The Girl Who Found the Brightest Star: Part 2

“You know, I liked you better when you weren’t trying to kill me,” Rei joked, upside down in a mountain of boxes and random trinkets. “You could have at least given me a warning or something. Like, what happened to having a little compassion?”

“Are you kidding me, Rei?! You went and picked a fight with the Reverse Royalty’s top ranked! I don’t even care if they were plotting another Rezertia or not at this point! The fact of the matter is, now they know we know! We don’t have the element of surprise! Ughh! I should have known that’s what this was about…”

“Hey, you’re the one that asked what I was running from, remember?” As soon as the words left his lips, he knew he was in trouble. One swift head-chop later and he was back to nursing another knot on his head. “Ruthless… But that’s the story. I’m trying not to draw attention to myself in the event the devils decide they’d like revenge.”

“What made you think you think could take them alone though, without any help?” she fumed, pacing back and forth, hands in her hair. “Earth’s princess hasn’t even been decided yet, but you decided to get a head start on the devils anyways. I can’t even begin to imagine what was going on in that head of yours!”

Rei, climbing out from beneath the boxes, pulled the journal from the box Millee had been sitting on. He opened the first page again, checking the address inked into the paper. He had a hunch that the small shop, with its apparently hidden address, was the one he and Brendan were looking for.

The only problem with his theory was that if Chiipha’s princess had been waiting for him, specifically, did that mean she’d guided them there, or was it just a coincidence? He could overanalyze the smallest outward details that made her tick, but he had no way into the maze that guarded the secrets in her mind. She’d purposefully avoided him at school, yet she’d also mentioned something to do with Brendan. Did that mean, for one reason or another, she’d wanted them both in the same place at the same time?

“You want to know why you’re here, right?” she started. “I’ll tell you, but first, bring the other idiot here. He should be present for this, too.”

Rei looked up from the page. “I’d really like to know what the thing with you and Brendan is—”

“It’s not a ‘thing’. We’re just, uhh… acquaintances.” Her face turned a bright shade of red. “A-anyways! Just bring him here!”

“Yeah, let me just go wade into the sea of books and other random objects and find him real quick. He probably managed to—”

“Just go find him!”

***

Brendan stood near the storeroom door, ready to flee at a moment’s notice. Having been given a sarcastic earful from Rei on the reluctant trip back, he’d grown to fear Millee’s temper. He watched as a deep scowl etched itself across her face, dark eye makeup adding to her already-frightening expression; her muscles were tense, fingers digging into her forearms; her legs were stiffer than boards. She bit down on her lower lip, the gloss transferring bright pink stains onto her front teeth.

“So, here’s the tea, you two.” She locked eyes with Brendan for a moment, swearing her heart must have skipped a beat. “I, ugh— No. We— There’s…”

“While you collect your thoughts,” Brendan started, “I’d like to know how the hell you even knew we were here, and what Licht—I mean, Rei—has to do with all of this. Like, what’s with this secretive conversation you were having without me?” He frowned. “And what other secrets are you guys keeping?”

Rei sighed, back pressed against the wall. The cool, grey concrete was soothing, helping to alleviate some of the stress that had worked its way into his muscles. His arms were tired, having dragged Brendan from the front of the shop to the back storeroom, and his right ankle was sore; somehow, he’d managed to bash it against the door just as it was closing, his ankle bearing the brunt of the heavy steel and closing gap.

“You’re up,” he said, giving him a fake smile and subsequent thumbs-up.

“Yeah, you’re real helpful,” Brendan muttered.

He stared at the ceiling lights for a moment, allowing the air conditioning to blow across his face. The air was cold, almost too cold; his nostrils stung with every breath. Questions bounced around in his head like an old DVD screensaver. He had the answers, yet he couldn’t find the words to explain them in enough detail. His mouth tried to formulate letter after letter, word after word but, just as the bouncing letters on the TV screen always missed the corners, his words also seemed to miss their target.

“I just don’t have the words to explain all of this to you,” he said. “Like, I don’t know how to tell you it’s not a big deal—”

Suddenly, and in a very unorthodox manner, Millee took her hand, rubbed Brendan’s cheek, and proceeded to slap him so hard the sound waves bounced off the walls for an entire minute before the whoosh of the air conditioning took over again. He let his guard down, and his cheek bore the brunt of her short fuse.

