Copyright Ⓒ 2018 by B. Bailey All Rights Reserved

Aisling

"Hi, Sera!" Cahan exclaims, wrapping my friend in a tight hug as soon as she steps through the door.

"Come on in you three! Dinner is served!" Vern yells from the kitchen, the smell of freshly baked bread and roasted meat sizzling in the air, making my mouth water as the taste caresses my nose.

Hemming might not be a blood relation, but that doesn't mean that this isn't my family. Vern and Hemming both love meat and never miss an opportunity to roast it over a roaring fire. Lucky for us the kitchens can be customized so I made a huge double walk-in flame oven. Both are filled with red hot flames as we enter the kitchen, following the trail of wonderfully warm smells floating through the air.

We work together to set the table, laying a feast. Laughter fills the air as we eat, filling our stomachs and enjoying each other's company.

After dinners done and the kitchen has been cleaned we go to my room, sinking down into the couches in her living area. "Okay, let's go over these supplies. What do you have?"

Sera opens her vault, pulling out boxes of stones. "I took these from my room earlier today. I have to go back tomorrow and grab the rest of the supplies."

I walk over to my mirrored wall, sorting through my stocked inventory. "Here are those spare stones. And the armor. I'll mend the pants."

The stones I hand Hemming are worn down and some are cracked. "Well, they're not pretty but they will work as a backup. Where are the rest that you plan on using?"

Sera points to the piles of her new stones, all neatly divided up into their own categories. Hemming set my stones down and walks over to look over her much more extensive collection while I find the spare outfit, pulling it out and taking it over to my favorite chair, pulling up the side table and sliding it across the arms so I can sit comfortably while enchanting the material as I mend it.

"Eanraig bought all of these?" He asks, rolling each stone in between his hands. "What kind of Sparrow was he prepping you for? These are way powerful!"

"I know. They're all amazing. He wanted me to have the best supplies so I could play with him."

"Remind me to upgrade before challenging him, "Hemming mutters, holding the Tiger-Stone in both hands, turning to the side to show it to me.

"You can clear the field with that thing!" I yell, making a mental note to ask Sera if I can borrow that one the next time we play Sparrow.

"Oh man!" Aisling cries. "Marco needs to get back already so I can upgrade my stones!"

"Get back?" what does she mean? Did he go somewhere? He'd never leave his shop for more than a few days during his busiest season.

Aisling clamps her lips shut, looking frustrated with herself. Hemming doesn't say anything when I look over at him, suddenly completely intent on looking at the stones.

"What aren't you telling me?"

They look at each other silently before Aisling nods her head. "Marco is missing Sera. He never came back from his last delivery. His ship is missing too. No signals or anything. The Enforcers are looking into it. I don't think anything bad happened though," she rushes. "This is Marco we're talking about. He probably went to replenish supplies. You know his best places are top secret."

"Logan didn't say were he is?"

"Logan...doesn't know where he is. He actually reported him missing because he hasn't answered any of his calls after making his last delivery to Earth."

Oh no. What trouble did Marco get into?

"One problem at a time," Hemming says, holding my shoulder.

"Yeah, he's probably out doing something fun. At any rate, the Enforcers will find him or he'll return on his own," Aisling admits, must lighter than Hemmings somber mood.

After another squeeze to my shoulders, Hemming snaps his fingers, struck with sudden inspiration as the silver glow of my hands dims. "I know Aisling's giving you an extra set of armor but I have another item I can lend you. I just need your measurements."

"Alright," she holds her arms out to the side, standing silently as he marks her dimensions. I raise my eyebrows but doesn't ask any questions, my tongue sticking out the side of my mouth as I weave the material of the pants back together, matching the woven spells as best as I can so that it spot doesn't remain terrible weak and rip open again.

"Alright, wait here. I'll come back as soon as I'm done." Hemming states after going over the recorded numbers.

"Okay. See you later." She waves goodbye to him before leaning down and placing the stones back into her box.

"So you reached out to Donalda for help?"

"Yes, I did. This is a matter she has vested interest in. As long as she wants her freedom she'll stay on my side."

"I suppose so," She states, frowning over at me. "I would be lying if I said that I'm not surprised. Still, I guess that it makes sense if you look at it like that. I just..."

"You just what?"

"I never imagined you would forgive her so quickly. Much less trust her."

