Jade walked through the dirt streets of a simple village with rough cut wooden buildings. The people went about their business with no concern for her. She held tightly to a scrap of paper as she neared the market. The crowd grew denser as the noise grew louder.

“Five green apples. Six catfish. Half a kilo of flour.” She repeated again and again. Sweat beaded everywhere. Someone bumped her she shoved back sending them flying into a wall. Her heart pounded as she darted down an alley, stopping behind some crates. “I can do this.” She said. Forcing herself to calm down. 

Jade took a deep breath then went back out, picked her way through the crowd and found the apple stall. She grabbed the ones she wanted and paid what the short guanting lady told her. The process repeated simply enough with the remnant man at the fish stall. Then she came to the obsidian dragonite man selling flour.

His large black scales shined like sheets of glass. He towered over her as he said, “What would you like little missy?”

 She swallowed hard, “I…I…I…”

“Come on now. I don’t have all day.” He said.

A customer behind her said, “Hurry up. I have to get back home by dark. It’s a long journey.”

“I…I need, flour.”

“Yes that is what I sell. How much?”

“Ha…half… half a kilo.” She felt a swell of satisfaction. She had finally managed to talk to the strange people.

As he went about his task someone else bumped into her. But she contained her emotions. She would not be defeated this time.

He handed her the package, she paid then turned to find a wall of bodies in front of her.

“No claws. No biting. No powers. Don’t scare the people.” She told herself. She held her packages close as she snuck though one opening, then another, then another. The crowd got denser and louder. She pressed on until there was an impenetrable wall of flesh that was quickly squeezing around her.

“Zaggy.” She cried to herself but she knew he could not come. Her increased breathing was only matched by the speed of her heartbeat. She pushed on. She just needed to get out of town. So many people, so much noise.

Someone knocked her packages away. The apples rolled away as the fish and flour were stepped on by countless feet. With a howl she jumped forward, letting out a burst of arcane, slamming though the crowd, and landing rough on a grassy hill at the edge of town.

Those still able to stand fled screaming.

“Unacceptable,” came a mechanical voice. A large eye-drone with a creepy face made of red gemstones hovered above the town.

“You are unacceptable you stupid golem!”

A red whip-like tendril shot out of the golem, and pulled her into the sky by her ankle. “You constantly fail. Your power is corrosive. You are unacceptable.”

“Put me down. I don’t listen to you. Golems listen to me.” She pushed her power into the whip. It sizzled and sparked but did not yield.

He spun her to face the market. Broken bodies lay strewn along her exit path. “You fail at simple tasks. You are unacceptable.”

“End simulation.” Everything vanished leaving the cold silent simulator. “You broke the program, didn’t you? I met the goal! You made the people act funny!” She snapped.

“Mecromancers must adapt to the unexpected.”

“Kytheras.” A stern female voice said, “Put her down or I will recycle you for scrap.”

“She is unacceptable.”

“Your behavior is unacceptable. She is young. She will learn. And we have ways to compensate for her powers. We accepted your candidate for the Eleventh. I will not let you dictate the terms of this project.”

Jade looked around and couldn’t find the speaker. The whip let go, still above the rooftop level, but she managed to land easily.

“If you wish to cooperate, you must stay in your area. If you have concerns, I will discuss specific test subjects later, but I cannot have you interrupting their training.”

“Understood.” Kytheras flew off towards the door.

Jade looked around. A purple haired Ariel flew up and hovered I front of her. Jade said, “You not Bug-Girl. Who are you Purple-Bug?”

“I run this lab. My name is Karimere.”

“I don’t like bugs. I don’t like Bug-Girl. She is always mean to me.”

“Cats often eat aerials so her natural aversion to you is understandable.”

“Aver-jun?”

“I will add more language studies to your training.”

Jade slumped and sighed, “I have enough studies. My brain is going to explode.”

“You have made steady progress with your training. I think you will make an excellent Mecromancer.”

“I don’t want to be a Mecromancer. I want to go to Geothae with Zaggy.”

“Now that, is unacceptable. You will become a Mecromancer. We need your strength to save this world.”

“You can’t make me.” Jade stuck out her tongue.

“Yes, you have an exceptionally annoying set of powers.” The aerial landed and purple lines of energy traced jagged patterns and symbols expanding quickly across the entire floor. A large circle remained clear around Jade’s feet. The aerial said. “Since you think you can do what you want, I will give you a chance to test your skills against mine. If you make it out the door in five minutes, I will let you go to Geothae with the eleventh.”

“This is a trick.”

“This is a lesson. I need to make contact to use my ability. So I learned to project my arcane along surfaces I touch. I will know if you make contact, so your illusion tricks won’t work today either.”

“What is your power?”

“Remember you are on a timer.”

“I don’t want to be a Mecromancer!”

“I didn’t want to watch everyone I loved fall to invaders but it happened. I didn’t want to be abandoned on this rock for millennia but it happened. And you, child, will become a Mecromancer. You are one of the few people who can save this world. You are capable of making right the mistakes of the past. Without you, everyone dies. This world dies, Lilithana dies, Zagreus dies. Now make your choice, child.”

The edges of the circle started creeping towards her. She crouched and poured energy into her legs. An ‘Arcane Jump’ is what Lili had called it. The door was at least twice as far as she had jumped before but maybe she could survive the purple arcane long enough to make a second. This was her best chance.

“I almost have you.”

She jumped. Her muscles burned the air howled. She focused on the rapidly approaching ground. Her toe touched the purple arcane and everything went wrong. The world spun and it felt like she was slamming into things every direction at once. She tumbled and tumbled at impossible speed.

