“Grit and Grace makes a man a Worker. Skill and Talent makes a man a Craftsmen. Honor and Courage makes a man a Soldier. Luck and charm makes a man a King.”

General Tan Yu, 1955, The Science Of Warfare: English Translation

Counselor Meeting

A muffled banging could be heard from the counselor’s office as Amanda opened it with a knock. “Hello, you wanted to see me?”

“Oh yes. Ms Susu. Come in.” An older woman said as she fiddled with a coffee machine, “I’m just trying to get this cursed thing to run.”

“Is it broken?” Amanda asked examining the device. It was an old model if the rusty edges were authentic.

“Oh no, it just works when it wants to work. My needs be damned.” The counselor said with a light laugh. Amanda snapped her fingers shaping the forces of the universe itself and the coffee maker lit up and started to crackle dripping drops of dark brew. “Oh, there it goes.”

The counselor looked to Amanda who gave a shallow showman’s bow.

“Was that you?” The counselor pointed a thumb over her shoulder.

“You’re welcome.” Amanda straightened and smirked, “Amazing what’s possible with a bit of luck.”

“Right, you control luck, and on a significant scale too, correct?”

“Oh, not at all. Parlor tricks at most.” Amanda waved her off as she downplayed her powers. In truth, she could cause entire buildings to collapse under the right conditions if she focused hard enough and they were rickety enough. “All I did was tilt the odds a bit. Now was there something you needed from me, miss…”

“Oh, Viy. Just Viy.” She said taking a seat behind the desk, “I’m the counselor here at West High. Please, take a seat.”

“I would hope you’re the counselor since this is the counselor’s office and that’s the counselor’s desk,” Amanda remarked back as she sat across from Viy. “Shoddy work if the school would allow impostors to roam around.”

“Yes, true.” Viy chuckled as she rubbed the back of her neck. “I asked you here today because I wanted to talk to you.”

“Am I that popular?” Amanda said as she took a seat.

“No, I mean… I don’t know.” Viy stumbled as she tried to correct herself. “I just wanted to see how you’re doing.”

“I’m Aces. Why would you think otherwise?”

“Oh no, I’m not assuming anything.” Viy emphasized, “Just wanting to check on you.”

“Well like I said I’m aces. I’m making B’s in all my classes, I have a great friend group, and my home life is just fine.” Amanda counted off on her fingers, “Everything is great.”

“Your home life. You live with your grandmother, right.” Viy said opening a drawer and pulling out a folder.

“Yes. She’s very kind and loving and feeds me well and gives me a reasonable degree of privacy.”

“Your friends as in your team.” Viy set the folder open on the desk and thumbed through documents.”

“Primarily, yes, but I’m on good terms with my whole class. I might get into a catfight with some of the other girls, but it’s all in good sport.”

“And you’re passing all your classes?” Viy scanned lines with the tip of her finger.

“Sure am. I study regularly and do my best on every test. I’m not the top of the class by far, but I have a good average overall.”

“Everything is good?” Viy looked up to Amanda’s calm smirking expression.

“I have nothing to complain about.”

“And you’re happy with that?”

Amanda shrugged, “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“You don’t feel cheated or deprived of anything in your life?”

Amanda laughed, “Of course not. How could I? I get everything I want. I need only snap my fingers and everything falls exactly into place.”

“If possible.” Viy said, “You can’t make the impossible happen. Only change what is out of what can be. You made the coffee maker work, but if I had it unplugged you couldn’t do anything to make it run.”

“Not quite.” Amanda said with a smirk, “True, it would be impossible to make it run while unplugged, but then I would just simply need to plug it in. I can’t make the impossible happen through luck, but then I need only make it possible through action.”

“I see. Interesting.” Ms Viy pulled a folder out and opened it, “I understand this is a hereditary thing. A blessing passed down from mother to daughter.”

Amanda shifted in her seat and twirled a lock of hair around one finger, “Yes. My mother and grandmother were both blessed by the Jade Heaven’s Favor, or something like that. Some old folklore from China.”

“You don’t know?”

“Not fully. My mother and grandmother died before they could tell me about it.”

“Your grandmother is dead? The one you live with?”

Amanda chuckled a laugh, “Oh no, I live with my father’s mother. The rest of my family has passed on.”

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that.”

Amanda bowed her head to Viy, “Thank you. I was quite young when they passed, but I do miss them.”

