict family they might have taken her power and sent her away. In fact, that would explain many things about Ji-hun."

"What happens to the power they stole?"

"It would have to be contained."

"Can they do anything with it?"

"Not to my knowledge. It is a dangerous process from start to finish. Whatever object they used is virtually a bomb."

But he wasn't sure about all that so she'd have to find out somehow. Not that it mattered. Wasn't that woman long dead?

"Yes, she passed years ago."

So as far as anyone knew, she had no living relatives besides Ji-hun. No grandparents and Ant was out of the picture until he was dead, too.

"Does he have any aunts or uncles who would have it now?"

"I don't know."

She wanted a ready-made bomb.

Donner grumbled incoherently and said, "Do whatever you want once I'm out of here, but until then focus."

Back through the city.

Past the building that once housed Ungle's office.

Past the Chinese Buffet.

"Don't lose it here!"

She set her face and didn't cry.

"Focus," he ordered again, bracingly. "I know it's hard, but you can't do anything about it right now."

She was going to get that bomb and blow up whoever was behind Ungle's murder.

"Do what you like. After you get to school and get me out."

"You said you'd help me put Ji-hun in the ground, but I won't need help with that. Instead, help me get the bomb and find the people who killed Ungle."

"Fine. But first things first, you have to get through the interview. Be a normal enough child while displaying a little more power than usual. There will be several families arriving for admissions today. Watch those who go before you."

As they approached the building Luna saw things that were hidden during her first visit. The campus was bigger, further stone buildings and more dark green foliage were cut with winding paths and water features.

"You were an outsider, able to see the school's main building because you are magic but not invited within. The rest was not available to you."

The car slid through a barrier the same color as the trail she followed so long ago.

She was finally at school.

Pinewood School of the Arcane Arts resided upon hundreds of acres in the countryside. Scattered across the landscape were structures built over the long history of the school. Originally just a simple wooden cabin lay within, home to a family who taught no one but their own children, the institution now consisted of about a hundred students of varying ages and levels. One thing they all had in common was wealth. The cost to attend was significant, but even if a family had the money, that did not guarantee their child a place.

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"Behave yourself."

She stiffened as he lifted her out and kept her in his arms. "I can walk mysel-" but a sharp, small shake told her to keep her mouth shut and she accepted it.

"You are small for your age," Donner observed. "Probably because of your diet. I keep telling you to eat more vegetables."

"Well, it hasn't killed me."

She was mostly sustained by junk food, candy, and everything she remembered from that single glorious visit to the restaurant.

She hoped the food here was good.

"Well…"

"Well what?!" she asked in her head, alarmed.

"To be honest," Donner said, "it will be rather plain to your tastes."

"WHAT?!"

What the fuck. She didn't want to go to school anymore!

"You realize you shouted that out loud, don't you?"

No. She didn't, but who cared? She wasn't about to spend her whole school career eating dirt!

Ji-hun was staring at her and so were other people on their way into the building.

Perhaps ten families besides herself were here for the final entrance test of the summer. Some of the children were returning for another try after failing to attain admittance earlier in the season.

Donner was furious and seethed, "You can sneak out of the school and eat whatever the hell you want, but don't you dare MESS THIS UP! Tell them you were shocked by how many people are here!"

"Uh, sorry, I was," she floundered. "I was surprised that there were so many people!" She made her eyes as big and watery as possible without moving into tears and they all seemed to buy it.

"That's already a point against you!" Donner complained. "For fuck's sake, Luna. They won't accept you if you can't demonstrate maturity!"

"I'll make up for it, stop worrying, geez."

No matter what, she was getting in here.

"You cannot rely on manipulation. There are too many witnesses, too many people who know how things should be done. If an official deviates from the usual process there will be questions."

He was underestimating her again, but that wasn't her plan. People were always surprised by her and one childish action wasn't going to ruin the whole thing no matter how serious the admissions examination was.

Donner thought his whole life was riding on this and maybe he was right so she tried not to be annoyed by his nagging. He'd been in her head for so long now; the one time he got out, he said it felt like dying for real.

She didn't know how she felt about him, when it came down to it. Was he her friend? She didn't think so. But, maybe, he was. She didn't have any others, that was for sure.

"Ride or die," she said to Donner as Ji-hun set her down in a wooden chair.

"What are you talking about?" he asked with a sigh.

"We ride together, we eat fries together."

"Luna, stop it."

She wondered how many times he'd said that over the years.

"Pay attention now, they're starting."

Everyone was tested in the same room, but this wasn't an exam with papers and pencils and desks. Instead, prospective students were called one at a time to stand in front of the crowd. Every teacher in the school was here along with the administrators. Of course, other candidates and their families were also watching. It was a high-pressure situation.

"By design," Donner said. "They need to be sure of your capabilities from magical aptitude to emotional stability and general intelligence. They don't want to accept a child who will grow flustered and break down. They aren't in the business of raising children."

