Today was supposed to be a time to relax. Róisín wanted the familiar comforts of a rosewater-scented bath, with the bath being sweetly accented by actual pink rose petals and green apple-scented candles lining the room. The linen towels would have been freshly pressed and her auburn hair would be floating dreamily in the water as the bath accentuated her natural beauty.

No, she had to be sitting in an abandoned computer cafe negotiating—the mere word sent a tremor to her neck—with the bitch who stole her money through a computer terminal.

“If you refuse to turn over my money, rest assured that I will use the considerable financial and human resources at my disposal to track you down to whatever hovel you’ve holed yourself in, strip you of everything that you held dear, and dump you in a place where neither heaven nor earth can find your worthless body,” she threatened.

I believe that you have considerable financial resources and people to do as you bid. I

doubt you would be able to find me. I’ve concealed my presence in the real world. No virtual inspector would be able to discover my location.

Róisín sneered at the flickering blue symbol on the computer. Aquarius the Waterbearer, just like her lessons taught her.

“If you truly have no fear of me, then you would be party to all of your financial assets seized, liquidated, and turned over to my company and family, whom you’ve deeply wronged.” She already had her phone out. She could call the company’s chief cybersecurity experts, and ask them to comb through every crumb that this would-be hacker would have inevitably left behind.

I’m not afraid of your company, your board, or your family. There are more dangerous threats

loose in the world. I think your family would be well aware of the nature of your threats.

She kept a calm façade. Aunt Alcyone always told her to never show any weakness in the face of her enemies. Róisín imagined herself on top of a throne of bones, dominating over all that opposed her. She would think about the exact structure later. For now, she sought restitution. The liquidation of the ingrate’s bank accounts satisfied her. Their home was unlikely to be worth much, but the land would be valuable enough. Another property of hers to own. As for the bitch…she was hers to do as she pleased, once she found out their identity.

“Return the twenty million euros you stole from Seven Sisters Investment Holdings without any latent Trojan horses or any such viruses, and you will be untouched.” Róisín narrowed her pale green eyes. “This would be a mercy.”

I will decline your offer and make a counteroffer instead. Your ill-gotten twenty million euros, with no strings attached, directed to the bank account registered in Lemuria. In return, I will require your services in escorting two persons of interest. One is a close friend of the Libra of the Seventh House, the other is the Dog of the Eleventh Gate.

This person claimed to possess the Dog and…a random human? Tch, they couldn’t take the Libra herself and decided to grab the next best person. How worthless.

You can accept my offer, or I use it for my ends. There are a few charities in need of a large

donation. For the Orphans of Calamity Fund, the Red Cross, and Amnesty International, a boost in their finances would do wonders. It would be in your name, seeing how you exemplify the virtue of generosity.

The threat of them touching her money made Róisín recoil internally. She summoned her hammer in case she needed it. The ingrate lived in the digital network, so smashing computer terminals wouldn’t be helpful. The company’s IT experts couldn’t find where the money had vanished. They were a ghost, nearly untraceable. To send her an encrypted message telling her to meet here alone and with such insane demands that any sensible person would have refused, they must have been desperate.

“Why do you need me for an escort?” she asked the flickering blue waves. “You could have easily hired someone.”

Because my enemies are merciless against any private security company or escort service I

could think of hiring. I need the Taurus of the Second House. The girl is defenceless and only

the Dog would not suffice. I’m looking to acquire the Key for the Door to the Eleventh Gate and

return it to its rightful owner.

The Keys…Aunt Asterope talked about them. Twenty-four artefacts imbued with the energy of the cosmos and the universe scattered in fear of dangerous powers taking advantage of them. She had begged Aunt Asterope for the location of her Key to possess it when the time came, but Róisín knew that the location was never entrusted to anyone and the fall of the Second House rendered that information lost.

To sweeten the deal, I’ll reveal my cards: The Dog of the Eleventh Gate is known as the

Watcher on the Wall, and she sees all, even those that wish not to be found or can’t be found. Perhaps her powers and abilities would be of use to you.

She was about to rebut the Aquarius’ argument, but she couldn’t find anything. The computer terminal started glowing an electric blue before exploding and ejecting two people onto the cracked tiles. One of them was a girl her age, her long black hair covering her face as she looked at Róisín’s white horns with something that could be called admiration. It was strange. The other was a woman dressed in ancient Chinese armour the colour of terracotta like the terracotta army and a helmet of the same material in the same colour. A nearby computer terminal blinked on.

Here are the two you promised to escort. As soon as you attain the Key, I’ll give back your money. When you go back to your limo, there will be a file named “for_europa”. There will be three fake passports and three tickets to a flight from Dublin Airport to Lake District Airport that leaves tomorrow at 0400 hours. Further instructions will come once all three of you have landed.

The girl started speaking to the computer terminal in another language. Japanese? How did the Aquarius know her code name?

The Key is located in a semi-remote location. Due to the lack of the Internet and the rarity of technologically equipped vehicles in this location, I am unable to assist any of you past landing at Lake District Airport. If needed, the Japanese girl has my phone number, but only in emergencies.

The computer shut down, leaving Róisín, the girl with black hair, and the Dog standing in an abandoned computer café in the middle of the night. She supposed she was stuck with them until she got her money back and visited vengeance upon the Aquarius for daring to steal from her. The limo was suitable for them, as the Aquarius could be watching for any signs of mistreatment.

“Come with me,” she demanded.

The girl eagerly followed, chatting with her phone. The woman shrugged and took off her helmet, revealing hair the colour of a burnt carrot and two upright dog ears. She also had a bushy tail, Róisín noticed. The girl’s clothes were mediocre and not becoming of a proper aristocrat, as her Aunt Taygete would have said.

Once in the black limo with the rain pounding, she secluded herself in the section reserved for board members of the Seven Sisters. Róisín was thankful that her dress absorbed none of the rain. She did like it, often playing in it when she was younger.

“Seamus, the Pleiades Mansion!”

“As you say, Ms. Ó Laoghaire!”

The limo lurched forward. Róisín liked the absolute obedience of the staff and servants. No one at the Seven Sisters dared to think of usurping any of the Pleiades, such was their grip on the company. She rolled down the window behind her and felt the soft rain on her skin. In her hand, she imagined a teardrop-shaped emerald and it manifested in her hand. Leaving it in Seamus’ favourite drawer, she waited. The two at the back didn’t make a fuss except for the girl’s awe at being in a limo.

The familiar sight of Pleiades Mansion comforted her. It was made in stone, dating back to the founding of the company. Ivy vines snaked across its dark and foreboding facade, yet the topiary was amusing. Aunt Electra was always changing the shapes. Sometimes they were giraffes, serpents, elephants, or bulls. They were bulls, as they have been since she left three weeks ago. Róisín oversaw their maintenance, as one of the few manual labour duties she had.

Once Seamus stopped, a valet opened the door for her. Neither of them had to worry about her being wet owing to the large stone archway attached to the mansion. He also opened the door for the Dog and the girl, who were both surprised by the valet’s presence. Róisín knocked on the door, which Callum opened.

“After you, Ms Ó Laoghaire. I see you have guests as well.” He nodded to the Dog and the girl. “What are your names?”

“Nishikawa Hina.” The girl bowed deeply. This was a way to greet others in Japan. Róisín needed to refresh herself on Japanese etiquette rules.

“Willa Divata Baccay.” The woman spoke English with a brisk accent, likely from the Americas.

“Come in.” Callum beckoned all three in.

Hina had found herself a chair to watch the maids handle the laundry. Willa didn’t bother to sit, leaving for a discrete room on the left. Róisín felt at home with the white marbled floors and double staircases. The dark blue ceilings were patterned after the Taurus constellation, while the floor beheld the Seven Sisters in stellar form. The maids were mostly cleaning and tidying up the place. Several were walking briskly with piles of fresh laundry. Róisín approached the bronze cowbell and started ringing it loudly. All of the maids and servants stopped what they were doing.

“I need to leave for a flight to Dublin Airport tomorrow that will depart at 4:00 am. I want three suitcases filled with travel-ready clothes and outdoor clothes and all of the necessary items from my vanity within the hour. For the guests, pack two suitcases each. In my absence, everyone reports to their head, and the heads will report to Callum in all manners.” Róisín clapped twice.

In an instant, the maids all scurried to perform their duties. Hina appeared to be astonished by the speed at which they shuffled in and out of the rooms.

One of the servants approached her with the emerald green telephone. “Excuse me Ms. Ó Laoghaire. A telephone call from Mr. Conor Ó Ceallaigh.”

“I’ll take that, thank you very much.” She nestled the bulky telephone underneath her chin. “Dia duit Conor.”

“Dia duit! How’s my parents’ nest egg?”

Ah, the impish and all-knowing Conor Ó Ceallaigh. “It’s growing well on Lemuria. I’m surprised you haven’t hijacked your parents’ private jet and flown there.”

“And I’m surprised that you haven’t been shaving off the little eggshells to fund your family’s, ah what should I call it, extraneous activities?”

“Am I supposed to act as if you were an innocent saint? I doubt that the hedge fund investors consented to having their money used to stage Shakespeare plays and James Joyce productions in Irish Gaelic.”

“You wound my heart, my little rose! As long as we, ah, keep skimming only the tiniest bit off of our eggs, we should be fine. Speaking of which, did you catch the person who skimmed off your eggs?”

“That’s being dealt with privately, none of your family’s money was touched.”

“Great! Slán go fóill, tabhair aire.”

“Slán go fóill, tabhair aire.” She hung up.

Róisín watched the maids and servants quickly packing everything up in seven grass-green suitcases and walking up the stairs, her tail flicking lazily. Portraits of herself lined each wall. Aunt Celaeno painted her on her birthday each year, watching her blossom from infant to dawdling toddler to lively child to young lady. She fixed some of the more crooked portraits as the servants scurried about, their cow tails flicking like her own.

When the seven sisters sought to recreate the Second House in what they called the Lower World, Róisín wondered how they managed to adapt. Certainly, change was hard. She could attest to that, being suddenly enrolled in a private school at the age of twelve and forced to interact with her peers. Luckily she had managed to befriend Conor and join a reputable club, but her fate had always lain beyond the Lower World and its denizens.

Someone was yelling at something. It was none of the maids or servants. Probably one of her guests. Hina had been spirited away to a changing room by two of the strongest maids, so it had to be Willa, the Dog. Approaching the extra room, she listened through the keyhole.

“Let me talk to them, all you’ve sent them was a single message!”

Silence.

“What do you mean ‘it’s for my good’?! I need to talk to Liza, Dana and Jenny…my oldest sister is in a coma! I want to talk with them? Wait what are you—don’t hang up on me!”

