I’m almost sorry that I’m not the slowest. Almost, but not quite. At the same time, I’m concerned about the extent of Ms Pink’s loss of powers. Just how much weaker is she now? I am determined to protect her, no matter what. I won’t allow anyone to lay as much as a finger on Ms Pink.

“It looks like I’ll have to punish you, Tiffany,” I say, laying on the tease thick.

Ms Pink’s eyes flash with a dash of challenge. “As you wish, Erika.”

A curious tickle accompanies the burst of fire that hits me deep in the guts. This is my chance to return the favour. The teasing. The “torturing”. Images of Ms Pink spread across her bed take over my mind and for a moment, I forget what we are here for.

“Gerant is waiting,” says Seo with her lime green eyes sparkling and I am pulled back to the dark present immediately.

“Bring us,” says Ms Pink and we follow Seo’s lead.

X

I can see patches of unevenness in Gerant’s fur and it makes for an unkempt appearance overall which unsettles me to the core. Gerant the most ancient of the ancients looking like an old dog with lost fur. It’s not right.

“Gerant,” I begin saying but the other words end up clogging up my throat as I throw my arms around one furry limb. “Gerant, I’m so sorry.”

“Thank you.”

Gerant’s words lift my head from the fur I’m wetting with my sudden tears. “Why are you thanking me?”

Gentle eyes smile into my wet ones. “You kept your promise.”

Shaking my head, I refuse to take the credit. “No, I would’ve been useless if not for you.”

“As the saying goes: It always takes two hands to clap. I helped you and you were the Erika that we all needed.”

“I did what I had to do.”

“An admirable quality that should not be taken for granted. That is why I am thanking you.” Gerant gives me another smile before turning to Ms Pink. “You have been brave and strong for a long time. But you will need Erika’s support for what is to follow.”

Ms Pink’s hand slips into mine and holds it tight. “We will be together forever.”

Gerant raises a shaggy brow. “It is unlike you to speak of forever.”

Ms Pink smiles. “I can see forever with Taeyeon.”

“Taeyeon has made a difference indeed. I am comforted to see more life in your eyes now than in all the past centuries.”

The hold on my hand tightens, making me smile as Ms Pink says, “Thank you, Gerant.”

X

We are back in the car when Ms Pink nudges me. “What are you thinking about?”

I smile and lean back against the sleek leather seat. “Gerant. And our journey down the huge tunnel. It was so big and scary inside. And so many turns. I wouldn’t have been able to find the Pratikan without Gerant. But I don’t understand why the Pratikan hurt Gerant so badly. I remember Gerant digging into the ground and the next thing I knew, Gerant had collapsed.”

“Taeyeon, do you know what you were in?”

“The tunnel? Caves or something I suppose?”

“No,” says Ms Pink, her head shaking slowly, “You were in a network of lava tubes formed before the ancients existed.”

“Lava tubes,” I repeat, eyes widening upon the realization. “Where lava used to flow?”

“Millions of years ago.”

“I don’t understand how lava tubes are an explanation for anything though.”

“The energies that lurk in them are potentially fatal to ancients. They come from a different time, a different space.”

“So the ancients are . . . vulnerable to that energy?” I am shaking my head. “Energy so complicated.”

“Energy has existed from the very beginning. Everything in this universe runs on energy. Therefore we will not understand everything about energy. But the more we know about it, the more power we can manipulate. You will understand better as time goes by.”

I find myself nodding in agreement. “I can sense things that I couldn’t before. Layers and fields and spheres. I feel you in a new way too.”

“The energy that runs in me and all the supers is the same. Our energy is supernatural. But I don’t know what yours is anymore. Before your conversion, you were the Erika as mentioned in the books. But now your eyes are blue, and it appears you have become immortal. I do not know how that has changed your energy.”

“Whatever my energy has changed into, I know one thing that hasn’t changed.”

“What is it?”

“My love for you.”

Ms Pink’s laugh is light like a bal