“Does your grandmother not know about the blessing?”

“No, not really. It’s not a big secret or anything. I could easily find everything I want to know about it with a literal snap of my fingers. I just don’t care about it enough. Maybe in the future when I have my own daughter.”

“I see. So you said earlier you get along with your team well enough.”

Amanda clapped her hands and smiled, “Oh yes. I couldn’t ask for a better team.”

“You couldn’t?”

“Nope, I got the perfect group. Brick and Samantha are the sweetest, and between York and Abraham, we have nearly all the knowledge in the universe available to us. Alice is a gem in every way and with Jerry leading us, why, we’re almost unstoppable.”

“Wow, do you think your team is above and beyond the other teams of your class?”

Amanda waved her hands, “Oh no, the others aren’t pushovers. We couldn’t overpower any other team head-on, but we have quite the roster of tricks available to us.”

“Such as?”

“Not fighting in the first place. Jerry usually knows if we’re beat, so we usually just avoid those fights.”

“Oh, I guess that’s one way to stay on top. You said you get into catfights with the other girls?”

“Oh yeah. I sometimes tease the others.”

“Like Melissa?

“Oh no. Melissa would be throwing punches at the drop of the hat. But I usually can get a sideline on Ashley or the Jessicas.”

“Ashley Smith? The one on Adrian’s team?”

Amanda smiled, “Oh yes, and speaking of Adrian. I just love sitting next to him. He is a treat.”

“And why is that?”

Amanda’s grin grew as she leaned forward, “Big, dumb, and dense. He’s always good for a laugh. Don’t get me wrong, boy got instincts, but he’s just so easy to get the angle on.”

“Oh, how so?”

“Well, for example,” Amanda started a story from a few days ago. “I was heading back home after a morning working the payphones. If you don’t use all your time the rest of it gets credited into the machine’s backlog. It’s only pennies worth, but due to some oversight if you press and hold the return coins button it starts adding them together or something and you can get quarters. Five minutes usually clears the booth, so it doesn’t take much time to hit a dozen or so booths. I had hit a few jackpots, lucky lucky, and cashed in for treats. A squad’s worth of candies.”

“You stole from payphones for candy?” Viy asked raising an eyebrow.

“It’s not stealing.” Amanda mock swooned, “Why, it’s no different than picking up coins off of the sidewalk, which I also found plenty of.”

“Using your powers to make others lose money. Wouldn’t that count?”

“Maybe, but I can’t make people lose money. Not normally at least. I cause good luck only. Losing money is normally bad luck. I just luck into right places at right times.”

“One man’s fortune is another man’s misery.”

“Well, I’m a girl, anyhow, I was skipping along when I saw him. Adrian Priest in the nicest get-up I could imagine, and only because I saw it. He was in slacks and a button-down. Still wearing those gaudy shades of his, but still nice all around. So I go up to him and say ‘Wow, I’ve seen them dress monkeys up before, but this is impressive’ and he turns to look at me and scowl at me saying ‘What are you doing here? Selling feng shui charms?’”

“Feng shui charms?” Viy repeated.

“Because I’m Chinese, and they do feng shui.”

“Yes, but feng shui is moving furniture around. It doesn’t have charms.”

Amanda shrugged, “Tell that to Adrian.”

***

So after that I tell him, “Come on Adrian. I’m just saying hi to a friend. If anything I should be asking what you’re doing here.”

He just gruffs out, “None ya business.”

Which was as much as I was expecting from him, but then, lo and behold, a woman walks up asking, “Adrian, who are you talking to?”

“No one Ma,” Adrian answered, revealing her identity, “Just one of my pain in the ass classmates.”

“Oh, are they a friend of yours?” His mother asked with a sincere smile, which says a lot about Adrian.

“Not really. We’re just in the same class.”

That’s when the cutest little boy in the cutest little get-up comes up pointing a finger at me and asks in the angriest little voice, “You’re not the bitch who beat my high score, are you?”

Now, Mama Priest and Adrian are both telling him to watch his language, albeit for different reasons, but I can’t help myself. I squeal like a girl half my age and grab his little doughy face, “Oh my gosh, you must be Ambrose! You are so adorable!”

He started to squirm and struggle crying, “Let me go! That hurts!”

Adrian just laughed, “I told you Little Brother. Don’t start fights you can’t win.”

