“You all think this is weird, too, right?” Kaylen asked.

It was weird. Lady von Ekko’s Glorious Adventurer Brigade had been offered a high-paying job, but it was suspiciously easy. Just pick up some alchemic supplies in Temple Station and deliver them to the client. Maybe they were rare enough that the client wanted an escort to ensure their delivery, but why offer such a huge reward for such a simple job? Was it just to ensure that the adventurers would actually deliver instead of selling the supplies? Was the client that paranoid?

“Yeah, it’s a little odd,” Andra admitted, “but for a hundred gold pieces? Who cares?”

“Plus we get to visit Temple Station,” Fiona added.

The party was heading to the client’s house. It was in a nice neighborhood, but not so nice that it was normally populated by people who had gold to toss around by the hundreds. Two-story houses surrounded them, most with gardens out front. A couple of boys were playing a game where they tried to knock a rubber ball back and forth with paddles. The ball flew wide on a hit and flew straight at Fiona. She caught it easily in one hand.

“Isn’t this Maxim’s neighborhood?” she asked as she tossed the ball back.

Andra pointed. “There. That’s the client’s house.”

“Uh, that’s Maxim’s house,” Riven said. “He’s already in the Guild, why would he be hiring us?”

Andra shrugged and continued through the garden to knock on Maxim’s door. He answered a moment later. Today’s mask was a round one shaped like a frog’s head. It covered his entire head, and stared at Andra with bulging eyes.

“Seriously?” he said, sounding shocked. “What did I do to make Marian mad?”

“What?” Andra replied.

“Never mind. You’re here for the job, right? I’d offer to let you in, but I don’t want Riven anywhere near my lab.”

“Understandable,” Andra replied. “So what’s with the job? You’re paying us all this money just to pick up supplies?”

“Yes. However, the supplies you’ll be picking up may be somewhat difficult to acquire. You see, I’ve recently made contact with a noblewoman who is having difficulty conceiving a child. She has offered me a large sum of money to resolve the issue.”

Kaylen gasped. “You want the Blessing of Sanguis.”

The Blessing of Sanguis was one of the greatest treasures of the Sanguians, a potion that impregnated whoever drank it. It was considered key to the male-free lifestyle the Sanguians desired. Most babies in Temple Station were conceived thanks to the Blessing. Sanguians outside of their holy city commonly used it as well, though many outside of the clergy still used or even married men. The potion’s recipe was a closely-kept secret, unknown even to the International Society of Alchemists.

Maxim nodded. “Exactly. Since the noblewoman was kind enough to offer a partial payment up front, I am offering you one hundred gold pieces to obtain a sample of the potion. However, if you manage to find me the recipe, I will up the reward to one thousand gold pieces.”

Andra felt her heart start to pound. One thousand gold pieces wasn’t much to her family, but it was more than she had seen in years.

“One thousand?” Fiona asked, just as shocked. “We could retire on that.”

“How much are you getting from this noblewoman?” asked Riven suspiciously.

“That is none of your concern,” Maxim replied.

“But why offer a bonus at all?” Andra asked. “If this noblewoman just needs a single dose, what good does the recipe do you?”

Maxim clasped his hands behind his back. “Because I don’t like the Sanguians having complete control over the Blessing. I believe it could help more people than they allow. Their mistrust of men, while understandable, means that a lot of non-Sanguians who are unable to conceive have no way to have children. With a sample of the potion, I may be able to figure out what went into it, but with the recipe I’ll know for sure. Besides, I want a dose for myself, too.”

“You want to get pregnant?” Riven asked.

Although she couldn’t see his face, Andra got the sense that Maxim was raising an eyebrow. “Is there something wrong with a man wanting to get pregnant?” he asked.

“No, of course not,” Riven replied. “I actually think it’s awesome.”

“Oh. Good, then.” Maxim sounded surprised. “But the truth is I don’t want to get pregnant. I’m an alchemist, after all. We have other methods of procreating. I want to create an alraune.”

“But haven’t other alchemists created alraunes before? Can’t you just use their methods?” Andra asked.

Maxim shook his head. “I’m going to be honest. A lot of alchemists like to feel superior to others—”

“Gee, I had no idea,” Riven interrupted.