Róisín had sprinted away from the door in time for Willa to slam the door wide open, tears falling from her eyes. She motioned for three servants to fix the door. Meanwhile, Hina was dressed in a white blouse with a ruffled collar and two pockets, beige dress pants with discreet pockets, and black polished shoes—and now chasing after Callum’s black bull tail.

“Ms. Nishikawa, I must beg of you, my tail is not to be used as a duster—gah!”

The maids that dragged her into the changing room were now trying to drag her away from a frightened Callum. Willa was standing in the middle of the floor pondering the massive constellation below her, her tail twitching.

Róisín coughed to grab her attention. “If we want to be able to board the plane, we have to detransform. It’s in a public airport.” She reminded herself to wring the Aquarius’ neck for putting her in economy class.

Willa nodded and left with a maid in tow. Terracotta light emanated from one of the changing rooms. Following her example, Róisín sequestered herself and recited the words to detransform.

“Prosperity has been acquired and the rose is no longer in season.”

Green light bathed her, leaving her hair a little less reddish and her eyes a little bit duller. She summoned maids to dress her with a ring of the cowbell and let them apply sweet-smelling perfumes and lotions to her body.

Two hours later, Willa had been outfitted in one of Róisín mother’s old adventuring outfits, complete with a plaid cap to her surprise. She had on a white sundress with pink roses patterned on it. Without their respective animal traits, they looked more like Hina than any of her staff.

“You look nice,” she complimented Willa as they both entered the limo.

Willa didn’t say anything in return.

Róisín commanded Seamus to drive them to Dublin Airport. All of the necessary forms were already prepared in the compartment. She used the biometric scanner and unlocked the terminal inside the limo. She clicked on the file labelled “for_europa” and watched as her amulet printed out all of the fake passports and the tickets needed to board the flight. Róisín was glad that it wasn’t a ferry. She hated going near the ocean.

“Passports please?”

All three of them handed over their passports one by one. The boarding agent scanned them and read their names out.

“Grainne Doyle, Saori Inoue, and Alma Mendoza?”

All of them nodded.

“The two thousand euro fee for flying with any airline?”

Róisín deposited the cash in front of the boarding agent, causing Willa and Hina’s eyes to widen in disbelief.

“The insurance forms stating that the airline is not liable for your health and safety in the case of an unexpected Calamity?”

The forms were pushed in front of the agent.

“The insurance forms for your luggage, stating that the airline is not liable for the safety of your luggage and has permission to jettison them in case of emergency?”

She reluctantly handed the forms over. The thought of any of her belongings being jettisoned to save the flight disgusted her and she internally winced at such a vulgar and outrageous action. If any of these inferior beings thought to even smear her perfect suitcases—

“Alright. All three of you are cleared for flying.”

Hina thanked the lady while Róisín and Willa pushed past the gate before a group of talkative individuals followed. After getting through Customs, they were stuck waiting for their flight. Hina left to buy donuts. Róisín and Willa waited for her, neither saying a word. Not for the first time, Róisín wondered how much Willa would want to be paid to find specific people.

After realising that Hina was taking too long and helping her order donuts despite her distaste for the inherent inferiority of airport food, they walked back to their gate. The same group from before was behind them. Róisín decided to go to the jewellery store, trying on whatever cheap imitations they had. Leaving the store, the girls continued onwards. Aunt Maia taught her to be aware at all times, especially when she was alone.

They were being tailed.

Willa must have noticed them as well, dragging them around the airport and at one point trying to mask their presence by standing close to a fast-food restaurant. Now that Róisín thought about it, Willa’s nose crinkled every time she was close to her. She thankfully resisted and managed to keep her signature rosewater and apple scent untainted by the smell of fryer grease and oil. The flight was starting to board, so Róisín pushed everyone to their gate. After they finished checking in, she looked behind her—and saw that the same group was also boarding with them. Róisín and Willa started picking up the pace a little, slightly dragging a confused Hina along with them.

Róisín stored all of their suitcases in the overhead compartment across from them, much to the consternation of some of the other passengers. The saving grace of their economy class seats was that they were facing a window. Unfortunately, the view was mostly blocked by an aeroplane wing. Hina didn’t mind taking the window seat while Willa chose the aisle seat to guard them and Róisín was left alone with the middle seat.

While putting her seatbelt on, the screen on the back of the seat in front of her crackled to life. Electric blue started overtaking the mandatory aeroplane safety video.

“The enemies you mentioned, they’re sitting at the back,” Róisín relayed to the Aquarius.

I’m already aware of them. Nothing will happen on this flight.

Róisín had more questions, but since the aeroplane was taking off and she did not want to ask questions while her ears were popping, she waited until the plane was aloft in the air.

Hina decided to fall asleep, leaving Róisín alone with a silent Willa. Her eyes were still red. Feeling more than a little bored with a stoic wall beside her, she decided to probe the worthless ingrate.

“How do you know my code name? Only my family calls me Europa.”

According to my files, Europa is one of your courtesy names, and the one currently used.

When going over the history of the Second House, Aunt Alcyone had not covered her titles or list of names. She knew she had multiple names, but not the true name.

The Houses used courtesy names frequently, bestowed on them by the Gemini of the Third

House three thousand years ago. The Gates used courtesy names as well since it was them who had brought the custom from ancient China. Ganymede is a courtesy name of the Aquarius of the Eleventh House. It’s not my real name.

“You hide under falsehoods because you’re afraid of retribution.”

I’m not the one spinning falsehoods. Your family has always operated under a facade of respectability and abused their control over others’ money for their purposes.

“How dare you besmirch the Pleiades—”

Do you want to lecture me on image and respectability? There’s a reason why you want to

protect the Dog and it has nothing to do with twenty million euros and everything to do with the Seven Sisters.

The nerve of this bitch…Róisín turned towards Willa. Her eyes were wary, but she spoke nonetheless.

“What solution?”

In the event of an attempted offensive, I have various countermeasures in place.

“Oh really?” Róisín sneered. “What can you do?”

Any attempt to leave their seats would be crushed by the flight attendants. Voice mimicry

through a computer could be easily accomplished, but not as well as the Gemini could do it.

The flight controls are under my purview and the black box answers to me and only me. I could

crash this plane into the Atlantic Ocean and erase its very existence from the world. Of course,

I’ve planned methods of escape for all three of you. Your survival is important.

Willa’s eyes were scanning the area. Her gaze stopped at a mother rocking her baby to sleep, a man regaling the man beside him with a jaunty song, a woman sleeping in her partner’s lap, and two small children drawing in an activity book.

“What about the other passengers?”

The objective is of paramount importance. If they are the price to pay to achieve it, so be it.

The Aquarius spoke like her Aunt Taygete, only more uncouth. Willa’s grip on the seatrests strengthened, but she didn’t say anything afterwards. Hina was still dozing off underneath clear blue skies. She remembered that the Libra was known to be discerning in her choice of lovers and friends. Ms. Nishikawa wasn’t a girl she would consider refined by her or Aunt Taygete’s standards. What were the Libra’s friends like? Róisín knew that the others wouldn’t be as instructed as thoroughly as she was. The Libra’s judgement was known to be absolute, and she was not known to make any wrong decisions. Perhaps there was a well-hidden reason why Hina was chosen to be the Libra’s friend.

The Dog has shown a brusque manner at times. How much money would Willa accept? She was astonished by her pulling out two thousand euros for the agent, so that should be enough to pay her off. Unless she demanded more for her skillset. In that case, Róisín wouldn’t go any higher than five thousand euros. More than that, and that would be blatant robbery. She smiled at the thought. Aunt Alcyone helped set up her bank account and taught her how to manage her finances. She would have loved to hear her mother and aunts’ voices one more time…but all she had was the Dog. Róisín tapped on Willa’s shoulder.

“I want to pay you two thousand euros for your services in tracking down seven individuals.” Willa didn’t respond. “Three thousand euros.” Nothing. “Four thousand.” Still nothing. “Five thousand, that’s my final offer.”

“Who?”

She jumped a little internally. “Who?! Does that matter? How much do you want? I know you have tracking and detection powers beyond comparison.”

Willa shrugged.

“I—You must want something. Everyone wants something. What about whoever Liza, Dana, and Jenny are?”

That seemed to have Willa’s attention. “Ummm, I don’t want anything.”

Explaining this—this is worse than explaining their appearance to new investors and why the robes were necessary. “The Seven Sisters are the women who raised me from when I was born to who I am now. Their names are Maia, Electra, Taygete, Alcyone, Celaeno, Asterope, and Merope in that order. My last conversation with any of them was three weeks ago when they departed. Their last known locations are known only to me. I will pay you five thousand, six thousand, seven thousand, ten thousand euros if you could just find them.” Why was she offering more than her set maximum amount of money?!

Willa’s face…softened. “They’re your family. That’s why you want to pay me.”

Róisín hmphed.

Willa seemed to take that as a time to smile. “I feel lost here. Ganymede…is a person, and I can’t agree with Ganymede’s methods. I want to go home and be with my family as well.” Her eyes were piercing. “I know you don’t want to be here. I have three sisters and a niece ten years younger than you. If any of them were in your position, they would be doing what you are trying to do. So I won’t accept your money, but I’ll still help you find your family.” She raised her right hand.

“Left hand.” Why did everyone assume she was right-handed?! Even her classmates tried to shake her right hand after seeing her write and draw in class!

Willa used her left hand to shake her hand.

The flight passed without incident. Hina woke up just in time for the food cart to pass by their row, ordered apple juice, drank all of it in one gulp, and slept again. Róisín refused the food and Willa accepted some small pretzels. They ate in silence, Róisín occasionally glancing at Willa. After that conversation, she felt more comfortable around her.

“What does the Key to the Eleventh Gate look like?” she asked Willa just before they descended.

She shrugged. Perhaps, Róisín thought, there shall be a great trial to prove Willa’s worth. Aunt Electra reminded her daily that to be worthy of holding her Key, she must pass the test suited to her.

Once they landed, they rushed through the arrivals section of the airport. On their way to the exit, Róisín noticed the group that was following them being stopped by airport security. More officials swarmed them and all she caught was that the group was on a no-fly list from quickly whispered gossip. This must have been the Aquarius’ doing. Hina’s phone started to ring and she answered it.

“Konnichiwa? Ano, Ganimedo-san!” Hina handed the phone to Róisín. “Sore wa anata no tame desu.”

Róisín accepted the call. “What do you want?”

“Go to the bus station. Enter the bus closest to the crosswalk.”

Róisín relayed that information. “And now about twenty million euros—”

“You’ll get your money when you deliver the key to the Dog, and not earlier.”

Ganymede hung up.

Grumbling internally, she kept pace with an excited Hina. Willa was watching out for anyone suspicious, judging from her constant head swivelling. The bus station had four buses, two of which were accepting passengers. Róisín was about to approach the bus, before being tapped on the shoulder by Hina.