"I trust that Donalda wants to maintain power over her own life. I know that we must look out for ourselves. The Spear theft is connected to the ICU. The sooner we uncover to connection to better. Those liars won't get away with what they've done and I certainly won't let them hurt anyone else."

That is a rational conclusion. I don't think that I trust Donalda enough to do the same if I were in Seras' position. She's putting an awful lot of faith in Donaldas' disposition. But, I know Donalda is rational so this decision to work together actually makes sense, if a weird way.

Sera is really going to do this. She's been so happy at the Festival, enjoying all of the Stalls and the lack of attention. Now, when she has a pass on the torture of training and evaluations, she decides to take on a mission, on her own, with no assistance.

We can do solo missions, but the Guardians are strict about us sticking to a buddy system. When did she get the courage to go against that guideline?

I look over at her, wondering what she is thinking. I guess that it doesn't matter – even though she isn't a Bloom she still has power and power has comes with the responsibility to look out for others. I'm just happy she's doing something good instead of looking out for just herself.

Not like Ani. That girl is just as frustrating as Donalda, but she annoys me even more because at least Donalda acts to protect others, even if that can be perversed at times, like when she injured Sera to knock her out of the Tournament just so she could look better to the Judges.

I don't know what Mentors I'll be assigned this Year, although I suppose it doesn't matter. Whoever it is will be incredible, even if they aren't the single greatest Mentor in the Universe. The Trail of the Gateway will be hard. I have to master all of the energy and learn to call on whichever is necessary for a pinch, fully syncing with the frequency of each Realm and mastering traveling through the Realms on my own.

Sera's brilliant but her lifespan will be shorter than mine now that she won't be a Lif. There's no way I'm going to let Donalda take the reigns of power, not in the Réalta Council. I have to become better so that I can beat her in the Trial and take a higher position in the Council's internships. Those make a huge impact on who places higher later on.

It won't be easy but, if I work hard, I think that I can do it. I don't have as much trust as Sera does in Donalda looking out for us if it benefits her, not after she becomes more powerful. Prodigy though she is, she's still a kid, like us. Neither her power not her skills are finished developing so she does need to rely on teamwork, even if those instances of teamwork are rare.

Hemming was right – she's only gotten worse. I don't know if she'll go full evil or not. Just because she says that what she does is to help others doesn't make it right and it isn't an excuse. I can't think of anything truly heroic that she's done that didn't benefit herself.

"Here it is," Hemming says, walking into the room and locking the seals again. "I'll finish it up in here at the workstation."

Energy flickers in the air around the bundle in his hands, drawing my attention as I finished the last stitch.

"Ethereal Silver?" I ask, shocked to that the fabric is finely woven together. Pushing the tabletop aside, I jump to my feet and run over to the workstation behind him.

"It's 50/50, just like our prosthetics," Hemming explains, laying the material out over my desk. "It was a birthday present from Thor and the Dwarves. They gave me the threads and I've been weaving them ever since. Your dad had a design for fabric inspired by the shifting cloaks of Freyja and Frigg. I talked to the Dwarves and have been going over the process of combining elements of the different Realms. This isn't anything as fancy as what they've done..."

"It's incredible!" Sera gasps, looking startled. "The Dwarves already have you in advanced alchemy?"

"Just for metal work with forging, in tandem with Thor." He admits with a blush. "and all of this was overseen by them on request of the Guardians. I was only allowed to bring it out of the class after it was finished. I'll tuck the edges and resize it for you. As long as this is returned to MetalCraft Forge in the basement before the next Semester begins the Guardians will be none the wiser."

"Are you sure you want to give this to me. I don't want to get you into any trouble-"

"You're taking it." He says, shaking his head. "There's no point in arguing with me. I can't stop you from going to Nifleheim and I can't go with you so I've decided that you will take with as extra protection."

"It's not perfect. I hammered the metal and stretched the wires myself until they were thin enough to become a thread. The Ethereal Silver has more imperfections that what you're used to." He says, rubbing his ear as he runs his other hand over the shimmering material on the desktop.

"It's worthy of a center showcase at the Dragons Roar," Sera says, placing a hand on Hemmings' shoulder. "Dad would have proud to show someone from Ubhal Òir could craft Ethereal Silver into wire fine enough to weave. He had to order the wire for my Gauntlets from Thor."