“Shut up. A lot of alchemists keep their discoveries secret, taking pleasure in knowing that they’re the only one who knows that secret. Add that to the fact that many of us use less-than-legal methods that have to be kept secret from the ISA, and as a result past alchemists who have succeeded in creating alraunes have declined to publish their work. Same with the only alchemist to create homunculi.  A method to create flesh golems has been published, but I want a child, not an adult with a sewn-together brain. I believe that if I study the Blessing of Sanguis, I may be able to adapt the recipe to create an alraune.”

“You shouldn’t treat children as experiments,” Fiona said sharply, surprising everyone.

“Oh. Look,” Maxim said, sounding serious, “I understand why you would worry about that. There’s a lot I want to do here. I want to discover something new, I want to create a unique form of life. But most of all, I want to be a parent. Believe me, I will love this child.”

“But can we really do this job?” Fiona asked. “Kaylen can’t defy Sanguis or she’ll lose her powers.”

Everyone looked at Kaylen. Fiona had a point.

“Technically we wouldn’t be defying Sanguis,” Kaylen explained. “Sanguis has never actually directly spoken about the Blessing, which was actually invented by priestesses, not the goddess herself. While it is an extremely useful tool in the goal of living a life free of men, I see no reason why men having access to it would be any sort of problem. Some priestesses argue that with the potion, men would no longer have any need for women and would end up destroying us, but personally I believe that it would bring men and women closer together, which would only make life easier for non-Sanguian women.”

“But what about the church itself?” Riven asked. “If they find out, you’ll be kicked out, won’t you?”

“Then we’ll have to make sure they don’t find out,” Kaylen replied. “I assume Maxim has the same attitude about the ISA?”

Maxim nodded, though the gesture was barely perceptible behind his mask. “The whole reason I joined the Guild was to get some income I could hide from ISA audits. With that, I can purchase black market ingredients for certain projects that best remain secret. However, in the case of this potion, I plan to publish my results. I’ll make up some story about how I stumbled upon this discovery myself, of course, and leave out your role. It does put me at some risk of discovery, but I believe this work is too important to stay secret.”

Andra stared at Maxim’s mask. Was he secretly a good person? “In that case, I think we’ll be taking the job.”

“Excellent. I look forward to hearing good news,” Maxim replied.

“Oh, by the way,” Kaylen said. “What’s up with your friend, Nightingale? She keeps leaving me these really long notes comparing me to different candies and saying she wants to eat me.”

“Since you saved her life, I think she developed a crush on you,” Maxim explained. “Good luck with that. She is insane.”

 

---

 

For the second job in a row, Lady von Ekko’s Glorious Adventurer Brigade boarded the train. This time, however, instead of settling into the lounge, they made their way to the sleeper car. This would be an overnight trip. Unfortunately, when they reached their compartment, the party was shocked to discover that there were only two beds.

“Yeah, there are only two beds per compartment,” Andra explained. “I figured we only needed two, so I just booked one room.”

“How do we only need two beds?” Kaylen asked, annoyance tingeing her voice.

“Well, I need one, of course. And you three can share the other.”

“That,” Riven said, pointing at one of the beds, “is barely big enough for Fiona.”

“Oh, that’s okay,” said Fiona. “I can just sleep on the floor.”

“See? It all works out,” said Andra, setting down her bag next to the other bed.

“You have really got to stop taking advantage of her,” said Kaylen.

“Hey, you’re free to give her your spot on the bed if you want,” Andra replied.

Kaylen said nothing.

Andra sat on her bed. “I thought not. Now, let’s get this planned out. Where in Temple Station is the potion made?”

“Technically, it’s not made in Temple Station,” Kaylen replied, flopping onto the other bed. “I know non-Sanguians like to refer to the entire city as Temple Station, but Temple Station is actually the outer city, where men are allowed. It’s called that because it sprang up when the alchemic rail was built. But the Blessing is made in the inner city.”

“What’s the inner city called?” asked Andra.

“Paradise,” Kaylen replied.

Andra nodded. “Makes sense. It sounds like paradise.”

Riven nodded as well as she rooted through her bag for her Magi-net book. “Agreed. I’ve always wanted to visit it.”

“Me too,” added Fiona, sighing dreamily. “From all the stories I’ve heard, it sounds wonderful.”