“Karera wa shitsumon ga ō sugimasu.” She pointed to the bus driver, who was being questioned by a group of men.

“Have you seen a Filipino woman with an athletic build, brown eyes, and black hair travelling with two teenagers recently? One of the teenagers is Japanese with long black hair, brown eyes, and a skinny frame; the other is Irish with auburn hair and green eyes with a stocky build?”

Róisín dialled the unknown number on Hina’s phone. “Find us another bus. Yours is compromised.”

“Take the other bus furthest from the crosswalk on your right. All buses will now be accepting passengers.”

She hung up and directed everyone and their suitcases to the other bus. The bus driver didn’t ask for identification and thankfully neither did he ask for a fee. They all took seats in different rows and stuffed their suitcases underneath their seats. The bus quickly drove off, but not before the same group of men managed to board the bus.

Willa and Róisín shared a glance before Hina discreetly showed them her text messages from the row in front of both of them.

Don’t leave. That will draw suspicion.

The men quickly filed into the bus seats. Two of them decided to sit next to Willa. The rest seated themselves in a seemingly haphazard fashion. Aunt Celaeno always taught her to look for patterns, and she was seeing that now. Three took up the row closest to the front, Hina was boxed in, and Róisín was also surrounded by three, including the two next to Willa. She was separated from the man by an old lady. The man seemed amiable enough, tipping his hat to her. She noticed that all of them were wearing hats with large brims, obscuring their faces from the camera. Willa was looking increasingly uncomfortable.

The bus drove off. Róisín still found the English countryside beautiful with its green fields and rolling hills. She would always prefer the Irish countryside, but this was pleasant enough. It was a long fifteen minutes, during which Róisín decided to imagine all of the ways she would punish these men for following her. She could transform right here, turn them all into precious gems, smash them with her hammer, summon petals to befuddle them, summon petals inside their stomachs, hit them with her bronze amulet...she eyed the man’s expensive hat. Such a pity.

The tourists on this bus were admiring the landscape and snapping photos. Willa was more focused on the two men talking about the weather, with one of them occasionally eying her. Hina had managed to stay awake and kept jabbing her elbow into the dark-haired man beside her. When he looked at her, she promptly pretended to sleep, knocking into a disgruntled middle-aged man who mumbled something in Welsh. The men were quiet, only stopping to chat about the weather, the landscape, their non-existent social media pages, and their non-existent families. They must be inferior in some way, Róisín thought, or why would they be here chasing after three girls?

The man in her row was discussing the stock market with the old lady.

“...so my thoughts were that the new American biotech company is on the rise! I decided to buy a few stocks, and after selling them, I was rewarded richly! I think the price is about ten euros right now. You should buy it now before they climb any higher.” He looked at Róisín. “Sorry ma’am, but can you excuse me? I want to speak with the young lady near the window. Do you mind if we switch seats?”

“Oh, no need!” The old lady happily traded spots with the young man.

The young man was content with relaxing in his seat, yet something glinted at his belt. A metallic device, with a liquid-filled chamber. It wasn’t like anything that Róisín had seen, but she remained wary regardless. There were multiple exit points, all of them through the windows. She had the strength to grab Hina, but the transformation had to be fast. Róisín knew nothing about the man sitting beside her whistling, or who he was working for. Considering they were outnumbered, interrogation was not an option. Besides, she doubted that Willa would agree to her breaking their hands with her hammer.

She and Willa shared a glance. Aunt Asterope had a code for quick emergencies: blink for the number of seconds for the beginning of your plan. Róisín blinked three times, mouthing the word “seconds” in English. If this went well, it wouldn’t matter if the men caught on. Willa blinked in acknowledgement. Róisín shared it with Hina, touching the back of her wrist instead. Hina droopily nodded.

Close to the three-second mark, the young man moved closer to her.

“Excuse me miss, can I move a little closer? I seemed to have dropped something—”

Both of them had their weapons out. The moment he grabbed his syringe gun, she already had her bronze amulet out.

“Call forth the bounty of the spring and let fortune favour the emerald fields. Prosperity is not within my grasp and the rose is in season.”

Pink rose petals swirled around her neck, creating a necklace in the shape of the Taurus glyph while her body became encased in a crystal. Emerald rose earrings sprouted from her ears as her horns crystallised. Her hair gradually became reddish and her green gown manifested around her body. The bronze hammer formed out of rose petals and she sent crystalline shards flying everywhere, catching on multiple people’s clothing.

Two rows behind her, Willa also transformed, managing to put on her helmet as the two men tried to puncture her skin with a syringe gun. The man tried to inject the syringe into Róisín’s neck, only for the needle to shatter on impact. Róisín smiled before smashing his skull with her hammer. It made a satisfying crunch.

Grabbing Hina from the seat and knocking aside the man beside her, Róisín smashed her fist through the window, with Willa trailing behind. The men were yelling and chasing them. She started running, remembering her mother’s maxim: “A strong mind needs a strong body.” Of course, she had immediately defeated Róisín in hand-to-hand combat.

They charged through the plains, Róisín creating unbreakable diamond barriers and sapphire columns to slow them down. They weren’t equipped with long-range weaponry, which made sense considering how strict the United Kingdom was with guns and no one expected anyone to be carrying around bows in this day and age.

Willa was running quickly, finally shapeshifting into a reddish brown and white dog. Hina was still groggy. Shooting showers of sharp emeralds at her opponents, Róisín quickly checked Hina. Her neck had been nicked by the syringe gun, likely while Róisín grabbed her. She kept sprinting, following Willa.

Finally, they managed to outrun their pursuers, with Willa circling the area and transforming back into a human. She sniffed the air.

“We’re clear.”

Róisín let Hina down. She was sleeping now. Meanwhile, Róisín observed the surrounding area. There were a few stones scattered here and there, but there was an intact wall section further away. Aunt Maia had drilled geography into her head, so she knew where they were based on the airport they left and her limited knowledge of the Eleventh Gate. Unfortunately, Aunt Celaeno’s lesson slipped her mind, but she knew that the Dog guarded a wall between existence and non-existence.

They were standing near Hadrian’s Wall. Willa was observing the area. Did she recognise where they were? It was hard to see her expression as the helmet obscured part of her face. She was interested in the rocks and was looking at one with a worn-out inscription in what looked like Latin.

“What does it say?” she asked Willa.

“Cave canem,” Willa replied…her voice was deeper now. More earthy.

Before Róisín could react, Willa pressed her amulet into the stone. It glowed yellow, with yellow lines streaking off into the horizon in geometric patterns. All of them formed a square, or squares within squares, and they were perfect. They shone like the earth itself had decided to embrace Willa.

Willa herself was changed. Her eyes glowed yellow, and so did the rest of her body. Her armour was floating and it seemed she was caught in a trance. Her amulet glimmered, with all five symbols lighting up with terracotta light. Everywhere else was lit in yellow squares, sectioned off and shaped like a wall.

She tried to remember her lessons. The Gates utilised five types of energy, each with a corresponding colour. Wood was blue-green, fire was red, earth was…yellow. The Dog and the Eleventh Gate were associated with earth, so it made sense the site of the Key of the Eleventh Gate was in yellow. The squares almost overlapped where Róisín supposed the original wall once stood. She felt the brimming stability, the steadfast resoluteness emanating from its core, and felt rejuvenated by it. She was connected to the element of earth as well.

The Dog of the Eleventh Gate has come to fulfil her duty.

The energy spoke?

Of course we do, Keeper of the Gardens. The Wall is stirring for the first time in three cycles. The towers stand erect for their commandant and the beacons eagerly await the signal that will call upon the forces of the Upper World to bear arms against those that wish for its destruction. The scouts slumber still, but in time, they shall be called upon to shield the Lower World as their duty demands of them.

She sensed a hidden clause there.

Propriety has forced our hand here. The Dog has neglected her duties to such an extent that her obedience to the tenets of the Eleventh Gate was in doubt. Such a lack of conviction in the face of unimaginable adversity is unthinkable. To prove this candidate’s fidelity in the face of time unending, there shall be a trial. If she is to undertake the mantle of the Watcher on the Wall with all of its attendant responsibilities, she must have a pure and unsullied mind.

The squares pulsed with a greater intensity as Willa briefly struggled against them before finally yielding and letting her arms hang limply.

…interlopers in our midst!

A low buzzing sound resonated far beyond the horizon. The men she knew immediately. Hina was still unconscious and Willa…she tried waving her hands back and forth. Nothing. She couldn’t do anything to Willa nor could Willa help them.

She was going to have to defend them by herself.

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Someone was reaching for her. Wings filled her vision.

“One day…one day, I will judge everyone.”

There was a towering figure who held the four winds in the palm of her right hand and a magnificent copper scale in her left. She struggled to keep her eyes open.

“By their oaths, by their actions, all shall be weighed.” The corner of the figure’s mouth upturned. “So where do you stand?” She held up her scales. “Your mortal impressions in exchange for the Key to the Eleventh Gate.”

She wanted to protest but was struck by a forceful gale.

“A fair exchange.” The figure kissed her gently on the forehead. “A kiss for your memories.”

She wanted more of that sweet breeze, but she was falling, falling…

“Legionnaires of the Legio VI Victrix! We march on Helios’ rising!”

She blinked. Where was she? Who was she? “Excuse me, what’s going on?”

Whoever was yelling out the orders immediately pulled her close, close enough that she could smell the olive oil and wine on his breath. “Did you not hear me, Legionnaire Canis?! Once the Sun has risen, we are marching on the unwashed barbarians! The two raiding parties were a distraction and they were gathering north of here! So listen to my orders and get dressed!” With that, he shoved her back into the wall, causing her to wince.

She looked down at herself. All she was wearing was a wool spun shift dyed a dark orange-brown and some well-maintained sandals. Everyone around her was frantically putting on lorica segmentata and galea, so she grabbed the closest silver galea and stuck it on her head. For some reason, the top of her head hurt once the cold metal touched it like there were supposed to be ears on her head. Ignoring the pain, she stripped quickly, letting the shift drift onto the floor. She…was surprised at how flat her chest was. She wasn’t sure, but she instinctively assumed she always had breasts. Her chest was as flat as the roads of Rome. It was an interesting observation, but—

“Hurry up!”

How was she supposed to put this on?! Thoughts migrated to her head.

Pick it up over your head, then slip your left hand through the left aperture, and then your right hand will follow. Lace-up the back, and all will follow smoothly.

She followed the instructions in her head. Once she was finished, she felt considerable pain in her lower back. Did she do something wrong? No, something was there. She loosened the segmented armour and felt the pain go away. She did the same with the galea, freeing herself from the low-level aching.

“What are you doing?!”

