AIYA

Wish wakes with a start.

Her eyes are bloodshot, frantically searching around. I hold her trembling hands, sticky from blood. "It's okay. You made it home. You're safe."

She relaxes a bit, but her breathing is shallow. Blood stains through her green cloak and soaks into the futon. It's worse than I thought. When that blade flew past us and hit the door, I figure she got a shallow cut, but this is anything but that. I search around and find a towel next to me and press it to the wound.

"We need to call 911!" I tell Kenna. "She's losing too much blood."

Kenna doesn't move. She just stands there at the foot of the bed, staring down at Wish almost like she's frozen in time, but I know better than to assume the sight of blood would startle Kenna Andreatte. She's my cousin. She's seen blood many times over. No, she thinking, planning our next moves, as if this were a game of chess and Wish being wounded is nothing more than some knight about to be demolished by the queen.

She walks into the kitchen and pulls out a first aid kit from under the sink. "We can't call 911. If we do, this will get back to Aunty Mari. The last thing we want is our necks to be on a chopping block," she says. "You know how your mother can be."

"Are you serious right now? Wish is dying! Who cares about my mother!"

Kenna drops the first aid kit at my feet. "Everything that happened tonight has broken not one, but two contracts set forth by those who rule Akane. The first, we never destroy property on another's territory. And the second, we never raise a hand against a ruler, even in self-defense."

Kenna knows everything, because I told her. Now, I regret telling her. I clench the towel, whispering, "She didn't know it was Vear."

"That doesn't matter. Wish is one of us. The Nisha will see this as an act of war." Kenna glances at Wish, then squeezes my shoulder in comfort. "Don't forget who you are, Aiya. You are next in line to take over our house. We may be human, but there will always be a part of us that doesn't belong here on Earth."

That's because we are those who wield fire and worship the sun—the last remaining Gens Helios. Thanks to a dreamwalker, our ancestors were able to escape the mass genocide, and now my family has been living on Earth for at least three generations. Although, technically, I will be the fourth ruler of Gens Helios.

Wish groans, coughing up blood. I don't care if we broke some stupid ancient rule. That doesn't matter. What matters now is saving Wish.

Kenna purses her lips, then snaps her fingers. Red flames flicker across the tip of her index finger, dancing with anticipation. "I can burn her wound. It may not heal right, but at least it will stop the bleeding."

Wait. Heal. That's right. I stand and tell Kenna to press down on the wound, and run down the hall until I'm stumbling through the glass doors of the house. I fumble with my key fob to unlock the car, and almost drop them, but manage to get the passenger side open. In the glove compartment sits a small container of the healing cream I got from BioGENEtics. I stashed it in here to heal any paper cuts or soars on my feet from some bad footwear. Never thought one day I would be using it to save my best friends life.

When I'm back in the house, I have Kenna help me turn Wish on her side so I can get better access. I'm practically ripping at her cloak and shirt to get to the wound, and when I do, it's like staring at a gaping hole. It's worse than I imagined. Life-threatening.

I shake my head. There's no time. Kenna helps me clean the area with the towel and disinfectant wipes. In quick motions, I apply the cream around the wound and then over it. Just like with Gregori Concerto, the wound heals on its own, disappearing before our very eyes until only the sticky reminder of blood is left. Her skin's so smooth and new, there's not even a scar.

"What did you just do? What is that?" Kenna asks, examining the canister in my hands. "I wonder if this can heal pimples."

"Not funny," I snap.

Wish coughs, though it sounds more like a chuckle. "Funny."

"Wish. How are you? Are you okay?" I help her sit up. Kenna fetches a bottle of water. "Does it still hurt? I wasn't sure how far to put the cream..."

"I don't know what you did, but it worked. I feel good as new." Wish smiles, then frowns. "Well... a little dizzy and a couple of scratches and a bite mark, but I'm mostly okay."

