“Aera, wake up.”

Lou’s voice. I groaned and rolled over. There was almost no sunlight coming through the window.

“Too early,” I mumbled.

“People are going to be asking questions soon,” Lou said. “We need our stories straight before anyone gets here. You need to wake up.”

“An hour…”

“No. Now.”

I yawned and tried to glare at her, but I was too sleepy to manage it. Under her unyielding gaze, I pulled myself out of bed.

“I’m up. Are you happy?”

She sighed.

I stumbled over to the closet and grabbed a dress at random. If she was going to burst in my room, then she was going to deal with me getting changed in front of her.

“Stupid, weird, thing with clasps and things…” I muttered. I couldn’t remember how to put the damned thing on, so I just split the front, stepped into it, and sealed it behind me.

“You even use magic to get dressed?” Lou asked incredulously.

I shrugged half heartedly and started walking past her.

“Um, Aera, your hair?” Lou said.

“Right,” I yawned.

Imbuing each strand of hair with a faint bit of repulsion made it naturally disentangle. I brushed my hand through it with another yawn, heading to the stairs.

“You okay, Aera?” Lou asked. “You’ve never been huge on mornings, but you seem fried.”

“Used more magic than usual,” I said. “Not enough to hurt me, though. Just feeling sleepy for a few days.”

She nodded, and greeted Slick when we got downstairs. He was sitting on the couch with a bottle of whiskey.

I blinked at him blearily.

“Did you sleep?” I asked.

He made a vague grunting noise in my direction. Lou gave him a disgusted look.

“Also, Aera,” she said. “Alice won’t wake up still. Should we be concerned…?”

“Oh, right, the spell,” I said, stretching as I walked towards Slick’s room. “She can’t wake up till it breaks.”

“You put a spell on her to make her sleep?” Lou asked.

“Didn’t I mention that? Maybe not. But yes. She needed sleep,” I said.

I didn’t want to deal with anything right then.

Closing my eyes, I let my senses drift through the closed door, to Alice’s head. Her brain seemed to have reasonably recovered, so I broke the sleep enchantment.

“Done,” I said. “She’ll be awake soon, probably.”

“Probably?” she asked.

“If you want to wake her, go do that. I’m going to make some coffee,” I mumbled as I dragged myself to the kitchen.

Lou frowned, but started knocking on the door. Alice called out that she was getting up.

We met up in the dining room, all sipping on the coffee I’d made.

Alice came in, talking about how bizarrely good she was feeling, which quickly led into a recap of the night’s events. Slick looked ill at the reminder.

After that, Lou shared with us the cover story she and Domiano had come up with.

“Why, though?” I asked. “Surely no one could believe that. There is no reasonable explanation beyond magic.”

“That’s just it, Aera,” Lou said. “Most people wouldn’t think ‘magic’ counts as a reasonable explanation, no matter what the evidence is. Any cover story, as long as we agree on it, will work.”

I rubbed my face for a second.

“Do we know what actually happened?” Alice asked.

“No,” Lou said, but I shook my head.

“I saw it all,” I said, sighing. “I was using my haste spell, that I’ve been practicing. The spark box worked precisely as it was supposed to. The only difference was, in the garage, there was nothing to catch on fire. On stage, I saw it igniting the dust in the air. It was so thick…”

“That it exploded,” Lou finished, frowning. “I should have thought about that… I should have tested it in a place like the club. Or even at the club, when no one was there.”

“You were thorough,” I said. “It’s not your fault, Lou. Besides, most of the damage came from when the air conditioner exploded.”

“It definitely ain’t your fault, Lou,” Slick said. “It’s mine. I’m the one that pushed you to build the damned thing. This is all on my head.”

“Neither of you should blame yourselves,” I said, feeling annoyed. “Slick wanted a strange sound making device, which is fine. Lou built a safe sound making device, which was also fine. The club’s air was so foul that it wouldn’t have taken much. Imagine if a light bulb had broken, say, or some other cause to ignite the dust, and if we hadn’t been there?”

“What, you’re saying what happened was okay?” Slick said.

“Not at all,” I said.

“She’s saying that it was an accident, and if she hadn’t been there, everyone would have died,” Lou said.

“Precisely -” I said, but she continued.

“Except that the fault’s still on me. I made the box, I hit the switch, I started the fire, and because of that, people are dead.”

I sighed.

“You are both wrong,” I said. “The fire started by accident. How and why it started is meaningless. What matters is the fact that I could have stopped it, and in my cowardice, I chose not to. That is why those people are dead.”