“Anyway,” said Kaylen, returning to the subject at hand, “the potion is actually brewed in three separate locations. A given priestess only learns one third of the recipe, and is not permitted to share it or to learn the other two thirds. The three parts are brought to a fourth location where they are mixed together in a certain ratio to create the finished Blessing.”

“So, in other words we have to go to four different locations to get the complete recipe,” Andra concluded. “Is it kept written down somewhere?”

“No idea,” Kaylen replied. “The brewers are very secretive. All I know for sure is that they have the recipe memorized.”

“But how could we ever convince them to tell us?” asked Fiona.

“A bit of mental manipulation could take care of that,” said Riven who was now idly thumbing through Magi-net as she sat on the floor next to the bed.

Kaylen gave Riven an uncomfortable look. “That seems wrong.”

“More wrong than stealing from a church?” Riven replied. “You agreed to this job, and this is the best way to do it while ensuring that no one gets hurt.”

Kaylen was about to reply when the train started moving.

 

---

 

Early the next afternoon, the train pulled to a stop at Temple Station. The passengers disembarked. Most filed their way to a small building attached to the wall separating the inner city from the outer one, where people entering Paradise were screened. The party followed the flow of passengers there, where a series of guards, rough-looking women mostly armed with spears, quizzed them about how long they would be staying in Paradise and why they were there. It seemed the Sanguians were very on-edge.

The final set of guards asked the party to hand over any enchanted items, explaining that they would be returned when the party left the inner city. Fiona handed over her weapon, which she had conveniently reshaped into a dirk, and Riven gave the guard two books. Andra recognized one, a leather-bound tome, as her Magi-net book, and the other one appeared to be one of her erotic sci-fi stories as it featured a tentacle-covered woman who appeared to have entranced another woman who was wearing a space suit. Had she actually converted one of those into her grimoire?

Finally, a short, stern-looking woman passed a wand over first Andra, then Fiona, and finally Riven. When she reached Riven the wand’s tip started to glow. “You’ll have to remove your enchantment, please,” she said.

Riven smiled nervously. “Oh, the thing about that is that I’m actually trans. So if I remove this enchantment the results aren’t going to be pretty.”

The woman raised an eyebrow at Riven. “You understand that men aren’t allowed in the inner city?” she asked, dryly.

“Uh, yeah, I’m not a man,” Riven replied.

“I didn’t know you were trans,” said an uncomfortable-looking Kaylen. “Otherwise I would have mentioned this.”

“Mentioned what?” Riven asked. Her face was starting to grow red.

“Well, obviously I disagree with the goddess on this point, but technically, Sanguis doesn’t consider trans women to be women.” She said the last part very fast and quietly as if that would somehow soften the blow.

“...Oh.”

“Shit, I am sorry, Raven,” said Andra. “I guess you’ll have to wait in the outer city while we do the job.”

“Wait, seriously?” Riven said, her voice rising. “What happened to ‘I don’t respect religions that don’t respect me?’”

“Well, that was a monastery full of fussy monks. This is a city full of paranoid guards who aren’t afraid of violence.”

Andra started to lead the group towards the building’s exit.

“Seriously? You’re just going to leave me here? I am so mad at all of you right now!” Riven shouted.

Fiona turned back to Riven momentarily, her ears folded back sadly. “I-I’m really sorry.”

The woman with the wand gave Riven an annoyed glare. “You’ll have to step aside, sir, otherwise I will have you arrested for the use of transformation magic.”

There was a sharp hiss as Andra, Kaylen, and Fiona all sucked in air through their teeth at the same time.

 

---

 

The remaining members of Lady von Ekko’s Glorious Adventurer Brigade emerged from the screening building into the inner city, Paradise. Of course, it no longer felt like Paradise, knowing that Riven wouldn’t be able to enjoy it. Inside, the city looked much like Rampart City, though the roofs of the buildings were all different colors, meaning that those in the distance looked like a brilliant painting of a fantasy city and those nearby looked dull and ordinary. The only real reminder that this was Paradise was that there were only women around. The visitors from the train, the people at the stands selling overpriced souvenirs, the priestesses wandering around dressed like Kaylen, all were women. And it seemed, much to the annoyance of Andra and Fiona, all were cis women.

“So that was one of the more awkward experiences of my life,” Andra said as she led the group down the street, looking for a place away from the crowd.

“I didn’t know,” Kaylen said, her tone pleading. “I really didn’t know. I would have warned her if I had known she was trans.”

