AIYA

The front yard is a mess and the morning sun is breaking through the tree lines lingering smoke. The last of the firetrucks left just a few minutes ago, leaving two police cars and a fire deputies' truck in our circle drive. I've been standing outside on the grass, staring at the serpent water fountain, for an hour now, while my mother is telling them what to write on the reports and have this entire fiasco look like an accident. But it wasn't an accident.

Wish is gone. Ken is burned. Kenna is scared shitless and has been hiding in the bushes for a good twenty minutes behind me. I should talk to her, but I don't have it in me to be cordial and comforting. I just lost my best friend—my sister—to that nightmare planet.

I can't believe how weak I am. After all those years training with Kusanagi, I couldn't protect Wish. I promised to have her back, instead I couldn't even lift a finger when the time came. I could only watch as Vear chased after her.

Why did she let go of my hand?

Security walks past me, suggesting I go inside while they clean up the mess and reinstate the barriers around the complex. Why bother? They obviously don't work against a Faceless. Ken is proof of that. His burns are seared into my mind. I could only see red in that moment when he was being attacked. If I hadn't saved him, he'd be dead right now. And yet, a tiny part of me can't help regretting it. I'm horrible.

Why did she let go of my hand!

Gregori gently touches my shoulder before setting a med kit on the grass. Both sleeves are rolled to his elbows. "Here, let me heal your wounds."

"Ken needs it more than me. You should heal him first," I tell him, but he takes my hand anyways and cleans the dried blood off my skin.

Gregori smiles and he's almost too excited. "He was my first patient. His burns have healed, but his skin will be tender for some time and he did some pigment. If I change the formula just a smidge, we might..." he rambles on and I tune him out.

I forgot how crazy he is.

He picks up a metal canister and unscrews the lid. The healing cream instantly works at my skin, itching and stitching it, I have to keep myself from scratching. "You were amazing out there. I was hiding in the bushes like a coward, while you were attacking head on."

Don't praise me. Angry tears threaten to fall. "I was weak and stupid. I should've known to conserve my energy. Instead, I pushed myself past my limits. In the end, I couldn't save her."

I should be stronger than this.

"You did the best you could," he says. "I don't know Wish very well, but I know she wouldn't want you beating yourself up over this."

He's right. Wish would be moving forward, not sitting on the couch sulking like a child. Kusanagi trained her, too. She has more experience in Akane than I do. She's still alive. She has to be. But I just can't get that horrible image out of my mind.

When Ken and I arrived at the tornado shelter, the door was ripped open, a heap of scrap metal scattered over the forest floor. We ran down stairs and it only got worse. There were claw marks in the walls and holes in the floors. Parts of the ceiling had cracked and the door was closed. And there was dried blood on the door handle I knew belonged to her.

Stupid, so stupid. I can't believe she dreamwalked into his mind that night. I was sleeping right next to her. She could've easily asked for help. Why does she insist on doing everything on her own?

Car doors open and close behind me. An engine revs, one police car leaves down the road back towards the main gates, while the others linger behind. They're still chatting with my mother, confirming the reports have been altered, sucking up to her to be in her good graces. We don't need to pay them off, we already are, but an extra incentive isn't a bad thing.

My mother hands them each a hefty envelope and they accept it with a smile. By the time they're gone, my wounds have healed. The morning birds rise from their slumber, chirping and singing from what's left of the forest. It's almost too serene. I hate it.

"I was told you were out here," my mother says as if I'd be anywhere else. I've been waiting patiently for her this entire time to finish her work and she knows it.

I bite the inside of my cheek, giving myself pain in order to stay strong. "When are we going after Wish? I'll need to prepare a few things ahead of time in case we don't make it back by next week."

My mother looks at me, really takes me in, and not for the first time I feel the distance grow between us. "We're not going after her."

"How can you say that? She's one of us!"

Her steps are precise, heels clicking on the asphalt like little demons coming to torment me. She stops a foot away at the edge of the grass, and yet, even from this distance I can feel her power towering over me. It makes me feel like a helpless child, again.

"I'm so disappointed in you. I never thought my own daughter would betray me like this." She unscrews the jar and dumps the gold dust and fake butterfly before her Prada heels. "To think my own blood would deceive me."

My body starts trembling, but I stand firm. "The butterfly didn't belong to you. Wish found it first. It was hers to give when she chooses."

"Everything on this property belongs to me!" Heat radiates off her very words. It has me stepping back and her drawing closer. "Do not forget your place, Aiya. You were born from my womb. I can very well end your feeble life." She grabs my hair, crushing it under her tight fist. "I have given you so much and asked for so little. And this is how you repay me."

When I'm let go, my mother smiles, her lips tight and forced, it's like I dreamed all that terror a second ago. "We will go to Akane to retrieve the paper butterfly in two days, and you will not be going with us. That is final. Now, go fix your hair. It's unseemly."

So, she really has abandoned Wish.

I shouldn't be shocked. My mother never liked Wish. She sees her as a negative influence, independent and willful, the exact opposite of her teachings. In her mind, this very incident proves it.

Maybe she's right. Maybe Wish does influence me, but it's not bad. No, she makes me feel stronger. She makes me want to be a better person and prove to myself that I'm nothing like my mother. I'm not that helpless child anymore. Now's not the time to pity myself.