“You’re the one that saved everyone,” Lou said, giving me an incredulous look. “And yet you’re still finding a way to blame yourself?”

“It’s good that I saved them, but I did not act quickly enough,” I said.

“You saved my life, Aera,” Alice said quietly.

“You’re welcome,” I said. “But as I said, it wasn’t enough.”

She looked hurt, for some reason.

“For fuck’s sake, Aera,” Lou said. “You hesitated for what, ten seconds?”

“I was under my haste spell,” I said. “It was more like thirty seconds.”

I’d long since learned that even two seconds was a massive amount of time in a disaster. Did they not understand this?

“People are dead, and yet, it’s all about you,” Slick said, shaking his head. “You did more than any of us - what does that make us, to you? Just useless lumps?”

Less powerful than I am. But that’d be rude to say. Wouldn’t it?

“You’re not useless lumps,” I said sourly. “I had power, and I used it ineptly. That is on me.”

“But at least you had power,” Lou said. “I helped carry one person out, and just told you where the water was. That was it.”

You also declined to learn magic. Your weakness is your own fault. But that’d also be rude. Probably.

She could have learned it, too. Like Slick, she had an intense soul. Alice had tried to learn, after Slick had succeeded, but it was clear in the first few minutes that she would be unable.

Slick was intense, passionate, focused, disciplined. At least, in regards to his ambitions. He’d taken to magic remarkably well. Lou, too, had these things, and a sharp mind as well. But she still seemed to have a resentment of magic that I’d never understood.

“Telling me the location of the water main saved precious seconds,” I said. “And that was most excellent. Ultimately, though, it was meaningless - you wouldn’t have had to had I not erred in the first place.”

“The only thing I could do was meaningless,” Lou said, giving me an annoyed glare. “No matter what, it’s all about you and your magic. Always.”

I felt an abrupt need to get up and leave the table.

Fortunately, there was a knock on the door.

“I’ll get it,” I said immediately, beating Lou by a half second.

I walked over to the door quickly and opened it.

Red hair in the sunlight.

The sight surprised me, and my heart ached. The color wasn’t quite right, but for a brief moment, in my sleepy state, it looked like my mother’s hair. Or my little brother Nordrid’s.

The ache of homesickness pulled down my guard, and my magesense pressed forward.

Honor. Trying to do the right thing. Focus.

A mix of sensations, a blend of surface emotion and deeper character, filled me before I pulled my senses back again. I tried not to blush at my impropriety, and focused with my eyes instead.

The clean cut red hair, topped by his officer’s hat, was around a lightly tanned and freckled face. He was taller than I was - an easy feat - and looked quite sharp in his police uniform.

I pushed away the stupid impulse to play with his hair, and smiled at him.

“Greetings, sir,” I said. “How might I help you?”

He was smiling in a professional sort of way.

“Good morning, miss,” he said, with a strong Irish accent I’d never heard from up close before. “I am Lieutenant Detective O’Brien, and I’m here to ask some questions about what happened at the club last night. May I come in?”

“Of course,” I said, stepping back from the door and gesturing for him to enter. “Would you like some coffee?”

His smile grew more sincere as he said, “Yes, miss, if you would. That sounds lovely.”

He took off his hat and walked in. Everyone else had stood up to greet him.

“Lou, Slick, Alice, this is Lieutenant Detective O’Brien,” I said, and then gestured for everyone to sit down in the living room. “I’ll be right back with some coffee. Detective? How do you take yours?”

“Sugar, please, and thank you,” he said, dipping his head at me.

I flashed him another smile and collected a few cups of coffee for everyone.

When I got back, O’Brien had a notepad out and was scribbling some stuff down.

“I saw lots of things, and scarcely remember any of it,” Lou was saying. “It was hell. People screaming, running… it was nuts.”

“Why didn’t you run?” O’Brien asked.

I handed him his coffee, and he thanked me again. I sat down next to them.

“Alice was there, and she got trampled,” Lou said. “I had to help her. That’s all that mattered to me, right then.”

“I can understand that,” O’Brien said, his tone subdued. He glanced at Alice briefly, as though matching up the name in Lou’s story with the introduction I’d given. “What about the start of the fire? Do you know what happened?”

Lou sighed, and looked away.

“Fact is, sir, it was my fault,” she said, and Slick immediately protested.

“We talked about this, sis,” he said. “I told you to make the damned thing in the first place! It’s my fault!”

