Deep breaths.

Even as the explosions scattered the gravel around her, those instructions rang deep within her mind. Shards of ice rocketed towards her, only to be swallowed up by a furious blaze, rising through the air with the motion of her hands.

“It’s going to take a lot more than that to kill an arcanist you punks!”

Unlocking her steel hilts felt like second nature, next to walking and breathing. In a normal fight she would unlock both at once, but she clasped her left holster shut.

Only need one right now.

Taking in the air around her in a deep breath, she tensed her muscles for a brief moment before breathing out. The aether was heavy in the air tonight. She could feel the presence of four rogues, spread out a fair distance from each other. One in the back, two bunched together, one fairly close. The closest was an easy jump away, though it was the ensuing fight that would be the fun part.

“You all aren’t very talkative are you? I’ll have to make you then.”

Aether was coursing through the air, rippling in waves through the forest. If she wanted, she could have turned half the forest into a scorched wasteland. Luckily for these grunts, she was a much bigger fan of hand to hand combat. The aetherium hilts began to glow with power, almost pulsating as it began to pull the aether around her.

Decapitate the first target. Try to stabilize after the landing. Take the high ground.

Propelling herself skyward with a combination of her innate leg strength and a sharpburst of aether, she sailed through the air like a pouncing leopard. Channeling the aether in the air, the hilt in her right hand elongated into a beautiful sword as she flew forward, using it to rip straight through the unsuspecting rogue’s throat. Tucking her body forward, she rolled onto her feet and skidded across the dirt. As she came to a stop, she flicked her head sideways, watching the two rogues nearest her channel a burst of lightning towards her feet.

Use the trees to ambush them.

Jumping straight up, she narrowly dodged the shock blast. These rogues were strong for a bunch of rag-tag bandit types, but they certainly would need a lot more than this to kill her, let alone maim her. This time she threw her sword with tremendous force towards the third rogue, who had chosen to hide behind a thick tree. As the sword sailed through the air, she sent a wave of fire towards the remaining two rogues to dislodge them from their position.

The sword drove through the tree, sending shards of wood flying in a ring around it as the blade pierced through the rogue’s chest. Fire lit the forest as the remaining two rogues charged through the wall of flames with swords raised, hoping to surprise the arcanist as a last ditch effort with a high leaping pincer attack.

Caught you.

Immediately bringing her right hand to her remaining locked hilt, she flicked the lock loose and drew the hilt into her hand all in one motion. Aether instantly flowed into the hilt, channeling into a brilliant short sword. She dropped to the floor and swung her sword in an arc upwards, cutting through both of their bodies. As their bodies fell through the air, her sword began to shimmer, fading back into the aether as quickly as it materialized.

Awesome.

---

That was her final thought before the burning forest began to fade into light; eyes readjusting to find her soft fluffy pillow resting under her head.

Another dream of another life. Dang it.

“Wake up!”

The world slowly drew into focus as Nayeon’s eyes began to adjust to the light slipping through the window. Warmth basked onto her skin as she blinked once, and then twice to shake off the cobwebs. Nayeon attempted to speak but only managed to croak out an attempt at trying to figure out who was calling for her at this early hour, “Whoscalling…”

It quickly became clear that even though her eyes had started to adjust that Nayeon was in no way shape or form ready for what was coming next. Her futile attempt at a sentence however had apparently clearly signaled that she was at least awake and was met by a loud slam of the door, followed by a sharp cry that resembled a cross between a loud parrot and a barking dog.

“WLAAARRF”

Jeongyeon had chosen to leap into the air and body slam Nayeon’s prone sleeping body, before latching onto her body like a koala. Sadly, Nayeon was all too used to this tradition. Nayeon raised her hands to her pillow and attempted to wrap it around her head to shut out the loud voice sitting on top of her. Unfortunately for her, Jeongyeon was the stronger of the two, and quickly ripped Nayeon's hands from the pillow case before yelling her usual morning announcements, “Good morning sleepyhead! You’re gonna be late at this rate so I figured I’d come wake you up since Mina’s already been up for like two hours. You did realize that you slept in almost a full hour right?”

Nayeon continued to ignore the weight on top of her, instead preferring to mumble and hope that the heavy girl on top of her would show mercy today, “P-lease just five more minutes…”

Jeongyeon took that cue to sit up and throw part of the covers off Nayeon. The part that Nayeon disliked the most was up next, but in her current state there was no way she could resist the tickling spree that Jeongyeon was about to start. Nayeon got one second of preparation before her exposed sides were subjected to Jeongyeon’s dreaded fingers, each tap a sharp jolt of electricity coursing through her ticklish sides. Nayeon’s natural response to this gross intrusion of her personal space was to struggle and try to wriggle out of Jeongyeon’s grasp, but it only made the problem worse. Jeongyeon’s attacks on her sides began to migrate to her neck as the intensity of the tickles continued to escalate. The laughter began to flow freely from the two, the torturer relishing in the painful joy that Nayeon was suffering through.

Neither the tickler or the victim noticed that they had a guest as a voice called out, “Holy crap Jeongyeon are you trying to kill her again?”