“Wake up, Brendan,” she demanded. “I’m sick of you two pretending like you don’t understand what’s actually happening right now! First Rei, now you. Don’t make me do all of this alone…”

Rei held out his hands, motioning for Brendan and Mille to calm their tempers. “Look, no one is saying you have to do anything alone, ok? I think we’re just a little, uhh, surprised is all.” He shifted his eyes toward the bright red handprint on Brendan’s cheek. “I know you’re frustrated, but—”

“But what, Rei? You at least had a reason for playing dumb, and what you did still pisses me off, don’t forget that, but Brendan doesn’t have an excuse.” She craned her head back to look at him. “You’re part of the Greyriter family. I expect everything we just discussed to make sense to you. Don’t just stand there and pretend like the coming Rezertia isn’t anything to be worried about!”

Brendan groaned. “You know… You have a real temper… I’m not asking for favors, but could you at least offer a little grace? I’m not sure slapping me was really the best approach, you know?” He rubbed his cheek, still tender. “If you want someone to beat up on, I’ll help you find Kayde so you can lay into him—not me. Besides,” he said, “I’m already aware of what’s happening… I just didn’t want you to get hurt again.”

“No, because why is he trying to play with my heart right now?” she monologued internally. “My heart was already going crazy. God, I hope he can’t hear it… But still… If he already knew, why is he playing dumb? There’s no way he’s just being nice, or trying to keep me from getting ‘hurt’, right?”

“Before you two slit each other’s throats,” Rei said, finding his words, “we need to figure out what to do. Yeah, I made the devils a little angry, but if I hadn’t stirred things up, we wouldn’t even know what they were up to until it was too late. So, the only thing we can do now—”

“Is wait for Earth’s princess to be chosen,” Brendan finished. “Yeah, it’s inconvenient, and the three of us,” he said, pointing at himself then Millee and, finally, Rei, “definitely can’t take them on alone—not without a major power boost. …I don’t think I have to explain how we aren’t living in some cliché superhero movie.”

“So, your solution is just to do… nothing?” Millee’s mouth fell open. “Yeah, no. That doesn’t vibe with me—at all.”

“Then what does, Miss Princess? What can we do?” Brendan fired back. “We just graduated high school and now you want to make us into some kind of hero by doing what? Getting ourselves killed? Handing you over to the devils as a peace offering?”

“That’s not what I’m saying, and you know it!”

“Then explain what it is you are saying.”

She clenched her fists. “I’m saying that we need to shore up our defenses and maybe get some help from—”

“Chiipha? You were chosen as Chiipha’s princess, for reasons you won’t yet share with me, and now you think, somehow, we’ve got this in the bag and that we can just call up whoever and they’ll come running.”

She slapped him across the other cheek. “Shut up, Brendan. You don’t have to be an ass about it!” Tears of frustration gleamed in the corners of her eyes. “I’m trying to offer a solution because no one else will! This can’t all fall on my shoulders… I’m not even strong enough to defend myself against creepy guys at—”

Rei cleared his throat, interrupting the argument. “The more you two fight, the less progress we make on actual solutions.” He stuffed his hands into the pockets of his cargo shorts. “These arguments aren’t getting us anywhere, and you two seem to fight more than you work together. At this rate, it won’t matter who does what. Your inability to get along with each other will be what gets us killed.”

“Yeah, and the sky is blue. If you have such a grand idea, let’s hear it, Mister Smarty Pants,” Brendan mocked. “…Sorry. I’m just frustrated is all…”

“You’re lucky I don’t make you eat those words. The apology probably saved you a swollen jaw.”

“Ok, so that’s how it is.” He glared at Rei. “I don’t like this little duo thing you and Millee have going on here,” he said, folding his arms against his chest. “How is it you two know each other, and why do you seem so close that you even argue like a married couple? I was willing to overlook this little dynamic duo you two have going, but now I’m not so sure keeping that information to yourselves is such a great idea.” Annoyance seeped into his voice. “Like, what’s with the attitude? Can’t say I’m a big fan of secrets.”

“And what happens if I don’t give you a satisfactory answer, huh? No one here is keeping secrets. Like, are you even using your head? I know you’re still hung up over A—”

“Keep her name out of your mouth, Rei. One and only warning.”

“Damn. Can’t even give bro some advice before he crashes out on me. Wild.”

Brendan tilted his head, pretending he couldn’t hear. “Sorry. What was that? Sounded like you were trying to say I’m crashing out. Mind repeating that?” he taunted.