She straightened up. “Sir!” Wait, sir?

The man in front of her was equally as confused by her choice of words. “That armour was supposed to protect you! What are you going to do when they stab you from behind and your guts spill out onto the field? And you are to address me as Centurion Servius Varius Nerva!”

She froze for a moment. “Ave Centurion Servius!”

“Ave Legionnaire Canis.” He looked her in the face. “You’ve been at this post for eleven months.”

She nodded. She didn’t know. “Why am I here?”

“You are here to be trained as a proper legionnaire of the Legio VI Victrix. You, Legionnaire Canis, were sent from Helvetica with a note that you are willful and disobedient. You are growing into the ideal of a legionnaire, but you have certain things to learn. For example, when I say there is a proper way to wear lorica segmentata, there is only one way to wear it!” He was yelling again.

“Ave Centurion!” She put it back properly. “I think I have it down, Centurion!” She was in pain, but at least she obeyed.

Servius nodded and examined her. “Good, it is properly secured and you are less likely to die in battle. Now you need to work on your speed and readiness.”

He gestured to the field, where all of the legionnaires were forming a testudo, while she was still barely dressed. “A legionnaire must be quick and sharp, ready to march at a moment’s notice. For today, you are alternating between latrine duty and watchtower duty.”

He handed her a sponge on a stick. “Do the latrines quickly. It is almost time for cena.”

She nodded. “Ave Centurion!”

Following the path to the latrines, she felt a little out of place. The armour was comforting and familiar, but where was she? She remembered no Wall or Helvetica, but any clues to her past were hidden. Centurion Servius seemed trustworthy enough despite the yelling, so she followed his lead. Something nagged at her, but she washed it away with the first stroke of her tersorium.

The smell was awful.

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Willa wasn’t waking up. The earth energy that ensorcelled her proved to be as immovable as its nature, never bending to Róisín’s will and strength. Her connection to earth wasn’t enough to sway the resolute patterns. Worse still, Hina was unconscious from the syringe gun. Róisín had left her on a hillside, where she was still sleeping. The energy pools were erecting barriers around the area.

Taurus of the Second House, how well do you understand the source of your abilities?

“What do you mean ‘do I know about the energy that is all around us and powers the amulet’, of course I know about that!” Did it think she was an airheaded fool? What an absurd thought.

It appears that the Dog of the Eleventh Gate was not aware until she came in possession of the amulet. This was an assessment since it was likely you might draw from the reservoirs and therefore destabilise the trials.

Róisín hmphed. Aunt Celaeno had taught her that if enough energy was gathered, it would begin to possess sapience, but she didn’t warn her of how disobedient the energy was. Wasn’t the Eleventh Gate known for obedience? Once she gained access to the Second House, she would ensure it bent to her will.

We are loyal to the Eleventh Gate and its Watcher, not to you.

Ignoring the yellow squares, she climbed to the highest hill within the area. Aunt Electra had taught her that the highest point was the most defensible point. From there, she surveyed the men and women setting up black boxes around the area. They hadn’t noticed her yet. Good.

When she had taught her about her powers, Aunt Celaeno had mentioned that she could draw energy from anything created by her powers, which included crystals. Róisín reached into herself and grew four emerald pillars that startled the people down below. Some of them immediately found buzzsaws and set to cutting down the pillars. Others noticed her standing on the hill in a bright green dress and grabbed…crossbows. How stupid were they that they thought crossbows would be effective against her? Even if the United Kingdom had less strict gun laws than her native Ireland, she would laugh it off.

The bolts started flying anyway as they bounced harmlessly off of her skin. Unfortunately, they kept entangling themselves in her hair. Angrily tossing them aside, she set her gaze on the offenders and concentrated. The emerald pillars pulsed with green light as the crossbow wielders found themselves coughing out pink rose petals. She smiled when they fell to their knees. Like her Aunt Alcyone said, don’t stop until they are begging for mercy.

Meanwhile, the yellow squares were holding their own against the black boxes projecting five coloured rays at the walls. Only two rays passed through the bright yellow walls, a red ray and a white ray. More walls were springing up, but exposure to the rays seemed to weaken them.

She wasn’t particularly agile, but her Aunt Taygete had taught her basic evasion techniques in case she was ambushed. Leaping off her chosen hill, she landed on one of the boxes, crushing it under her heel. Someone shot several crossbow bolts into her face, but that only made her more annoyed and her hair gradually more tangled. Gritting her teeth, she slammed her hammer into the ground, shocking them before running off and stomping on the boxes until they were dust beneath her square heels.

As expected of the Taurus.

“Well, I saved you, so you should do something in return.” She looked at Hina. If she was harmed, then Ganymede would refuse to give her money back despite her wrongfully stealing it in the first place. If the Libra found out, against her absolute judgement…Róisín shuddered. “Hide her, defend her with your life.” Hina was useless out here.

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

A small yellow square formed around Hina. Your idea of “favours” is a strange concept. Doing your duties as expected is what you should have been doing all along.

The energy was idiotic. Making others owe things to her was the best feeling in the world. Was she missing something? She felt like she was. All of their weapons were destroyed, and she doubted that they had anything comparable.

This was going to be easy.

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Latrine duty was taxing, and the spare water she used to wash out the toilets had a rank stench that lingered on her skin a little too long. Even the cold metal of the armour couldn’t disguise it. She was getting better at putting on her armour more quickly judging from the decreased berating from Centurion Servius. Speaking of the centurion, he was kind enough to lessen the hours spent cleaning the latrines and more time scouting the north side of the Wall.

She was there now, along with a fellow legionnaire named Marcus who served latrine duty. He hailed from Cyrenaica and had a habit of incurring Centurion Servius’ wrath, enough that he taught her a few tricks on how to clean the latrines efficiently. She mentioned that she was from Helvetica…she thought.

A snarling bear, a swinging chandelier, the blurred-out faces of small children, a copper farseeing telescope with eyes on all of the Lower World…

She felt like she was needed elsewhere, but she had duties here. While latrine work wasn’t the most glamorous, it was sorely needed at the Wall, where everyone is crammed into quarters. Hygiene was important, she had told Marcus. Cleaner latrines correlated with less disease among the men, and fewer diseases meant a stronger fighting force in case of a Pict attack.

“But still, it’s disgusting? Seeing everyone’s shit every day, and why are we out here anyways? Is this a twisted punishment devised by Centurion Servius?” He shook his head. “I would rather be back cleaning the latrines than this.”

“Scouting is as equally important as latrine duty.” She squinted her eyes. “Without us being here, we wouldn’t have any information on the Picts’ movements or possible weak spots in our defences.”

He nodded. “That’s what my father always told me. Work hard, and the gods will give you their favour. I still prefer the training field over this.”

That resonated with her. She remembered someone telling her to always “work hard, play hard”. Someone named…Clara? She was missing something, but she had to focus on the task at hand: report anything suspicious to Centurion Servius and eliminate any Pictish scouting parties.

Nothing out of the ordinary. There was a lone sycamore tree in the distance. The grass swayed gently in the breeze, the blue sky shined overhead—wait. She crouched, motioning Marcus to lie down. This wasn’t something taught by the centurion. Where were all of her skills coming from? She was certain that she wasn’t originally a legionnaire. Her former life was a question for another time. Marcus kept popping up, but her nose smelt something different. Something human.

Dry leaves crackled underneath someone’s feet—but it wasn’t her or Marcus.

Brown eyes in the grass locked with blue eyes in the shade of a sycamore. Gleaming iron armour glared at blue-painted skin. No one made a sound as the Roman scouting party and the Pictish raiders assessed the other group. Two Romans against five Picts.

The blue-eyed man charged first, his sword pointed at Marcus. She moved to defend him. Sword met scutum in a clash of iron. While she was holding down the man, Marcus was guarding her back against two of the painted warriors. The other two men circled them, waiting for an opening.

“Do you have an extra shield?” asked Marcus.

She shook her head. “One shield for each legionnaire.”

She knew the inherent subtext beneath his question: they were defenceless from above. If one of the Pict warriors were armed with a bow and arrows, they would be dead in a rain of arrows before they could signal the Wall. They only had two, but they were locked into a testudo formation, preventing the Picts from cutting them down. What did she observe about the weapons they wielded? The man who attacked Marcus had only a shortsword, the two men currently assaulting her scutum had a sword and a spear each, and the two circling them had spears…and bows. She relayed all of this to Marcus.

“The two with bows and arrows should be our main priority,” Marcus stated, lowering his pilum. “Can you see where they are?”

She couldn’t see them, but she could detect the scent of their blue paint. “On your right.”

He nodded. “We’re pushing soon. Get ready, I’m moving forward.”

They pressed their backs against each other. She smelled a certain tenseness among the sword-brandishing warriors.

“Now.”

Marcus rushed forward with her defending his rear. She couldn’t see who he was attacking, but she heard the screams and yelling characteristic of a fight. Hearing one man slump to the floor, the other started nocking arrows. He was closer to her than to Marcus, so she tapped him on the hip and they managed to stun the blue-painted archer before she managed to stab him with a pilum…her breath hitched as she looked into his eyes. This didn’t feel right, but she felt like she had done this before, at another time.

You did, more than once. I’m grateful for it, but sweep aside your burdens.

A warm breeze wafted through the air, smelling of raspberries—and the scents of the three remaining Picts. Quickly, she motioned to Marcus where they were with a bump of the shoulder, and they marched towards the Picts. One of them yelled and charged at them. Marcus tried to impale him on his pilum but to no avail. The tip was briefly stuck in the warrior’s shield until Marcus wrenched it out and jammed it directly into the warrior’s stomach. His sword clanged against Marcus’ iron scutum uselessly. Now there were only two to worry about—

Arrows blotted out a small white cloud in the sky. She peered over her red and yellow scutum. The blue-eyed man had picked up his companion’s bow and had started loosing arrows. Based on the trajectory of the arrows—they were going to hit her and Marcus in their backs.

“Marcus, arrows! The archer is on my right!”

They quickly manoeuvred out of the rain of arrows. The blue-eyed man was skilled with the bow judging by the rapid shower of arrows, but Marcus was quicker. He sprinted at the man, overpowering him and knocking the bow out. The man managed to disarm Marcus of his pilum and was about to puncture his arm when Marcus stabbed through his eye with a gladius. She winced as blood started gushing from the man’s eye and pooled onto the formerly green grass—wait, they weren’t together and their scutums were no longer interlocked.

Marcus realised it judging from his increasingly widening eyes—and so did the lone raider. She barely had any time to yell before the raider overwhelmed Marcus’ scutum and picked up his pilum. The raider managed to severely wound him before she tackled the Pict to the ground and stuck her gladius in the stomach. Something in her ached…and yet her gut sensed that there was more to this than just a scouting party. Both men were still alive, which went against orders…but Marcus was bleeding out, and fast. Without the medici ordinarii, he was going to die on the field.