“Hold on,” O’Brien said. “Let’s just hear what Ms. Williams has to say, first.”

“I made a box to make a spark of electricity,” she said, and her face was as depressed as I’d ever seen it. “I tested it a hundred times in the garage. It worked without a hitch.”

“But not at the club?” O’Brien asked.

“It worked,” Lou said. “And as far as we can tell, it caught the dust on fire. That exploded.”

“People report two explosions,” O’Brien said. “That would be the first, then.”

Lou nodded.

“The second one was the air conditioner, when the flames reached it,” she said. “It happened so fast.”

“Fire does that,” O’Brien said. “This sounds to me like a terrible accident. You didn’t mean any harm. Don’t blame yourself too much - this is the sort of thing that’ll weigh on you forever if you’ll let it.”

“And it should,” Lou said glumly.

“Lou, it’s on me,” Slick said. “You didn’t even want to build it in the first place.”

“Oscar Williams, correct?” O’Brien asked.

“Yes, sir,” Slick said.

“I believe I got everything I need from your sister,” O’Brien said. “Might I ask you a few questions as well?”

“Of course, sir,” Slick said.

“During the fire, we have reports that you were getting people out the front door,” O’Brien said. “Is that correct?”

“Yes, sir.”

“How were you able to get the door open?”

“I didn’t, sir. The door fell apart right next to me, and then I did everything I could to get the people out,” Slick said.

“How were you getting them out?”

Slick shrugged.

“With everything I could do,” he said. “I couldn’t even think. Just had to get them out as fast as I could, you know?”

O’Brien nodded.

“You and your sister seem to have a drive to help people,” O’Brien said. “That’s a good thing, though I feel it’s my duty to let you know how dangerous that decision was. You should let trained professionals take care of emergencies.”

“I understand, sir,” Slick said, but he didn’t look like he agreed.

A small smirk appeared on O’Brien’s face, as he seemed to notice the same thing. Slick wouldn’t be holding back anytime soon, no matter what warnings he had.

Lou and Slick were good people.

“Well, then, would there be anything else that you noticed from the fire last night?”

“What Lou said. Honestly, I don’t really want to remember it,” Slick said.

“Traumatic experiences can do that,” O’Brien said, then he glanced at Alice and I. “Were you ladies also at the fire?”

“Yes, sir,” I said, and Alice agreed.

“May I have your names, and your statements?” he asked.

“Alice Reed, and I don’t remember anything after the fire started,” Alice said. “Slick tells me that he found me bruised up and out cold.”

“You might want to get checked at the hospital, then, miss,” O’Brien said. “If it’s bad enough to knock you out, it could be serious.”

“Hopefully not,” Alice said. “But thank you for the advice.”

He nodded, then looked at me.

“Aera Koryn,” I said. “I have nothing to share beyond what the others have said. However, there is something I must ask.”

“What might that be?”

“Please, sir, I have to know,” I said, leaning in closer. “How many people died in the fire?”

“That’s not really something I can share, as of yet,” O’Brien said.

“It was our fault, though,” I said, and he seemed to soften at something in my gaze. “Please. I have to know how many lives are on our hands.”

“You had something to do with the spark box, as well?” O’Brien asked.

“Not a damned thing,” Lou said. “She’s quick to blame herself when there’s absolutely no reason at all to do so.”

Lou glared at me, and O’Brien gave me a confused and probing look.

“Why do you blame yourself?” he asked me.

“Because I couldn’t save them all,” I said, looking down.

“I think Ms. Williams may have a point,” he said, and the smile in his voice made me look up. “Ms. Koryn, you shouldn’t blame yourself for that. No one could have saved everyone in that fire.”

No one in all the world, except me.

I’d known that, but for some reason, it had never occurred me to quite so plainly till that moment.

I, alone, in all the world, had the power...

“Everything’s all right, now,” O’Brien said, and I realized he’d seen the anguish on my face.

“It isn’t,” I said. “Please… I saw five black bags there. Please, sir, I have to know…”

His face was sympathetic.

“One of the reasons I can’t tell you is that we don’t know yet,” he said. “There were five dead at the scene, as you saw. There’s also a lot of people injured, some critically, at the hospital.”

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

The hospital…

The same barbaric place that had cut off Kito’s leg instead of fixing it. What would they do to these poor people?

“The doctors are skilled folk, miss,” O’Brien said. “They’re taking good care of them, I can promise you.”

“Which hospital?” I asked.