“Ight. If that’s how it’s gonna be, then you can get lost on your way back to the Mayor’s Mansion. Maybe you’ll find your way back, but feel free to take your time getting lost. Maybe I’ll sleep better knowing you’re not getting hung up over the past you can’t change. Who knows?”

Brendan curled the fingers in his hand, tightening his fist as he took a step forward. “You know what? Maybe I should knock a little sense into—”

“E-NOUGH!” Millee shouted with more force than her lungs should have allowed. She threw her hands at her sides, fists balled, white with tension. “Not another word or so help me,” she said, puffing out her cheeks.

Without warning, a sudden dizzy spell stole her balance like a high school dance as she stumbled back, a flurry of small clicks from the heels of her boots filling the room. The sudden outburst had taken more oxygen than her lungs could hold. Spots filled her vision, tiny speckles of darkness working together to temporarily blind her. A dizzy rush surged from behind her eyes. Before she could right herself, gravity claimed her; her feet left the ground first as she tipped sideways, a dizzy marionette with severed strings. The tumble landed her in the invisible airstream of the ceiling vent, the scent of worn leather from her boots blasting her in the face as the air whipped around her. Her arms flailed about, desperately searching for something to latch onto before she landed on her hip, but all they found were pockets of empty air.

“So, this is what people look like when the blood rushes to their head,” Brendan said, fascinated. “You look like you’re just staring off into space, Millee. Deep breathes, ok? Just lean your head back. I’ve got you.”

“I didn’t know someone so small could shout so loud,” Rei noted. “I think we really pissed her off…”

She could hear their conversation, but it seemed far off, unnecessarily distant. A steady, machine-like hum had filled her ears. She was acutely aware someone had caught her mid-fall as gentle wafts of carboard returned to her nostrils, slowly replacing the leathery aroma from her boots. Speck by speck, her vision slowly returned alongside her consciousness. She noticed the air conditioning wasn’t running anymore, and the room had grown warmer. Just how long did the dizzy rush last? She remembered feeling her head roll between her shoulders for a moment, but she didn’t remember losing consciousness entirely. She blinked—once—twice.

“What…?”

“You had a headrush, when the all the blood rushes to your head at once,” Rei explained. “Brendan caught you a literal inch before your head hit the floor.”

Brendan patted her head. “Your face completely drained of color after your little outburst. That’s when I knew you were about to fall—way before you even began to stumble,” he grinned. “I may have a terrible sense of direction sometimes, but when it comes to you, I took the time to notice the little things that make up your personality.”

Her face turned red. “W-when-when did you manage t-to do all that?” she stammered.

“After the incident with Kayde, I kept a very close eye on you, and I didn’t trust the other girls in class. They kept looking at you like they pitied you but still had something to say,” he admitted. “Did you know you rub your fingers over your nails when you’re thinking hard about something? Or that you wear your favorite knit scarf backwards? You also—”

“Ok, ok! Now please… let me go. You’re holding me weird,” she mumbled, “and it’s making my arms go numb.”

Brendan helped her back to her feet before repeating his earlier question. “So, tell me, you two. How is it that you know each other? I wasn’t aware that we were all mutual friends.”

“We need to work on your listening skills, too,” Rei chided. “Like I said earlier, before I dragged you back here, we know each other through school. I went through a rough spot before the mayor took me in. When I started public school again, she was one of the first people I met,” he looked over at Millee, helping herself to a nearby blanket as the air conditioning kicked back on.

“What? I was practically dead for, like, twenty minutes—ok? I’m cold.”

Rei gave a defeated sigh. “It was more like ten minutes, and you weren’t dead. You blacked out. Anyways,” he said with a light chuckle, “I never actually got her name that day, and she avoided me like mad every time I saw her in the hall, but we always managed to cross paths somehow.”

Brendan gave him a confused look. “Are you absolutely certain?”

“Yes. Why?” Rei paused. “Wait. Don’t tell me…” He realized the answer to his question was staring him in the face—literally. “You two went to school together too… But… how is that possible?”

Both boys gave Millee an aslant frown. “Oh… This is awkward,” she said, avoiding their gaze. “Would you believe me if I said it wasn’t me Rei met?”

Both boys gave a resounding “No.”

Without warning, she threw the blanket in the air, obscuring their view of her. “This is better explained later,” she whispered to herself, attempting to sneak out the back door amidst the confusion. “Not sure they’d accept ‘doing my job’ as an answer.”