She was holding someone, bleeding out…on a carpet. Somewhere, a short time ago.

She shook her head. Whatever was in the past had to wait. Right now, her fellow legionnaire was hanging between life and Pluto. Shielding herself preemptively, Willa dashed to Marcus’ body and dragged it onto the scutum. Waving her pilum, she forced the other two raiders to stay away while she started running back to the Wall with the scutum.

Here.

The wind blew pieces of pink cloth gently into her waiting hands. She quickly applied pressure to Marcus’ wounds and she switched directions to push him like it was a sled.

“Hold on Legionnaire Marcus! We’ll get to the Wall in no time! Roma Eterna!”

“Roma Eterna…” trailed off Marcus weakly.

They managed to reach the Wall slightly before Marcus lost consciousness. The medici ordinarii scrambled around Marcus, lifting him and carrying him to a nearby medical tent. Centurion Servius’ gruff face greeted her upon arrival.

“Ave Legionnaire Canis! How did you and Legionnaire Marcus come by your injuries?”

“Ave Centurion Servius!” She gulped. “A Pictish scouting party of five set on us. We managed to finish off three, but the other two were left alive.”

His face grew red. “Your orders were to annihilate all scouting parties, regardless of anything else, was it not?!”

“Yes, but Legionnaire Marcus had sustained such grievous wounds that it was necessary to prioritise him first. Without him, the Legion would be missing a crucial part of itself. With him, we would be able to regroup and fend off any further Pictish attacks.”

Centurion Servius’ eyes flashed yellow. “You were supposed to obey orders first. A legionnaire is replaceable, but I’ll see to it that he is in good health. Latrine duties, now.”

Yellow wasn’t a natural eye colour. Just what was happening, and who was that voice in her head? She sounded familiar…

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They brought more weapons.

When Róisín heard that the men were shouting for “qi bullets”, she confidently assumed that they were mere tricks and not worth thinking about.

That was until the bullets started ripping through the walls, showering the fields with whistling air and a leafy smell. She was briefly shocked but regained her composure. Aunt Taygete wouldn’t have it any other way. Besides, she was invulnerable to everything, Willa had her armour and Hina—

Oh right. Hina was only human.

Hina managed to wake up, only to yelp when Róisín tossed her behind another hill as the bullets rained over the plains and penetrated Hina’s barrier. Now Hina was staring at the holes in the yellow walls, slowly repairing themselves from the bullets.

She winced slightly as another blue-green projectile whizzed by her head. Some had landed in her hair or her face, but they usually dissipated, unable to penetrate her skin. Róisín’s only issue was that they messed with her already messy hair. They haven’t ruined her face, thankfully. The walls rebuilt themselves to withstand the assault, but she noticed that some of the holes weren't being repaired as quickly as before or were taking longer.

The energy squares around Willa shifted. Her entire body was overlaid with crisscrossing lines of yellow energy and squares formed around her abdomen, pulsating intensely.

What needs to be done needs to be done. The secondary power source will be used for the defences and the primary power source will be dedicated to the Watcher’s trials.

The squares transformed, becoming rounder and slowly turning into circles filled with white energy. They remained on Willa’s body though. Róisín grasped the hammer in her hand and let the power of earth flow through her neck.

The next wave of people idiotic enough to challenge her came forth. She stomped into the earth, sending shockwaves across the land. The rest who weren’t stunned by her seismic wave were cleaned up by her hammer. For some of them, she noticed that the hammer glanced off their armour without leaving a mark. She solved that issue by punting them with crystal columns that jutted into the sky and anyone else who remained by summoning rose petals inside of their bodies. Aunt Alcyone had always taught her to inflict maximum pain on her enemies. They were getting too excessive, and she couldn’t smash through yet another wave. Where were they coming from? Whoever was giving these people orders, since it was readily apparent the fools were just following orders, must be eliminated.

“Oh,” Hina piped up. “Here.”

She reached into her jacket pocket, grabbed a fistful of assorted cut gemstones, and threw them at Róisín. Róisín left them hanging in mid-air.

“Ganimede-san kara no okurimono desu,” was Hina’s answer before ducking underneath another shower of blue-green bullets.

The next time she saw Ganymede, she would beat her into a pulp for two reasons: stealing her money and trying to put her into Ganymede’s debt. She floated the gemstones across the field and let them grow, creating barriers and sharp spikes that impeded the men’s movements. The white energy made circles around the men, skewering and impaling them within each circle. If they got too close, Róisín was there to slam her hammer into their chests. When one of them attempted to grab her from behind, she used her mom’s old technique and broke their arm in one motion. Picking them up and throwing them away like the trash they were was satisfying. Was this how her mother and Aunt Alcyone felt?

She dealt blow after blow to the invaders, rose petals swirling around her as she knocked several men clear out of the area with her hammer. Those that tried their strength against her might were swiftly disabused of such silly notions, as their broken bodies attested.

There were more people than there had been on the bus, and they were becoming outnumbered. For each crystal barrier she raised and every person the circles impaled, more would take their place. She had to protect Hina from the bullets too many times. Was she too weak to learn basic defence skills? Róisín silently bemoaned the fact that her getting back her rightful money was contingent on keeping this stringy girl alive and unharmed.

Eventually, there was only her, twenty circles, and Hina peeking over the top of the hill. The group surrounding them were talking amongst themselves. Róisín allowed herself to settle in on an emerald chair. With such pitiful attacks, she doubted that they would have much to offer.

“Hold your fire!”

“What do you mean ‘hold our fire’? The walls are coming down!”

“Look with your eyes! That’s metal energy patching up the walls, not earth energy! The wood qi bullets won’t do anything against the wall now!”

“We can keep firing on the girl.”

“Look carefully! Don’t you see the horns, the tail, the green dress, and the hammer?! That’s the Taurus! Didn’t you listen to the briefing?” So they knew who she was. Her family had always kept it a closely guarded secret; hence why she could never have friends at the Pleiades Mansion. How did they know?

“...and how is that relevant?”

“She’s invulnerable to anything physical! Bullets, cannon fire, even dropping a bomb on her won’t do anything! Switch to the red bullets, and where are the fucking gas canisters?!”

She winced. That word was horrendous and utterly vulgar. When she was being taught by her Aunt Celaeno about her gifts, they covered her invulnerability and that she could not be harmed by anything physical. Gas on the other hand…

A metal canister sailed over the white and yellow walls. Róisín’s eyes widened before she took out the chair, bludgeoned the canister, and tossed what remained back over the walls. More canisters were coming in, more than she could swing her hammer at. Hina must have noticed as well, taking out her phone and presumably dialling the Aquarius. Róisín noticed the white parts of the wall burning and only had a second to shout “Duck!” before a barrage of red-hot bullets started spraying into the clearing. Two of the bullets struck Hina’s phone, which fell to the ground sizzling, and her hands, causing her to shout in pain. The field was littered with canisters, and the white circles could do only so much. Suddenly, the canisters started shooting out bay-coloured smoke. Róisín coughed and tried to head towards higher ground, but to no avail. She could feel her strength being sapped slowly as she dragged herself up the hill. Hina had already collapsed into the soil and the squares around Willa became more tightly bound.

Merope…mom…

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She pulled her head out of another latrine. Sometimes she felt like the toilets were endless.

“Are! You! Kidding! Me! What! Is! Wrong! With! This! Latrine!”

At least Marcus was here, and physically well.

“Quit your whining and clean faster if you want to participate in the march!”

Centurion Servius was also here, after saying that they both needed a “lesson in diligence” and wanted to lead by example. All three of them were on latrine duty today before the planned march into Pictish territory. Based on the reports that she and Marcus brought back recently along with other scouting parties, battle with the Picts was imminent.

“Legionnaire Canis.”

She stood at attention. “Ave Centurion Servius.” The pain had lessened on her back and her head since she came to the Wall on the border of Britannia.

“You mentioned pink cloth fluttering for you to use to patch up Legionnaire Marcus’ wounds.”

“Yes.”

His eyes flashed yellow again. “A sign of Venus’ favour.”

The goddess of love and the mother of the Roman people? She wanted to ask what that meant when a messenger came in with a scroll and whispered into Centurion Servius’ ear. The messenger immediately left.

“What was that?” Marcus asked.

Centurion Servius grunted. “Picts spotted north of the wall. The march will commence at dawn.”

She nodded. For some reason, the order, the drilling, even the yelling…this felt right. Knowing what to do, being told what to do, without the burden of having to figure things out for herself…like at the security company she used to—no, still worked at. What company though? Legions don’t have companies, she thought as she assembled her lorica segmentata in record time, earning an approving nod from Centurion Servius. Her hasta, galea, scutum, and gladius were all equipped and she lined up in formation alongside two legionnaires she knew as Gnaeus and Septimus.

As they advanced, her errant mind tried to piece together all of her fragmented memories. She used to work for a company unconnected to the legions of Rome…she had fought before, but not in a cohesive unit. She knew who she had fought alongside well, better than even her fellow legionnaires. Actually…how had she come to know their names in the first place?

The trumpet sounded, bringing her full attention to the coming battle ahead. Whatever she was once had since passed, and she was needed here. Something tugged at her gut. Two young girls…they needed her. Then or now? Her gut instinct told her to push all thoughts aside, and so she did. Readying her hasta, she waited for the painted warriors to come pouring out of the fields. Looking at the legionnaires’ determined and stoic faces, she felt a little out of place. Who was she before Helvetica—or was she ever at Helvetica? Wouldn’t she be able to recall where Helvetica was? How could she not know where she had come from? Was she ever from Helvetica in the first place?

The hastas rattled in anticipation, and the scutums were firmly planted into the ground. All she had to do was to stand her ground. Something within her gut told her she was made for this. The last line of defence against a foe beyond mortal comprehension, standing beside a blinded woman with white wings…

Awwww, are you thinking of us together?

Venus?

One of the many names I took over the centuries, but not my true name.

Who was she?

Tut tut, later.

She wanted to ask more, but there was a crash in the scutums in front of her. The centurion behind her yelled to advance and the hasta on the front lines were lowered. From her view, she observed multiple columns almost buckling against the raiders, but they were easily repelled. A scent entered her nostrils. Trees, paint, dirt, determination, behind the legion, slightly obscured.

She faced Centurion Servius, currently engaged with three Pict warriors. “Centurion Servius!”

“Legionnaire Canis!” He pushed one of the men off with the scutum into a waiting hasta and finished off the other warriors with a swipe of his gladius. “What moves you to speak now?”