"Yeah, he told me about that. It was really cool working with Thor. He said that after I finish the rest of my classes for metalwork I can start training with him at the Forge in Asgard." Each freckled blends into his skin as he turns bright red, his green eyes turning hazy and growing distant.

"Cool!" I shout, jumping up and down. "Why didn't you say anything?!" I slap his shoulder excitedly, thrilled to see his work.

"Well, it's a long way off. As I said, this isn't perfect. Weaving the Mortal and Ethereal Silver together took a long time and it has weak spots. Besides that, I have to get better at Intermediate Alchemy before moving forward. The dwarves said that it's essential otherwise I would be an over glorified blacksmith."

"If you're already this good with Ethereal Silver than I don't think cram studying for a few centuries is a significant deterrent to stopping you from becoming an even more incredible Crafter. You're already better than many Half Blood Blacksmiths." Sera says, smiling widely as she studies a corner of the fabric.

"Thanks, but it's not as good as the Dwarves work." He admits with a self-conscious shrug.

"Even Thor could not best the Dwarves in smithing Hemming," I explain, poking his forehead. "They made thread from stuff that hardly exists. The whisper of a cats paws, hair of a women's beard-"

"Some women have beards. Look at Deide's cousin – she's the hairiest lady I've ever seen. Some of the other sailors mistake her for a man."

"She is one of the few women to have hair on her face but it is not an actual beard," I argue, crossing my arms. "That's the point, you know? It hardly exists and yet they found it, brought the materials together in a tangible, albeit barely there form and made thread powerful enough to chain Fenrir to a rock. What the greatest Dwarves have accomplished is legendary for a reason."

That finally gets a grin out of him.

"And I know this because you never stop talking about what they've crafted. So, enough with the words already and let's see you make something!" I shake his shoulders, impatient to see the cloak take shape.

By the next morning, as we rub the sleep from our eyes, the room is a mess of projects. Complete projects, I note with pride, that need to be cleaned up.

"Pack everything into your Vault! Hurry up!" I hiss, grabbing boxes and passing to Sera. "Mom and Dad are early risers. They'll be knocking on the door any minute!"

Knock – Knock.

We all freeze for a moment and then rush, cramming the items as fast as possible. "Organize it later!" Hemming whispers, grabbing the cloak from the desk and tossing across the room to me, leaving me with a brief moment of respecting the crackling energy of the Ethereal Silver before I bunch it up into a loose wad and push down with both hands, trying to get it to disappear into the immense storage of the Vault on Sera's bracelet.

I knock her over as I shove, earning a glare from my friends as she pushes up on her other arm. "Ow! It can't store it that fast! Stop shoving me!"

I ignore her pleas and push harder, knocking her back onto the floor. "It just needs some help!"

"Kids, breakfast is ready! Breakfast in bed and then up, up up and ready for the day!"

"Morning people," Hemming mumbles, straightening up the rest of the room while I wrestle the cloak into the Vault, my opinion of the material drastically sinking with each passing second as I continue to grab at it and wad it in my fists. Who knew Ethereal Silver, even toned down, was so slippery?

Clanging dishes makes my scalp prickle with unease. Last night was the first time I've locked my door. I don't think Mom and Dad will approve but their anger is better than them realizing we have a lot of high-end gear. My parents aren't powerful Half Bloods like Sera's parents.

They came from a small country in Lower Midgard where the power of Half Bloods was practically a whisper on the wind, just stories of distant places. It was peaceful and quiet and, as my parents like to remind me, rather boring. All of this Adhain stuff threw them for a loop yet they were more than happy to ride off into danger and mystery.

They love to be a part of this life. Every day of the Tournament is "breakfast in bed". They come in and wake Hemming and I up, making sure we're ready to take hold of a new day. I didn't think they would be up at the door at the crack of dawn today – usually, they don't come in until after the suns have fully risen.

"We know you three stayed up late but you should have an early start. It's a full spread. You have plenty of time to eat and talk! None of you are going to be late." The doorknob jingles as one of my parents turn it, letting out a surprised gasp.

Reaching down, I take the corners of the fabric and spin them, wrapping the material around my arm and jamming it into the MSRB's small portal opening, relieved when the silver is sucked away, falling off of my hand as smoothly as rushing water.