"Right. I'll heal those too." I get to work, putting cream over her cheek, her palms, and finally the wound on her shoulder from that stupid fox.

Kenna hands Wish the water bottle. "Here, this should help. I messaged Ken. He should be on his way back with the pizza soon."

"Thanks." Wish flexes her fingers, once, twice, before taking the water bottle and gulping it down. Once she's finished, she grabs the bouquet of flowers lying beside her. "I got the flowers you ordered."

Even at a time like this, Wish can't help but crack a joke. But no one laughs. Kenna takes the flowers from Wish. Tears fill her eyes for the second time today, but there's nothing happy about these tears. She places the flowers on the coffee table, then hugs Wish so tightly, Kenna presses her head to bosom.

"I'm so sorry. I never should have asked you to go to Akane. And for some stupid flowers. It's so stupid. Why can't I do anything right? I was just so excited for my engagement, I wasn't thinking straight," Kenna says. "Can you ever forgive me?"

Wish pats Kenna on the back. She's never been much of a hugger. "Kenna, you didn't force me to go. I wanted to go to Akane. It's my fault for not taking it seriously." Wish meets my eyes. "I never should've gone. This will be the last time."

Kenna squeezes Wish one last time before letting her go. Truth be told, I'm surprised Wish doesn't want to go back to Akane. I distinctly remembering her whispering she doesn't want to go home. Even with all that has happened, Wish will continue to dreamwalk through people's dreams, steal their secrets and sell them at a high price. She'll never stop dreamwalking. One day, I fear I will lose her inside someone's dream forever.

I sigh and get off the floor. "Okay, enough of that. We need to clean up this blood and mess before Ken gets here. I'm not in the mood for—"

Her cloak moves near the back of her neck. Kenna's picking twigs and grass out of Wish's hair, but it's not that. The movement is subtle like a bug crawling its way to the surface. This can't be happening. What kind of creature did she bring back this time?

"Everyone stop!" I snap. Kenna drops the sticks from her hand while Wish goes stiff. "Wish, whatever you do don't move," I whisper, and slowly open the cloak further.

The creature darts out of the cloak and lands on top of Wish's head. The air sucks out of the room and I feel like the world might collapse at this very second. It's a butterfly. Wings made of crisp paper, fold just neatly together to form a simple, perfect origami. An impossible imagination of legs and antennas constructed from scraps of paper, the creature shouldn't even exist, and yet here it is, sitting on my best friend's head.

Wish trembles. "Oh. My. God. Please tell me it's not some man-eating giant moth!"

"Well... it's not giant." Kenna tilts her head to the side. "But it's shaped like an origami."

I meet Wish's wide eyes. "It's a paper butterfly."

Wish instantly freezes, her trembles replaced by a white sheen that drops over her face. I've never seen Wish look so ready to pass out. This can only speak bad omens.

As if things couldn't get any worse, the butterfly starts flapping its wings. Dust shimmers through the air like a halo of magical pixie dust, draping Wish like a veil, and falling onto her nose. She sneezes and the butterfly takes off, flapping through the living room towards the closed kitchen window. I hop up from the floor. "Someone catch that!"

"I'll get a net!" Kenna runs to the garage, next to the kitchen, while I try catching this stupid bug with my bare hands. I can't believe this. Out of all the creatures Wish could possibly bring back, it had to be the one insect the Nisha king is desperately searching for. We can't lose something that precious. Imagine the kind of power we'd hold over him.

The butterfly knocks against the kitchen window. Thank the gods Kenna remembered to close them. I dive for it, trying not to squish the bug, though I am very tempted too. It slips past my hands, nearly cutting me in the process. Stupid bug. Where did it go now?

"Don't get a paper cut," Wish says. She's wiping the dust off her face with what's left of her cloak. Is she trying not to laugh? I swear this girl is losing her mind.

I keep searching the kitchen. "That's not funny."

Wish snickers. "Just a little."

