Sixteen hours was the longest time Luci had ever slept in her life. When she lived in the Mirrored Palace, the seat of power in Sylexa and her mothers’ home, she’d been made to rise whenever the moon was up. As she got older, her training extended long past the moon’s setting, meaning she was lucky to get a consistent six hours of sleep on any night. When she was hitchhiking to Anypaxia, when she was sleeping rough in her now abandoned tent, there was no such thing as a peaceful night’s sleep.

Therefore, the night spent on a squeaky mattress in one of the Unfortunate Maid’s dust-infested rooms had been pure bliss! Now that she was awake, Luci had joined Wip and Stella in the common room, under a nook beneath the stairs.

She’d had just finished scoffing down a banquet. Three months ago, she would have gagged on the food for how bland it was. Today, it was the best meal she’d ever had. The only reason she didn’t order another plate of spice-free mutton, burnt pita bread, and hard cheese was because her stomach was about to burst out of her new, blessedly clean, white dress.

“One dan,” Luci muttered, letting out a small burb. “One dan and I live like a queen.”

Stella didn’t hear her, however, because she was too busy gawking at Wip. The tall dungeoneer was grinning ear to ear after having explained the events that had occurred last night in the Shanties. He seemed rather pleased with his retelling. If Stella’s grip on her empty beer glass was anything to go by, she was about to pluck Wip’s remaining teeth out.

The tension was cut by Mori, the clearly underage bartender, dumping a tray on the table. The three beers it carried splashed sticky liquid over the table. He walked off without actually serving the drinks, or even taking the tray. Under any other circumstance, Luci would have thought the service rude, but it seemed Mori knew his customers.

Stella took one pint and sculled it. The beer was gone in just a few seconds. Then she took the second and did the same. And the third. Luci watched with horrid fascination.

Stella slammed the third glass onto the table, wiped her mouth, and ripped a long burp. Gathering herself, she said to Wip, “Can you repeat the part about all the property damage?”

Wip nodded. “About thirty buildings were destroyed.”

Everyone at the table was silent. Luci darted eyes between Stella and Wip. Realisation dawned on her, and she leapt up.

“I did what?” she squealed.

There were few people at the rundown inn: the innkeeper Mr. Dagan, Mori, and four patrons who sipped on their watered-down beers with little enthusiasm. The Unfortunate Maid was deathly quiet on most days. After Luci’s outburst, even a kakaliz would have been heard.

Mori, appearing suddenly once more, dumped another tray on the table. This time he slammed each beer down in front of the patrons, sloshing sticky liquid everywhere. Luci leapt back when hers nearly splashed her new dress. It was a gift from Stella, and the cleanest thing she’d worn in months. She’d feel absolutely foolish if she soiled it the very day it was given to her!

“Hey,” Mori snapped at Luci. “I already started work with a headache. I don’t need a migraine to go with it.”

“Oh, sorry!” Luci whispered.

Blushing, she ducked back into her seat and adjusted her new hat—the beanie afto with bunny ears that Wip had given her. She’d bound with it before leaving her room this evening and she’d managed to disguise herself quite nicely. It had taken some wrangling, and she’d needed Wip’s help to forcefully unbind it from its past owner—a feat that had nearly resulted in him warping it before Luci had begged him to slow down—but she’d figured it out.

Her hair was now a dull grey and, for the first time in months, free of grime hanging loose as far down as her waist. Her freckles had received the same de-glowing treatment. She’d also made a couple of slight adjustments to her face, just enough to make her seem a tad more like her father and less like her mother: a slightly wider jaw, higher cheekbones, and a touch of darkness in her irises.

It had been tricky to get her appearance right. Twenty-two attempts, to be exact, and only for some minor adjustments. The only reason she’d succeeded in so few tries was because the afto, called a glamour, played well with unmelded conform, making it easy to supply. Wip had still needed to revert some of fatigue she’d gained from the effort, or else she would have broken the stairs on her way down from her room.

Thankfully, she found that the beanie afto didn’t need a constant flow of enma to maintain her changed appearance, she only needed to wear it after setting the disguise. And the best part was that it even had bunny ears!

Mori rolled his eyepatch-free eye and shuffled back to the kitchen. He didn’t bother cleaning any of the plates or empty glasses. Luci only realised once he was gone that she’d just taken orders from someone who was both younger than her and clearly working in an occupation he was not legally allowed to. Or so she hoped. Laws in Anypaxia were surprisingly lax, allowing powerful individuals to practically do as they pleased. The strong presence of the Black Talon Cartel was proof of that.

Luci waited until Mori was out of earshot before speaking in hushed tones. “I can’t believe I did that! I was so out of it during the fight last night that I didn’t realise just how much destruction I’d caused.”

“You made a crater!” Wip added.

“Urgh! Stop.” She buried her face in her hands. “I mean, it was all so crazy! I created a meld.” She put a hand on Wip’s shoulder beside her and tried to shake him, but he was so large that she could barely move him. “I created a meld! I don’t even know how. And then I used Lunacogita’s incantations which,” she leaned towards Stella, who was sitting on the opposite corner of their six-seater table, and whispered, “isn’t supposed to do that! The incantations are supposed to fold space to help with my orbits, not destroy buildings! I still can’t believe I did all that!”

“You both did that,” Stella said, glaring at Wip. “And for some reason, I don’t think you were the one that instigated it, Luci.”

