Somewhere in Heaven — Veyra's Room
Veyra had checked everywhere.
The gardens.
The eastern corridor.
The archive where Eros liked to read things she absolutely was not supposed to read.
The fountain courtyard.
She had even checked the pink room.
The pink room.
She hated the pink room.
Everything inside it was pink in ways color should not legally be pink.
Empty.
She had asked seven angels.
Seven.
Each one answered while slowly stepping backward like they were speaking to a loaded crossbow.
"Have you seen Eros?" Veyra asked.
"No, Lady Veyra."
"Has anyone seen Eros?"
"No, Lady Veyra."
"Since when?"
"…Yesterday."
Veyra's eye twitched.
"Yesterday," she repeated.
The angel nodded nervously.
"She mentioned an errand."
"Where."
"…Earth."
Veyra pinched the bridge of her nose.
"Of course it's Earth."
The angel hesitated.
"And she took a jar."
Veyra froze.
"…what jar."
The angel described it.
Rose-gold.
Small.
Warm glow.
Sealed lid.
Veyra slowly looked toward the ceiling.
"…that bitch."
The angel panicked.
"I mean respectfully!"
"Relax," Veyra said. "I mean it affectionately."
The angel did not relax.
Veyra stormed back to her room and dropped into her chair.
The viewing screen shimmered.
Kael appeared.
He was staring at a piece of paper.
Left side.
Right side.
Upside down.
Arm's length.
Squint.
"…there's no way," he muttered.
Veyra leaned forward.
"Oh no."
Kael slammed the paper down.
"I HAVE AN IDEA."
Veyra grabbed the sides of the screen.
"OH GOD NO."
Kael ran for the door.
Veyra looked at the paper.
The market bill.
Then she burst out laughing.
"HAHAHAHA— oh this idiot is about to invent martial arts from anime again."
She leaned closer.
"I am absolutely not stopping this."
Rael
I was asleep.
Properly asleep.
Training yesterday.
Training tomorrow.
Correct schedule.
Then—
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK
I opened one eye.
"…no."
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK
"It is extremely early," I said through the door.
"I know," Kael said.
"Then go away."
"Get dressed."
"…why."
"Training."
"The sun is not up."
"The sun is thinking about it."
"That does not count."
"Close enough."
I sat up.
Senna was already awake.
Of course she was.
Sitting on the bed with her book open like she had predicted something stupid would happen.
Mira was already dressed.
Standing near the window.
Mira is always dressed.
I have never seen Mira become dressed.
She simply exists dressed.
I opened the door.
Kael stood there.
Rai perched proudly on his shoulder.
Kael held up a paper.
The market bill.
I stared.
"…you woke us up for accounting."
"It's not accounting," Kael said.
"It's inspiration."
"That is worse."
Outside the Inn
Kael drew something in the dirt.
Rael stared at it.
It looked like a man being attacked by several angry arrows.
"Okay forget the diagram," Kael said.
"Good plan," Rael replied.
Kael cleared his throat.
"In my world there are stories called anime."
Senna tilted her head.
"You watched fights," she said.
"Yes."
"On a flat surface."
"Yes."
"While eating."
"That's not the important part."
"I am verifying the source."
Rael crossed her arms.
"So you learned this technique from cartoons."
Kael froze.
"…Anime."
"Cartoons."
"Anime."
"Moving illustrated narrative media produced in Japan."
"Cartoons," Rael repeated calmly.
Kael pointed at her like she had insulted his ancestors.
"Those shows have emotional depth!"
"They are drawings."
"They are masterpieces!"
Senna raised a hand.
"I would like to note he previously described one episode involving a man screaming for fifteen minutes."
"That was a power-up sequence!"
Rai flapped excitedly.
KRRRT!
Rael nodded toward the dragon.
"Even the lizard thinks it's cartoons."
Kael clutched his chest.
"…Traitor."
Rai blinked.
Krrt?
Mira slowly turned to Senna.
"…Is this part of the training."
Senna examined the dirt drawing.
"…I believe this is the theoretical phase."
Kael threw his arms up.
"THIS IS SERIOUS!"
Kael's Philosophy
Kael folded his arms.
"In my world," he said, "people love weird ideas."
Rael raised an eyebrow.
"That sounds irresponsible."
"It probably is."
He pointed at the dirt drawing.