“I detected a scent coming from the rear of the Legion! It’s more similar to the Picts than our legionnaires. I suspect a sneak attack while the Legio VI Victrix remains focused on our enemies in the front.” How long ago had she joined the legion? Time seemed like an endless abyss…

The centurion nodded. “Those at the rear, hasta at the ready! Guard the rear with your lives!”

Centurion Servius turned towards her. “Thank you Legionnaire Canis.”

“You’re welcome.” She still felt as if Canis wasn’t her real praenomen. Come to think of it, was she Roman? She looked markedly different from the rest of the legionnaires.

CRASH. The sounds of surprised Pictish swords meeting iron scutums reverberated through the battlefield as the legion defended its rear. Based on the cacophony, they were surrounded. Her ears twitched, and she was the first to notice the jagged breaths of a Pictish raider before any of the legionnaires noticed he had breached the testudo—and the first to impale him on her hasta. Her breath hitched as she looked into the dimming eyes of the raider. Her breathing slowed down. This wasn’t her first time, but yet it never got easier…

Another fell, then another, another, another—they all kept falling underneath her discus. When she was finished, her matted ears covered in blood, she finally let herself rest next to a fallen soldier and closed his eyes. The soldier looked familiar, almost like—

Conflict bellowed forth. She was stuck in an endless cycle. Advance, impale, skewer, assist, advance, impale, skewer, assist, rinse, repeat. She tried to catch a glimpse of Centurion Servius but to no avail. Her muscles strained underneath her armour, but she had to carry on. She had to.

“Willa?”

A little girl was at her door.

“Can you help me with this long-division question?”

She got out of her bed and walked with the girl to their dining room table.

“I got to where eighty-one divided into eleven seven times because eleven times seven equals seventy-seven, but now I still have numbers left over.”

“Dana, there are two methods to dealing with leftover numbers. You can set them off to the side as a remainder, or you can use a different method. What is eighty-one minus seventy-seven?”

“Ummm, four?”

“Okay, so we put four down here.” She guided Dana’s pencil to write down the number four. “And we put a zero here.” She wrote down zero. “How many times does forty go into eleven?”

“Three!”

“What’s three times eleven?”

“Thirty-three.”

“So we can subtract thirty-three from forty, and that will give us seven and we put the decimal point here. We can keep doing this until…”

Dana was…Dana was…her sister. She had three sisters: Clara, Liza, and Dana. She… also had a niece and a nephew. Where were they? Where was she? There was something else she needed to remember, something more urgent.

Before long, the battle raging across the fields was dying out. The Pictish dead outnumbered the Roman dead, their blue paint a telltale sign. On the far right, a tree briefly glitched yellow. Another legionnaire stabbed a dying raider with his yellow-tinted gladius. She took some time to bury the Picts, saying last rites in a language that had never been heard on the shores of Britain at that time. After the last rites in English were finished, she checked her armour. It was damaged, but not in the way that she expected. Yellow squares denoted areas of damage. Looking at her surroundings, she picked up a distinctly cold earthly scent, causing her to straighten. The soldiers didn’t have yellow squares on their bodies or faces, only her.

“Ave Legionnaire Canis!”

She stood to attention. “Ave Centurion Servius!”

They saluted each other. Despite her increasing wariness of the situation, Centurion Servius was a comforting presence. Something was nagging at her mind though.

“Thank you for your assistance with the troublesome Picts.” He adjusted his galea. “Without your help, we would have been ambushed in the rear and our efforts would have failed in defending the wall. Despite my earlier misgivings, you are on your way to becoming a proper legionnaire, well-versed in discipline and loyalty to Roma.” He held out his hand. “What do you say?”

She was tempted, but something held her back. Two girls, a bus, Cave canem, Hadrian’s Wall—

Hadrian’s Wall, called the Wall when it was in use during the Roman Empire under Emperor Hadrian, long before she was born. Before Willa was born, before her family was born, before Hina and Róisín were born…

“I’m sorry, but I can’t accept your offer. I have people to protect, and they need me right now. They’re in danger, and unfortunately, that is more important. Besides…” She looked around at the too-blue sky and the too-green grass. “I don’t think this is real.”

Centurion Servius nodded. “I understand.”

Suddenly, she remembered who the soldier was…She looked into the centurion’s face.

“I saw you die…” In yet another fleeting recollection.

“Yes, I died, or rather the real Servius Varius Nerva died defending his empire from the Picts. I’m only a constructed visage of him. What you have witnessed over the past hour was a trial set by the person who created the reservoir. It was supposed to test your values. Loyalty, fidelity, duty, agreeability, observation skills, willingness to cooperate with others…you passed. Except for the part where you publicly rebuked my orders, but I’ll ignore it.”

A trial set by someone in the far past… “If it’s a test, why?”

“To see if, without your memories, you would still hold to your oath. Even without the assistance of the scattered Lady, you still do, so before we part ways, I want to give you something. A reward for your troubles.”

He reached behind his cloak and pulled out a terracotta-coloured telescope. It looked well made, with curling patterns that resembled a dog’s tail over its body and little copper bands in between each section. Willa felt it with her right hand. Like it was supposed to be there. She hooked it on her hip.

“Thank you Centurion Servius for this gift, and I hope…” What do you say to someone who has been dead for the past two thousand years? “I hope you have a long rest.”

He nodded. “Ave Willa. Protect the Key at all costs.”

“Ave Servius, I will.”

The world around them dissolved into yellow squares. Despite the recent uprooting, Willa was at peace with herself. Maybe it was because she had her Key, or because of the two girls. She was a bit worried for Róisín though—

Her eyes opened to bay-coloured smoke. It stung her eyes and caused her to take a step back as she shielded herself with her left arm. The telescope hung from her waist. Out of instinct, she hoisted it with her right arm and peered through its eyepiece.

There were trucks parked outside and groups of men and women pointing at them with unidentifiable weapons. Peering to her left and right revealed translucent crystalline barriers, mostly emerald but with sections made of diamond, ruby, and sapphire. Since there were no gaps between them, Willa assumed that they had remained unbroken. Servius mentioned she was in there for an hour, so how was she seeing through the walls? For that matter, where were Róisín and Hina?

The black smoke was interfering with her ability to sniff them out, so she grabbed her amulet and flipped it open. A terracotta dot was beeping to her right, along with a green dot just a little further away. Her lungs felt like they were on fire, but she soldiered on. Finding them didn’t take long, though she kept having to kick away the gas canisters spewing out smoke. Hina was surprisingly light and Willa managed to lift her onto her shoulders. Róisín…weighed more than she expected. She knew that she would be heavier than Hina based on her stockier build and curvier body, but she wasn’t expecting to have to drag her to the wall.

Both of them were unconscious and she internally despaired at their condition. She tried CPR on both of them but to no avail. Neither of them was waking up, so she took out her telescope and examined them.

All she saw were severely damaged lungs. Her lungs were fine though, probably because of her regenerating cells. If Servius could give her a telescope in her mind and it was still here…she could do something.

Earth is a stabiliser.

She summoned a few yellow squares and channelled her energy into Hina. Slowly, she felt the effects of the smoke more as her vision swam and she found it harder to keep awake. A small gasp shook her out of it and her vision returned. Hina was sitting up straight now and staring at her raw hands that were slowly turning back to her fair skin tone.

“Ehhhh?!” She shouted. “Wira-san, anata no shippo ga hitsuyōdesu!”

Willa couldn’t grant Hina’s request as she was busy trying to resuscitate Róisín into the world of the living. She was barely there, her lips already turning a greyish-blue. Willa couldn’t detect anything—except a small hard green core close to her neck. She latched on to that and channelled the reservoir into that core. The core started to briefly light up—and shone like a brilliant gem. Willa stared. Did it work? She hoped that the young girl woke up—

SMACK. Willa’s hand ached as the slap of Róisín’s hand broke her fingers.

“I don’t want your pity!” she shouted. Willa wondered about how her family raised her yet again.

They were on top of the ruined wall. The smoke was still bad, and Hina nearly doubled over in pain, but everyone was alive.

“What do you see out there?” Róisín asked, rubbing her neck.

“Ten trucks, twenty people with strange weapons, about seventy containers, and two cages.” Willa adjusted the telescope. “The weapons aren’t guns, but they’re holding bullet-shaped objects inside cylindrical chambers.”

“Of course they wouldn’t have guns. Otherwise, they would have been stopped the moment they decided to drive out here. And the bullets are called qi bullets.” She nodded to the land. “They’re connected to five elements. Are they red or blue-green?”

“Mostly red.”

“Hmph.” Róisín created two large emerald pillars in the sky. “I’ll scourge them from this earth.”

With that, she focused her attention on slamming the pillars into the ground beyond the crystal walls, causing the earth to shake and sudden cries to arise from the fields beyond. Willa winced as the sounds of the men and women amplified within her ears. She knew that they were the ones launching the gas canisters into the walls, but that didn’t make the sounds any less discordant and wrong.

You can end it.

Who was saying this? Hina couldn’t speak English, and she was busy hiding behind a hill. Róisín was creating more pillars to pound the land into submission and was completely focused on that task.

You have the Key. That meant that we recognised you as a viable candidate. Therefore, you can wield this reservoir as you see fit. The Taurus hasn’t changed, but you have. Earth and metal combined would have made one more unyielding, more willing to hold fast to their oath. There was always more earth than metal infused. Follow your instincts.

Were there voices in her head now? She truly felt out of her comfort zone now. Who could she turn to? Her family and friend were an ocean away or in a coma, and she didn’t have a phone to call Dana. Ganymede would have stopped her from calling Dana anyway. Listen to her instincts. Her gut was telling her to trust the mysterious yellow squares.

We can read your thoughts with assistance from the Third House. Remember: this is only a fraction of the power of the Eleventh Gate. The Door can be found by searching through the telescope.

She would do that later. She needed to return everything to normal. Yellow squares and white circles appeared around her body, concentrating near her gut. The white circles gleamed.

Pattern targeted. Candidate has resonated with the reservoir based on latent energy signatures. Control granted. Candidate given Overseer privileges. System is locked on.

Willa opened her eyes…and she saw everything. Her environment was amplified to such a degree that she could distinguish each blade of grass by scent alone. The men and women facing the emerald pillars smelled distinctly of a murky and wrong substance, along with fear. The bullets fired from their weapons smelled of wood and smoke, along with an oddly familiar scent. She couldn’t place it though. The pillars smelled like rose petals and green apples.

Containment was the best option. The land wasn’t badly damaged from the pillars and she felt the earth call out to her. It wanted to obey.

Yellow walls erupted from the ground as those surrounding the reservoir were imprisoned by the land itself. White bars forbade their exit while the giant pillars pounded punitively against the ground. Their trucks sustained damage, enough that they were no longer operational. The pull of metal was too strong for the land and it sucked in white energy as the trucks crumpled against their weight. More towers arose as the land rearranged itself, extinguishing the smoke. The metal left over was leached into the land as Willa watched over it all.