He looked confused. “Mass Main, of course. Biggest one in the city. It’s the only one that could handle that many people.”

The same one that Kito went to.

“Thank you, sir,” I said. “I can only hope they’ll be okay.”

“Regardless of the outcome, there’s no need to blame yourself,” he said.

He looked around at us all.

“Well, I think I’ve gotten all I need to here,” he said. “I want to thank you for your time.”

We responded in chorus, and I escorted him back to the door again. He tipped his hat, and went back to his cruiser.

I turned around to the others.

“I have to go to the hospital,” I said.

“And why’s that?” Lou asked, her voice a little cold.

I looked her straight in the eyes.

“I can heal every single one of the injured people,” I said.

“And what’ll that do?” she asked. “You’ll terrify them. You’ll cause a national uproar when people find out. Germany’s on the warpath right now, or have you forgotten about that? What do you think they’ll do? Or the US government? Or Great Britain? When they find out about your power, and the fact that you can share it?”

She glared at Slick for the last part. He looked a little uncertain. Alice took his hand comfortingly.

“Does it matter?” I asked. “Those people-”

“-are under the care of professionals,” Lou said. “The smart thing to do is to lie low, at least until the war’s over. The damage that could happen if your power were in the wrong hands…”

She closed her eyes and shook her head.

“I wouldn’t do anything like that,” I said.

“Sure you wouldn’t,” she said. “You couldn’t possibly be twisted into making a wrong decision, trusting the wrong person, ever. Right?”

Did she blame me for Kito threatening her brother, all those years ago? I looked away, and she took that as my answer.

“Right, then,” she said. “We lay low. I’ll be the one to talk to people when they come. We did everything we could with the fire, and now we have to keep the bigger picture in mind. Aera’s magic has to stay secret.”

Secret… or actually gone. I walked past them, ignoring Alice’s confused protest, straight to my lab.

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

“This is Mr. Fitzgerald, with the Boston Post. Are you miss Louise Williams?” the reporter asked, later that morning.

“Yes, sir,” Lou said. “How can I help you?”

“I’m here to find out some information about the fire at the Cocoanut Grove last night,” he said, his voice swift and sure. “You were on the stage, unlike any other performance, is that correct?”

“That is correct,” she said coolly.

She’d already dealt with their rapid fire aggression the previous night. Though this time, she was actually supposed to answer questions.

“For what reason were you on the stage?” he asked.

“I was operating a device,” she said.

“Was this a part of the performance?” he asked.

“Yes, it was. It was creating a little spark of electricity, to make the sound,” she said.

“Was that the cause of the fire?” he asked.

“I believe so, yes,” she said.

His eyes glinted.

“So you admit to causing the fire?”

“It was an accident. The box never caught anything on fire before.”

“Who created this device?”

“I did.”

His eyes widened a little.

“You personally?”

“Yes,” she said, annoyed.

“Was creating the device your idea?” he asked.

“No,” she said. “Slick wanted it, so I made it, that’s all.”

“Are you a certified electrician?”

Her lips tightened. The glint in his eye was evidence that he knew that women weren’t allowed to get certified as electricians. Informally, anyway - the law may permit it, but a woman had never been certified.

“No, I am not, but I tested it extensively,” she said.

“Was it tested or examined by a certified electrician, at any point?” he asked.

Her jaw tensed.

“No, but -”

“And this device was made on the request of Slick Williams, correct?”

“Yes, sir, but the device was -”

“So I am to understand that Slick Williams, lead singer of the failing Boston Boys band, pressured his little sister - who has no certifications - into creating a device that set the Cocoanut Grove alight. Would this be correct?”

“It was an accident!” she said, gritting her teeth.

“Apparently, the song was being poorly received by the audience at the time of the explosion. Is it a possibility that the intention was to cover up his failure, by making it appear that the group disbanded as a result of the fire, instead of his ineptitude?”

A scream was trying to emerge from her throat, but there was no way she’d let him have the satisfaction. Her face merely grew harder; her tone colder.

“Slick had absolutely nothing to do with the design, setup, or use of the device in any way,” she said. “He left it in my hands, and the resulting fire was entirely accidental.”

“Thank you for the clarification,” he said. “I’d like to draw your attention to another point. Did you see Mr. Williams getting people out of the building?”

“Yes, I did,” she said.

“How would you describe the manner in which he removed the unconscious bodies?”

“What do you mean?” she asked, a little confused.