"Every martial art started with someone doing something stupid… and surviving long enough to call it a technique. That's all fighting is. You panic, you swing wrong, you don't die, and suddenly it's 'ancient wisdom.' After knocking on death's door enough times, they slap a dramatic name on it like Heaven-Splitting Dragon Palm or Flowing Iron Serpent Style, write it down, and pretend it was intentional. Then some poor guy centuries later repeats it like it's sacred knowledge, when really it was just one idiot getting lucky and living long enough to explain himself."
Rael crossed her arms.
"In my clan we only practice proven techniques."
"Who proved them?" Kael asked.
"Our ancestors."
"Right," Kael said. "But someone had to try it first."
Rael frowned.
"They trained and refined techniques for centuries."
"Sure," Kael said.
"But the first person still had to try something."
Rai nodded proudly.
KRRRT!
"That dragon is not helping your argument," Rael said.
Kael shrugged.
"Point is… nobody knew if it would work."
"So why not try?"
He smiled.
That stupid sincere smile.
Ba-dum.
Rael blinked.
Her hand moved to her chest.
Ba-dum.
What.
He was still smiling.
Completely unaware anything had happened.
For him it was simple.
He had an idea.
He tried it.
Rael's clan didn't work like that.
In her clan you didn't try something unless you were certain.
Certainty was discipline.
Certainty was survival.
He had no certainty.
And he tried anyway.
Ba-dum.
"You are going to get us all killed," she said calmly.
"Probably," Kael said cheerfully.
"But we'll know we tried."
Rai flapped.
KRRRT!
Rael looked away first.
"…fine."
"Show me."
Senna — Fireball
Kael turned toward Senna.
"Try casting something."
Senna raised an eyebrow.
"With no formula?"
"Yes."
"That is academically irresponsible."
"Please."
She sighed.
"Fine. Which spell."
"…Fireball."
Rael blinked.
"That is not a beginner test."
Senna lifted her hand.
Energy gathered.
Nothing happened.
Senna frowned.
"…interesting."
She tried again.
A spark appeared.
Then vanished.
POP
Kael leaned forward.
"No no you're forcing it."
"I am not forcing it."
"You're calculating!"
"That is how magic works!"
"Feel the space!"
"That sentence is offensive."
She tried again.
The flame appeared—
Then exploded outward.
FWOOSH!
"WHOA!" Kael shouted.
Rael stepped back.
"HEY!"
Rai panicked.
KRRRT!!
The fireball grew.
Bigger.
Hotter.
Three times larger than a normal fireball.
It roared above Senna's hand.
FWOOOOOSH
Everyone stared.
"…Senna?" Mira said slowly.
"That is not a beginner spell," Rael said.
Senna blinked.
"…that is also not the intended size."
Kael slowly raised both arms.
"…OKAY THAT'S NEW."
Rai flapped excitedly.
KRRRT!
The fireball stabilized.
Senna extinguished it.
Silence.
"…interesting," she said softly.
She opened her book.
Wrote one line.
Closed it.
Then looked at her hand.
"…very interesting."
Rael looked down at her own hands.
Five hundred years of clan technique.
And a man who learned combat from anime had just cracked something fundamental.
Infuriating.
The Walk Back
Morning light.
Rai's claws clicking on the road.
Senna ahead of us.
Thinking.
Not writing.
I walked beside Kael.
"…can I ask something," I said.
Kael groaned.
"That sentence has never improved my life."
"In your world," I asked, "have you ever killed someone."
He stopped walking.
"…wow."
"That escalated quickly."
"Answer."
"No."
"Never."
"Absolutely never."
Rai tilted its head.
Krrt?
"Stop judging me," Kael muttered.
"In this world sometimes you must kill," I said.
"I noticed."
"You fight."
"I mostly die."
"That is not a strategy."
"It's not intentional!"
"What if it was to protect someone."
Kael stopped.
Ahead of us Senna turned a corner.
Sunlight behind her.
He watched quietly.
"…I don't know," he said.
"That is not what you said earlier."
"It's honest."
Rai climbed onto his shoulder.
Kael steadied it automatically.
"What I do know," he said softly, "is that I never want to take a life."
I looked at him.
He meant it.
"…let's hope you never have to test that," I said.
We kept walking.
That Night
I sat cross-legged in my room.
Rai watched from the corner.
Blue eyes glowing faintly.
I closed my eyes.
Silence.
Wind.
Breathing.
Then—
Something.
Not Vein.
Something deeper.
A vibration.
The room.
The air.
Everything alive.
Connected.
I sat there for a long time.
I told no one.
Rai watched silently.
The dragon understood something.
And said nothing.