Twilight, Venice

The gates of Cottol shone a brilliant white as we approached.

If Gallai felt steampunk, this place felt straight out of Vatican City. Pristine ramparts made up the walls, with golden gates the size of a mountain swinging open to let people inside.

European streetlights lined the brick walkways. Buildings with brilliant marble entrances and massive churches were on every corner.

“You never told me Cottol was like this!”

“It’s okay,” Aila said, completely unimpressed. “Gallai’s better.”

Cottol prided itself on being a tiered city from what I’d gathered. Three different walls separated its districts, with the Grand Vacillium at the center.

That was our destination.

Aila walked close behind me, hiding in my shadow as we walked. Her ears dropped with every block we passed by. It wasn’t hard for me to see why. Cat ears weren’t commonplace in Gallai, but I’d spot some every once in a while. But here in Eastol’s capital, there wasn’t a single person like Aila.

Every other person who spotted her gave her a dirty look, several looked like they wanted to start something. Though one look from me was enough for them to retreat.

I scoffed. No matter the world, those kinds of people were always the same. One hint of danger and they would all run like cowards.

We got through the second gate without too much trouble. One glance at my Unit E insignia and the guard let us right in. I was glad he didn’t bother asking me why I was here, I’d never been that good at improv.

Inside things felt even more luxurious. Marble ramparts connected the five story buildings, with trims of silver and gold. Not a dent could be seen.

With every step my heart started to race faster. It felt as if it wanted to jump out of my chest, yet I kept my breath steady as we walked along. When the final fight was so near, keeping my composure was of the utmost importance.

It was clear from what Seth had said that Thien had complete control of the city. All the men watching me behind open newspapers, any of them could be a spy reporting to Thien. Hiding wasn’t an option for us. But that was fine, he knew we were coming—what he didn’t know is that we would be the ones winning.

Finally, we reached the third gate. It was taller than some skyscrapers back on Earth, painted a brilliant gold all throughout. The two suns caused it to twinkle like a star.

Aila steadied her breath. “We’re not alone.”

“Enemy?”

“Worse,” she pointed toward the gate. “It’s Francis.”

“Enemy you say?” Leaning against the gate, the tall, muscular man raised an eyebrow in amusement. He had dressed up for the occasion. His normal uniform was replaced with an elegant, deep orange suit with what looked to be a dolphin embroidered into the fabric. “I take it you found my little message."

“We more than found it!” I grabbed his collar, trying to force him to eye level. Bad mistake. He barely moved an inch. “What do you mean you’re the one who summoned me to this hellhole?”

“Says it on the tin,” he stared down, daring me to make a move. “Make a move if you want, I need the entertainment.”
“Fuck…” I let his collar go and took a few steps back. Screwing with Francis would just get me killed. “Why? This place has been hell for us both, Lilly’s barely alive, all because you decided to snatch us from that WcDonalds!”

“Because this place needed a hero,” Francis said matter-of-factly. “East isn’t around to fix his planet, so someone has to do the job.”

“You’re already here!” I was nearly shouting now! “Why toss us from our home for this?!”

“I’m chained by my contract.”

“You mentioned that before,” Aila interrupted before Francis could finish. “Are you still not going to tell us anything?”

“I guess it’s about time—a good show always needs its last-minute reveal, like a friend of mine used to say.“

Francis held out his arm. With a tug, fragments of bright orange change appeared, shimmering in and out of existence. There had to be thousands, all interwoven between one another, restraining Francis with more security than the entirety of both this world and mine by a thousandfold. “It’s from an old contract the seven of us signed a long time ago. Not that there's not some incredibly funny… loopholes involved, but when it comes to direct conflict, I’m limited unless I want to alert several people I’d rather not see.”

“So you kidnapped us for that?”

“So much rage—you know, losing that does wonders for your skin. It’s East’s framework that’s responsible for the bumpy ride. I’m a recruiter, sure, but this heroic stuff isn’t typically in my wheelhouse.”