Right now, Wish needs my help. I know she can take care of herself, but two days is a day too long. Doesn't matter, because I'm not invited, says the witch. That's where she's wrong. I don't need an invitation to crash a party.

We're left alone, again, and Gregori hasn't said a word yet, but I can tell he's pissed by the way he's clutching the metal canister. I gently lay my hand on top of his, and that seems to ease away the anger. "This might be selfish to ask, but will you help me get Wish back?"

He's a scientist and clearly insane, but those are characteristics I need.

Gregori blinks a few times, not sure what to say. "I'm surprised you'd ask for my help."

"Remember the background check? I've read your file. You were an Eagle Scout and served in the Marine's for two years after high school," I say. "You have survival skills that my family lacks. Isn't that right, Kenna?"

Kenna steps out from behind the bushes and slowly approaches us like a cautious rabbit. Her trembling hands are clenched tight against her chest. "This is all my fault." Tears run down her mascara-stained cheeks. "I'm so sorry, Aiya. I just... wanted some flowers..." She starts crying in her hands.

Like the gentleman he is, Gregori hands her a cloth handkerchief. She dabs her eyes, thanking him profusely. My skin feels tight. "Kenna, you don't have to go with us. I understand you feel guilty, but you also have a fiancée to worry about."

She blows her nose rather loud into the handkerchief. I hope Gregori wasn't expecting to get that back any time soon. "I've already discussed this with Lucy. We agreed I should help you. Our marriage won't last if I don't start taking responsibility for my actions," she says.

Wow. I never thought I'd see the day. I remember Kenna always running away and hiding whenever we were scolded for causing trouble and misbehaving. I guess it's true ugly ducklings can turn into a beautiful swan.

"Fine. Just don't come whining to me when you stub a toe." I walk past her towards the front doors. "I'll talk to Ken. Go and pack a backpack. We'll leave in an hour."

⟁

Ken's sitting up in bed, crumbling the sheets in his hands. "Like hell I'm not going to Akane," he snaps. "These wounds are nothing compared to what Wish is going through."

Gregori said the pigment on his skin has changed, but it's worse than I imagined. His dark brown skin now has splotches of pink where the fire burned his body. It covers his right arm and shoulder and parts of his chest. I'm glad Wish isn't here to see this.

I prop a hand on my hip. "Are you serious? You look like your half dead already."

He smacks his bare chest like a damn caveman, but flinches just slightly. God, I forget how barbaric my own cousin can be. "You saw how dangerous those Faceless were. You need my fire to help you!"

"I also saw you lying on the ground, half burned to a crisp. Did you forget I'm the one who saved you? If I didn't, you'd be dead right now!"

Ken goes quiet, unusual for him, but I can see he's taking this hard. Losing Wish is the last thing we wanted. "It's my fault," he whispers. "I hesitated the moment I saw that Faceless. She looked like a human. I couldn't get it together... If I had attacked instead of second guessing... things would be different now."

He means, if he had killed without hesitation, then Wish wouldn't be in Akane. I sigh and sit down on the bed beside him. "We're not trained soldiers. Of course, you'd hesitate. Taking someone's life isn't easy, Ken."

My hands tremble just thinking about it. If I hadn't acted, then Ken would be dead. I try not to remember the charged husk outside was once a living breathing person. Regretting my actions won't bring them back. I can only move forward.

"Sitting here isn't going to change things either." Ken flings off the covers and walks over to the dresser where he's been stashing all this clothes. He's been staying in this guest room since we've been on lock down. His whole family is at the Main House for security reason, and now that seems so pointless.

He pulls on a pair of sweats over his boxer briefs and a shirt that clings to his muscular physique. There's only two times he wears tight shirts: when working on cars and for intimidation. It's those very muscles that gave me headaches in high schools. Girls were always throwing themselves at him.

Well, it looks like Ken is going whether my opinion matters or not. I head towards the bedroom door and grasp the knob. "Be packed and ready in forty minutes. We'll be downstairs in the garden."

"Have you talked to Wish's mom yet?" he asks.

I haven't seen her since we told them what happened to Wish. She left the Main House without a single word and has been locked inside her house ever since. I don't blame her. I'm sure she's cursing us all to death. I know I am.

"We won't need her help. There's another way to get into Akane," I say. The same way Vear traveled here. The same way our own ancestors escaped to Earth.

He doesn't ask and I don't answer. After I leave his room, I pack a backpack full of essentials: pain killers, first aid kit, clean underwear, a few shirts and socks, and a water jug and food that will last me at least a week, maybe more if I'm frugal.

By the time I'm standing in front of my mother's office, the house is quiet with sleep and stinks of smoke from last night's chaos. I press my ear to the door, making sure she's not inside.

She never should have shown me the key. She never should have told me exactly what it is and where it's hiding. That moment of brief trust is my salvation and her down fall. Even a queen can make mistakes. Ironic how much she torments me over being less than perfect, when she's the one who raised me to be less than her.

She thinks I'm a disappointment... I'll show her how disappointing I can be.

I press my fire to the safe's outer core. It burns brighter and hotter, the room swells with heat, cracking the office window and consuming the safe's alarm until its noise fades into nothing. The key lies on the shelf, untouched by the flames and metal soup. It truly is magical, otherworldly, an item that belongs in Akane.

With this key, I'll save Wish and piss off my mother in the process. Too bad I won't be here to see it.