“I’m finished. Release me, I’ve done what I’ve needed to do.”

The candidacy was well earned. Very well, your Overseer privileges have been relinquished. If this is what you could do with pure elemental energy, the Eleventh Gate is yours for sure. Don’t forget the trial, and remember your duty. Do as you must, not as you will.

She lost most of her senses and fell to her knees, aware of her gut aching and the rest of her body feeling as if it had been stabbed through the stomach. It took two minutes for her to fully wake up. Hina was tapping her shoulder and motioning for her to get up. Willa accepted Hina’s hand and walked to the outer walls, occasionally stumbling and getting back up. There, she was greeted by the sight of Róisín throttling one of the women by the throat and shoving his face against the white bars.

“Who sent you? Where did you get these weapons? How do you know who I am? And how dare you mess up my dress and my hair!” At the rate she was shaking the woman and the strength she’d shown previously, Willa was worried she was going to break the woman’s neck.

The woman spat at Róisín’s feet. “I’ll say nothing.”

She grabbed the woman’s throat harder. “Ha, and what’s holding you back? Money? I have fifteen billion euros under my name. Your words would be handsomely rewarded if you choose to talk. Or…” She grabbed her hammer. “You might have to look into dentures in the future.”

Willa grabbed Róisín’s left arm. “Don’t do anything. They’re not going anywhere, and we got what we needed.” She tapped the telescope.

“I refuse to leave these scum without some answers.” Róisín smashed the woman’s face against the bars. “Talk now, or I’ll break your skull.” Again, Willa wondered what kind of family raised Róisín. She was about the same age as Hina, but—

“They gave the weapons to us, told us that we needed to keep them on hand and that they were one of a kind. Special. No one else in the world can make them. They gave us five types of bullets.” A young man spoke up. “All I remember was something about the First House, whatever that meant, and that the bullets were made in—”

Someone slapped him. Róisín looked interested though.

“The First House? Was there a mention of the Aries?”

“Errr, no. They mentioned that they didn’t have the resources to pursue the Aries, especially since she left her last known location and they couldn’t track her.” He craned his neck. “They mentioned that the Eleventh Gate would have been useful except for the—”

Someone knocked him cold judging by the thud against the earthen walls. Willa winced in sympathy while Róisín pushed the woman backwards by the neck. Thankfully, her coughing meant that the woman was alive. A yellow square started pulsing on the wall. Willa touched it.

We can contain the malefic elements here. In the meanwhile, the land has sensed the presence of the Aquarius. She’s beyond the scope of our sight, but her signature is present in a horseless carriage.

Willa still found the concept of energy reservoirs that could carry a conversation strange, but it was real and she accepted it. Seconds later, a brand-new car rolled up and stopped in the middle of the field. Its doors unfolded like wings and the resigned voice of Ganymede commanded from the front seat interface in both English and Japanese.

Get in.

Róisín hmphed before noticing that all other forms of transportation were wrecked beyond compare and begrudgingly climbing into the driver’s seat. Willa climbed into the passenger’s side, mildly surprised that the steering wheel was on the other side, and Hina decided to take a nap in the backseat with her pockets bulging with a small object. Small prehensile tweezers started wrapping gauze around her hands.

You’ve managed to acquire the Key to the Eleventh Gate…at the cost of a phone, your lung

capacity, and the regenerative capabilities of the Dog. The transfer of gifts was an unexpected development. I would need to research to determine if this is temporary. Do not engage in unnecessary conflict.

“Give me my money back,” Róisín demanded.

Not yet. We need to be in a secure location for the transfer. This is a self-driving car

programmed for a specific destination. Do not try to drive the car to another destination.

The car drove off, leaving behind the wreckage of ten trucks and multiple earthen cages. How long were those inside going to be in there for? Willa tried to think about the energy that she had witnessed. It responded to her so well…but she had never seen anything like that in her life. This was getting stranger, but she didn’t feel overwhelmed. Almost like she was used to it at some point. Something was off about all of this, even more than when she was in the simulation. There was something off about the Eleventh Gate.

How was Róisín acting calmly about this? She hadn’t given out much information about her family, but from what Willa had been able to gather, her family knew more about what was going on. Now they were missing and Róisín wanted to find them.

Her hands instinctively touched the copper telescope. From her blurry recollections, this had the power to watch the Lower World, whatever that meant. With this, she should be able to find Róisín’s mother and aunts. Besides, this should lead to the Door, which was where they were heading.

She took up the telescope while Róisín was arguing with Ganymede about her money.

“Show me the locations of the Pleiades.”

She got a splitting headache. All she saw were skyscrapers and the scent of steel and sweat, someone being repeatedly slapped and the scent of darkness, a dark and deeply wrong corridor, neon lights and a faint scent of raspberries, a bridge and the scent of grapes, and a garden covered in flowers smelling as sweetly as Róisín.

“If you’re trying to find my family, they put on a charm that makes them untraceable.” Róisín shrugged. “I thought that you could find them, but we need the Eleventh Gate to do that. I’ll tell you later.”

Willa looked through the telescope. “Show me the Door to the Eleventh Gate.”

She opened her eyes to a road in the middle of the mountains. The mountains weren’t like the Rockies. No, the scent was different. Linden, oak, beech, elm. All were suited to a climate different from southern Alberta. A car charged through the road, its headlights blaring in the noontime landscape. Willa tried to step back to dodge, but the car passed through her.

Shocked, Willa glanced around. This was a temperate climate, something she remembered from her middle school classes. She thought about Dana and her Europe trip. There were some pictures Dana had shared in the family group chat that resembled where she was. The Alps! Dana had shared a picture of her spending the night in a Swiss chalet and joking that she was staying in a “discount Prince of Wales”. Clara had agreed that as a hotel, the Prince of Wales was more superior to a “simple house” as a joke. Liza countered with the fact that Swiss chalets were first and the Alps had “the best ski slopes” and—

She missed her sisters. After all of this was over, Willa wanted to return home to her family, Jenny, her work, and her home in Pincher Creek. Her eyes were drawn to a beautiful lake in the mountains, dappling in all of the Sun’s glory. Upon that lake sat a stalwart castle basking in the sunlight, yet Willa could feel a certain presence.

Come, it said, unlock the Door and fulfil your time-honoured oath.

It beckoned her, pulsated with such temptation that she wanted to follow it.

Wait, her instincts pointed out, the Eleventh Gate was dangerous.

Right. She needed someone else, someone who she could rely on…she had a partner, didn’t she? The Libra, Hina’s friend. She couldn’t take the Door by its lonesome.

“Show me the Libra, Mihira Tenhou.”

Was she in a hospital now? It was nighttime outside and she wasn’t alone in the room. A woman with what she thought was Mongolian clothing based on Jenny’s ninth-grade presentation was sleeping in a chair with the scent of grass and victory. The main focus of her attention was the scent of raspberries coming from the girl in the hospital bed.

The glasses Hina talked about were beside the girl’s bedside with a bit of tape around the nosepiece. The girl was breathing softly on a ventilator. Two great white wings tinged in blush pink and sky blue were stretched on metal platforms and held together with a steel apparatus. Despair filled Willa’s gut. The ventilator, her eyes not moving, and her fragile body…just like Clarain a pool of her blood, not breathing, completely still…not again. She hadn’t met the girl, but she felt an affinity to her and wished to heal her. What were the values the trial tested? Loyalty, fidelity…teamwork. She knew that Ganymede had said that she no longer had any regenerative capabilities left, but she had been wrong about the importance of family. Ganymede could be wrong about this too. She placed her palms on Mihira’s wings and waited. Terracotta marks formed along the edge of the girl’s wings and Willa was about to press her palms against the pulsating pink lines.

“You can’t intervene.”

Willa tilted her head up, ears pricked for any intruders. She smelled nothing though. Everyone inside the room was asleep and she could easily identify their scents. There wasn’t anyone else in the room, so who—

“You won’t be able to sense me. And neither of them can either.”

She turned her head to the door—to herself. An older version of herself, closer to Clara’s age than her own, but still unmistakably herself. There were minor differences, like the fact that the terracotta armour was missing a few scales or that the other Willa was missing the tip of her right ear.

“‘Do not intervene in the affairs of the Lower World.’ That was the third article I was sworn to. No matter what one sees in the All-Seeing Telescope, one can not force their will upon the Lower World as they see fit.” She fixed Willa with a hard stare. “You’re supposed to be going to the Eleventh Gate and following the oath that you have neglected for the past thirty-three years. Why haven’t you done so?”

Who was this woman who looked almost exactly like her? Was she from the strange memories that weren’t quite memories? Willa looked at the woman quizzically.

“Go to the Eleventh Gate. Without it, a crucial part of the Border’s defence is compromised.” The other Willa coolly looked down at Mihira. “This is not important.”

Something about the woman rubbed Willa the wrong way, but she stayed quiet. The woman put on her helmet and stared at Willa.

“She can heal on her own.”

Heal on her own…? Willa looked between the ventilator and Mihira’s shaking breaths. This wasn’t something she could heal from. She refocused her efforts, letting the terracotta lines spread across Mihira’s wings when her arms were grabbed behind her.

“Do not interfere.” The other woman’s terracotta eyes dug hard into Willa’s own. “Stand down and leave.”

“She’s hurt! Look at the ventilator!” Willa wrenched her arms from the other woman’s grasp. “I don’t know who you are or what duty was abandoned for thirty-three years, but my duty is to that girl!”

The woman’s gaze hardened. “Such worldly attachments only distract from fulfilling the ties that bind us to the Eleventh Gate. Forget those. Only one bond matters.”

Willa’s eyes twitched. How could she say that… “What about your partner? What about Servius Varius Nerva?”

She didn’t know if the woman’s gaze could darken further, but it did. “My partner has had her follies, but she knew better than to stand in harm’s way. The centurion’s memory was meant to stand as a test. I had no attachment to him otherwise.” The woman’s eyes momentarily flickered.

She was worse than Ganymede, Willa thought. At least Ganymede helped with the undead animals at Waterton. This woman wouldn’t have cared less. Willa redid the terracotta marks and watched as the energy poured from her gut and into the wings itself. What duty was she talking about thirty-three years ago? Willa was twenty-seven. She wasn’t born yet. Willa was fine taking on another extra responsibility, but—

The woman slammed into her chest and both of them tumbled onto the floor, passing through the table. Willa was faster to get up and tackled the other woman to the floor. She retaliated by swiping her foot across the floor, knocking Willa to the ground. Mihira’s breathing grew shallower all the while the two women were pummelling each other into submission.

“Follow the oath. There is no need to—” The woman dodged Willa’s fist. “To overcomplicate such immaterial matters. The oath is all you need.”

