“I’m… I’m alive?”

  “My wounds—”

  “T-the mountain. Isn’t that—”

  “The Returnee. That’s her dragon form she showed on Hana’s broadcast.”

  The gathered Awakeners experienced a myriad of emotions in a short timeframe. Some cried. Some ughed. Most watched in silence as the entire river started to float.

  “Watergss shouldn’t be this strong,” said the President as he rotated his shoulder. Not only had the injuries from the battle healed but even his old joint pain seemed to be gone.

  “Is it the buffs? In the interview the Princess said she can buff others.” Tomtom smiled as he spoke. He struggled reconciling the mountainous creature in front of him with the bumbling girl that had dined at his family’s table.

  “That’s probably the only expnation. It’s a world of difference experiencing it firsthand.” The President looked over the gathered fighters. The battle had gone from multiple reported deaths to one with no casualties in an instant. Through the crowd he saw the glimmer of light reflecting off a camera lens. The whole world was watching. “Looks like the June Hoax crap is finally going to die down.”

  “You really think so?”

  “...” The President didn’t have a rebuttal. He sighed and let himself colpse to the ground spread-eagle. He looked up at the writhing torrents of water overhead and smiled. A bnket of stars were draped across the sky, but something odd caught the President’s attention. “Hey, Tomtom…”

  “Yeah?” Heavy sat down next to the President.

  “Where’s the moon?”

  Wind and water combined into a typhoon. Alyssa’s hands danced like a conductor before an orchestra; wherever her fingers passed the blood of monsters bloomed. Her magic flowed like gcial waters, permeating everything and gouging canyons from whatever stood in its way. The river roared into the shape of a snake.

  The three gangly demons rushed forward with unnatural movements. They chittered like cats watching a bird through a window. They smmed their mana-wreathed bodies into the water snake, causing it to burst apart.

  “Heh,” Alyssa ughed. She raised her hands overhead, palms facing the sky, and the burst water hovered in pce. “Do you think breaking apart its shape is enough? The form is meaningless.” Her fingers crossed, each hand forming an independent sign, and the hovering water blobs turned into projectiles. It didn’t matter to her what shape her attacks took. To her the only things that mattered were force and pressure.

  The projectile blobs of water ripped through the area, several battering the demon trio, and the total number of monsters decreased again. Alyssa frowned. She expected the three elite creatures to take some damage but they were only bruised at best.

  “Need help?” Sarah chimed in from the side wearing a cat-like grin. She gently brushed a hand against the back of Alyssa’s neck.

  “Tch,” Alyssa clicked her tongue. “A few drinks and now you’re teasing me?” She wrapped her arm around Sarah’s waist and pulled her into a tight embrace.

  “Wuwuwuwu now you two are flirting on top of meeee~”

  “Shut up, Scale!” Alyssa snapped.

  “You be quiet!” Sarah’s voice overpped Alyssa’s.

  The three demons appeared in the air above the two girls through high-speed movement. They screeched like banshees as they attacked. A sheen of water popped up in front of them and blocked their hands. Water spshed from the formed barrier, soaking Sarah and Alyssa both.

  “You did that on purpose!”

  The ground shifted. Sarah realized it wasn’t the ground but Scale shifting. A massive limb reached up and grabbed all three of the humanoid demons in its paw. Dragon cws long as spears looked like prison bars.

  Scale squeezed.

  “Kuurraaaaack—” The three creatures cried out in agony as their bodies ruptured, bursting apart like crushed grapes.

  “Donch chuuu dare hurt Lyss!” Scale’s slurred voice rumbled like a volcanic eruption.

  The spectators watched in awe. The smell of wine permeated the air when Scale raised her voice. The scent was so thick several of the watchers stumbled, feeling their blood alcohol levels rising in real time. There was a pause in the action. None of the monsters remained alive and the only sound that could be heard was the squabbling of the two girls and the dragon. Their arguments were so mundane it created a sort of dissonance with the arena around them. Amidst the broken equipment, blood, and beastly entrails the women started arguing about utter nonsense.

  “Hey so that girl next to Watergss…”

  “Oh my god, is that what Portal looks like?”