“You’re right,” Brendan said, startling her as he grabbed her shoulder. “Didn’t make it real far, did ya?” he grinned. “Like I said, I know you better than you think and how you like to run away when someone asks a question you don’t want to answer. When you threw the blanket, you blocked your view of not just Rei but of me,” he emphasized. “It’s pretty easy to just go around the other side of the boxes too, you know, seeing as there’s a little aisle around the back.”

Millee frowned. “And to think I was seconds from escape,” she pouted, removing her hand from the exit door handle. “Fine. The truth is, I’ve been keeping a watchful eye on you. Rei too. But it is part of my job. I wasn’t lying.” She walked back towards her earlier spot on the box before wrapping the blanket around her shoulders again. “As Chiipha’s princess, I had to evaluate likely allies as an aid in the fight against the devils.”

“So why us, then?” Rei questioned.

“Well, I mean, Brendan was an obvious candidate,” she answered. “He’s a descendent of the Greyriter family, and he can use magic. It’d be stupid not to grab someone from one of Earth’s most prominent mage families… or, at least they were, but that’s beside the point. As for you, Rei… Your magic use struck me as… odd.” She stifled a yawn with her hand. “Sorry… But like I said. Whereas regular magic use causes small fluctuations in temperature, yours doesn’t do that—there’s no temperature change. Not only that, you also very rarely use it at all,” she noted. “Why? I can only just barely detect your mana. Like, there’s something about you I just don’t get. On the plus side,” she said, “your brain is so full of historical information, it’s like a library in there! It’d be crazy to think that doesn’t give us an advantage in some way.”

“Isn’t that, like, some kind of invasion of privacy? Also… There’s a very simple answer to your question. Remember our earlier discussion on Stemmer and alchemy? Before I dragged Brendan in here?”

Millee’s eyes widened. “Are you saying—”

“It seems you’re quite perceptive, Princess,” a deep, disembodied voice boomed. “So, the one who invaded my kingdom… Your name is Rei. Hmm…”

Millee jumped to her feet, blanket falling off her shoulders. “This is why I really wish you hadn’t gone and messed around, and with the devils of all things, too.” She looked around the room, eyes frantically darting from corner to corner. “No… It wasn’t just that… Rei’s venture into the Reverse World wouldn’t have been enough to warrant this kind of a response… Did—?” The color drained from her face faster than wet paint in rain. “Sorry, guys. I think this might be partially my fault, too…”

“Rei, if you get us killed, I’m going to wring your— Wait. What?” Brendan facepalmed. “This is what I get for spending all my time studying. Can’t even rely on you two to keep us out of trouble long enough for me to get into a damn university.” He sighed. “Rei, count your lucky stars I’m letting you off the hook this time. My dear Millee,” he said with an ominous smile, “what might be partially your fault?”

“Aw, now don’t be like that,” Rei said, offering her some support. “I’m sure it’s not anything serious, right? My girl’s got everything under control! I’m sure she was trying to get us that host advantage!”

“Bro said ‘host advantage’ like we’re in a video game. We might actually be cooked.”

Millee rolled her eyes. “You don’t seem too displeased he entered without knocking first… Did you come to smite me instead, perhaps? It does seem my future self dug us a hole, so I can’t say I’d be real surprised” she admitted, frustration creeping into her voice. “What is it with you two boys that makes me lose all sense of reason?”

“Woah, woah, woah,” Brendan countered. “Don’t pin this on me!”

“And why shouldn’t I?” she snapped. “Making me swoon like that… You can’t just tell a girl how you feel about her after meeting her again for the first time in years…”

“…Huh?”

“Don’t even speak to me right now, Mister. I blame you.” She fanned herself with her hands, face warm from blushing. “So, Ahzef, care to explain why you came to me here and not the me in the future? Does this mean… the timelines are converging…?”

“Quite the contrary, Princess,” the devil replied. “I’m not here for your head, yet. You’ll make for a tasty treat alongside Earth’s princess once she is chosen, so enjoy your final years while you still can. Unlike you humans, I am patient. The sheer thought of picking my teeth with your bones is enticing, but I don’t care to spoil my meals,” he explained, chuckling. “I think you can answer that last question yourself, however.”

She gagged. “Being compared to food… Gross,” she said, shivering. “So, what did you come for, then? If you aren’t here to kill me, you must be after something else. I wonder…” She took a moment to think. “If he wanted to kill us, he’d have no trouble doing so right now which means one of two things… Either he’s here just as a warning, or… He’s here to take Rei’s journal back.”