When she had finally stopped, the aerial stood before her. Only now she was at eye level. Scattered across the ground around her were pieces of her own body covered in a slight purple glow. She growled at Purple-Bug.

“Careful. If you use your power now you will bleed out.”

“I knew it was a trick!”

“I want you to learn two lessons today. First. You have no choice but to do what I say. My powers counter your corrosive arcane. If you try to use your magic while I have you taken apart it will cause mine to fail and the wounds will become as real as if I had cut you with a sword.”

“This is mean! Put me back right!” Jade stifled back tears.

“Second. As powerful as you think I am, I am nothing compared to what you can be.” She waved her arm and Jades body parts pulled back together.

“You are mean Purple Bug.” She sat up and checked herself over and over to make sure everything was right.

“Train because you fear me. Or train because you hate me. If you return here wearing the second mecromail. I will gladly let you kill me.”

“Why would you do that?”

“If you return wearing the second, it means that this world has a chance or that we have failed completely. Either way my life will be in your hands because you will be much stronger than I.”

“But what about Zaggy?”

“He will have to go find the Cradle before you can wear the second. But he will live long like the other Mecromancers. His main mission is little more than a fetch quest. He will likely outlive both of us.”

Jade sensed that Zaggy was finally waking up. She jumped to her feet. “Reset simulation.” A scrap of paper appeared in her hand. “Seven pears, three…”

Purple-Bug snapped at her, “You will not ignore me!”

“Zaggy is up. I promised him I would finish this test! I have to show him I can do it! You and that stupid golem got in my way!”

“You can train when I am done with you.”

She grabbed purple bug and shook her. “You won’t let me go with him at least let me do this! I have to do this before he leaves!” Her fingers fell in pieces to the floor.

Purple Bug hovered in front of her with crossed arms and a scowl. “He isn‘t leaving.”

“But…but you just…” She stared at the tiny chunks of fingers scattered on the floor.

“Yes, he is leaving, but not today, not anytime soon. He has to train to use the mecromail. It’s going to be years before he can go.”

“How long is a year?”

“In three days you will have been here a year. He will remain here for longer than you have been alive. I will have to chastise Lilithana for not instructing you properly. We cannot allow this kind of confusion and disobedience.”

“I’m sorry I got mad. Please fix my fingers.” She said as respectfully as she could. Anything to get away from this little purple haired monster and go see Zaggy.

A container with a dozen holes appeared, a bit of finger was dragged into each hole by purple arcane. The lid closed and the aerial landed on it. “This will be your next test. You have to assemble your fingers correctly. If you do they will go back to normal. If you make a mistake they will be stuck like that for a six-day. Then I will start the process over and you will have even more body parts to assemble.”

“You are a meanie! Gimme my fingers!” She demanded as she sent to Zaggy. *Help! The mean Purple-Bug stole my fingers!*

“First, I have a question. How did you know that the eleventh is awake?”

“I know because I know.” Jade said. Zagreus’ response was little more than a confused sensation. He was still too weak.

“That is not an answer. Tell me how you knew.”

“I know when he’s sleeping or training or whatever. I know, because I always know.” She sent as strong and clear as she could manage to Zagreus *Tell. Lili. Help. Me.*

“You can read his thoughts?”

“No. I just sense him.” She pointed. “He is that way, and he is hurting. Can I go see him now?” She didn’t tell that she could mind-speak to him from far away. She had promised Zagreus and she would not tell.

“Can you sense others?”

“I can sense you a bit. But you are close.”

She nodded. “You were so motivated to finish your test. I think you should finish my test before you can go see the Eleventh.”

“But if I mess up I have to wait days!”

“Then take your time, and don’t mess up. I want you to remember today’s lesson.”

“I hate you Pur…”

With a flash of light Lilithana appeared near them. “What’s going on?” Her skin had taken on a sickly yellow tone. But her voice was solid as she activated a ball of silence around them.

“Convenient timing. How did you know to come here?” Karimere said.

“What are you doing to her?! You gave me control over her training. Why are you interfering?”

“Kytheras was interfering. I dealt with him. Then your test subject decided to act out so I taught better. Isn’t that right child?”

“Purple Bug stole my fingers!”

“I told you she is fragile.” Lilithana examined Jade’s hand. “Why would you use those methods on her? She is just learning to talk.”

Karimere stepped off the most valuable box, “Take it. But tell me what you learned today child.”

Jade snatched up her prize, clutching it to her chest. “I learned the fat golem is mean and so are you.”

“And what else?”

“If I get strong and be a Mecromancer you can’t be mean to me no more.”

Karimere bowed. “She might not understand language well. She understands doing what is necessary to survive. Don’t you, little miss cannibal.”

“Stop using all the big words!”

“You will learn them soon enough and Lilithana will make sure to train you better. Isn’t that right?”

“Yes. Karimere.”

“I noticed you put up a privacy bubble. Please enlighten me to your intentions. I cannot wait for this explanation.”

“Gimme one moment.” Lilithana turned. “Jade. Take your box and go see Zagreus he…”

“I can’t. I have to do my fingers first.”

Lilithana sighed and glanced at Karimere who gave no reaction. “Take your box and go back to your room. Her power has a limited range. So if you leave your room, you must take the box with you. I will come see you in a bit. Keep it closed for now. Go rest. Zagreus is fine, so don’t worry about him. But remember, keep the box with you.”

“Ok.” Jade left the simulator. Her body felt itchy where it had been taken apart and every footstep was a slog. The two arcane jumps had taken a lot out of her.