Ignoring the hypocrisy of Adrian’s advice, I let the boy go and turned back to their mom, “So why do the great task of making Adrian presentable?”

“Today was a special day at church. One of our neighbors was getting baptized.”

“They wanted Adrian to be all fancy for that?”

“Well…” She paused like when a teacher tries to spin a critique, “I just didn’t want us to stand out. It was their day, not ours.”

I looked to Adrian and signaled the question ‘They were mundanes, weren’t they?’ and Adrian signaled back a very disgruntled yes.

***

“Wait, signaled? Like signing?” Viy asked confused.

Amanda smiled and waved a hand, “Oh no, not actual sign language. Just those little gestures that like kinded people develop. Like between us girls, you know what I mean. Us demihumans have something similar. At least when it comes to talking about mundanes.”

“Oh, I see.” Viy rubbed her chin before asking, “Do you have anything against mundanes?”

Amanda raised a finger and said with disdain, “Not at all. I hold no ill will to any kind of people. Not the Slavs who chased my ancestors out of north China, or the Buddhists who exiled my grandparents to California, or even the Mutants who destroyed their business and forced them to immigrate across the continent.”

“Well, that’s good.”

Amanda smirked and continued, “Now Adrian on the other hand. Seems like he has something against everyone.”

***

I had just confirmed Adrian’s signal and thought how to use the situation to my entertainment, and thought to myself ‘Hey now, I bet Adrian hates wearing that get-up. So let’s extend this trip’.

“So what are you shopping for? Got any big plans?” I asked nonchalantly.

“Oh no, just groceries.” Mama Priest said happy to change the topic.

“Yeah, we’re just about done,” Adrian butted in, “So beat it.”

“Yeah!” Ambrose shouted mimicking his brother and I have to fight the urge to squeal again.

“Oh come now. You know this is a great opportunity for us to bond Adrian. Let me share some original Chinese recipes.” I offer and watch the scowl grow on his face as I pull a notepad and pen out, “Best part, they’re cheap and easy to make.”

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

Their mom tried to turn the offer down, but before she could I was ripping out a list of ingredients and handing them over, “I’ll even pay for anything extra.”

***

“Wait.” Viy interrupted again, “You paid for the extra groceries, on top of spending the afternoon shopping, just to annoy Adrian?”

Amanda feigned a blush, “Also gave Ambrose some candy to ‘hold him over until lunch’, but yes, and it was hilarious watching him get madder and madder as I kept finding one more thing we just had to get. And what could he do? Yell at me? In front of his own mother? We actually spent the whole afternoon shopping. And all it cost me was a week’s allowance, and the rest of my score, but it was worth it to see the smiles on Ambrose and their mother right next to his gritting teeth.”

Amanda giggled at the memory for a while before taking a deep breath, “Adrian was a good sport about it too. Even thanked me for the recipes and everything. Though he did punctuate the thanks with a rather nasty insult, but that’s Adrian.”

“You seem to hold some respect for him.” Viy noted, “It’s my understanding that Adrian is something of a bully.”

Amanda nodded in agreement, “Oh yes, very much so, but he’s not some brutish thug just picking on those weaker than him. He faces the trouble he invites head-on and takes his licks fair and square.”

“Even with Ms Bell?” Viy asked and Amanda looked away at that.

“Gwen is different.”

“Because she’s a fairy?”

Amanda pointed a finger in the air and corrected, “Half-fairy, but yes. Adrian has something extra against fairies, but Gwen is tougher than she seems. I should know. I saw her in full action in person.”

“Oh really?” Viy laced her fingers together and leaned forward, “You mean Gwendolyn is hiding her power level?”

“That’s one way to put it.”

“How do you know?”

Amanda leaned forward herself, “Well this was a bit after the disaster at the K-Kay concert.”

***

I had caught a train down to the Virginia state border. During the chaos of the hellhound attack, I had almost nothing to fight with. I was pumping luck out as much as possible, but that was such a passive role. So I figured I should expand my roster and work on a few Chinese secrets my family had passed down. Of course, those secrets were made in China with Chinese vegetation, but adaption is a constant in victory. So I figured I would go down and see what I could adapt. So I picked a random forest and walked down some random paths and hoped I got lucky.

***

“That sounds incredibly dangerous!” Viy snapped out in complete shock.

Smiling and nodding Amanda agreed, “Oh yes, it is. Incredibly dangerous, but I had luck on my side you see, and also a cell phone. The forest was well in signal range, I checked.”