“Do you think she’ll forgive us?” Fiona asked, looking back the way they’d come as if she would somehow still see Riven from here.

Andra waved a hand dismissively without looking at Fiona. “Of course she will. She’s a practical girl. When she gets her share of that thousand gold pieces, she’ll forget all about the fact that her friend is a priestess in a horribly transphobic religion.”

Kaylen whimpered, looking guilty.

“But how are we going to steal the recipe, boss?” Fiona asked. “We needed Riven for the plan.”

Andra halted suddenly and sighed. “Fuck.”

 

---

 

“Unbelievable,” Riven said to herself as she stomped down the street. “Unbelievable.”

This was all Kaylen’s fault. She was the one who had decided to become a priestess to a religion of transphobes. She had gotten everyone all excited on the train by sharing stories of how amazing Paradise was. She should have paused to consider the fact that one of her friends might be a trans woman. But, no, of course she had never thought of that. The fact that her religion that was supposed to protect women rejected a particularly vulnerable group of women had probably never even crossed her mind. She was too busy with moon-eyed romance of her shitty transphobic city and dreams Andra had fed her of the gold she would earn from this job. This was Andra’s fault too. Andra never thought about anything other than money and her popularity and she didn’t care who got hurt along the way. This was Fiona’s fault, too.

...Okay, she couldn’t really think of a reason why it was Fiona’s fault other than the fact that Fiona was hot and muscular and had abandoned her. And, yeah, Riven occasionally abandoned her allies too, but that was always for sex, never for money.

Eventually, Riven found herself growing tired and wandered into a tavern. It was a surprisingly classy place with a nicely finished floor and abstract designs painted on the walls. It was lit with blue light potions and there was a large aquarium in the center of the room. At the bar, Riven discovered that they had a cocktail menu and ordered something sweet and fruity, then settled at one of the tables and idly flipped through Magi-net.

“You look lonely,” said a low, soft voice.

She looked up to see a tall woman with long hair wearing a yellow sundress. With a whisper, Riven used magic to slide the table’s other chair out. The woman caught it and sat down across from her.

“Yeah, my friends left me behind at the station,” she explained. “I guess they don’t let trans women into the inner city.”

The woman nodded. “Thought that might be the case. You’re using an enchantment?”

Riven nodded back. “Yeah. How’d you know I was trans?”

The woman laughed. “Well, you came here, didn’t you?”

Riven looked around, confused. “What does this bar have to do with anything.”

The woman rolled her eyes. “Pretty much everyone who comes to this bar is trans.”

Riven looked around again, this time examining the other patrons for the first time. She hadn’t noticed before, but they were all women. Not exactly what Riven would have expected for the outer portion of Temple Station. She then looked back at the woman across from her and noticed several indicators that she was trans. She silently chastised herself for looking for them.

“Huh. That’s a coincidence. Do a lot of trans women live in Temple Station?”

“More than most cities, I would imagine,” the woman explained. “A lot of us come to Temple Station hoping to get into the inner city, and we end up staying here when we can’t.”

This didn’t make any sense to Riven. “Why would you stay somewhere where people hate you?”

The woman looked down at the table, tracing the wood grain with a finger. “I guess some of us do it in hopes that they’ll change their minds and let us in. Others do it to try to demonstrate to them that we’re harmless and we’re just like cis women. Still others are looking for a way to sneak into Paradise.”

“Seems like a waste of time to me.”

“Maybe, but I think it’s important to at least try to make the world better for other trans people.”

Riven took a sip of her drink. “You know, I think this is probably the most I’ve talked to another trans woman. I mean, I do know a trans guy, but it’s not the same. Plus, he’s an accountant, so we don’t exactly have a lot in common.”

“That sounds really hard.”

“Yeah, I guess it is.” Riven laughed. “You know, when I first transitioned, I still didn’t know trans people existed. I thought I was the first guy to use magic to turn into a girl. It was years before I found out there was a whole community who did the same thing.”

The woman laughed along with Riven. “A lot of us have stories just like that.”

“I’d love to hear them.”

The woman stood. “In that case, let’s get you another drink and introduce you to some people.”

Riven stood with her, finishing off her drink. “Why don’t we start with you?”

“Oh yeah, I’m Emily.”

“I’m Riven.”