Ha-ha! Victory is mine!

"Aisling Orfhlaith Tara Maebh Sinead! You open this door right now young lady!"

Ah! Full name territory. That is grade-A grounding right there.

I see another box of stones out and think fast, throwing my hand out and scattering the stones over the enchanting corner of my workstation, the seal glowing as they tumble over it.

Rising to my feet, I wave Hemming and Sera over to the corner, who both give me a weird look but don't argue.

"Sorry," I explain, canceling out my silencing spells before I open the door. "We were charging some stones with the sunrise. We're getting them ready to use later on, in case we have time for a game of Sparrow."

I stand aside and let Mom and Dad in as Hemming and Sera walk away from the seal, looking embarrassed.

"I didn't want any energy to leak out. You know the area has to be sealed while we Cast." It's not an outright lie – the area does have to be sealed off. We just weren't doing any casting right now.

"Oh." Mom and Dad both say, the anger in their faces clearing as they take in the glowing Seal in the corner. "Look at how bright those stones are!" Mom squeals, immediately over her anger. "You three worked together on this?"

"The sun and moon are the only way to charge the stones without using our own power," I explain with a shrug, taking the tray out of my Moms hands and walking over to the living room area. "Sera needs each morning for those since she's out of power."

"Aisling!" mom whispers, giving me a stern disapproving mom glare. "You did not have to say it like that," She whispers to me before increasing her volume to normal. "I'm glad you followed procedure. We don't need anyone to get hurt."

"Are you kidding? Those Gauntlets can deal more damage than they'd get in any matter!" I laugh, knowing how tough the material is because I live with Hemming.

We all take a quick snack in the room before heading out into the main living space, enjoying a full breakfast spread. After we've all finished eating Mom and Dad let us go back to our rooms to get dressed.

"We'll meet in the Geography class. No one goes by that place if they can help it." Sera says as she brushes her hair next to me. "at sixty-six hundred hours. We can slip out and make it over to your house. Do you have the key to the private suite?" Every Hall was designed to accommodate Lifs and their families so each one has private quarters for Casting, Alchemy, and Blacksmithing.

The Casting for the Clones is advanced. We need a powerful Seal to channel our power through and the ones in the Academy aren't an option, not with how much security there is. And we have to hide the Clones after they form. The cavern under our Hall has enough space to keep them until this weekend.

"Geography. Got it."

I wait until I know my parents are asleep before getting out of bed, silently signaling to Hemming and Sera to get up. We use three diamonds, transforming them into fake versions of ourselves, each sleeping soundly while we creep out of the room, keeping our eyes on bracelets as we time when to open the front door.

Running down the hallway as one, we move in the shadows, staying close the hallways and ducking behind columns until we reach the dreaded hall. All rooms of studying from Tellus Spheres and endless notes. Geography, Mathematics, Langauge Arts.

Ugh.

A shiver races up my spine at the unnaturalness of me entering this area without being explicitly ordered too, the wrongness of being in this place pounding inside my head.

I pull out a stone and use it to unlock the door, entering the room and waiting in the back. "Here's where we find out if your wrong," I murmur quietly, too worried to speak above a whisper even though I've sealed the room for silence.

"She has no reason to betray us. It won't do her any good. I think that even she can set aside her hatred of us at the prospect of being little more than a trained pet on a leash." Hemming argues, surprising me since I directed that at Sera, not him.

"You're the one who said she was selfish!"

"She is acting selfishly and putting herself before any of us," he admits. "Hopefully she's realizing that even she can't go it alone all of the time."

Hopeful. That is Hemming in a nutshell. A week ago he claims she's guilty of hurting our best friend, which ended up being true, and now he's saying that she's not as bad as I think she is.

We hold our breath as the doorknob turns, ducking behind the shelves at the back of the room as the door swings open. A moment later it closes, with no visible person having entered. Then a pale face appears out of thin air as the invisibility fades.

"Hey,!" Donalda whispers angrily, making me giggle helplessly as I realize that none of us is going to talk normally even though we can. Being in the Academy at night over the holiday season is just too unnatural for any of us to feel at ease.

Sera stands up, walking over to Donalda, both of their faces glowing in the moonlight underneath their black caps. "You finished it?"