He'd told her that before, or something like it. They wouldn't take her if they thought she was a baby. Well, she was-

"Seven, Luna, you're finally seven."

Wow.

She had a whole birthday and didn't even know it. Without Ant to celebrate, and no gifts from kindly internet ladies, she had nothing to mark the day. Donner noticed but didn't say anything about it.

Some friend he was.

"You should have realized it," he snapped.

But he didn't say he wasn't her friend. Actually, she had the distinct feeling in her mind of him avoiding the idea altogether. As if he was dodging the words as they floated past him, which was exactly the sort of thing he'd do.

She thought it would be harder to not be friends at this point.

"I'm not arguing with you about this. Whether you're right or wrong doesn't matter. Focus!"

The first child to be tested stood before them all. Everyone was seated in rows. The staff in the front, the children in the next, and family members behind them. She couldn't see very well, but by leaning a bit she was able to watch the blond girl, maybe ten?, try to conjure a waterball. It wasn't bad, but got shaky and fell apart, spilling all over the cobblestone floor. The kid failed to vanish it, because she was nervous, and then had to answer several questions that Luna thought were far too subjective.

"What they're measuring right now isn't her ability to memorize facts, they don't much care about that. Not that the skill is useless, but it isn't a core part of the curriculum here. Thinking on your feet is what they want to see."

"Did she make it?" Luna asked as the girl retook her seat, after an embarrassing slip in the puddle. Luckily, she didn't fall, but the flail turned her face bright red.

"I'm not sure. She didn't cry, at least. Others would have."

The next child was also aligned with water and was somewhat more successful in her display.

"Am I supposed to have an affinity?"

"No, you wouldn't be expected to know it yet. They're a few years older than you."

"Should I have practiced something? Made up a presentation?"

"I would have told you to. No, you would have overthought it and gone overboard. I instructed you to watch them for a reason. Do something of equal value and leave it at that. That will already put you ahead of them, considering your age."

What would Life's affinity be? she wondered. Something alive or something dead? Most people would think the answer obvious, but she wasn't sure. All Life ever did was bring things to life in the first place, she couldn't stop them from dying forever. Ungle and Pink. Ink Pen at the end of the universe or wherever he was right now. Someday she'd stop trying. Again, it seemed.

How many times had this happened?

How long had she been Life before this?

Forever?

What would the magic of forever be like?

Certainly not happy because this whole thing was about as far from jolly as she thought it could get. Insanity sounded more realistic. A thread of reason would string moments together, yet ultimately few would understand, if anyone. She doubted a normal person was capable of seeing what Life saw. Of feeling what Life felt.

When everything kept rushing toward death no matter what she did.

Trying to save Ungle, failing, and it didn't matter who it was. He was destined to die someday, one way or the other. Whether he was killed by ninja assassins or passed in his sleep as an elderly man he wasn't going to survive.

Because he was human and she wasn't.

And she still didn't know what that meant.

Watching all the kids before her stand to show off their skills, meager though they were, brought it home. She wasn't like them. She'd assumed Georgia was a numbskull, and she was, but maybe she wasn't overly stupid. Maybe she was right for her age.

If that was true, then she was the odd one.

"You're realizing that now?" Donner asked as she took her place in the spotlight. "I told you Georgia was normal."

How was she supposed to know that? What was normal about bragging over coloring pages? It was dumb! Was everybody dumb? Did she stand alone in the smart department?

What the fuck was she supposed to do up here?

Why was time moving so slowly?

She saw everyone. Each person, their faces as they waited for another mediocre display of childish power. Less from her than anyone who'd gone already because she was so small.

What would Life's affinity be?

Donner hadn't told her much about that. Earth, wind, and fire. Water was the most common. None of those seemed right for Life though. She didn't feel any special connection to the earth or its elements. She didn't have much of a connection to anything. She didn't mind killing people who deserved it or bothered her. She'd seen the bridge between life and death. She stood on the train at the end of the universe.

What else was there besides all that?

Nothing.

What was it all when you put it together?

Chaos.

Donner was freaking out inside her head, talking a mile a minute or even faster because he already knew she was going to do exactly what he didn't want her to do.

"Luna, for fuck's sake don't you dare do any of that overpowered bullshit. Pick something small and basic! You're thinking about life? Produce a fucking flower from the middle of a rock. Make a salamander. That's beyond what I'm comfortable with already because that's not simply pulling together molecules or harnessing ambient heat, it's making a living being. Is that not enough for you?!"

No. It wasn't because that was wrong. That wasn't what Life was and even though she didn't remember herself as Life, she knew that much.

"I present to you!" She threw her hands up in the air and felt the ground behind her crack. Roots protruded, racing into the seated crowd who stood and lunged out of the way. She could feel the cold of the portal and then felt it close and also something else that would have been concerning if she cared, but she didn't so it was fine. The ceiling above broke open, showering those below with tiny pieces of splintered wood that were too small to get caught in the branches. "The World Tree of myths and legends!"

"OH FOR FUCKS SAKE!"