Wip took a sip of his beer. “Yep. It was you, Stella. You told me to go find—”

Stella slammed a hand down on the table, causing Luci’s untouched beer to splash dangerously at her. The look she gave screamed murder. Fearing for his safety, Wip stood abruptly. He made a show of stretching and said, “Ah, would you look at the time. It’s pee-o’clock!” He was gone a few seconds later, along with his beer.

Sighing, Stella muttered, “Either way, it’s a good thing nobody died. I still can’t believe that! Unless the news is trying to cover up the carnage because it would cause a stink with the Cartel.” Stella took a sip of her beer, then grimaced. “Why is it so weak?” She looked up and narrowed her eyes at Luci. “What are you doing?”

Luci had put her nose to the top of her beer glass and sniffed suspiciously. Upon being caught, she nearly hopped out of her seat. “Oh, um, I was just thinking that, well…” She glanced suspiciously around the room before leaning in. “Um, is it okay for me to drink?” she whispered. “I’m seventeen. I’m underage.”

Stella took a long swig and grimaced again. “Listen. You’ve killed monsters, fought the Cartel, came close to death on more than one occasion, ripped buildings out of the ground for fun—at least, according to that turnip—and, worst of all, you had to spend a whole day with Wip. You can drink a damned beer.”

Luci bit her lip. “But Wip is nice.”

Stella slammed the table again. Luci squeaked before shoving the glass to her mouth. After a tiny sip, she put the glass down and scrunched up her face.

“Urgh! Bitter,” Luci said.

“You’ll get used to it. Then it’s never bitter enough.”

They sat for a while in silence, sipping on their beers and grimacing after each unpleasant taste. Luci kept eyeing Stella, wanting to say something. The fence noticed her but said nothing. Instead, she stared off to the side, watching the door by the bar for potential clients that walked in.

Finally, Luci couldn’t take it anymore and decided to start with small talk. She put down her glass. “Um, I like your top.”

Stella glanced down at her hoodie. It was black and had a cartoon-style print of a cat on the front. She shrugged. “My mum gave it to me. Probably one of the only good things she’s ever done for me.”

Luci perked up at the sight of common ground. “Oh, do you have a bad relationship with your parents as well?”

“I mean, I wouldn’t call it bad, but…” Stella took a long gulp of her beer. “Let’s just say I’d rather not continue our relationship.”

“I… think I understand. My mother never really spoke to me, except to point out my failures, or to save face at a formal gathering. I was basically raised by the house maids.” Luci ducked her head. “And my trainer, Praetor Gallus.” She shuddered then took a sip from her beer, screwing up her face at the awful taste.

Stella clicked her tongue. “Must have been tough.”

“Yeah.”

Silence fell on them again. Luci couldn’t hold back any longer, and now that she’d found common ground between herself and Stella, she had to let her thoughts out.

“Ms. Stella, are you mad at me?” she asked, point blank.

Stella put her half-finished glass down and levelled a gaze at Luci. “Oh, I am furious at you.”

Luci withered up in her seat and prepared herself for the tirade.

Stella thrust a finger at her. “Do you know how relieved I was when I first saw you?”

Luci blinked. “Um, I’m sorry?”

“Wip had finally found a party member that he didn’t snob off at first sight,” Stella went on. “We went through nineteen interviews before choosing you. Nineteen! Do you know what he said about them all?” Stella cleared her throat and lowered her voice in mock imitation of Wip. “Nah!”

“Really?” Luci said. “He chose me? But why?”

“You think I know how that idiot’s brain works?” Stella snorted. “All I was thinking at the time was, ‘Awesome. I’m finally going to get out of this downward spiral and actually make some money.’”

“So, you didn’t think to collect the bounty on me?” Luci pried.

Stella buried her face in her glass. “No, not at all,” she mumbled.

Luci wasn’t so convinced, but she didn’t want to question it either. She preferred thinking of Stella as kind, if not a bit crude.

Stella put her glass down. “At least, I thought I had it good, until you and Wip went and kicked me in the face. I guess I should have expected it from him, but you!”

Luci hunched her shoulders.

“I charged your phone,” Stella went on. “If you thought I was in trouble, the first thing you should have done was call Wip. He owes me for all the trouble he’s put me through, so he can come save me. Not you. Why didn’t you call him?”

“I,” Luci stuttered. “I thought that it was my mistake, that I had to be the one to fix it.”

“Yeah? Well, you made a mess of it.”

“Sorry.”

Stella looked Luci up and down, then let out a long sigh. “But, now that I’ve taken some time to think about it, I’ve realised that you were just going through a rough time. I mean, who am I to judge? I’m a runaway just like you. Well, maybe not exactly like you, but I left home and fled to Anypaxia under pretty bad circumstances. I’m not even from here. My parents owned a farm near Dasonas, and I just needed to get away from them.”

Hearing that warmed Luci’s heart a touch, but not enough to overcome her guilt.

“Besides, there’s something I want to get off my chest,” Stella continued.

She pulled out her phone, popped up a chart, and showed it to Luci. She recognised it straight away as the result of her enma test, that she’d taken in the Dungeon Fort a month ago.

Luci Black

Level: 28

Classification: Dungeoneer

Rank: Aspirant (E)

Forms (Flow / Spike):

Whim: 30 / 33

Ease: 30 / 33

Blame: 31 / 34

Conform: 40 / 61

Urge: 28 / 28

Torment: 29 / 29

Luci winced at the enormous discrepancy between her conform and everything else. It was a deficiency she’d never been able to overcome, and she braced herself to hear, for the millionth time, why it was so bad.