Iree’s office was on the second floor of the Creed house. A chalkboard lined with notes and diagrams took up the front wall, and the room was dotted with unlit candles of all sizes and colors. A row of chairs facing the board were up against the back wall, and Dorothea and the others settled into them once Iree burst into the room with a blank-faced Ariana behind her.

“Right!” Iree clapped her hands. “Atlin, these are the people you’ll be working with closely during your time here. My A-team, if you will, made up of Rhys, Creed, Kingfisher and obviously myself. We’ll all be on the front lines together, so know you’ve got some real powerhouses on your side.”

“The front lines…” Dorothea echoed. What she’d committed to was starting to sink in.

Iree smiled apologetically. “That’s where we need you.”

“I understand.”

Rhys peered at her. “You look overwhelmed. We can go over everything later if you need to take a break.”

“I’m fine, thank you.” She couldn’t be coddled. Getting in the way defeated the purpose of her presence here.

Iree’s voice was firm when she spoke again. “With this, we’ll end the war for good. Atlin’s ability to turn back time means that we can’t lose if we play our cards right. But we can’t get careless. Does everyone here understand that?”

Her audience nodded in unison.

“Good. Atlin, I want to get a sense of your understanding. Do you know why this war started in the first place? Tell me what you know and I’ll fill in the gaps.”

Feeling pressured with everyone’s eyes on her, Dorothea cleared her throat. “Um. Okay. So, it started with...with the epidemic.”

How to describe that day five years ago? Bittersweet Nightshade magic had spread across the entire country of Atritaria, taking lives in all three territories. Though Sirpo’s losses were small, the shock had still cut deep. People everywhere who had been happy and hearty mere moments before just dropped dead without warning when that magic made contact. By the time her mother had finished covering for those losses, she’d almost been ready to break. And then, not long after, she had.

It was impossible to imagine how horrific it had to have been in Sacer for this to happen on a wide scale. Dorothea had been able to push her losses into a dark corner of herself, but the Sacerians had to face their mourning every day as they battled the Ghurians.

“Sacer declared war on Ghuria afterwards due to the unprompted attack and a lack of attempt at apology or even explanation,” she concluded.

“Exactly right.” Iree nodded. “So then—”

“So,” Ariana interrupted, “why didn’t you turn back time after the epidemic?”

Dorothea met her glare, gulping past a lump in her throat. She’d expected questions along these lines, and she owed it to her new allies to answer for her inaction. “At the time, I didn’t think it was possible for me to prevent it,” she said quietly.

“Bullshit. You could have warned someone, anyone. In fact, what’s to stop you right now?”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about, so shut your mouth,” Shark snapped.

“Cool it,” Iree ordered. “Now, Atlin. It’s enough for me that you’ve agreed to help us now, but I’ve gotta admit I’ve been wondering the same thing.”

Before Shark could explode, Dorothea rested a hand on their arm. “It’s okay. This is a good gateway into telling you all.” She looked at Shark, and they nodded; Rhys’ gaze was especially heated on her face as well for some reason. “The use of Eternal Rosemary takes a toll. Essentially I trade life force to turn back time.”

“Aren’t you leaving something out?” Shark asked pointedly.

“What?” Too late, Dorothea realized what they wanted her to say. “Shark, no—”

“The Atlin way of dying,” they announced.

“Shark!”

“Look, they’ve gotta know what they’re gonna do to you.” They continued without heed. “The stress of turning back time eventually gets to be too much. The Atlins get torn apart by it, literally.” They paused to glare at everyone else. “Now that you know that, take care not to push Thea too hard or you’ll have me to answer to.”

Dorothea bit her lip to stop it from trembling. Shark was right; the Sacerians needed to know the full scope of what would happen to her each time they made a strategic choice to use Eternal Rosemary. But still, they were staring into a raw, weak part of her now, and she felt disgusted with herself.