"No, I decided I'd take a night walk down the halls for kicks," Donalda snaps, tapping her MSRB. "Lift your sleeve. This will be a direct transfer. I'm not leaving a trace for anyone to follow. This is way bigger than the last mainframe."

Sera uncovers her matching bracelet and turns as she and Donalda match up the sigils on each side, directly transferring the program. After a few minutes the MSRB's flash green, showing the transfer has been completed.

"Good," Sera breathes, pulling her arms back. "Thank you, Donalda." Then she signals to Hemming and I, pointing to the door. "You two can go ahead. I'll catch up. After a lot of thought, I decided that I'll visit the Advanced Alchemy Lab and borrow a few Banshee vocal cords."

"What?!" Stealing from the Alchemy Lab without me?

"It's too big of a risk to Cast with three attempts since we only have tonight. I can replace them later." Sera argues, biting her lip. "No one will notice they're gone right."

"Well then let's hurry up already!" Donalda huffs, crossing her arms. "Don't stand there catching flies! Are you in or out?"

I raise my eyebrows, closing my mouth as I look between her and Sera. No way is trouble going down without me. But why is Donalda stepping in?

"You didn't think I was trusting you three to Cast an Advanced Spell, did you? If I'm there it has a better chance of success. And, if we take the supplies now, it will save time if we need to fail with the clones. If not I'll put them back." Her whole face turns red as she realizes that that is exactly what we thought.

Shrugging it off, I escape her fury by turning to Hemming, who doesn't say anything as we look at each other. Well, I don't think we are in a position to refuse help with a spell of this magnitude, not when we have to Cast it twice.

Reaching out, I poke Donaldas' arm. "She's real!" I whisper, mind-blown.

My hand is slapped away, making me smile as I see that Donaldas face is turning beet red. "I want this situation resolved! If that means breaking some rules and helping you dweebs then so be it! Obviously," she seethes, her hands clenched into fists. "Teamwork is going to be necessary for this matter. And it seems that teamwork is what our classmates want. I don't like it but I'm not going to fail entirely by swimming against the tide."

Wow. Public defeat and humiliation followed by a week of the cold shoulder from everyone in our Year after we all learned she had a role in hurting Sera and Donalda actually learns something?

"You have one minute and then I'm out here." She hisses. "We are wasting moonlight!"

Hemming bites his lip before nodding. "I'm in."

"Don't mess this up!" She warns, pointing a threatening finger in Hemmings' face. "We don't have time for you to be on the sidelines. We have to fast and certain."

He frowns at her, his ears going bright red. "I said that I'm in. It's not like I'm going to turn tail and hide."

"Really? Not even if you know you'll get into trouble? You're allergic to confrontation and trouble."

Hemmings' face screws up, his nose scrunching as he steps back, looking completely caught off guard. "I confront people!"

"No, you don't. You got mad one time and only fought me because Deide publicly suggested it as a prank, taking advantage of the rare occasion."

"I agreed to that fight beforehand!"

Donalda raises her eyebrow, giving Hemming a critical once over.

"No, you didn't."

"Yes, I did!"

"Save it for later." Sera cuts in, stepping between them. "He said yes so we're all going. Here," Sera holds out her hand, placing a handful of stone wands onto a desktop. She sorts through them, setting aside four 2-inch onyx wands.

"We can use these for private communication, seal them for private channels and synchronize them with each other so only we can hear each other when we speak. We should do the same with the rubies so we can see each other."

After we've pulled out all of the stones we plan to use tonight and sync them, we put them in our pockets, placing the onyx wands over our right ears and binding them in place so that the tips face out mouths.

"Everyone ready?" Sera asks, nervously staring around our loose circle.

"Yes," we all state, testing the stealth of the onyx before turning towards the door. Hemming stays back, shaking his head and motioning for Donalda to walk before him as he narrows his eyes. Ah. So he doesn't trust her completely. And here I thought he was playing the fool again.

Donalda grits her teeth, narrowing her eyes at Hemming for a moment before spinning on her heel, heading to the door.

Sympathy washes through me as I meet Hemmings bewildered stare. I shake my head and pat his shoulder.

We follow Sera as she heads down the hallways, slowly trekking a path to the east wing, where the Alchemy storerooms are. Sera pulls out a sapphire, casting a seal over the lock.

Our heads turn at the same instant, looking to the right as footsteps echo down the hallway ahead of us.