“Have you figured it out yet, Princess? What I’m really after?”

The answer caught in her throat, now as dry as sandpaper. “You want my magic and Rei’s alchemy,” she croaked, smirk crossing her face. “My how you’ve fallen… Mr. Stemmer.”

A tall, sharply dressed man shimmered into focus like heat emanating from the blacktop on a hot day. A pressed suit and jacket donned his upper half, dark slacks fluttering in the reactivated air conditioning. He looked as if he’d just arrived from a funeral service… or was arriving for one. His hair was unkept, pushed back by his ghostly hands as it fell over the back of his neck, the jet-black mop as dark as his irises.

Without warning, an elongated shadow wrapped itself around Millee’s neck, wispy finger-like appendages tightening their grip as her windpipe began to narrow. Her breaths grew ragged and shallow as she struggled to free herself. She dug her fingers into her own skin, hoping her nails would inflict just as much pain on Ahzef as they did her… but they didn’t. A series of small pops came from her neck, a sign of the devil’s frightening hold and her closing airways.

“Don’t you look nice today,” she choked between breaths.

“Something tells me I should kill you now before you become a bigger problem than you already are. You’re perceptive and very intelligent, girl—seeing as you figured your boyfriend over there out,” Ahzef said, dropping the formalities. “You’ve been running around in the past where you don’t belong, and the fact that you’re aware of… that name means you’re a threat to my operations,” he warned. “I’d save my breath if I were you. You never know what might make me decide to snap your neck.”

“Who the hell are you?!” Brendan demanded, unveiling a spear-tipped lance. “Devil or not, you’d be wise to let her go.” He twirled the weapon around, pointing the tip at Ahzef.

“Don’t be an idiot!” Rei warned. “That’s Ahzef, the new king of the Reverse Royalty. Unless you want to get Millee killed, it’s better if we let her do whatever it is she’s planning.” He locked eyes with the devil. “She said something interesting just a moment ago, and your response to it was telling. You all but confirmed that the past, present, and future are converging upon one another, but you didn’t explain why. What you gave away, however, is the fact that we seem to be finding relative success in stopping your ‘operations’ in the future. Tell me, Ahzef… If you’re so confident, why are you so afraid?”

Visions of Millee’s death danced in the devil’s eyes, shadows enacting the grotesque depictions on the wall for everyone to see: beheadings on a stick as blood dripped from her severed head, disembowelments that visualized her inner organs sucked up like spaghetti noodles—even flames that leapt at her feet, burning away her soft flesh as she writhed in pain, nails driven through her arms and legs and into a stake.

“Oh! You’re a smart one—not near as unintelligent as your girlfriend here makes you out to be.” Ahzef’s eyes filled with glee as he continued to tighten his grip around Millee’s neck, taking pleasure in watching her squirm for air. “The real question is… Which timelines are converging? Put that head of yours to good use, but you had better be quick! I’m afraid this one here is down to her last few breaths. Such a shame, but you shouldn’t have poked around where you didn’t belong.”

“Brendan, Rei,” she said, voice a raspy whisper, “I’m sorry. You’ll forget me after today—” She winced as the shadow continued to crush her windpipe. “Don’t… stop fighting. Lacia— Find her.”

A series of pops reverberated through the room again, but something about their sequence was different. Likewise, Rei watched as the shadowy scenes of Millee’s death played out again, this time in reverse. Brendan and Ahzef had been frozen where they stood: a deep scowl was etched onto Brendan’s face, the glimmering lance in his hands still pointed at Ahzef; the devil himself had been caught mid-speech, mouth agape. Was time running in reverse like some kind of clock? For a being as powerful as Ahzef was, he held doubts that whatever was happening would keep the devil at bay for long.

Slowly, the shadow around Millee’s neck began to unfurl, sulking back into the devil’s body like a snake. The cluttered piles of boxes in the center of the room reorganized themselves, returning to their stacked positions atop one another. It was then that he knew what she had done—a last-resort, risk-it-all move that, if successful, would free her from the rigid, temporal constraints that governed time: a temporary space-time that allowed her to govern time and manipulate space in exchange for what she valued most.

“Millee, you idiot! Do you even realize what you just did? The use of magic to redefine the temporal flow is strictly forbidden!” he shouted, but his words never reached her, lost in an unintelligible tangle of sounds.

“I’m sorry, Rei—really,” her voice echoed in his mind. “I hope you’ll find the heart to forgive me when we meet again in the future.”