Iree was frowning. “That’s not quite what I expected. It complicates things…” She looked downwards and cupped her own chin as she sank into thought.

Dorothea took a breath to collect herself, swallowing her emotions and locking them down. “So to answer your question, Ariana… In the case of stopping the epidemic and the war, there are far too many unknowns. Who specifically was the cause? What drove them, however many there were? How many underlying factors were there, and how many of those do I need to contend with? Will my actions actually prevent the conflict, or will it just start in a different way? If I or anyone else could completely answer those questions, then maybe we’d have a start. But I have no idea.”

“Bullshit,” Ariana muttered.

Dorothea stared down at the table. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologize,” Ariana said, words calm but glare scathing. “It means nothing, and it’s downright insulting.”

“Almost as insulting as acting like you have a right to dictate how someone else should live their life,” Shark shot back.

Stolen story; please report.

“Everybody shut up,” Iree ordered. “Listen, Atlin. Knowing this is valuable. I’ll use my best judgment when it comes to asking you to use your magic. From now on you need to let me know when you’re hitting your limit, okay? We’re comrades now, and that means we take care of each other.”

Dorothea nodded, unable to speak.

Iree gave her a reassuring smile. “I know this is hard. Come to me with your troubles. Better yet, bother Rhys.” She punched his shoulder. “He gives better advice.”

Rhys shook his head. “That aside, I have a question, Dorothea.”

“Yes?” She made herself look up when he didn’t start speaking immediately. He caught her eyes, and she was caught by how clear his were, a soft, understated gray. His general presence was very calming, and now she felt grateful for it.

“How will you avoid pushing yourself too far? Do you have the experience to understand your own limitations? Not to sound demeaning, but…”

“No, it’s fine. I just have to listen to my body in those situations. There will be clear signs that I’m pushing too hard.”

“I see.” Rhys looked thoughtful and not very reassured.

“So,” Iree began, “I know it must be uncomfortable, but let’s talk math. How much does each action you might foresee taking cost you? Reviving the dead, for example?”

Dorothea’s mind was racing, and her body was telling her to run. She forced herself to sit perfectly still and explain, “Reviving a corpse takes about a month of life away if it’s, um…fresh?” She hated talking so callously, but it had to be said. “The longer it’s left, the more it costs to restore. Next, healing wounds can take anywhere from seconds to hours of life depending on the severity. Reversing the time of day costs roughly a month per hour.” Those were the calculations her mother had written in her journal, at least.

“Huh…” Iree was jotting down notes on the blackboard and looking thoughtful.

“That said, it’s only best to use the last option if the cost will be lesser than it would be to stay in the current timeline and reverse what damage has already been done.” She twiddled her thumbs and stared down at them.

The chalk scraped sharply along the board before Iree set her stub of a piece down. “Understood. Is that all?”

Dorothea nodded. She felt picked apart, and she hated herself more for her own continued self-pity in this moment.

Rhys spoke in his usual calm tone to ease the tension. “A lot of magics have their drawbacks, but I’ve never heard of anything like this. I’m sorry.”

“Drawbacks for other magics?” She’d never heard Shark complain about something like that. Besides, this was a great chance to get the focus off of her.

He paused, considering. “We can think of them more as side-effects of varying degrees.”

“For example, I get hot flashes sometimes,” Iree offered. Her eyes lit up, and she grabbed a chair to sit between Rhys and Ariana. “You know, I wanted this meeting to serve as an icebreaker, and this is a good chance. I’ll start.” She smiled at Dorothea. “My magic is Burning Marigold, an Annual magic. Seeds grow from my hands, see?” She displayed her palms, where seeds indeed were rooted in their centers. “If I throw it, it explodes, or I can just shoot fire directly.” Without warning, she plucked one and threw it at Rhys’ head.

He caught it as Dorothea let out a yelp. “Don’t scare them like that. It only bursts if she wills it to,” he explained, frowning in response to Iree’s unyielding grin. “Is this your way of telling me to go next?”