“Oh. Okay.” Viy seemed to relax a bit at that, “But still, walking alone in the middle of the forest is not something one could casually practice.”

“Well luckily,” Amanda paused, “get it, I wasn’t alone for long.”

***

I was scouting and surveying the area around the path when I turned a bend and saw two figures. A pair of blond-haired girls in simple dresses and flowers in their hair. One floral set being very familiar.

“Gwendolyn? Is that you?” I asked not thinking about it and they both looked at me. It was definitively Gwen. They were kneeling in front of a flower bush and spotting me they stood up.

“Amanda, what are you doing out here?” said Gwen.

“I could ask you that?” I counter, “Quite the way from home aren’t you?”

“My mom was-” was all she could say before her mom cut her off.

“You don’t have to answer that.” She said putting a hand out to block Gwen and looks directly at me with an incredibly calm expression, “Why have you followed us here?”

I noted the loaded hook in her question, so I explained it directly, “I didn’t. I was wandering around working on my own project and just found you here.”

I showed her my book and everything, but a line of suspicion went through her face, “And you just found us by chance?”

“By my own supply of chance, yes.”

I assume she didn’t know how to take that, because her suspicion didn’t let up until Gwen stepped past her hand, “Mama, it’s okay. This is Amanda. She controls luck.”

Now, I know what you’re thinking, she just revealed my deal. Just out in the open. I should have been mad, but she was telling her mother who could have possibly turned me into a bonsai tree and be done with me. So I stayed quiet as she spoke.

“So, you’re not one of the brutes who have been bullying my daughter?” She asked and I could see her watching my face.

“Oh no, ma’am. I admire Gwen a lot actually. She moves with such a grace it can’t be hidden, even as she tries.”

This seemed to get her to relax. Her face returned to a neutral expression. “I see. Well then, you are welcome to join us if it is warranted. I was giving my daughter a lesson in forging.”

“For survival?” I asked walking closer.

“Yes, as well as crafting.”

“Fantastic! We can share secrets!” I said lifting my book to show pages of various drawings and writing.

She squinted her eyes and scanned the pages, “I don’t recognize any of this.”

“Well the writing is Chinese, obviously, and the pictures are of plants and fungi native to China. I’m trying to find possible substitutes.”

“Oh, well I’m sure I could help.” She said and actually smiled. It was the softest most inviting smile I’ve ever seen. She took a step back and curtsied, “My name is Zelda. Zelda Bell.”

I tucked my book under my arm and curtsied as well saying, “And I’m Amanda. Amanda Susu. Thank you for this opportunity.”

Which was apparently the magic words because she seemed to completely accept me. She guided Gwen and I through the forest teaching us about all kinds of flowers, berries, and even tree bark. I went over my own book translating what I could into English and explaining what didn’t pass over the language barrier so easily. It worked well too. I even managed to teach Gwen to speak a bit of Chinese. Just a few things. Hello, goodbye, and We are friends.

***

“I’m sorry,” Viy spoke up again, “This is a great testimony to Gwen’s character, but how does this relate to her physical prowess?”

Amanda rolled her eyes at the question, “I haven’t gotten to that part yet, but for one thing, she can fly. Had to float up to a few high branches.”

“Oh, well I knew Gwen was capable of flight.” Viy said pulling open a drawer and taking out a file labeled as Gwen’s, “But that’s not really a big secret.”

“Well,” Amanda rolled her whole body indignantly, “I didn’t know she could, and definitely didn’t know she could snipe an arrow over a hundred yards.”

“What!” Viy jumped in her seat. “A hundred yards?”

“More actually,” Amanda gibed, “and on a moving target to boot.”

“What happened? When did she shoot an arrow? What did she shoot?” Viy shot off in rapid succession as Amanda just sat there grinning.

When Viy showed annoyance on her face Amanda finally spoke, “This was all at the end of the lesson.”

***

The sky was turning orange and we were all getting tired. I know my feet were ready for a bath and from how Gwen rubbed her shoulders her wings would probably agree. They are so pretty, her wings. I don’t know why she hides them.

“This was a lovely evening.” Ms Zelda said, “I’m glad we had the good fortune to cross paths with you.”

“Of course!” I agreed with my own smile, “I’m glad I have the good fortune to be in the same class as your daughter.”