“You moron,” he thought. “If you’re communicating with me like this… That means you really did it. If only our thoughts are linear, you’ve managed to take temporary control of space-time. What did you sacrifice? You know the only way to achieve such a feat is through the combined use of magic and alchemy, but how you even knew how to merge the two together isn’t exactly something that gets passed down through generations… Are you aware of the consequences you’ll face for this?”

“Being Princess has its perks. Besides, I’m only rewinding the last twenty-four hours… My punishment won’t be near as severe as if I had rewound the entire last two years like I originally had planned to…”

“You’re willing to cut your own time short just for a second chance at fixing past mistakes? You’ve been mulling over this for a long time, I can tell. No one is stupid enough to try and forcefully reconfigure the laws of space-time. What were you thinking?”

“It doesn’t matter what I was thinking. What matters most is that we secure this moment for a chance at a hopeful future. That said, I’m erasing all memory of the last day from you and Brendan’s minds alongside Stemmer’s journal—and all memory of me. You can’t get involved in this—not yet… When we meet again, I promise I’ll explain everything…”

Before he could protest, a blinding flash of white light purged the colors from the room, stripping it of both character and meaning: the storeroom had become an inflection point, a missing piece in the current timeline. The light continued to grow until it became an iridescent luster, a crystalline, rainbow refraction whose colors danced along the walls like colorful shadow puppets as they swirled around in a dazzling vortex. The colors seemed to chase each other like children in a game of tag.

The storeroom had become a refracted playhouse where colors ran from their responsibilities, rebelling against the myriads of hues and identities they created. Rei looked down at his hands, surprised to find that his colors had also bled from their boundaries, pooled at his feet like a puddle before joining the other colors in their flamboyant chase.

An eruption of chromatic hues consumed his eyes, causing him to shield them with his hands as the colors ran from their place on the walls and back into him. He peeked through a crack in his fingers only to find himself in complete darkness but, somehow, he knew he wasn’t alone.

“Those who take the greatest risks endure the greatest sacrifices it would seem. Tell me, young man,” a new voice came, “before I return you to my daughter, fighting valiantly to defend what she loves, what is it, then, that drives you? Why do you take such risks to protect my children when I have offered you nothing in return?”

He stood in silence for a moment, pondering the question. “Why should I expect something in return from those I care about when I’ve done something for them? I’ve never been one to impose or ask for more than the bare minimum. I… just want to foster a world that showed me what it was like to be forgotten about… When people look at you and pity you because you don’t have what they do.” He took a deep, slow breath. “Your daughter showed me a world where empathy still runs wild, unbound by the chains of vitriol and hatred, something I will never be able to repay but will forever be grateful for. That is what drives me. She’s unafraid to lend a hand to someone in need, her words are not mired by persuasion, and… she has a playful side that I love.”

“You have, indeed, seen the darkest depths of the human condition. You have known what it is to love and to be loved.” The voice fell silent for a moment. “Tell me, what is it that drives such selflessness in you? We have but little time before the Ritual of Aetherion is complete, upon which your physical body will be returned to its appropriate timeline and the fragment that is your future self will be restored.”

“My own questions about that aside… I just want to see a world where people don’t have to fight, and we can all live in harmony. If that means I have to bear the world’s sins, so be it, but that’s what drives me—a home for everyone. If I have to bear that fate alone, at least no one else had to suffer.” He paused. “This world is so torn. There are people who disagree with each other and believe they are morally sound when it’s that very same thinking that cast us all into the shadow of defilement. We didn’t start off this way, so where did we go so wrong?”

His question faded into the void before the voice responded. “It is refreshing to see that such an untainted heart is given the space it needs to grow,” it said, pleased with his answer.

“I’m… just so tired of all the senselessness and hate that blackens our souls. We have to be better. If I didn’t believe in this world, though, I wouldn’t be standing in-line with your daughter. I believe in her just as much as I believe in humanity.”

“Not only have you proven your own virtues, you have shown your willingness to sacrifice that which you do not have, all to elevate the lives of those you do not know.” The voice gave a long, pleased hum. “Congratulations, Rei. In honor of your humanity and belief in my children, I bestow upon you the command of both magic and alchemy. However, you are now also the first and only recipient to control their fusion. You have proven yourself worthy of such a feat and, with that, I must bid you farewell. Return, and vanquish the evil that threatens to devour everything you hold dear…”