“Some eyewitness accounts claim that he appeared to be ‘levitating’ people out of the building,” he said.

“You’ve got to be kidding,” she said. “You think my brother can levitate people?”

He smiled.

“What would your response to these eyewitness accounts be?” he asked, instead of answering.

“It was night, the fire was crazy, and smoke was everywhere,” she said. “And people can’t levitate people. Obviously.”

“A possible alternative, which is in line with some of the injuries received, is that Mr. Williams threw the bodies out of the door,” he said.

“Are you…” she started to splutter, then regained her cool demeanor. “My brother is neither strong enough nor stupid enough to throw people out of a building.”

“How else might you explain the unusual eyewitness accounts?”

“Like I said - fire, smoke, and confusion,” she said.

He noted something on his paper, and went on.

“Being on the stage, Ms. Williams, you had a unique perspective available. Two explosions were heard, which are presumed to be the initial spark of your device, followed by the air conditioner catching fire. However, according to the club owner, Mr. Bianchi, there was a secret door behind the stage, that opened with a series of small explosives.”

“Yeah, I heard about that,” she said.

“Did you hear a third explosion, or otherwise witness the opening of this passageway?”

“Nope,” she said.

“Did you see any sign of this doorway, prior to the explosion going off?”

“Nope,” she said. “He must have had good work done on it.”

“Were you aware of this passageway ahead of time?” he asked.

“Passingly,” she said. “When I was going over the blueprints for the building, double checking electrical lines and such for the device, I noticed some things not matching up, so I asked him about it.”

“And what did he say?”

“There was some weird stuff, dating back from before he took over the club,” she said. “He heard that maybe there’d been some gang involvement, and that might have been why there was a deep hole hidden under the bar, plus a secret exit, none of it on the blueprints.”

“Did you ever witness any direct evidence of the existence of either the door or the hole, prior to the fire?” he asked.

“No,” she said. “But what does it matter? What else could it have been?”

“An excellent question, Ms. Williams,” he said. “On that vein, do you have any idea what the strange, smooth substance around the edge of the false wall might have been?”

“No clue,” she said.

“Did you witness a pale skinned, dark haired woman who seemed untouched by the fire?” he asked.

“Nope,” she said.

“Based on the description, this woman might be a match for a companion frequently seen in your company,” he said.

“Okay…? What does this have to do with anything?” she asked.

“Most of the strangest eyewitness reports seem to involve her,” he said. “Calm, serene, directing water around, gesturing at wood, which then extinguished, and so forth.”

“Yeah,” she said. “Between that and Slick, you might want someone to check for something toxic in the smoke.”

He laughed.

“You were in the fire for quite some time,” he said. “If there were something in the smoke, it ought to have affected you, too.”

“I was on the stage,” she said. “The decorations around the tables went up insanely fast. Maybe that’s why none of us saw anything like that.”

“Hmm,” he said, seeming mildly disappointed.

“Nonetheless, that companion of yours might be worth asking questions to, as well,” he said. “Might I have her name?”

She huffed at him.

“You come to my house, first thing in the morning after a massive disaster which destroyed my brother’s career,” she said. “You ask me questions about the fire… but also about stupid crap like the idea of my brother throwing people like some kind of muscle bound lunatic, talking all sorts of weird garbage. And I’ve answered all of your damned questions, and you want to bother more of us?”

“Just trying to get a complete picture, miss,” he said.

“You want to ask about the fire, you ask away. But Slick’s miserable, Alice is hurt, the rest of the band up and left, and my ‘pale-skinned friend’ doesn’t have crap all to do with the fire. You got questions, you ask them to me.”

He hesitated.

“Perhaps another time?” he asked.

“Sure,” she said sarcastically. “I’ll take your number. Oh, wait, I don’t need it, the info is in the newspaper. Got any more questions for me?”

“That was very helpful, Ms. Williams,” he said. “Thanks for your time.”

“Good day,” she said, and stepped back, closing the door in his face.

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

I started at the lifeless portal uselessly. Not a single speck of magic on it. I wanted it to work. I desperately wished to go home. Desire was the heart of magic… didn’t that count for something?

But so, too, was knowledge, and I…

I didn’t have the faintest idea what to do.

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

“Well, they’re not on your case, at least,” Lou said as she set down the morning’s paper on the table.

Slick painstakingly read out the article in question.

“What the hell, Lou?” he asked, appalled. “They’re blaming you!”

“Wait, what?” Alice said, reading it over. “My god, Lou, he’s right.”