This was the general tone as we made our way back. Mostly Ms Zelda comparing notes and complimenting our know how. Gwen seemed content with getting the day over with, but even wells of magic luck run out eventually, because in about the last mile before the wood line we were attacked by goblins. A dozen of them flew out the brush and all pulled long knives.

“Give all you got! Or lose all you have!” was the assumed leader’s demand.

Now, I wasn’t worried. I’ve been practicing melee combat with Jerry for a few weeks at the time, and so after trading insults and threats, I managed to bait them into attacking.

***

“Wait, what all did you say?” Viy asked at the skimming of details.

Amanda just rolled her eyes, “I don’t know. We weren’t reading off a script. I called them ugly, they called me fat. I told them we weren’t scared and they didn’t believe us. Eventually one of them jumped at me and I slugged him with my knuckles.”

“You punched him? Bare-handed?” Viy seemed to be amazed.

Which made the correction from Amanda sound disappointing. “No. Knuckles. As in iron knuckles. I never leave home without them.”

“Never?”

Amanda raised a fist now dawned with a slab of metal covering her fingers, “Never. I also have a pair of silver knuckles, but those are for special occasions. And we were holding our own. Gwen’s mom was really strong.”

***

It took about a full ten minutes to get them to stop fighting. We weren’t trying to kill them, and lucky them for that, because Ms Zelda was blasting them into trees with such ease that I doubt I was actually protecting myself. Between her throwing them around, Gwen summoning vines to tie them down, and me leaving blistering burn marks from my iron knuckles they eventually stopped.

“Bane bringer!” One of them cried, “Why? This is not allowed. Human swear to no have the bane!”

I lifted his face and looked him in the eye, “Iron weapons for self-defense are perfectly legal.”

I dropped his head and he kept weeping, “The bane. It burns so foul. Why bane bringer?”

“I wouldn’t have to if you didn’t try to steal my stuff,” I said lifting my basket up to show and that’s when it happened. Out of nowhere, another goblin riding on an eagle swooped down and grabbed my basket. The basket in which I was carrying the many pickings we pulled today, which I didn’t actually care about, and my family’s book of secrets, which I did care very much about. I immediately turned to Gwen’s mom and begged, “Ms Bell, that book was from my mom, please, we have to do something.”

The book is a family heirloom a thousand years old. So I admit I lost my cool, but I snapped back when Gwen jumped into action.

“I got it!” She yelled flying up sporting a bow and arrow I had never seen before and fired a single shot. A moment of silence passed before Gwen smiled and announced, “Direct hit!”

I was ecstatic, cheering even, as we ran through the woods to find the rider goblin hobbling away with my basket. I gave him a thorough stomping and I took my book back and Gwen took the eagle to nurse it back to health. I didn’t take a measurement, but I felt like the run to there was at least a full rugby field in length, so quite the long shot from my overly shy friend.

***

“Okay, that sounds impressive,” Viy said writing down a note. She pointed the pen at Amanda, “But why weren’t we told about this? The school I mean. We’re supposed to look out for our student body.”

Amanda just shrugged, “Well, no harm no foul. I got my book back and Gwen’s mom was already there, so you know.”

“I guess so,” Viy tapped the pen on her lips as she thought about it.

Amanda raised one finger, “Also, I would appreciate it if this didn’t become common knowledge. Especially not to Adrian. If he caught a whiff of boldness off Gwen, it would be a whole thing.”

“You think so?”

“I know so. Half the class would end up fighting it out.”

“Why’s that? Why would they care enough to fight?”

“Various reasons. Some because Gwen is a friend, some because they hate Adrian, and some because they hold a strong sense of morals.”

“Do you know who is who?”

“Some. I know Semy and Brick would stand up for Gwen. The Sorority Four, Melissa, Jenny, and The Jessicas, would stand against Adrian. Vlad would never start the fight, but he wouldn’t allow any cruelty to stand, but the biggest pressure would, believe it or not, come from Frank.”

“Frank? Francis Paris? The demi-god? Of Aphrodite? The love goddess?” Viy asked.

Amanda answered, “Yep. That’s him. He doesn’t seem like much. A bit scrawny and more goofy than smart, but that boy has a strong fire in him. The way I say it, we see him as a warm campfire. Nice and inviting, but he can also be a roaring forest fire or a powerful engine inferno under the right conditions. And I’ve seen them.”

“Really? When?” Viy asked and Amanda started another story.