Mina had strolled into the room expecting Nayeon to finally be awake, only to walk into a room filled with what could only be described as a cacophony of laughter combined with the sounds of bloody murder. Mina quickly threw a gust of wind at Jeongyeon with a flick of her wrist, throwing her off balance long enough for Nayeon to roll off her bed and onto the floor. Barely getting a chance to catch her breath, the now very awake Nayeon skittered across the floor before sprawling her body at Mina’s feet.

Nayeon could barely breathe let alone speak, somehow managing to gasp out a few words, “Thank god please save me from her Mina!”

Jeongyeon could only keep laughing as she slowly rolled on the bed, catching her breath from the intense tickling she had just given Nayeon. Laughing in between breaths, Jeongyeon said with a smile, “Oh man you should try surprising Mina while she’s in bed sometime Nayeon. It’s just so easy to mess with you since you’re actually incapable of waking up on time for anything.”

Nayeon had regained her composure by this point, sitting quietly on the ground grumbling at her weakness to tickling. Having weak sides was always the worst, but at least when it came to fighting, she was still better than both Mina and Jeongyeon. Slowly getting to her feet, she dusted off her slightly dirtied clothes before sticking out her tongue at Jeong in an act of defiance.

Jeongyeon could only laugh as Nayeon pretended to be hiding in fear of more tickling, “Mina, isn’t it more fun to wake her this way though?”

It was all too common for these two to be bickering like they were married, and Mina was always having to play peacemaker. Just before Mina could utter a word to defuse the situation, Nayeon piped up with her small but aggressive squeaks, “Just wait until we get on the field today, I’m gonna kick your Jeong.”

Jeong strolled over and laughed in front of Nayeon’s burning red face to whisper, “You know you’re cute when you’re mad.”

Nayeon could only stutter, “N-n-no… no I’m not!” She was burning an even brighter shade of red as Mina started to chuckle silently at Jeongyeon’s quips. If there was anything Jeongyeon was good at outside of being a raging ball of fire during classes, it was teasing Nayeon. Sadly Mina would have to deal with this at least a few more times today, but it could have been worse. At least Jeongyeon hadn’t set anything on fire this time.

Jeongyeon ruffled Nayeon’s already messy hair, smirking in victory as she left the room shouting, “You’ll win any sparring match that we do Nayeon, but I get the moral victory of waking you up from your not so beautiful beauty sleep today. Go get dressed little bunny we have a long day of work ahead of us!”

Mina let out an audible chuckle as Nayeon’s bright red complexion exploded into a fury, prompting Jeongyeon to quickly sprint out of the room. Mina felt the wind behind her start to shift, forcing her to quickly spin around to grab Nayeon’s shirt and prevent a full-blown brawl from breaking out. Struggling against Mina, the increasingly feisty Nayeon yelled out, “GET YOUR BACK IN HERE JEONG I’M GONNA KILL YOU.”

The loud declaration of war echoed its way down the hallway, eventually reaching Jeongyeon as she faintly shouted back, “Don’t feel like it.”

Mina’s arms were starting to tire from holding back the raging ball of energy in front of her from ripping Jeongyeon’s head off. At this point, Mina could only sigh as Nayeon finally began to stop aggressively growling in her induced state of fury, whispering to herself, “Every morning just has to be a damn war between you two doesn’t it…”­

---

Mina slowly tapped her finger on the book in her hand, counting all the way from one to twenty before knocking on the door of the bathroom, “Did you forget that we have visits to perform today?”

Mina had already finished getting ready, waiting for Nayeon outside the bathroom. Nayeon quickly straightened her robes, taking care to make sure that their orphanage’s insignia looked as polished as it could as she brushed her long brown hair to the side a few times in front of the mirror. Taking a moment to blink and adjust her vision, she quickly replied, “It… honestly glossed my mind. I must have thought it was Wednesday somehow and not Friday…”

Mina’s chuckle was audible as Nayeon walked out of the bathroom, signaling that she was ready to go. Mina was reading over her latest book titled, A Treatise on Aether and Humanity, as she leaned against the wall by the bathroom door. A hint of sarcasm lingered in her voice, as she remarked, “I thought you were supposed to be the responsible one at your age.”

Nayeon scratched the back of her head, almost as if on cue when Mina mentioned her status as the oldest of the trio. It was a running joke at this point, seeing as even though she was the oldest, she was always the one that acted like the youngest. Only able to muster up a weak mouse-like voice in response, she squeaked out, “Well… you’re not wrong… but that’s honestly not the point!”

Choosing to leave the subject off at that, Mina motioned for Nayeon to follow her as she led the way out of the orphanage complex. Of the days to be out and about at Cliffside, it couldn’t have been a better day; bright and sunny skies with a light breeze were simply perfect. Nayeon’s shorter legs had to work a tad bit harder to catch up, but she nevertheless kept stride with Mina, piping up, “So what are today’s visits? Did Headmaster Sunye give any special directions for the acolytes today?”