“It’s on my head, as it should be,” Lou said.

“It’s my fault!” Slick said, glaring at her.

Alice read a section out loud. “Slick Williams, lead singer of the Boston Boys band, put complete confidence in his untrained sister to create a device to produce a loud and visible spark of electricity for his performance. While his judgement was foolish, the absolute confidence of Ms. Williams was clear. Even in the wake of the fire, she refused to consider that her lack of certification or work experience might have had any role in the device’s explosion on stage.”

“Lou, this is terrible,” Alice said.

“No, it’s fine,” Lou said. “Slick’s future career needs a decent reputation, so this’ll get this disaster off his back. It’s focused on me, instead of magic stuff. This is the best outcome.”

“But… everyone will hate you,” Alice said.

Lou smiled. “I’ll take that, gladly, if that’s what’s needed. For Slick, for Aera, for Domiano - it’s worth it.”

Alice hugged her tightly, and Slick awkwardly patted her shoulder.

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

It wasn’t possible. No matter how many tears fell to the floor in this accursed room. It didn’t change the truth.

My parents spent decades working on the portal. This was their life ambition. Between the two, they had an extraordinarily powerful sorcerer, and one of the world’s sharpest minds. They traded for knowledge from other lands, from other masters. They drew on an entire world’s history of magical advancement in this field.

And even they, for all their might and resources, failed. The portal which held this culmination of knowledge and power had exploded, forcing me into this world.

To even imagine I could create a fully functional one, on my own…

My homesickness had blinded me to my reality.

I was never going home.

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

“We need to talk to Domiano,” Lou said, sounding exasperated. “For him to believe us, Aera has to come with. Alice? Have you tried getting her out of there?”

“Yes,” Alice said. “She’s answered me, but she says she’s too upset to talk to anyone yet.”

“Maybe I’ll tell her that we’ve agreed to meet Domiano today, and so she’s obligated to come with,” Lou said, frowning.

“Forcing her?” Alice asked.

“If there’s a problem, she needs to talk to us about it,” Lou said. “We’re her friends. She’s constantly closed off, like she can’t tell us how she really feels about things. Sure, she gabs as much as the rest of us on little things, but the big stuff?”

Alice sighed. “She didn’t tell us about what happened with Benjamin for days…”

“Yeah,” Lou said. “And I saw the end of it. And she still wouldn’t talk about it.”

“You’re right,” Alice said. “She needs a friend. But how do we get her to talk to us?”

“I dunno,” Lou said sourly. “Might help if she started really seeing us as people.”

“Lou!” Alice said, shocked.

Lou glanced over towards the basement.

“She’s a good person, Alice,” Lou said softly. “But she’s dangerous, too. I don’t like the thought that one person can do so much. How bad it’d be if she weren’t so nice. I don’t like that she dismisses everyone else’s ability as trivial, or cute. As meaningless.”

Alice sighed. “Her stories, too. They’re terrifying, and she acts like they’re sweet. A world like that...”

“You see it, then,” Lou said.

“I don’t see her as dangerous, though,” Alice said. “She’s nice. She’s like her father. She’s not her mother.”

“Isn’t she?” Lou asked. “Have you ever seen her get mad?”

“No,” Alice said.

“Neither have I.”

They were silent.

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

Emotions, no matter how trying, are no excuse to betray responsibility.

And so I dragged myself, however unwillingly, up the stairs, once Lou reminded me of an obligation.

“You seem upset, Aera,” Alice said, as I sat down at the table. “You’ve locked yourself away down there for an entire day. Do you want to talk about it?”

“It is nothing,” I said. “Domiano. We are to go see him this evening?”

Lou and Alice exchanged a look that I didn’t understand. But then Lou nodded.

“Yeah, we’ll head off soon. Look, Aera, you know you can talk to us, right?” Lou asked.

“Of course,” I said. “You are my friends, and dear to me.”

Alice smiled, but the smile seemed a little sad. “I’m glad you feel that way. Sometimes, though, it seems like you keep things close to your heart.”

“Vulnerabilities and incomplete thoughts,” I said with a shrug. “Nothing of any significance.”

Alice looked confused, and Lou’s gaze was piercing.

“Those things are significant,” Lou said.

I shrugged again.

It wasn’t that I didn’t know what they were asking, or that I really thought it wasn’t important. But how could I tell them how utterly trapped I was, when I hadn’t finished thinking over the possibilities? Why worry them, when maybe I’d just missed something?