***

We had just finished one of our Saturday training sessions. Jerry had sent off Samantha and Alice to The Arcade for one-on-one team building, and I had the rest of the afternoon free. I decided to go see a movie. Even invited Jerry, but he passed. So there I was skipping along my merry way, when suddenly.

Out an alleyway comes a bolt of fire. Luckily I wasn’t in the way when it flew by, but that meant I had to lean over into the alley to see what the deal was. Which turned out to be Frank and Ishtar fighting off some somethings. No idea what they were, but I assume they were non-human because both Frank and Ishtar were cutting them down ruthlessly. With Frank stabbing and slicing and Ishtar blasting fire to corral them into Frank’s sword and keep them from surrounding the two boys.

Now I was still far from experienced in non-mundane combat at the time, but I developed just a few tricks to get an edge in. So, seeing my classmates in a fight for their lives, I jumped in. Throwing out a bag of tripping marbles I shouted, “Scatter!”

***

“Scatter?” Viy repeated, “Is that suppose to be your attack name?”

Amanda pouted at the question, “I’m work-shopping it.”

“Okay, that’s fine.” Viy raised her hand in surrender, “I mean, it works as an attack name. At least I guess it does. What is Scatter?”

Amanda pulled a hidden bag of little black metal balls, “I toss out a bunch of these. They’re cast iron and hollow. Designed to rust and break down. So no risk of an innocent bystander coming along and slipping on one after the fight.”

“Wow, clever and thoughtful,” Viy said with a smile.

Amanda beamed a grin, “I thought so too. Though they are a bit costly. More so than regular ball bearings, but worth it.”

***

With that edge, the battle shifted. Where Frank and Ishtar were holding their own before, now they were overwhelming the enemy. Frank kept cutting them and Ishtar was blasting any of them that fell down into ash. Leaving perfect dust piles with no bones or bits, and the things had swords and shields, so I was now confident they weren’t people.

“Looks like I came in the nick of time,” I said when the battle was over.

Frank was the one to answer. Wiping sweat off his face he said, “You sure did. We were starting to get tired. What brings you into the city?”

“Can’t a gal just enjoy the city life without needing more?” I asked already deciding to cancel my movie plans.

Ishtar spoke up to that, “No. No one can enjoy this damned city without being damned themselves.”

“Oh come on man.” Frank pleaded, “I’m from a small village myself, but the city been good to us.”

“Blah!” Was Ishtar’s response.

Frank accepted that and looked back to me with an extended hand, “Amanda was it? Francis Paris, call me Frank.”

I took his hand and he introduced Ishtar. Ishtar just bowed his head, and I curtsied. “So what are you two doing out here?”

“Well it’s a bit complicated, but I’m on a quest.” Frank sighed and with a tone of annoyance explained, “I woke this morning hoping for a fun day with my team and found a dove tapping at my window. Which would have been weird, but it was pink, which means it was from my mother, Aphrodite. Apparently, someone stole a bottle of her perfume, and now I have to go find it.”

“Sounds simple enough.” Was my response. I didn’t think nothing of it, but that seemed to flip a switch in Frank because he blew up.

“C’est Merde!” Frank shouted to the sky, “I’ve barely spoken to her my whole life. Then she shows up one day and demands I uproot my whole life to come to this city. Now she’s just ordering me around through carrier pigeon! My mom is a bitch.”

Now you’ve probably picked up that I often speak without thinking. Just small statements that seem to expand past what I intended, and this is another one of those times, because all I said after that was, “Wow. I agree.”

Frank looked at me like he wanted to kill me and pointed a finger, “Hey! Do not talk about my mom like that!”

I was stunned at this as I saw Ishtar rub his cheek, “Trust me. That is not a wise thing to do.”

***

“Do you think he would have attacked you?” Viy asked. “Even though you’re a girl?”

Amanda nodded, “Oh yes. Probably not harshly, and definitely not to kill, but Francis Paris is an old-school country boy. He wouldn’t let tradition be an excuse to bad-talk his mother. Ishtar is the same way.”

“I’m aware.” Viy said looking for two new files, “What about you?”

Amanda tilted her head, “What about me?”

“How tolerant are you to insults of family?”

“I would kill anyone who disrespected my family.”

“Oh!” Viy was taken aback at that, “Just like that?”