Their walk slowed as they made their way to an intersection, filled with young ones and adults beginning the celebration of this year’s Rite of Selection. Mina motioned to the right side of the intersection, pointing away from city center toward the slums. With the crowd as loud as today, Mina motioned for Nayeon to come closer, leaning in and cupping her hand to Nayeon’s ear to whisper, “Orphans today.”

It was hard to miss the fact that Nayeon had turned red from Mina’s closeness, but once again the taller girl missed the obvious cue. Quickly shaking off her rush of excitement, Nayeon snapped back to reality, and responded without missing a beat, “Oh yeah. We need to check for new orphans…”

Unfortunately for Cliffside, despite being fairly well off there were still times when the slums would see an influx of orphans. No one really knew where they came from, though the suspicions from the townsfolk always somehow lead back to Hearth. With communication to both Manavis and Vitus having stopped in recent weeks leading up to the Rite of Selection, the orphanage was left to pick up the task of not only caring for the orphans already there, but taking in new orphans.

The slums only took a few more minutes of walking to get to. Granite was woven into the fabric of the land near Cliffside so granite brick buildings were common in the outskirts of the city. As the bricks began to blacken, they could feel the air grow heavy around them; a once beautiful part of Cliffside was now only a decaying fragment of what was left. The newfound usage and discovery of coal had begun to change the land around them, and replace the infrastructure of old. The slow changes in the earth around them had taken the once vibrant portion of the city and corrupted it to a smoke-spewing area of soot-stained bricks. Nayeon could only look around in sadness, covering as the smoke began to grow thicker as they moved towards the central coal facilities. Tapping on Mina’s shoulder as she trailed the red-haired girl, Nayeon whispered, “The smoke wasn’t this bad the last time, right? I know I’m not just imagining things here…”

Mina shook her head, quickly responding, “No, you’re not. Those coal facilities must be working overtime.”

Nayeon could hear the sadness in her voice. Mina was found right in this area, but back then it was much more welcoming. The sound of travelling merchants and bustling streets still echoed in her head, only to be drowned out by the droning sounds of the coal plants. The droning noises continued to echo as they circled around the coal plants to find any signs of life. After five rounds circling the coal plants, Nayeon’s feet were beginning to hurt. She motioned at Mina to stop, only to be interrupted by a loud voice behind her that yelled out, “Oi you two! Find anyone?”

There was always a spring in Jeongyeon’s steps, her short blonde hair a perfect fit for her brash but bright personality. Walking up and wrapping her arms around both Nayeon and Mina’s shoulders, she squeezed them together and laughed as the pair quickly tried to squirm out of her grasp. Nayeon gritted her teeth in annoyance, watching as Mina managed to escape as she yelled out, “And this is why we go without you. Always messing around…”

Jeongyeon remained unfazed, lightening her grip on Nayeon’s shoulder before motioning at Mina to leave, saying, “I was walking one ring outside of you two. I thought I’d heard a voice that wasn’t you two, and I swear I saw something in the shadows. When I walked over though, it was just you two. Didn’t find anything.”

Mina and Nayeon looked at each other before simultaneously saying, “Makes sense. Lets go?”

Jeongyeon could only roll her eyes as she picked up her arm from Nayeon’s shoulder, giving Nayeon and Mina a fake eye roll. Slowly walking away as the pair broke out into light laughter, she yelled back, “Stop being cute guys and lets just head back. Sunye probably wants to see us by now.”

Jeongyeon’s slow walked quickly turned into a full-on sprint; Mina and Nayeon laughed as they ran after the blonde. The blackened corridors slowly gave way to the more normal granite as their sprint took them closer to the center of town. Their days always ended up like this, with Jeongyeon causing trouble, as Mina and Nayeon resisted the urge to join the prankster. More often than not, that urge would find itself quite successful. Unfortunately, today the prankster’s luck had run out, as the three found themselves barreling down the street right into a group of three well-dressed girls. Jeongyeon was quick enough to slow herself, but Nayeon and Mina didn’t have that same luck; their bodies quickly crashed into Jeongyeon before knocking over the ill-fated trio before them.

Dazed and confused, Jeongyeon looked over at Mina and Nayeon, who had managed to land side by side on the ground, laughing at the image of themselves tumbling all over the place. A sharp yell echoed from next to Nayeon, before the angry girls stood up and glared at the girl. Nayeon could only sigh in disbelief as she slowly got up, realizing that the day had just gotten a whole lot worse. The well-dressed girl she was now staring down may well have been shooting flames out of her eyes, though it certainly wasn’t the first time she had seen these eyes. As everyone stood up to evaluate the situation, a hint of venom slipped out of the well-dressed girl’s voice, anger seething as she yelled, “Nayeon. We meet like this again.”

Nayeon could only sigh as she responded in kind with her own voice of disappointment, “Park Jihyo. What a delight.” Nayeon’s thoughts began to wander as she realized that her long morning wasn’t over by a long shot.

This day just went from bad to worse.

---

Preview

Chapter 2: Spark

“Who the hell do you think you just ran into?”

“Look, we didn’t mean t-”

“Speak for yourself Jeong, this has had it out for us since day one.”