She didn’t know what oath the woman was talking about, and frankly, Willa was tired. With one last kick to the chest courtesy of a move Liza taught her, Willa turned to Mihira, Hina’s friend and someone’s daughter, and focused all of her willpower and fortitude on her soul. The terracotta marks pulsed and shone. The woman was still alive and stared wearily at Willa.

“I know that you wholeheartedly believe this was worth it, but trust me, this is minor in the long run.” Her eyes looked weary. “It’s for the Lower World’s good…”

Willa didn’t hear her. She wasn’t hearing much of anything. As her eyes started drooping and her body slumped down…she hoped that it was good enough.

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

Somewhere in a bustling hospital, two large white wings started fluttering, scattering feathers all over the hospital bed.

And Mihira awoke.

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

This was turning into Róisín’s worst day. First, her money was stolen by the bitch known as Ganymede. After that, she was forced to serve as an escort and to fly in economy class. After that indignity, Róisín’s hair and clothing were ruined by qi bullets and the maddening revelation that someone knew about the Houses and the Gates. Ganymede refused to rightfully give her money back and to top it off, Willa decided to faint out of nowhere, and now Ganymede was blaming her for it when she had nothing to do with it.

Great.

This was not foreseen. Reprogramming the car to drive to the nearest mall entrance that is

less frequented by visitors….destination set. Do not aggravate the Dog’s condition further than

you already have.

“Again, it wasn’t my fault! She was staring into her telescope one moment, and the next she fell unconscious! I had nothing to do with this!” This woman and her stubborn insistence on her being at fault here. Well, she wasn’t. Something itched at her throat.

The rudimentary sensors located within this vehicle indicated that the Dog had overexerted

herself. While the telescope is an unknown variable, the scans indicated that the regenerative

capabilities were transferred to you and Hina Nishikawa. Which means that you are to blame

for her condition.

She ignored Ganymede’s admonitions and decided to watch Hina in the backseat napping. Her mind was untroubled by all that transpired, Róisín thought. She wondered if the Libra was as equally carefree as her friend. The Libra, Aunt Alcyone had once told her, was connected to the air element, yet both held beauty in high esteem. She was flighty, or at least that’s what her Aunt Asterope had mentioned after a long night of dealing with the investors. If the Libra was Japanese, she should learn a few basic phrases. Aunt Maia had tried to teach her multiple languages, but she had no natural aptitude. All she knew were a few basic phrases in Irish Gaelic and Thai.

Willa was slumped over the dashboard. She refused to rouse after Róisín poked her in the shoulder or after being lightly tapped on her arm. Aunt Celaeno mentioned that unlike hers, some of the others’ powers weren’t as sustainable and needed more energy. Energy was drawn from the amulets, she mentioned, but if that wasn’t available, the energy from their environment or their bodies would be used instead. Róisín assumed that their amulets had the same amount of energy needed to do anything, so what was wrong with the Dog’s amulet—

Water dripped onto Róisín’s face. In disgust, she wiped her face with her hands. It was coloured black, which was a strange colour for water to have. Black water was associated with—

Doko de sore o teniireta nodesu ka?

Róisín was about to protest when she realised that the question was directed towards Hina—who was now holding one of the element guns in her hand.

“Jimen de mitsuketa yo, Ganimede-san,” was Hina’s response.

Róisín hoped that one of the qualities that made the Libra select Hina as a friend was proper training in weaponry and how to use them. The Aquarius appeared as a logo of two glowing blue waves, but Róisín knew that she was deep in thought.

Change in destination. The car will park outside the Bramalea City Centre by the least

frequented entrance. I have already finished hacking into the mall’s surveillance network and

the surrounding areas. You are to acquire three burner phones, all three marked by the

Aquarius glyph. Be wary of any suspicious persons, and I will meet you at the Scotiabank

ATM.

She hated being used as an errand girl, but she reminded herself that the Aquarius was holding her money hostage. The sooner she completed these degrading tasks, the sooner her funds would be rightfully restored to her. If not…she had a hammer and several cybersecurity experts working on finding the Aquarius’ location.

Róisín exited the vehicle and detransformed. Too many people would ask questions about her horns and tail, and her dress was covered in dirt. She took a green cap and lowered it so that the security cameras couldn’t see her face. Even if the Aquarius claimed she had complete control, Róisín felt safer with the cap obscuring her face. It wasn’t as good as the Pisces’ illusions or the Libra’s glamours, but she had to make do. She could have made her own burner phones, but Róisín suspected that the Aquarius wanted complete control over what they could do with their phones.

She located the store easily enough. It was in a retro 2020s style, with the phones lined up in tidy little rows. The three phones with glowing blue waves spinning on the screen were easy to spot. Based on the make and model, they weren’t worth it to pay for. Róisín swiped them cleanly, just like Aunt Alcyone had taught her. If you want something, she said, take it. The sundress had enough hidden pockets that she deposited all three into those. As she was about to leave the store, a group of girls walked in.

“So that new boy…he’s kinda cute?”

“Yeah, but honestly, I think that Heath is cuter. Have you seen his dimples, the way he smiles?”

“Counterpoint, Celeste is cuter than both of them. Her eyes are so blue…”

“Counter counterpoint, it’s this hot billionaire boy that I’ve been following on social media. He’s from Morocco, and look at him! He’s so dreamy…and he’s staying in Geneva too!”

Some small part of Róisín wanted to join the conversation. She had talked to Conor, but that was heavily restricted. She couldn’t tell him about her fate, show him her gorgeous home, nor was she permitted to bring him to the Second House once it was reclaimed. In a way, she envied the four girls and their carefree nature. She desired a connection just like that, where she would have her friend that was all hers, not like sharing Conor with the rest of his friends. She wanted the Second House, her partner in the Sixth Gate, and all the money in the world. Róisín would have what she wanted, no matter what it took.

She wanted her suitcases—her suitcases?! Where were they?!

Róisín mentally retraced her steps. Her suitcases had been loaded into the limousine and later checked in as carry-ons as they should have been. She had taken all of them out, and loaded them onto the bus—the accursed bus! The men and women who decided to dirty her hair and her dress with unclean English dirt had taken her poor innocent suitcases and for what?! To use against her as emotional blackmail? They probably weren’t even stored properly! Róisín winced at the thought of all of the grunge that would be collecting inside the unfortunate suitcases. When they met, and oh they would meet again, she would come at them with all of her vengeance.

She found herself at the ATM, just as the Aquarius instructed. Hina was fidgeting with the element gun and the standard greeting screen shifted to a black screen with two blue waves outlined. To her surprise, Willa was propped up in a wheelchair with her eyelids flickering. She was in the clothes that the maids had prepared for her.

Show me the phones.

Róisín fished inside her pockets before revealing the phones to the Aquarius.

Good. With the assistance of the archives, I’ve extracted a coherent thought from the Dog’s

brain. The Door to the Eleventh Gate is located near Lake Geneva in Switzerland. The castle in

the All-Seeing Telescope is currently being identified by a computer program. Where were the

Seven Sisters’ last known locations?

As if Róisín would reveal them to her. “Only if you wake up the Dog. I will reveal it only in her presence, once she awakens.”

Willa’s prone body was immediately sucked into the ATM. Most people were more interested in the frequent discounts than the ATM, Róisín noticed, or trying to take off their clothing. Come to think of it, she was starting to swelter as well. She eyed Hina’s element gun. No fire bullets.

Done. This recipe from the Fourth Gate should work temporarily. The effects will wear off in

ten minutes, so tell us quickly.

Willa was ejected back into a wheelchair, her eyes wide open and darting wildly.

“Not quite what I had asked for, but you stuck to the letter of your word.” The sheer insolence of this woman. When they finally met in person, she would smash her into the ground. “The day I awakened, my mother convened an emergency board meeting. Within a few days, events had transpired such that they could not continue to hide in isolation any longer. I was to stay at the mansion until the Key was safely returned and find the Door from there.” She watched the people milling about. Good, no one was watching.

“The eldest sister, my Aunt Maia, headed to Sydney to investigate a mysterious plane crash where all of the crew and passengers disappeared without a trace. My Aunt Electra was headed to America as the Key was believed to be hidden there. Aunt Taygete slipped into Costa Rica to track down the assailants who murdered one of our clientele and to find a disappeared PoI. The middle sister, Aunt Alcyone, left for Lemuria to secure our finances. Aunt Celaeno was bound for Tokyo to find the Libra and to Chiang Mai to find “someone”. Aunt Asterope and my mother headed to Geneva to secure some assets left in limbo. Their last known location was in Rome, trying to arrange a meeting with one of their agents.” If the Dog’s Door was near Geneva, would she see her mother and Aunt Asterope again? She looked at Willa, whose eyes seemed to be open against her will. “Is that all?”

Yes, that is all. You can check your bank account for the money.

Róisín tapped on the ATM and selected the option for Seven Sisters Banking. She had memorised her credit card and banking account number, so she typed it in. Pulling up the transaction history, she looked at the number on the screen.

€10 000 000

Where was the rest of her money?! Róisín banged on the ATM harshly until the insipid blue waves appeared on the screen.

I gave you your money back.

“You gave me half of the money back! Where is the rest?” Stowed away in a secret bank account? Syphoned off for the Aquarius’ personal use? Or the worst outcome: being donated to charity?

The rest was safely deposited in a bank account hidden away from prying eyes. I foresaw that

you would not continue to cooperate with me if I gave back the full amount, so I gave you half

of the money. You have a net worth of €15 billion. Surely ten million is worth nothing to you.

Oh, it was worth something to Róisín. She huffed. “When this is all over, I will grind your bones to paste.” She mentioned foresight…her Aunt Celaeno mentioned that in connection to the Eleventh House. “You can see—”

I won’t answer that. Have your amulet at the ready, and remember, Hina Nishikawa is only a

human. Don’t hold anything against her.

The Aquarius and her stupid absurd statements—

A jet of black water squirted out of Hina’s gun. People gave her dirty looks and continued walking towards their destinations.

“Gomen—” Hina started.

The air around her started to get hotter—and then she saw it.

Róisín managed to push Hina to the ground before a spinning double-headed axe on fire crashed into them. It kept spinning until it crashed and indented into the mall floor, causing panic among the shoppers. Axe…her mother had covered this…who wielded an axe? Whatever the case, she took out her bronze amulet and transformed, letting the crystals fragment and fall onto the floor. The petals obscured her body enough that no one was able to identify her.

The petals immediately caught on fire and turned into cinders. She looked around for the intruder—until she saw the scarlet blur heading straight at her. Róisín made out the faint outline of ram horns amidst the blazing streak.

“You motherfucker!”

She had no time to respond or condemn her unseemly demeanour before she was punched in the face with a fiery fist.