Amanda tsked and waved a finger, “Oh no, I’m too small and weak for sudden violence. I would bide my time and wait for a chance to strike. Maybe have it look like an accident. Wouldn’t have to wait too long with my luck.”

“I thought you couldn’t cause bad luck.”

“Not directly, but one man’s blessing is another man’s curse.”

***

Now back to the story. After our little exchange, I offered to help them.

“And why should we accept?” Ishtar asked with suspicion.

“Because with me you become three,” I explained, “and three is a powerful number.”

“She’s got a point.” Frank said, “Most good things come in threes in the Greek business.”

“Indeed.” Ishtar smoothed his mustache, “But how do we know we can trust her?”

“Can we trust you?” Frank asked me directly.

“Probably not,” I answered and then asked him, “but who can you trust?”

“Hmm.” Frank thought for a moment before dawning a his goofy smile and offered his hand, “Makes sense to me. Welcome aboard.”

“What!” Ishtar shouted, “That makes no sense at all!”

“Sure it does. Think about it. She has no reason to help us, but she doesn’t lie. So we can trust her.”

Ishtar just stared with burning disbelief at Frank, “I can officially believe you grew up in a swamp.”

“Genial. Welcome to the team Amanda.” He offered his hand again and I took it.

After that it was mostly Ishtar doing detective work while Frank and I kept guard. We fought a few more gangs of what Frank called Shades and eventually found the pawnshop where the perfume was. We bought it and completed the quest.

***

“What? How?” Viy asked.

“How what?”

“How… everything. How did Ishtar track the clues? How did you fight off the shades? How much did the perfume cost, and were you able to afford it?”

Amanda counted off on her fingers, “I have no idea, Ishtar handled all that. Teamwork, but mostly Frank handled it. And it took every dime we had between us, plus a quarter I found just outside.”

“A quarter?”

Amanda nodded, “The shopkeep was very strict. We were twenty-five cents short, and he would not sell, but then I luckily found a quarter just outside. So I was basically the hero of the day.”

“I see.” Viy rubbed her chin, “You have an unusual style of storytelling.”

Amanda shrugged, “Well, my specialty is gossip. It’s known for skipping the unimportant bits.”

“I suppose so.” Viy said, “I bet you have quite a trove of gossip.”

Amanda giggled, “Oh not at all. Just a bit more than average. I live a rather active life.”

“Yes, you do. You’ve also become rather popular from what I know.”

“Natural charm.”

“Do you like being popular?”

“I don’t hate it. I told you. I have a happy life. I get along with everybody. I want for nothing. I am, objectively, the luckiest girl in the school, and maybe the whole nation.”

Amanda held her smile as Viy looked her over before giving a slight grin back, “I guess so, but you know, if you ever need someone to talk to about stuff, I’m here.”

Amanda waved a hand at that, “You’re sweet, and I do appreciate that. I have my friends and teammates too, but I’ll keep your offer in mind. Is there anything else?”

“Umm…” Viy thought for the moment before giving in, “No. I suppose not. You can leave if you want.”

Amanda jumped to her feet and curtsied thanking her for the time. She turned to leave, but before exiting she looked and pointed to the coffee machine, “By the way, I think your coffee went cold.”

“What?” Viy snapped looking over and grabbed the pot. The look of disappointment on her face said that it likely had got cold. Amanda left Viy to be disappointed and headed to the front of the school. Exiting the building she saw Jerry waiting for her on the stairs.

Jerry was leaning on the stair rails looking out at nothing, “So, how was it? Did she grill you on anything?”

Amanda skipped down the stairs and spun on the ground, “Nope. Just asked me how I was doing and if I was playing nice with others.”

Jerry stood straight and started walking as Amanda fell in step, “What did you tell her?”

Amanda walked with exaggerated steps that allowed her to match Jerry’s longer stride, “Not much of nothing. Just told her of a few stories. Mostly about other students on other teams.”

Jerry smirked at that as they stepped off school grounds, “You think they’re trying to recon us?”

“I’m thinking it’s important to never give away what’s not needed.”

Jerry nodded in agreement to that, “Do you want me to walk you home?”

“Oh come on Jerry,” Amanda jumped up in front, “Let’s go by your place. I love your mom’s cooking, and we still have a lot of tactics to talk about.”

Jerry tsked and shook his head, “Alright, sure. Mom would love to learn a few more recipes from you too.”

“Hooray.” Amanda cheered and the two of them walked on in stride discussing the finer details of the day.