  Realization dawned upon the sober. The President jumped to his feet in a panic. Portal’s appearance hadn’t been public knowledge before for safety reasons. Her ability was, for all intents and purposes, considered top of the world. It allowed troop deployment anywhere. While range limits applied they could be bypassed through clever use.

  Among all the Awakeners in the world, there were few in as much risk of assassination as Portal. After all, with her powers there were no safe pces to hide on the pnet. Countries in opposition to the United States saw her as a threat, and so her appearance and name had been kept on a need to know basis. When forced to appear in public in the past she often wore a disguise, but it was clear that this appearance was impromptu at best.

  The Association President turned his head to see more than one live camera recording. He sighed and wondered if it was too te to retire. The metaphorical cat was out of the bag. The genie couldn’t be put back in the bottle.

  “They beat the boss monsters right?” One of the Awakeners present asked an innocuous question, but that question immediately spiked the tension in the air.

  “The Gate is still there…”

  “Then those bck human-shaped things weren’t the boss?”

  Everyone present collectively inhaled. A distant, vacant sound started to echo. It began as a hum but its intensity built up stronger and stronger, resonating from the still open Gate.

  “Next time just let me help you fight,” said Sarah. Her lips pursed.

  Alyssa lifted her girlfriend’s chin to meet her eyes. “I don’t care how strong you are,” said Alyssa, “I am your knight. Let me protect you.”

  “Ah. That was such a cheesy line…” Scale sighed and moved, causing the two flirting women to stumble. “You two might need to get down. I’m going into the Gate.” The humming sound continued to intensify. Scale’s massive body began to right itself. At some point Alyssa and Sarah vanished from view through a small bck hole.

  The massive mostly white dragon turned towards the thrumming Gate with an odd expression. Her flushed cheeks glowed under the stars. Her magic swirled and the alcohol in her blood started to thin. Her mind cleared.

  “Why are you going in?” Alyssa asked from below, having arrived safely with Sarah.

  “I think I know the boss monster of this Gate,” said Scale. “And if I’m right, it’s going to be—” Her words cut off and lingered. Her expression in her dragon form, normally unreadable, showed distinct signs of reluctance.

  That sight sparked something in Alyssa. She asked, “Do you need my help?”

  “No. There probably won't be a fight.” The night air stirred. The scent of blood started to wash away as the river’s flow returned. The sound of running water fought against the hum of the Gate. Scale put her paw into the river to wash off the blood from the demons she squished. Her body started to shrink.

  Scale stood before the massive Gate in her human form, completely disregarding the spectators and cameras nearby. She never cared all that much about having a secret identity. Her only family was near the top of the world already, and those that could threaten said family members already knew Scale’s identity.

  The small girl stood frozen in front of the massive Gate like a newborn fawn in a car's headlights. Alyssa walked up and put her arm around Scale’s shoulders.

  “I wasn’t asking if you needed help fighting,” said Alyssa. “I was asking if you needed help. In general.”

  Scale smiled and patted the back of Alyssa’s hand.

  Sarah walked forward and her mousey face twisted into a smile as she looked at the siblings. “Sister in w, that mana coming from the Gate feels kind of familiar.”

  “Sister in w?” Scale froze at the sudden new form of address and looked at the two girls. Finally her eyes noticed the ring on Sarah's finger. At the same time she felt the ring on Alyssa's hand that she'd been petting. “When did you two even—”

  “A while ago. In a private pce,” said Alyssa.

  “She was afraid to do it in public in case I said no~”

  “I was not!” Alyssa cleared her throat. “Anyways, you’ve told me just about everything that happened in the other world, so I have a pretty good idea about what’s waiting for you. If you want, I’ll come with you. Moral support, and all.”

  “Ah.” Scale nodded. “Thanks for the offer, but I think I can handle this.”

  “Can you? You turned into a blubbering mess earlier just talking about—”

  “Stop! Don’t say another word.” Scale filed and pushed Alyssa towards Sarah. “I’ll be right back.”

  Scale stepped through the dimensional wall. The humming stopped and only the sound of flowing water was left behind.