“Eep”

John narrowed his eyes at the would-be intruder as the pixies swooped in from the living room, hovering in a defensive position between him and the window. He crept forward, past the bedroom and the kitchen, ready to burn whoever was breaking into his dorm to ashes.

Wait, I could set the place on fire, John realized and then dismissed his Fireball in exchange for a Bolt.

“I’ll only give you one more chance: Who are you and why are you here?” John put as much authority into his voice as he could.

A girl popped up from behind the windowsill, a crazed look in her eyes. She laughed; it was shrill and unsteady.

“Hi John!” Layla exclaimed excitedly.

“What,” John hesitated and then lowered his Bolt, “what are you doing?”

“Oh, just dropping in.” She smiled sweetly.

“How did you get to the top floor… of the fire escape?” John walked over and opened the window to let her in, not wanting to keep raising his voice to be heard. The pixies hovered above his head, not quite as appeased.

“Oh.” Her mood seemed to deflate immediately as she fumbled for words.

It’s not like it would be hard for me, since I have a parkour skill. But I have no idea what her skillset is, or what kind of magic she has other than fire and apparently aura sight, which may or may not be super common.

John cast Observe, wondering what it would say about her and hoping he would finally learn the name of the girl that seemed to always turn up randomly.

Observe Failed
Update in progress, observe data for non-barrier entities inaccessible.

Well… Fuck.

He held out his hand to help her in, and she took it dreamily. She was shaking, and seemed feverishly warm. She stepped down to the floor and seemed to lose her balance, falling into John’s arms. She shuddered violently and whimpered before passing out.

“Uh… What just happened?”

Her jacket had Firesmith’s school colors on it, black torso and burgundy sleeves. What John hoped was that her name was printed across the back, revealing it to possibly be Layla. A large altered version of the school logo was printed below her name, a flaming fist over the anvil instead of the official hammer. As John picked her up and laid her on the couch, he noticed that there was a smaller print of the logo on the front of her jacket, with the word “Martials” under it.

Maybe it’s a club?

“Calista, is she okay? Can you tell?”

The pixies had split off in pairs, performing sweeps of the dorm for further possible threats. It had only taken a few seconds but they insisted on sweeping continuously, practically patrolling the small spaces. Elora stood on the windowsill, still as a statue with her hands clasped behind her back. Calista furrowed her brow in confusion, murmuring as her glowing hands hovered over Layla.

“Master, she seems fine. She’s **** but everything is normal. The only thing that seems out of place is,” Calista hesitated, clearly conflicted about her readings, “her οργασμός; her libidinous energies show that she recently climaxed very powerfully.”

John and Calista both sat awkwardly on the coffee table, staring at the strange girl lying on their couch.

Tricia stood in her lab, her mind a nexus for the various operations taking place. Pairs and groups of drones hovered and flew about the place, minding the tasks she set in place for them.

Titration of specimen 135274 nearly complete. Analyses to follow in an estimated two minutes and thirty-four seconds… thirty-three… thirty-T
two..

Spectroscopy of specimen 135383 complete. Analyses in progress. Estimated four hours, eleven minutes, and fifty-one seconds until completion… fifty… forty-nine…

Microscopy of specimen 135762 initiated. Estimated Se-

Tricia cut off the drone feed, focusing instead on a set of holograms that flickered into existence in front of her. A “concerning” level of Abyssal anomalies had been taking place recently in Springfield, according to the Order. The various debriefings and case study abstracts populated the holographic screens, and she began to pace the floor with measured steps.

Spike in ambient magic detected in Northland, sector J-3.

A monthly occurrence, Tricia had been investigating this anomaly for nearly a year. Always an exact 1500 Maybel increase in ambient magic, there was no detectable cause. She had designed four generations of spell detection apperati for her drones to use in the area without success. It was too precise to be a natural phenomenon, but what- or who- ever was acting in the area covered their tracks with impressive levels of meticulosity. She decided to lower project 135000-B one priority level in favor of the Northland resurgence.

Spike in Aqua and Flamma magic use detected in Hughes, sector D-1.

Tricia scoffed; Hughes was known for small scale gang conflict. It was also well outside of Order control. She added investigation of Hughes to her tasks at low priority.

Spike in Terra magic use detected in Harrison, sector N-15.

“Tch- I detected that spike. I’ve already investigated it.” She began to dictate a response to the Order, outlining her findings and how the mana signature she found was suspiciously similar to the Psychic magic spike detected three months prior in The Village, sector A-5.

Immense Flamma magic use detected in the outskirts of Lower East Side, sector Z-30.