“So when are we heading to meet Domiano?” I asked.

They glanced at each other, but didn’t push the matter. Not long after, it was time. Alice didn’t need to come with, so it was Lou, Slick, and myself packing up into Lou’s truck. Slick was practically mute, and probably still thick with alcohol.

The drive was uncomfortably silent, and I found myself drifting back into thoughts on my reality.

Soon we’d arrived at Domiano’s house. None of us had been here before, but it was a nice place. Smaller than ours, and comfortable looking. It was full of decorations, leaning towards a mixture of mahogany and gold.

A young woman, clearly related to Domiano, opened the door when we knocked. She was very pregnant, and looked a bit stressed, though she struck me as someone who smiled a lot.

We were guided in, and brought to a lovely little dining room. Domiano joined us there, and gestured for us to sit, as his wife brought us some bread and wine.

“Welcome to my home,” he said warmly, as he broke some of the freshly baked bread.

We thanked him, and talked for a few minutes. I was delighted to hear that he was going to be a grandfather - it was his daughter who had greeted us. He was chattering on warmly about his son in law, his daughter, and how much he was looking forward to playing with the baby.

His wife brought out a meal of pasta, sauce, and meatballs. The smell was mouthwatering. Afterwards, he quietly asked her to give us all some privacy, and she agreed, heading off with a smile.

“A good meal is always the best time for heavy conversations,” Domiano said, his smile warm, but with a certain coolness underneath. “Recent events have weighed on us all.”

“That’s true,” Lou said. “It’s been a crazy couple of days. I’m glad to see you’re well.”

“And you,” he said. “You seem in remarkably good health.”

Lou smiled tightly. “Yes, sir.”

“So, then,” he said. “Perhaps there is a sensible answer to why there’s a perfectly smooth exit behind the stage, why there’s a direct hole leading to a water main, and why none of you show signs of burns, despite having been inside the building for a while?”

“Not a great answer, but one we can prove,” Slick said. “I’m real sorry for having to keep you in the dark.”

“And we have to ask that you don’t tell anyone,” Lou added.

“Sometimes secrets are necessary,” he said. “And you saved my life, with that exit - I’ll keep the secret. Come, then, what is the answer to this puzzle? I’ve managed not even one guess.”

“Well, sir, that’s because it’s not something anyone would guess,” Slick said. “Um, well, fact is, Aera here… uh… she’s magic.”

Domiano paused for a second.

“Magic,” he repeated, almost as though he wasn’t entirely sure what the word meant.

“Yes, sir,” I said. “Would you care for a demonstration?”

He hesitated.

“You’re telling me that actual magic is what did all that?” Domiano said, looking over at Lou and Slick.

They nodded, and Domiano looked uncomfortable as he spun the pasta on his spoon.

“I suppose I will have to see a demonstration,” Domiano said.

His uneasiness was surprising. Would I ever meet two people with the same reaction to my power?

At least there was plenty here to work with. I used a bit of Flamus magic to raise one of the little loaves of bread, then split it in half. One half floated to his plate. The other half met a little dollop of levitating butter, which spread evenly over the surface, before heading to my plate.

Domiano stared at the loaf of bread for a long moment before poking it with his fork. Then his eyes met mine, and I saw a hint of something that saddened me.

Fear.

Realization hit me. Of course. Those decorations… they were Christian decorations. Domiano was religious. Very much so, if the decorations and reaction were any indication.

I suppressed a sigh.

“Lou, Slick,” he said, his voice lower than I’d ever heard it. “I’ve known you for years. This isn’t a trick?”

“It’s real, sir,” Slick said. “I give you my word on that.”

Domiano crossed himself.

“This secret is no small matter,” he said. “I will keep it, as I said, because the… because she saved my life.”

He glanced at me, then continued to address the others.

“There is also the matter of the club being destroyed,” he said. “My livelihood was lost, due to the device that you made.”

Lou seemed to immediately understand.

“The band split its money among the members, and set aside a full fifth for the band’s needs,” she said. “Slick’s out of money, and the rest of the band is gone. But I’ve been managing the band’s funds. There’s still some left.”

Domiano nodded, then his eyes met Slick’s.

“I think it’s fair to give you all of what’s left, to make up for the club” Slick said. “Since the band is done.”

“How much would that be?” Domiano asked.

Slick looked at Lou. She pulled out a little piece of paper from her purse, and wrote down a number, then slid it to Slick.