The chrome pots sway just slightly near my head. I look up. The butterfly sits on the top rack, holding chef worthy pots and pans, over the expensive marble island and its four stools. There has to be something around her to catch it with. Everything's so polished and clutter free it's difficult to find something useless without disturbing our visitor. I grab the mason jar full of Kenna's detoxing tea and drain it down the sink. She might kill me, but whatever.

The only problem is getting that bug to move closer. Kenna comes back in from the garage carrying a fishing net? She huffs. "I had to take it out of storage." She pauses. "Lucky us, Ken kept our dad's fishing gear."

Right. Of course. I sometimes forget that Kenna and Ken had a dad because all the men in our family die so young. I can't even remember my own father's face. Mother refuses to hang any family pictures in our home.

Kenna looks at the jar in my hand. "What happened to my tea?"

Thank the gods the butterfly chooses to move again. The pots sway as it takes flight and heads towards the other side of the house. Kenna chases after it, swinging the net around, trying to catch it, but she keeps missing the stupid bug. I swear it's toying with her.

We're wasting time. I snatch the net from her grasp and stalk the butterfly. It heads towards the glass front doors, golden dust shimmers in its trail, leaving evidence that I'll have to clean up later. It taps against the glass, once, twice, then turns back around. We are not playing this game any longer. I swing the net down. Miss. It flies near the wall. With my left hand, I try trapping it with the net one more time. Again, it dodges, but it doesn't anticipate what I have in my other hand. I slam the mason jar against the wall, right over the butterfly. The rim chipped against the cement texture, but it's totally worth it.

⟁ ⟁ ⟁

Wish digs into her slice of piping hot pepperoni pizza like a wild animal that hasn't eaten in weeks. Her hair is wet and waving from the fresh shower and looks so much more relaxed in her pajama bottoms and imported kimono that Kenna graciously gave to her as an apology gift. It's like nothing ever happened. Just a bad dream.

If only Ken would stop observing.

He eyes Wish, casually taking in her attire and lack of bra, and inspecting for any visible wounds I may have missed. Thank the gods for that healing cream, or we'd never hear the end of his rant. I'd rather not be at the receiving end of his anger.

Ken takes a large bite of his pizza after he's satisfied. "So... is any one going to tell me why my sister is burning our spare futon in the back yard?"

"I thought you didn't want to get involved." I pick off the pepperonis and put them on Wish's plate. Never been much of a fan, but it's the only kind of pizza our group can agree on.

"It's hard not to with Kenna is clearly burning evidence," he says. "And why is there a moth sitting in the middle of our coffee table?"

Wish murmurs between mouth fulls, "It's a butterfly."

"Whatever it is. Why's it not in the woods already?"

The silence is deafening. I hate this. Secrets are the reason my mother and I are so estranged. We promised as children, we wouldn't keep secrets from each other, because we refuse to be like our mother's. But I hate putting others in danger, and this so very dangerous.

Wish takes another slice from the pizza box. She flinches as if stretching her limbs is putting stress on her aching bones and body. I could barely protect her in Akane. I couldn't do anything to help, except direct her to a door and watch her back. Even then, I sometimes froze and stumbled when things got tough. It's hard to admit that I can't protect her on my own, but as someone famous once said, 'a leader will be forced to make tough decisions'.

"Fine. I'll tell you everything," I say. "But once I do, you've gotta be all in."

Ken quickly agrees, but we'll see how far he's willing to keep his promise. So, I tell him everything. From the time we entered Akane to our encounter with Vear to Wish running for her life. I might have left out a few details on her cuts and wounds and the brief intimate encounter between Wish and Vear when he pinned her to the tree, but overall, it's everything.

Wish doesn't comment on the topic. She continues eating her pizza and gulping down fresh mountain water until Kenna is back inside. "Well, the futon has been decimated. I put a large pile of leaves over it, so hopefully, the Earth will just do its thing."

