Sorine led us back to the motel so we could plan our route to the conduit. Apparently, it wasn’t as easy as taking a SSTEF to the bottom. Of course it wasn’t. She led us into the bathroom, and I gotta say, it was really awkward having six people crammed into one tiny bathroom. Well, five. Lumi kind of just stood in the doorway.

  Sorine raised her hand to the mirror, and it became a TV! Well, that’s what I had thought at first. Apparently, her Talent allowed her to see things through a mirror. Now I knew how Sylvis was stalking us! The mirror showed us hallways, many guards, and then more hallways… Then all of a sudden, the images stopped.

  “What about the chamber where the conduit is?” Zuri asked. I didn't miss her messing with her hair and restyling it once the mirror went back to normal.

  “The conduit chambers are flooded with ether. As soon as my magic touched it, it fizzled out,” Sorine explained.

  “I say we teleport as close to the chamber as possible,” Dimitri suggested as we started filing out of the bathroom.

  “Not possible. The hallways we saw are most likely protected by magic, preventing us from teleporting in.”

  “We should try anyway if it’ll save us time,” Zuri said.

  Sorine snapped her fingers, and absolutely nothing happened. “Tried. It doesn’t work." Her voice was unusually saccharine.

  “So how do we even get to the hallway?” I asked.

  “Perhaps we could blow up the lock—” Dimitri was quickly cut off.

  “No,” Zetta said.

  “Well, do you have any ideas?” He crossed his arms and tapped his fingers impatiently. Clearly, he didn’t share the same fear that Zuri did.

  “It’s simple, really,” Sorine said. “All I have to do is wait for someone to input the code to the door and watch them. Then we can use the code ourselves.”

  So, that’s what we did. The rest of us waited in our shared suite while Sorine waited in the bathroom. That was an interesting thing to picture…

  Dimitri and Zetta both grew bored and decided to go out, leaving me, Zuri, and a sleeping Lumi.

  “I’m sorry,” I said, quietly so as to not wake Lumi.

  “For what?” Zuri asked, shifting from her spot next to Lumi to sit on the same bed as me.

  “For everything that happened on Earth. For what it’s worth, I didn’t want to fight—”

  “I know.” She gave me a small smile. She looked the most genuine she had been since I first arrived at the Magus of Historia. “It wasn’t you who chose to fight.”

  “Still… I can’t help but feel responsible. It was my group who attacked first.”

  “You can’t control what your friends do, Ella. Trust me… I’ve learned that the hard way…” She turned away from me, and I could’ve sworn I heard her sniffle.

  A thought came to mind. “Who was Maverick talking about when he fought you?”

  There was a pause as she flinched. “I’m surprised you remember that.” What could I say? I’m nosy. “Ruma… She’s my twin sister.”

  “Twin?” I raised my eyebrows in surprise. Were they like Nalupie and Starlett?

  “We both have magic, but only I’m an Ethereal.” Her nails dragged across the sheets of the bed, causing a scratchy, screechy sound.

  “Oh…” I said with realization. “Then your sister is…”

  “A lot older than me. Or appears that way, anyhow. She’s probably in her forties now—her life halfway over.”

  “She’s not at the Magus of Historia?”

  Zuri shook her head. “Something about Sylvis didn’t sit well with me. I went out once and found a mother near death’s door. The doctors had been treating her for a while then, but her condition surpassed what they were able to cure. Not wanting her children to go through what I had, I used my magic to heal her when her family was away. Sylvis was furious.”

  My stomach dropped. I couldn’t imagine anyone being furious over helping someone live. According to Zuri, she was careful too. Careful not to let anyone see her use magic. Then again… Sylvis seemed equally upset when Aidan, Finn, and I had helped Aidan’s sister. Yet, keeping the fact that I was an Ethereal a secret from me seemed to be her priority…

  “We argued,” Zuri continued. “A lot. It was then that Sorine appeared to me outside the manor. The Magus of Historia… It sounded like everything I’d thought the Magisteria Fantastique would be. I tried to convince my sister to come with me, but the rumors had already spread that the Magus of Historia was an evil shadow organization.”

  “So you left without her,” I finished for her.

  She nodded solemnly. “I didn’t want to, but something about Sylvis unsettled me—scared me, even. I couldn’t stay. Not even for her.”

  Lumi moaned gently in her sleep as she turned, causing Zuri to jump up like lightning, ensuring the younger girl was okay. That was why…

  If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

  “That’s why you’re so protective of Lumi. She’s like a sister to you.”

  Zuri turned back to me, giving me a sheepish smile. “Even though my sister was my twin, she always felt like a younger sister. Maybe it was because I’m an Ethereal and therefore stronger, but I was always the one taking care of her. Now… now she’s old enough to be my mother.”

  “Lumi’s family… I saw what happened to them, back in Vafir,” I explained. “I saw the ruins of her home.”

  Zuri left Lumi’s bed once again and sat back down on the edge of mine. “It was only four years ago. Master had been in Vafir looking into the ether poisoning, when she witnessed that monster attack Lumi’s village. Lumi was the only survivor. Her family did everything in their power to protect her. Realizing she had magic, Master brought her home.” She paused. “No, I think she still would have brought her in even if she didn’t have magic. That’s just the kind of person Master is.”

  I wondered if I could say the same about Sylvis…

  “I don’t know, Master is pretty strict when it comes to whether or not you have magic.” Lumi’s voice was groggy as she shifted up into a sitting position and stretched.

  “Y-you were awake?!” Zuri gasped, holding her hand a short distance from her mouth. Her reaction almost seemed fake, but her concern told me it was genuine.

  "Of course I was. You two weren't exactly talking quietly," she answered, swinging her feet over the side of the bed. Funny, I seem to recall her being sound asleep when the car alarms were going off... Lumi's gaze turned to me. "You saw my home?"