He, in turn, pulled out a checkbook and wrote a check to Domiano.

What was with the silence? I was curious. It was a shame that I’d never learned to use Aeros for spying purposes. My brothers had used it often enough on me. Really, it would have been so easy.

Alas.

Slick handed the check to Domiano, who seemed satisfied with it. He tucked it away.

“I wish to also say something,” I said, and the others looked at me. “Domiano, sir, you have been very kind to me and my friends, over these years. If there is anything I can do…”

“I don’t believe that will be necessary,” he said.

“Hopefully not,” I said. “Even so, healing is perhaps my most significant skill. If you, or any of your loved ones, become ill…”

“I appreciate the offer,” he said. “But again, I don’t believe it will be necessary. I have faith in God, and in the hands of doctors, should illness come.”

Did he truly have no idea of the value of what I had offered? Or was he just that opposed to the idea of magic?

I’d also noticed that he’d not touched that piece of bread again.

“Well, I believe that concludes our business,” Domiano said, sounding much more professional than he’d had when we’d arrived. “I can promise you that no one will learn of your secret from me, and I think it’s a good time for me to retire. We probably won’t meet again.”

I felt a sinking certainty that the finality of this farewell was because of me.

“It’s been good knowing you, sir,” Slick said, getting up. “I’ll never forget that you gave me a chance, when no one else would.”

“You’ve got talent, Slick,” Domiano said, shaking Slick’s proffered hand. “You take care of Alice for me.”

“Yessir,” Slick said.

“Been a pleasure knowing you,” Lou said, also standing and shaking Domiano’s hand.

“One of the sharpest women I’ve ever met,” Domiano said. “You’ll do well, Lou.”

“It’s been an honor,” I said. “I only wish I could have done more.”

He simply smiled at me in return, and I could tell from his body language that he didn’t want to shake my hand.

Still, as much as it made me feel unwelcome, I couldn’t blame him. He was trying to be courteous, but it was clear that my very existence was uncomfortable to him.

We were silent as we got back into the truck.

“That went about as well as could be expected,” Lou said.

“I guess,” Slick said. “We just signed away a lot of money, and an old friend.”

“Why were you being secretive about the money?” I asked.

“Not secretive,” Lou said. “Didn’t want an awkward talk about money, so it got over and done quick that way. It was about forty grand.”

Quite a solid amount.

We were silent for a few minutes. The moment felt serious. It seemed… right, for the mood I’d been in.

“I’ve realized something,” I said, my voice quiet. So quiet that if I’d not muffled the truck ages ago, they wouldn’t have heard me at all.

“What’s that?” Slick asked.

Lou seemed to pick up on my tone, and just glanced at me briefly, before returning her eyes to the road.

“I’ve been a fool,” I said, looking out the window. “All these years, I’ve been promising myself I could go home, but I refused to face the truth. It is, quite simply, beyond my ability.”

“Don’t say that,” Lou said.

“You’re incredible. Of course you can do it,” Slick added.

I shook my head.

“Assume, for a moment, that I am more brilliant and resourceful than my parents, by far,” I said. “And despite lacking all of the resources and knowledge they had access to, I manage to complete the portal in the same amount of time they spent on it.”

“How long was that?” Slick asked.

“About fifty years,” I said.

“Oh,” Slick said.

“Even if I succeeded, what then?” I asked. “I go there, just to see my family? By then, I will have lived the majority of my life in this place. And, aside from my family’s love, I had nothing there. No future, no meaning, no purpose.”

“But your family matters to you,” Lou said. “You have to go back.”

“If I truly had the choice…” I said, and sighed as, of course, tears started welling again. “Truly? I would want to make a portal, and see them. I would want to tell them goodbye, and stay here. Because, you see, I’ve realized something else, too.”

“What’s that?” Slick asked.

I wiped away the stupid tears.

“I matter, here,” I said. “I’m the only person in the entire world who could save the people, that day in the club. And more than that - disasters, like the hurricane that hit New York last year. I could have saved many lives then. Or even little things, like local hospitals. No one but myself, in all the world, can make such an extensive difference. Yes, perhaps, some will hate me, or fear me, or otherwise cause me trouble. But… I can help them.”

“I’m not liking where this is going,” Lou said. “You have to stay a secret, Aera, you know that.”

“For now, I suppose, but not for long,” I said. “I’ve realized, since I cannot leave, that means this is my home now. Which in turns means that these are my people. Therefore, it is my duty to assist. My time for hiding is drawing to an end.”