Kenna plops down on the pillow cushion between Ken and Wish. She picks up her bamboo fan and waves it over face. There's a bit of soot on her forehead, but mostly she's spotless. "So, what did I miss? Besides Ken's grouchiness."

"Aiya told him everything," Wish says.

"Ah, I see." Kenna opens her freshly brewed detoxing tea and takes a sip.

"That's it? That's all you have to say?" Ken scoffs. "I can't believe this. Out of all the stupid stuff you could have come up with. Why did it have to be this, Kenna?"

"Hey! One, don't take that tone with me. I may be your sister, but I'm still the oldest. Respect your elders," Kenna snaps. "Two, this was a joint agreement. We're all adults here. The only reason you're upset is because Wish got hurt. Grow a pair."

"You've got to be kidding me." Ken jabs a finger at the butterfly. "This is why I'm upset! This thing shouldn't be here. It's part of Akane. And now you're telling me that Vear, the Nisha ruler—the heartless king—is after this... we need to destroy it."

"No," Wish says and for once I don't object. Ken stares at her, his mouth slack in disbelief, but she doesn't budge. She stares right back at him. "We can't destroy it. He will come looking for it. Then what?"

Kenna drops her pizza slice. "Wait, is that possible?"

It's then I realize they're all looking at me. I'm the next in line of Gens Helios. I should be the one who has all the answers—except Mother doesn't tell me everything. But what I do know is our history. We know for a fact a dreamwalker opened a doorway from Akane to this planet so our ancestors could escape. So, if Vear has a dreamwalker working for him, then we're screwed—but that's highly unlikely. The Nisha have always hated dreamwalkers. For generations they've made it their life's mission to kill every single one, going so far as to use their bones to build their thrones. I highly doubt one is working for him.

But still, why is he after this butterfly. What makes it so special?

"No, he shouldn't be able to come to Earth. Not without a dreamwalker," I finally say. "But I agree with Wish. We shouldn't destroy it. At least not until we figure out why the Nisha ruler is after this butterfly."

Ken grinds his teeth, takes a deep breath, then finally relaxes back against his floor cushion. He runs fingers through his dark hair, catching Wish's attention. "Fine. Then what's the plan? You have a plan, right?"

He is such an asshole. I'll never understand why Wish likes him. "Tomorrow is the Gathering. While everyone is busy with Kenna's engagement announcement, we'll sneak off to the library and do some investigating. There's bound to be information in there."

I take the mason jar and slowly pull the butterfly closer to me. Dust shimmers at the bottom as the bug sits eerily still. Monstrous. I don't want to touch it, even with the glass barrier, but I have no choice. "So, until then, I'll keep the butterfly safe. No one speaks a word about what happened tonight. Once we know what we're dealing with, we'll figure out our next steps."

Ken leans in close, whispering, "I trust your judgement, Aiya. Just be careful. We don't know what that creature is capable of. Anything that comes from Akane is dangerous."

"You think I don't know that." The audacity of this man. I get that he's worried, but he acts like I'm still a teenager setting off firecrackers. "I'll put extra wards on the jar just in case."

Kenna fidgets in her cushion, picking at the skin around her thumb, a nervous habit that Aunty Zara desperately tried to break and failed. "Are you sure this is the same butterfly? It could be a coincidence."

No one answers for a moment. Truth be told, we don't really know if this is the paper butterfly. I pray to the gods it's not, but even I know this is too close for comfort. "Maybe it's not, but we can't risk it," I say.

Kenna wordlessly nods her head, then stands and smooths out her silky kimono. "Okay, but just so you know, I can't help tomorrow. Right now, I need to get ready for the proposal. Wish, I'll have the money wired to you tomorrow morning."

Wish gives her a thumbs up, then just as quickly as this whole fiasco began, Kenna leaves the room with the bouquet of flowers. It's just the three of us now, left to finish off the extra-large pizza, but my appetite flew out the window ages ago. I just hope I'm not making a mistake.