Now this was interesting. A fire mage so deep in Order territory. She double checked the sector. Sure, it was much too close to the Brighton Manor to be possible. Just outside of the suburbs, across the southbound highway. She was sure the reading must have been a mistake, double checking the sources and their work. Tricia examined the scans of the city, their range quite barely catching the anomaly in question.

The traces could still be lingering if the main impulse was so strong, I could investigate directly and make absolutely certain that a threat has made its way to our doorstep. Moira would be furious that her Knights let it pass.

Nodding to herself, she pulled a team of drones together as she read the last few reports.

Ripple in the Dream dete-

Tricia immediately dismissed the claim with a huff. She had no time for fantasies. Her suit beeped calmingly and she took a deep breath, grounding herself with the internal promise of interesting research. She dismissed the remaining two anomalies in favor of monitoring her progress in various MMORPGs. She had hit max level in all of them already with her main accounts as a healer, and was slowly accruing max level characters of all possible classes. One of her accounts was pressing a particularly unusual advantage, the strongest player of a rival guild not having been online for weeks.

“Sucks to be you, Jihan,” she muttered to herself with a bit of pride.

John decided to bring the **** girl back down to her dorm. He left Elora and the pixies in his dorm, in case of any other disturbances. Calista walked with him as he carried Layla bridal-style over to the elevator and down to the first floor. She mumbled in her sleep; John assumed she was having some sort of nightmare since all she seemed to say was “No,” “Mine,” “Please don’t go,” and “Don’t leave me.”

The poor girl has probably seen some real shit.

The odd trio reached Layla’s door and knocked, hoping for a roommate of some sort. A few minutes passed without any response, so John knocked again. After another few minutes with no one answering the door, John and Calista turned to bring Layla back up to his dorm. Only to be stopped by a familiar voice shouting with an unfamiliar venom.

“What the fuck are you doing with Layla?” she demanded, and John turned to see who it was.

It was the server from before, no longer in uniform. She scowled at him as she planted her hands on her hips, leaning forward menacingly. John realized what it must look like was happening, and was quick to clear his own name.

“I’m not **** her, I promise!” was his panicked, ingenious response.

It clearly did nothing to calm the waitress down, as she raised her arm to the sky and created a barrier. Her aura flared yellow as the sky took on a golden hue and John’s own aura burst to life around him. Layla stirred in her unconsciousness, though the sound she made was closer to a moan than any word. Tessa’s eyes narrowed as she pulled a knife handle out of her purse, a glowing yellow blade growing and growing until she held what could be easily mistaken for a lightsaber.

“What’dja **** her with? An’ why? You were just at the cafe, ya gotta be a student, are ya some gang sicko? ANSWER ME!” She started to swing the aura blade around as she spoke, gouging lines in the pavement as she grew more agitated.

John took a deep breath to calm his nerves, and spoke with a level head as he set Layla on the ground.

“I didn’t **** her. I caught her trying to break into my dorm. I let her in because I recognized her and then she passed out. I was bringing her back to her dorm but no one was here to let me in so I was going to bring her back to my dorm until she woke up. I can tell you’re a friend of hers and you care for her, so I’m going to trust her with you.”

Tessa seemed to consider his words as he spoke, her breathing becoming more even and her shoulders relaxing.

“Step away from her. Leave the barrier. If yer telling the truth, ya don’t needta stick around.”

Barrier Exit Granted
Leave Barrier?
Yes No

John started to back away, then hesitated.

What if she’s lying?

“If ya don wanna get outta mah way, I’ll be more’n happy ta make ya,” she said as she started to walk towards John.

Calista summoned her water whips defensively, but John shook his head and tapped Yes. The world shattered back into its natural hues, the sky turning pink as the sun set.

“Come on, Calista.” John made his way back to the dorm and Calista followed, their mood subdued by the intruder.

The high of completing the dungeon had run its course, ruined by Layla’s sudden entry. The pixies were on high alert, their wings buzzing as they flew round and round. Elora’s eyes glowed as they pierced the darkness left behind by the set sun. Her vigilance by the window was steadfast as John and Calista returned. Bustling could be heard from the kitchen, and curious, John walked in to find Sera cooking.

“I’m getting tired of repeating myself, idiot. You need to eat.” Her scowl didn’t quite reach her eyes, but the venom in her voice was as palpable as ever.

“When am I going to stop being an idiot to you?” John joked, more pleased than annoyed at this point by her random appearances. And hey, free food is free food.

“Once you stop making idiot decisions,” she responded, rolling her eyes and returning her attention to the pot full of pasta.