 

---

 

Andra, Kaylen, and Fiona sat in a cafe across the street from a temple where people were gathering. It was one of dozens like it, all curving structure and statues of important priestesses. Andra sipped at her lemonade as she tried to come up with a plan.

“I don’t see why I can’t just sneak in,” Andra said.

“Sneak in how?” Kaylen replied. “There’s a huge crowd.”

“If I walk briskly, everyone will assume that I have business there.”

Kaylen gripped the table in frustration. “Okay, say that does work, what then? You just wander around until you find where they keep the potion?”

Andra shrugged. “I’ll just ask someone. If I act confident, they’ll assume I have the authority.”

“Is Riven going to be okay with us just getting the one hundred gold reward?” Fiona asked.

“She’s going to have to be okay with it because there’s no way we’re getting the recipe without her,” Andra said.

“Yeah, because our thief knows nothing about thievery,” Kaylen added.

“I know plenty about thievery, it’s just that…” Andra hesitated. “This city has really good security.

At that moment, soft woodwind music started coming from the temple. The crowd had parted to let a young woman climb the steps approaching the entrance where the priestess stood. Next to the priestess was an assistant of some kind holding a flask.

“Aww, look, they’re giving the potion to someone who wants to be a mom right now,” Kaylen said. “There’s a whole ritual that goes with this. It’s short, but I’ve always been fond of it.”

Andra stared at the ceremony.

“What if I just, like, run up there and grab it?” she asked.

 

---

 

In the evening, the group returned to the station just in time for their train, prize in hand. Or at least carefully stowed in Fiona’s pocket. Andra’s head turned this way and that. After snatching the potion, she had fled for several minutes before spending an hour hiding in a cordwainer’s shop, where she had been talked into purchasing a nice new belt. However, ever since then, she had been on the constant lookout for guards, afraid that she might be recognized and captured. The train represented safety, so Andra picked up her pace as she walked towards it.

“Wait, what about Riven?” Fiona asked.

Kaylen paused and looked around again, this time searching for her ally. “She knows what time the train leaves. But she couldn’t be on board because I have her ticket.”

At that moment Andra heard voices singing somewhere nearby. It was a pop song she recognized, but with the lyrics altered to be about the singer turning into a girl. From around a corner, Riven stepped onto the platform, flanked by two other women who were supporting her as they sung.

“Well, looks like you had fun,” said Andra as the women handed off Riven to Fiona.

“Did you get the recipe?” Riven slurred.

“No, we ended up stealing the potion instead,” Andra replied.

Riven laughed with a snort. “You’re a bad thief.”

Andra rolled her eyes. “I’m going to ignore that because you’re drunk.”

The group boarded the train and made their way to their compartment.

“Listen, Riven,” Kaylen said. “About what happened earlier…”

Riven waved a hand dismissively. “Forget about it. You didn’t know. And, yeah, your church is shitty to trans women, but it does a lot of good for other women, with all the charity programs and women’s shelters in different countries and having a whole big city that’s all women. I guess I can see why you look past that one oversight to work for them.”

As they opened the door to their compartment Fiona asked “Are we doing the same sleeping arrangements as before?”

“Yeah, that’s fine with me,” said Riven.

“Er, actually, technically if I knowingly share a bed with someone Sanguis considers a man, I’ll lose my powers,” Kaylen said, speaking quietly and quickly again.

Riven shot her a withering glare, causing her to flinch.

“I’ll just sleep on the floor.”

“Oh, does that mean I get her spot on the bed?” Fiona asked.

Riven turned her glare on Fiona, who also flinched.

“S-sorry, never mind.”

 

---

 

Back in Rampart City, the group triumphantly made their way through Maxim’s neighborhood back towards his house. Riven had promptly forgiven Kaylen the next morning when Kaylen had been able to heal her hangover, and the party was back to chatting cheerfully as they walked down the street.

“Hey, I haven’t seen the potion yet,” Riven said. “What does it look like?”

“Pretty normal,” Fiona replied, removing the flask from her pocket to show Riven. “Just kind of dark purple.”

At that moment, a ball came flying through the air, crashing into the flask which shattered instantly, spilling the potion all over Fiona’s sleeve and the ground. It was a stray ball, hit by two boys who were playing a game nearby where they hit a ball back and forth with paddles.

“Did that just happen?” asked Kaylen, stunned.