  I nodded solemnly before sitting next to her on her bed. I tentatively moved to wrap my arm around her, but froze, remembering she didn't seem to like to be touched much.

  "I doubt there was much left of it." Her voice was quiet as she glanced down at her swinging feet.

  I recalled the picture that I had taken with me from her home. If only I had it with me... I had left it on my desk in my room back at the manor. Too bad I didn't have Maverick's teleporation magic... I wondered if Sorine would be able to teleport it for me— No, Sylvis probably had some sort of protection around the manor preventing her from teleporting anything in or out, which is why she had waited for me to leave the manor in the first place...

  "There wasn't." I bit my lip, deciding not to bring up the picture. "I'm... I'm sorry for assuming the worst about your master. After hearing what she did to your uh, family..." I'm clearly just making this more awkward, aren't I? "I understand why she did what she did now."

  Lumi glanced back up at me—her feet stopping mid-swing. "I'm glad. Master saved my life, and she's been so kind to me ever since. Me and Zuri."

  Dimitri and Zetta returned, bringing more food than they could hold with them. Seriously, a couple bags of food fell on the ground. I guess they wanted to make sure we had enough food after what happened yesterday.

  "So, where did you run off to yesterday?" Dimitri asked while Zetta messed with the TV. She made some sort of disgusted noise when she came across the channel with Mari. Huh, she was still at the casino... There was a headline in the top corner that said something about a 24-hour challenge. She ended up changing the channel to Bootleg Mari.

  "There was a girl that I saw, younger than us," I answered Dimitri while opening the container of food. This was certainly... interesting. Was this some sort of inverse burger? It was two pieces of meat with a slice of bread in the middle. I went to pick it up with my hands before getting disgusted with how greasy it was. I ended up using utensils. "She was alone, so I wanted to make sure she was okay."

  "We probably shouldn't interfere in the Etopians' lives while we're here," Zuri said, scavenging through each of the bags and putting back any food she didn't like—which was every food. "The less we stand out, the better. Besides, we don't know much about their society. Children running around the casino could be completely normal for all we know."

  "And we definitely shouldn't split up," Zetta snapped. "It's not like we can openly use magic around others."

  "True..." I mumbled. In all honesty, it wasn't something I had realized at the time when I had run off. I'm glad I didn't accidentally use magic other than my Ether Recollection...

  My thoughts went to Maverick. What was he going to tell the others? Tell Sylvis? Sylvis was half, or I guess a fifth, goddess. She was stronger than Sorine, wasn't she? Well, Sylvis never seemed to use her teleporation magic on anyone but Rosalie...

  Should I tell the others that I ran into Maverick? That would undoubtedly piss Sorine off. But she was in the bathroom. I could tell the others. Would they tell her? I hated not being able to trust my companions... At least with my friends, I always had someone to talk to. Finn knew exactly what was on my mind at all times, whether I wanted him to or not.

  "No one saw you use magic, right?" Zetta's words came off as more of a threat than a question.

  "I didn't use magic other than my Ether Recollection, which I used in a closet."

  Zuri finally settled on her food after making a few... alterations, and then I realized all of this work was for Lumi. Lumi graciously took the meal that now resembled a correctly assembled burger, and wasted no time biting into it. Zuri simply settled on the first thing she pulled out of the bag.

  I felt kind of jealous of how close Zuri and Lumi were. Sure, Marge and I were close, but this was different; it was more... familial. It made me wish I had an older sister or an older anyone to look up to. I definitely didn't look up to Maverick or Rosalie. Maybe I just missed mom...

  Well, mom sure didn't miss me.

  "Should we ask if S-" I quickly caught myself, "I-if the master would like anything to eat?"

  "She'll come by whenever she's hungry," Dimitri answered.

  "Can we trust that she'll actually remember to eat this time?" I said unamusedly.

  Zetta wordlessly got up and practically threw her own food on the chair she was sitting on. She came over to the bed that had several bags of food strewn across it, grabbed one, and threw it into the bathroom. I could hear a faint "ow" before Zetta stomped back to her own food. "No, no we cannot," Zetta finally answered my question before stuffing what I assumed were noodles into her mouth.

  An hour or two later, Sorine finally emerged from the bathroom. "Here's the plan," she began. "We teleport to the first door and knock out any guards along the way. Despite watching them for the past four hours, I have no information on their abilities. They may have magic, or they may not. Once they're knocked out, we input the code."

  "What's the code?" Lumi asked.

  "One two three four."

  "We waited this long for that?!" I shouted.

  Sorine shook her head. "Of course it's not that simple. It's an eight-digit code with seemingly unimportant numbers. No government would have a passcode that's easy to guess. You shouldn't be so gullible, Elaina."

  Somehow, I felt Sylvis would still use that code. Or Rosalie.

  "Once we're inside, we'll have to face more guards. The deeper we go, the stronger they're going to be."

  "Until we face the big bad himself and decapitate him, correct?" Dimitri asked.

  "...No," Sorine answered unamused. "He's most likely in a meeting or playing a sport that half his nation doesn't consider a real sport. Either way, he's not holed up in a basement. Once we defeat the guards, there may be further security measures in place before we reach the conduit. Unfortunately, that isn't something we can prepare for ahead of time. We'll have to deal with that when we get there. Once we're in the chamber, there shouldn't be anyone else blocking our path."

  "Hey..." I started feeling nervous, especially with how similar this seemed to the facility back on Earth... "If we bite off more than we can chew, you'll teleport us out, right...?"

  "Assumine there isn't any magic interfering with my abilities, of course."

  I felt so relieved. Finally, someone who actually prioritized our safety and wasn't a jerk or just outright unavailable.

  "Eat as much as you can, and we'll set off."