“So we’re the lucky few.” I scowled. “Save the excuses. Why do we get the honor of getting you?”

“She had another… predicament come up. But the past is the past, you don’t have the power to change that. You and Lilly are this planet’s heroes, and it’s now your turn to save this place.”

“But I’m not a hero!” I shouted, nearly shaking. “You, Seth, Thien, everyone thinks I’m a hero! If you knew the things I’d done–”

“Oh, I know plenty about your background, Rin. Consistent B student, aced his middle school exams yet chose the most middle of the road option he could find. Has fifteen police reports filed against him.” Francis snapped his fingers, letting a very familiar set of papers appear from a flame in the air.

Francis flipped through the pages one by one. “One hell of a record for an eighteen-year-old. Robbery, grand theft auto, assault, attempted murder. It takes talent to get this bad of a rap sheet.”

“I–” I couldn’t look up. Another world, another chance, and still my past couldn’t get away from me. “Then why me?”

“Because flawless heroes are boring. Save the cat, defeat the demon lord, yada yada, it’s all been done a million times. But you, Rin, you were at the bottom of the barrel. This world has a funny habit of revealing another side to people. The only way you could go was up.”

“The only way I could go was up.” I wanted to punch Francis. “What a stupid reason.”

“Was it?” Francis raised an eyebrow. “I can’t read your mind—shocking, I know—but the you I see here feels a lot different than the kid I summoned.”

He gave me time to answer. I didn’t take him up on it.

“Now. I may not be able to fight Thien directly, but there's nothing that says I can’t toss a few things your way.” Francis grinned as he snapped his fingers again.

“What do you mean–Woah!” Aila stuttered back as a katana fell from the sky. Its sheath was a deep dark blue, with a shining gold hilt that seemed to glow with energy. A small name was carved into the hilt, Relyeth Fey.

“That’s not any old sword, Aila. Relyth only made a few blades while she was alive, and of those that's one of the more interesting ones.”

She unsheathed the sword. Its silver blade had a persistent blur around it, like a camera out of focus. “You’re saying this is for me?”

“I don’t have a use for it.” Francis smirked. “That sword’s seen a lot of history, better to use it than have it sit in one of my storage rooms.”

“But still.” Aila hefted up the blade. “This thing has to have cost a fortune!”

“In a way. That kind of petty chance doesn’t even make a dent.” Francis snapped his fingers again. From the sky a set of dice fell into my hands. They were a crystal read, the same kind that was in all those western casino movies. “As for you, Rin, sadly I don’t have anything nearly as valuable that would fit your style.”

“So you have dice?” At this point I was more confused than angry. I stared deep into the man's eyes as he put on the smallest of smirks. “Don’t think we're done talking about how you kidnapped us.”

“What a Greek tragedy, it seems my gifts didn’t distract you.”

“We can save that for later,” Maybe the me from months ago would have snapped at him, yet Lilly came first. Now I could wait. “What do these dice do?”

“They’re more batteries than die, though I suppose they do both things quite well. During your fights, you seem to run out of light pretty quickly.”

“It’s better now.”

“Better isn't enough,” he pulled out an identical cube out of nowhere. “These capture a certain frequency of energy. Not kinetic or potential, but the kind of energy that powers your Senn; it can eat up more than you could imagine.”

“So I can store light,” I said. No need for the frills.

“Not just light. Remember, all Senn’s work based on the same power.”

With that he pulled a dagger from the air. It gleamed with a fiery light that bathed the bricks under us in a pale orange light. “And with that my role in this tale has come to a close.”

He walked away from the gate, confidence in his step. “I wish you two well. This world needs a hero, don’t disappoint them.”

He tossed the dagger in the air. Massive orange flames burst from the ground and bathed Francis, covering him as he gave one last wave. And just as quickly as it appeared, it went away, having taken the man along with it.

Aila sheathed her new sword. “Are you ready?”

“Never better,” I let the dice roll around in my hand. “Let’s head in.”