“Yup!” Iree watched him with a smile.

“Well… My magic is Aquatic Clematis,” he said. “It’s a Perennial magic that lets me control water in just about any form. In terms of a drawback, well…” He frowned deeper as Iree’s grin turned mischievous.

“Say it,” she goaded. “Say iiit!”

He pursed his lips. “My hands are…basically they’re, er, moist. Sometimes. Not all the time. It’s not sweat, it’s… Most magics have concentrated outlets in the hands or feet, as you know. So water gathers on my palms sometimes if I don’t focus on it.”

“That’s nice and all, but please don’t use the word moist,” Ariana laughed. Her chuckles were deep, sharp and resounding, and it was nice to see she had non-angry expressions.

Rhys was back to frowning. “Hey, Iree.”

“Yeah?” She wiped at eyes teary with amusement.

He leaned in to have his lips close to her ear. “Mmmoist.”

Iree shuddered, though initially her cheeks had reddened some when he got close. “Why would you do that?! She’s the one who said it!” She pointed at Ariana with an accusatory finger, and the girl broke into a newfound fit of laughter.

“Yes, but you were the one laughing first,” Rhys reasoned flatly.

Cerid spoke next, having been the only one besides Dorothea not to laugh at Rhys’ expense. “Steadfast Azalea enhances my speed, strength and constitution. It is a Perennial magic. In terms of bodily aftereffects… I am less sensitive to physical sensation than others.” He shot Shark a sharp look as they snickered.

Dorothea was fascinated. The course of magic through one’s body was a miracle, but the vessel was also fragile. She was glad their manifestations weren’t so self-destructive.

“Come on, Ariana,” Iree urged. “Just a few sentences.”

Ariana huffed. “Steeled Primrose. Perennial. You’ll see for yourself.”

“Guess I’m last,” Shark said, frowning at Ariana. “Erupting Rhizanthella is a magic that lets me manipulate the earth. Eh, not much happens to me as a result… Well, I get dry skin. So like the opposite of Mister Moist here.”

“Please stop.” Rhys tugged on his ponytail as the room once again dissolved into laughter.

Iree clapped her hands once everyone had had their fun. “Alright. That’s done. Hopefully everyone here will at least try to get along.” She turned to Dorothea. “I know it’s a tough ask, but relax as much as you can. I’ve hand-picked powerful soldiers with Perennial magics that can fight year-round at their best. From what I’ve gathered, most remaining Ghurian soldiers have Annual magics, so we’re already at an advantage.”

“I understand,” Dorothea said, squeezing Shark’s arm. Knowing that some of the enemies’ magics would wane with the changing of the months didn’t make her feel better. Since the time a magic could be used roughly corresponded with the bloom time of its floral namesake, Perennials would naturally be more valued in warfare than Annual ones. It surprised her that Iree had gotten to her position with an Annual magic, but that just spoke more to her leadership skills.

Iree smiled appreciatively at her. “Now, last order of business is where you’ll be staying.”

“As long as we’re in the same place, it doesn’t matter where,” Shark said, and Dorothea nodded.

Cerid raised his hand. “Commander, my father has already spoken to me. He said he would be happy to have them continue lodging here.”

Iree nodded. “That’s settled then, if you two are okay with it.”

Shark was grinning. “I think we can manage.”

“Good deal.” Iree withdrew something from her pocket and threw it at Rhys, who caught it in a flash of movement. “Take care of them, okay?” She pointed to Dorothea and Shark. “Shopping and dinner. Watching them go around in those Sirpoan clothes makes me sweat too. Kingfisher, Creed, go with them and have a good time.” With a wink and a grin, she sped off to her next destination, wherever that might be.

“She never stops, does she?” Shark observed dryly.

“Not at all,” Rhys agreed. “Well… If everyone’s ready?”

Shark and Dorothea shared a glance, and they grinned at her. “Again, as we’ll ever be.”